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[Illustration: Frontispiece; Copyright 1903 by G. Barrie & Sons]


                  _A PREMEDITATED COLLISION_

     _Frederic looked up and recognized Dubourg; he was on the point of
     laughing outright, when his friend forestalled him by running
     toward him, exclaiming:

     "I cannot be mistaken! What a fortunate meeting! It surely is
     Monsieur Frederic de Montreville!"_




NOVELS

BY

Paul de Kock

VOLUME X

SISTER ANNE

PRINTED BY ARRANGEMENT WITH

[Illustration: colophon]

GEORGE BARRIE'S SONS

THE JEFFERSON PRESS

BOSTON NEW YORK

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




SISTER ANNE




I

A NOCTURNAL WALK.--MY AUNT'S FIVE HUNDRED FRANCS


The theatres had long since dismissed their audiences, the shops were
closed, and the cafes were closing. Passers-by were becoming more and
more infrequent, the cabs moved more rapidly, the street lights were
burning, and the gas in the houses was disappearing; the streets of
Paris, like the inhabitants thereof, were about to enjoy their brief
hour of repose.

But repose, like fine weather, is never universal: when we are enjoying
it in Paris, it may be that people are fighting in some other quarter of
the globe; and while we are revelling in mild and delicious weather,
within a hundred leagues of us a tornado may be destroying the crops, or
a tempest submerging ships. Since peace and fine weather cannot be
universal, let us try to make the most of them while they are in our
possession, and let us not worry as to what sort of weather our
neighbors are having.

A gentleman, who presumably had no desire to sleep, was walking through
the streets of Paris, which had become almost silent. For more than an
hour, he had been walking on the boulevards, from Rue du Temple to Rue
Poissonniere; occasionally, without any very clear idea as to where he
was going, he strayed into the faubourgs; but he soon stopped, looked
about him, muttered between his teeth: "What the devil am I doing here?"
and returned to the boulevards.

This gentleman seemed to be in the neighborhood of thirty years of age;
he was of medium height, and rather stout than thin. His face was
neither ugly nor handsome; his round eyes protruded overmuch, and his
nose, while not exactly flat, had neither the nobility of the Grecian
nor the charm of the aquiline type. By way of compensation, he had what
is called expression, and possessed the art of forcing his features to
depict the sentiment which he desired to seem to feel: an art no less
valuable in society than on the stage; for we are actors everywhere, and
there are at court, in the city, in palaces, in salons, in boudoirs, and
even in the servants' hall, people of unexcelled skill in the art of
counterfeiting what they do not feel.

Our promenader's costume was neither elegant nor shabby. He was dressed
like one who is in the habit of going into society, but not for the
purpose of exhibiting the cut of his coat or the color of his trousers.
His bearing corresponded with his dress; it was not at all pretentious.
You will say, perhaps, that a man does not select so late an hour of the
night to adopt a swagger or a mincing gait; I shall, in that case, have
the honor to reply that I am drawing the portrait of the man as he was
under ordinary circumstances, and that I had made his acquaintance prior
to the moment of his introduction to you.

Now that you have the means of forming an idea of this individual's
appearance, you will perhaps be curious to know what business detained
him on the boulevards, why he was walking there so late instead of
going home to bed. In order to find out, let us listen to him for a
moment talking to himself as he walks, with both hands in his pockets,
and as unconcernedly as if it were only eight o'clock in the evening.

"I had a presentiment of what would happen to me. I didn't want to go to
that little Delphine's. If I had stayed away, I should still have my
five hundred francs in my pocket. But little Delphine is such a dear
creature! she wrote me such a sweet little note! Am I still green enough
to fall into such a trap? I, who know the world so well, especially
women! If I had had sense enough to take only three hundred francs with
me, I should have something left; but, no! I must needs play the
millionaire! I played like a fool. That little man who won my money
turned the king very often. Hum! it looks a little shady. But one thing
is certain, and that is that I haven't a sou, and that my landlord
turned me out of his house yesterday because I didn't pay him. For four
paltry louis! the Arab! I was going to pay him yesterday, with the five
hundred francs my old aunt sent me, when little Delphine's invitation
came and upset all my virtuous plans. Poor Dubourg! you are
incorrigible, my friend; and yet, you are beginning to be old enough to
reform."

At this point, Dubourg--for now we know his name--took his snuff-box
from his pocket, and paused to take a pinch.

"O my only comfort! my trusty companion!" he continued, gazing at his
snuff-box with an expression that was almost sentimental; "it's very
lucky that you are made of nothing more valuable than horn; if you had
been, I should have parted with you long ago.--But let us reflect a
little. What in the devil am I going to do? I have no employment; they
are so ridiculous in these public offices! I earned only fifteen hundred
francs, so it seemed fair to me that I shouldn't work any more than the
deputy-chief who earned three thousand; strictly speaking, indeed, I
ought to have worked only half as much. Now, as my deputy-chief never
appeared till noon and went away at four o'clock, and passed that time
reading the newspapers, cutting quill pens, chatting with his back to
the stove in winter, and going out to take the air in summer, I saw no
reason why I shouldn't get to the office as late as he did and go away
as early; pass an hour reading the _Moniteur_, three-quarters of an hour
on the _Constitutionnel_, and an hour and a quarter on the _Debats_;
stare at my pen a long while before trimming the nib; look at the work
before me without touching it; turn over a file of papers for an hour,
and then put it back in its place, without the slightest intention of
writing anything on it; and take as much time to go out to buy a roll as
it would have taken me to go from Paris to Saint-Cloud. This conduct,
dictated by a sense of justice, was not to the liking of my superiors;
as they wanted to force me to work hard, so that they need do nothing,
they didn't like it because I presumed to imitate them; they reported me
to the minister, and I was kicked out. To be sure, they offered to take
me back a little later, as a substitute, but I felt that I was unworthy
of such an honor.

"Then I went into a banking-house. Gad! what a difference! There, my
superiors set the example of working hard. From the head clerk to the
office-boy, everyone came at eight o'clock and stayed till five, then
came back at seven and stayed till ten; and during all that time, not a
minute's rest; writing, or making figures all the time. If by chance a
fellow could venture to say a word, it was only while he was copying a
letter or opening an account. No holidays! Always a mail coming in or
going out. A man couldn't do too much; and if I happened to leave the
office a few minutes before ten, an infernal Dutchman, who had passed
forty-five years of his life over a ledger, would always take out his
watch and say: 'You're in a great hurry to-night!'

"Faith, I couldn't stand it! That animal life was ruining my health; and
one fine morning, when they lectured me because I went out to get a
glass of beer at a cafe near by, I took my hat and said good-bye to
banking-houses and business.

"I tried being a notary, but I was too absent-minded: I mistook a death
certificate for a marriage contract, and a power of attorney for a will;
so I was politely advised to abandon that profession.

"Then I went into an old solicitor's office. Ah! I was in clover there
for some little time. He had a wife who was past her prime; she was very
fond of walking and driving, and she chose me for her escort. The
husband, who was thus relieved of that duty, was very well pleased to
have me escort her everywhere; I think he would have made me his first
clerk, if I would have agreed to take madame to walk all my life. But I
got tired of having always on my arm a costume _a la_ Pompadour and the
face of a country magistrate. I ceased to be attentive to madame,
monsieur took offence and discharged me. _O tempora! O mores!_

"Thereupon I renounced the legal profession; I felt in my heart the
impulses of a noble independence, an intense love of liberty. So I began
to do nothing--a superb profession, within everybody's reach; and a
delightful one when it is supported by investments in the funds.
Unluckily, my name is not inscribed on the books of the State, but only
on those of my tailor, bootmaker, et cetera. I am an orphan; my parents
left me very little, and that little could not last long, especially
with me, who am neither miserly, nor economical, nor prudent, and who
have no desire for money except to have the pleasure of spending it. My
father, an estimable Breton, practised medicine; he ought to have made a
fortune! Probably in his day there weren't enough colds, fevers, and bad
air. He left me nothing but a most honorable name, which, for all my
follies, I shall never suffer to be disgraced, because a man can be a
reprobate and still be honest.

"When I had spent my modest inheritance, I began to philosophize; I was
tempted to write, as Seneca did, on contempt for wealth. But Seneca had
a fortune of forty millions when he wrote that; so that he was better
acquainted with his subject than I am, without a sou. So, as one should
try to talk of nothing except what one knows about, I concluded not to
talk about wealth, of which I know nothing.

"Luckily, I still have an old aunt, in the wilds of Bretagne, who has
never married. The dear woman has only a modest fortune, and yet she has
never deserted her nephew. To be sure, I have written her some very
affecting letters. Poor, dear soul! she thinks I am married! Faith! as I
couldn't think of any other possible way of getting money from her, in
my last letter I made myself out, at one stroke, a husband and father;
yes, and the father of triplets! That was what brought the
five-hundred-franc note that I have just lost at ecarte. O cursed
ecarte! I swore that I wouldn't gamble any more, as I am in hard luck
this month. But how could I resist? I went to little Delphine's, who,
since she left the stage, receives the best people in Paris: artists,
authors, journalists, English, Russian, and Tartar noblemen. Tartars,
yes! indeed, I fancy that little man I played with was something of a
Greek.[A] To pass eighteen times in succession is a little too much! And
that other idiot, who made a point of offering me punch every time I
lost! as if I could drink five hundred francs' worth of it! Ah! my poor
old aunt! if you knew what had become of your money! The worst of it all
is that she won't send me any more for a long time. I can't have the
wife I have taken to my bosom, to touch my aunt's heart, lie in every
month; I have said she was sick twice already; I have credited my
triplets with all the diseases children have, and have given myself
inflammation of the lungs and jaundice. But that sort of thing will be
played out sooner or later. No, my poor aunt, no, I won't pester you any
more. No, I don't propose that you shall deprive yourself any longer of
all the little comforts of life, for your scamp of a nephew. I have
abused your goodness of heart too much. I blush to think how often I
have appealed to it; I feel in my heart a noble pride; and when I think
of your last remittance of five hundred francs! gone in four games! Gad!
it's horrible!"

          [A] Greek, _i.e._, "sharper."

Dubourg began to walk a little more rapidly; he took his hands from his
pockets, as if he were furious to find nothing in them; but in a moment
he became calm again, resumed his former gait, and once more exclaimed:

"But what in the deuce am I going to do?"

At that moment, he passed one of those individuals who wander about the
streets at night, with a bag on their back and a hooked stick in their
hand, and halt in front of places which we avoid during the day.

"That's a last resort, to be sure," said Dubourg, glancing at the man
with the lantern; "but I confess that I don't as yet feel courageous
enough to employ it; and although a famous author has said: 'It is not
the trade that honors the man, but the man should honor the trade,' I
doubt whether I should be held in high esteem if I should take to that
little hooked stick; even though I possessed with it the wisdom of Cato,
the clemency of Titus, and the virtues of Marcus Aurelius.

"However, I have some talents of my own, and I am not reduced to that
yet. I love the arts; ah! I adore them! I was born to be an artist. I
don't know how to draw, I cannot play on any instrument, I do not write
poetry with great facility; but, for all that, I love painting, music,
and poetry. If I should go on the stage, I believe I should make a
success of it. But to make one's debut at thirty years--that's rather
late in life. And then, the idea of the son of a doctor at Rennes going
on the stage! But why not? Louis XIV did it; he acted before his court;
and if I had been in Racine's place, I certainly would have written some
splendid parts for him, instead of trying to turn aside his inclination.
Our present-day authors wouldn't be so stupid; consequently they are
rich, whereas in Racine's time they were not.

"But I can't begin to-morrow, and yet I must dine to-morrow: a desperate
plight to be in when one has neither money nor credit. Come, come,
Dubourg! come, my fine fellow, don't be downcast, retain that lightness
of heart, that sang-froid which has never failed you thus far. Remember
that it is a glorious thing to be able to endure misfortune; that it is
in disaster that a brave heart manifests its courage. Oh! yes; it's easy
enough for me to say all this now, while my stomach is still full of
Mademoiselle Delphine's cakes and sweetmeats and punch; but when I am
hungry, I am afraid I shall be a wretched philosopher.

"In misfortune, one has recourse to one's friends; but one has no
friends when one is unfortunate. But sometimes men aren't so selfish as
they are said to be. Let me think! Frederic! yes, he alone can be useful
to me. Frederic is only twenty; he still looks upon the world as a young
man is likely to do at that age, when he has been, up to eighteen, under
his father's eye and under the care of a tutor. Frederic is
kind-hearted, generous, easily moved--too easily, indeed; but it is not
for me to blame him for following too readily the impulses of his heart.
He has accommodated me several times; but, no matter; I am sure that
he'll do it again, if he can. Let us go to see Frederic."

Dubourg mechanically put his hand to his fob, to see what time it was;
then he sighed, and murmured:

"Unlucky dog that I am! I have never been able to keep one a week. Ah!
my poor aunt! If I only had your five hundred francs!"

The weather was becoming threatening, and a few drops of rain fell. The
cabs had ceased to break the silence of the night; the street lanterns
cast only a faint and flickering light.

"It must be very late," said Dubourg, glancing about. "Frederic lives
with his father, Monsieur le Comte de Montreville. How can I venture to
go there at this time of night? The count is inclined to be strict; he's
not one of your stage fathers, with whom you can do whatever you
choose. On the contrary, they say that he demands the most absolute
obedience from his son, and that his son trembles before him. But I have
no doubt that his severity is exaggerated; at all events, he hardly
knows me. I have been to the house several times, but he has seen me
only once or twice. Frederic's apartment is in a different wing from
his, so we will try our luck."

And Dubourg, leaving at last the circle to which he had confined his
steps for so long, walked rapidly toward Rue de Provence, where the
Comte de Montreville's mansion was situated.

As he drew nearer to Frederic's abode, his hope of seeing him before the
next day became fainter and fainter. Ought he to turn the whole house
upside down in the middle of the night? If he woke the son, he would
wake the father too; and it was a decidedly ill-advised method of
improving his acquaintance with Monsieur de Montreville, to call at his
house between two and three o'clock in the morning.

But Dubourg walked on, even while he reflected thus; like a lover, who
has sworn never to see his faithless one again, but who prowls
constantly about her abode and always ends by going in, still repeating:
"I will never see her again!"--At such time, reason speaks, but passion
guides our footsteps. Poor mortals! is it your fault, pray, that passion
so often carries the day?

As he approached the house, Dubourg's eyes were agreeably surprised by
the appearance of a double row of private carriages, whose lanterns
lighted a large part of the street. He quickened his pace; the carriages
were most numerous in front of the Comte de Montreville's house, and the
courtyard was filled with coupes, landaus, and vis-a-vis. The coachmen
were talking together, the footmen swearing impatiently; servants
hurried to and fro across the courtyard. Lamps on the carriage-stones
and on the broad steps banished the darkness, and delicious strains of
music floated out through the windows of the beautiful salon,
brilliantly lighted by thousands of candles, forming a strong contrast
with the depressing silence that reigned a short distance away.

Dubourg no longer walked: he ran, he leaped, he flew. The sight of the
lanterns, the noise made by so numerous a company, and the strains of
the contra-dances within, drove from his mind the serious thoughts which
had begun to monopolize it.

"There's a party going on," he cried, "a ball! Idiot that I am! to
forget that this was Thursday, monsieur le comte's reception day; and
they say he gives delightful parties. Frederic has invited me several
times; he said he wanted to introduce me to his father. Hum! it rested
only with me to go into the best society, to make acquaintances who
would have given me a boost in the world. But, no; it isn't in my power
to be sensible and leave those damned billiard-tables! Ah! I recognize
that tune; it's by Rossini; a three-step. I danced to it at Vauxhall,
with the stout blonde."

Dubourg was already in the courtyard, threading his way among carriages,
coachmen, and footmen. No one had paid any attention to him; and, if he
had been suitably dressed, he might have entered the salons, and,
perhaps, have played cards and danced, without attracting the notice of
the host; for at such large functions, it not infrequently happens that
the master of the house fails to see and speak with all of his guests.

But Dubourg stopped under the windows of the salon on the first floor,
where dancing was in progress. In order to keep in the background, he
had walked away from the brilliantly lighted steps and taken his stand
in the shadow of a huge berlin, whence he could see the ball and
distinguish the dancers.

He was tempted for a moment to enter the salon; but, upon glancing down
at his dress, he realized that it was not an opportune moment to appear
before monsieur le comte, who was a great stickler for etiquette. His
coat was blue, with metal buttons; he wore high boots and a black
cravat. That was a very suitable costume in which to play ecarte and
talk nonsense at Mademoiselle Delphine's, but it would have been
exceedingly out of place at Monsieur de Montreville's reception.

"Ah! if I had kept my aunt's five hundred francs," he muttered again, as
he turned his eyes from his costume to the ballroom, "I should have
outshone all those fine clothes!"

As he watched the dancing and eyed the ladies through the windows, most
of which were open because of the heat, Dubourg spied a table with a
green cloth in a smaller salon, at which two middle-aged men had just
taken their seats. They were soon surrounded by onlookers, and the table
was covered with gold.

In order to obtain a better view of the small salon, Dubourg climbed up
behind the carriage by which he was standing; there he could watch the
game perfectly, and could see the hand of one of the players, who was
sitting with his back to the window.

"How lucky they are!" he thought; "they are playing ecarte. The deuce!
it's a warm old game; at least thirty louis a side! If I still had my
aunt's money, I could bet from here. What am I saying? If I ever touch
cards again, may I be damned! Ah! there's the same hand that I lost my
last game on; and I ought to have won it; I played according to rule.
Well! what the devil is he doing? He's going to ask for cards!"

And Dubourg, oblivious of the fact that he was on top of a carriage in
the courtyard, shouted:

"Don't take any cards! Play your hand, play it, I tell you! I'll answer
for the point!"

The voice surprised the players beyond words. They turned and stared,
and questioned each other.

"Who was that who undertook to advise me?" demanded the old man whose
turn it was to play. "Has he got more at stake than I have, to give him
the right to talk like that? Why don't you answer, messieurs?"

"The voice came from the courtyard," said a young man near the window.

"From the courtyard! from the courtyard! Do you mean to say that those
rascally footmen presume to watch us play and to make remarks?"

And the old gentleman with the powdered head left his seat and looked
into the courtyard. Dubourg jumped down from the carriage, and the shock
woke the horses; whereupon they began to prance, and tried to run. The
drowsy coachmen rubbed their eyes, thinking that the ball was over;
those who were talking hurried to their seats, and those in the street,
observing the commotion in the courtyard, did the same; while the
coachman and footmen of the carriage on which Dubourg had perched
struggled to pacify the horses.

Meanwhile, Dubourg had slunk away by the side of the house.

"It seems that I must always put my foot in it!" he muttered. "Here are
thirty coachmen and as many footmen all stirred up, and a pair of horses
have nearly trampled on me, just because I attempted to advise that old
fellow who doesn't know how to play the game and was going to ask for
cards when he ought to take every trick! That's the last time I'll ever
meddle in other people's business."

As Dubourg crept along by the wall, he came to a door just as a servant
came out to ascertain the cause of the noise in the courtyard. Dubourg
recognized Frederic's valet, and instantly accosted him.

"Where is your master, Germain?"

"Ah! is it you, monsieur?" said the servant, who had often seen Dubourg
with his young master. "Have you come to the ball?"

"No, no; I have no desire to dance. Where is your master, I ask you?"

"Oh! Monsieur Frederic is dancing. There are some beautiful women
inside, and he's an amateur, you know."

"The deuce! I would like to speak with him; I have something very
important to say to him, but I don't want to disturb him, or to go into
the salon; I am not dressed."

"If you wish, monsieur, I will take you to Monsieur Frederic's
apartment; you can wait there comfortably until he retires."

"That's a delightful idea of yours, Germain; take me to Frederic's
apartment at once."

Germain took a candle and went before Dubourg, who was overjoyed to have
found a place to finish the night. The valet, who had seen his master
display great friendliness to Dubourg, was certain that he would not be
reproved for what he was doing.

In due time, they arrived at the young man's apartment, which was so far
from the ballroom that the music could barely be heard.

"Would you like me to tell my master that you are here?" inquired
Germain, as he placed the candle on a table.

"No, it isn't worth while; I'll read while I am waiting. I am in no
hurry at all now; let him dance as long as he pleases."

Germain left Dubourg alone; whereupon he stretched himself out in a
luxurious easy-chair and tossed away the book he had taken up.

"To the devil with reading!" he said, assuming the position best adapted
for a nap; "it's high time for me to rest; I have earned it. Dance,
dance away! How comfortable it is in this chair, especially when one has
been within an ace of sleeping in the street! Here am I installed under
the roof of Monsieur le Comte de Montreville, a most respectable
gentleman, who has at least thirty thousand francs a year, and just one
son, whose friend I am, and whose education I aspire to finish; for they
have stuffed a heap of rubbish into his head, and have neglected to
teach him the most essential thing of all--knowledge of the human heart,
and especially of the female heart. As I am decidedly well posted in
that branch of knowledge, I propose to make something of our dear
Frederic, and to teach him to know the world; so that he may make his
way, like me."

While he thus communed with himself, Dubourg began to nod, and before he
had been in the easy-chair five minutes he was sleeping soundly.




II

THE COMTE DE MONTREVILLE.--AN EVENING PARTY IN SOCIETY


The Comte de Montreville was, at the time that we make his acquaintance,
about sixty years old. The scion of a noble and wealthy family, he had
served in the army, married, and retired from service, and had succeeded
in coming safely through the tempests of the Revolution.

He was a short, slender man, with a cold, stern face which commanded
respect. He did not lack intelligence, nor was he the slave of a mass of
absurd prejudices of the sort that some old men were trying to make
fashionable, like paniers and curly wigs. Monsieur de Montreville was
not one of those men who insist on retrograding while others go forward;
he followed the general current of the time, and, wise amid a multitude
of fools, he blamed only those who, from a proneness to exaggeration,
from selfishness, or from incapacity, muddied the waters of a stream
which all the efforts of all mankind could not prevent from flowing.

But the count had been brought up strictly by his father. Accustomed
early in life to unquestioning obedience, he desired his son to be no
less submissive to him. At the age of six, young Frederic lost his
mother. The count did not choose to marry again; he had a son to inherit
his name, and that was enough for him. He placed Frederic at one of the
best schools in Paris. At fourteen, the young count, who was endowed
with an unusually fine intellect, had carried off several prizes. His
education was not then completed; but his father, fearing that at that
age he might form some dangerous intimacy, and impelled by his longing
to have him always by his side, in order to accustom him to absolute
obedience, took him away from the school, and gave him a private tutor.

This tutor, in whose charge the count placed his son, and with whom we
shall soon become very well acquainted, was neither a scholar nor a man
of brains; far from it. But he was entirely at the orders of monsieur le
comte, and would not have taken his pupil out to walk without first
asking the father's permission; that was the reason for his selection,
despite his limited mental qualifications.

The count was very fond of his son, but he would have been very sorry to
allow the full depth of his affection to appear; he would have
considered that he had forfeited his dignity and his claim to Frederic's
respect if he had spoken to him in the kindly tone of a dear friend. But
is not our father the first friend that nature gives us? and ought the
respect we owe him to banish confidence and intimacy?

Frederic loved his father, but he trembled before him. Accustomed from
childhood never to reply to him, and to obey promptly his lightest word,
he had retained, as he grew to manhood, that habit of passive obedience
and that timidity which made it impossible for him to allow his heart to
speak freely in his father's presence.

But we must do the Comte de Montreville the justice to say that he did
not abuse his power over his son. When Frederic was eighteen, and his
education was at an end, the count dismissed the tutor, and, having sent
for the young man to come to him, addressed him thus:

"I am content with you, Frederic. You have responded to the pains I have
taken with your education, and I have no reason to complain of your
disposition. But you are approaching the age at which a young man should
study the world for himself. Henceforth, therefore, you are to enjoy
absolute liberty. You will continue to live in the same house with me;
but I will give you the apartment in the wing that looks on the street;
mine is at the end of the courtyard; thus you will be able to go in and
out at any hour without disturbing me. My steward has orders to supply
you with money whenever you ask for it. I know you, and I am sure that
you will not abuse this indulgence. You are at an age when young men are
eager for pleasure; enjoy yourself, indulge in the follies
characteristic of your years; I mean those that lead neither the heart
nor the mind astray. You are easily moved, you adore all women! but this
enthusiasm will vanish and never return. Be more particular about
forming intimacies with men of your age; do not make friends too
hurriedly: one should be more exacting in the choice of a friend than of
a mistress. However, I shall not lose sight of you altogether; I trust
that the principles I have instilled into you will keep you from any
reprehensible excess, and that I shall have no reason to repent of
having given you liberty of action."

Frederic, deeply touched by this harangue, would have rushed into his
father's arms; but the count, repressing that affectionate impulse,
which his own heart shared, confined himself to giving him his hand to
press, and added in a voice that trembled slightly:

"In a few years, I will look to your future; I will see about finding a
suitable wife for you. But the time for that has not come yet; enjoy
your youth, and do not abuse it."

Having said this, the count hastily left the room, for the conversation
had moved him; he felt tears in his eyes, and it would have distressed
him to allow Frederic to see them.

Two years had passed since this interview, during which Frederic, now
his own master, had followed the first impulse of his heart. Endowed
with an ardent and sensitive nature, Frederic was certain speedily to
feel the pangs of love. At eighteen, most young men say to themselves:
"I must fall in love," as they say: "I must dance, or gamble, or ride."
But the young count did not treat love so lightly: his inexperienced
heart loved or believed that it loved sincerely, and desired to be
repaid in kind; treachery broke his heart, and he wept bitterly over the
infidelity of a mistress.

Frederic had a fine figure, and a most attractive face, dignified and
sweet; his eyes expressed all that his heart felt. But he had not yet
acquired the careless tone and the free and easy manners of the dandies
of the day; he did not sway back and forth as he talked, he did not
smile into mirrors, he did not deal in the airy nothings which are so
popular in salons, and had not the art of looking a woman in the eye to
tell her that she was adorable. And as such cavalierish manners are
fashionable, and as the ladies care for nothing except what is
consecrated by the goddess of fashion, they considered Frederic rather
sentimental, awkward even, and said to one another:

"He's not very bad, but he needs to be trained."

A _petite-maitresse_ can hardly attach herself to a novice; she may
indulge a fancy for him, but only a reprobate can inspire a _grande
passion_; that is why poor Frederic was constantly deceived and thrown
over by his mistresses.

It was at Tortoni's that he had made the acquaintance of Dubourg. On
that day, the philosopher, being in funds, had created an uproar at that
cafe, where he was entertaining four of his friends. Several strangers,
annoyed by the noise they made, tried to impose silence on them;
Dubourg's only reply was to throw the remains of a bowl of punch at
their heads. They sprang to their feet, shouting and threatening, and
during the quarrel Dubourg's four friends deemed it prudent to disappear
in rapid succession. He, enraged by their cowardly conduct in abandoning
him, was still holding out against his adversaries, when Frederic
espoused his quarrel and offered to act as his second. Dubourg accepted,
and a duel took place the next day. Dubourg's antagonist was slightly
wounded, and the affair had no more serious results; but it served to
cement the friendship thus formed between Dubourg and Frederic. The
former, although nearly ten years the young count's senior, was far from
being as reasonable as he; but his unfailing gayety pleased Frederic,
who often felt the need of his friend's merriment to help him to forget
the infidelities of his charmers.

Now that we know the Comte de Montreville and his son, let us enter the
salons, where the most brilliant society of the capital was assembled,
because, as Dubourg had said, it was the count's reception day.

The company was scattered through several rooms, all resplendent with
the light of innumerable candles; here there was dancing, there
card-playing; elsewhere, the guests were chatting, or strolling about,
or standing where they could get a breath of air; the heat was intense
in the cardroom, where it was almost impossible to force one's way
through the crowd of bettors.

The ladies were remarkable for the elegance, and in some cases for the
singularity, of their toilets. As a general rule, the costumes of the
mothers are even more elaborate than those of the unmarried women. Is it
because they think that their daughters stand less in need of external
attractions? or is it true that coquetry increases as natural charm
decreases? I do not presume to decide the question. It is different with
men: with them, the ball costume, when once established, is soon adopted
by all, and those who desire to distinguish themselves have no other
resource than to dress their hair in some original way, or to devote
their attention to the knot of their cravat; but this last-mentioned
portion of the costume is beginning to be no longer a matter of choice.

But it was nearly three o'clock, and the party was drawing to a close.
It was the best of all times for the observer to use his faculties;
there were fewer people dancing, the circulation was less impeded, and
the guests who remained ventured to talk and laugh a little. Toward the
close of a ball, informality takes the place of ceremony, and many women
do not begin to be charming until they cease to be affected. Some
persons who had not previously had an opportunity to speak together were
conversing in a corner of the salon. Young men chatted with the pretty
partners, whom they invited from choice rather than necessity. The
ladies smiled more sweetly upon their escorts; people drew nearer
together, they knew one another better.

Monsieur de Montreville walked about his salons with the amiable manner
of a host who excels in the art of doing the honors. He talked with an
elderly marchioness who was sitting alone on a sofa; he said a
courteous word to a lady who was not dancing; and, on his way to her,
found time to bestow a compliment or two on the young dancers; he saw to
it that the punch was passed around, and the ices; he spent a moment
looking over the ecarte table, and if somebody was wanted to take a bet
he was always ready.

But what was Frederic doing, leaning against that mantel-shelf? he
seemed to be devoting his whole attention to the dance; but was it
really the quadrille which interested him so deeply? and why, if he was
thinking of nothing but that pretty maiden's agile movements, did he
seem to be suffering? Yes, to the keen observer, his tranquillity was
assumed, the smile which passed over his lips when he was spoken to was
forced and unnatural. Frederic was preoccupied, but not with the dance.
A few feet away from him a young woman was seated, a young woman not
more than twenty years old, although she had been three years married to
a sexagenarian notary, who was in the cardroom at that moment.

Madame Dernange was very pretty; her vivacity, the sparkle of her eyes,
her costume, her brilliant intellect, everything about her had a
dazzling effect: she attracted, subjugated, enslaved, with a glance;
but, as she knew the power of her charms, she sought constantly to add
to the number of her adorers. At sixteen, she married Monsieur Dernange,
without the slightest affection for him; but she married him joyfully.
She was impatient to be her own mistress, and to give a free rein to her
penchant for flirtation.

With a husband nearly sixty, she was very certain of being able to do
just what she chose; and, in fact, Monsieur Dernange left her perfectly
untrammelled. She was seen at all receptions, balls, festivities of
every description. Sometimes her husband escorted her, but generally he
went to bed about the time that his wife left the house; which did not
prevent them from leading a very peaceful life. It is a very simple
matter to live happily with your wife: all you have to do is just to
allow her to do whatever she desires.

Monsieur Dernange had an abundance of _savoir vivre_; he was enchanted
to have his wife enjoy herself. Many people declared that the young
woman did not abuse his confidence, and it is very possible: she was a
great flirt, but flirts love no one; however, it is not well to trust
them too far.

Frederic had not been able to look upon the brilliant Madame Dernange
with an indifferent eye. She had had no difficulty in setting him on
fire with a glance, and with a glance she had realized her triumph. The
young Comte de Montreville was not a conquest to be disdained; Madame
Dernange resolved to fasten him to her chariot, and for that nothing
more was necessary than a glance or two, an occasional smile, a faint
pressure of the hand, and a veiled remark uttered in a voice that seemed
to tremble slightly. And the coquette used all her powers with such art!
She was not in love, and she knew so well how to win love! A person who
loves sincerely has much more difficulty in making an impression than
one who does not love at all; for the latter is able to avail herself of
all her advantages, while the other, striving to appear amiable, is
often only awkward and embarrassed. Ninon said that, and Ninon knew what
she was talking about.

Poor Frederic very soon succumbed to that treatment; he believed that
she loved, yes, adored him! and for a few days he lost his head. But at
this party of his father's a young and gorgeous colonel had made his
appearance; he was a man notorious for his _bonnes fortunes_, his
amorous adventures; a man, in a word, whom any woman might be proud to
number among her captives, and Madame Dernange had at once determined to
achieve this new triumph.

Poor Frederic! you were utterly forgotten: she no longer gave a thought
to you, but was engrossed by the handsome colonel. Now and again, she
deigned to smile sweetly upon you, it is true; but you were in love, you
were jealous, and you saw that the coquette instantly turned her eyes
upon the man she desired to enslave.

Several times the young man had approached the scintillating Dernange;
he wished to show her that he had detected her perfidy; but she
contented herself with smiling at him, and saying:

"What on earth is the matter with you to-night, Monsieur de Montreville?
You have a solemn air which is most amusing."

How comforting such words are to a jealous lover! Frederic made no
reply, but walked away with rage in his heart, while the coquette
laughed long and loud at a bright remark made by the colonel, or by some
other of her adorers.

Frederic was on pins and needles all the evening; and, toward the close
of the festivities, seeing Madame Dernange on a sofa, on which the
colonel also had taken his seat, he stationed himself a few steps away.
He leaned against a mantel, with his back turned to them, and pretended
to be engrossed by the dance; but he did not lose a word of what was
said on the sofa. The colonel was amiable and gallant; he strove to make
himself agreeable to Madame Dernange, and she put forth all her powers
and played with him with her usual grace. She laughed so heartily, she
was so pretty, so fascinating, when she desired to make a favorable
impression! There was a constant exchange of compliments and clever
retorts, during which poor Frederic was all on fire. If he had not held
himself in check, he would have insulted the colonel and overwhelmed the
faithless one with reproaches. Luckily, he retained his senses
sufficiently to realize all the impropriety of such a scene, and all the
ridicule it would bring upon him; for in love intrigues the party who
complains, and who is betrayed, is always laughed at. It is said: the
_vanquished_ pay the fine; we might vary this proverb slightly, and thus
make it truer, except in England, where husbands are in the habit of
exacting compensation in money when they are in the position which I
understand by _vanquished_.

The colonel paid his court in military fashion--that is to say, he made
much progress in a short time. Unluckily, this method is often
successful. Unluckily for timid lovers, that is; or is not she the best
who makes us happy most promptly? Frederic heard him ask Madame
Dernange's permission to call to pay his respects. The respects of a
colonel of hussars! Frederic was bathed in cold perspiration at the
thought. The pretty woman made some resistance; she laughed and joked,
and said that he must ask her husband first; then added, with a rippling
laugh:

"But, no; no, you needn't! Monsieur Dernange will have no objection."

The colonel was urgent, and he received permission. Frederic was choking
with rage; he walked hastily away, for he could stand it no longer. He
went into a room which was empty for the moment, a large number of the
guests having already taken their leave.

He threw himself into an easy-chair. The room was but dimly lighted by
the flickering candles in glass globes; he could abandon himself without
reserve to his feelings. He drew his handkerchief, he was choking; his
eyes were filled with tears. A young man almost always pays with tears
the fees of his apprenticeship in society. In two or three years, he
will laugh at the misfortune that now drives him to despair. After being
deceived, he will deceive in his turn; but he will never again be so
foolish as to fix his fancy on a coquette, and it may be that some
hearts that love him sincerely will be rejected by him, for the innocent
often have to pay for the guilty. But, let us wait: it is possible that
Frederic will always retain that emotional nature, that constancy in
love, which now cause him to regret the loss of a heart that he never
possessed.

The words _faithless_, _fickle_, _traitress_, issued from his mouth,
followed by long sighs. For more than half an hour he had been buried in
his reflections. The candles had gone out, the music had ceased. Several
people passed him without attracting his attention, nor was he, sitting
in a dark corner, noticed by them. Some ladies came into the room to get
their shawls, which they had left on a couch not far from Frederic. But
a familiar voice awoke the echoes in his heart: it was the voice of
Madame Dernange, talking with one of her friends. They seemed in
excellent spirits.

"What sport I have had!" said the notary's wife. "That colonel is really
very attractive!"

"But, my dear, did you see the wry face Frederic made?"

"Yes, indeed I did, and I was strongly tempted to laugh!"

"You drove him to despair."

"What a calamity! That young man is romantic and sentimental enough to
give one the blues; he's an idiot!"

"Oh! he's a very pretty fellow, my dear; and when he has got rid of that
schoolboy air, and has acquired the tone of fashionable gallantry,
you'll see how popular he will be!"

"When I choose to amuse myself with him again, I have only to say a
word, to glance at him, and he will be at my feet. But give me my shawl,
which you have had in your hand an hour. The colonel is waiting to
escort me to my carriage."

When the ladies had gone, Frederic rose. He found it difficult to
believe his ears. Shame, jealousy, anger, filled his heart, where love
had already ceased to fill any space; for his self-esteem had been
wounded, and wounded self-esteem soon triumphs over love.

In this frame of mind, Frederic retired to his apartment; he slammed the
door as he entered, and thereby woke Dubourg with a start.




III

TRAVELLING PLANS.--MONSIEUR MENARD.--EN ROUTE.


"I count four!" cried Dubourg, springing to his feet; while Frederic,
surprised to find him there, stared at him a moment in silence, then
abandoned himself unreservedly to the pleasure of pouring out his heart
and telling his sorrows to his friend.

"Ah! my dear Dubourg! it must have been heaven that sent you."

"No; it was my landlord, who has turned me out of the house."

"At last I have found a heart which understands mine, which will
appreciate my distress and pity my torments."

"Have you been betting on the wrong side, too?"

"The treacherous, fickle creature!"

"Luck is a woman, my friend; that tells the whole story."

"Yes, and a very heartless woman, too! If you knew what she dared to say
about me!"

"What's that! has luck been talking about you?"

"I am an idiot! Indeed, she is right; I was an idiot to love her! But
it's all over, yes, forever! She thinks that she can bring me to her
feet, enslave me again, with a word and a smile! But, no, I will not be
her dupe again; I know her now!"

Dubourg rubbed his eyes and looked at Frederic, who was pacing the floor
with an air of desperation, sometimes stopping to beat his forehead,
sometimes smiling bitterly.

"Who in the devil are you talking about, my dear fellow?"

"Why, Madame Dernange, that woman whose heart is as false as her face is
pretty, that coquette whom I have adored for two months, and who, as I
believed, loved me. But, my dear Dubourg, she was making a fool of me."

"And that surprises you? Ah! my poor Frederic, what a boy you still
are!"

"She made me believe that she reciprocated my love; and this evening, a
new-comer, a colonel, has stolen her heart from me, apparently without
much difficulty. I was strongly tempted to insult the fellow and kill
him."

"Would that have made your Madame Dernange less fickle?"

"No, of course not; that is what I said to myself."

"In making love to her, he did what any other man would have done in his
place. You ought not to bear him any grudge for it; on the contrary, you
ought to be grateful to him, for he has taught you to know a woman who
was making a fool of you."

"I believe you are right," said Frederic sadly, seating himself in an
easy-chair, while Dubourg, now wide awake, thought it a fitting moment
to deliver a lecture to his friend.

"Listen to me, my dear Frederic; I am older than you are, I have seen a
good deal of the world, and I have a large store of experience, although
I still do foolish things. Now, let me tell you that you have an
unfortunate tendency to indulge in sentimental and romantic passions,
which will do you a bad turn some day. You absolutely insist on being
loved, adored, if you will! Damnation! do you mean to pass your life
sighing? Is that the way a young man ought to make love? It isn't that
you are in reality more constant than other men, for this is your
seventh ill-fated passion in the year that I have known you. The great
trouble is that your seven passions have all left you first, whereas you
ought to have taken the initiative. However, you have always found
consolation thus far, and you will this time too, I promise you. But, my
friend, don't, I implore you, take on so seriously for what ought to be
simply a youthful folly. You must have a certain amount of sentiment, to
gratify the ladies, but you mustn't overdo it; because, you see, excess
of sentiment kills sentiment; and what I am saying to you is perfectly
reasonable; I am sure that your father, the count, would agree with me,
if he were here, and that he would be overjoyed to find that you have a
friend who gives you nothing but good advice, and who would give you a
lot more--if he had not lost last night the five hundred francs his poor
aunt sent him."

Frederic had not listened very attentively to Dubourg's speech; but he
had grown calmer, because the most violent tempests are always of the
shortest duration, and the young man believed himself to be much more in
love than he really was.

"How does it happen that I find you here in the middle of the night?" he
asked Dubourg, at last.

"My dear fellow--what do you suppose?--a succession of unlucky
circumstances. In the first place, my landlord, who is a genuine
_Vulture_; secondly, an evening party at little Delphine's--you know, I
took you there once; but as you must always have a touch of sentiment in
everything, you never went again; and yet, she would have given you
some, for your money, that would have been worth quite as much as Madame
Dernange's. Lastly, I played, and I lost all that I possessed! Really,
I didn't know which way to turn. But I thought of you; I know how loyal
your friendship is. At first, I didn't expect to see you until
to-morrow; but, finding everything in commotion in this house, it
occurred to me that I might wait for you here; and I have had a nap
while your charmer was being spirited away from you."

"Poor Dubourg!"

"Yes, very poor, in truth!"

"Listen; I have an idea."

"Let's hear it."

"I am sick of life in Paris."

"I shall soon be much sicker of it, as I haven't a sou."

"The sight of all these coquettes makes me ill."

"Oh! it's sure to do that."

"I propose to run away from the disloyal hussies."

"I don't know just where you can go to avoid them."

"These parties where you talk without saying anything; where you make
acquaintances, but not friends; where you go because you have nothing
else to do, rather than for pleasure,--I am tired of the whole business.
I have been going into society only two years and a half, and I am sick
of it already. This is my plan----"

"Do you mean to become a hermit?"

"No; but I mean to leave Paris for some time; I mean to travel, to visit
different countries; in that way, by comparing the manners and customs
of the different peoples, by admiring the wonders and beauties of
nature, a man can best form his mind and his judgment and increase his
store of knowledge; and in that way the heart is made acquainted with
pleasures which it could never know in these worldly gatherings,
inspired by idleness and governed by etiquette."

"Powerfully argued!" cried Dubourg, rising from his reclining-chair;
"you must travel, my dear fellow, there is nothing better for the young.
But when a man travels alone, he is always bored to death; one can't be
more than half happy when he has no one to whom he can impart the
sentiments inspired by a beautiful landscape, an ancient monument, or an
imposing ruin! Besides, you are too young to run about the world alone;
you need a companion who is wise, well informed, and, above all,
experienced; well, my friend, I offer myself as your mentor."

"I was about to make the same suggestion, my dear Dubourg."

"Parbleu! I accept with great pleasure."

"But is there nothing to keep you in Paris?"

"Oh! nothing at all, not even a cot-bed."

"No affair of the heart?"

"Oh! with respect to affairs of the heart, I am not like you! I will
form attachments as we go along, or, better still, I'll give them up
altogether. My mind is made up; I propose to be virtuous and orderly;
you will be edified by my behavior."

"Well, then, my dear Dubourg, it is settled that we travel together."

"There is just one little difficulty left: suppose your father doesn't
want you to travel?"

"Oh! I don't think that he'll object; I have already mentioned the
subject to him, and he seemed to approve of it."

"Then everything will go as nicely as possible; but will you tell him
that you are going to take me?"

"Why not? I shall say that a friend of mine, who is also about to
travel, will be able to accompany me for some time."

"All right; arrange it as best you can; if necessary, you can present me
to your father, who hardly knows me, and you will see what a dignified
and imposing manner I can assume. Above all things, don't mention little
Delphine, or my aunt, or my supposed marriage, or my triplets."

"Never fear."

"As for my family, if it isn't noble, that doesn't prevent its being as
good as the Comte de Montreville's, and very highly esteemed in
Bretagne."

"Oh! mon Dieu! I know all that."

"It isn't on your account that I say it, but your father's. So, then,
it's agreed. It is broad daylight now; I have slept enough, but you need
rest. Go to bed; during the day, you can speak to your father, and come
and tell me what he says. I'll expect you at six o'clock, at the Cafe de
la Rotonde."

"Agreed."

"By the way, I forgot! Lend me a dozen louis; I owe you thirty already,
but we will settle up when I get my next remittance from my aunt."

"That's all right; ought there to be any settling among friends?"

"Ah! my dear Frederic, there aren't many friends like you!"

Dubourg pocketed the twelve louis which Frederic handed him; then,
leaving his friend to go to bed, he went away from the house, humming a
new couplet, and strolled along the boulevards, as well pleased as if he
had just been appointed to a twelve-thousand-franc office where he would
have nothing to do.

During the day, Frederic went to see his father. He trembled slightly
when he appeared before him, and the count, instead of assisting his
son to confide in him, waited silently for him to say what he wanted.

Having bowed respectfully, Frederic began his speech, in which he
floundered a little at times, because the count's eyes, fastened on his
face, seemed determined to read his inmost thoughts. He set forth his
project, however, and awaited in fear and trembling his father's reply.
The count seemed to reflect, and did not speak for some minutes.
Frederic dared not break the silence, and at last the count spoke.

"You wish to leave Paris, Frederic?"

"Yes, monsieur le comte."

"Are you tired already of its pleasures--balls and parties? It is rather
early for that."

Frederic sighed, but made no reply.

"You haven't told me everything," continued the count, with a sarcastic
smile. "Confess that some disappointment in love----"

Frederic blushed, and lowered his eyes; whereupon the count went on, in
a gentler tone:

"Well, all that sort of thing belongs to your age. Travel; I am willing;
it cannot fail to be useful to you. But if your presence should become
necessary, I trust that nothing would delay your return?"

"Oh! father, a single word from you, and I will be with you."

"Very good; I rely upon your word."

"A friend of mine, a young man named Dubourg, of an old Breton family,
is also making arrangements to travel for some time. If you are willing,
I will join forces with him."

"No, monsieur; I am not willing. I have heard of this Monsieur Dubourg,
whom you call your friend, and, although I have seen him with you only
two or three times, I know enough of him to be unwilling that he should
be my son's travelling companion. His family is respectable, I know, but
Monsieur Dubourg is a great reprobate, they say."

"I promise you, father----"

"Don't interrupt me, monsieur. I cannot prevent your associating in
Paris with such light-headed characters; but when you are to travel for
your instruction, and to mature your judgment, I tell you again that a
Monsieur Dubourg is not a proper person for you to travel with. I don't
propose that you shall take Germain either; that fellow has been
behaving badly for some time. Besides, when you are travelling you
should be able to do without a valet. With your money, you will find
servants enough wherever you stop."

"Am I to go alone, then, father?"

"No; you are not twenty-one yet; you are too young to be left to your
own devices. Stay--yes--he's the very man you need: Monsieur Menard will
go with you."

"What, monsieur le comte, my tutor?"

"He hasn't been that for a long time, and he will not go with you in
that capacity, my son, but as a friend, a judicious adviser. Monsieur
Menard is an educated man, and, in addition to that, is the mildest and
most patient of men. You know him well enough, I think, not to regret
having him for your travelling companion. Monsieur Menard is not a mere
pedant who will constantly reprove you for enjoying yourself; he is
attached to you, and he will be able, I trust, to prevent the son of the
Comte de Montreville from forgetting what he owes to himself."

"But, father----"

"Enough. I will write to Monsieur Menard; if he accepts, as I think he
will, you can set out to-morrow."

Frederic left his father, not overpleased with his choice, although he
knew that Monsieur Menard was an excellent man. He would have preferred
to travel with Dubourg, whose inexhaustible gayety harmonized perfectly
with his own sentimental disposition; a fact which seems strange, at
first blush, but which is very common: small men love tall women, and
small women large men; loquacious folk like those who say little;
gourmands never dine satisfactorily except with those who are
abstemious; the strong form alliances with the weak; men of genius
select wives who attend strictly to their household duties; female
authors rarely have men of intellect for their husbands; ostentatious
people cannot live comfortably except with those who make no
pretensions; knaves consort with men of probity; the most sentimental
women often love the most frivolous men, and the most loyal of the one
sex will give her heart to the most fickle of the other; lastly,
libertines pursue innocence, and innocence often yields to the
seductions of a ne'er-do-well. Extremes meet, contrasts are drawn
together, and a painter finds his most beautiful effects in the
opposition of light and shadow.

"Well," said Dubourg, when Frederic joined him at the appointed place;
"what news?"

"Why, not very good."

"Doesn't your father want you to travel?"

"Oh! yes, he has consented."

"In that case, I don't see why everything isn't all right."

"But--he--he isn't willing----"

"Go on."

"He isn't willing that I should travel with you."

"Why not?"

"Because--he says----"

"He says---- Well, go on."

"He says that you are a--reprobate."

"Why, he has never seen me more than three times!"

"It seems that somebody has talked to him about you."

"There are always people who make it their business to slander
innocence. Do you know that, if monsieur le comte were not your father,
I---- Although, after all, he is not far from right. But if he knew how
thoroughly I have reformed! and how I have preached at myself since last
night!--Well, what else?"

"He suggests as my travelling companion my former tutor, Monsieur
Menard."

"The idea of giving a tutor to a young man who is almost twenty-one!
That sort of thing positively makes me ill! No matter; let us allow
monsieur le comte to have his way; we will carry out our plans, all the
same."

"How?"

"You won't be sorry to have me travel with you, will you?"

"Surely not."

"And I shall not be sorry to leave Paris for a time; that will give my
creditors, who are always at my heels, a chance to rest a bit."

"But my father?"

"Don't you worry. Just don't say a word, and I will arrange matters so
that---- By the way, what sort of a man is this tutor?"

"Oh! he's the best fellow in the world; but he's not a genius."

"So much the better."

"He thinks a great deal of a learned man."

"I'll talk Latin, Greek, English, to him; yes, and Chinese, if he
doesn't understand it."

"I fancy that he has never travelled, except on the map."

"I'll tell him that I have been round the world."

"But it flatters him to be in the company of persons of high rank."

"I'll assume a rank that will be high enough for him."

"In heaven's name, what is your scheme?"

"I'll arrange it all, I tell you; go back to your father, and start off
with your tutor. By the way, get all the money you can, for money is
never a disadvantage when you're travelling; and be sure to let me know
what time you are to start, and in what direction you are going."

The young men separated, Dubourg having told Frederic where to send him
word of the time at which he was to start, and having refused to divulge
any of the details of his plan.

Let us leave them for a moment, while we make the acquaintance of
Monsieur Menard, of whom the young count has given us only a faint
sketch, and whom it is essential to know before we travel in his
company.

Monsieur Menard was a man of about fifty years of age, very short and
stout, and with a very fat face. He had a double chin, which was quite
in harmony with a nose like a huge chestnut. Like Monsieur Tartufe, he
had red ears and a florid complexion. His stomach was beginning to
embarrass him a little, but his short legs, with their enormous calves,
seemed strong enough to support an even heavier bulk.

Monsieur Menard had passed almost the whole of his life in teaching
young people; he had retained the mild and benign manners which a tutor
employed in good society always adopts with his pupils. He was not a
great scholar, but he was proud of what he did know, and was by no means
insensible to praise. His narrow intellect had become even more confined
by having no exercise except with children; but Monsieur Menard was
upright, kindly, and peaceably disposed; his only weakness was a
tendency to feel that his stature was increased when he conversed with a
lord, and his only fault a very pronounced fondness for the pleasures of
the table, which was sometimes the occasion of a slight indisposition;
not that he drank immoderately, but because he returned too often to a
truffled turkey or a salmi of partridges.

The Comte de Montreville summoned Monsieur Menard, who hastened to obey
the summons and joyfully accepted the proposition that was made to him.
To travel in a comfortable post chaise with the Comte de Montreville's
son, with that one of his pupils who reflected the greatest credit on
him! that was unexampled good fortune for the excellent tutor, who
happened to be unemployed at the moment.

The count urged him to have an eye upon Frederic, but not to thwart his
caprices when it was simply a question of indulging in the follies
characteristic of his years. As he was well pleased with his son's ready
submission in the matter of a travelling companion, he determined to
reward him by allowing him to go wherever he chose.

Everything being settled between the count and the two travellers,
Monsieur de Montreville handed Monsieur Menard a considerable sum of
money, which was to be at Frederic's disposal.

"Travel in a manner befitting your rank, my son," said the count; "but
do not squander this money foolishly. I have succeeded, by leading
always an orderly, regular life, in saving a considerable fortune in
anticipation of your marriage; but you must not encroach upon your
patrimony. If you need more money, however, Monsieur Menard will let me
know."

Frederic promised to behave himself; but he had just written to Dubourg
that he was to start the next morning, and that he should take the Lyon
road.

A young man's preparations are soon made. Monsieur Menard's took a
little longer; like the prudent man he was, he did not take his place in
the carriage until he had bestowed one of Lesage's pates in the box, and
a bottle of madeira in his pocket.

At last, everything was ready. Frederic was overjoyed to leave Paris and
Madame Dernange. The poor boy fancied that she would regret him, and
that his departure would make her miserable! He was certain to lose all
such illusions after he had travelled a short time.

The carriage was waiting; the postilion was in the saddle. Frederic
pressed his father's hand to his heart, Monsieur Menard bowed six times
to the count and entered the chaise backward in order to have the honor
of continuing to bow. Frederic jumped into his seat, the postilion
cracked his whip, and they were off for Italy.




IV

A NOVEL WAY OF MAKING ACQUAINTANCES.--BARON POTOSKI


The two travellers were not far from Paris, when the conversation
between them began to flag; at the outset, Monsieur Menard expressed to
Frederic his very great pleasure in being in his company, and Frederic
thanked him; then they admired the view at several points. But soon the
younger man's thoughts reverted to Madame Dernange and other disloyal
fair ones, and he became pensive and silent; whereupon Monsieur Menard
turned his attention to the pate with which he had taken care to supply
himself, and entered upon a conversation with it, which he interrupted
only to say a word or two to the bottle of madeira.

"I imagine that we shall have a delightful trip," said Frederic,
emerging from his reverie.

"I agree with you, monsieur le comte; we have everything requisite for
it," replied Monsieur Menard, with a smile, making haste to swallow what
he had in his mouth. "If monsieur le comte would like to taste this
pate--it is delicious."

"No, thanks, my dear Menard; I am not hungry yet."

"As monsieur le comte pleases."

"Oh! I beg you, no _monsieur le comte_ between ourselves; call me
Frederic, that is much better."

"But, monsieur le comte--when we are travelling--at public-houses--it is
well that people should know that they have the honor----"

"Yes, of course; so that they can make us pay four times the usual
prices. I tell you again that I want to avoid all those ceremonies which
add nothing to the pleasure of a journey."

"You will at least allow me to call you Monsieur de Montreville; for
monsieur le comte your father might be angry if he knew that you
travelled incognito."

"By the way, how much money did he give you?"

"Eight thousand francs, monsieur."

"Eight thousand francs! that's none too much!"

"Oh! Monsieur de Montreville, surely it is enough, when we have in
addition a comfortable carriage and good horses. We are not going to the
world's end. And then, you know, your father said that we could ask him
for more, in an emergency."

"True; besides, we're not going to do anything foolish."

"And it would be imprudent to carry a larger sum on a journey. We are
going to Italy, and that country is infested with brigands; between Rome
and Naples, especially, they say the highroads are very dangerous. When
we get there, we must take every precaution."

Frederic made no reply; he was thinking of Dubourg, and was surprised
that he had heard nothing from him. They were already nine leagues from
Paris, on a very fine road, where it was difficult to imagine any
possible mishap.

Suddenly the loud cracking of a postilion's whip announced that there
were other travellers behind them. Frederic looked back, and saw a small
berlin coming up at a gallop. The clatter drew rapidly nearer,
indicating that the berlin was overtaking them and would soon pass them
by. A cloud of dust enveloped them, but the road was so wide that there
was no need for them to turn out. But just as they expected to see the
berlin whirl by, it collided with their carriage; and the shock was so
violent that the post chaise was overturned beside the ditch, into which
Monsieur Menard was thrown headlong, shrieking at the top of his voice.

The berlin stopped. The postilion of the chaise reviled the other
postilion, calling him fool and blockhead and drunkard, for running into
him on a road where three carriages could easily pass. The other
postilion limited his reply to a sneering laugh, which inflamed his
confrere's wrath. Frederic, who was not injured, went to Monsieur
Menard, to ascertain what his condition was. He proved to be more
frightened than hurt; he felt himself all over, straightened his wig,
and kept repeating that the fall would certainly upset his digestion.

Meanwhile, the postilion of the berlin had dismounted; after exchanging
a few words with his passenger, he, hat in hand, approached our
travellers, who were still in the ditch, and, after apologizing for his
awkwardness, said to them that Baron Ladislas Potoski, Palatine of Rava
and Sandomir, requested permission to come in person to inquire for
their welfare, and to offer them such assistance as was in his power.

When he heard the postilion declaim the name and titles of his
passenger, Monsieur Menard scrambled out of the ditch, and removed from
under his waistcoat one end of his ruff, which his fall had rumpled.

"Tell your master that we appreciate his courtesy," said Frederic; "but
that it is unnecessary for him to put himself out; I think that the
accident will have no serious results."

"But there's something broken in our chaise," said Monsieur Menard; "and
we might avail ourselves of Monsieur le Palatine Pota--Poto--Potiouski's
offer, to reach the next village."

The tutor had not finished speaking, when the soi-disant Polish nobleman
alighted from his berlin and walked toward them, with his hand on his
hip, affecting a most dignified air and carriage. Frederic looked up and
recognized Dubourg; he was on the point of laughing outright, when his
friend forestalled him by running toward him, exclaiming:

"I cannot be mistaken! What a fortunate meeting! It surely is Monsieur
Frederic de Montreville!"

And he threw his arms about Frederic, who also feigned surprise and
cried:

"What! why! it is Monsieur de--Monsieur du----"

"Baron Potoski!" whispered Dubourg.

"Monsieur le Baron Potoski!"

During this recognition, which took place on the edge of the ditch,
Monsieur Menard outdid himself in salutations, pulling Frederic gently
by his coat-tails the while, in order to lead him back to the highroad,
which seemed to him a more suitable place for his introduction to the
noble Pole.

At last, Dubourg turned to Menard, and said, addressing Frederic:

"Have I the honor of seeing monsieur le comte your father?" And he
bestowed upon the tutor the most gracious and most dignified smile
imaginable.

"No," said Frederic; "but he has been a second father to me. Allow me to
present Monsieur Menard, my former tutor."

"Monsieur Menard!" said Dubourg, assuming an expression of unfeigned
admiration, and gazing at the tutor as one might gaze at Voltaire.
"What! can it be that this is Monsieur Menard? Peste! I have often
heard of him; the _primus inter pares_ of tutors! How delighted I am to
make his acquaintance! _Tandem felix_, Monsieur Menard, since I know
you."

Monsieur Menard did not know where he was; this deluge of courtesies and
flattery from the Palatine of Rava and Sandomir so confused and
delighted him, that his profuse salutations would have landed him in the
ditch a second time, had not Frederic caught him opportunely.

Dubourg finally put an end to the poor man's embarrassment by taking his
hand and pressing it hard.

"What a great honor you do me, monsieur le baron," he stammered.--"So
you are acquainted with Baron Potoski?" he added, turning to Frederic.

"Acquainted with him!" was the reply, accompanied by a smile; "why, we
are close friends. Dear Dubourg!"

"What do you say? Dubourg?" cried Menard.

"Yes," hastily interposed the pretended baron; "that is the name I went
by at Paris, where I was compelled to maintain the strictest incognito,
being intrusted by my government with a secret and very delicate
mission."

"I understand, I understand," said Menard.

"Continue to call me Dubourg, my dear Frederic; that was my name when I
first knew you, and it will always be dear to me."

While Menard went to inspect the overturned vehicle, Frederic said to
Dubourg, in an undertone:

"The method you employed to join me was a little violent, do you know?
You nearly killed poor Menard and me."

"It's that blockhead of a postilion's fault: I told him to upset me as
we passed you; but the rascal preferred to upset you. That annoys me
the more, because I expected to get a seat in your carriage, whereas I
must offer to take you in mine, which is a very different matter. Never
mind: let me talk and act. I see already that it will be easy enough to
pull the wool over this poor Menard's eyes. But be ready to second me,
and back up what I say, when it's necessary. Above all things, don't
forget that I am Baron Potoski, Palatine of Rava and Sandomir. You
nearly spoiled everything by calling me Dubourg; luckily, I found a way
to straighten that out; but don't make any more such blunders, or I
shall be obliged to travel without you, and I assure you I shall not go
very far."

Menard returned and announced that one of the axles of the chaise was
broken, and that it could not be repaired before the next morning.

"Well, messieurs," said Dubourg, "you must do me the honor to ride in my
carriage; we will stop at the first village and pass the night there,
while the local blacksmith repairs your chaise."

This plan being adopted, they left the postilion to bring the vehicle to
the village, and our three travellers entered the Polish baron's berlin.
It was a wretched old affair, the lining patched and soiled, and so
badly hung that the passengers were jolted terribly.

Frederic could not restrain a smile as he stepped into the palatine's
equipage; but Dubourg hastened to say to Monsieur Menard, who took his
place modestly on the front seat and had not as yet done more than
glance furtively at his surroundings:

"This carriage is older than we are; it belonged to my grandfather. It
was in this same carriage that he rescued Stanislas Leczinski, when he
was pursued by his rival, Augustus, whose cause was espoused by the
Czar, while Charles XII of Sweden was the protector of Stanislas.--But
you know all that better than I do, Monsieur Menard, for you are a
scholar."

"Oh! monsieur le baron."

"To return to this carriage--all my family revere it as I do; it is a
family carriage. When my father left Cracow, during a period of civil
commotion, this modest berlin contained six millions in gold and jewels;
it was the remnant of his fortune, with which he intended to live in
retirement in Bretagne, where they have delicious milk and butter."

At this point, Frederic, who had bitten his lips at the six millions,
began to cough to overcome his desire to laugh, while Monsieur Menard
looked at the carriage with the utmost respect.

"You will appreciate, Monsieur Menard," pursued Dubourg, wiping his
forehead with a silk handkerchief, which he had thrust into his
waistcoat to give himself the aspect of a foreigner, "you will
appreciate that one becomes strongly attached to a carriage which
recalls such honorable memories. I know that it is not modern, and that
it might be hung better; twenty times, my steward has talked of having
it repainted, and of having it newly lined inside, but I always refuse.
This seat, which I now occupy, was once occupied by King Stanislas; that
in which you sit, by a princess of Hungary; and I confess, Monsieur
Menard, that I am determined not to change this Utrecht velvet, which
has had the honor of supporting those eminent persons."

"I share your feelings in that respect to the full, monsieur le baron,"
said Menard, who, enchanted as he was to travel with two men of
distinguished rank, was unable to contain himself when he was told that
a princess of Hungary had once sat where he was sitting. "This carriage
must be very dear to you; and I assure you, monsieur le baron, that it
rides very nicely, and that I find it very comfortable----"

At that moment a vicious jolt threw Monsieur Menard forward, almost into
his pupil's lap; but he added, clinging to the door:

"_Ubi plura intent in carmine; non ego paucis offendar maculis._"

"_Vitam impendere vero_," rejoined Dubourg.

Frederic looked out of the door, coughing harder than ever; while
Monsieur Menard said, with a bow:

"I never doubted it, monsieur le baron."

"As I am obliged to remain incognito," said Dubourg, "I have not brought
any of my suite with me, and I confess that I am not inclined to
complain; I detest all the pomp and parade and etiquette which are the
accompaniments of high station. When I travel, I lay it all aside; I am
the man of nature, and I play the part of a simple observer. But, by the
way, my dear Frederic, I haven't asked you yet where you are going;
would it be presumptuous in me to inquire?"

"No, indeed, my friend; I am leaving Paris because I found there only
coquettish or heartless women, who do not understand my way of loving."

"Well, my dear fellow, the trouble is that your way of loving is no
longer fashionable! However, this is mere amorous petulance, I see; you
are still a little romantic, a little sentimental.--We must cure
Frederic of all such nonsense, eh, Monsieur Menard?"

"That doesn't come within my functions, monsieur le baron; besides, we
must overlook a little something; Seneca says, you know: _Non est
magnum ingenium sine mixtura dementiae._"

"That is very true," Dubourg replied; "the greatest men have had their
weak points. Alexander drank too much; Antiochus dressed as Bacchus to
please Cleopatra; AEneas consulted the Cumaean sibyl; the Emperor
Maximilian died from eating too much melon. So it's not at all
surprising that Frederic should have a too sensitive heart."

Monsieur Menard bowed to monsieur le baron, who had given him a small
specimen of his erudition; which added not a little to the respect he
had already conceived for him.

"I have no definite plan," said Frederic; "I intend, however, to visit
the countries which recall interesting events, or which have given birth
to illustrious men. One loves to tread the ground from which the genius
sprang that has outlived so many generations. In all that surrounds us,
we fancy that we recognize the great man who, by his writings, his feats
of arms, or his virtues, made his birthplace famous. In a word, my
friend, we are going, first of all, to Italy."

"What! can it be? Why, my own purpose, like yours, is to see a little of
the world, in order to add some new light to my poor stock of knowledge.
What a delightful idea! Suppose we make the journey together?"

"Gladly, my dear baron! it will be most agreeable to me, I assure you."

"Upon my honor, I am grateful to the chance that led to our meeting!
What an unexpected pleasure to travel with my friend the Comte de
Montreville and the learned Monsieur Menard, to compare our reflections
concerning the places we visit, to be enlightened by the observations,
the friendship, and the learning of so distinguished a teacher!"

Menard outdid himself in reverences, and began to express his thanks;
but Dubourg continued earnestly, giving him no time to reply:

"What a delight to visit ancient Rome with you--and magnificent Genoa!
to climb with Monsieur Menard to the summit of Vesuvius, and even to go
down into the crater, if there is no danger! How pleasant to view, in a
friend's company, the tomb of Virgil and the Grotto of the Dog, and to
ascend, with a profound scholar, the Tarpeian rock! What pleasures await
us in Switzerland, the home of William Tell! that cradle of liberty,
whose morals have retained all their purity amid revolutionary tempests!
There we shall receive the most touching hospitality in every village;
we shall eat cheese there, Monsieur Menard--oh! such cheese! I don't
undertake to say, however, that it's as good as the cheese in Bretagne,
for there's nothing like that; a charming country, Bretagne, studded
with woods, fields, and rich pastures. Ah! what fine cows they have
there, Monsieur Menard!"

Frederic nudged Dubourg, to make him leave Bretagne, whither he
constantly returned with the affection of a native.

"In Switzerland," he continued, "one often eats cheeses fifteen or
twenty years old; the excellent Helvetians know the secret of keeping
them for an indefinite time."

"They must be even better than our roquefort," said Menard, who felt
sure of his ground when eating was the subject of conversation.

"Oh! I promise you they are; compared with the old Swiss cheeses, our
roquefort is no better than neufchatel. However, Monsieur Menard, if
you travel with me, I shall hope to give you cheese to eat more than
once."

"Ah! monsieur le baron!"

"We will visit the glaciers, we will ascend the Saint-Gothard, and the
Rigi, which you have to climb on all fours. What magnificent views we
shall have! And when we go down into the canton of Les Grisons, we will
botanize. Monsieur Menard will gather herbs. We will watch the Swiss
maidens glean; they wear very short skirts--and we shall see some fine
sights!"

"Well, my dear master, what do you think of our plan?" queried Frederic.
The former tutor was enchanted with it: to travel with a man of such
high rank, and so learned and agreeable, as Baron Potoski, seemed to him
great good fortune; and although the hard cushions and the jolting of
the berlin made him black and blue in spots, he felt brave enough to
travel a thousand leagues in a carriage which had held King Stanislas,
and in a seat which a princess of Hungary had occupied.

"Most certainly I see no reason why we should not travel with monsieur
le baron," he said; "and at the first post-office I will write to
monsieur your father and tell him of our fortunate meeting; he cannot
fail to approve our plan."

"No, no!" cried Dubourg; "on the contrary, you must not write a single
word to monsieur le comte. As I have told you, I am travelling
incognito; I don't want anybody to know where I am. My government
desires to appoint me ambassador to Turkey, but I am not at all desirous
of that distinction. Monsieur le comte might inadvertently let the cat
out of the bag, and all France would soon know my whereabouts; it will
be much better not to say anything."

"I agree with you," said Frederic. "What's the use of saying anything
about it to my father? He left me free to go wherever I please, and
asked Monsieur Menard to go with me as a friend, not as a mentor.
Surely, my father would be exceedingly pleased to know that I am
travelling with monsieur le baron; but in his delight at learning that I
am in such company, he would undoubtedly betray your incognito, and you
would be obliged to leave us."

"Yes, I understand," said Menard; "and yet--if----"

Dubourg, seeing that the tutor still retained some scruples, made haste
to produce his horn snuff-box, which he offered to Frederic, looking at
him with a meaning expression.

"Do you recognize this, my dear Frederic? it's the one I showed you at
Paris."

"Yes, I recognize it perfectly," said Frederic, with no idea of
Dubourg's purpose; while Monsieur Menard glanced at the snuff-box and
waited impatiently for the baron to explain himself.

"Ah! it's a very precious object in my eyes!" said Dubourg, taking a
pinch of snuff. "You have no suspicion, Monsieur Menard, to whom this
modest snuff-box belonged?"

"No, monsieur le baron."

"Modest as it is, I would not exchange it for one of solid gold. It was
the King of Prussia's snuff-box, Monsieur Menard."

"The King of Prussia's?"

"Yes, monsieur; the great Frederick, who, as you know, was very fond of
snuff and often carried it in his pocket; still, he had snuff-boxes,
which were always very simple, like everything he carried. He himself
gave this one to my father, from whom I had it."

"Ah! monsieur le baron, if I might dare to crave the honor----"

And Menard respectfully put out two fingers to take a pinch of snuff
from the Prussian king's snuff-box, which Dubourg smilingly offered him.

Menard took a pinch with becoming humility. He stuffed his nose full of
snuff which he considered delicious, and, when he sneezed, the poor man
fancied that he bore some slight resemblance to the King of Prussia. He
had lost his head completely; the fumes of grandeur mingled with those
of the snuff, and at the third sneeze he cried, saluting Baron Potoski
with renewed deference:

"It certainly is not necessary to write to monsieur le comte."




V

A VILLAGE INN, AND WHAT BEFELL OUR TRAVELLERS THERE


At nightfall, our travellers arrived at a village of wretched aspect.
Dubourg ordered his postilion to set them down at the best inn; but as
there was only one in the place, they must needs content themselves with
that.

The inn in question was rarely patronized by travellers in carriages;
pedestrians were its usual guests.

Frederic was disinclined to stop in that wretched hamlet, but Dubourg
insisted upon passing the night there. He had reasons of his own for not
wishing to go farther with his berlin; and as Monsieur Menard was
hungry, and the remains of his pate had been left in the post chaise,
he endorsed Dubourg's suggestion.

The carriage drove into a great yard filled with mud and dungheaps. Half
a score of ducks were splashing in a pool, apparently disputing
possession of it with some geese which waddled majestically around the
banks. Three pigs went grunting into every corner of the enclosure, an
old lame horse was quenching his thirst at a trough, on the edge of
which perched several hens, which laid their eggs in the house, in the
street, or in the yard, as it happened, considering probably that there
was little to choose between those places. Lastly, to complete the
picture, a number of rabbits showed their heads from time to time under
the hedge of a garden which had been turned into a warren; then fled in
alarm at the barking of a huge dog, whose duty it seemed to be to watch
the other beasts.

There was hardly room for the berlin to pass through a gateway, whose
dilapidated gate had not been closed for a long while. On one side the
wheels sank into a deep rut, on the other they had to pass over a
dungheap; so that, for a moment, Monsieur Menard feared that the
Palatine of Rava's venerable berlin would be overturned, and himself
with it. But he got off with nothing worse than a fright. On the arrival
of the carriage, the rabbits and pigs fled, the ducks quacked, the geese
and hens flew away, and the dog barked under the travellers' noses;
while a dozen or more of idlers, and as many peasant women, who formed
substantially the whole population of the village, stood about the
gateway to see the occupants of the carriage alight.

"Where in the devil is he taking us?" said Frederic, putting his head
out of the window, and instantly drawing it in again; for the wheels
had stirred up the filth which covered the ground and thereby caused it
to emit an odor ill adapted to attract the travellers.

"Let us hope that we are not in front of the kitchen," said Monsieur
Menard, holding his nose.

"Don't be alarmed, messieurs," said Dubourg; "we shall be very
comfortable here; we must not judge by appearances, you know. I have
stopped at this inn, and I remember that they give you excellent rabbit
stews and omelets."

Although it might seem surprising that a palatine should be fond of such
commonplace dishes, Monsieur Menard at once considered the yard less
offensive; and, alighting on the heels of Dubourg, who had stepped out
on the dungheap, he looked about on all sides, trying to discover the
kitchen.

The innkeeper appeared, with his cap over his left ear; he did not
salute the new arrivals, for, being accustomed to entertain only carters
or peasants, who care little for polite manners, he had contracted a
habit of treating all strangers with a certain familiarity; and the
sight of a carriage made little impression on him, because it was not to
such guests that he looked for the support of his establishment.

He was a little man of fifty years or thereabout, with a slight limp,
and a bloated nose which seemed to denote intemperate habits.

"Are you going to drink a glass of wine, messieurs?" he said, addressing
Menard, who still had his nose in the air, trying to catch the scent of
a rabbit stew, and to whom the innkeeper's manner seemed lacking in
respect.

"Take us to your best room, my good man," said Dubourg; "we are going to
sup and sleep here. Set everyone at work; let the fire blaze and the
spits turn, and serve our supper as soon as may be."

"Yes," interposed Menard, tapping the host's shoulder patronizingly;
"and understand, my friend, that you have the honor of entertaining
Monsieur le Comte Frederic de Montreville, Monsieur le Baron Ladislas
Potoski, Palatine of Rava and Sandomir, and Monsieur Benoit Menard,
master of arts and eminent professor."

"I shall never have room enough to put up so many people," said the
innkeeper, while Dubourg reproved Menard for betraying his incognito and
begged him to be more discreet in future.

"Hola! Goton! Goton!" cried mine host, walking toward the garden; "come
and show these gentlemen into the house, while I look after the horses;
and tell my wife to see about getting supper."

Mademoiselle Goton appeared; she was a tall, stoutly-built damsel of
twenty, dark, with black eyes, and a sunburned complexion; her features
were irregular, but her retrousse nose and her fine teeth, which she
showed constantly, her mouth being rather large, made her face decidedly
attractive. If, instead of a short stuff skirt, a waist of coarse blue
woollen cloth, and a cotton cap, Goton had worn a dress which set off
her figure; if her skin had been treated with almond paste, and her hair
by a hair-dresser, she would undoubtedly have made many conquests in
Paris.

"Will you follow me, messieurs?" she said, smiling at the travellers;
for Mademoiselle Goton smiled very often, because it added to her
beauty; and in the smallest village, no less than in the largest city, a
woman always knows how to make the most of her advantages. Lacking a
mirror, a fountain is sufficient to train the simplest-minded.

Dubourg estimated the servant's qualities at a glance, and, as they
followed her, he said to himself:

"I will amuse Menard with the supper, which shall be a good one, if I
can manage it. I can pass the time pleasantly with Mademoiselle Goton.
Ah! if I only could find some sentimental beauty to engage Frederic's
attention! Failing a new passion, I will talk to him of Madame Dernange
and all his faithless charmers in Paris; that will serve to make his
evening pass quickly."

The best room in the inn was the one usually occupied by the carters and
peasants. Four itinerant merchants, who had arrived an hour before our
illustrious travellers, were seated at a table, drinking, and discussing
their business affairs.

The arrival of three new guests in no wise disturbed the four men. They
glanced at them, and continued their conversation.

"I'll set plates for you here," said Goton, pointing to a table covered
with a glazed cloth.

"No, no," said Dubourg; "we can't eat our supper here; you may serve us
in one of the rooms where we are to sleep."

"But this is the eating-room."

"That may be," said Menard; "but monsieur le comte and monsieur le
bar--at all events, we don't choose to eat here."

These words caused the peddlers to raise their heads, and they
scrutinized the travellers, laughing contemptuously among themselves.
Menard, fearing that he had offended them, and dreading a scene, was
already in the passage, where he waited for the servant to come; while
Dubourg, who was not long-suffering, eyed the four drinkers in his turn.
Frederic, his mind still engrossed by his memories, paid little heed to
what was taking place.

"You see, Goton," said one of the four, with a sneering smile, "these
gents are too swell to eat in the same room with us. _Jarni_! we must
take care and not look at 'em too close; it might offend 'em."

"Nobody spoke to you," said Dubourg; "try not to be too insolent, or you
may be sorry for it."

"Oho! there's one of 'em who means to show his teeth!"

"For heaven's sake, monsieur le baron," said Menard, putting his nose in
at the door, "don't let this go any further! These gentlemen certainly
have no intention of----"

"Hallo! he's a baron!" exclaimed another of the peddlers; "I took him
for a Swiss liniment-maker, with his silk handkerchief across his
breast."

"Did you see their carriage?" said a third; "it's an old shack I
wouldn't put my donkey in!"

"The wretches! to talk so about King Stanislas's berlin!" said Menard;
but he made the remark in such a low tone that no one suspected that he
had spoken.

"Once more, hold your peace!" said Dubourg, "or we'll teach you whom you
have to deal with."

"Indeed!" said the peddlers, brandishing their cudgels; "perhaps we
might teach you something more."

Frederic, who had been silent thus far, took a pair of pistols from his
pocket, and, walking toward the table at which the four men were seated,
he said calmly:

"Messieurs, whatever may be the titles we bear, we are men, and we are
quite able to prove it; we are not accustomed to using clubs, but here
is something that will make matters even between us. Everyone knows how
to fire a pistol. Which of you would like to begin with me?"

"Yes," said Dubourg, producing in his turn a pair of pistols of heavier
calibre; "and this is for the man who comes forward next."

At sight of the pistols, the peddlers changed color and dropped their
cudgels; those who presume too far upon their strength to insult those
whom they deem weaker than themselves, generally appear very cowardly
and foolish when confronted by such arguments.

Goton shrieked when she saw the fire-arms; the innkeeper came limping
into the room, and Monsieur Menard, proposing to retreat to the end of
the passage, where it was quite dark, collided with the hostess, who was
coming to find out what was happening in the living-room.

The hostess, whose acquaintance we have not made as yet, was a woman of
fifty, short of stature, and almost as broad as she was tall. Her
corpulence had within a short time increased to such a degree that she
could hardly walk from her desk to the kitchen; even so, she had to make
a judicious and abundant use of flour to keep herself from chafing when
she walked. This difficulty in moving made her very sedentary; she
passed almost all her time in an armchair which the village carpenter
had made for her, of sufficient breadth to admit her enormous bulk. This
mode of life naturally caused her embonpoint to make rapid progress from
day to day. It was beginning to become disquieting, and the innkeeper,
limping as he did, took a long time to walk around his spouse.

She had heard Goton's outcry and her husband's exclamations, and,
suspecting that something extraordinary was taking place, she had left
her broad armchair and waddled along the corridor leading to the
living-room. As this corridor was narrow, her body closed it
hermetically and rubbed against the partitions on each side; so that it
was impossible for anyone to pass through in the opposite direction,
unless by jumping over her head or crawling between her legs.

It was this enormous mass with which Monsieur Menard collided when he
attempted to leave the field of battle, all his youthful vigor being
restored by the sight of the pistols. Despite the violence with which
the tutor hurled himself against her, the hostess did not waver; solid
as a rock, and upheld, too, by the walls of the corridor, the bulky dame
contented herself with crying in a shrill falsetto:

"What's all this? who is it?"

Menard, still dazed by the shock, was determined none the less to force
a passage, and he returned toward the person he had struck, hoping that
she had moved to one side or the other; he turned to the right and ran
his nose against a breast which rivalled that of the Hottentot Venus; he
stepped back and turned to the left, and collided with an arm that would
have darkened a window.

"Mon Dieu! where am I?" exclaimed poor Menard, who had no idea of what
he had come in contact with, and, still trying to go forward, lowered
his head like a ram; while the hostess cried, louder than ever:

"Who is it? what's he trying to do? where does he want to go?"

Her shrieks attracted the attention of the travellers, peace having been
restored in the living-room, since Frederic and Dubourg had exhibited
their pistols; the four peddlers had become more amiable and had
mumbled some apologies, with which the young men were content, having no
desire for a quarrel with such adversaries. So general attention was now
directed to the corridor.

"It's my wife's voice," said the innkeeper; "something very funny must
have happened to make her leave her chair!"

He hurried out into the passage with Goton, who carried a light; Dubourg
and Frederic followed them, and they discovered the hostess, who was
shrieking louder than ever, because the sound of approaching footsteps
had increased Menard's terror; he had resolved to pass at any cost, and,
being unable to force a passage on either side, had dropped on his hands
and knees and tried to crawl between the corpulent dame's legs. But she,
determined that the unknown, whom she believed to be a thief, should not
escape, could devise no better way of detaining him than to sit upon
him; so that she was fairly astride Menard, when light was thrown on the
scene.

Goton laughed uproariously, and the innkeeper was petrified with
amazement. Frederic and Dubourg tried to discover the meaning of that
amusing tableau.

"I can't stand it any longer," gasped Menard, in a dying voice.

"I've got him! he's caught!" exclaimed the hostess triumphantly.

The poor fellow was so effectively caught, that he would have been
stifled if not rescued. But the innkeeper, jealous of his chaste better
half, whom he regarded as the most beautiful creature to be found within
a hundred leagues, instantly stooped and pulled Menard from under his
wife's skirts, swearing roundly.

"You villain! sacrebleu! what was you doing under there? ten thousand
eyes!"

"Oh! he didn't do any harm, I promise you, ducky!" said the hostess
sweetly, to allay her husband's suspicions; while Menard, restored at
last to the light of day, struggled to his feet, with wig awry and
distorted features.

"Look ye, my friend," continued the innkeeper, "you didn't go in there,
sacrebleu! to look for violets, did you?"

Menard looked from one to another, with a dazed expression; he had not
fully recovered himself. Dubourg succeeded in adjusting matters to
everybody's satisfaction; he divined why Menard was trying to get away,
so he dispelled the host's suspicions, and reassured his wife concerning
the quarrel in the living-room. Then he ordered Goton to show them to
their bedrooms; which she did after the landlady had concluded to return
to her armchair and thus uncork the passage.

The best quarters that they could give our three friends consisted of
two very dirty rooms, with the ceiling rafters exposed, which cats and
spiders seemed in the habit of occupying in company with the guests of
the house. In each room there was a wretched bed, partly surrounded by
blue and white curtains resembling in design the common salad-bowl we
see in the country. Both beds were more than five feet high.

"These are modest quarters," said Frederic, with a smile; "but in war
time we must take what comes, and it's the same when we travel, eh, my
dear Menard?"

"To be sure; a night is soon passed, and these beds look comfortable."

"We shall need a ladder to climb into them."

"I see only two beds, monsieur le comte."

"Oh! don't worry about me," said Dubourg; "I shall not go to bed; I have
letters to write and despatches to send; and I will finish the night in
a chair."

"But I don't see any chairs, monsieur le baron."

"Never mind--a chair or a bench. When a man has slept in camp, he's not
hard to please. But the supper is a long while coming; I'll take a look
at the kitchen."

Dubourg went downstairs, and Frederic walked to a window which looked on
the fields. The moon was shining on the village, where the most perfect
quiet reigned. The young man mused upon the contrast between life in
Paris and in that hamlet; he reflected that, at that moment, when the
villagers had all retired, the fashionable inhabitants of the city were
at the play or at social festivities, exhibiting their fine clothes and
jewels, and seeking pleasure. But need one leave the city to find
striking contrasts? In the house where people are dancing on the first
floor, on the second there is mourning for the death of a husband or
father; on the third, a young man is making a passionate declaration of
love to his sweetheart; on the fourth, a drunkard is beating his wife;
on the fifth, a gambler is filling his pockets with gold preparatory to
going out; and under the eaves, a poor girl passes the night in toil to
earn bread for her mother.

While Frederic abandoned himself to such reflections, Monsieur Menard
inspected the beds, and was pained to find that what he had deemed at
first sight so soft and comfortable was but a wretched mattress, and a
straw bed itself nearly four feet thick.

"What an insane idea it is of these villagers to have such enormous
straw beds!" said Menard, as he examined the sheets, which scratched his
hand. "And I fancied that I was going to sink into a soft feather-bed!
These are terribly poor sheets! And yet, monsieur le baron says that one
is well taken care of here! I shall go to bed in my drawers. God grant
that the supper may make up for the rest!"

Dubourg had gone down to speak to his postilion, with whom he settled
his account, ordering him to leave the place before dawn; for he had
only three louis left of the twelve Frederic had lent him, and he was
not anxious to keep a carriage that he could not pay for. That business
adjusted, he prowled about Mademoiselle Goton, to whom he wished to say
a few words. The servant was inclined to look favorably on Dubourg,
because he had borne himself gallantly with the peddlers; for a
courageous act pleases a country wench no less than a _petite-maitresse_;
but Goton had to help her master in the kitchen, and then serve the four
men in the living-room, who seemed disposed to pass the night drinking,
and to postpone their departure till daybreak.

They laughingly toyed with the buxom servant, who had much ado to defend
herself from the familiarities of those gentry; but Goton was accustomed
to fighting with such clowns: she boxed the ears of one and kicked
another; she pinched and scratched, and the fellows found her all the
more seductive.

Being busily occupied thus in all directions, Goton could do no more
than whisper a word of hope to Dubourg, giving him to understand that
the peddlers would be gone at daybreak, her employers asleep, and
herself more at liberty. This promise delighted our friend; he was
talking with Goton at the foot of the staircase, and gave her a
resounding kiss. The girl ran away; but, on looking up, Dubourg saw
Menard, who had come out, with a candle in his hand, to ascertain
whether they were likely to have any supper, and was decidedly amazed to
see the Palatine of Rava embracing a dishwasher.

Dubourg, who was never disconcerted, went to meet him, saying:

"The Emperor Heliogabalus rewarded the cook who invented a new dish; I
embrace the person who informs me that our supper is ready."

Menard asked nothing more; he went back to Frederic with Dubourg, and
Goton laid the table in one of the rooms.

"Now to the table, and _vive la gaiete_!" said Dubourg, more at ease
since he was certain that he would soon be rid of his carriage. Menard
responded to the invitation by a gracious smile, and Frederic finally
decided to leave the moon and turn his mind to earthly affairs.

"Let us taste the wine first of all," said Dubourg; "is it the best, my
child?"

"Yes, monsieur; it's the best, for we haven't got any other."

"It's a little sour," said Menard, making a wry face.

"We have some white that's sweeter," said Goton.

"Go and get us some of the white, my dear; don't spare anything; you
don't have people like us to supper every day."

"No, indeed," said Menard; "and we will hope that the rabbit stew is
made with that understanding."

Dubourg served the stew; but the innkeeper, disturbed by his wife's
adventure in the corridor, had allowed it to burn, and Goton, being
constantly beset by the four peddlers, had put the onions in too late
and had not grated the bacon. Dubourg vainly insisted on declaring that
it had a delicious odor; Menard said nothing, because he dared not
contradict monsieur le baron; but his face grew darker with every
mouthful.

"What infernal kind of a stew is this?" said Frederic, pushing away the
plate that Dubourg persisted in offering him. "A rabbit that has had
nothing to eat but cabbage, raw onions, and rancid lard; and a
detestable burned taste, in addition."

"It can't be denied," said Menard, "that it doesn't come up to what
monsieur le baron told us."

"What do you expect, messieurs?" said Dubourg; "a cook must make
mistakes sometimes. _Errare humanum est_; isn't that so, Monsieur
Menard?"

"A cook ought never _errare_, monsieur le baron."

"It's partly your fault, too. You disturbed his mind; why in the devil
did you go prowling about under his wife's skirts?"

"I only wanted to get by, monsieur le baron."

"Only a husband should take that road, Monsieur Menard."

"My intentions were pure, monsieur le baron."

"I never doubted it; but your position was shockingly equivocal."

"Monsieur le baron, in the temple of Apollo, the pythonesses, seated on
the sacred tripod, received the prophetic exhalations under their
robes."

"If my wife had seated herself on that tripod, Monsieur Menard, I should
have asked for a separation."

Goton put an end to this conversation by bringing an omelet and white
wine.

"Were the gentlemen satisfied with the stew?" she asked.

"It was worse than the devil!" replied Frederic.

"It was a total failure," said Menard.

"My dear child," added Dubourg, "the rabbits in Bretagne don't smell so
strong of cabbage. They have fine rabbits there; but here you have a
very bad way of bringing them up."

"It would seem that monsieur le baron has passed a good deal of time in
Bretagne?" said Menard, respectfully putting out his hand to take a
pinch of snuff from the King of Prussia's snuff-box, which Dubourg
offered him.

"Yes, Monsieur Menard; and I admit that I still have a weakness for that
province. I have such delightful recollections of it! Ah! how lovely the
sky is in Bretagne! And the fields--how pretty they are! What rich
pastures, what enchanting groves! You can walk leagues and leagues
without once leaving the leafy thickets and flower-grown paths which
make the fields of Bretagne one endless garden."

"But Poland, monsieur le baron?"

"Oh! Poland has its good points, of course. Have you ever been there,
Monsieur Menard?"

"I have not had that honor, monsieur le baron."

"As you are not familiar with the country, I will talk with you often
about it."

"It must be a very interesting country."

"Extremely interesting, and extremely picturesque; first of all, we have
the Krapach Mountains, beside which Mont Cenis is no more than a little
hillock."

"Oh, indeed! they are covered with snow, of course?"

"Almost all the year. I have a chateau on the summit of one of those
mountains, where only chamois can keep their footing."

"But how do you reach your chateau, monsieur le baron?"

"I have had a winding staircase constructed inside the mountain; it cost
me a hundred thousand francs, but it's a wonderful piece of work, and
people come hundreds of miles to see it. I trust, Monsieur Menard, that
I shall have the pleasure of showing it to you, and of entertaining you
for some time at my castle of Krapach. I will give you a glass of a
certain tokay which came to me from Tekely's cellar; and you will tell
me what you think of it."

"Ah! monsieur le baron, you overpower me. But it must be very cold at
your chateau, is it not?"

"It used to be very cold, in truth, in the days of my ancestors; but,
thanks to recent scientific discoveries, I have found a way of modifying
the temperature--a very simple method, which answers my purposes
perfectly."

"What is it, pray, monsieur le baron?"

"I have built a gasometer under the chateau; gas, as you know, makes the
earth very warm; indeed, in some places directly over the pipes, I raise
green peas in January.--What is it, my dear count? drink, drink, or you
will choke!"

Frederic had, in fact, much difficulty in listening to this discourse,
which Dubourg delivered with imperturbable gravity, while Menard
listened with childlike confidence to every word uttered by the baron.

At that moment, the conversation was interrupted by a violent shock,
followed by an ominous cracking.

"Mon Dieu!" exclaimed Menard; "what can that be? This house doesn't seem
to be very solidly built."

"Can it be that they are firing cannon to celebrate our arrival in the
village?" Dubourg asked Goton, who replied, with a laugh:

"Oh! no, monsieur; it ain't anything; it's only madame going to bed,
that's all."

This explanation made the young men laugh; but Menard was not satisfied
until he was assured that the hostess slept on the same floor; he would
not have consented to pass the night on the floor below a woman who
shook the house whenever she moved; it was quite enough to remain under
the same roof with her.

The white wine, being a little more palatable than the red, enabled them
to eat an omelet with parsley, which Dubourg tried in vain to make them
think was tarragon. For dessert there was nothing to offer the
travellers except some Gerome cheese, which could have walked to the
table unassisted at need, and the odor of which drove Frederic from his
seat. He went to bed in the other room, bidding the servant wake him
early in the morning, as he had no desire to prolong his stay at the
inn. Monsieur Menard deemed it his duty to remain with the baron, who
plied him with bumper after bumper and went into raptures over the taste
of the cheese, which, he said, reminded him of what he had eaten in
Switzerland, thereby putting an end to the ex-tutor's desire to lunch or
sup in a chalet.

"Yes, Monsieur Menard," said Dubourg; "if you should go to Gruyere, a
small Swiss village noted for its cheeses, which are its only source of
wealth, you would smell a league away the chalets in which they are
made. When you have passed a night in one of them, you smell the cheese
for a week, an excellent thing for the lungs. But you must feel the need
of rest, Monsieur Menard; pray go to bed. I propose to pass the night
writing."

"Monsieur le baron, I shall never dare to take the liberty--before
you----"

"Why not, pray? Diogenes went to bed in his tub, before Alexander; and
Crates did not hesitate to show his rump to his fellow citizens."

"It is you who order me to do it, monsieur le baron."

"I don't order you to show me your rump, Monsieur Menard; but I urge you
to go to bed as if I weren't here."

Fatigue and the white wine combined to make sleep essential to Menard,
so he did not wait to be urged again; he went behind the flowered
curtains, and prepared to retire. Meanwhile, Dubourg, seated at a table
in a corner of the room, pretended to look over papers and take notes,
but he was really waiting impatiently for the tutor to fall asleep, in
order to give the postilion of the berlin the signal to go; for he was
afraid that Menard would wake early, and it would be very embarrassing
if the carriage were not then at a safe distance from the village. For
this reason, he was anxious to hasten the postilion's departure.

The gate was not closed; Goton alone would see what took place; Dubourg
knew how to assure her discretion.

It was a quarter of an hour since Menard had disappeared behind the
curtains. Dubourg thought that he must be asleep, and was about to go
downstairs, when he heard a suppressed groan from the direction of the
bed.

"Aren't you feeling well, Monsieur Menard?" he asked, partly opening the
curtains.

What was his surprise to find poor Menard, in shirt and drawers and a
cotton nightcap, standing beside the bed, and trying in vain to reach
the top with the aid of a chair which was too low to bring his short
legs on a level with the mattress.

"What, Monsieur Menard! not in bed yet?"

"No, monsieur le baron; I have been trying in vain for ten minutes to
climb up into my bed. Isn't it an outrage? I call it making fools of
their guests to give them beds that reach the ceiling! Everybody isn't
six feet tall; and unless one's a giant----"

"Come, come, don't get excited, Monsieur Menard; why didn't you call me
to help you?"

"Oh! monsieur le baron, I shouldn't have presumed to take the liberty."

"You were wrong, for you can't pass the whole night trying to climb into
bed."

Without awaiting a reply, Dubourg bade Menard stand on the chair; then,
placing his hands upon a certain rotund portion of the professor's
anatomy, he put forth all his strength to lift him into the bed.

"_Sic itur ad astra!_" he said.

"_Labor improbus omnia vincit_" rejoined Menard, trying to seize his
bolster.

"Ouf!" exclaimed Dubourg.

"I am there, monsieur le baron!" cried Menard, delighted to be safely in
bed at last.

"That's very lucky! Good-night!"

"A thousand thanks, monsieur le baron!"

When he left the bed, Dubourg was careful to remove the chair that stood
beside it, thus making it certain that Menard would not rise until he,
Dubourg, chose. This precaution might result in placing the tutor in an
unfortunate position; whether it did so, the sequel will show.

Menard had not been in bed five minutes before he was snoring
vociferously.

"Good! I am safe now," thought Dubourg; and, taking his light, he went
down noiselessly into the innyard. As he passed the living-room, he
glanced in: two of the peddlers were asleep on the table, the others
were still drinking; but everything indicated that they would soon
follow their companions' example.

Dubourg found his postilion, and, putting a five-franc piece in his
hand, ordered him to start at once. In a very few minutes, the horses
were harnessed, and the noble palatine's berlin was out of the village.

"But how are you going to manage about going away to-morrow?" queried
Goton, who had just joined Dubourg in the yard.

"Oh! we have another carriage, an excellent post chaise, which is being
repaired for us; as to what I have just done, I am going to tell you
what you must say; do you understand, Goton?"

As he spoke, he slipped two five-franc pieces into the girl's pocket; it
was a larger sum than the poor drudge often earned in six months at that
wretched inn, and the sight of the two great coins made her as docile as
a lamb.

"Oh! that's enough," she said, as Dubourg put his arms about her robust
figure; "that's enough! I'll say whatever you want me to; anyway, that
carriage was yours, and you could do what you please with it. _Jarni!_
you tickle me! don't pinch so hard! Oh! what a man!"

"Where is your room, Goton?"

"My room? I haven't got any room; I sleep in the little barn over there,
with the cow. _Dame!_ I don't have anything but an old straw bed on the
ground, because the missus says there's no use of wearing out sheets.
But it ain't cold there, anyway; Bebelle keeps me warm."

"Who's Bebelle?"

"Why, she's our cow. Oh! she's so soft and warm! But how he pinches!
Dieu! what a pincher you are!"

"Come to your room; we can talk better there; with you, Goton, the barn
becomes a boudoir, and straw, feathers."

"What's a boudoir?"

"Come, and I'll tell you."

"And what about the peddlers?"

"They don't need you any more; haven't they paid their bills?"

"Yes. Anyway, master knows 'em."

"In that case, there's no need of your sitting up any longer."

"But suppose they should want anything?"

"Two of them are sound asleep already, and the two others will very soon
be in the same condition. Come, I tell you; it's nonsense to sit up till
daylight for them. You need sleep, Goton."

The servant was half vanquished. She ceased to resist Dubourg's
arguments, and allowed him to lead her to the cow-barn, which they both
entered, closing the door behind them. The door had no other fastening
than a hook on the outside; but the girl slept there without fear, as
there were no robbers thereabout.

But one of the peddlers was not asleep; he, too, was engrossed by
thoughts of Goton, and he was waiting for his companions to lose
themselves in slumber before attempting to join the seductive servant.

This man had noticed that one of the strangers was prowling about Goton,
and it had irritated him; but he had not dared to watch him too closely,
being still held in respect by the recollection of the pistols.

When all three of his comrades had their heads on the table, he rose
softly and went out to look for Goton, knowing the location of her
bedroom. He took no light, in order not to betray his whereabouts, and
crept stealthily toward the cow-barn.

He was still some yards away, when he heard two voices saying some very
pretty things to each other; he crept nearer, and grasped the thread of
the conversation distinctly enough; for Dubourg and Goton, thinking
that their only neighbors were animals, were talking together without
restraint.

The peddler was furious, but how could he be revenged? He had no desire
to pick a quarrel with Dubourg; it would be a waste of time to call the
landlord, for that worthy man and his spouse always locked themselves in
their room to avoid being disturbed; besides, who would dare to assume
the task of getting the hostess out of bed? and, after all, what did it
matter to them that a guest was with their servant? they probably did
not consider themselves responsible for Goton's virtue.

The peddler determined to play some trick on the amorous couple. He
could think of nothing better than to hook the door on the outside,
which he did very softly, then stole away, delighted with his exploit,
and saying to himself:

"They won't get out of that place till someone lets 'em out; for the
door's a stout one, and I defy 'em to break it down."

He joined his companions; day broke ere long, and their business
required the peddlers to leave the inn. They were soon ready, and, as
they shouldered their packs, they listened to their confrere's story of
the trick he had played on the stranger. They all applauded him, being
overjoyed to be revenged on a man who had refused to be frightened by
their cudgels; and they went their way, laughing at the thought of the
scene that would take place at the inn in the morning.

During these occurrences, Menard did not continue in the same tranquil
state in which we left him. The white wine, with which monsieur le baron
had filled his glass so often, produced its due effect. Menard woke; he
turned over and put out his hand to find the chair, which he expected to
use as a means of descending from his bed; for in such wretched inns
there is never a night table. But to no purpose did he stretch out his
arm and feel about in all directions. He could find no chair! In that
case, how was he to climb down from that bed, which reached to the roof?
yet he felt sure that it was becoming absolutely necessary. He listened,
but could hear nothing; he put aside the curtains--the most profound
darkness reigned in the room. Monsieur le baron must have gone to sleep
in his chair, as he had planned to do; but, in any event, how could he
presume to ask the Palatine of Rava to give him the---- No, he could
never do that! On the other hand, to jump out of bed was to run the risk
of hurting himself, or at least of not being able to get back. It was
most embarrassing, and poor Menard, sitting up in bed, could not decide
what course to pursue.

Necessity knows no law, says an old proverb; besides, monsieur le baron
was so kind and good-natured and obliging! This thought emboldened
Menard; he coughed, gently at first, then a little louder; and finally
he ventured to call, in a low tone:

"Monsieur le baron--if you are not asleep, may I presume to ask you to
assist me? I am sadly embarrassed, monsieur le baron."

But at that moment Baron Dubourg was with Goton, busily engaged in
teaching her what a boudoir is, and that a garret, a thicket, a loft, a
cave, a kitchen, a cellar, or a barn may deserve that name when one is
in either of those places with one's love. And Goton understood the
lesson perfectly, because she was quick-witted, and because Dubourg, who
had had some experience, was an excellent teacher.

"Monsieur le baron must sleep very soundly," thought Menard. "What a
cursed place this is! this infernal bed, where I can't turn over
without pricking my legs--I believe the mattress is stuffed with oat
straw! Well, no matter what happens, I must try to slide down."

He had put one of his short legs over the edge of the bed, when he heard
a tremendous uproar in the room; a chair was overturned, a jug that
stood on it fell to the floor and broke, and a number of dark objects
scuttled along the wall and went out through the door. Menard was stiff
with terror.

"Monsieur le baron, monsieur le baron!" he called, in a stifled voice;
"is that you?"

There was no reply. The poor man had not the courage to leave the bed,
but buried his head under the clothes; his fright causing him to lose
all power of restraint, it soon became unnecessary for him to get out,
and he fell asleep without being further disturbed; for it was neither
thieves nor hobgoblins who had caused the tumult in his chamber, but
simply two cats, which, finding the door open, had paid a visit to their
usual place of abode. While fighting over a bit of rabbit, which
monsieur le baron had tossed under the table while declaring that it was
delicious, the beasts had overturned a chair on which was a jug of
water, and the noise had so terrified them that they fled incontinently,
abandoning the subject of controversy.

Meanwhile, the day had broken. The innkeeper quitted his chaste partner,
who rose at six but was not dressed until nine. Frederic woke, and so
did Menard, the latter being very uncomfortable for reasons which you
can guess. Dubourg, having no further instruction to give Goton, desired
to return to his room, and Goton found it harder than usual to leave her
pallet, because Dubourg's lessons had fatigued her. But the pretended
baron tried in vain to leave the shed. For five minutes he pushed and
shook the door, which did not yield.

"Goton--Goton, did you lock the door?" he asked.

"Naw! it don't lock," replied the girl, rubbing her eyes.

"But I can't open it."

"Push hard."

"I am pushing as hard as I can, but it won't open."

"Bah! you city folks haven't got any strength!" said the servant; and
she struck the door a violent blow with her fist, but without effect.

"_Jarni!_ someone must have hooked it outside."

"Who in the devil can have played us such a trick?"

"_Pardi!_ it must have been one of the peddlers--because they had their
eyes on me, don't you see? and perhaps they saw that you was in here."

"I haven't any desire to pass my day in this shed."

"I'll milk the cow for you."

"Much obliged."

"And you can tell me something."

"I don't know anything more. This smell of cow and filth goes to my
head."

"Oh! you said just now that this shed was a little--what d'you call
it?--a pretty little _bouloir_, with me."

"Oh! there's a great difference between _just now_ and _now_. A place
ceases to be agreeable, Goton, when you are compelled to stay in it. But
it's broad daylight; if that window wasn't so small, we could get out
through it."

"Oh! you can't do that."

"Ah! I have an idea! We must make the best of it. Bring that stone here,
Goton; stand on it with me, so that our heads will be near the window,
and then shout as I do."

"What will I shout?"

"What I do."

Dubourg put his face to the round hole over the door, and began to cry
at the top of his voice:

"Help! thieves! stop the carriage! thieves!"

"Where's the thieves?" whispered Goton.

"Will you do what I tell you to?" repeated Dubourg.

"All right; I'll yell, if it amuses you," rejoined the servant. And her
strong voice, reinforcing Dubourg's, soon aroused the whole household
and a good part of the village.

The innkeeper ran to the spot as fast as his left leg allowed, it being
two inches shorter than the other. Frederic came out of his room; Menard
sat up in bed, and succeeded, with his pupil's aid, in reaching the
floor. He dressed in haste, and went downstairs close on the heels of
Frederic, who had recognized Dubourg's voice and was more curious than
alarmed, suspecting some new invention on the baron's part. They all
went out into the yard, where they were joined by the neighbors and a
number of laborers on their way to work, who had been attracted by
Dubourg's reiterated shouts of:

"Thieves! stop the carriage!"

They looked about, but saw no carriage; whereupon Goton roared:

"Monsieur le baron's carriage has run off!"

The shed door was opened at last, and Dubourg rushed out like a madman,
raving and swearing, heedless of the fact that his trousers were stained
with filth.

"What's the matter, monsieur le baron?" queried Menard, in dismay.

"The matter? my berlin--that scoundrel of a postilion! he has run away
and taken it with him--with fifty thousand francs in gold that I had in
one of the pockets!"

"Oh! mon Dieu!"

"My father's berlin! the equipage of the Potoskis! It isn't the money
that I regret--but a berlin in which the Princess of Hungary---- Ah! my
friends, scour the country in all directions--follow every road--a
hundred louis to the man who brings it back!"

"A hundred louis to the man who brings back the carriage!" said Goton.

"They will be very smart if they overtake it," said Dubourg, in an
undertone; "it must be near to Paris now."

"But how did you come to be locked into the shed with Goton?" inquired
the innkeeper.

"I should think you might guess that. I heard a noise in the yard during
the night; I came downstairs softly and found my rascal harnessing the
horses, intending to make his escape while we were asleep. Unluckily, I
had no weapons, and the postilion is a much stronger man than I am. I
attempted to go to call you, but the villain seized me, and, despite my
resistance, forced me into the barn, where this girl was sleeping, and
locked us in there. We began at once to shout for help; but you sleep
like dead men."

"Yes, yes, that's how it was!" said Goton, understanding now why Dubourg
had told her to shout _thieves_.

"You must go to monsieur le maire," said Menard; "you must have the
police ordered out.--There's a mayor here, of course?"

"Yes, monsieur; the wine merchant; but he'll have to send to the next
village for the police, and that will take two hours."

"Don't be disturbed, my dear Menard," said Frederic, with a smile, "we
have a comfortable post chaise to take the place of monsieur le baron's
berlin."

"But fifty thousand francs in gold, monsieur le comte!"

"Oh! it isn't the loss of the money that distresses me," said Dubourg;
"my fortune can stand that loss. Luckily, I still have fifteen thousand
francs in my wallet, to pay my expenses for some little time; but I
especially regret my wardrobe; there was a great trunk under the
carriage, full of clothes and linen."

"Certainly," observed Frederic, with a mischievous glance at Dubourg and
Goton, "you need a change of clothing now; you must have fallen while
you were in the barn."

Dubourg looked at him with an expression that signified: "I don't know
why you need have called attention to that!" as he replied:

"I certainly didn't go in like a lamb; ask Goton how the rascal handled
me!"

"Oh! yes," said the servant, "he threw you down more'n four times."

"At all events, my friend, my wardrobe is at your service," said
Frederic.

"And mine too, monsieur le baron," added Menard, bowing to Dubourg; and
he went back to his room to finish dressing, the baron having promised
to go and lodge a complaint with the mayor.

Frederic's postilion came at last to inform the travellers that the
chaise was ready. Menard came down from his room, thanking heaven that
they were to leave that inn, which had been so disastrous to them. Goton
came down behind him, and whispered to Dubourg:

"One of your friends ain't very well brought up; a man of his age do
such things as that! If my little brother did it, he'd get a licking."

In two words, Dubourg learned what had happened; he could not help
laughing at the catastrophe, for which he was responsible; while Menard
glared angrily at the servant, who put out her tongue at him, shrugged
her shoulders, and followed him about, saying in an undertone:

"For shame! what a dirty trick! a man fifty years old! who ain't learned
to be clean!"

The carriage awaited the travellers, and they took their seats with much
satisfaction: Dubourg, overjoyed to be rid of his berlin; Menard,
impatient to leave Goton and the inn, for which he had conceived an
intense aversion; and Frederic, because he was much more comfortable in
the roomy, well-hung post chaise than in monsieur le baron's wretched
berlin.

Menard sighed once or twice for the seat that the Princess of Hungary
had occupied; but he still had to console him the King of Prussia's
snuff-box, and the prospect of drinking tokay from Tekely's cellar.




VI

THE LITTLE WOOD


Our travellers reached the next village without mishap, and stopped
there to breakfast. Menard admired the tranquillity with which their
noble companion bore the twofold loss of his carriage and his fifty
thousand francs.

"I am a philosopher, Monsieur Menard," said Dubourg; "and I care little
for money; indeed, I think that I should prefer mediocrity to a too
exalted station: _Magna servitus est magna fortuna_."

"You are no ordinary man, my dear Dubourg," said Frederic; "there are so
many people whose philosophy does not outlast their prosperity, like
the coward who boasts of his courage when the danger has passed."

"I certainly am not ambitious," rejoined Menard; "and I know how to bow
to circumstances; but I consider that it requires great strength of mind
to give up without regret a good table and a good bed; and when I say a
good bed, I don't mean a high one."

Dubourg observed that when they had breakfasted it was Monsieur Menard
who paid the bill.

"Don't you carry the purse?" he asked Frederic, in an undertone.

"No; my father gave the funds to Menard."

"The devil! that's a nuisance. What will he think, when he sees that I
never pay?"

"Why, after your saying that you had been robbed, did you add that you
still had fifteen thousand francs in your pocket?"

"Oh! why, why! because I wanted to play the great man, and not let your
companion imagine that you would pay my expenses."

"I don't dare to ask Menard for the money; I should be afraid of hurting
his feelings."

"Never fear; I'll undertake to make him turn it over of his own motion."

"How?"

"You will see."

"When you hold the purse-strings, don't play the swell too much;
remember that we shall not have any more for a long while."

"Can it be that you believe that I am still a rattle-head and gambler,
as I was in Paris? No, my dear Frederic, I am too well pleased to be
travelling with you, to make a fool of myself; I tell you again, I mean
to be a second Mentor."

"Yes; your performance in the cow-barn is a very promising beginning."

"Oh! but I had to invent some lie to account for the berlin."

"And that made it necessary to lock yourself in there with Mademoiselle
Goton! you ne'er-do-well!"

"Bah! don't make yourself out such a Cato! If Mademoiselle Goton had had
melancholy eyes and a sentimental cast of countenance, you would have
gone with her to pasture the cows."

"Well, at all events, I beg you not to do so much gasconading with poor
Menard, who believes every word; for, to remove any possible suspicion
from his mind, I have taken pains to tell him that I know your family
intimately, and that you are highly esteemed in Paris."

"You have done very well. I only tell him as much as I think necessary
to carry out my part; you don't seem to remember that I call myself a
Polish nobleman."

"That's the reason, I suppose, that you talk about nothing but
Bretagne!"

The travellers resumed their journey. Before reaching the town where
they proposed to pass the night, they had to ride through a dense
forest; and Dubourg, who had his scheme all prepared, began operations
by giving a serious turn to the conversation, for he was well aware that
one's frame of mind adds to or takes from the size of objects, and that
in real life, as on the stage, one must know how to prepare and lead up
to situations, in order that they may produce the greatest effect.

"I know nothing more delightful than travelling," said Dubourg; "why is
it that one's pleasure must always be lessened by the thought that some
unfortunate accident may upset all one's plans?"

"It is so with all the pleasures of life," rejoined Frederic; "can you
name one upon which we can rely for the morrow? It is a great joy to be
loved by the woman you adore; but when you feel sure that you are not
indifferent to her, when you rely on her heart and her oaths, some young
Adonis appears, who fascinates her; some handsome soldier, who turns her
head; some scintillating wit, who charms her mind--and that woman,
faithful until then, betrays you at the very moment that you feel most
confident of her love. Alas! the happiness of our whole future often
depends only upon some trivial circumstance, and crumbles and falls like
a house built of cards."

"Monsieur de Montreville talks very wisely," said Menard; "we are often
sadly disappointed in our hopes; how many times have I dined at a famous
restaurant, when the soup was a failure!"

"A philosopher endures such disasters, in fortune, in love, or in
pleasure," said Dubourg; "but there are things against which even
philosophy cannot prevail; as, for instance, being attacked and murdered
by brigands on the highroad."

These words made Menard shudder; his face lengthened, his expression
became anxious, and he turned to Dubourg, whose features wore a gloomy
look in which there was nothing reassuring.

"Such affairs are, in truth, very unpleasant for travellers. They say,
monsieur le baron, that travelling is very dangerous in Italy. You have
travelled so much, that you can probably tell us."

"Unquestionably there are brigands in Italy, Monsieur Menard. The
peculiarity of that country is that the roads are most dangerous at
noon, for no one but the brigands dares to face the hot sun at that
time of day. However, if there are highway robbers in the Apennines and
in Germany and England, unfortunately there's no lack of them in France.
It's quite as dangerous now to travel in France."

"What! in France, monsieur le baron? I thought that the roads were
perfectly safe."

"Then you don't read the papers, Monsieur Menard?"

"Very rarely."

"If you did, you would see that the forests of Senart, Bondy,
Fontainebleau, and even Villers-Cotterets, all have their bands of
robbers."

"Mon Dieu!"

"Unfortunately, the villains are becoming more savage day by day. They
used to content themselves with robbing you, but now they beat you with
clubs, and you're lucky if you leave their hands alive."

"The deuce! the deuce! if I had known this!" muttered Menard, looking
about him uneasily. They were just entering the wood.

"Oh! don't be alarmed, Monsieur Menard," continued Dubourg; "ordinarily,
the robbers confine their attentions to the one who has the money; he
has to pay for the others: they tie him to a tree and strip him as bare
as a worm, to make sure that he has nothing hidden in his clothing."

"That does not quiet my apprehensions at all, monsieur le baron; for, as
it happens, I have charge of the money for our journey."

"Oh! if I had known that, I wouldn't have told you. I thought that
Frederic---- But in that case you must sell your life dearly. You are
armed, of course?"

"I never use weapons, monsieur le baron."

"Then you must learn to use them; at this moment, we are driving through
a forest where three friends of mine were killed."

"What's that! in this wood? It does seem very dense."

And Menard glanced fearfully to right and left. It was beginning to grow
dark, and that fact added to his terror.

"Drive at full speed, postilion!" he cried, in a trembling voice.

But the postilion, who had received his instructions from Dubourg, did
not quicken his pace. Frederic said nothing, but seemed lost in thought,
and Dubourg took his pistols from his pocket and examined them
carefully, glancing into the woods from time to time.

"Parbleu! Monsieur Menard," he said, taking from his pocket a shabby
green wallet, in which he had placed his last restaurant bill to make it
appear well filled, "this contains my whole fortune for the moment. The
fifteen thousand francs which I now have for my travelling expenses are
in this wallet; as you have been obliging enough to take charge of
Frederic's funds, I am sure that you will consent to be my cashier, too;
there is no need of having two of us to pay our hotel bills; it's much
better that you should do it all."

As he spoke, he handed Menard the wallet; that worthy looked at it,
considering what it was best to do; although flattered by that mark of
confidence, he was not tempted to accept it.

At that moment, they heard a shrill whistle in the woods.

"Ah! what does that mean?" exclaimed Dubourg, glancing about with a
terrified expression.

"Perhaps we are going to be attacked, monsieur le baron."

"Faith! I am afraid of it."

"And Monsieur Frederic is asleep; pray wake him."

Frederic, pretending to be fast asleep, was an amused listener.

"There's no need of that.--Take these, Monsieur Menard," said Dubourg,
handing the tutor his wallet and his pistols; "they are loaded."

"Keep them, keep them, in heaven's name, monsieur le baron. I can't take
this wallet. On the contrary, if you were willing, you would be much
better able than I to take care of these."

And poor Menard produced in one hand his wallet, and in the other a
purse filled with gold, and fixed his eyes upon Dubourg with a suppliant
expression.

"Really," said the latter, "I don't know if I ought to undertake----
Perhaps Frederic will be offended if----"

"Oh! no, no, monsieur le baron; I am sure that he will approve of my
action."

"Here are four men with rifles coming toward us," said the postilion.

"Great God! we are lost!" cried Menard.

"Give them to me, quickly," said Dubourg, taking the wallet and the
purse; "I see that this is a matter for me to attend to."

Menard hid under the seat; the postilion shouted and swore, and lashed
his horses; Dubourg leaned out of the chaise and fired both his pistols
in the air; Frederic pretended to wake up; the carriage flew like the
wind, and in five minutes they were out of the wood.

"We are safe!" said Dubourg, assisting Menard to rise.

"Really, monsieur le baron?"

"We are out of the woods; there's no more danger. We had a narrow
escape, eh, Frederic?"

"And the robbers, monsieur le baron?"

"I killed two of them."

"I saw the other two run away," said Frederic.

"Ah! monsieur le baron, how lucky we were to have you with us!"

They arrived in due time at their destination. Dubourg was delighted to
be the treasurer of the party, and he inaugurated his functions by
giving the postilion a gold piece for whistling in the forest.




VII

DUBOURG CONTINUES TO PLAY THE GREAT MAN.--HIS METHOD OF MANAGING THE
TREASURY


Dubourg had never had in his possession so large a sum of money as that
which Menard had intrusted to him. Young men, as a general rule, are not
in the habit of hoarding money, and Dubourg, who was devoted to cards
and pleasure and good cheer, thinking only of the present, oblivious of
the past, and never worrying about the future, had not the faintest idea
of economy.

When he was a clerk in a government office, his salary was always so
largely hypothecated that he never received more than a third of it, and
that third never lasted more than three days, during which period, to be
sure, Dubourg lived like the chief of a bureau.

In the banking-house, being compelled to work hard, he took his revenge
by ordering dainty breakfasts brought to the office; and his accounts at
cafes and restaurants consumed a large part of the amount the cashier
paid him at the month's end.

At the notary's, he had contracted, with the other young men in the
office, the deplorable habit of playing ecarte. It was worse than ever
there: the month's pay vanished in one evening, and he was in luck when
he did not pledge the next month's as well.

In the employ of the solicitor, being constantly abroad with the lady
whom his employer intrusted to him, he lost the habit of working; he
passed his time in dissipation, and strove to follow the fashions and
rival the young dandies of the capital. During that period, his tailor,
his bootmaker, and his stableman had divided his income.

When his kind old aunt sent him money, it was never a large amount. The
largest was the five hundred francs which he had extorted by the fable
of his marriage and his triplets; we have seen what use he made of that.

Eight thousand francs--for the amount was almost untouched--was, in
Dubourg's eyes, a fortune of which he would never see the end. To be
sure, it did not belong to him, strictly speaking; but he could direct
the spending of it; he could do exactly as he pleased, for he was
certain of not being called upon for an accounting. He did not propose
to appropriate a single sou, but he did propose to put it to such use as
would do honor to him to whom it belonged, and he was not sorry to be
able to enjoy it with him.

He ordered a delicious supper, which was served in their apartments, the
finest in the house.

When he saw all the dishes with which the table was laden, Frederic
exclaimed:

"Why, are you mad, Dubourg?"--for he continued to call him by that name
before Menard, who had become accustomed to it--"here is supper enough
for ten!"

"I have an excellent appetite, my dear Frederic, and am disposed to do
full honor to it; I'll wager that Monsieur Menard will second me."

"With the very greatest pleasure, monsieur le baron; that affair in the
woods made a hole in my stomach."

"But you surely have condemned all the other guests of the house to a
bread and water diet."

"Faith! they may eat what they can find; it seems to me natural that we
should make up to ourselves for the miserable meal we had last night at
that horrible inn."

"I quite agree with monsieur le baron; we are sadly in need of restoring
our strength."

"But----"

"What the devil! do you want to travel like wolves? and eat at table
d'hote like paltry pedestrians? A man should support his rank, my
friend, and I judge, from the feeling, that my stomach isn't inclined to
backslide."

"Monsieur le baron talks very judiciously; you must support your rank,"
said Menard, accepting a chicken wing which Dubourg offered him; "that
is your father's wish, you know, Monsieur Frederic."

"Yes, my friend," said Dubourg, filling his glass with the oldest wine
that the cellar of the inn contained; "I think you should certainly
yield to your father's wish; and, on my word, all things considered, I
don't see why I should retain my incognito any longer. We're a long way
from Paris. I am done with it; I resume my titles, and I propose to be
treated with the honors that are due me."

"Oh! Dubourg, Dubourg! you will get us into some scrape," said Frederic,
in an undertone; but his friend paid no heed; he was excited by the
wine, and he had never felt in such high spirits. He drank glass after
glass, while Menard, with a glutton's delight, helped himself to
mushroom pie, the odor of which tickled his olfactory nerve.

"What do you think of my plan, Monsieur Menard?"

"That has always been my wish, as you know, monsieur le baron."

"It is settled; I am baron, palatine, et cetera; and we will make it
manifest wherever we go."

"Certainly, monsieur le baron; the nobility of your manners will always
cause you to be recognized for what you are."

"Bravo, Monsieur Menard! spoken like a true boon companion! But as to
Frederic, he is unworthy to sit at our table. A little more of this
hare, Monsieur Menard?"

"With pleasure, monsieur le baron."

"We must be philosophical--when we can't help it; but true philosophy
consists in making the most of life, in enjoying one's self whenever the
opportunity offers. _Dulce est desipere in loco_, says Horace. Eh,
Monsieur Menard?"

"Yes, monsieur le baron; but Juvenal advises infrequent indulgence in
pleasures: _Voluptatis commendat rarior usus_."

"Juvenal probably had a weak stomach."

"That is very possible, monsieur le baron."

"Another glass, Monsieur Menard; to the memory of Anacreon, Epicurus,
Horace, and all good livers!"

"We forget Lucullus, monsieur le baron."

"True; another bumper, to Lucullus!"

By dint of drinking to the memory of the ancients, the two were
beginning to lose all memory of the present.

"Faith!" cried Dubourg, rising from the table; "I defy all the palatines
of Rava, Cracow, and Krapach to eat a better supper!"

"Take care what you are saying, you infernal babbler!" muttered
Frederic.

"Never you fear," retorted Dubourg, speaking louder than ever; "I'll
answer for everything, I tell you; and Papa Menard is a man whom I
esteem and love, and whose eyes I will close with pheasants or
truffles."

Luckily, Menard was in such a condition that he could not distinguish
clearly what was being said. Bewildered by the frequent libations in
which he had indulged with his noble companion, he left the table to go
to his room. He felt his way along the walls till he reached his bed,
which he had ordered to be made very low. He retired, well pleased with
the feast he had enjoyed and with the baron's manner of doing the honors
of the table; he considered that he had done exceedingly well to intrust
the financial arrangements to him, for he himself would not have dared
to order so delicious a repast; and he foresaw that the baron, who
seemed to be both a gourmand and an epicure, would continue to feed them
on the fat of the land, as he had abandoned his incognito. In a word,
Menard was delighted with their travelling companion, and he fell asleep
musing upon the pleasures and the honor which he should enjoy on that
journey.

On the following day, Frederic attempted to talk prudence to Dubourg,
who instantly retorted:

"Do you want to take the funds? Do so, give such orders as you please;
it's your right. But, absorbed as you always are in melancholy
reflections, you won't feed us decently; and when you are travelling
for pleasure, it seems to me that food is a most essential thing to look
out for."

"But be reasonable, at least."

"Oh! you are greatly to be pitied, aren't you, for having two men with
you to keep you amused--one by his wit, the other by the way he puts
himself outside of a partridge."

"But what's the meaning of this idea of playing the great man before
everybody?"

"Because we shall have more sport. Besides, you are a count; I must be a
baron at least, in order to travel on equal terms with you."

"But the money will go much faster."

"Bah! we shan't see the end of it for a long while yet; and then, you
have a father, and I an aunt."

"I advise you to rely on them!"

"At all events, you see that your mentor approves of my method."

"Parbleu! you make him tipsy, and he doesn't know what he's saying."

"Don't worry; I'll answer for everything."

When they resumed their journey, the horses, which belonged to Frederic,
went like the wind. Menard was slightly dazed by the rapid motion, but
he said to himself: "These nobles always travel at full speed;" and
clung to the door to keep from falling.

At every inn, they were treated with the greatest respect, as men of
high rank. Everywhere they had the best rooms, the daintiest dishes, the
oldest wines. And Menard was delighted, enchanted, because he believed
that monsieur le baron had put his fifteen thousand francs with the sum
he had handed him, and because he judged him to be too large-hearted
and generous to give a thought to the difference between their
contributions.

In due time, our travellers reached Lyon, having paused on the way only
to admire an occasional view and to give their horses time to breathe.
But they proposed to pass several days in that city. Young Montreville
was very glad of an opportunity to see it and its suburbs, and, above
all, to visit the shores of the Rhone; and his two companions consented,
with pleasure, to tarry some time in a city where they could live as
well as in Paris.

They alighted at one of the best hotels. The noise made by Dubourg, the
distinguished aspect of Frederic, and the pains that Menard took to
repeat again and again: "You have the honor of entertaining Monsieur le
Baron Potoski, Palatine of Rava, and the young Comte de Montreville,"
attracted universal attention and consideration to the young men, who
seemed disposed to spend money freely, which is the best of
recommendations at a hotel.

They were quartered in a superb suite on the first floor. Their meals
were served in their rooms, and everything had to be of the best.
Dubourg was the one who gave all the orders; Frederic interfered with
none of the details, beyond saying to his friend:

"Be careful what you do."

Whereupon Dubourg would reply: "Never fear," with such confidence that
the young count finally allowed him to do as he pleased, without
remonstrance.

As for Menard, he was more enthusiastic than ever about the baron, to
whom he was indebted for such an agreeable life. Frederic often went out
alone to walk along the bank of the Rhone; fascinated by the beautiful
landscape he discovered, he sometimes did not return to the hotel until
night or the following day. Dubourg, like those liars who end by
believing in their own false-hoods, had so identified himself with the
part he was playing, that he would have struck anyone who expressed a
doubt as to his rank; he amused himself, during his friend's absences,
by displaying his magnificence in the city. Leaning nonchalantly on
Menard's arm, who, with his hat on the back of his head, the better to
see and be seen, carried himself very straight, walked with much
precision, and strove to assume an air that was both dignified and
affable, when he went out with monsieur le baron--Dubourg walked all
over the city, with a huge three-cornered hat, adorned with a black
plume and a steel buckle, which he wore after the style of one of
Moliere's marquises. To be sure, the rest of his costume hardly
corresponded with his hat; but it was no longer fashionable to wear
embroidered coats for walking, and Dubourg had confined himself to
having silver tassels attached to his military boots, considering that
there was a something Polish about them. He left his coat open, because
that gave him a more careless air, and he made frequent use of a huge
eyeglass hanging from his neck by a pink ribbon.

His extraordinary garb attracted every eye. Some took him for an
Englishman, some for a Russian or a Prussian; but if some curious
individual stopped and looked after him with a smile on his face,
Dubourg would flash a glance at him that put an end to any inclination
to laugh at his expense, and conveyed the impression that the stranger,
whoever he might be, was not of a disposition to endure being laughed
at.

But it was necessary to be in the neighborhood of our two friends only a
very short time to ascertain the identity of the gentleman in the plumed
hat, who sauntered along so gracefully with his glass at his eye; for
Monsieur Menard talked very loud, especially when he saw that someone
was noticing them, and never failed to emphasize the "Baron Potoski," or
"Monsieur le Palatine," when he addressed his companion; sometimes,
indeed, he went so far as to call him "Monseigneur de Rava et de
Sandomir."

They had been in Lyon a week. Frederic had not begun to tire of visiting
the beautiful suburbs of the city, but Dubourg was beginning to tire of
exhibiting himself in the public streets, arm in arm with Menard. They
had been to all the places of resort, all the theatres, and all the
cafes; everywhere, Dubourg played the great nobleman, and Menard
unwittingly acted as his accomplice; for the poor fellow was entirely
honest, and deemed himself highly honored to promenade with his pupil's
noble friend, who was always able to produce an apt quotation and
bewildered him by his anecdotes of travel in the four quarters of the
globe.

For several days, Dubourg had been urging Frederic to leave Lyon, and he
always postponed their departure to the next day, when one morning
Dubourg received a letter which put an end to his desire to go away.
This letter was addressed to _Monsieur le Baron Potoski, Seigneur
Polonais_. Dubourg read the superscription twice. Who could have written
to him, and by that name? He asked the landlady who had brought the
letter, and was told that it was a servant in livery, who requested that
it be delivered to monsieur le baron in person.

Dubourg hastened to break the seal, and read as follows:

    "Monsieur le Baron Potoski is invited to pass this evening with
     Madame la Marquise de Versac, who will be delighted to entertain
     the noble stranger, at his pleasure, during his stay in Lyon."

The marchioness's address was at the foot of the note, which Dubourg
reread several times, and which diffused an odor of musk and amber
through his room.

"The devil!" said Dubourg to himself; "an invitation from a marchioness!
This is decidedly flattering! But how does she know me? Parbleu! a man
very soon becomes known when he lives with a certain amount of style.
Besides, people must be beginning to talk about me, after I've paraded
the streets for a week with Menard, like a white bear."

Dubourg summoned the landlady again, and asked her if she knew Madame la
Marquise de Versac.

"The Marquise de Versac? I don't know her personally, but I know her
very well by name. It's one of the oldest and richest families in the
city, and I know madame la marquise has a magnificent country house on
the river, four leagues from Lyon."

Dubourg asked no more questions; he was in raptures. He dismissed the
landlady, and began to pace the floor, saying to himself:

"I shall certainly accept madame la marquise's invitation; the
acquaintance cannot fail to be exceedingly agreeable to me, and, who
knows? perhaps I may find there some baroness or viscountess whose head
I can turn; who will marry me, and endow me with estates and chateaux!
Well, what would there be so surprising in that? I am young, not
bad-looking; I have a certain style, which must have attracted Madame la
Marquise de Versac. But, deuce take me! what if she herself---- Ah! I
forgot to ask about that."

Dubourg rang again, and the landlady reappeared.

"I beg your pardon, my dear hostess," he said; "but I have reasons for
wishing to know if Madame la Marquise de Versac is married."

"She is still a widow, I think, monsieur; it's only three years since
Monsieur de Versac died, and since then I haven't heard----"

"Very good, very good, madame," said Dubourg, dismissing her again; and
he capered about the room, looking at himself in the mirror, and saying:

"She's a widow! there's no doubt about her being a widow still, or the
invitation would be in her husband's name. Now, this becomes
interesting: a very rich young widow, who has a magnificent country
house, and who writes me that she will be charmed to entertain me! for
that's what it says. Let's read it again: yes, 'delighted to entertain
you.'--It seems to me that that almost amounts to a declaration. You
shall entertain me, charming creature! I promise you. By the way, I
forgot to ask if she was charming, but it can't be otherwise; at all
events, I don't care so much for beauty, now; I am reasonable, I am more
attracted by solid advantages. This very evening she shall see the noble
stranger. But, damnation! when she finds out that the palatine is only a
humble bourgeois! After all, I am an honest Breton, and an honest
Breton's as good as any other man; besides, we haven't come to that yet.
I must begin by captivating her. When a woman is fascinated, does she
recognize ranks and distances? Love equalizes everything: the lord of
the thunder loved simple mortals, and the shepherd Paris had it in his
power to lie with the loveliest goddesses in Olympus. To lie with Madame
de Versac, I'll give her all the apples she wants."

Menard made his appearance while Dubourg was strutting about his
bedroom, trying to assume a courtly air. As soon as he caught sight of
the tutor, he thrust the letter into his face, crying:

"_Tolle, lege_, my dear Menard."

Menard recoiled, because the odor of musk exhaled by the letter made him
ill.

"Doesn't that smell rather like a marchioness, eh?" said Dubourg,
inhaling the perfume ecstatically. "Well, Menard, what do you say to
this letter?"

"I see nothing surprising in it, monsieur le baron; you must be
accustomed to receive similar ones wherever you go."

"True, you are right, Menard; I don't mean to imply that I am surprised;
I say that the note is well turned, eh?"

"Very well turned, monsieur le baron."

"It was evidently written by a woman who knows her man, wasn't it?"

"Certainly, monsieur le baron, she must know him."

"But I mean that it doesn't resemble such notes as--as little Delphine
had the presumption to write me."

"Who was this Delphine, monsieur le baron?"

"Oh! she was a little countess, on Boulevard du Temple, whose receptions
used to be attended by a large number of noblemen of my stamp."

"Monsieur le baron will accept Madame la Marquise de Versac's
invitation, of course?"

"Accept it? most assuredly. Let us dine at once, Monsieur Menard, so
that I need think of nothing but dressing. Where's Frederic?"

"Admiring some new view, no doubt; he told me that he should not return
till evening; I think he intends to leave Lyon to-morrow."

"To-morrow! Oh! we'll see about that; we have all the time there is, and
we're very comfortable here, aren't we, Monsieur Menard?"

"Very, monsieur le baron; but, you know, we are traveling for----"

"I know that we shouldn't leave a city till we know it thoroughly, and
Frederic can't know this city yet, as he's always in the suburbs. You
must persuade him of that, Monsieur Menard."

"I will do my utmost, monsieur le baron."

Dubourg ate little dinner; he was too much engrossed by thoughts of his
evening to have any appetite; a child does not eat, when his father has
promised to take him to the play. We are big children; the anticipation
of a new pleasure always produces the same effect on us.

Dubourg deliberated concerning his toilet. If he had had time, he would
have ordered a dress-coat; but he must needs be content with one of
Frederic's, who was much more slender than he, so that he could never
button it. Should he go in top-boots? That would be rather too informal,
his hostess being a marchioness. But he had no trousers; Frederic's were
too small for him, and it was not the same with them as with a coat,
which one is always at liberty to leave unbuttoned. Menard would lend
him a pair, but they would be too large; so he decided to go in boots;
he was a foreigner, a Pole, that fact would be his excuse; moreover,
his silver tassels pleased him immensely.

At eight o'clock, Dubourg had been dressed more than an hour, and was
pacing the floor of his room, his plumed hat under his arm, practising
dignified bows, graceful smiles, and a noble bearing. He had put the
whole contents of his treasury in his pocket, and, having no watch, he
thought for a moment of taking his steel loop from his hat and placing
it in his fob; but it might be recognized as having been on his hat, so
he contented himself with a red ribbon, of which he showed only the end.
The clock struck nine at last, the hour at which one may decently appear
in society; a carriage was waiting; he entered it, and gave the driver
the address indicated on the note.

The carriage stopped in a lonely street, before a house of poor
appearance. Dubourg alighted. A lackey, there being no concierge, stood
at the door of the house, apparently posted there as a sentinel; and he
lost no time in ushering Dubourg up a dirty staircase, at the foot of
which were two lamps that seemed surprised to be there. But Dubourg was
going over in his mind the sentence he had prepared for his salutation
to the marchioness, and he did not notice the uncleanness of the house.

The servant opened a door on the first floor and entered an anteroom,
wherein the eye sought in vain any article of furniture; although it was
dimly lighted, the spots of grease on the walls and the soiled,
discolored floor could be plainly seen. But the servant led Dubourg
through this room at a rapid pace, and, opening another door into the
salon, announced in a loud tone:

"Monsieur le Baron Potoski!"

At that name, there was a great commotion in the salon, and a lady rose
and rushed forward to meet Dubourg, expressing in the most cordial terms
her pleasure in receiving him as her guest.

Dubourg answered whatever came into his head; he walked into the room,
saluting to right and left, and dropped into a chair beside the Marquise
de Versac, whom he then took occasion to scrutinize. He saw that he had
been wise not to indulge his imagination in advance. The mistress of the
house was a woman who seemed to be fully forty-five years of age,
despite the care with which she had blackened her eyebrows, reddened her
lips, and whitened her complexion. She was fashionably dressed, but her
gown, which had a long train, seemed to embarrass her; her head was
overladen with flowers and ribbons, and a triple necklace of pearls
embellished a long, yellow neck, rising pitifully above a pair of
fleshless shoulders, which the marchioness was barbarous enough to
expose to all eyes, as if they were pleasing to the sight.

Dubourg did not stop to examine all that; he remembered what his
landlady had said to him, and tried to think the marchioness charming.
While she addressed him in the most flattering terms, he cast a glance
about the salon.

An antiquated chandelier, suspended from the ceiling, lighted the room,
which was very large; the hangings must once have been handsome, but
were beginning to show too many signs of age. The floor was covered with
an immense rug, which was never made for a salon. The covering of the
furniture was of two colors: there was a blue ottoman and yellow chairs;
and the latter were not alike. In default of a clock, there was an
enormous jar of flowers in the centre of the mantel, and a number of
candlesticks on either side. Several card-tables of different sizes
completed the furnishing of that salon, which seemed to Dubourg to be
quite as venerable as Madame de Versac's family.

Having examined the room, Dubourg turned his attention to the company.
There were only three ladies besides the marchioness. One, who seemed to
be about sixty years old, and who was called the baroness, talked
incessantly of her estates, her chateaux, her property, and her
servants; she talked so loud that there was not a moment's silence. A
young woman, who was rather pretty, but seemed rather awkward, and did
not open her mouth except to laugh or to say _yes_ or _no_, was called
the Vicomtesse de Fairfignan; while the third, who was apparently about
thirty years old, and whom they called Madame de Grandcourt, was half
reclining on the ottoman, evidently disposed to flirt; for she cast
languorous glances at all the men, and made abundant use of her eyes,
which had been handsome, but were so encircled with black that her
eyebrows seemed to extend all the way round.

There were seven or eight men in the company; all of them seemed to be
counts, or barons, or chevaliers, but not one of them, either in dress
or bearing, gave any sign of wealth or rank. Monsieur le chevalier had a
frock-coat, the sleeves of which were so short that they were far from
reaching his wrists; and when he drew his handkerchief, he took great
care to turn his back and conceal it from the company.

The count wore torn lace wristbands, and a ruff stained with liquor and
tobacco. He seemed to take great satisfaction in displaying his hands,
which were covered with huge rings with red and yellow stones; but the
blackness of the hands themselves produced a curious effect beside the
wristbands and the jewels.

The baron, who had his hair powdered, and seemed much embarrassed by his
queue, which kept getting inside his collar, wore a new black coat and
an old pair of nankeen trousers, over which dangled charms in the shape
of fruit and shells.

The other men were dressed in the same style.

"Sacrebleu!" thought Dubourg, astounded by the aspect of all those noble
personages; "if my landlady hadn't told me what she did about the
Marquise de Versac, I should imagine that I was at an old-clothes
dealer's, with a parcel of counts from Rue Vide-Gousset."

Meanwhile, the conversation did not flag. Everybody talked and laughed
at once. They manifested the greatest consideration for Baron Potoski;
the marchioness overwhelmed him with attentions, the old baroness
invited him to visit her in the country, the viscountess smiled upon
him, and Madame de Grandcourt flashed glances at him the meaning whereof
was not at all equivocal, while the men applauded everything he said.
Dubourg was flattered by these attentions, for the shrewdest and
cleverest men generally allow themselves to be cajoled by anything that
flatters their self-esteem.

Punch, liqueurs, and sweetmeats were served, and the whole company
pounced upon them. The old baroness drank like a porter, the viscountess
stuffed herself with cakes, and the languorous Grandcourt swallowed two
glasses of punch in rapid succession, exclaiming that it was not strong
enough.

Dubourg imitated his neighbors; he helped himself to punch, and
complimented Madame de Versac on the liveliness of her company.

"Oh! we don't stand on ceremony," she replied; "what's the use of
tedious formalities between people who are all as good as one another?"

"True, you are right; I like this sort of thing," said Dubourg,
beginning already to feel the effects of the punch. "Etiquette is a
burden that people of sense should leave at the door."

"Ah! Monsieur de Potoski, you talk like Bareme!" said the old baroness,
returning to the punch. "You are a palatine of the old stock."

"Not very old, madame."

"But the best, at all events," said Madame de Versac, resting her foot
lightly on Dubourg's; whereupon he turned and tried to gaze tenderly at
her, at the same time passing his hand behind the marchioness, who
allowed him to take liberties without seeming to notice it, which
Dubourg considered very patrician behavior.

"For my part, I like to talk nonsense," said the young viscountess, who
was beginning to venture upon a sentence or two, now that she had eaten.
"It makes me tired when[B] everyone's sober-faced."

    [B] "_Ousqu'on_ est serieux," instead of _quand on_, etc.

The viscountess's _ousqu'on_ made Dubourg wince; Madame de Versac
noticed it, and made haste to whisper to him:

"She's a German; she speaks with a strong accent."

"But aren't you going to give us something to do this evening, madame la
marquise?" said the chevalier, pulling at his sleeves to lengthen them.

"That's so, my love," said the baroness; "why don't we play cards?"

"Ah! yes, let us do something," said Madame de Grandcourt, rolling her
eyes seductively; "I must always be doing something."

"Perhaps Monsieur de Potoski does not play?" said the marchioness,
turning to Dubourg.

"I beg your pardon, madame; I shall be very glad to play."

"In that case, I will start the tables. You are sure that you care to
play, baron?"

"With great pleasure, madame," said Dubourg, overjoyed to have an excuse
for removing his hand, which he was tired of holding behind Madame de
Versac's back.

Several games of ecarte were begun. The chevalier proposed a game of
_creps_ for the ladies; whereupon Dubourg said to himself:

"It seems that the ladies of the best society have tastes very different
from their sisters of the bourgeoisie; perhaps madame la marquise is
fond of _biribi_ too."

Monsieur de Potoski found himself at an ecarte table with the count,
whose lace cuffs did not prevent his dealing the cards with rare skill.
The game soon became animated. A tall, thin gentleman, who stood near
Dubourg, bet rolls of twenty-five louis on his game, which he placed on
the table without unrolling them, and which passed rapidly into the
count's pockets, the tall man, whose threadbare costume might have led
one to take him for an unfortunate petitioner for alms, seeming to pay
no heed whatever to his loss.

"These men play a very noble game," said Dubourg to himself; and, not
choosing to be outdone by the person who was betting on him, he doubled
his stakes, and his money passed into the hands with the lace cuffs. But
the punch circulated freely; to please Madame de Grandcourt, it had
been made much stronger; the company began to get excited and the game
became animated.

Madame de Versac seated herself beside Dubourg.

"I mean to bring Monsieur de Potoski good luck," she said, sitting close
against him, and showing a row of teeth set like a wild boar's tusks.

"I trust that you will change the luck, madame!" observed Dubourg, who
had already lost more than a thousand francs, which he was determined to
win back. Madame la marquise made no other reply than to place her foot
lovingly on his. With each game that Dubourg lost, she bore down a
little heavier, and tried to make him forget his bad luck by saying
sweet things to him; but Dubourg did not listen.

"I hope to see you often, Monsieur de Potoski."

"Yes, madame.--Ten louis more, this time."

"I am a bold player," said the count; "I'll take whatever you bet."

"Yes, of course, monsieur le comte will give you your revenge," said the
marchioness, "if you lose to-night."

"If I lose!" muttered Dubourg; "I should say so! almost two thousand
francs! What a breach in my cash-box!"

"You must come to my country house on the Rhone, my dear Potoski. I
insist on your coming."

"Yes, madame la marquise; yes, most certainly.--The king is always in
the other hand! it's the most extraordinary thing!"

"We will walk in my park."

"Beaten again!"

"We will enjoy the fresh, cool breezes in the evening."

"It's stifling here!"

"Pray take something."

"I should be glad to take back just what I have lost."

"Do you remain long in Lyon?"

"The devil take me if I know!"

And Dubourg, who had lost three thousand francs, and was tired of
feeling madame la marquise's foot on his, rose abruptly and walked about
the room.

Madame de Grandcourt was stretched out on a long chair in a corner. A
short man with whiskers and moustache sat on a stool almost at her feet;
he had passed one arm about his charmer's waist, and the hand of the
other was screened from view by the folds of a faded satin gown.

The old baroness and the young viscountess were playing _creps_ with the
chevalier. The faces of the ladies were much flushed; the baroness had a
glass of punch before her, and was gazing with glassy eyes at the dice,
shrieking and disputing over a ten-sou piece which she would not admit
that she had lost. The viscountess had recovered the use of her tongue
by eating sweetmeats, and she indulged in frequent solecisms which must
have opened Dubourg's eyes if he had been himself; but he was not; his
losses had disturbed his mental balance, already shaken by the punch and
liqueurs. He strode about the salon, looking without seeing, listening
without hearing the marchioness's compliments, and passing his hand
across his forehead as if to tranquillize his thoughts. He tried to go
away, but returned again and again to the card-tables, saying to
himself:

"I absolutely must win back my three thousand francs!"

He took a seat at the _creps_ table and called to the count, who was
talking in a corner with the man in the threadbare coat who staked rolls
of louis which no one saw.

"Monsieur," said Dubourg, raising his voice, "I trust that you will not
refuse to give me my revenge at this game, at which I may perhaps have
better luck."

"With great pleasure," replied the count with the lace cuffs.

He hastened to the _creps_ table, which the viscountess and baroness
instantly quitted; indeed, they soon left the salon, as did Madame de
Grandcourt; but Dubourg was too intent upon his game to observe the
disappearance of the ladies.

All the men formed a circle about the _creps_ table. Dubourg was allowed
to choose whether he would punt or be banker. He chose the latter, and
madame la marquise, seated close beside him, took pains always to pick
up the dice and the box and hand them to him. Dubourg lost; he no longer
knew what he was doing; he threw dice and dice-box on the floor. Someone
proposed _trente-et-un_, and he accepted; that finished him; in less
than half an hour, the rest of the contents of his cash-box vanished. He
felt in all his pockets, in his fob--not a sou! he had lost everything,
and the money was not his! He did not speak, but paced the floor for
some moments, pale and haggard, biting his lips, clenching his fists,
and uttering a fierce oath from time to time. The candles began to go
out; the counts and chevaliers whispered together and seemed
embarrassed; the marchioness withdrew to a corner of the salon, not
deeming the moment favorable for treading on Monsieur de Potoski's foot.

At last, Dubourg, throwing off his depression, seemed to have determined
upon his course. He went to get his hat, which he had placed under a
chair, and left the room, slamming the door violently behind him; he
passed through the anteroom, where four tall fellows, only one of whom
was in livery, were busily drinking, opened the door into the hall, and
started downstairs. Not until he was halfway down, and attempted to put
on his hat, did he discover that he had a wretched tile, without band or
lining, which someone had substituted for his fine hat with a plume.

"By heaven, this is too much!" he exclaimed, turning back; "not content
with having filched my money, they propose to filch my hat too! Ah! my
worthy counts and chevaliers, we'll see about that!"

Dubourg rang the bell violently; no one came. He rang again, and beat
the door with his hands and feet, until at last it was opened.

"What do you want?" demanded the servant in livery.

"What do I want? I want my hat, which your chevalier of
I-don't-know-what has taken instead of his own miserable tile."

"There's no hat of yours here."

"What's that, you blackguard! you dare to tell me that?"

"Hold your tongue, monsieur! don't make so much noise in the house;
madame la marquise don't like it."

"Go to the devil with your madame la marquise, who lets people pinch her
wantonly so as to fleece them! I insist on going in; I'll find a way to
get back my hat."

"You cannot go in! Help, my friends! Here's a man who means to make
trouble!"

The three others ran to his assistance. They seized Dubourg by the
shoulders; he struggled and fought to no purpose, being the weaker
party. They forced him down the stairs, yelling and calling them curs
and thieves, as well as their employers. The four tall rascals made no
reply, but pushed him into the street and shut the door in his face.

"Ah! the villains!" he cried, rearranging his clothes, which he had come
near losing with all the rest in the struggle he had had. "Ah! the
scoundrels! What a fine evening I have had, to be sure! Ouf! I've a good
mind to stone the house and break the windows. But, no, I think I'll
call--probably the watch will pass before long."

He stood in the street a moment, undecided as to what he should do. But
it was very late, the street was deserted, and by remaining there he ran
the risk of being arrested himself; he reflected that he was a stranger
in the city, and that he had assumed a title which did not belong to
him. All these reasons led him to decide to wait until morning before he
sought to obtain justice at the hands of madame la marquise. Meanwhile,
it behooved him to find the way back to his hotel.

But how could he show his face before Frederic and Menard, after losing
all the money they had intrusted to him? He had nothing left, and they
owed a considerable sum at their hotel.

Dubourg tore his hair and beat his breast as he strode through the
streets of Lyon. At last he arrived at the hotel, and addressed himself
in the following words:

"Whatever happens, I must end by making the best of it. Even if I should
pass the night chastising myself in the street, it wouldn't bring back a
sou to my purse. So I may as well go to bed; to-morrow, we'll see about
getting out of the scrape."




VIII

BEHOLD HER!


Frederic, when he returned to the hotel during the evening, found Menard
seated alone before the remains of a chicken with which the quondam
tutor had passed a part of the time since Dubourg's departure. Surprised
not to find the latter, the young count inquired of Menard as to his
whereabouts, and was told that monsieur le baron had gone to pass the
evening with one of the leading families of the city, from whom he had
received an invitation.

It seemed very strange to Frederic that Dubourg should receive
invitations at Lyon, where he knew nobody, and he feared that this
"leading family" might be an invention of his friend. However, he was
careful not to convey his suspicions to Menard, but simply informed him
that he proposed to resume his journey the next day.

"Monsieur le baron isn't in such a hurry as he was," said Menard; "he is
very well pleased with Lyon."

"Why, only this morning he urged me to leave the place!"

"This invitation seems to have changed his views."

"Monsieur le baron may do as he pleases, but we shall start to-morrow."

Menard made no reply, but went to bed, considering that his pupil was
taking great liberties with such a man as the palatine; and Frederic
did the same, although he was somewhat disturbed by Dubourg's absence.

Early the next morning, Menard and the young count met in the room where
they were accustomed to meet for breakfast. But Dubourg did not appear.

"Can it be that he stayed out all night?" asked Frederic.

"I beg your pardon, monsieur," said one of the servants of the hotel;
"monsieur le baron came in about three o'clock this morning; he seemed
very tired, and he is still in bed."

"What folly to sit up all night when we were to start to-day! But where
in the devil has he been?--Go and tell him that we are waiting for him."

After some time, the servant returned and announced that monsieur le
baron was sick and could not rise.

"The rascal must have been drunk last night," thought Frederic; and,
followed by Menard, who began by rubbing his nose and temples with
vinegar to ward off contagion, he went to Dubourg's bedroom. They found
him in bed; he had pulled his nightcap over his eyes and tied his
handkerchief over it, and his face wore such a piteous expression, that
one would have thought that he had been confined to his bed in agony for
three months.

Menard halted in the middle of the room and held a smelling-bottle to
his nose, saying in an undertone to Frederic.

"Mon Dieu! how he has changed!"

"What's the matter with you, in heaven's name, my poor Dubourg?" said
Frederic, taking the hand of the sick man, who had employed every known
means to give himself an attack of fever.

"Alas! my dear friend, I feel very ill."

"How did it come on?"

"Ah! it was brought on by something that happened--a terrible adventure;
the shock of it was the cause of my illness."

"You must see a doctor, first of all."

"I will go for one, and an apothecary too," said Menard, who was anxious
for an excuse to go out into the open air.

"No, no, my dear Monsieur Menard," Dubourg interposed, in a faint voice;
"I don't like doctors; we have plenty of time. Hippocrates himself said:
_Vita brevis, ars longa, experientia fallax_."

"Very true, monsieur le baron; but the same Hippocrates says in another
place----"

"Oh! for heaven's sake, drop Hippocrates!" cried Frederic, fancying that
he could read in Dubourg's eyes that he was not so ill as he chose to
appear. "As you won't have a doctor, do at least tell us the cause of
your illness, this terrible adventure----"

"Yes," said Menard, taking pains to seat himself as far as possible from
the bed, where he could get the air from the hall. "Let us know if it
might become contagious."

Dubourg sat up in bed; he raised his eyes heaven-ward, uttered two or
three plaintive groans, pulled his nightcap still further over his eyes,
and began his tale in a most heartrending tone.

"The excellent Menard has undoubtedly told you that I received yesterday
an invitation to one of the first houses in the city. At all events,
that is what our landlady assured me--otherwise----"

"Yes, he told me that--what next? explain yourself!" said Frederic,
impatient at Dubourg's roundabout way of reaching the facts.

"Gently! I am in no condition to go so fast, my dear Frederic.--Well, I
started out in a cab last night, after making a careful toilet."

"Yes; I noticed that you took one of my coats."

"You know perfectly well that I lost my wardrobe with my berlin."

"Well?"

"By some fatality, it happened that I put the purse containing the whole
of our fortune in the pocket of your coat."

"Ah! this begins to look bad," whispered Frederic, while Menard, even
more disturbed than he, began to draw his chair nearer.

"Well? go on."

"Well, monsieur le baron?"

"Well, my dear and noble friends, on leaving that brilliant society,
where, to tell the truth, I stayed rather late, I found no carriage at
the door. I was alone, in a street that I did not know. Suddenly four
cutthroats leaped upon me. Alas! I had no weapons, but I defended myself
like a lion. But all in vain! They beat me and threw me down, and the
worst of it is that they robbed me of all the money I had about me."

"Great God! and you had our funds?" cried Menard.

"I did."

"And your own fifteen thousand francs?"

"Everything--every sou, I tell you. There is nothing left, except what
you two have about you. They took everything, even my superb hat, with
its steel buckle worth sixty francs."

"What a catastrophe! what are we to do?" exclaimed Menard, who was
terribly distressed to think that, after living like lords, they were
reduced to living by their wits.

Frederic said nothing; he was suspicious of Dubourg's tale; and that
worthy, perceiving his incredulity, tried to overcome it by crying every
minute:

"What a fatality! to be attacked and robbed! Such things happen to
nobody but me!"

"Indeed, monsieur le baron, you do seem to be unlucky," said Menard,
remembering the theft of the berlin.

"With whom did you pass the evening?" inquired Frederic.

"With Madame la Marquise de Versac."

"With Madame de Versac! That's very extraordinary, for I saw her
yesterday at her country house."

"You saw her! What do you mean? Do you know her?" cried Dubourg, in a
voice that did not at all resemble an invalid's.

"Madame de Versac came to my father's house several times, when she was
in Paris last year. In the summer, she lives at her country house. I saw
her there yesterday, I tell you, and she reproved me gently for not
coming there to stay with her; she certainly did not come back to the
city."

"Great God! what do I hear? How old is this marchioness?"

"Not over twenty-eight; her town house is on Place Bellecour."

"Ten thousand cigars! that was a contraband marchioness! What an
infernal fool, not to have discovered it!"

Dubourg jumped up and down in his bed, rolled himself up in the
bedclothes, snatched off his nightcap and threw it on the floor, while
Menard cried:

"Monsieur le baron is mad; I am going to fetch an apothecary!"

The tutor left the room, and Frederic was not sorry, for it gave him an
opportunity to have an explanation with Dubourg; but for several minutes
he absolutely refused to keep still; he was in a frenzy at the
recollection of the soi-disant counts and chevaliers. He dressed in hot
haste, swearing that he would find his baron with the watch-charms, his
threadbare chevalier, and his blackleg with lace cuffs; that he would
break the baroness's remaining teeth, beat the viscountess, and
horsewhip madame la marquise.

At last, Frederic succeeded in making himself heard.

"So you gambled last night, you wretch, did you? and that is where our
funds have gone?"

"Ah! my friend, beat me, kill me! I know that I am a good-for-naught.
But, really, you would have done the same in my place. When a person
assumes a respectable name---- For my part, I went there in all
confidence, hoping to make an advantageous match. I heard people all
about me talking of nothing but 'my estates, my chateaux, my servants,
my millions'--as I would say 'my cane' or 'my hat.' And then, they dazed
me with attentions and liqueurs. Still, I ought to have noticed that
there was a suspicious look to it all; but what can you expect?
Unluckily, I am not accustomed to good society. I took the pressure of
one woman's foot for patrician manners, and another woman's blunders in
grammar for a German accent. We played cards,--I confess that I love
cards,--and they stripped me of everything, even to my hat! But they
haven't seen the end of it!"

"Where are you going?" said Frederic, trying to detain his friend, who
had taken his shocking old hat as if to go out.

"Let me go, let me go! I am going to hunt up my blacklegs, and
perhaps---- Wait here for me."

Dubourg opened the door just as Menard returned with an apothecary's
clerk, who had a sedative potion in each hand.

Dubourg roughly pushed the tutor aside when he tried to stop him, and
descended the stairs four at a time, while the tutor collided with the
apothecary, who fell to the floor with his potions.

"We must send somebody after him," said Menard, thinking that Dubourg
was in a high fever. Frederic had some difficulty in inducing him to
dismiss the apothecary, by assuring him that the baron was very much
better.

Dubourg betook himself to the residence of his false marchioness, whose
address he had retained. He was obliged to go on foot, and he no longer
assumed the air of a great noble. The eyeglass would have accorded but
ill with the wretched tile, which was not half large enough for him. But
at that time he was thinking exclusively of his money, not at all of his
costume. When he reached the house he had visited the night before,
which he readily recognized from having scrutinized it carefully in the
night, he entered the hall, the door of which was open, went upstairs,
and looked and listened, but neither saw anybody nor heard a sound. He
rang at the door of the apartment from which he had been ejected so
roughly, but no one answered the bell. He rang again and again, with
increasing violence, until the bell-pull came off in his hand, but the
door remained closed.

"Open, you rascals, you blacklegs! or I'll go for a magistrate," cried
Dubourg, putting his mouth to the keyhole. Finally an old woman appeared
on the landing above and asked him why he was making such an uproar.

"I want to speak with the people who live here on the first floor," he
replied.

"There's no one living there now, monsieur; it was let furnished to a
woman who went away this morning before daybreak."

Dubourg was petrified. He realized that he could not hope to recover his
money. He returned slowly and dejectedly to the hotel, and joined
Frederic and Menard with an expression of utter dismay.

"Well, what about the robbers?" inquired Frederic.

"Ah! my friend, they have fled."

"I was sure of it."

"But you have entered a complaint with the magistrate, surely, monsieur
le baron?"

"I have done all that there was to do, Monsieur Menard; but I fancy that
we may say good-bye to our money."

"In that case, what are we going to do?"

"That is what we must consider.--How much money have you, Monsieur
Menard?"

"Not more than two louis."

"And you, Frederic?"

"I have about ten."

"That isn't enough to pay our landlord, for we must owe him at least
three hundred francs."

"What! hasn't he been paid?"

"Who ever heard of making people of our sort pay in advance?"

"But think how extravagant we have been!"

"We had to live; and what difference does it make whether we owe one
hundred francs or three hundred, as we can't pay?"

"However, we cannot leave this hotel without settling our account, and
we cannot continue our journey without money."

"That would be rather difficult, to be sure," said Menard.

"I see but one way to get any," said Dubourg, "and that is to apply to
Monsieur le Comte de Montreville. He certainly won't leave his son in
straits."

"Ask monsieur le comte for money, when it isn't three weeks since we
left Paris! What will he think?" murmured Menard, with a sigh.--"What if
monsieur le baron should write to his steward at Rava or Krapach?"

"Why, I would write in a moment, but it's so far!--It would take at
least two months to get an answer, because at this time of year the
mails are greatly delayed by avalanches."

"What, monsieur le baron, in summer?"

"Summer is the season when the snow melts. Pardieu! if it was winter,
they could make half the distance on snow-shoes. We couldn't wait all
that time in this inn; we must have money at once."

"My dear Menard," said Frederic, "you really must apply to my father."

"Well, I will write him what has happened to monsieur le baron----"

"No, no; you are the one he gave the money to, and you are the one who
was robbed; it's useless to mention me. Just imagine that you were the
one who was robbed last night."

"Come, my dear Menard, write my father a most pathetic letter."

"The deuce! that's a very hard task."

"I'll dictate to you, if you choose," said Dubourg.

"You will oblige me very much, monsieur le baron."

So Menard took the pen, and Dubourg dictated the following letter:

    "MONSIEUR LE COMTE:

    "I have the honor to inform you of our safe arrival at Lyon, where
     I was attacked at night, as I was returning to our hotel, and
     robbed of all that we possessed; which places us in a very
     embarrassing position, from which we beg you to extricate us as
     soon as possible. Monsieur your son is as well as Esculapius
     himself; the journey seems to have done him a vast amount of good.
     He bids me offer you his most respectful homage."

Menard signed this letter, to which Dubourg desired Frederic to add a
few affectionate words. But Frederic had never lied to his father, and
he preferred to write nothing rather than to try to deceive him.

The letter was mailed, and they had no choice but to await the reply.
Luckily, their landlord did not seem at all disturbed. Moreover,
Frederic had a chaise and horses, which, at need, would bring more than
enough to pay their bill; that fact set his mind at rest, but he none
the less urged his companions to spend less on the table. Dubourg,
however, did not agree with him; he thought that such a course might
arouse suspicions of their plight, and Menard was once more of monsieur
le baron's opinion.

Frederic resumed his wanderings; but Dubourg abandoned his street
promenades with Menard; after parading his fashionable costume and
playing the wealthy palatine on the public thoroughfares of Lyon, he did
not care to show himself in a shabby hat and with a long face; he was
convinced that people would divine that he was penniless: there are so
many men who owe their self-confidence and their assurance entirely to
the money they have in their pockets, which alone gives them aplomb in
society.

Dubourg passed his days talking philosophy with Menard, who was no
philosopher, but listened attentively to the baron, whom he considered a
man of profound learning, though he was no longer so overjoyed to have
him for a travelling companion, because, when he recalled their
adventures, from the time that the palatine had overturned them into a
ditch, it seemed to him that Monsieur de Potoski carried about with him
a monumental ill luck, of which they had already felt the effects.

After ten days, they received a reply from the count; it was addressed
to Monsieur Menard, but it was Frederic who, with a trembling hand,
broke the seal.

"See what there is enclosed, first," said Dubourg.

They found a draft on a Lyon banker for six thousand francs.

"Good! here's something to help us endure papa's reproaches," said
Dubourg; "now let's read his letter."

Monsieur de Montreville wrote to Menard these few words only:

    "I place no sort of credence in your fable of robbers, but I am
     very glad to forgive my son's first escapade; I trust, however,
     that it will make him more prudent. I send you some money, but do
     not rely upon the like indulgence again."

"He didn't believe us," said Frederic.

"I am very much afraid that he is angry," said Menard.

"Oh! don't be alarmed; he'll cool down. Hereafter, we will travel like
three little pasteboard Cupids; we will be virtuous, orderly; in short,
true philosophers--which need not interfere with our living well,
because that is necessary for our health; eh, Monsieur Menard?"

"_Credo equidem_, monsieur le baron."

"But no more pomp and parade; I resume my incognito."

"What, monsieur le baron!"

"Yes, Monsieur Menard; at all events, with six thousand francs we
couldn't play the grandee very long--I mean, live up to our rank."

"But, monsieur le baron, when you have received answers from Rava and
Krapach?"

"Oh! then it will be different; but I fear we shall not have them for a
long time. As to the funds, I think that we had better let Frederic take
charge of them. He is calm and cool, and that is what we need in a
cashier."

"It's a great pity," muttered Menard; "we lived so handsomely when
monsieur le baron paid the bills!"

All their plans being made, they paid their hotel bill; it amounted to
eight hundred and fifty francs for the three weeks they had passed
there, so that the count's remittance was seriously impaired at the
outset; but meanwhile they had been lodged and fed like lords. Dubourg's
only sentiment was regret at their inability to continue the same mode
of life; Menard sighed as he thought of the delicious repasts they had
enjoyed; and Frederic observed to Dubourg, in an undertone:

"My friend, if we had continued to go so fast, we shouldn't have gone
very far."

Monsieur le comte's horses were sold, and they arranged with a
stable-keeper to journey from Lyon.

"These two halts have cost you dear, monsieur le baron," said Menard; "a
berlin and fifty thousand francs the first time, and fifteen thousand
the second! A man could not travel long at that price!"

"My mind is at rest now, Monsieur Menard; I defy anyone to rob me.
Socrates found his house large enough to receive his friends, and I
shall find my purse full enough so long as Frederic pays for me."

Menard had no reply to make to that; the comparison did not seem to him
a happy one.

Instead of taking the road to Turin, Frederic gave orders to drive
toward Grenoble; he desired to visit that city and its suburbs,
especially the Carthusian monastery, whose wild aspect astounds and
almost terrifies the traveller. Dubourg was in no hurry to reach Italy;
it mattered little to him in which direction they went. Moreover, since
his last misadventure, he did not presume to offer his advice. As for
Menard, he was always ready to yield to Frederic's wishes, but the name
of the Carthusian monastery made him shudder; he was afraid that his
former pupil would want to take up his quarters in some hermitage, and
he felt no sort of inclination for a frugal life.

As they drew near the banks of the Isere, the country became more
picturesque, more mountainous, and more impressive. The fields were
interspersed with thickets; the brooks, after trickling across a plain,
plunged in foamy cascades over steep cliffs. How different the scene
from the noisy suburbs of Paris and the lovely landscapes of the Rhone
valley! The picture was more serious, more majestic perhaps, disposing
the mind to pleasant reverie, and wafting one's thoughts far from the
turmoil of great cities.

"What a beautiful country this is!" said Frederic; "I find here an
indefinable charm which fascinates my heart as well as my eyes. How
pleasant it is to drive along these shady roads!"

"And dream of Madame Dernange, I suppose?"

"Oh! no, Dubourg; she has been out of my thoughts for a long while, I
assure you, as have all the rest of the coquettes I knew in Paris."

"Well, what do you dream about, then, in your long, solitary walks?"

"Alas! I don't know; I dream of a being I have never seen, a woman who
is lovely, sweet-tempered, loving, and, above all, faithful!"

"And you look for her on the banks of a brook?"

"I don't look for her; I am waiting for chance to bring us together."

"If chance should wait for thirty years or so, you would both be a
trifle mature."

"Oh! Dubourg, how irritating you are! you have no idea of love!"

"Love, my friend, is a doll that everyone dresses according to his own
fancy;--isn't that so, Monsieur Menard?"

"I cannot answer from experience, monsieur le baron."

In due time they arrived at Grenoble, where they dismissed their driver.
Their arrangements there were not the same as at Lyon; but although the
hotel was less palatial, they had an excellent table; poultry was
abundant, and the wine very good. Monsieur Menard and Dubourg made the
best of it.

On the day following their arrival, Frederic and his companions started
off to visit the Carthusian monastery. Dubourg, having ceased to play
the grand seigneur, was quite as willing to accompany his friend as to
remain with Menard, and the latter decided to go along, although he was
a poor walker, and Frederic, the better to enjoy the country, proposed
to go on foot.

The monastery, which they reached after half a day's walk, first appears
to the visitor surrounded by mountains covered with firs, by fertile
valleys and rich pasture lands. Approaching by Fourvoyerie, you follow a
road hewn out of the solid rock, with a rushing mountain stream on the
left, and a perpendicular cliff sixty feet high on the right. One
inevitably feels an unfamiliar sensation, a blending of wonder and
alarm, at sight of that wild landscape.

They stopped to examine the peak called L'Aiguille, which towers above
the gate of the Grande Chartreuse. Frederic was lost in admiration,
Dubourg looked calmly at the rock, and Menard sighed; but the hospitable
welcome they received at the Chartreuse revived the poor tutor's
spirits; while he agreed that there were many superb views in that
region, he felt that he preferred his little fourth-floor room on Rue
Betisy to the most picturesque cell in the monastery, where, moreover,
fast-days were very numerous. It is not given to everybody to appreciate
the beauties of nature; and it was with extreme delight that Menard
started to return to Grenoble, although Frederic proposed that they
should sleep at the Chartreuse to avoid overtiring themselves. Menard
declared that he was not tired, and that the walk of five leagues had no
terrors for him; so they set out, after dinner.

The sun was just setting and our travellers were still four leagues from
Grenoble, because Frederic paused every instant to call his friends'
attention to a valley, a windmill, or a lovely view. Every time that
Frederic stopped, Menard sat down on the turf, and they had much
difficulty in inducing him to rise again. The worthy man was not a
great walker, but he summoned all his courage and took the liberty of
clinging to the arm of monsieur le baron, who was the most good-natured
fellow in the world when he was not putting on the airs of a palatine.

Frederic's attention was attracted by strains of rustic music.

"Come," he said, "let us go down in this direction; I see some villagers
dancing below; let us enjoy the picture of their merrymaking."

"Come on," said Dubourg; "there are probably some pretty girls among the
dancers."

"Let us go," said Menard; "we shall have a chance to rest and refresh
ourselves."

They descended a hill into a valley bordered by oaks and firs, where
there were assembled the people of a small village which could be seen
farther up the valley. It was the local saint's day, and the peasants
were celebrating it by dancing. The orchestra consisted of a bagpipe and
tambourine, but that was quite enough for their purpose. Happiness shone
on every face; the girls wore their best gowns, and the coquettish
costume of the village maidens of that province makes them most
attractive, as a general rule. The older people were seated a little
apart, chatting together and drinking, while their children danced.

Menard seated himself at a table, and called for refreshments. Dubourg
prowled about the dancers, making sweet speeches to the prettiest
peasants; while Frederic, after watching the picture for some time,
walked away from the dance, along the bank of a stream which wound in
and out among the willows on the edge of a dense forest.

He had walked so far that the notes of the bagpipe hardly reached his
ears, and was about to return to his companions, when, on turning his
head, he espied, within a few paces, a young girl seated on the bank,
looking toward the valley with a bewitchingly sweet expression, and
smiling at the dance, which she could see in the distance; but there was
in her smile a tinge of melancholy which seemed to be a natural part of
it. She was apparently fifteen or sixteen years of age. Her garments
indicated poverty, but her charms made one overlook them. Beautiful fair
hair played in curls about her innocent brow, her features were refined
and delicate, her mouth graceful and smiling, and her soft blue eyes
wore a pathetic expression of gentle melancholy which harmonized with
the pallor of her complexion.

Frederic stopped and gazed at the young woman; he could not tire of
contemplating her. Why was she there, alone by the brook, while her
companions were making merry and dancing? Why that melancholy
expression? It was only a moment since Frederic's eyes had fallen upon
her, and his interest was already awakened; he longed to know all about
her; it seemed to him that his heart already shared her sorrows.

At that moment, several couples passed along the path on their way to
the dance. Frederic accosted a peasant woman, and said, pointing to the
girl sitting by the brook:

"Pray, who is that pretty child, and why doesn't she join in your
sports?"

The villagers stopped and replied, with a compassionate glance at the
girl:

"Oh! monsieur, the poor dear don't dance! That's Sister Anne."

Frederic, surprised, expected some further explanation; but they went on
toward the dance, repeating sadly:

"That's Sister Anne."




IX

WHAT WAS SHE DOING THERE?--THE VILLAGE DANCE


The peasants had gone, but Frederic remained on the path among the
willows, where the last rays of the sun cast but a feeble light. He was
still gazing at the girl, who did not see him because, being no longer
able to see the dance, she had let her head fall on her breast, and her
eyes were fixed on the water flowing at her feet.

What did those women mean by those words: "Poor dear, she don't dance.
That's Sister Anne"?

Frederic was deeply impressed by the tone of commiseration in which this
was said. The villagers seemed to pity the lovely child, and to consider
it perfectly natural that she should take no part in her companions'
pleasures.

What grief, what possible cause, could keep that pretty girl away from
those scenes of merrymaking? Although her charming features wore an
expression of gentle melancholy, she did not seem to be agitated by any
recent sorrow; on the contrary, she seemed placid and calm; she smiled
at the brook which rippled at her feet, and her soul was evidently as
pure as the water in which her face was reflected.

The girl was, as it were, wrapped in mystery, and Frederic longed to
solve that mystery. Anything that concerned Sister Anne was no longer a
matter of indifference to him. He walked toward her very softly; he was
close beside her, and she did not raise her eyes.

"How is this?" said Frederic, in a trembling voice; "you do not imitate
your companions? They are dancing within a few yards, and you stay by
yourself in this lonely spot?"

At the sound of Frederic's voice, the girl turned her head and started
back in alarm; but, in a moment, reassured by his gentle tone, she
became calm again, and simply rose and moved away from the brook.

"Have you some trouble, some profound sorrow? Can it be that you, young
as you are, are already acquainted with unhappiness? If it were in my
power to lighten your burden, I should consider myself very fortunate."

The girl glanced at him with an expression in which melancholy
resignation was blended with gratitude. She fastened her lovely eyes on
his for a moment, then, with a graceful courtesy, started to walk away.
He took her hand and gently detained her. She seemed surprised, yes,
frightened, and withdrew her hand from the young man's, who was already
pressing it.

"You are going away," said Frederic, "without answering me, without
deigning to say a word to me?"

The girl's eyes became even more expressive, as if animated by
indescribable pain; in a moment, they were filled with tears, which
trickled down her almost colorless cheeks.

"Great heaven! you weep! can it be that I am the cause?" cried Frederic,
seizing the poor child's hand again. She made a sign, as if to say that
it was not his fault. A faint smile broke through her tears; but she
withdrew her hand again, and, darting into the thickest part of the
wood, as light of foot as a fawn, she speedily disappeared.

He took a few steps in the same direction; but it was quite dark, and he
could not see where she went. So he returned to the stream and stopped
at the place where she had been sitting.

Frederic could not as yet fully realize his feelings, but he was
conscious of a sentiment for that girl more tender, more intense, and at
the same time much more delicious to his heart, than any of his previous
passions. When he lost sight of her, his heart beat violently; it seemed
to him already that she was something to him. What grace, what charms!
But why that melancholy and that silence? They called her Sister Anne:
what was the significance of that title of _Sister_? Did she belong to
some religious order? But, no; her costume did not indicate anything of
that kind, and she was free to go where she chose. But there was an air
of mystery about her.

"Lovely girl!" thought Frederic, looking toward the forest in which she
had vanished; "I propose to find out all about you; I propose to see you
again and to allay your grief. I feel that I love you already; yes, I
love you; not as I loved all those coquettes who deceived me, but as you
deserve to be loved; for I read sincerity and innocence in your eyes.
Ah! how happy I should be, if you should come to love me some day!"

But it had grown quite dark; it was time for him to join his companions.
Frederic regretfully left the willow-bordered path where he had seen
Sister Anne; but as he returned to the valley, he said to himself:

"I will see her again; I absolutely must! I won't mention her to
Dubourg; he would laugh at me; he believes that all women are alike; he
has no conception of love.--Poor child! I will soon find out why you
don't take part in your comrades' sports."

The dancing had become very spirited; the villagers abandoned themselves
with zest to the pastime; joy and happiness were depicted on every face.
The songs of the drinkers blended with the music of the bagpipe and
tambourine. The young men squeezed their sweethearts' hands as they
danced, the maidens smiled sweetly at their lovers, the mothers at their
little ones, and the old men at their bottles. Each smiled at what he
loved best, as if in gratitude for the pleasure it afforded him.

Menard, who had seated himself between two sturdy drinkers, listened
calmly to the gossip of the neighborhood, eating a salad the while, and
clinking glasses with his neighbors; for pride is unknown in the
village, and Menard never exhibited that sentiment inopportunely--that
is to say, he knew enough to make it subordinate to his appetite.

Dubourg, forgetting his titles of nobility, had joined in the dance. He
was capering about with a pretty brunette, with bright eyes, a retrousse
nose, and an exceedingly shapely leg. The peasant girl was not at all
intimidated by her elegant partner; on the contrary, she kept saying to
him:

"Come, why don't you dance? you don't move at all!"

Dubourg performed his dainty little Parisian steps, which are so highly
esteemed in the salons of the capital; but to the villagers that was
nothing more than walking, and the girl said again and again:

"Can't you dance better'n that? What kind of dancing do you call that?
Come, you must kick up your heels, or I'll take another partner!"

Thereupon Dubourg, who did not want her to take another partner, made a
telegraph of his arms and legs, and kept them in motion incessantly.
Menard, watching his performance from his table, said to his neighbors:

"There's monsieur le baron dancing a polonaise with your young women!
Look, my boys, that's the way they dance at Cracow, and on the Krapach
Mountains! How dignified it is! how graceful! What pretty steps he takes
_per fas et nefas_!"

Menard's neighbors opened their eyes to their fullest extent,
understanding nothing of what he said. But Dubourg's partner was
content, and he, seeing that she was inclined to look favorably on him,
ventured to steal a kiss; but she instantly retorted by boxing his ears,
for the village damsels of the suburbs of Grenoble do not resemble the
Gotons of the suburbs of Paris.

Frederic stood near the dancers, but paid no heed to the animated
picture before his eyes. He fancied himself still in the lonely path,
and saw, in his imagination, the girl sitting beside the stream.

Dubourg joined him, having left his partner because he saw that he would
have nothing but his capers and prancing for his pains, and because the
cuffing the peasant had given him had cooled his ardor for the dance.

"Where on earth have you been?" he asked; "you left us at just the wrong
time."

"I have been taking a walk."

"What a tireless walker you are! But it seems to me that it's time for
us to walk to Grenoble, which is still four leagues away."

They joined Menard, who complimented Dubourg on his dancing. Frederic
inquired the shortest way to Grenoble, and a young villager offered to
guide them part of the way; but Menard did not seem capable of walking
four leagues, and even Dubourg was dismayed by the distance. The
villager suggested his farm horse, on condition that they should ride
him at a footpace. The suggestion was gratefully accepted by Dubourg and
Menard; the latter rode behind, clinging fast to the baron. Frederic
went on foot with their guide.

The weather was superb, and the fields were bathed in moonlight. The
forests of fir rose majestically on their left hand, and the smith's
hammer alone broke the silence of the night. As they passed a forge, a
bright glare would efface for a moment the moon's bluish light, and cast
a reddish gleam over the landscape. The voices of the workmen blending
with the clang of the hammer inspired Dubourg to say to Menard:

"Do you hear the Cyclops forging Jupiter's thunderbolts?"

And Menard replied:

"Not for all the gold of Peru would I venture among those people alone,
at night."

And he dug his heels into their charger, which did not quicken its pace.
Dubourg and the tutor were a little behind the others, because the road
was very stony and the horse could make but slow progress. The guide was
a boy of twelve, ingenuous and frank like most mountaineers.

"What is this village we are leaving?" Frederic asked him.

"Vizille, monsieur; it's the prettiest village round Grenoble."

"Do you live here?"

"Yes, monsieur; I was born here."

"Do you know----"

Before completing his question, Frederic turned to see if his companions
could hear him; but they were more than fifty yards behind. Dubourg was
talking about Bretagne, and describing to Menard how the people lived
there. Frederic saw that he could talk with their guide without any fear
of being overheard.

"Do you know a young girl in the village, who is called Sister Anne?"

"Sister Anne? oh! yes, monsieur; of course I know her. She don't live
just in the village, but her cottage ain't far away. Poor Sister Anne!
who is there that don't know her, hereabouts?"

"Why, you, too, seem to pity her? Is she so very unfortunate, pray?"

"_Dam'_! of course I pity her; her story is very sad."

"Do you know it?"

"Yes, monsieur; my mother's told it to me more than once; everybody in
our village knows it."

"Tell me the story; tell me all you know about Sister Anne; speak, my
friend, and be sure not to forget anything."

As he spoke, Frederic put a silver coin in the boy's hand; he was much
surprised to be paid for such a simple thing, and artlessly began his
story, of which Frederic, walking close beside him, did not lose a
word.




X

SISTER ANNE'S STORY


"Sister Anne's mother was a lady named Clotilde, who was sweet and
pretty, so they say. She belonged to a rich family, and wasn't brought
up like a peasant girl; she knew ever so much, but she and her husband
came and lived in our village. Folks said it was a love match, and that
Clotilde chose to have her lover and a cottage instead of the fine house
she could have had with another husband.

"Clotilde and her husband lived happily for some time in our village;
they had a daughter first, little Anne, who was as pretty as her
mother--but you've seen her, haven't you, monsieur?

"Four years after, they had another child, a boy; and they were very
glad, and the little girl never left her little brother. But, before
long, the poor things had lots of trouble: a big storm beat down their
crops, so they lost them; and poor Clotilde was taken sick. Then her
husband couldn't see any other way to support his wife and children but
to enlist. So he sold himself as a substitute, gave all the money to
Clotilde, and went away.

"'Take good care of our poor children,' he says to her.

"Clotilde felt so bad to have her husband go away that she couldn't do
anything for a long time, and little Anne took the whole care of her
brother, because she loved him with all her heart. Her mother used to
say to her:

"'Take good care of your brother; perhaps he won't have anybody but you
to support him before long.'

"A whole year passed. Clotilde's husband used to write often at first,
but all of a sudden his letters stopped. There had been a battle--for in
those days they were fighting all the time.

"Poor Clotilde's husband was killed. The folks in the neighborhood heard
of it, but no one was brave enough to tell her; and Clotilde kept
expecting to hear from him long after he was dead.

"Every day, the poor woman used to go to the top of a hill, where you
can see the road a long way in the direction of Grenoble; that was the
way she expected to see her husband come. She often passed whole days
sitting at the foot of a tree, looking at the road where she saw her
dear husband the last time.

"When anybody saw Clotilde there, they'd try to comfort her by talking
about her children, but she'd say in a sad voice:

"'Anne is with her brother; she never leaves him; she'll be a second
mother to him.'

"You see, the little girl was only seven years old, but she surprised
the whole village by her intelligence and her loving care of her
brother. The poor little fellow didn't see anybody but her most of the
day, but he always had all he wanted. His Sister Anne dressed him, put
him to sleep, played with him, and tried to guess what he was going to
want; so her name, Sister Anne, was the first word he ever spoke, and
everybody in the village called her that, and spoke of her as a model of
sisterly affection; she has gone by that name ever since.

"One day, Clotilde went out as usual, to go where she always used to go,
and left Sister Anne with her brother. Their mother didn't come back at
the usual time. The little boy kept on playing, but his sister kept
looking out into the fields and saying:

"'Why don't mamma come?'

"When the night came, Clotilde hadn't come home. If Anne had been alone,
she would have gone to the village and all around, to ask if anyone had
seen her mother. But she couldn't leave her brother; he was a treasure
that had been given to her to take care of, and she couldn't think of
leaving him for an instant. At last, the poor girl decided to put her
brother to bed, for he was only three years old and needed his sleep;
then she sat down by his bed to wait for their mother. Every minute she
suffered more and more; she couldn't help crying, and she kept saying to
herself:

"'Why don't mamma come? O mon Dieu! she can't have deserted us!'

"To make it all the harder for her, a terrible storm came up. The
thunder made a frightful uproar, and Sister Anne was awfully afraid of
it; so she put her head into her brother's cradle and called to her
mother to come and save them.

"All of a sudden, there was a frightful crash that startled the whole
village. Sister Anne was dazed by it, and didn't dare to open her eyes
for some time. But when she did open them, and looked around, the
cottage was filled with thick smoke. The poor girl looked to see where
it could come from. The smoke got thicker every minute. Anne ran toward
the window, but couldn't get to it on account of the flames. The
lightning had struck the roof and set it on fire, and the two poor
children were surrounded by flames on all sides.

"Then the girl thought of nothing but her brother; she took him out of
the cradle and ran all around the room, shrieking at the top of her
voice. But the danger was increasing all the time, and she lost her
strength; the smoke suffocated her; she tried to keep on calling, but
she couldn't.

"Everybody in the village ran to the cottage, of course, monsieur. They
couldn't save the house, but they must save the children, anyway. They
succeeded, by taking great risks, in getting into Sister Anne's room.
They found her with her brother under their mother's bed; she was
holding him tight against her breast, trying to save him from death; but
it was no use; the poor little fellow was dead! Sister Anne had only
fainted, and they succeeded in bringing her back to life.--But just
imagine how surprised and grieved everybody was, monsieur, when they
found that the terrible shock had made her dumb!--She opened her mouth,
but could only make a sort of low, moaning noise. Since then, the poor
girl has never spoken a word!"

"Great God!" cried Frederic; "poor child! so that is the cause of the
melancholy expression of her lovely face!"

"Yes, monsieur," resumed the boy; "Sister Anne is dumb; all that has
been done since then to make her able to speak hasn't done any good. The
city doctors said that the horrible fright, and her agony at seeing her
brother die and not being able to save him, had taken away the power of
speech, and that the same kind of shock might give it back to her,
perhaps, but nothing else could. But the poor little girl still had a
heart to feel her sorrow; she succeeded in making people understand all
she had suffered. For ever so many years, she mourned for her brother
and her mother; for poor Clotilde gave way to her grief the same night
that was so fatal to her children, and they found her dead on top of
the mountain, at the foot of the tree.

"The burning of the little cottage deprived Anne of her only place of
shelter. But everybody in the village subscribed to help her; and a good
woman named Marguerite, who lives in a little cabin in the woods, near
the valley, took her in and adopted her. Marguerite was poor, too; but
with the money collected from the richest people in the village, Anne
bought a cow and a number of goats.

"For several years, she didn't seem able to do any kind of work. She
passed her days sitting on the bank of a brook, or in the woods; she
didn't listen to what anyone said to her, and couldn't seem to do
anything but grieve for her father and mother and brother; but she got
partly over her grief in time, and now she's more calm and resigned; she
seems to appreciate what people do for her; she works like any country
girl, and shows the greatest respect for Marguerite, who is very old and
never leaves her cabin. Sister Anne is sweet and good and tender-hearted
now, as she always used to be. She even smiles sometimes, but her smile
is always sad. If she sees a little boy of her brother's age, it makes
her excited and unhappy, and her eyes fill with tears. If you've seen
her, monsieur, you know how pretty she is. She's sixteen now; even if
she can't talk, she can make herself understood; her gestures mean so
much, and her eyes speak so plain! We all understand her as easy as can
be. But, for all that, it's a great pity she can't talk; for all the
women say it would do her a lot of good."

"Poor child!" said Frederic; "yes, it is a great pity, indeed! How soft
and sweet her voice would be! how I would have liked to hear it! But her
misfortune makes her even more interesting in my eyes.--And you say
that she lives in the woods?"

"Yes, monsieur; but it's easy enough to find old Marguerite's cabin. If
you take the path to the left from the one where the willows are, you'll
come to a clearing; then go down a low hill, and the cabin is in front
of you."

"Very good, my boy; thank you."

"But here you are at Grenoble; you don't need me any more, do you,
monsieur?"

"No, my boy; here, take this with the other, for your trouble."

"Thank you very much, monsieur; if you ever need anyone in the village
to help you, my name's Julien, and I'd be glad to work for you."

"Very well; I will remember."

The two horsemen dismounted; the young guide took their place, doffed
his cap to the travellers, and rode away at a footpace. Frederic, musing
upon all that he had heard, walked in silence beside his two companions,
who, as they entered Grenoble, were discussing the proper way to serve a
_canard aux olives_--a discussion in which they had been engaged for
some time, Dubourg insisting upon the method in vogue in Bretagne, and
Menard immovable in the principles he had learned from the _Cuisinier
Royal_.

On reaching the inn, they retired to take the rest of which they stood
in need after so tiresome a day. But Frederic could not sleep; the dumb
girl's face was constantly in his thoughts; he thought of her
misfortune, of the pathetic story he had heard, and he said to himself:

"How dearly she loved her brother! What a loving heart! How she will
love, when love makes itself known to her! What pleasure to awaken love
in her heart! to read in her lovely eyes, which fill the place so well
of the organ she has lost!"

This thought kept Frederic busy all night. At daybreak, he rose, and,
leaving his companions to enjoy the repose which he could not obtain,
left the inn, ordered a horse, and galloped away toward Vizille.




XI

A DAY IN THE WOODS


Love is the god who most agreeably employs our leisure; he scoffs at
distances and disarranges time. A lover is never bored, even when he is
not favored. Memories, schemes, hopes, afford constant occupation to a
loving heart. Love is the god of all countries and of all classes; he
finds his way into the humble cottage as well as into the palace. Love
is as sweet on the heather as on the softest cushions; indeed, some
persons go so far as to maintain that love is truer in the country than
in the city; it ought, at all events, to be more natural there. The
mountaineer, the woodchopper, the ploughman, may not devote his time to
the fine arts, to financial schemes, to political intrigues; but
everybody is at liberty to love, luckily for the human race. Some
author, I know not who, has said with much truth: "The happiest time of
a man's life is that which he spends paying court to his mistress."

What a pity it is that this time is so short! It is probably to renew
their happiness that men change mistresses so often. Women do not treat
love so lightly. It is their life's history, while with us it is only a
romance.

Frederic soon arrived at the valley where there was dancing the night
before, and which was now as peaceful and quiet as the whole
neighborhood. A few laboring men passed, on their way to work; here and
there, a peasant could be seen in the fields. In the country, the
evening's enjoyment does not impair the morrow's toil; the good people
find their diversion in talking over the pleasures of the holiday, which
will not return for a year; but the time will pass quickly to them: they
know so well how to employ it.

Frederic rode toward the little, willow-lined path; there he dismounted,
tied his horse to a tree, and plunged into the woods. He looked for the
maid on the bank of the stream, but she was not at the place where he
had seen her the night before. So he went farther into the woods,
recalled what his guide had told him, and took the path to the left.
Everything was peaceful and calm; the dark foliage of the firs almost
excluded the daylight. At last he came to a clearing, descended a hill,
and saw a wretched cabin before him. The wood of which it was built had
rotted in several places, and the thatched roof threatened to fall in.
There was a small garden at the right, surrounded by a picket fence, a
part of which had fallen.

Frederic's heart ached at the aspect of the place, which was eloquent of
utter poverty and of a lack of the prime necessities of life.

"And this is where she lives," he said to himself; "where she has lived,
in poverty and solitude, ever since she was seven years old! Poor child!
When your sublime self-sacrifice, when the catastrophe which resulted
from it, deserved the homage of all mankind, you had only this wretched
hut in which to weep for your brother and parents, and were fortunate
not to be left without a shelter and without bread!"

He leaned against a tree and gazed at the cabin; his heart was so full
that he could not go forward; he could only sigh and say to himself:

"She is there!"

Several minutes passed. Suddenly, the door of the cabin was thrown open,
and a girl appeared in the doorway and looked out into the woods. It was
she! The depressing aspect of that wild spot, the gloomy woods, the
dilapidated cabin, all vanished! The girl's presence instantly made her
surroundings beautiful.--The woman we love wields a tremendous power;
she communicates her fascination to everything about her: by her side,
the darkest cavern causes no fear, the wildest spot on earth seems a
paradise.

Sister Anne went back into the cabin, and soon came out again with four
goats, her whole flock. There was a cow in the little garden; she patted
her as she passed, as if promising to return soon. Then, driving her
goats toward a hillside where there was an abundance of grass, the dumb
girl walked slowly behind them, with her head bent forward, raising it
only to see that her goats did not go astray.

Frederic had retained his position against the tree, which concealed him
almost entirely, and watched every movement of Sister Anne. When she
went toward the hill, he followed her noiselessly; he longed to be by
her side, to speak to her; but he was afraid of startling her if he
appeared too abruptly. She seemed so shy and timid: suppose she should
run away from him again!

But she seated herself on a green mound, and took from her little basket
a piece of bread and some figs; she was about to breakfast. Frederic
drew nearer and nearer, until he stood close beside her; and when she
turned her head to look after one of her goats, she saw before her again
the young man of the previous evening.

The girl made a movement which seemed to be due rather to surprise than
alarm; indeed, there was nothing about Frederic to inspire fear; as he
stood before her, himself anxious and trembling, his glance was gentle
and timid; his whole aspect and manner bore witness to the tender
interest she aroused in him.

As she seemed disposed to rise and go away, Frederic said to her:

"Do not fly from me, I entreat you, sweet girl; I should be very unhappy
if I caused you the slightest fear."

The child smiled, and gave him to understand, by shaking her head
gently, that she had no such feeling.

"I saw you last night by the brook," said Frederic, walking toward her.
Sister Anne looked at him, then lowered her eyes, smiling again, as if
to say that she remembered him.

"What! you remember me? And you, sweet girl, have not been out of my
thoughts for one moment. How could I fail to be impressed by the sight
of such lovely features and such charms of person and of manner?"

The girl listened in surprise; all that he said was entirely strange to
her ears. He sat down on the turf, a few feet away from her. This action
seemed to surprise her still more; she looked at him again, with
something like alarm, but the sentiment expressed in his eyes soon set
her heart at rest. She looked at the ground, but it was easy to read on
her ingenuous features that she was waiting curiously for him to speak
again.

"When I saw you yesterday, I felt the deepest interest in you. But how
that interest has grown since I learned---- Poor child! Ah! I know of
your sad plight! I know all the misfortunes that have been heaped upon
you."

The dumb girl's features became more expressive than ever; a
heartrending memory seemed to agitate her. She groaned, raised her eyes
to heaven, then turned them on the ground once more as a flood of tears
poured from them.

Frederic went to her side; he put one arm lightly about her, and took
her hand, which he placed upon his heart.

"I have revived your grief," he said; "pray forgive me. Would to heaven
that I could, on the contrary, help you to forget it by making you
happy! Poor child! let me wipe away your tears. From this moment, you
are no longer alone on earth; you have a friend, there is a heart that
beats in answer to yours, a heart that will beat for you alone, so long
as it lives. Anne, dear friend, give me leave to love you, to share your
grief, your suffering, to think constantly of you, to see you every
day--oh! do not deny me this favor, or I shall be much unhappier than
you are!"

Frederic spoke with great animation; love excited him and made his voice
sweeter than ever, his glance more seductive. The dumb girl listened to
him at first with surprise; an unfamiliar sentiment disturbed her; she
tried to withdraw her hand, but she had not the strength. Frederic had
ceased to speak, and she continued to listen.

But soon the remembrance of her condition, of her misfortune, destroyed
the spell that was upon her. She looked at Frederic with a melancholy
expression, and, with a much bitterer glance at herself, withdrew her
hand and pushed him away, shaking her head as if to say:

"No, you cannot love me; I am too unfortunate."

Frederic understood her; he put her hand to his heart again, and said,
pointing to the cabin:

"With you, I should be happy living here in these woods."

At that moment, they heard the sound of a little bell. It was a signal
which notified Anne that old Marguerite had risen. She hastily called
her goats together and prepared to return to the cabin.

"Will you come back?" asked Frederic; "oh! do let me see you again
to-day!"

She pointed to the sun, whose beams were just beginning to shine through
the foliage, then rested her head on the back of her hand.

"When the sun goes to rest, you will go to the brook?"

Sister Anne made an affirmative gesture, then hastened back to the
cabin, driving her goats before her. But she turned her head before she
went in, and looked back to the place where she had left Frederic,
smiled at him, and disappeared. That glance and smile enraptured the
young lover; he had already ceased to be a stranger to Sister Anne; that
thought filled his heart with joy. It needs so little to make one happy,
in love!

Frederic went back to the place where he had left his horse; but, on the
way, he asked himself whether he should go to Grenoble and return at
night. It seemed to him more natural to remain in the village, to take a
light lunch there, and then to wander about in the neighborhood of the
cabin, which, even now, he found it so hard to leave. He cared little
what his fellow travellers might think or say. They must end by
accustoming themselves to his absences, for Frederic had a feeling that
he would come often to Vizille, or, rather, that he would rarely go to
Grenoble. She whom he loved dwelt in those woods; Sister Anne was all in
all to him; he no longer thought of the future, his station in life, or
his father's plans; he saw only her, he had no wish to live except for
her. To be sure, his love dated only from the night before, and he was
only twenty-one.

In the village, whither he went to rest and breakfast, he talked about
Sister Anne; and everyone seemed to take pleasure in praising her
virtue, her sweet nature, her tender heart; but they generally added:

"The poor girl is greatly to be pitied; she stands a good chance of
spending her life in that miserable hut; for what man would ever marry
an unfortunate mute?"

Frederic smiled and held his peace; but he was thinking that he had seen
in Paris many women resplendent with beauty, charm, and talents, and
that he preferred the dumb girl of the forest to them all.

He found in the village such refreshment as he required; he saw that his
horse was bountifully fed; then, mounting him again, he rode back to the
woods, where he fastened him to a tree near the stream, then bent his
steps toward the lonely cabin.

The sun had performed but half his journey; but Frederic hoped that, if
he prowled about the little house, he might see Sister Anne, which would
make it easier for him to wait patiently until evening.

As he approached the garden fence, which was only four feet high, he had
no difficulty in taking in at a glance the whole extent of the garden.
It was small, but they had made the most that could be made of it.
Several fruit trees, a few grapevines, vegetables, and flowers, were
growing together in that contracted space, where nature was at liberty
to follow all her caprices.

As he looked about, Frederic saw an old woman seated under a fig-tree.
She was evidently very old, but her venerable face was the mirror of a
calm and peaceful soul. He gazed at her for some time with profound
respect; it was she who had adopted Anne, who had filled her mother's
place.

The good old woman's face lighted up as the dumb girl approached her,
carrying a wooden bowl filled with milk, which she placed on
Marguerite's knees. The old woman patted her cheek, saying:

"That is nice, my girl, my dear child. Sit down here by my side. You
know how I like to look at you while I am eating."

The girl at once sat down in front of Marguerite; she seemed to be on
the alert to anticipate her lightest wish, and more than once she raised
her withered hand and kissed it respectfully.

Frederic did not stir; he could have passed hours watching that picture.

The old woman, after she had finished her meal of milk and fruit, rose,
and with Sister Anne's assistance walked two or three times about the
garden. Frederic concealed himself when they passed, but he noticed that
the girl glanced into the woods, as if looking for someone. Could that
glance be for him! Ah! if so, how fortunate he would be! his heart dared
to conceive the hope. He was tempted to enter the garden, to throw
himself at the dumb girl's feet; but Marguerite's presence held him
back.

At last they returned to the cabin, and Frederic left the spot from
which he could look into the garden. He wandered about the woods for
some time. Everything brought the orphan's face before him; every tree,
every bush spoke of her. Had she not lived in those woods nine long
years? Her feet had trodden every foot of turf, and doubtless her eyes
had rested on everything that surrounded her.

He walked slowly back to the brook, and sat down on the spot where he
had first seen Sister Anne. It might be a long while before she came.
Frederic took his notebook and pencil from his pocket, and wrote--what?
Poetry for Sister Anne; for is not every lover a poet? and are not poets
more eloquent when they are lovers? We have the lines Tibullus wrote for
Delia; Ovid immortalized Julia; Orpheus enchanted the Shades while
seeking Eurydice; it was love that tuned Anacreon's lyre, love that
inspired Sappho; Lesbia's charms aroused Catullus's poetic ardor, and
Cynthia's imparted delicacy and passion to the flowing verses of
Propertius. Does not Petrarch owe a large part of his renown to Laura?
without her, he might have been a poet; but would he have sung of love?
To you, Eucharis and Eleonore, we owe the moving elegies of Bertin and
Parny's charming verses.

Time passes very swiftly when we are writing poetry for her we love.
Frederic was still leaning over his notebook and writing busily, when he
heard a faint sound; he turned his head and saw Sister Anne behind him,
watching him with deep interest. She blushed when he detected her, but
Frederic set her mind at rest, and, bidding her sit down beside him,
read what he had written.

Sister Anne had no idea what poetry was; but she understood Frederic's
meaning in what he read. The heart is the key to an unsophisticated
woman's mind; the opposite is true of women of worldly training.

The girl was already less shy and embarrassed in Frederic's presence; at
sixteen, one is quick to make acquaintances, especially when one has no
knowledge of the customs of society or of its laws. Frederic was so
gentle and kind and sympathetic! he pitied her, he talked of her sad
story, and the poor orphan was surprised to find that there was somebody
besides old Marguerite who was interested in her destiny. The village
people always manifested much sympathy and pity for her; but there is in
that sentiment something distressing to its object. But that was not
what she read in Frederic's eyes. He talked to her with deep interest
and looked at her with affection, and she was already beginning to feel
less unhappy.

But the approach of night found them still seated by the stream. They
had been there two hours, to their great surprise. Anne rose and pointed
to Frederic's horse; then turned her eyes anxiously toward the village,
the woods, and the mountains, and lastly upon Frederic himself.

"I am going to Grenoble," he said; "I am staying there now with two
friends, who may be alarmed by my long absence. But I will come again
to-morrow, I will come every day. Do you think that I could pass a
single day without seeing you?"

The girl smiled, and seemed more content; she went with him to where his
horse was waiting; he pressed her soft hand to his lips, and finally
made up his mind to return to the city. Sister Anne went to the edge of
the woods, in order to follow him with her eyes as far as the twilight
permitted. Not until she could no longer hear his horse's step, did she
return slowly to the cabin, pensive and dreamy, surprised by the
unfamiliar sensations of which she was conscious, but which she could
not understand.




XII

HOW A MAN LOVES AT TWENTY


"Where in the devil have you been?" Dubourg inquired of Frederic, who
arrived at the inn just as his two companions were sitting down to
supper.

"I have been--riding about the neighborhood."

"What a mania you have for travelling about the country! Are you going
to lead the same kind of life here as at Lyon?"

"Possibly."

"That will be amusing for us! At Lyon, we could at least vary our
amusements a little, see people----"

"Yes, the Marquise de Versac, and others, eh?"

"But here! why, we know the city by heart already. If one could make an
acquaintance or two, obtain an introduction to a few houses--but when a
man has no money, he doesn't dare to show his face anywhere, for it
gives one an awkward manner that betrays one at once. If it's absolutely
necessary, in every place we stop, for you to know the history of every
tree, every stone, and every view, and to pause in rapt contemplation
beside every brook, why, we shan't get to Italy for ten years! and your
life won't be long enough for you to see half of Europe."

"I must say," observed Menard, "that monsieur le baron's remarks seem to
me most judicious. We move about as rapidly as a tortoise, _si parva
licet componere magnis_."

"I could forgive you for making a minute examination of Naples or
Florence; there are monuments there which one cannot contemplate too
long. Gaze in admiration at the Coliseum or the Basilica of Saint Peter
at Rome; walk on Mount Pausilippus or Vesuvius, and I shall not be
surprised; but what do you find so extraordinary in this province? It is
picturesque and romantic, I agree; but we shall find some much more
remarkable views on our journey. Wait, before going into ecstasies,
until you are on the glaciers of Mont Blanc, or on some peak of the
Apennines; and don't stand a whole day in admiration before an old
mulberry-tree overhanging a tiny stream; for there are trees, shrubbery,
turf, and fountains everywhere--except in the African desert; and we are
not going so far as that."

"My friend," said Frederic, with a smile, "I have found here what one
would seek in vain elsewhere; and that, to my mind, is of more value
than all the wonders of the world."

With that, Frederic went to his room and to bed, paying no heed to
Dubourg, who called after him:

"For heaven's sake, tell us what you've found?--What in the devil can he
have found, Monsieur Menard?"

"I am trying to think, monsieur le baron."

"Gad! I wonder if it's the wallet that was stolen from me at Lyon."

"Or your berlin, monsieur le baron."

"My berlin! of course, that's all spent before now--that is to say, that
rascal of a postilion has probably sold it to get money for drink."

"True, that is probable. What a pity! such a venerable carriage!"

"But what can he have found that's so delightful?"

"Perhaps it's a method of keeping eggs fresh on a journey."

"Bah! as if Frederic ever gave a thought to such things!"

"But it would be a most valuable discovery, monsieur le baron. Somebody
gave me a receipt for it once, and also one for making milk punch, but I
was unlucky enough to lose them while moving."

"It is plain that we shall not find out what he has found, unless he
chooses to tell us."

"I will go and think about it while I sleep, monsieur le baron."

"And I will go to sleep thinking about it, Monsieur Menard."

Early the next morning, Frederic again set out for the village. He rode
down into the valley, left his horse in a field where the grass was as
high as his knees, and walked rapidly along the path toward the woods;
in a moment he was on the hillside with Sister Anne, who had already
driven her little flock to pasture.

A deep flush overspread the girl's cheeks at sight of Frederic; she
smiled, and offered him her hand with a friendly air. She had begun to
be impatient at his non-arrival; "Will he not come again?" she had said
to herself, and had kept her eyes fastened on the path from the valley.
She had known him only two days; but in a heart so affectionate and pure
as hers, love is certain to make rapid progress. Was it, then, love that
she already felt for the young stranger? Poor child! I am afraid so; and
was it not natural? was she not at an age when love blends with all our
other sentiments? and Frederic was well adapted to inspire it.

"I am late," he said, "for my horse did not share my impatience; dear
friend, I am so happy with you! I would like never to leave you."

Anne gazed earnestly at him for a long while; she sighed, pointed to the
road leading to the city, then glanced at her cabin, as if to say:

"We shall always be separated."

"Leave that cabin, agree to come with me," cried Frederic, eagerly; "and
we will never part."

The girl rose with a gesture of dismay, and, pointing again to the
cabin, imitated old Marguerite's tottering steps; then shook her head
emphatically, while her eyes shone with a divine expression which said
to Frederic:

"No, I will never leave her."

"Oh! forgive me; I am wrong, I can see it now; your heart cannot be
ungrateful; forgive me! love led me astray."

The dumb girl bore him no ill-will; she returned to her seat by his
side, and a charming smile lighted up her features. Her beautiful hair,
fluttering in the wind, caressed Frederic's face, and she laughed as she
drew it away. But he passed an arm about her waist, and held that lovely
head against his heart. His eyes exchanged tender glances with Sister
Anne's; his lips touched her cheeks, and the pretty dumb girl's sweet
breath mingled with the air he breathed; are not such moments the
sweetest in love, the happiest in life?

They passed thus a great part of the day. Frederic remained in the
woods, where Sister Anne brought him fruit and milk, so that he need not
go to the village. Already the girl dreaded to have him leave her. She
ran again and again to the cabin to see if Marguerite needed her; but
the good old woman slept much of the day, and Sister Anne soon ran back
to her new friend.

Toward evening, she remained longer with her adopted mother. Meanwhile,
Frederic went down to the stream and waited for her there, his notebook
making the time pass quickly. When the girl surprised him writing, she
heaved a profound sigh, and, looking sadly down at herself, seemed to
say:

"I don't know anything; I never shall know anything."

"I will be your teacher," said Frederic, in reply to her unspoken
thoughts; "I will teach you to speak on paper."

At nightfall, the young man left his friend, who accompanied him sadly
to his horse, and whose eyes said:

"Until to-morrow!"

A week passed away. Every morning at daybreak Frederic left Grenoble,
and rode to Vizille on the first horse he found in the inn stable. He
passed the whole day with Sister Anne, and left her at nightfall.

When he was away from the dumb girl, Frederic barely existed, and Sister
Anne was no longer happy except when she was with him. Love had taken
possession of her heart, without any resistance from her; it had made
its appearance embellished by so many charms! why should she repel that
sentiment which made her happy? Frederic possessed every element of
seduction; he kept telling her that he loved her and would love her all
his life; she did not for one moment doubt his oaths; she did not know
what inconstancy was. Why should he lie to her? She abandoned herself to
the joy of loving. Her mouth could utter no loving words, but her eyes
told him all that was taking place in her heart, and a single one of her
glances was equal to the most loving protestations.

Frederic tried to teach her to write, but love constantly interfered
with the lessons he gave her. Seated by her side, pressing her to his
heart, with full liberty to gaze at leisure on her lovely features, her
intoxicating eyes--he stopped, and forgot what he was about to show her.
She looked at him and smiled, and the lesson was forgotten. Frederic
strained her to his heart, his passions were aroused--but one is timid
with innocence, especially when one loves sincerely.

But the most timid passion grows bold in time; the habit of seeing each
other, of being together, of displaying their mutual affection, drew
them closer together every day. They were always alone in the forest,
and the forest is a very dangerous place for innocence. Could they long
resist their hearts, the flame that consumed them? Frederic became
daring, and Sister Anne gave herself to him without regret, without
remorse, for it seemed natural to her to make the man happy whom she was
sure that she should love all her life.

In the transports of passion, Frederic determined not to leave his
sweetheart in order to go to Grenoble to sleep. The eight leagues, going
and coming, kept them apart a few moments longer, and compelled him to
leave her a few moments earlier.

"No," he said, "I do not propose to go away from you any more, not for
an hour, not for a minute. When I cannot see you, why, I will sleep in
the woods, on the grass, near your cabin. As if I could be uncomfortable
there!"

The lovely girl threw her arms about her lover's neck, kissed him, did a
thousand foolish things; her every gesture was eloquent of her
happiness. He would not leave her any more; therefore she would be happy
every minute. The poor child believed that it was possible. Suddenly,
as if struck by a new idea, she led Frederic to the cabin and pointed to
a window; it was in the room where old Marguerite slept, and close
beside it was another window, in the dumb girl's room; she led Frederic
there, laid her head on the back of her hand, drew him to her, and gazed
passionately into his face. The young man understood her; he pressed her
to his heart, and cried:

"Yes, I will sleep with you, always by your side! Ah! how happy we shall
be!"

Thus did the child of nature soon discover what would forward her love;
for to love ardently requires neither art nor study; the heart is the
best master. Several times, Sister Anne manifested a wish to present
Frederic to her adopted mother; she could not understand why he avoided
her, until he said:

"Marguerite would not leave you so entirely at liberty, if she knew that
you saw me every day; on the contrary, she would tell you that you must
avoid me and not speak to me."

These words were enough to prevent Anne from returning to the subject.
Forbid her to see Frederic! order her to avoid him! why, that would be
condemning her to weep all her life. She felt that she would not have
the strength to obey; so it was much better to conceal her happiness
from Marguerite. The good old woman was growing weaker every day; she
rarely left her chair, where she dozed a great part of the time; so that
it was very easy to conceal the truth from her.

The night succeeded that day on which Frederic had won the sweetest of
all triumphs and had known the intoxication of a genuine passion. But
the approach of darkness did not drive him forth from the woods; on the
contrary, it was to increase his happiness tenfold.

He did not give a thought to his companions, to their anxiety about him,
or to their embarrassing position since he had all the money; he did not
remember that he had a horse belonging to the inn; he had no thought for
anything on earth but Sister Anne. Not even the memory of his father
interfered to mar his happiness. The present was all in all to him;
Sister Anne engrossed his heart and mind; he had never known a woman who
could be compared with her. Could he find elsewhere in the world so much
beauty, grace, innocence, and love? Her misfortune made her even dearer
to him. Frederic was very romantic, and he did not look upon love so
lightly as most young men of his years; so that his conduct should
appear less extraordinary to us. And then, too, the dumb girl was so
pretty! In the first transports of love, a cabin, a forest, a desert, is
what all lovers desire; but this intoxication is of short duration. Will
Frederic be more constant?

In the path by the stream, where they sat together so often, he waited
until old Marguerite should fall asleep. Then Sister Anne was to steal
out of the cabin and come for her lover.

Frederic tied his horse to an old ruined hovel, where a woodcutter had
once lived, and which he used as a stable.

The moon was shining brightly; it was reflected in the limpid water of
the brook and made the sparse clearings in the wood as light as day.
Frederic listened intently for his sweetheart's footstep! The time
seemed very long; every minute robbed love of a sigh. He tried to look
beneath the black firs and distinguish the cabin. At last he heard a
faint sound: it was she. He could not see her, but his heart told him
that she was near. As light of foot as a fawn, as swift as the hunter's
arrow, as beautiful as happiness, the dumb girl sped through the paths
of that forest, whose every corner she knew. In an instant, she was
beside her lover, who kissed her on the forehead and could not forbear
to gaze long and lovingly at her. He was proud of his good fortune; the
time and place, the joy that shone on her features, the mystery that
surrounded them--all seemed to make Sister Anne lovelier than ever. Her
hair, carelessly caught up so that a part of it played about her neck;
her shapely figure, which a light gown veiled without concealing; and
her eyes, so sweet and so overflowing with love, renewed Frederic's
transports.

"Come, come," he said; "lead me!"

The girl took his arm and led him through the dense woods. They soon
reached and entered the humble cabin, which had become in his eyes the
most delicious retreat. He shared Sister Anne's bed; how could he envy
those who sleep in palaces? Happy lovers! let us leave them to enjoy
their happiness.




XIII

DUBOURG PLAYS THE GRAND SEIGNEUR ONCE MORE.--NEW ACQUAINTANCES


On the day following Frederic's first absence, Monsieur Menard, having
risen early, burst into Dubourg's chamber, crying with a triumphant air:

"I have found it, monsieur le baron; I am certain that I have found it."

"Found what?" said Dubourg, who was just awake; "your receipt for
keeping eggs fresh?"

"No; but what it was that charmed monsieur le comte so yesterday; that
wonderful place where he passed the day."

"Bah! you say you know where he was?"

"Yes! I would stake my head on it!"

"Tell me, then."

"It was the Chateau de Bayard, which must be in this neighborhood, in
the valley of Gresivaudan."

"The Chateau de Bayard? Faith! it's quite possible; however, we'll ask
him at breakfast."

But Frederic did not appear at breakfast. Dubourg summoned one of the
servants.

"Has our companion gone away already?"

"Yes, monsieur, at daybreak; he took the first horse that was ready, and
went off at a gallop."

"Gone again! and left us here, perhaps for the whole day!"

"I am convinced that it's the Chateau de Bayard that has turned his
head."

"Hum! I'm very much afraid myself that it's some more modern marvel.
However, as we have nothing better to do, let's go and see the ruins of
this chateau, and we can look for Frederic there; what do you say,
Monsieur Menard?"

"I agree with you perfectly, monsieur le baron; but perhaps we shall do
well to carry a pate or a chicken, for we probably shall not be able to
get a dinner at the chateau."

"You speak like the grammar, Monsieur Menard; we will provide ourselves
with supplies; it may not be very chivalrous, but it is prudent.
Besides, we are travelling as amateur troubadours simply; and, however
beautiful a view may be, however imposing a ruin, we belong to that
class of small-minded mortals who must dine every day. Ah! Monsieur
Menard, we are not romantic! It was very lucky for us that we were not
born in the days of Amadis and the four sons of Aymon."

"Faith! that is true, monsieur le baron; for they didn't know how to
truffle a chicken in those days, or cook _filets de sole au gratin_."

Dubourg inquired the way to the valley of Gresivaudan, Monsieur Menard
filled his pockets with provisions, and our travellers set forth. They
were told that it was a short three leagues to the Chateau de Bayard;
but Menard suggested a halt every half-hour. The baron invariably
complied, and produced a bottle of the best wine he had been able to
find at their inn; Menard spread his provisions on the turf, on a large
sheet of paper, and the travellers renewed their strength. When Dubourg
caught sight of some tempting fruit, he would climb the tree to obtain
some for dessert; and finally he cut a number of branches and, by
spreading his handkerchief over them, constructed a little tent, so
that they could dine in the shade.

"One would hardly suspect that the man who does this is a noble
palatine!" cried Menard.

"Why not, pray?" rejoined Dubourg; "the Princess Nausicaa made her own
lye; Augustus's daughters spun their father's robes; Dionysius the
Younger was a school teacher at Corinth; the son of Perseus, King of
Macedonia, was a carpenter at Rome, as Peter the Great was in Holland;
so it doesn't seem to me that I derogate from my rank by making a tent
in Dauphine."

Monsieur Menard, having nothing to reply, simply bowed, murmuring:

"_Variant sententiae._"

At last, our two travellers discovered the ruins of the Chateau de
Bayard, of which only the four towers remain standing; but they did not
find Frederic gazing in veneration upon them.

"Well, do you see him, Monsieur Menard?" said Dubourg.

"The chateau?"

"No; Frederic."

"Not yet, monsieur le baron; but let us sit down and rest; unluckily, I
am afraid that this is the last halt that will refresh us much, as our
provisions are near the end, and we have only a quarter of a bottle
left."

"We shall find plenty of springs, Monsieur Menard."

"But they won't be like those of Cana in Galilee, monsieur le baron."

"Meanwhile, let's finish the bottle and this chicken. We are very well
placed here to enjoy the landscape. This is a charming valley. See,
Monsieur Menard, what a picturesque effect these mountains make on our
right; they're covered with snow, and that reminds me of Mount Krapach.
See, the snow never melts up there."

"I see, monsieur le baron, that this is our last wing; and I shudder to
think of the walk back."

"We'll go into some house--or a mill; there are plenty of those in this
region."

"Do you mean that you have any money, monsieur le baron?"

"Not a sou; and you?"

"No more."

"The devil! this becomes embarrassing. Think of Frederic carrying the
cash-box off with him, and leaving us in the lurch, without stopping to
think what will become of us! I am aware that we may live on at the inn,
where we have an open account; but it isn't pleasant to be tied down to
an inn while my gentleman is travelling about the country."

"One thing is certain, monsieur le baron, and that is that walking gives
one an appetite."

"Morbleu! I am beginning to find this travelling decidedly monotonous;
and if I wasn't afraid of my creditors----"

"Your creditors, monsieur le baron?"

"I mean, if I hadn't the creditors of my government to settle with--that
is to say, if---- But, hush! I see somebody--probably people who have
come to inspect these ruins. They must live in the neighborhood, for
they don't look as if they had taken a long walk."

Menard looked up and saw a man and woman at their left, walking slowly
toward the chateau. The tutor hastily thrust the bottle and napkin into
his pocket, then he rose and joined Dubourg, who was walking toward the
new arrivals with a graceful swagger which reminded Menard of their
promenades in the streets of Lyon.

"It seems that monsieur le baron proposes to lay aside his incognito
again," he said to himself. Whereupon, he straightened the ends of his
ruff and assumed a more dignified bearing.

Dubourg had replaced by a very simple round hat the shabby tile which
had been left for him at the false Marquise de Versac's, but he had
retained the little silver tassels on his boots; above all, he had
retained the power to impart to his features an expression befitting the
part he proposed to play. When he approached the couple examining the
ruins, one would have judged from his manners, his voice, his language,
and the way in which he looked about, that he was some foreign nobleman.

The gentleman and lady whom Dubourg seemed disposed to join were dressed
in a style that indicated comfortable circumstances, but which smelt of
the province and of a decided tendency to ostentation. The gentleman,
who seemed to be about fifty years old, wore his hair powdered, and
carried his hat in his hand in order not to disarrange his carefully
curled locks; he had a black coat and trousers, and boots with tops
which fell below the calf; he carried a cane, with which he pointed out
the various objects of interest to his companion; and one could read on
his face extreme self-satisfaction and contentment, heightened by an
important air which, doubtless, he felt in duty bound to maintain.

The lady on his arm was at least forty years old. She had evidently been
comely in the past, but she made the mistake of trying to appear only
twenty; for, despite her mincing manners, her infantile speech, the
curls behind her ear, and those that peeped out from beneath her hat,
and a manner which she strove to render giddy and kittenish, one could
readily see that she had passed her majority.

Dubourg walked toward the chateau, apparently without noticing the
strangers further than to bow to them; he made a pretence of continuing
his conversation with Menard, speaking so loudly that he could be heard
at some distance.

"This chateau reminds me of my grandfather's in the neighborhood of
Sandomir. You know, my dear Menard, the one where we endured such a long
and bloody siege?"

Menard opened his eyes as he met Dubourg's, but he instantly replied:

"Yes, monsieur le baron, I know."

"That tower yonder," continued Dubourg, "is very like the one on the
western side of my castle of Krapach. I can imagine that I am still in
the room where the Prince of Bulgaria slept, when he came to break bread
with my father. Ah! my dear Menard, I hope soon to give you some of that
famous tokay I have told you of."

"Tekely's tokay, monsieur le baron?"

"The same; it has been a hundred and twenty-four years in bottle!"

The gentleman and lady heard every word spoken by Dubourg, who kept on
toward the chateau, pretending to examine it, but taking care not to go
too far away from them.

While Dubourg was speaking, the gentleman listened intently; his face
soon assumed an expression of respectful consideration; he nudged his
wife,--for his companion was his wife,--and, pointing to Dubourg,
motioned to her to walk a little faster to overtake the illustrious
foreigner.

At the foot of one of the towers, they found themselves in close
proximity to our two travellers, who were just about to enter the ruins.
Dubourg stopped, to allow the lady to go first; her husband paid him the
same attention, and even bowed low to Menard. These ceremonies duly
performed, they entered into conversation.

"Does monsieur visit our country as an observer?" the husband asked
Dubourg.

"Yes, monsieur; I am travelling--for my pleasure--with a friend of mine,
the Comte de Montreville, of whom you may have heard, and Monsieur
Menard, a distinguished professor of literature and a Hellenist of the
first order, who improvises poetry like an angel--especially at
dessert."

The gentleman bowed to Menard, who looked like an idiot when Dubourg
said that he improvised readily, but he was very careful not to
contradict him, none the less.

"Do you live in this province, monsieur?" queried Dubourg.

"Yes, monsieur," the lady replied, with a gracious smile. "We live two
leagues and a half from here, at Allevard, where my husband bought a
superb estate when he retired from the wine trade."

At this point, the gentleman nudged his wife, but she continued,
apparently without noticing the hint:

"A trade we carried on for our pleasure, for my husband has always had a
very handsome fortune; but one must do something."

"What do you say, madame? For my own part, I have a great esteem for
trade, especially the wine trade. Certainly Noah didn't plant the vine
with the idea that we should eat nothing but dried grapes. Gideon, a
Hebrew captain, threshed his own grain, Saul was a cowherd, David a
shepherd, Cincinnatus ploughed his own fields, Pope Sixtus V kept pigs,
and Urban IV was once a cobbler; so I can see nothing surprising in the
fact that your husband once sold wine."

"Surely not, monsieur," said the husband, bowing low to Dubourg.--"He's
a noble philosopher," he whispered to his wife.

"But since we retired," continued the lady, "we associate with only the
best people in the province: the mayor and his clerk, and landowners who
are electors--aristocratic people. We lead a delightful life; my husband
is almost the lord of the district."

"I certainly am looked upon in that light," added the husband, leaning
on his cane. "It was in my power to be sub-prefect; but I should have
had to move, and I am attached to my present home. We are so highly
considered there! I entertain all the best people at dinner; we
cultivate music and the arts--I am learning the violin just now; I have
had a cabinet organ sent from Paris. My wife will play it; she has a
fine ear."

"Pardieu!" said Dubourg; "talking of ear, Monsieur Menard here has one
of the finest bassos I know? As for myself, I play all instruments."

"Ah! monsieur," said the lady, with a smirk, "what a pleasure it would
be to hear you! We have lots of amateur musicians at Allevard: monsieur
le maire plays the bass-viol, and one of our neighbors is very strong on
the hunting-horn. If monsieur should remain any length of time in this
vicinity, we should be charmed to entertain him."

This invitation was accompanied by a very tender smile; Dubourg replied
with an expressive glance, and the husband, well pleased, meekly lowered
his eyes, while Menard looked at his companion to find out what he was
to say.

"Faith! madame," rejoined Dubourg, after their exchange of glances had
lasted for some minutes, during which the husband contemplated the
swallows, "it may be that my friends and I will remain some time at
Grenoble. Monsieur le Comte de Montreville has a very pronounced liking
for the banks of the Isere, and I am too fond of him to go away without
him. We are like Orestes and Pylades, except that we are never seen
together; and although we are expected at the court of Sardinia, and I
have promised to pass the winter at the court of Bulgaria, it is
possible, as I say, that our sojourn in this province may be prolonged
for some time;--isn't that so, Monsieur Menard?"

"I think as you do, monsieur le baron," said Menard; whereupon the lady
whispered to her husband:

"How affable he is for a baron!"

And the husband replied:

"He is affable just because he is a baron."

"Especially," continued Menard, who had assumed a more important air
since he had learned that their new acquaintance was a former dealer in
wines, "especially as Monsieur le Comte de Montreville, my pupil, is of
an exceedingly romantic turn."

"Ah! he is like me! he is just like me!" said the lady, with a sigh
addressed to Dubourg; "I care for nothing but the romantic. I am mad
over ghosts and elves--am I not, Monsieur Chambertin?"

"Yes, my wife has always been very fond of spirits," Monsieur Chambertin
replied, with a smile.

"She had no lack of them with you," rejoined Dubourg.

"True, I had them all the way from twenty-four degrees to seventy."

"If madame should ever come to Poland," said Dubourg, "I trust that she
will not fail to pass a few days at my castle of Krapach. She will see
phantoms of all colors there; it's not so cheerful a place of residence
as my castle at Cracow, but I would not part with it for two millions!
And yet, it brings me nothing but snow; but I have my reasons for being
attached to it--eh, Monsieur Menard?"

"Peste! I should say so! a castle where you have entertained----"

"Hush, be still, Menard; that doesn't interest Monsieur and Madame
Chambertin."

"I beg your pardon," said Chambertin, bowing once more; "we are too
flattered to make the acquaintance of a Polish nobleman--for I think
that monsieur le baron is a Pole?"

"From my birth," replied Dubourg, turning his head away so that Menard
might have an opportunity to say to them in an undertone:

"Monsieur le Baron Ladislas Potoski, Palatine of Rava and Sandomir."

When he heard those titles, the former wine merchant was like one
stupefied; he dared not take a step forward or back, while Madame
Chambertin twisted her mouth in every conceivable way, and did her
utmost to do away with it altogether, in order to seduce the Palatine of
Rava.

"Did you come here to see the ruins?" queried Dubourg, after giving his
name and titles time to produce their due effect.

"Yes," replied Monsieur Chambertin; "we have not seen them yet, and one
should be acquainted with his neighborhood. This Bayard must have had a
very fine chateau, to judge by what is left of it; but he was a very
good sort of man."

"He was a chevalier, wasn't he, my dear?" said Madame Chambertin, in a
mincing tone.

"Yes, my love; a chevalier of the time of Louis XIV."

At that, Monsieur Menard coughed and glanced slyly at Dubourg.

"I like to see antiquities," continued Chambertin, "ancient monuments;
they're interesting when one has a certain amount of education. Is
monsieur le baron here for the same purpose?"

"Faith! we were in a decidedly bad humor when we met you," said Dubourg;
"we walked here from Grenoble, as we were told that it was a short three
leagues, and I didn't care to wear out my horses in this mountainous
country; but I hoped to find some decent inn hereabout, where we could
dine; or at least some means of getting to the nearest village; I
offered some peasants as much as six gold pieces to obtain a horse for
me, and not one of the knaves moved.--Isn't that so, Menard?"

"It is quite true, monsieur le baron, that we couldn't find anything at
all."

"Ah! my dear," whispered Madame Chambertin to her husband, "what a happy
idea! what a chance!"

"I will seize it!" he replied; and he planted himself in front of
Dubourg, with his feet in the third position.--"Monsieur le baron, if I
wasn't afraid of presuming too far, if you would deign to accept a plain
country gentleman's dinner, Madame Chambertin and I would be overjoyed
to have at our table a distinguished nobleman and a professor of
literature. My cabriolet is waiting for us close by, with Lunel, my
jockey; we shall be at Allevard in an hour, and my cabriolet will take
monsieur le baron to Grenoble this evening."

"Really, Monsieur de Chambertin, you are too kind," replied Dubourg,
with a bow.

"He called me _De_ Chambertin!" said the ex-tradesman to his wife.

"I heard him."

"Do you suppose he means to make me a knight?"

"I believe he's quite capable of making you something."

"I am almost tempted to accept your invitation," said Dubourg; "it will
afford me the pleasure of becoming better acquainted with some most
delightful people.--What do you say, my dear Menard? Will it make
Montreville anxious? Do you think that we might accept Monsieur de
Chambertin's invitation to dinner?"

"Yes, certainly we may, monsieur le baron," replied Menard, who was so
excited by the prospect that he took from his pocket the paper napkin in
which the carcass of the chicken was wrapped, and wiped his face with
it, thinking that it was his handkerchief, and oblivious to the fact
that he was besmearing himself with chicken jelly; but Monsieur and
Madame Chambertin were in the seventh heaven and saw nothing of all
that. To take home with them to dinner a great Polish nobleman, a
palatine! who had put a _de_ before monsieur's name, and who made eyes
at madame--that was quite enough to turn their heads.

"The cabriolet will never hold four," said madame.

"Don't be alarmed, my dear; I will take Lunel's pony, and he will ride
behind. Whenever monsieur le baron chooses----"

"Faith! let us go," said Dubourg; and he added in an undertone, as he
offered the lady his hand: "All the ruins in the world could not prevail
against you!"

They left the chateau, Dubourg with Madame Chambertin on his arm, while
her husband ran ahead, and Menard followed, trying to discover the
source of the smell of chicken which pursued him everywhere.

At a turn in the path, they discovered the cabriolet, in charge of a
little man of about his master's years, who looked more like a butler
than a jockey; beside him was an animal which, judging from its size and
ears, was halfway between a horse and an ass. Madame Chambertin entered
the carriage with her two guests.

"Give me your nag, Lunel," said Monsieur Chambertin.

"And what am I to do, monsieur?"

"Get up behind the carriage."

"You know very well, monsieur, that I can't hold on there."

"Then you shall walk. The idiot! not to have learned yet to hold on
behind a carriage!"

As he spoke, Monsieur Chambertin mounted the beast, and belabored him
with his cane in default of a crop.

"Excuse me, if I ride ahead," he called to Dubourg; "but I have some
orders to give."

"Oh! no ceremony for us, I beg you, Monsieur de Chambertin!" was the
reply.

But the host was already far away; when he heard himself called _De_
Chambertin again, he took the bit in his teeth.

Dubourg took the reins and drove, which did not prevent him from making
many very gallant speeches to Madame Chambertin en route, or from
motioning to Menard to wipe his face. Lunel ran behind the cabriolet,
consigning to the devil the strangers who were responsible for his
master's taking his nag.

In due time they arrived at Allevard, a pretty village, through which
flowed a mountain stream of considerable size that furnished power for a
large number of windmills, iron foundries, and factories. Monsieur
Chambertin's estate was on the right, just at the entrance to the
village; it was a beautiful house, built according to modern ideas, and,
as Madame Chambertin said, almost a chateau.

As they drove into a spacious courtyard shaded by tall lindens, Dubourg
secretly felicitated himself on the chance meeting, and began to think
that Madame Chambertin still possessed a very attractive figure and very
bright eyes. As for Menard, he had visions of a well-furnished kitchen,
and he concluded that a man who owned such a charming estate deserved
some consideration, although he was neither baron nor palatine.

Madame Chambertin escorted the strangers into a pretty salon on the
ground floor, which looked on a beautiful garden behind the house.
Everything indicated wealth, profusion, and absence of taste. There were
two clocks on the mantel, another on a console, a fourth on a desk. The
furniture was costly, the floor covered with rich rugs, the walls
overloaded with pictures, and three chandeliers hung from the ceiling.

"This is my small summer salon," said Madame Chambertin, modestly. "If I
had known that I was to have the honor of entertaining monsieur le
baron, I would have had my large winter salon thrown open, where three
sets can dance a quadrille without interfering with one another."

"We have more room than we need, madame; and I should be very sorry to
cause you any inconvenience; this salon is perfectly charming;
everything here shows the touch of the goddess of this blest abode."

"Ah! monsieur le baron--to be sure, I did arrange it. My husband wanted
to put another clock in this corner, but he can do without it."

"It would be very difficult not to know what time it is here."

"This is rather a tasty rug, don't you think? I have a still finer one
in my winter salon. You must use them a great deal in Poland, monsieur
le baron?"

"Oh! we have carpets six inches thick in Poland; you sink into them as
you walk, just as you do into a feather-bed. I hope to have the honor of
sending you a specimen."

"Oh! monsieur le baron!"

At that moment, Monsieur Chambertin appeared, with such guests as he had
been able to collect in a hurry, to dine with a great noble at his
table. He had found only four persons at liberty: a former village
notary and his wife, who were just about to sit down to their own
repast, when their neighbor rushed in, greatly excited, and told them of
the acquaintances he had made, and that he was to have the honor of
entertaining at his house the noble foreigner and the professor of
belles-lettres.

At that news, followed by an invitation to dine with the great man,
Monsieur Bidault--such was the ex-notary's name--summoned his maid, and
said:

"Clear the table, Marianne; put the pate in the sideboard, the chicken
in the pantry, and the fish in the cellar, and keep them all for
to-morrow; we dine with my neighbor."

And Madame Bidault ran to her mirror, crying:

"Quick, Marianne! my gown with orange blossoms, my straw hat, my lace
collerette; I can't appear in neglige before those gentlemen.--Aren't
you going to dress, Monsieur Bidault?"

"Oh! I'll just put on my nut-brown coat, that's all.--Be sure that the
fish is kept where it's cool, Marianne."

"Marianne, do fetch my dress."

Monsieur Chambertin hurried away to seek other guests, urging Monsieur
and Madame Bidault not to be late. Poor Marianne, harried on every side,
did not know which way to turn: she carried the straw hat to the cellar,
and ran to her mistress with the platter of fish in her hand. At last,
after twenty minutes of running hither and thither, the husband and wife
were in condition to appear before the illustrious stranger. Monsieur
Bidault, who had taken to writing poetry since he gave up his office,
looked forward with pleasure to a discussion of the poetic art with the
man of letters; and Madame Bidault, who prided herself upon having more
style than anyone else in the neighborhood, was enchanted to exhibit her
_savoir vivre_ before a grand seigneur.

On leaving the Bidaults, Monsieur Chambertin went to the mayor's; but
the mayor was in the fields overlooking his laborers, and would not
return till evening. Then he hurried to the notary, Bidault's successor;
but the notary was hunting, and his wife was in the midst of making
preserves, which she could not leave.

But the time was getting short, so Chambertin had recourse to an
ex-apothecary of Lyon, who had retired from business and bought a
pleasant little house at Allevard. He was not a very distinguished
individual to place before a palatine; but as there was no time to
choose, he had to be content with what he could get; besides, Monsieur
Fondant talked very little, so he was not likely to say foolish things.

So Chambertin burst in upon him, and, having no time to explain himself
at length, said hurriedly:

"My dear Fondant, I have a noble palatine, from Poland, at my house;
he's going to dine with me; I want you, come! and a man of letters,
who's a Hellenist incognito. Make haste! they are distinguished men of
the first rank; we dine in half an hour."

And he was gone. He thought that he might perhaps get his friend
Frossard, the ironmaster, one of the richest landholders of the
neighborhood. He hurried to his house and found him in the act of
dining; he had already eaten his soup and beef, when Chambertin entered
the dining-room, bathed in perspiration, and called to him from the
doorway:

"Stop, Frossard, stop! not another mouthful!"

"What does this mean?" rejoined the ironmaster, holding his long knife
in the air over a fat chicken he was preparing to carve; "not another
mouthful! I fully expect to have a word to say to the thighs and wings;
I won't leave anything but the carcass."

"Stop, I tell you, my friend! you must come to dine with me."

"Not to-day; it's too late, as you see."

"You must."

"I have eaten a third of my dinner already."

"That won't make any difference."

"I am very much afraid it will."

"I have two noblemen to dine with me, one a literary man."

"What do I care?"

"From Poland--Cracow--a baron--a scholar!"

"Well, what of it? that's no reason why I shouldn't eat my dinner."

"I want you to have the honor of dining with them."

"So long as I have a good dinner, my dear man, it matters little to me
whether I dine with a baron or a miller."

"Come, come, Frossard, my friend, have a little more elevation in your
ideas."

"My chicken is getting cold."

"You shall have some delicious hare _pique_ at my house; I also have a
certain pate de foie gras, which has just been sent to me from
Strasbourg."

"Ah! the traitor will succeed in tempting me."

"We will have some of my old pomard, and some of that Saint-Peray you're
so fond of."

"It is impossible to resist you."

"Will you come?"

"Yes; but not for your noblemen and your scholars; I don't know anything
about them. I'll come for the hare and the pomard, which I know all
about."

Monsieur Fondant was the first to arrive; but, being naturally timid,
and more embarrassed than usual at the thought of appearing before two
strangers, whom he supposed to be princes from the few words his
neighbor had let fall, the ex-apothecary remained in the reception-room
adjoining the salon where Madame Chambertin was talking with her guests;
lacking courage to present himself alone, he waited for the other guests
to arrive, so that he might steal in behind them.

Monsieur and Madame Bidault came at last, and so did the corpulent
Frossard. Monsieur Chambertin, who had been giving orders to his cook,
hurried forward to greet his guests. He found Monsieur Fondant in the
reception-room, and, throwing open the door of the salon, presented
Madame Bidault to monsieur le baron. During the exchange of salutations
between the ex-notary and his wife and our two travellers, Frossard, who
did not stand so much on ceremony, pushed Fondant, who seemed inclined
to remain in the reception-room, before him; and Madame Chambertin,
having made her company welcome, disappeared to give a moment's
attention to her toilet.

"Monsieur le baron," said Chambertin, "I have got together a few
friends, who, like myself, are overjoyed to have----"

"Faith! my dear man," said Frossard, dropping into an easy-chair, and
interrupting his host without ceremony, "you came just in time; if I had
put my knife into the chicken, I wouldn't have left it."

"That dear Frossard must have his joke," said Monsieur Bidault, slapping
the ironmaster's leg, while his better half sat very stiffly in a chair
facing Dubourg, who, half reclining on a couch, resembled a sultan
passing his slaves in review; while Menard, at a little distance,
admired the ironmaster's appearance of robust health and the respectful
bearing of Monsieur Fondant, who had seated himself near a window so as
to be almost hidden by the curtain.

"If I had known earlier that I was to entertain monsieur le baron," said
Chambertin, "I would have arranged a little soiree musicale--a little
party; but I flatter myself that I shall be better prepared another
time."

"You confuse me, Monsieur de Chambertin. Really, I shall not be able to
leave this part of the country; and yet we are expected at the court of
Bulgaria--as you know, Monsieur Menard."

At these words, Madame Bidault drew herself up and pressed her lips
together; Chambertin glanced at his neighbors with an expression that
said: "What did I tell you?" while Monsieur Fondant disappeared
altogether behind the hangings.

"In truth," continued Dubourg, "I am much pleased with this
neighborhood, and the delightful people I meet here make it even more
attractive."

At that compliment, everybody rose and bowed; a similar manoeuvre was
executed behind the curtains.

"But I thought that I saw Monsieur Fondant," said the ironmaster; "what
in the deuce has become of him?"

"I am here, monsieur," said the ex-apothecary, in a hoarse voice,
showing his face from behind the curtains.

"What are you doing there, a mile away from us all? Come out here,
Monsieur Fondant. What's the news from Lyon? what do you hear there?"

Monsieur Fondant blushed to the ears, for he saw that the strangers were
looking at him. He drew his handkerchief, blew his nose, moved his chair
forward and back, and stammered at last, speaking through his nose to
give himself confidence:

"How hot it is to-day!"

Luckily, Madame Chambertin returned, and her presence gave a different
turn to the conversation. She had put on a thin muslin waist, trimmed
with lace; she wore no hair other than her own, which was not very
becoming, but she had donned her diamond ear-rings and a superb pearl
necklace, which made her very seductive in the eyes of Dubourg, who went
to meet her, and, as he offered her his hand, tenderly squeezed the ends
of her fingers; to which she replied by a half-smile accompanied by a
stifled sigh.

Monsieur Bidault had joined Menard, whom he judged to be the man of
letters, and repeated divers sentences from the _Perfect Notary_,
accompanied by verses from the _Almanach des Muses_. Menard, who, in his
endeavor to copy Dubourg, sometimes assumed his self-sufficient tone,
smiled patronizingly at Monsieur Bidault as he replied emphatically:
"_Studia adolescentiam alunt, senectutem oblectant_;" and Monsieur
Bidault, who had forgotten Cicero when he was learning the Codes,
replied by offering him a pinch of snuff.

Lunel, who had donned a short English jacket, in which he resembled a
Limousin, announced that dinner was served.

Everybody rose; Dubourg offered his hand to Madame Chambertin, Frossard
to Madame Bidault, and the others followed, Monsieur Fondant bringing up
the rear.

They passed into a very handsome dining-room, where a sumptuous feast
was spread. Menard observed with satisfaction that there were four
_hors-d'oeuvre_, which always indicates a well-arranged dinner.
Monsieur le baron was seated between Madame Bidault and Madame
Chambertin; but his face was generally turned toward the latter, and the
deep flush which from time to time overspread the cheeks of the hostess
might have raised a presumption that her illustrious guest was talking
to her under the table as well.

Menard was between Messieurs Bidault and Fondant, the former of whom
interlarded his conversation with insipid rhymes, while the other
contented himself with filling his neighbor's glass. Menard turned
toward the ex-apothecary more frequently than toward the ex-notary.

At the second course, Dubourg, beginning to be convivially inclined, for
he had done full honor to his host's pomard, began to talk recklessly
about his chateaux, his vast estates, Poland and Bretagne; he confounded
the customs of Rennes with those of Cracow, and the products of his
native province with the snowstorms on the Krapach Mountains. But the
company, listening with rapt attention to what he said, simply opened
their eyes and ears the wider. The corpulent Frossard had a fellow
feeling for the baron because he drank his wine without water, and
looked upon Menard as a scholar of distinction because he discoursed
learnedly upon the method of cooking every dish. Monsieur Bidault was
delighted to have an opportunity of displaying his poetic talent; his
wife considered herself a beauty because Dubourg told her that she had a
look of Mademoiselle de Scuderi. Monsieur Fondant was more at his ease
because nobody paid any attention to him. Monsieur Chambertin was in
ecstasy because he had a nobleman at his table; and Madame Chambertin
rolled her eyes because the aforesaid nobleman frequently touched her
knee with his under the table.

About nine o'clock in the evening, they made an effort to adjourn to the
salon. Everybody had striven to hold his own with monsieur le baron,
some from love of drinking, others for courtesy's sake, so that no one
was quite firm on his legs; the ladies alone were able to stand erect,
for they rarely lose their heads at table.

Amid the Bacchic fumes, Dubourg retained sufficient presence of mind to
realize that they were six leagues from Grenoble, and that it was time
to return thither. Monsieur Chambertin proposed to keep them overnight;
but if they remained, they must do what the others did; Monsieur Bidault
and the ironmaster had already taken a pack of cards, and Dubourg, who
found it difficult to resist the attraction of the gaming-table, felt
that he would cut a very foolish figure with no money in his pocket.
The better plan, therefore, was to go, and come again. Monsieur Frossard
challenged him to a game at backgammon in the near future, and Dubourg,
who considered himself very strong at that game, hoped to recoup a part
of his losses at the hands of the blacklegs at Lyon.

Menard was so comfortable at Monsieur Chambertin's that he would have
been glad to sleep there, and Madame Chambertin, who may have had some
hidden purpose, tried to detain the young palatine. But he had his
reasons for not yielding; and, seeing that his persuasions were of no
avail, Monsieur Chambertin ordered Lunel to be ready with the cabriolet
to drive monsieur le baron and his friend to Grenoble.

Dubourg took leave of his hosts, promising to return very soon and pass
several days with them. This promise allayed their regret at his
departure.

"Remember, monsieur le baron, that I rely on your word," said Monsieur
Chambertin, with a low bow.

"We shall expect you," added madame, with a glance that said all that
was necessary.

Dubourg replied by placing his foot on her husband's foot, which he
mistook for hers, and cordially shook hands with his host, calling him
his dear friend De Chambertin.

Lunel and the cabriolet were waiting; Dubourg and Menard took their
seats and started for Grenoble.

The swaying of the carriage soon put Menard to sleep; and Dubourg,
having no one else to talk to, communed with himself:

"This acquaintance will be very agreeable to me, and will vary the
monotony of our stay at Grenoble. Those excellent people think I am a
nobleman; there's no great harm in that, and it may well be that I have
the air of one. Madame Chambertin still has a vivacious glance; her
husband has excellent wine and an excellent table. That big ironmaster's
as rich as Croesus, and it seems that he likes a little game. Morbleu!
if only I was still cashier! what a chance to repair our losses! I am
sure that he hasn't an idea of backgammon. Such a man as that wouldn't
notice a loss of five or six thousand francs. And Frederic goes off and
leaves us without a sou; passes his time no one knows where. I simply
must find out what he does every day; I must watch over him, as poor
Menard here doesn't dare to say a word to him. A fine guardian monsieur
le comte sent with him!"

It was very late when they reached Grenoble. Menard woke up to alight
from the carriage. When Dubourg saw old Lunel before him, hat in hand,
he instinctively felt in his pockets; but finding nothing in any of
them, he put his hand under Lunel's chin and patted his cheek, saying:

"All right, Lunel; good-night, my fine fellow! I am content with you."

Whereupon the old groom turned on his heel, and muttered all the way
home:

"That was a fine _pourboire_ the Pole gave me!"




XIV

A VISIT TO THE FOREST


When Dubourg and Menard woke on the morning after their dinner at
Allevard, Frederic had been gone a long while.

"We will wait till to-night," said Dubourg, "and then we will speak to
him."

"Yes, monsieur le baron," said Menard; "you will speak to him."

But we have seen that Frederic remained with Sister Anne very late every
day, until he had decided to remain with her altogether. It was four
leagues from Grenoble to Vizille; the horse Frederic took in the
morning, at random, went but little better in the evening, although he
had rested all day; for inn horses are rarely good saddle horses. So
that the beast sometimes took three hours to return from Vizille; and
Frederic did not urge him, for he was not then on his way to Sister
Anne.

So that he returned very late, and Dubourg, after playing piquet with
Menard,--it was the only game the ex-tutor knew,--had ended by falling
asleep over the cards; for, as neither of them had any money, they could
only play on credit, so that the game never became exciting, although
Menard had at his service the King of Prussia's snuff-box, and took a
pinch every two or three minutes, to give himself some resemblance to
the great Frederick.

Seeing Dubourg yawn, Menard suggested that they go to bed; and they
postponed their conversation with Frederic until the next day. But the
next day also passed without affording them a sight of him.

Several other days passed in the same way. Dubourg's impatience
increased; he was very desirous to return to Allevard, to follow up his
conquest, and to play backgammon with the ironmaster. Monsieur Menard,
on his side, was no less desirous to drink some more of Monsieur
Chambertin's pomard, and to sit beside Monsieur Fondant, who filled his
glass so handily.

But they could not afford to walk to Allevard; it was essential that
they should make their appearance there in a style befitting the rank
they had assumed; above all things, they must have money in their
pockets, if they wished to cut a figure at the card-table. Menard was
not convinced of the necessity of that; but as monsieur le baron thought
that it was indispensable, of course he agreed with him.

"So that we absolutely must see Frederic."

"Parbleu!" said Dubourg; "we'll wait till to-night; and to keep from
going to sleep, we'll drink punch all night, if need be; what do you
say, Monsieur Menard?"

"I agree with you entirely, monsieur le baron, provided that we have
some cake to go with the punch."

"We will have four cakes; we will play piquet for them, and Frederic
shall pay the bill."

In the evening, a huge bowl of punch was brought, and a plate laden with
cakes. They began their game, and drank often to avoid falling asleep,
thereby putting themselves to sleep rather earlier than usual. After
they had drunk half a bowl each and eaten six or eight tarts and cakes,
their heads fell forward.

"I am _capot_," said Dubourg.

"Show your hand," added Menard.

They woke at daybreak, intensely disgusted to have fallen asleep; but,
at all events, Frederic could not have gone away so early, and they
would find him at last. Dubourg called and shouted, but no one answered.
He went down into the innyard and asked about his friend.

"He didn't come in last night," said the hostler.

"Didn't come in!" cried Dubourg; "are you sure?"

"Yes, monsieur; neither him nor the horse."

"The devil!" ejaculated Dubourg; "this begins to be alarming. To stay
out all night--it's very strange."

He went up to tell Menard, and that gentleman, after reflecting for
fifteen minutes, inquired:

"What do you think about it, monsieur le baron?"

"Morbleu! that's what I ask you, Monsieur Menard?"

"I don't dare to form any opinion, monsieur le baron--that's my
opinion."

"It's very much like Brid'oison's."

They passed the day waiting for Frederic, who did not appear. Dubourg
was anxious about his friend, Menard trembled for his pupil, and the
innkeeper would have been disturbed about his horse if he had not had
the carriage for security.

The next morning, at daybreak, Dubourg appeared at Menard's bedside,
with his hat on his head, and said:

"Come, we must find Frederic."

"Let us find him, monsieur le baron."

"To find him, we must look for him."

"That is what I was thinking, monsieur le baron."

"That doesn't seem to prevent your lying quietly in bed."

"I am awaiting your final opinion."

"My opinion is that we should start at once. That young man has a face
and figure so far from commonplace that we must be able to learn which
way he went; he can't be lost!"

"We must hope not, for what would monsieur le comte his father say to
me?"

"Get up, then, and come with me."

Menard dressed and breakfasted, and accompanied Dubourg, who ordered
saddles placed on two venerable farm horses, which the innkeeper
intrusted to them with a bad grace, because their account was beginning
to exceed the value of their carriage. At last they were mounted; Menard
warned his companion that he could not ride faster than a walk, and
Dubourg replied that when one is making a search he does not travel
rapidly.

When they left the inn, they inquired and were told which direction
Frederic had taken. All along the road, people had noticed the young
horseman who passed every morning, urging his horse to his utmost speed,
and returned very slowly in the evening. Dubourg soon learned beyond
question that Frederic rode to Vizille every day.

"What does he go there for?" queried Dubourg.

"He has probably found some charming view."

"I think it's more likely to be some charming face."

"What! monsieur le baron, you think----"

"Why, yes; Frederic isn't fool enough to stare at nothing but trees and
mountains all day. He was in search of a heart that would sympathize
with his, a nature as loving as his own--in a word, a woman who would
take his fancy; and who knows that he hasn't found some artless,
simple-minded peasant girl who has turned his head?"

"For my part, I'll wager that he spends his time looking at the Grande
Chartreuse."

"Consider, Monsieur Menard, that Frederic is only twenty-one."

"Remember, monsieur le baron, that women have deceived him many times,
and that he left Paris to avoid them."

"Is that any reason why he should never love another woman? Indeed,
Monsieur Menard, when a man runs away from a thing, it's because he
feels that he couldn't resist it long."

"Joseph fled from Potiphar's wife, monsieur le baron; but it was not for
fear of giving way to her."

"Joseph allowed himself to be seduced at last, Monsieur Menard, for his
posterity peopled Canaan."

Arguing thus, they arrived at Vizille. They inquired about Frederic in
the village; but the villagers, being busily employed, had paid little
attention to the young man, who had dined at the inn only twice; for we
have seen that he dined in the woods on what Sister Anne brought him.
They had seen him several times, to be sure, but they had not noticed in
which direction he went, or what he did in the village. So Dubourg and
his companion left Vizille, knowing little more than when they arrived.

"All is lost!" cried Menard, from time to time; "my pupil must have been
eaten by wolves or killed by highwaymen, or else he has fallen over a
precipice while watching a sunset! Poor Frederic! so gentle, amiable,
and well-informed! there is nothing left for me but to weep for you!

    "'Qualis populea moerens Philomela sub umbra
      Amissos queritur foetus!'"

"Oh! no, Monsieur Menard; Frederic hasn't been killed or eaten. There's
no question here of a resemblance to Philomela weeping for her children;
what we have to do is to find out where the young man has gone. Ah! look
yonder--there's an animal who could give us some information about him,
I fancy."

On leaving the village, they had gone down into the valley, and were now
on the outskirts of the forest, where Frederic's horse was wandering at
will along the paths leading into the valley.

"That's his horse," said Menard. "I know him by that white spot; I've
seen him in the innyard; it's Frederic's horse. And he's alone, without
a rider. An additional proof, monsieur le baron, that the young man has
fallen a victim to his imprudence. The horse undoubtedly threw him; my
pupil is dead; he probably tried to climb one of these mountains; it was
dark and he couldn't see the road at his feet. All is lost!"

"I believe, on the contrary, that Frederic is in these woods, and that
he left his horse here so that he could go where he chose. Let us adopt
the same method in looking for him; but let's be more prudent than he,
and tie our horses to one of these firs."

They dismounted, and entered the woods, Menard still holding his
handkerchief to his eyes, because he believed that Frederic was dead or
wounded, and Dubourg marching ahead and peering intently in every
direction. Ere long he came quickly back to the tutor, with a triumphant
air, and said, pointing to a grassy mound:

"Look! see if my presentiments misled me? there's the marvel of nature
that Frederic comes here to admire."

Menard looked in the direction indicated, and saw, beneath a spreading
tree, his pupil lying carelessly on the grass, holding in his arms a
lovely girl, whose head rested against her lover's breast, and whose
arms were about his neck.

"You were right, monsieur le baron," said Menard, after a moment of
speechless surprise; "that isn't the Chartreuse! it is more modern."

"That looks to me to be a lovely girl."

"And to me also, monsieur le baron."

"That sly dog of a Frederic! It was decidedly clever of him to find such
a pretty face in this desert. Do you still think that he shuns the
ladies, Monsieur Menard?"

"It doesn't look like it at this moment."

"Pshaw! Monsieur Menard, Frederic, although rather sentimental, is made
like other men; but we must go and offer him our respects."

"That will disturb him, monsieur le baron."

"Parbleu! as he passes all his days here, he has time enough to make
love."

Dubourg and Menard walked toward the lovers; at the sound of their
footsteps, Frederic turned and saw them. The girl raised her eyes, and,
at sight of the two strangers, pressed closer to Frederic; and hiding
her face against her lover's breast, seemed from that vantage-ground to
defy all dangers.

"Bravo! my dear Frederic, bravo!" laughed Dubourg. "I understand now why
you get up so early. Upon my word, your conquest is a charming creature,
and that little shy manner adds to the piquancy of her features."

The dumb girl, after a swift glance at Dubourg, turned her eyes again
toward Frederic, as if to ask him what it all meant.

Frederic rose and the girl did the same, clinging to her lover and
gazing uneasily at the two strangers; she seemed to fear that they had
come to take him from her; but Frederic reassured her, then kissed her
affectionately, and bade her go and wait for him in Marguerite's garden.
It was hard for Sister Anne to obey, for she dreaded to leave him; but
again Frederic promised to join her in a moment. The girl pointed to the
strangers, and her eyes said:

"You won't go away with them?"

He embraced her again, whereupon she became calmer, and at last went
away, not without turning her head many times to look fondly at Frederic
and sadly at the strangers.

"Very pretty, very pretty, on my word!" said Dubourg, looking after her.

"If her speech resembles her plumage," murmured Menard, between his
teeth, "she is the phoenix of the denizens of this forest."

"Why have you come here, messieurs?" demanded Frederic, angrily.

"Why have we come? parbleu! to look for you, who desert us and leave us
penniless at an inn, to come to make love here in the woods with a
peasant girl, who is very pretty, I agree, but who ought not to make you
forget your friend and your venerable tutor."

Frederic made no reply, but seemed to be absorbed in thought.

"Monsieur le comte," said Menard, coming forward with an air of profound
respect, "certainly it is lawful for every man to be susceptible to
female charms; Adam was with Eve,--to be sure, he had no chance to be
with any other woman,--Abraham with Hagar, David with Bathsheba, Samson
with Delilah; and when such a man as Samson succumbed, how can we, who
are not Samsons, be expected to resist? But still, monsieur le comte,
_est modus in rebus_; you should not, for the sake of a new attachment,
forget all that you owe to yourself, and descend from the rank in which
destiny has placed you. Now, monsieur le comte your father did not allow
you to take this journey for the purpose of living in the woods like a
savage; whence I conclude----"

"My dear Monsieur Menard," said Frederic, emerging at last from his
reverie, but making no reply to his tutor's harangue, "I have something
of great importance to say to monsieur le baron; I cannot say it before
anyone else, so oblige me by taking a turn up the valley; we will join
you very soon."

"I cannot refuse you anything, monsieur le comte; I await your coming,
with confidence."--And Menard left the woods, saying to himself: "My
sermon has had a good effect; the young man realizes his wrong-doing; he
will mend his ways and return to us like the prodigal son, with a white
staff in one hand and his horse's rein in the other."

Menard was no sooner out of sight, than Frederic walked quickly to
Dubourg's side.

"Why did you bring our mentor here? why have you tracked me to this
forest? am I no longer the master of my actions?"

"In the first place, the mentor is not a very alarming person; secondly,
we were bound to find out what had become of you, as we heard nothing
from you; and, lastly, could I believe that, for an amourette, you would
become an Orlando Furioso?"

"An amourette! No, Dubourg; this is a genuine passion, and one that will
last forever. I have never loved so passionately! I have never met a
woman more worthy of my love. Ah! Dubourg, if you knew that sweet
child's heart! she is an utter stranger to all the deceits and
hypocrisies of the world; her heart is as pure and beautiful as her
features. Ah! my friend, not in Paris, not in the brilliant salons of
the capital, could I find a woman who would love me so dearly."

"Nonsense! but you are excited, and I see that it will be hard for me to
make you listen to reason. This girl seemed to me to be very pretty,
indeed, and I agree that she's a phoenix; but, after all, what do you
propose to do? surely you don't intend to pass your life in these
woods?"

"I don't intend to leave Sister Anne."

"Very good; then bring your Sister Anne along; let her come with us;
make a baroness of her, if you choose, for the benefit of poor Menard;
I'll undertake to arrange it all; but leave these old fir-trees, under
which you'll turn into an orang-outang in time."

"That isn't possible. In yonder cabin there is an excellent old woman,
who has taken care of her ever since she was a child; she can't desert
her."

"The deuce! so you have a whole family on your hands!"

"Go, Dubourg; return to Grenoble with Menard; I will join you there in a
few days, but I cannot leave her now."

"Return to Grenoble, eh? Do you imagine that I enjoy myself there, with
your tutor, when I can't show my face anywhere?"

"Oh! I forgot. Take this wallet; it contains our fortune; take it, and
do what you please with it. I have a few louis, that's all I need."

"Really, my dear Frederic, you are mad! to think of living in the woods
and making love all day with your little villager!"

"Ah! she's no ordinary woman. If you knew--poor child! But, no, I won't
tell you anything; you can't understand my heart. Adieu, Dubourg!"

"You insist upon it? All right, I'll take the cash-box, and leave you. I
know what men are, I have had more experience than you have: within a
fortnight, you'll have had enough of this kind of life, and you'll come
back to us."

"Yes, if Sister Anne will come with me."

"You will come without her, I am perfectly sure. Au revoir! make love at
your ease; make it all day and all night; in short, make so much of it,
that a fortnight hence you'll have had more than enough."

And Dubourg, having put the wallet in his pocket, hastened down into the
valley, where he found Menard sitting quietly by their horses.

"To horse!" he exclaimed joyfully; "make haste!"

"What's that? to horse? But I don't see monsieur le comte."

"Because he has stayed with his Dulcinea."

"He stays, and we go?"

"To be sure; for, having no passions in the forest, we might be bored
here."

"But, monsieur le baron, I don't understand this at all."

"Monsieur Menard, I am acting like a man who knows the human heart,
especially that of a young man. If we had undertaken to thwart his
wishes, Frederic would have been quite capable of doing some insane
thing. Instead of that, let us allow him to follow his inclination. I
will answer for it that, in a fortnight at the latest, his love, being
satisfied, will have calmed down, and he will have recovered his senses.
There is no passion deep enough to stand a tete-a-tete of three
consecutive weeks. Love is a fire which goes out of itself, because it
never has sense enough to be sparing of its fuel."

"Faith! monsieur le baron, I begin to think that you are right."

"To horse, then, Monsieur Menard, and _vive la gaiete_! To-morrow, I
will take you to dine with our friend Chambertin."

"Really, monsieur le baron?"

"And I promise you that we'll make an entry into the village that will
cause a sensation."

"I don't understand you, monsieur le baron; but you arrange things so
well, that I rely on you."

And Menard, overjoyed at the prospect of going to Monsieur Chambertin's
the next day, dug his heels into his horse's sides for the first time in
his life,--to be sure, he had no spurs,--and trotted along at Dubourg's
side.

"Still, it's a great pity that my pupil has made this new acquaintance,"
he said; "a woman sometimes makes a man commit many follies! Cato said
that wisdom and common sense were incompatible with a woman's mind."

"Oh! probably Cato was unlucky in love, Monsieur Menard."

"Saint Bernard calls woman the _organum diaboli_."

"But Confucius declares that a woman's mind is the masterpiece of the
Creator."

"Juvenal says that the thought of vengeance has more attraction for a
woman than for a man."

"Which proves, Monsieur Menard, that she bears some resemblance to the
gods."

"And Origen says: 'Woman is the key to sin.'"

"I had always supposed that she was only the lock."

"Agnes Sorel enfeebled the courage of Charles VII."

"And another woman restored it."

"Joanna of Naples caused her husband to be strangled."

"Jeanne Hachette saved Beauvais."

"On the whole, monsieur le baron, it seems to be about an even thing."

Let us leave our two friends to return to Grenoble, discussing the
nature of womankind,--a discussion which might lead them very far, and
leave them without any additional knowledge of the subject; for a
learned man has said that a woman's heart has as many varying moods as
there are grains of sand on the seashore (and he must have been learned,
indeed, to know the number of the latter),--and let us return to
Frederic.

He breathed more freely when Dubourg had left him, and ere long he heard
the steps of the horses which bore his companions away. Thereupon, as
well pleased as Crates, who cried, after throwing all his money into the
sea: "Now I am free!" he felt more at liberty to abandon himself to his
passion for the dumb girl, since he was rid of Dubourg and Menard; and
he hurried away to the cabin. Frederic did not look beyond the present;
he did not reflect; for he was twenty-one years old, and he was
passionately in love!

Sister Anne was in the garden, trembling from head to foot; old
Marguerite was asleep, and the girl could abandon herself without
restraint to the sentiments which agitated her. The presence of those
two men who knew Frederic caused her a disquietude which became more
painful with every minute that passed. To live without her friend seemed
impossible to her now. Love was life itself to that heart of flame which
had not learned, in that forest solitude, to control its passions. Her
loving heart had flown to meet him who had said to her: "I love you."
But when she gave herself to him, Sister Anne bound herself forever.
Frederic had taught her to know happiness; he had revivified her heart,
withered by misfortune. When she finds that she has the power to please,
a woman is born again. What would become of her, if she must renounce
that hope at sixteen? Frederic was all in all to her; and until that
moment love had seemed to her the summit of earthly happiness. But there
is no lasting happiness, especially in love. Only a few short days of
bliss had passed, and already the poor child was beginning to know the
suffering which that sentiment brings in its train.

At last, Frederic appeared. She did not run--she flew into his arms; she
cast her eyes about; he was alone, and her heart was more at ease.

"No," said her lover, kissing her; "I will not leave you. Where could I
find a lovelier woman--one more faithful or more worthy to be loved?
What do I care what they say? what do I care for a world to which no tie
binds me? I am perfectly happy here. My father himself could not induce
me to give you up!"

Another kiss on the girl's sweet lips sealed the promise he had made.
The night with its darkness brought even sweeter moments, for the lovers
shared the same couch; and in the arms of her who lavished the most
loving caresses upon him, Frederic repeated his vow:

"No, I will never leave you!"

But after a week, the days passed less swiftly for our lover; the poor
girl's fond caresses no longer sufficed to occupy the time; he felt that
he must have some occupation, that one cannot dream one's whole life
away beside a mountain stream.

After another week, he went down into the valley, mounted the horse,
which he had kept, and took several short rides in the neighborhood, to
procure some provisions that they required, as he told Sister Anne;
although he had done well enough without them at the beginning of his
sojourn in the woods.

After another week, he began to gaze longingly in the direction of
Grenoble. He was surprised that Dubourg did not return to inquire as to
his welfare, and that Menard too had forgotten him. Indeed, I believe
that in his heart he was offended. Did he no longer love Sister Anne?
Oh! yes, he loved her still. But time!--And, as Dubourg had well said,
there is no love strong enough to stand a tete-a-tete of three weeks.

But let us not anticipate; let us leave him with the dumb girl, who
loves him as dearly as on the first day, because--oh! ask some woman
why!--and let us return to Dubourg, who once more has the funds for the
journey at his disposal.




XV

FETE, DINNER PARTY, FIREWORKS, SURPRISE


On arriving at Grenoble, Dubourg ordered dinner, and the usual repast,
common to all the guests, was served to them.

"What kind of a dinner is this? we must have something different to eat,
and, above all, some different wines," said Dubourg, beginning to make
an uproar because he had money in his pocket.

The host appeared, and informed the gentlemen that their account was
already quite large, because, in addition to their board and lodging,
their young companion had foundered all the horses belonging to the inn
by overriding them. Dubourg's only reply was to take a five-hundred-franc
note from his pocket and give it to the innkeeper, saying, with all the
sang-froid of true grandeur:

"Take your pay out of this."

The host opened his eyes; his pinched nostrils expanded; his mouth, in
his efforts to give it an amiable expression, split from ear to ear; he
tied himself up in apologetic phrases, and ended by saying that he would
at once make up his account, but that he hoped that the gentlemen would
not leave him, and, if agreeable to them, he would give them muscatel
with their dinner.

When he had gone, Monsieur Menard, whose expression was almost as
comical as the innkeeper's, said to Dubourg:

"Have you received funds from Poland, monsieur le baron?"

"Why, yes, to be sure, Monsieur Menard. Parbleu! Money isn't apt to be
scarce long, with me."

"But I didn't see the courier who----"

"You must have been asleep when he arrived. The main point is that we
can go anywhere now, and not have to stand by, like misers, and watch
other people play, which is not noble at all. To begin with, we will go
to see our friend Chambertin to-morrow; but, in my judgment, we had
better send a messenger to give him notice of our proposed visit, so
that he may entertain us as we deserve. What do you think about it,
Monsieur Menard?"

"I think that cannot fail to have a good effect, monsieur le baron."

"Then find me a scullery boy, and dress him in your flannel waistcoat
and my morning cap, to give him an English look. Meanwhile, I will go
and write my letter."

Menard went out to look for a boy to be transformed into an English
jockey, while Dubourg composed the following epistle:

    "Baron Ladislas Potoski, Palatine of Rava, etc., etc., has the
     honor to inform his honorable friend De Chambertin d 'Allevard that
     he will visit his chateau to-morrow, accompanied by Professor
     Menard. Baron Potoski kisses the hand of Madame de Chambertin
     d'Allevard."

They handed the letter to the scullery boy disguised as a courier, who,
in consideration of a five-franc piece, went off at once to deliver it
at its address.

Monsieur and Madame Chambertin were about to retire when the messenger
arrived. It was half-past nine o'clock; and in the country, when one
does not cultivate letters, or music, or painting, or one's garden, the
evenings seem interminable. Monsieur Chambertin had played the violin,
and madame had sung a new romanza; then they had talked of the noble
Pole, whom they despaired of seeing again; and monsieur had said: "I am
amazed; he gave me his word that he would come." And madame had added,
with a sigh: "It surprises me much more than you."

The noise made by the messenger caused Monsieur Chambertin to pause as
he was about putting his legs under the bedclothes. He did not continue,
although his wife said to him: "Do get into bed; the servants are there
to answer the bell." But who could have come so late?

Someone knocked at the bedroom door; it proved to be Lunel, who
announced through the keyhole a message from Monsieur le Baron de
Potoski.

At that name, Monsieur Chambertin, who still held his leg in the air,
ready to thrust it into bed, abruptly withdrew it and, losing his
balance, rolled on the floor; while Madame Chambertin sat up in bed, and
called loudly for a mirror to arrange her hair. Her husband rose
meanwhile, and ran to get his dressing-gown, calling to Lunel:

"I am coming, Lunel; I am coming right away!"

"Give it to me instantly, monsieur," cried Madame Chambertin; "I am in a
hurry, I shall never have time."

Monsieur Chambertin handed his wife something that she had not asked
for, and ran to open the door. Lunel entered, followed by the jockey,
while Madame Chambertin, furious at her husband's mistake, drew her
bed-curtains together with a jerk, that she might not be seen in an
equivocal position.

Monsieur Chambertin took the letter and read it; at each word, his face
became more radiant; he could not contain himself, but called out to his
wife:

"The baron is coming! He calls me De Chambertin d'Allevard! He kisses
your hand, wife!"

And Chambertin ran to open the curtains, and came in collision with the
object he had handed madame by mistake.

"Take care, monsieur!" said she; "what on earth are you doing?"

"D'Allevard, wife!" cried Chambertin, seizing the article in question
and strutting about the room with it. "D'Allevard--just as if I were the
lord of the district; indeed I am--almost--and I hope that, thanks to
the baron, I shall soon be so altogether!"

"Put that down, monsieur; put it down somewhere!" madame cried to her
husband, who was so excited that he had no idea what he was doing. She
then ordered Lunel to give the messenger something to eat and drink,
and said to the latter that his master and his friend would be received
with the honors they deserved.

When the messenger had gone, Chambertin threw himself into an armchair,
and madame replaced her head on the pillow; but the letter they had
received made it impossible for them to think of sleep. Monsieur
Chambertin read it again. He was especially flattered by the title
_D'Allevard_.

"It's the name of the village," said madame.

"True; but by putting it after my name, it ennobles me."

"You know perfectly well, monsieur, that that's what everybody does in
Paris; aren't there two of our neighbors who call themselves by the name
of their town: Monsieur Gerard de Villers-Cotterets, and Monsieur Leroux
d'Ermenonville? Six months ago, I told you you ought to call yourself
Chambertin d'Allevard; but you never listen to me."

"My dear love, now that monsieur le baron has given me that title, I
certainly shall not give it up; and I shall never sign my name any other
way. To-morrow, wife, I give a party."

"I trust so, monsieur."

"Dinner, ball, concert, and fireworks. I believe no fireworks have ever
been seen in the neighborhood, and they'll produce a tremendous effect.
I shall invite all the best people among our neighbors."

"I'll have my hair dressed _a la_ Ferronniere; that's very becoming to
me."

"I'll have the whole estate illuminated."

"My dress with a train----"

"With colored lanterns."

"A pale blue girdle."

"Lamps in the courtyard----"

"My cherry-colored slippers."

"The largest I can find."

"A scarf."

"Festoons of flowers."

"My pearl necklace."

"And a fusillade!"

The landlord made up his account so that it came to just five hundred
francs, and monsieur le baron was entitled to no change. Any other than
Dubourg would have contested the charge of three hundred francs for
laming three or four wretched horses which were too old to draw the
plough; but he did not enjoy scrutinizing accounts; he contented himself
with ordering a neat tilbury for the morrow, and two of the landlord's
servants to represent his suite.

Dubourg then took cognizance of the contents of his cash-box; he found
himself the possessor of forty-five hundred francs; that was more than
he needed to win ten times as much. He trusted that the local
ironmasters would make up the sum that the chevalier and the count with
lace cuffs had filched from him.

The next day, about noon, Dubourg and Menard prepared for their visit to
Allevard, where they planned to arrive for dinner. As the innkeeper had
been unable to find a tilbury in the city, his guests were obliged to be
content with a yellow char-a-bancs with two seats. Dubourg and Menard
took their places on the first seat, and on the second they planted two
little scullery boys, swaddled in jackets and trousers taken from
different persons, and having on their heads old hunting-caps which came
down to their noses and gave them a decidedly foreign aspect. Dubourg
expressly enjoined upon them to pretend not to understand French, but
to confine themselves to making signs, so that they might pass for two
young Poles; and they solemnly promised to obey.

They set out, Dubourg driving; but although he had asked the host for
his best horses, he could not succeed in inducing them to gallop; he had
to be content with a very moderate trot, which necessarily delayed their
arrival. Menard was afraid that they would dine without them, and
Dubourg was in despair because he could not enter Monsieur Chambertin's
domain with the speed of a locomotive.

It was half-past five when at last they descried the roofs of Allevard.
Dubourg exhausted himself trying to increase the speed of his horses. As
they drew near Monsieur Chambertin's house, in front of which there was
a large number of people, he said to Menard:

"Poke them with your cane, so that we may drive up at a decent trot at
least."

As Menard put out his arm to comply, they heard a great outcry of: "Here
they are! here they are!" Four musket-shots followed in rapid
succession, two violins and a clarinet executed the overture to _La
Caravane_; and the two nags, frightened by the reports and the music,
shied and dragged the char-a-bancs up a hillside to the right of the
road, instead of keeping on toward the house.

"This is charming, delightful!" cried Dubourg; while Menard, who was
afraid of being overturned, exclaimed:

"Take care, monsieur le baron; our horses are running away!"

And Monsieur Chambertin, who had been waiting to illuminate since two
o'clock, said to his guests:

"See how well monsieur le baron drives; he went up that hill on purpose
to give us a specimen of his talent."

But, when coming down the hill again, the horses went much faster, and
at every instant the fragile carriage nearly overturned as it passed
over the stones or sank into ruts; Menard trembled with fear, the two
jockeys cried out, and Dubourg said to them:

"Be still, you rascals! I told you not to talk French; don't be afraid,
I'll answer for everything."

The carriage went like the wind; luckily, they were then headed toward
the house; but instead of passing through the main gateway, the coursers
ran full tilt at the wall. The shock was so violent that the two jockeys
were thrown out on the grass. Dubourg jumped out, crying: "I will answer
for everything!" Menard alone remained in his seat, as if he were glued
to it.

No one was injured. Dubourg went forward laughing to salute the company,
declaring that that was the usual way of alighting from a carriage in
Poland. Menard, proud of having retained his seat, joined the party,
displaying his ruff; and the two scullions pointed to their buttocks,
without a word, when Lunel asked them if they were hurt.

Dubourg was welcomed most cordially. Monsieur Chambertin was in the
seventh heaven, for the baron pressed his hand and called him his dear
friend; Madame Chambertin was no less gratified, the illustrious
stranger having whispered as he saluted her: "You have not been out of
my mind one moment." And all the guests seemed overjoyed to be in the
company of a great noble, who did not put on airs at all, and made
everybody feel at ease.

Monsieur Chambertin had got together some forty persons: all the wealthy
landowners of the neighborhood, the mayor, the notary, the clerk of the
peace, ironmasters, and a few friends from Paris and Lyon--in short,
all those whom he deemed worthy to meet monsieur le baron.

They took their places at the table, Dubourg in the seat of honor at
madame's right, and Menard, to his great delight, beside Monsieur
Fondant, who talked no more than before, but was very attentive to him
in the way of filling his glass and passing him food.

"I hope," said Chambertin, "that monsieur le baron will give us a few
days, and Monsieur Menard as well."

"Yes," said Dubourg, "we have arranged to pass several days in this
delightful spot."

As he spoke, he touched Madame Chambertin's knee with his own, whereupon
she swallowed a chicken bone to cover an imprudent sigh. Menard bowed,
and Chambertin rejoined:

"I have but one regret, and that is that you did not bring your friend
the Comte de--the Comte du--you know whom I mean."

"Oh! he's an original," said Dubourg; "he shuns society. I left him my
berlin and my servants, and brought only my two little Poles."

"Ah! they are Poles, are they? They are dapper little fellows; I took
them for Cossacks."

At that moment, Lunel appeared and informed Dubourg that his servants
were raising the deuce in the kitchen and refused to answer any
questions.

"Parbleu! I should think so! they don't understand French."

"Allow the baron's people to do as they choose," said Chambertin, "and
try to understand their signs."

"Very pretty signs they are," muttered Lunel; "they don't do anything
but stick their fingers in the sauces and wipe 'em on their breeches!"

The high spirits of Dubourg and the learned Menard enlivened the whole
company. They talked and laughed and ate and drank. But whenever Dubourg
spoke, Chambertin looked about and said:

"Sh! let us listen to monsieur le baron."

At dessert, Monsieur Bidault proposed to sing; but Dubourg observed that
in good society it was no longer fashionable to sing, and Chambertin
imposed silence on the ex-notary.

"Singing isn't fashionable," he said; "what were you thinking about?"

But the corpulent Frossard was in the habit of singing, and he was not
at all abashed by what Chambertin said; whereupon the host, seeing that
he could not prevent him from singing his drinking-song, requested the
company to walk into the adjoining room, where the concert was about to
begin, hoping that the ironmaster's ditty would pass for an aria.

A lady and gentleman regaled the company with a piece for harp and
piano, with thirty-six variations. The mayor took his 'cello, and the
notary a violin; a horn was presented to Dubourg, who had said that he
played on all instruments, but who now declared that he could play only
the English horn, and passed the instrument to Menard, forcing him into
a seat in front of a music stand. The tutor stared at him in amazement,
but he whispered in his ear:

"Just blow into it, and don't look embarrassed."

Menard, who had not spared his host's wine at dinner, was not afraid of
anything; he took the horn and put the mouthpiece to his lips, blowing
with all his might and rolling his eyes. They began a trio, Dubourg
beating time. Whenever it was the horn's turn, not a sound was heard,
because, try as hard as he would, Menard could not find the mouthpiece;
but Dubourg seemed content, and said, turning toward the company:

"I have never heard such sweet music! no one would believe that it was a
horn!"

Everybody applauded, and Menard, after it was all over, said to himself:

"I knew how to play the horn, and I never suspected it!"

The concert came to an end at last; Dubourg suggested a game, and the
tables were soon arranged. Backgammon is not often played in a salon,
but Dubourg said that they played nothing else at the Polish court;
whereupon Monsieur Chambertin instantly produced a board, and declared
that within a week he would have four in his salon. Dubourg and Frossard
took their places, and Chambertin watched them play, although he did not
understand the game at all.

Dubourg was in luck; he urged his adversary to increase the stakes, and
tried to taunt him into doing so. He had won some twenty louis, when
there was a tremendous report in the garden.

Cries of: "It's the fireworks!" arose on all sides, and everybody
hurried into the garden.

"To the devil with the fireworks!" exclaimed Dubourg; "the dice are just
beginning to fall well for me!"

But he tried in vain to detain the ironmaster, who was determined to see
the fireworks; so Dubourg concluded to do as everybody else did.

He left the salon. The fireworks were at the end of the garden, and
Dubourg fell in with Madame Chambertin, who was coming to see what
monsieur le baron was doing, and, it may be, to seek an opportunity for
a tete-a-tete. Dubourg offered her his arm; he was in excellent
spirits, and, as he recalled the conversation under the table and the
stifled sighs, he reflected that he was to pass several days in the
house, and that he ought to show himself worthy of the welcome he had
received. These considerations led him to take a path which did not lead
to the place where the other guests were.

"Where are you taking me, pray?" madame asked, now and then. But Dubourg
replied:

"I don't know at all, but let us go on."

They soon came to a small summer-house, which was not lighted and had
but one window, a little farther from the ground than an ordinary
ground-floor window. Dubourg opened the door, pushed Madame Chambertin
in, and entered behind her, taking care to close the door.

Meanwhile, Monsieur Chambertin, who had provided the fireworks expressly
for his friend the baron, was looking for him in the glare of a
Bengal-light; as he did not see him, he ran hither and thither, crying:

"Come, monsieur le baron, come, I entreat you! Two pieces have been set
off already, and they're just lighting the first transparency!"

Dubourg, who was probably not thinking of the transparency at that
moment, heard Chambertin's voice, and called to him from the interior of
the summer-house:

"I am here, I can see very well; don't worry about me; your good wife is
obliging enough to explain the fireworks to me."

"What! I don't see you at the window."

"Because madame is afraid of the rocket-sticks; but we can see very
well."

"Ah! that's good! I am delighted that you have a good place," said
Chambertin, standing under the window. "I arranged the display myself;
did you see the sun?"

"No, but I smelt it; it smelt something like the moon."

"Look at these little serpents; what perpetual motion! they go very
well, don't they?"

"Wonderfully well."

"Pray explain the transparency to monsieur le baron, wife."

"Oh! monsieur le baron grasps it all very quickly," replied Madame
Chambertin, in a voice upon which the smoke seemed to have had a serious
effect.

"Look out! there goes the bouquet!"

The bouquet exploded amid applause and shouts of _bravo_! The company
returned to the house, enchanted by the display, and Madame Chambertin
came out of the summer-house with monsieur le baron.

"The bouquet was fine," said Chambertin, rubbing his hands.

"I am still a little dazed by it," said madame, tremulously.

"It was worthy of the lord of this domain," added Dubourg.

"Upon my word," said Chambertin, "I believe I am almost that."

"You are altogether, my dear friend; it is I who say it."

"When a man of your eminence assures me of it, monsieur le baron, I can
no longer doubt it."

But it was after eleven o'clock, and that is unduly late in the country.
Those of the guests who lived at some distance entered their carriages;
those who lived in the village ordered their servants to light their
lanterns; they took leave of Monsieur and Madame Chambertin,
congratulating them on the magnificence of their party; they bowed
deferentially to monsieur le baron, and departed to their respective
abodes. Thereupon Monsieur Chambertin, thinking that his illustrious
friend must long for repose, and seeing that the learned Menard had
fallen asleep in the salon, ordered the servants to escort those
gentlemen to their rooms.

The finest apartment on the first floor had been prepared for the young
nobleman, and a pretty room on the second for the professor, who, if he
had been nothing more than that, would probably have been relegated to
the attic, but who was treated with the highest consideration because he
was the baron's friend and companion.

The whole household had retired. Menard was already snoring like one of
the blessed, which means that the blessed do not have bad dreams.
Dubourg stretched himself out luxuriously in a soft bed, surrounded by
rich silk curtains with gold fringe and tassels, and said to himself:

"Gad! it's mighty amusing to play the baron! these people overwhelm me
with attentions, and fly to meet my lightest wish! And all because they
think me a palatine! If I had introduced myself as plain Monsieur
Dubourg of Rennes, they would have told me to go my way; and yet this
other name hasn't made a different man of me. But all men have their
share of madness--a little more or a little less. Instead of trying to
cure it, which would be very noble, no doubt, but which strikes me as
rather too difficult, one must flatter their mania to make one's self
agreeable to them. This Chambertin is an ass, who, after trading in wine
two-thirds of his days, is trying to play the grandee and to ape the
airs of the nobility during the last third. What do I care for his
idiocy? he is delighted to entertain a baron, and I will play the baron
as long as I enjoy myself here. His wife is very willing that I should
make love to her, and I'll do it as long as I haven't anything better to
do; and it is more than probable that I shan't find anything better as
long as I am in her house, because a coquettish woman who has seen her
best days never invites any pretty girls who may rob her of attentions."

Reflecting thus, Dubourg was beginning to doze, when he heard a great
uproar in the courtyard,--outcries, oaths, and roars of laughter,--and,
in the midst of it, he fancied that he recognized the voice of one of
his jockeys. He rose, partly dressed himself, and opened the window
looking on the courtyard. He saw a number of servants assembled there,
and old Lunel fighting for a chicken with one of the little Poles, while
the other was shrieking and weeping in a corner.

The two scullions, faithful to the orders Dubourg had given them, had
replied only by signs to the other servants; but Lunel, who was Monsieur
Chambertin's steward, valet, and groom, all in one, was very ill
disposed toward the baron's servants, as well as toward their master,
whom he had driven to Grenoble, and from whom he had received no other
_pourboire_ than a tap on the cheek. The two boys had bruised themselves
behind, when they were thrown out of the carriage; that was why, when
trying to make themselves understood by signs, they frequently put their
hands to the injured part: a gesture which seemed to Lunel most
insulting, and he was convinced that the young Poles intended to make
sport of him.

To be revenged on them, he had taken them up to a small room under the
eaves, and left them there, supperless. The little fellows did not go to
bed, thinking all the time that food would be brought to them, or that
they would be called to supper. At last, tired of waiting, they went
downstairs. Everybody had retired except Lunel, who was sitting up
because he suspected that the baron's servants would not remain quiet.

The little fellows, spurred on by hunger, got scent of the store-closet,
which was in the kitchen; and as one of the kitchen windows was open,
they easily crawled in, and, making a hole in the canvas door of the
closet, one of them seized a chicken which had not been touched, the
other the carcass of a hare which still had some meat on it. They were
about to fly with their booty when Lunel discovered them; he shouted
_thief!_ and struck at them with a whip with which he had armed himself.
The scullions ran to the window and climbed through; one fell and
bruised his nose; the other, being less awkward, was running off with
his chicken, when Lunel overtook him and tried to wrest it from him.
Thereupon a struggle began.

"You shan't have it!" cried the boy.

"Oho! you little rascal! you can talk French now, can you? I'll teach
you to make insulting signs to me!"

Meanwhile, the one who had fallen cried:

"I've broke my nose; it's that old dodger's fault for not giving us any
supper!"

It was at this crisis that Dubourg appeared at his window. All the
servants had come down into the courtyard; and Monsieur Chambertin also
appeared on his balcony, in his robe de chambre.

"What's the meaning of all this noise?" he demanded.

"Those are my little Poles."

"Yes, your Poles, who talk French now," retorted Lunel; "I caught 'em
stealing in the store-closet."

"He didn't give us any supper," said the boys, "and he was waiting for
us in a corner with a whip."

"A miracle!" cried Dubourg; "they have spoken! they understand! That
whip seems to have taught them more quickly than any schooling!--Come,
my young friends, come up here and let me hear you speak French, and you
shall have some supper."

"And you, knave," shouted Monsieur Chambertin to his servant, "if you
presume to lay a finger on monsieur le baron's Poles again, I'll have
you horsewhipped, and discharge you!"

"They're no more Poles than I am a Turk!" muttered Lunel, as he walked
away.

The jockeys went up to their master's apartments, with the chicken and
the hare they had rescued from the battle; the servants returned to bed,
and Monsieur Chambertin resumed his place beside his wife, who was
dreaming that she was in the summer-house, and that they were about to
set off a petard.

Dubourg concluded that it would be imprudent to keep with him two young
imps who would surely get into further mischief. So, early the next
morning, he gave them each three francs and sent them back to Grenoble,
to the great contentment of Lunel, who did not like Poles.

The following days passed quietly; a few friends came to share Monsieur
Chambertin's pleasure and to listen to all the fables Dubourg chose to
tell them concerning his estates, his chateaux, his family, and his
duties at the court of Poland. Menard did not say much, but he ate and
drank vigorously, and cited a Latin author now and then; so that the
company, not understanding him, regarded him with renewed respect.

Dubourg gambled every evening, but only for small stakes. Frossard was
absent, Monsieur Chambertin never got excited over the game, and Dubourg
began to think that he would not double his capital. But the host's
birthday was approaching, and on that occasion the house was to be
turned topsy-turvy once more. Some very wealthy friends from Paris were
expected, who would play as high as monsieur le baron wished. It was
Madame Chambertin who had invited them, for she did everything that she
could to detain the agreeable guest; and she said to her husband every
day:

"You don't realize all the honor Monsieur de Potoski does you by paying
you a visit; you have no conception of it!"

"I assure you, my dear love, that I am very proud of it, and that I will
do all that I can to keep him."

"You will do well, monsieur; for his going would leave a great void in
my life. He is a man who would be very hard to replace. He is noble to
his finger-tips."

But everything was in commotion at Monsieur Chambertin's, where great
preparations were being made for the approaching function, of which the
charming stranger was again to be the hero. Monsieur Chambertin seemed
determined to outdo himself; he sent for workmen, whom he employed with
a great show of mystery in the garden, and they seemed always to be in
the neighborhood of the summer-house. He was preparing a surprise for
his guest; and as his last fireworks were talked about all over the
neighborhood, he determined that the renown of his next display should
reach to Lyon.

The great day came at last, and many guests arrived. Monsieur Chambertin
was immensely pleased with the surprise he had arranged for the baron,
and would not even take his wife into his confidence. The former wine
merchant's circle was augmented by new faces. A sumptuous banquet was
served; the dishes were exquisite, the wines delicious, and Dubourg did
the honors of the table almost unassisted, because whenever he called
his host "my friend D'Allevard," he was certain to turn his head.

"Twice happy the day that I met you!" he whispered to madame.

"What do you say? twice?" she replied, with a sigh; "oh! that is not
enough! say rather four, or five, or six times!"

"Let us call it seven, and stop at that!" said Dubourg.

The dinner came to an end. Monsieur Chambertin had but one regret--that
his friend Durosey, whom he had been expecting from Paris for several
days, had not arrived. Every time that he heard friend Durosey's name,
Dubourg said to himself:

"I used to know someone of that name in Paris; but where in the devil
did I know him?"

He asked Chambertin who this Monsieur Durosey might be.

"He's a wholesale merchant, who has just retired from business with
twenty thousand francs a year."

"In that case," thought Dubourg, "it can't be the man I knew, for I
never associated with wholesale merchants."

They returned to the salon, where a rich landowner, who was very fond of
ecarte, seemed inclined to try his luck against monsieur le baron, when
Lunel announced that Monsieur Durosey had arrived. Chambertin was
delighted; he left the room, and soon returned with his friend, whom he
introduced to the assembled company. Dubourg glanced at the new-comer
and recognized the former keeper of a restaurant in Paris, to whom he
owed a matter of four hundred francs, which had been standing two years,
and which he had not found himself in a position to pay. Monsieur
Chambertin, through vanity, had represented him as a wholesale merchant
instead of a retired restaurant keeper.

The meeting was exceedingly disagreeable to Dubourg, but he did not lose
his head; and when Chambertin came forward with Durosey, saying: "I
present you to Monsieur le Baron de Potoski, a Polish palatine," Dubourg
bowed and smirked, blinking his eyes, twisting his mouth, and making
such grimaces that it was improbable that his creditor could recognize
him.

Monsieur Durosey did not stop in front of Dubourg, who felt more at ease
and resumed his game more tranquilly. From time to time, however, he
glanced about the salon, and when he met his former entertainer's eye he
fancied that the latter was scrutinizing him carefully; whereupon he
resumed his facial contortions and grimacing, and tried to affect a sort
of Saint Vitus's dance by constantly twisting his nose and mouth toward
his left ear.

But his creditor's presence annoyed and embarrassed him; he could not
pay attention to his game, he lost his head completely, and his money
slowly but surely passed into his adversary's possession. Dubourg
suggested doubling, then trebling, the stakes; the rich squire agreed,
for he could not refuse monsieur le baron. A large part of the company
stood about the table, which was covered with five-hundred-franc notes;
and Monsieur Durosey planted himself exactly in front of Dubourg, who
could not raise his eyes without meeting his creditor's, and who, to
fill his cup to the brim, had the worst possible luck. In half an hour,
the travelling fund had passed into other hands, and Dubourg rose,
saying that he was going to get some more money.

But as he was looking about for his friend Chambertin, to borrow a few
thousand francs, with which he hoped to recover what he had lost,--for a
gambler continues to hope until he is on his death-bed,--the former
restaurant keeper, who had not lost sight of him, joined him in a window
recess. It was impossible to avoid him.

"How is Monsieur Dubourg?" he asked, with a roguish air.

"Dubourg? what do you mean by Dubourg?" replied the pretended baron,
working his nose and mouth more violently than ever.

"Oh! I have the honor to recognize monsieur," retorted the creditor, in
a louder tone; "but I didn't know that he was a Polish baron----"

"Hush! not another word, my dear Monsieur Durosey," said Dubourg, seeing
that it was impossible to hoodwink his interlocutor. "I didn't recognize
you at first, but now I place you perfectly. I am delighted to see you."

"The same with me, monsieur. You seem to be in very comfortable
circumstances now, staking five hundred francs at once at ecarte, and I
trust that you will pay me the four hundred francs you----"

"Yes, yes, with great pleasure; I will give them to you this very
evening. When I left Paris, I forgot that trifling debt."

"But I called on monsieur more than twenty times when he lived on the
fifth floor on Rue d'Enfer, and again on Rue de----"

"Hush! I know all about that; silence, Monsieur Durosey! Since then, I
have come into my property, and my titles--I will pay you in a moment."

"Oh! in that case, monsieur le baron may be assured that this will
remain a secret between us."

Dubourg walked away from Monsieur Durosey and once more looked about for
Chambertin, when that gentleman entered the salon, crying:

"Come into the garden, everybody; we are going to set off the
fireworks."

"I have a favor to ask of you," said Dubourg, walking up to him.

"After the fireworks, monsieur le baron, I shall be entirely at your
service. Be good enough to go to the summer-house; I flatter myself that
you will be able to see as well there as you did before; my wife will
take you there."

And Chambertin hurried away, with a mischievous air, while Dubourg said
to himself:

"Parbleu! it's decidedly amusing that he should send me to the
summer-house with his wife."

He went into the garden and found Madame Chambertin, who remembered the
last pyrotechnic display and was waiting for monsieur le baron for the
second performance. Madame asked nothing better than to go again to the
little summer-house, where they could see so well, and where they had
such comfortable seats; which latter would be most essential, as she had
urged her husband to make the display last as long as possible.

Bombs were set off, and rockets, and transparencies. But when the moment
arrived for the closing piece, Monsieur Chambertin said to the company
assembled in the garden:

"Turn toward the summer-house, and look at what comes next; that's where
the surprise is to be."

Everybody turned in that direction, Monsieur Chambertin gave the signal,
the walls of the summer-house fell away as if by magic, leaving the roof
supported by four pillars, and a lighted match instantly set fire to
four Bengal-lights, which had been secretly placed inside, together with
a transparency on which were these words: _To Baron Potoski, from his
grateful friend Chambertin_.

This was the surprise which Monsieur Chambertin had been mysteriously
preparing for several days; but he did not expect the surprise that his
friend the baron had in reserve for him: the explosion and the
demolition of the summer-house had taken place so suddenly, that the
couple inside had not even had time to cease their conversation, and it
seemed to all the company to be exceedingly animated.

The men laughed, the ladies bit their lips to avoid imitating them.
Menard, who was in the rear of the crowd, called out:

"Pray explain the transparency!"

And Monsieur Chambertin was struck dumb.

All this was the affair of a minute; Dubourg required no longer time to
realize what remained for him to do. He had not a sou, he had found a
creditor, he could expect nothing from his friend Chambertin except a
horsewhipping or a sword-thrust; so it behooved him to leave the house
instanter.

The Bengal-lights had gone out; Madame Chambertin had fainted, which was
the best thing that she could do. Dubourg took advantage of the smoke
which succeeded the bright light; he jumped down into the garden, lost
himself in the crowd about the summer-house, seized Menard, who came
running after him, dragged him into a dark path, and ordered him to hold
his tongue at the risk of being murdered.

At the end of the path was a little gate leading into the fields;
Dubourg opened it and pushed Menard through, who had no idea where he
was, and fancied that their friend Chambertin's house had caught fire.
His companion locked the little gate and threw away the key.

"Come," he said, "forward at the double-quick! We have drunk the cup of
pleasure, now we must put ourselves on a strict diet; it will do us
good. Now is the time for us to say: _Non est beatus qui cupida
possidet, sed qui negata non cupit._"

"Amen!" said Menard, as he trotted along by his side.




XVI

THE IMPROMPTU ACTORS.--AN EVENT WHICH CHANGED THE WHOLE FACE OF AFFAIRS


After they had run for more than a league, as if they were pursued,
Menard, utterly exhausted, stopped, declared that he could hold out no
longer, and dropped on the turf. Dubourg thought that they could safely
halt for a while, so he seated himself beside his companion.

"Will you kindly tell me now, monsieur le baron," said Menard, when he
had recovered his breath, "why we are running away like thieves from our
friend Chambertin's, where we were overwhelmed with attentions,
luxuriously quartered, and fed like epicures; where, in a word, we were
treated with the regard we deserve?"

"My dear Monsieur Menard, the jug that goes often to the well ends by
being broken or filled, as you choose; and in this case I rather think
both things have happened."

"What jug are you talking about? what have you broken? I don't
understand you, monsieur le baron."

"So I see, and I will explain my meaning in another way. Did you notice
that man they called Durosey, who didn't arrive at friend Chambertin's
until this evening?"

"Yes, monsieur le baron."

"Do you know who that man is?"

"I heard it said that he was a retired merchant."

"Yes, he represented himself as such, the better to deceive me, no
doubt. Did you notice what a forbidding face he had?"

"I noticed that he looked at you very often, monsieur le baron, with
close attention."

"Parbleu! I should say as much; and he recognized me. Monsieur Menard,
that man is nothing else than a disguised Turkish spy, who has been sent
in pursuit of me."

"Is it possible?"

"It is well known that I have pleaded the cause of the Greeks at several
courts, and induced more than one prince to take up arms in their
behalf. The Turks have sworn to have my life; this man is one of their
agents, whom I recognized because I have often seen him at
Constantinople; his presence is always followed by some disaster to me;
I am sure that Monsieur Chambertin's house was surrounded by his
confederates. They would have kidnapped me during the night,--and you
too, because it is known that you are travelling with me,--and within a
fortnight our two heads would have adorned the Castle of the Seven
Towers, flanked by a horse's tail, the symbol of the Grand Turk's
might. Tell me, now, whether I was wise to fly!"

"Mon Dieu!" said Menard, looking behind him; "I believe that my strength
has come back. Suppose we go on?"

"No, don't be alarmed, Monsieur Menard; the rascals have lost our trail
and won't dare to follow us."

"But how does it happen that Monsieur Chambertin receives as a
guest----"

"Oh! my poor Menard, you don't know mankind! With a dozen cashmere
shawls, a collection of pastilles, a box of little bottles of attar of
rose, you can make people do whatever you choose. However, I don't
accuse Chambertin; he may very well have been deceived; but, just as the
fireworks went off, I noticed several evil-looking men; and I at once
determined to fly."

"You acted very wisely. But our carriage?"

"I certainly shall not go after it."

"Nor I. But what about our landlord at Grenoble, who owns it?"

"He has our post chaise to pay for it."

"But what are we to travel with hereafter?"

"With our legs, I fancy. Indeed, when one hasn't a sou to pay for
horses, there's no use in having a post chaise."

"What's that, monsieur le baron? you haven't any money?"

"No, my dear Menard; I lost all that I possessed, this evening. That
Turk's presence confused me; I didn't know what I was doing, and I
played like a fool."

"That was well done! Luckily, my pupil, Monsieur Frederic de
Montreville, has the money for our journey, and the only thing for us to
do is to go and find him."

"How can we possibly rely on Frederic's having any money. He has just
made a new acquaintance, and new acquaintances, Monsieur Menard, are
always very expensive; we play the open-handed lover, we deny our
charmer nothing. I am sure that that girl is making him spend money like
water! At his age, a young man doesn't know the value of money, and has
no idea of economy."

"But, monsieur le baron, I don't quite see how they could spend much
money, living in the woods."

"You don't see? well, I do! It's first one thing, then another--no end
to the whims. You don't suppose that they have stayed in their little
cabin this whole month, do you? I can safely tell you, now, that
Frederic proposed to hire an apartment for the girl."

"But, monsieur le baron, did you not point out to him----"

"He's old enough to do as he pleases. However, don't get excited; I'll
see him. I'll go alone first, so as not to anger him, and, if he is
willing to listen to me, I'll bring him back. But, meanwhile, we must
live. How much money have you?"

"About thirty francs."

"That isn't much; but if we are economical, it will last us some time;
we shall have to live very sparingly; but that will do us good. These
big dinners overheat our blood; it's very unhealthy to eat five or six
rich dishes and drink several kinds of wine every day."

"Still, monsieur le baron, I am inclined to think that we were both
getting fat at Monsieur Chambertin's."

"True; but that would have turned out badly for us; simple fare will
check this tendency to corpulence. The pleasures of Capua enervated the
Carthaginians; and Monsieur Chambertin's table would probably have
produced the same effect on us, and I should have been distressed. I
really must resume my incognito."

"Ah! I agree with you this time, monsieur le baron; for if those Turks
should find you----"

"That's the reason why I think it wouldn't be prudent to return to
Grenoble, where I might be arrested--I should say, kidnapped by those
cutthroats. Besides, having no money, we should be ill received by our
host, who would claim, I dare swear, that his carriage is worth more
than ours. We will avoid passing through the town, and with your thirty
francs we will take lodgings in some little village."

"But when that's all gone, monsieur le baron?"

"Parbleu! then we'll see; there's no use of worrying beforehand.
Frederic can write to his father."

"I am afraid monsieur le comte will be angry----"

"I will write to my aunt."

"To your aunt, monsieur le baron?"

"I should say, to my steward. At all events, we will find some way out
of it. Besides, suppose we should groan and moan--would that help
matters at all? So let us make the best of it. Come, it's a superb
night, and we have had a good rest--let's push on. Faith! there's
nothing like travelling on foot, if you want to admire the landscape.
Come, my dear Menard, summon your courage! Since we have been together,
we have had lots of ups and downs; have you ever seen me mope?"

"Ah! monsieur le baron, everybody isn't as philosophical as you are."

"I will train you. Think of the misfortunes of Marius, Hannibal, Prince
Edward; of the poverty of the grand-daughter of Henri IV; of the woes of
Marguerite of Anjou; and of all the other people who have found
themselves in much more difficult positions than ours--and complain
again, if you dare!"

The travellers resumed their journey. Dubourg was a curious sight in his
full dress, starched ruff, and thin pumps, walking beside Menard, who
wore silk short-clothes, black stockings, and buckled shoes, and who was
compelled, in that costume, to climb hills, jump ditches, and plod along
over ground that, at the best, was very uneven. Luckily, they had taken
their hats when they went out to see the fireworks, otherwise they would
have had to traverse Dauphine as if they were calling on their
neighbors.

At daybreak, they stopped at a peasant's house and obtained breakfast.
Dubourg ordered an omelet and some native wine. They ate their repast
under an arbor, surrounded by domestic animals who came to keep them
company.

"How pleasant it is in the open air!" said Dubourg; "are all the gilded
halls and antechambers on earth equal to this open country--to the
perfect liberty which is ours at this moment?"

"It is certain," rejoined Menard, driving away a big cat that persisted
in putting its paws in his plate, "it is certain that we are entirely at
liberty here,--that there is no suspicion of restraint---- Well, well,
here's the dog now, trying to get my bread!"

"Well, Monsieur Menard, every creature must live. In the time of our
first parents, these innocent beasts shared their masters' meals; the
lion ate from the hand of man, and the tiger gambolled at his feet."

"You must agree, monsieur le baron, that those animals have changed
greatly in their disposition."

"Never mind; I love everything that recalls those days of innocence.
When I look at this hen walking on our table, and this duck splashing in
the mud at our feet, I fancy that I am living in the Age of Gold. Not
until I feel in my pocket do I realize the delusion."

Unluckily, the eggs in the omelet were not fresh, and the wine was sour;
Menard made a wry face at every mouthful and every swallow, while
Dubourg said:

"I know of no healthier food than an omelet. Whatever country you travel
in, wherever you may be, if there are eggs, you have an omelet!
Everybody knows how to make it; it's a universal dish, the dish of
nature."

"If only the eggs were fresh!"

"Faith! this little taste of straw isn't unpleasant; at need, it will
take the place of tarragon. And this wine--at all events, I'll guarantee
that it won't do us any harm."

"It's infernally sour!"

"A proof that it's unadulterated."

Despite all that Dubourg could say to make Menard approve of the
breakfast, the tutor said, as they left the table:

"I think that we must go to hunt up Monsieur Frederic de Montreville."

And Dubourg said to himself:

"He'll receive me cordially, when he knows that I have broken the bank
again in less than a month! How in the devil am I to get out of the
scrape? And how am I going to ask him for anything, when he gave it all
to me? I can't go and preach to him--that isn't in my line. Indeed, I
think that I shall have to induce Menard to come and live in the woods
with me; we will become hermits, and I won't play ecarte any more."

The travellers made a detour round Grenoble, without entering the city.
They halted in a small village, and Menard spoke again of joining
Frederic. Dubourg lost his patience, and told him that he would go alone
to Vizille to see what he could learn. He left the village, walked as
far as a small patch of forest, lay down on the grass, slept there all
day, and at night returned to Menard, holding his handkerchief to his
eyes and sighing as if his heart were broken.

"Well, well! what in heaven's name has happened to him?" inquired the
tutor, anxiously.

"The ingrate! the harebrained fool!"

"Speak, monsieur le baron, I entreat you!"

"I suspected that he would do some insane thing. He has gone off with
his fair one. They left the forest a fortnight ago."

"Great heaven! what will monsieur le comte say? what answer shall I make
him, when he asks me what I have done with his son?"

"You must tell him that you lost him."

"Do you believe, monsieur le baron, that such an answer will satisfy
him?"

"Then you can tell him that he lost himself. But be calm, my dear
Menard. I promise you that we will find Frederic again. I have friends
in all the courts of Europe; the young man will be restored to us."

This promise pacified poor Menard to some extent, and Dubourg continued:

"Before we consider what to do about him, let us think of ourselves, for
our position is not very splendid. We shall not find resources in this
wretched village; let us go to the nearest town; and, above all things,
my dear Menard, do try to get rid of that heart-broken look, which will
inspire an exceedingly unfavorable opinion of us in every inn at which
we stop."

The travellers resumed their journey, and at nightfall arrived at
Voreppe, a small town about two leagues from Grenoble. Dubourg inquired
for the best inn, and went thither with his companion. They entered the
common-room, Dubourg with his head in the air and a determined bearing,
Menard with downcast eyes and a very modest mien.

Several guests were talking together in the room, awaiting the supper
hour.

"Will the gentlemen eat at the table d'hote?" the servant inquired.

"Yes, of course," replied Dubourg; "we like company--don't we, my
friend?"

"Yes, monsieur le ba--yes, my friend," said Menard, being reminded by a
blow from his friend's elbow that there was to be no more mention of
barons.

Dubourg listened to what the other guests were saying, but the
conversation was far from interesting; the tradesmen discussed business,
the townspeople talked gossip, and Dubourg failed to discover any
Chambertin to dazzle. He paced the floor of the common-room, jingling
the few copper coins which he still had in his pocket, and halting now
and then in front of Menard to offer him a pinch of snuff; and Menard,
for all his depression, looked with unabated respect on the snuff-box
which was held out to him.

Suddenly a little man of some fifty years of age, in a cinnamon-colored
coat, green breeches, cavalry boots, and a cap with a visor that might
at need serve as an umbrella, entered the room, with the air of one full
of business, and said in a very loud tone:

"They won't come! they can't come! and my performance has fallen
through. I am desperate! my mind is going!"

The little man threw himself into a chair, and was instantly surrounded
by all the gossips and guests of the inn.

"What is it, Monsieur Floridor?" queried the hostess; "have your actors
gone back on you?"

"Yes, the most necessary and most important ones of the lot: the _jeune
premier_, and the noble father, two talented actors, who would have
completed my troupe. The _jeune premier_ was to come from Cambrai, where
he has played such parts as Colin and Elleviou for twenty years; he is a
man of the most charming, consummate talent. I saw him a month ago, in
_Sargine, or Love's Pupil_, for he has been playing the _ingenus_ and
young lovers for some years. Ah! how delighted I was! an affecting
voice, and a superb figure! a little taller than I am. And in tragic
parts--such fire! such spirit! I wept when I saw him do _Tartufe_. As
for the noble father, he is a most invaluable actor. For thirty years he
has been the delight of Beaugency, and I saw him act at Doyen's, in
Paris, with marvellous success. He takes all sorts of parts--kings,
fathers, tyrants, Cassandras--he can handle anything. He made a
specialty of the _noble fathers'_ roles only because he lost his teeth,
which does not prevent his displaying plenty of _bite_ in his diction."

"And why ain't they coming?"

"Why, indeed! Because Colin has an attack of catarrh, forsooth! and the
noble father, having had a row in a wine shop, is locked up for a
fortnight. Such things never happen to anybody but me. After taking so
much pains to make a pretty theatre out of the old stable, and
succeeding too--for I flatter myself that our theatre is charming: an
orchestra, pit, three boxes, and a gallery--all on the same level, and
tastefully decorated! I would have left the Grenoble theatre out of
sight! The people of this town would have been so delighted! They know
a good thing when they see it, at Voreppe, and, although there's never
been a theatre here, I am sure I should have made a lot of money! I had
already let one box to the justice of the peace, who is admitted gratis
with his family; and the principal men of the town had sent me word that
perhaps they would come!"

The little man paused at last to take breath and wipe his face. Dubourg,
who had not lost a word of what he said, seated himself in a corner,
evidently meditating some new plan.

"It is annoying, sure enough," said the innkeeper; "I've ordered a new
dress for my daughter to wear to the play."

"Annoying, do you say!" repeated Floridor, twisting about on his chair
like one possessed; "why, it is enough to drive one to despair! I would
give a hundred francs if I could replace my two actors, and a hundred
francs is quite a sum, it's equal to one evening's receipts; but, no
matter, I would sacrifice it to be able to open my theatre."

These words were overheard by Dubourg, who still held aloof, however,
and seemed to pay no heed to what was being said.

"Ah!" said one of the servants; "I wish I knew how to act! it would just
suit me to be able to earn a hundred francs."

"I had engaged my two artists for a month, at sixty francs each," said
Floridor; "that's pretty high, but we have to pay for real talent."

"Can't you get anybody to take their places?"

"Who, pray? I have made a _tyrant_ of the wigmaker, and a _confidant_ of
the carpenter's apprentice, who has a magnificent voice. I have
persuaded the constable's wife to play the princesses, and I have made
an _ingenue_ of the cooper's widow; those are all I've been able to find
in the town; but they do very well, they're jewels. As for myself, I act
when it's necessary; but, as I have to prompt too, I can't take any long
roles. I have a well-supplied wardrobe: three Spanish costumes, with
which the last rope-dancer paid his bill at the wine shop; an old
lawyer's gown to make tunics with; two otter-skin caps to serve for
turbans, and some curtains I bought at Grenoble to make into cloaks. We
were to have opened day after to-morrow, with _Phedre_ and _Le Devin du
Village_. In _Phedre_, the carpenter was to do Aricie, because we have
only two women; but he's a nice-looking boy, with no beard, and he'd
have done very well. As for the other two _confidants_, Ismene and
Panope, I intended to declaim their roles from the prompter's box. We
should have given _Le Devin du Village_ without music, but that makes it
all the prettier; the actors speak instead of singing, and it goes very
well; I've seen it given so in many places. What a success we would have
had! My Colin was to do Hippolyte; and my noble father would have been
magnificent as Thesee. The wigmaker was cast for Theramene; the fellow
has his lines at his tongue's end, he doesn't shave a customer that he
doesn't recite 'em; and Hippolyte must needs have the catarrh, and
Thesee get into a row at a wine shop! How am I to get out of the scrape?
Oh! if some great actor from Paris or some foreign country would happen
to stop here--one of those men who travel so much! But they never come
to Voreppe!"

"Supper is served, messieurs," said the maid-servant.

"Your trouble won't interfere with your supper, I take it, Monsieur
Floridor," said a tradesman.

"No, indeed. I shall eat my supper as a matter of habit, but I have no
appetite. This calamity has cut off my arms and legs."

"But not his tongue," observed Menard, in an undertone, as he prepared
to take his place at the table; when Dubourg, stalking majestically
forward, halted in front of him and declaimed, waving his right arm
about as if he were trying to swim:

    "'Oui, puisque je retrouve un ami so fidele,
      Ma fortune va prendre une face nouvelle;
      Et deja mon courroux semble s'etre adouci
      Depuis qu'elle a pris soin de nous rejoindre ici.'"[C]

  [C] Aye, since I find a friend so leal and true,
      Methinks my fortune speedily will change;
      Even now my wrath seems sensibly allayed,
      Since she hath taken steps to join us here.

Menard stared at Dubourg in dismay.

"You have found him?" he said; "who? my pupil? is he going to join us
here?"

Dubourg trod on Menard's foot, for he saw that Floridor, instead of
taking his seat at the table, had stopped and was listening to him. He
seized the tutor's arm, and cried:

    "'Est-ce toi, chere Elise? O jour trois fois heureux!
      Que beni soit le ciel, qui te rend a mes voeux,
      Toi qui, de Benjamin comme moi descendue,
      Fus de mes premiers ans la compagne assidue.'"[D]

  [D] Is it thou, O dear Elise? Thrice happy day!
      Thank heaven, which doth restore thee to my prayers,
      Thee, who, like me, from Benjamin descended,
      Wast of my early years the comrade true.

"Delicious! delicious!" cried Floridor, clapping his hands, while Menard
rolled his eyes about in amazement, looking for this Elise whom
monsieur le baron addressed; and as he saw no one but the maid-servant,
he asked her if her name was Elise.

"Is monsieur an actor?" inquired Floridor, walking toward Dubourg, cap
in hand.

"I, monsieur!" he replied, pretending to be surprised and annoyed
because he had been overheard. "I--I assure you, monsieur--what ground
have you for such an opinion?" he demanded, in a gruff voice, like a
villain of melodrama.

"What ground!" cried the little man, delighted beyond words, and seizing
Dubourg's hand. "Ah! monsieur, you betrayed yourself just now without
knowing it; but even without that I should have recognized you. That
voice, that carriage, those noble and majestic attitudes! None but an
actor of the first rank combines all these; and you are such a one; it
is useless for you to deny it."

"I see," said Dubourg, smiling with an air of mock modesty, "that it is
difficult to conceal anything from you. But my companion and I had fully
resolved to retain our incognito."

"Your companion!" cried the little man, leaping for joy; "can it be that
monsieur is an actor, too?"

"Unexcelled in tearful roles, superb in tragedy, and absolutely natural
in comedy," said Dubourg, while Menard listened with the air of one
listening to a language he does not understand. But Floridor did not
allow him to remain in that benumbed condition; he threw his arms about
Dubourg's neck, he threw his arms about Menard's neck, and would have
done the same by the maid if somebody had not stopped him.

"They are sent by heaven!" he cried, rushing about the room like a
madman. "I shall open my theatre! we will play _Phedre_, we will make
the whole town weep with _Le Devin du Village_!--Master innkeeper, a
bottle of your best wine. I have the honor of inviting to supper the two
artists who are travelling incognito."

"What does this mean?" Menard asked Dubourg, in an undertone.

"It means that we are the two first actors to the King of Poland, that
yonder little magpie has already invited us to supper, and that he is
going to do a great deal more for us; further, that you must support
what I say, and try not to look like an idiot."

"What, monsieur le baron--you and I pass ourselves off as actors?"

"Actors are built like other men, Monsieur Menard; Roscius was admitted
to the presence of Sylla, Garrick is buried beside the kings of England,
Moliere was an actor, and none the less a great man; and two of the
great authors of our own time have acted, and sacrificed none of their
merit by so doing."

"But, monsieur le baron, I have never acted."

"Nor have I; but that doesn't alarm me."

"But suppose it should become known, what will people say?"

"It won't become known, as we are incognito."

"But I have no memory; I shall never be able to remember a role."

"They'll prompt you."

"But I am very timid, and I shall never dare to appear in public."

"When you are rouged and powdered, you'll be as bold as a page."

"I shall be execrable."

"We'll make him pay us a high price, and everybody will think we are
superb."

"But----"

"Morbleu! there's enough _buts_. Just remember that it's only for three
or four days; it's a little joke that will have no unpleasant
consequences, and will give us the means of waiting for another
remittance. Furthermore, when a man like myself, a Polish nobleman, an
elector palatine, decides to do such a thing, I consider it very strange
that a mere plebeian should presume to remonstrate with him. You will
act with me, or I abandon you to the wrath of the Comte de Montreville,
whose son you will never be able to find without assistance."

"I'll do it, monsieur le baron."

"That's very lucky for you!"

During this little dialogue, Monsieur Floridor had rushed into the next
house, where the wigmaker lived, to tell him that two great actors,
whose names he did not know as yet, but who were sure to be overflowing
with talent, because they were travelling incognito, had arrived at the
Soleil d'Or, and that he proposed to do his utmost to engage them to
appear two or three times in the town. The wigmaker abandoned the town
clerk's wife's hair, which he was engaged in curling, and hurried off to
carry the news to all his customers; the customers told their neighbors,
and the word was passed from house to house, as in the game of scandal.
The town of Voreppe being rather small, all the townspeople knew before
sundown that they had within their walls two dramatic geniuses who were
travelling incognito.

Monsieur Floridor returned, and they took their places at the table.
Dubourg seated Menard at his side, so that he could whisper his replies
to him, and the manager took his seat on Dubourg's other side. All the
other guests treated the travellers with marked consideration, because
they saw that Floridor did, and because we often do what we see others
do, without very well knowing why.

The little manager talked incessantly, Dubourg from time to time
declaimed such passages as came to his mind, and Menard concentrated his
attention upon his plate.

"May I not know," said Floridor, "with whom I have the honor of
supping?"

"We did not intend to make ourselves known," said Dubourg; "but, after
the flattering attentions with which you have honored us, it is
difficult to conceal anything from you. You see in us the two first
actors of Cracow, who are taking advantage of a furlough to travel in
France and perfect ourselves in the French tongue, in which all our
plays are given in Poland; so that our theatre is frequented only by the
most distinguished people of the country--like the Bouffons in Paris."

"I understand, I understand! and what parts do you play?"

"Everything, from pantomime to grand opera. My comrade here, Wolowitz,
is the Fleury of Poland, and I make bold to say that I am the Talma. Ah!
if you should see us together in _Les Chasseurs et la Laitiere_! but you
don't give opera here, do you?"

"Pardon me: opera-comique, without music, to be sure, because we have no
orchestra as yet; but if you will deign to accede to our prayers, how
happy our town will be to see two such artists as you!"

"It is true that we are terribly popular in Poland! Why, when we play
anywhere, they always throw us something--it never fails.--Do you
remember Smolensk, Wolowitz? We had given _Le Deserteur_ and _Le Chien
de Montargis_. You played the assassin. I say, do you remember the
sensation we produced there?"

Wolowitz did not reply, because he had not yet learned his name; but
Dubourg kicked him, under the table, and made him raise his head,
whereupon he replied, still eating:

"Yes, monsieur le baron."

"You see, he continues to call me the _baron_," said Dubourg; "he
imagines he is still on the stage."

Another kick informed Menard that he had made a blunder, and he muttered
in Dubourg's ear:

"Tell me your name, then; you can't expect me to guess it."

"When people saw on the bill-board: _Boleslas and Wolowitz_," continued
Dubourg, with a glance at Menard, "the theatre was always crowded to
suffocation, and we staggered under the wreaths that were thrown to us."

"Oh! you'll get some here," said Floridor; "we will throw 'em to you.
I've had a dozen made on purpose to have thrown on my actors' heads. You
shall have verses too--quatrains; I've got all those things."

"You are right; they always have a good effect, they flatter the artist
and dazzle the audience."

"Ah! Monsieur Boleslas, may I hope that you and your companion will
consent to give us a few performances?"

Dubourg did not consent at once; they had made a vow, he said, not to
act in any French theatre. Floridor urged them, implored them, and
ordered a fresh bottle of wine. Menard was touched by the supper and the
little manager's compliments, and when they left the table he was ready
to promise to play any part he was asked to take; but Dubourg did not
yield so readily, because he desired to obtain a high price. Floridor
did not leave his side, he was ready to kneel at his feet; he would
make any sacrifice, he said, to open his theatre with such notable
artists, and he finally offered them a hundred francs for four
performances, which was a fabulous sum for acting in a stable. Dubourg
surrendered, declaring that he did it solely to oblige him.

The little man was beside himself with joy; he instantly prepared three
posters, which would be displayed in the town on the morrow, announcing
to the people thereof that Messieurs Boleslas and Wolowitz, famous
Polish actors, were to appear at their theatre.

"We should like to open with _Phedre_ or _Le Devin du Village_," said
Floridor.

"Oh! bless my soul! it's a matter of indifference to us," replied
Dubourg; "whatever you choose."

"Then we will begin with that."

"Very well, I will do Phedre."

"Phedre? do you mean to say that you play female parts too?"

"Oh, no! I meant Hippolyte. Wolowitz will make a glorious Thesee."

"Very good. For the _Devin_ I only need a Colin."

"I'll undertake it. In four days we will be ready."

"Four days--that's rather too long."

"We must have a little rest."

"All right, four days it is. You will be announced to-morrow. Have you
any wardrobe?"

"No; for we had no idea of acting."

"No matter; I will see that you have costumes."

With that, Floridor left our friends, and they went to bed, Dubourg
laughing over this latest adventure, and Menard murmuring:

"If monsieur le baron does it, why shouldn't I do it?"

When he woke the next morning, poor Menard could not believe that he was
really going to play Thesee; but Dubourg appeared, book in hand, and
gave him his role, which the little manager had already sent, with the
information that there would be a rehearsal at noon.

"Bah!" said Dubourg; "there aren't a hundred lines in your part. What's
that to you, who have learned Horace and Virgil and so many other
authors by heart?"

"That's all very well; but I have passed my life learning them, while I
have only three days to commit this to memory."

"Don't be afraid, I'll answer for everything; besides, there's a
prompter."

"That's true; I must depend on him."

"As long as you know your first speech, that's all that's necessary."

"Oh! as to that, I'm not at all alarmed:

    "'La fortune a mes voeux cesse d'etre opposee,
      Madame, et dans vos bras met----'"

"Bravo! you say it like an angel."

"It's the curse that bothers me."

"See that you gesticulate enough, and it will be all right."

At midday, Monsieur Floridor came to escort them to the theatre, where
the rest of the troupe was waiting for them. The aspect of the little
hall, which they reached through a dovecote, where the box-office was
located, amused Dubourg mightily, while Menard collided with two old
hogsheads which did duty as mountains.

The troupe manifested the greatest respect for the two new-comers, who
rehearsed book in hand. Dubourg did not say a word that the others did
not exclaim:

"How well that was declaimed! what talent!"

It was the same with Menard; and the tutor, bewildered by the applause
that was lavished upon him, was persuaded that he possessed a hitherto
unsuspected talent for acting.

"Do you take snuff while you are acting?" queried Floridor.

"Why not? I take the part of a king, and the King of Prussia took snuff;
witness that box, which----"

"In Poland," interposed Dubourg, "we take as much of it as we please on
the stage; it's a recognized thing; indeed, it's a matter of tradition
in many roles."

"How glad I am!" said the constable's wife, who played Phedre; "I didn't
dare to take it when I was the princess."

"In that case," said the carpenter's apprentice, "I'll put a little quid
in my mouth when I play Aricie, as Monsieur Boleslas deigns to allow
it."

"Whatever you please; great artists indulge in innumerable whims."

"_Non est magnum ingenium, sine mixtura dementiae_," observed Menard.

"Do you hear him? that's Polish," said the manager to his troupe.

Three days were occupied with rehearsals; at last, the day of the
performance arrived. Menard knew only his first speech by heart; but he
knew that very well, and Dubourg had told him that that was enough. The
latter did not know a word of his part, but he was not at all disturbed.
On the morning of the performance, he took care to secure the hundred
francs which Floridor had agreed to pay, saying that it was the custom
in Poland. The little manager counted out the sum, and Dubourg put it in
his pocket.

The costumes they were to wear in _Phedre_ were brought to the inn.

"Don't we dress at the theatre?" Dubourg asked the manager.

"We have no dressing-rooms, so everybody dresses at home; but the
weather is fine, and there's no inconvenience in that."

"Do you mean that I must walk through the town dressed as Hippolyte?"

"The theatre is only a few steps from the inn, and you can play the part
in boots, as Hippolyte is a hunter."

"True."

"In default of a bow, which we haven't, you will carry an old musket,
which I have had brought here for you; the ramrod will represent the
arrows."

"That will do very well."

"As for the wig, I think you will be pleased; as Hippolyte must have
hair falling over his neck, I have prepared a Louis XIV wig, which will
fill the bill perfectly."

The manager took his leave, and Dubourg was assisted to dress by Menard,
who, as he did not appear till the third act, had plenty of time for his
own toilet. Dubourg retained his black trousers, in which were the
hundred francs; he thought it best to have the money about him, in case
of accident. Over them he drew a very large pair of nankeen trousers,
donned a white pique waistcoat, and threw over his shoulders an ample
cloak covered with rabbit skins, representing the skin of a tiger; then
he put on his wig, daubed his face with rouge, took the musket in one
hand and his handkerchief in the other, and betook himself to the
theatre, urging Menard to make haste, so that he would not be late for
his _entree_.

The auditorium was full, which meant receipts of about eighty francs.
Floridor was in ecstasies; he ran to and fro from the prompter's box to
the stage, in full view of the audience; for there was no passage under
the stage, and the sheet which did duty as a curtain was hung on a rod
and drawn aside, like the curtain of a magic lantern.

Dubourg arrived, bathed in perspiration, because the cloak covered with
rabbit skins was very heavy and the wig was immense. The actors uttered
a cry of admiration when he appeared.

"How handsome he is!" could be heard on all sides; "how well he
represents Hippolyte!"

"Ah! I shall play Phedre by inspiration!" exclaimed the constable's
wife, with a passionate glance at Dubourg. But as Phedre had a slight
squint, and an enormous nose covered with snuff, Hippolyte did not
return that amorous glance. He drew the curtain aside to look into the
hall; when his face appeared, shouts arose on all sides; the ladies
thought he was a lion. Thereupon Floridor came forth from his box, and
addressed the audience thus:

"I told you that you would be pleased, enchanted!"--and he applauded
with all his might, the spectators followed suit, and Dubourg bowed with
majestic dignity, then retired behind the curtain.

Everybody was ready. Phedre had a gown _a la_ Mary Stuart, a mob-cap,
and was covered with _mouches_ to the end of her nose. OEnone, to give
herself a malignant aspect, was dressed in red and black, because
Dubourg had told her that such a costume indicated a woman of character.
The carpenter, on the contrary, had sacrificed a nascent whisker in
order to represent Aricie; he was dressed in a white cambric gown, with
a garland of roses in his hair, and he imitated a woman's voice
reasonably well, although he constantly chewed tobacco.

The wigmaker, who was cast for the part of Theramene, wore a Francois I
wig and a Spanish costume, with his National Guards sabre for a sword.
The roles of the other two confidants were to be read by Floridor from
the prompter's box. Only Thesee was missing, and he did not appear; but
he was not to come on till the third act.

"Let us begin, the audience is growing restive," said the manager; "we
mustn't keep them waiting any longer. Thesee will certainly be on hand
for the third act."

"It is undoubtedly his costume that detains him," said Dubourg; "he's
very particular about having his costume just what it should be, and he
never puts in a pin except in the way tradition demands."

The manager, who was also prompter, stage manager, and scene shifter,
struck the traditional three blows, then drew the curtain, which at
first disclosed only half of the stage; but with the assistance of two
spectators, who came on the stage, he succeeded in drawing it entirely
aside. Thereupon he went down into his box, with a candlestick in his
hand, and the play began.

When Dubourg stalked upon the stage, majestically enveloped in his
cloak, the audience emitted a murmur of surprise, which was not
precisely admiration; for, with his huge wig, the rouge trickling down
his cheeks, and his old musket over his shoulder, Dubourg was far from
attractive to look upon. Judging from the head they had seen a moment
before, they had expected to see a magnificent man of lofty stature;
but, on the contrary, the cloak seemed to crush him, and Theramene,
being very tall, made him appear even shorter than he was.

"He's a Pole," said the spectators.

"He's terribly ugly," said the young women; "but he is said to have
great talent."

Dubourg rolled his eyes in terrifying fashion, to give character to his
face; while the unlucky Theramene, whose head touched the flies, was
obliged to stoop, so that his wig should not sweep the spiders' webs
from the ceiling of the palace.

Dubourg, who was not at all timid, shouted his lines like a deaf man,
and gesticulated so wildly that, before the end of the first scene,
Theramene had been struck twice by him. At the third blow, the wigmaker
began to lose his temper, and muttered between his teeth:

"Sacrebleu! look out what you're doing! if you go on like this, I shall
be like a baked apple before the end of the play."

But the audience were delighted with his spirited acting; they applauded
and cried _bravo_! Dubourg continued as he had begun, but not without
alarming one woman in the pit who, being singularly affected by his
contortions, left the place.

The first act went very well; but the audience manifested some little
surprise when, instead of seeing Panope appear, they heard the prompter
reading the role in his box; but, as it was not long, they let it pass,
especially as Floridor, turning toward the pit, explained:

"Messieurs, the roles of confidants are almost always given in this way
in towns of the third order."

But Thesee had not arrived.

"What in the devil can he be doing at the inn?" said Dubourg; "do you
suppose he can't put on his costume?"

"Impossible!" said the manager; "I sent him a superb yellow tunic, and
trousers of the same stuff; for his diadem he has a turban of the same
color, that I use in _Mahomet_."

"Oho! so Thesee will be all yellow, eh?"

"That's traditional, and tradition is never wrong. But let's go on with
the second act; we must hope that he will turn up."

They began the second act, which did not go so well as the first.
Aricie, in a moment of passion, spat her tobacco into Hippolyte's face,
whereupon the latter kicked her viciously just as her lover said to her:

    "'Moderez des bontes dont l'exces m'embarrasse!'"[E]

 [E] Be not so kind to me; your excessive kindness embarrasses me.

"That will teach you to be more careful," said Dubourg.

"If I wasn't a woman, I'd answer you in another way," retorted the
carpenter, shaking his fist at him.

"I advise you to keep quiet!"

Floridor hurried from his box to reconcile Hippolyte and Aricie; he
succeeded at last in pacifying them, and the performance continued. But,
a moment later, Dubourg, being on the stage with Phedre, waited for the
prompter to give him his cue; but the cue did not come, because the
prompter could not see.

"Snuffers!" he cried; "give me some snuffers!"

"What a stupid!" said Phedre, and she stooped and took the candle, and
gracefully snuffed it with her fingers. "There, my boy, that's the way
we do when we have any instinct." And she replaced the candlestick in
the box.

This little interlude was not agreeable to the audience, who had already
begun to murmur at the quarrel between Hippolyte and the princess; and
one enthusiast, who was more exacting than the rest because he had
occasionally attended the theatre at Grenoble, threw a raw potato,
which struck Phedre in the left eye. The constable's wife finished the
scene in tears, and the second act came to an end at the same time, with
indications that a storm was brewing.

Floridor, who came out of his box after each act, ran on to the stage to
console Phedre, who declared that she would not act any more. He tried
to restore the courage of his actors by assuring them that the later
acts would make amends for everything; he relied especially on the debut
of Thesee, who had not yet appeared, and to whom he looked to produce a
prodigious effect. But Thesee did not arrive, and the anxiety became
general.

"What can have happened to him? I'll run back to the inn," said Dubourg,
"for his delay begins to surprise me; I'll bring him back with me at
once."

"Make haste!" cried Floridor; "for if we keep the audience waiting,
everything will be hopelessly ruined."

Let us see why Menard, who was so scrupulously exact in everything he
had to do, had not arrived at the theatre. After Dubourg left him, he
turned his attention to his toilet; and that was no small matter to a
man who had never been to a ball, had never disguised himself, and had
worn the same costume for thirty years. Menard scrutinized the tunic,
the Turkish trousers, and the turban, in every part; he had some
difficulty in making up his mind to put on those yellow garments and to
besmear his _venerable_ cheeks with rouge; he had to remind himself
constantly of Roscius, Garrick, and Moliere, else he would have
abandoned the idea of acting. But he had promised, his word was pledged;
monsieur le baron, a noble Pole, set the example, and he must needs
adapt himself to circumstances.

After an infinitude of trouble, he succeeded at last in arraying himself
in the costume of Thesee. He looked at himself in the mirror, smiled at
himself, and concluded that he looked very well; he kindled his own
ardor by reflecting that he was about to represent the King of Athens,
repeated his lines to himself, especially his first speech, then left
his room to go to the theatre, saying to himself:

"Thus the Fates decree!"

At that very moment, a traveller had arrived at the inn in a comfortable
carriage. Everything about him denoted a man of wealth and of high rank.
The innkeeper made haste to ask what he desired, and the traveller, who
was a short, thin, old man, stern of face, inquired curtly what
travellers had recently passed through the town, and, on receiving the
landlord's reply, exclaimed:

"Shall I never learn what has become of them?"

"Will monsieur have supper?" inquired the innkeeper.

"No; I am not hungry. Let my horses be fed. I may go away again very
soon. Give me a room where I can rest quietly for a few moments."

The traveller's tone did not invite conversation. The innkeeper at once
took a light and escorted the new arrival to the stairs. As they were
going up, they came face to face with Menard, who was descending with
majestic mien, declaiming:

    "'La fortune a mes voeux cesse d'etre opposee,
      Madame, et dans mes bras met----'"

The little old man raised his eyes when he heard Menard's voice; he
gazed at him for some time in surprise, and exclaimed at last:

"Can it be possible that it is Monsieur Menard whom I see in such a
costume as this!"

Menard looked at the traveller, and was transfixed with amazement when
he recognized the Comte de Montreville, Frederic's father, whose eyes
gleamed with anger, and who, taking Thesee by the arm, marched him back
abruptly to his room, planted himself in front of him, and began sternly
to question him.

"What does all this mean, Monsieur Menard? what is the meaning of that
turban on your head, and this yellow costume that makes you look like an
escaped lunatic?"

"Monsieur le comte, yellow is not a color to be scorned; in China, the
marks of highest distinction consist of yellow waistcoats and peacocks'
feathers."

"Morbleu! monsieur, never mind the Chinese, but answer my question: why
do I find you rigged out like this?"

"Because I am to play Thesee this evening, monsieur le comte."

"You, play Thesee!"

"Yes, monsieur le comte; in _Phedre_, which is to be given at the local
theatre."

"What! monsieur le precepteur, you propose to act?"

"Why not, monsieur le comte? circumstances---- Besides, Roscius was
entertained by Sylla, Garrick is buried at Westminster, and Moliere----"

"Do you consider yourself on a level with those men, monsieur? Do you
suppose that I sent you with my son, with the idea of your being an
actor? Was it with that end in view that you undertook this journey? Did
you think, as well as Frederic, that you could deceive me for long? In a
fortnight, you spent the eight thousand francs I handed you----"

"We didn't spend them, monsieur le comte----"

"Silence, monsieur! I was willing to forgive that first escapade; I sent
you more money, and I learned that, instead of continuing your journey,
you had remained at Grenoble, and that my son was making the tour of
Europe in Dauphine."

"It's a superb country, monsieur le comte."

"I left Paris; I was determined to find out for myself what detained you
in this neighborhood. I went to Grenoble, and failed to find you; I
sought you in vain in that vicinity. And at last I find you here, in
this absurd costume! I did not expect this, I admit.--But my son--where
is he? is he acting, also?"

"No, monsieur le comte."

"Where is he, then?--speak!"

"He is lost, monsieur le comte."

"Lost! What do you mean? Answer me, monsieur!"

"That is to say, monsieur le comte, he has gone astray."

"Remember, monsieur, that I intrusted my son to you."

"We will find him, monsieur le comte. Monsieur le Baron Potoski is going
to send couriers to all the European courts."

"Who is this Baron Potoski?"

"He's a Polish nobleman, a very intelligent young man, Palatine of Rava
and Sandomir, who has a magnificent castle in the Krapach Mountains,
which he heats with gas."

"Upon my word, Monsieur Menard, I believe they have made you an absolute
idiot!"

"No, monsieur le comte; I know what I am saying, and I am telling the
simple truth."

"Where did you find this baron?"

"We found him on the road, near Paris; he overturned our carriage, by
the way, and I was thrown into a ditch. But monsieur your son recognized
Baron Potoski as one of his friends; so we joined him in King
Stanislas's berlin, where I sat in the seat once occupied by the
Princess of Hungary; and we have travelled with the baron ever since."

The Comte de Montreville paced the floor, stamping angrily, and looking
up at the ceiling in despair. Menard cowered in a corner, with his
turban in his hand, afraid to move. After making the circuit of the room
three or four times, the count returned to him.

"What has become of this baron?"

"He is playing Hippolyte, monsieur le comte; he is on the stage at this
moment, and---- But, stay, here he is himself, monsieur le comte."

At this moment, in fact, Dubourg rushed into the room, crying:

"Come on, Thesee; we're waiting for you, to begin the third act."

But he stopped short when he saw the count, who exclaimed:

"I was sure of it! It's that scamp Dubourg!"

Menard opened his eyes at that, and Dubourg contented himself with
bowing low to Frederic's father.

"Come, Monsieur Menard, follow me," continued the count; "take off that
costume, which you should never have put on, and let us leave this place
at once."

The unhappy tutor did not wait for the order to be repeated; in an
instant, he had cast aside the tunic and trousers; then he resumed his
own clothes, took his hat, and stood humbly before the count, who said
to Dubourg:

"As for you, monsieur, whose company has been so profitable to my son,
remember that if I do not find Frederic soon, my wrath will fall on
you.--Come, Monsieur Menard."

A moment later, the count and the tutor were in the carriage, from which
the horses had not been taken; and they drove rapidly away from the inn
toward Grenoble, where the count hoped to obtain news of his son.

Meanwhile, Dubourg, somewhat bewildered by what had taken place,
considered what was likely to happen to him; the audience was waiting
for Thesee, without whom the play could not go on, and the good people
of Voreppe seemed disposed to be unamiable when they were dissatisfied.
On the other hand, he had received from the manager his own pay and
Menard's; and now that Menard had gone, how was their agreement to be
kept?

While he reflected, a confused noise arose in the street. Dubourg ran to
the window and saw Floridor approaching with several of the spectators,
who were swearing and making a great uproar, declaring that the two
Poles should act or they would thrash them.

"They will act," cried Floridor; "they will act, messieurs; I paid them
in advance."

Dubourg realized the danger that threatened him; he hesitated whether he
should give back the money, whether he should excuse himself by
disclosing his colleague's departure, or whether he should leave the
manager to settle with his audience. The last plan was the most
agreeable to him; he was afraid of being beaten, even if he did return
the money; moreover, he considered that his performance of Hippolyte was
well worth what he had received. So he ran to another window, looking on
the open country, and, hearing the crowd enter the innyard, he no longer
wavered; he jumped down into the sorrel, picked himself up, wrapped
himself in his cloak, and ran across the fields as if the whole town
were at his heels.

The count and Menard soon arrived at Grenoble, and alighted at the inn
where our three travellers had sojourned, and which the tutor had
pointed out to the count at his request. On the way, he had questioned
Menard closely concerning his son, and the replies he obtained satisfied
him that it was nothing more than an amourette which detained Frederic
in that neighborhood; so that he was a little more at ease, having no
doubt that his presence would suffice to bring his son to his senses.

When they reached the inn, Menard had a scene with the landlord on the
subject of the char-a-bancs which had been let to him and Dubourg. The
landlord also spoke of Dubourg, saying that a creditor of the pretended
Baron Potoski had come to Grenoble in search of him, and was now on his
trail, meaning to have him arrested.

Poor Menard had nothing to say; he was utterly overwhelmed when he
learned that the man whom he had believed to be a Polish nobleman had
done nothing but make sport of him ever since they had travelled
together. The Comte de Montreville put an end to the innkeeper's talk by
paying him what he demanded. They slept at Grenoble, the count proposing
to go with Menard the next day to the place where he had said that he
last saw Frederic.

But the next morning, as they were preparing to start, Menard uttered a
joyful exclamation, saying:

"Here he is, monsieur le comte; the lamb returns to the fold, the son to
his father. Here is your son; let us kill the fatted calf!"

Frederic was, in fact, entering the innyard at that moment, but he was
very far from suspecting that he would find his father there.

The count hastened downstairs, followed by Menard; he walked toward his
son, with a stern expression, and the young man hung his head and seemed
stricken dumb when he saw who was before him.

"I have found you at last, monsieur," said the count; "I have heard of
your behavior, I have seen your boon companion, I have learned that your
travels have been confined to a miserable village and a forest near by,
where you consider, doubtless, that you have acquired sufficient
knowledge of the world. But I will abstain from reproaching you; I
deserve reproach myself for giving you such a companion as monsieur. Let
us forget it all, and return to Paris."

These last words went to Frederic's heart; he had endured bravely his
father's reproaches, but now he became confused, seemed to be deeply
distressed, glanced behind him, and stammered a request for a delay of a
day or two. But the count pretended not to hear, and said in a harsh
tone:

"I am waiting for you, my son."

The carriage was ready; what was he to do? How could he disobey his
father? Frederic trembled with agitation; he was still hesitating; but
the count took him by the hand and led him toward the carriage, and he
dared not resist. He had had no time for reflection before he was
already at some distance from Grenoble. He put his head out of the
window and gazed in the direction of Vizille; he heaved a profound sigh,
his eyes filled with tears, as he thought of Sister Anne, and he said to
himself again and again:

"Poor child! what will she think?"




XVII

THE JOYS OF LOVE LAST BUT A MOMENT, THE SORROWS OF LOVE ENDURE THROUGH
LIFE


Why does the love of a month bear so little resemblance to the love of a
day? why is the love of a year still less passionate than that of a
month? why are we so indifferent to the enjoyment of that which we
possess without any obstacles, and why does our enjoyment sometimes
cease altogether when we possess what we have ardently desired? It is
because everything passes away in this world, where we ourselves are
simply birds of passage; it is because men who are greedy of pleasure
are always seeking new forms of pleasure, and to many of them love is
simply a diversion. But you will say to me, perhaps: "I have been
married three years, and I love my wife as dearly as I did the first
day;" or: "My lover has adored me for six months, and he is more in love
than ever." I have no doubt of it; there are exceptions to every rule,
and everyone can invoke them in his favor; and, furthermore, I do not
say that love vanishes; I mean simply that it changes its hue; and,
unhappily, the last variations have not the splendor, the lustre, the
charm, of the original color.

Frederic still loved the pretty mute, beyond question; but he had been
living with her in the woods for three weeks, and it began to seem a
little monotonous to him. The great fault of lovers is to yield too
freely to the intoxication of passion in the first days of their
happiness. They are like those gluttons who go to the table with a
tremendous appetite, and who eat so fast that they are filled to
repletion before the repast is half served.

Sister Anne felt none of this ennui; she was happier and more loving
with Frederic than ever. As a general rule, women love more truly than
men, and, moreover, the unfortunate orphan was no ordinary woman; to
her, Frederic was the whole earth, the universe. Since she had known
him, her intelligence had awakened, her mind had developed; she had
learned to think, to reflect, to form desires, to fear, and to hope; a
thousand new sensations had made her heart beat fast. Before she knew
what love was, her life had been only a dream, but Frederic had roused
her from it.

When she saw that he was depressed and preoccupied, she redoubled her
attentions and caresses; she would lead him into the woods, and hide
behind a bush or a clump of trees; then, suddenly appearing, would rush
into his arms; and her childlike grace heightened the sweet expression
of her features.

When night came, they returned to the garden of the cottage. Sister
Anne, alert and light of foot, prepared in a twinkling their evening
meal, which they ate as soon as old Marguerite had gone to bed. The dumb
girl gathered fruit, brought milk and rye bread, then seated herself
beside Frederic, close against him, and selected for him what seemed to
her the finest and best morsels. When her lover spoke, she listened in
rapture; one could see that Frederic's words echoed in her heart. Once
he sang a love song, and the girl listened without moving a muscle, as
if she feared to lose a note, then motioned to him to sing it again.
Since then, her greatest joy had been to hear him sing; he had a sweet
and flexible voice, and she would gladly have passed the whole day
listening to him.

Thus did Sister Anne seek to enchain the man she loved. It was not the
tactics of a coquette--it was love, pure and simple, and nothing else;
whereas in the manoeuvres of a coquette there is not the faintest
trace of that sentiment.

Why, then, fools that we are, do we allow ourselves to be caught in the
nets of the one, and repay with cold disdain the sincere love of the
other? Because the coquette has the art to keep us in suspense; when she
sees that we are well caught, she plays the cruel; if we seem a little
cool, she excites us by giving us some cause of jealousy; if we seem
overconfident, her mockery arouses our fears; if we are disgusted and
ready to turn our back, she becomes tender, sentimental, passionate, and
with a word brings us back to her feet. These constant changes do not
give the heart time to grow cold. I was on the point of comparing us men
to the epicures whose appetites are sharpened by a variety of dishes,
but I refrain; you would think that I had studied the art of love in the
_Cuisinier Royal_.

For several days, Frederic had taken to making short excursions in the
neighborhood. Sister Anne was alarmed at first; but he was away only a
little while, and her fears vanished. Frederic was beginning to think of
the future, of his father. What would the Comte de Montreville say, if
he knew that his son was living in the woods with a village girl? That
question frequently disturbed Frederic's repose, and as the days passed
it recurred with increasing frequency.

Sometimes he said to himself:

"If father should see her, it would be impossible for him not to love
her. But would he accept her as his son's wife? No, that is not to be
expected; the Comte de Montreville is not in the least romantic; he is
proud; he loves wealth, because he knows that money always adds to the
estimation in which one is held; so there is no hope that he will allow
his son to marry a penniless village girl."

To be sure, he could act without his father's consent; but, in that
case, he must renounce his fortune, turn his talents to account, and
work for his living; in any event, he must leave the woods, for he was
beginning to realize that it is absurd for a young man to turn his back
on the world at twenty-one; that men are made for society; and that the
being in love with a pretty woman is no reason for burying one's self
alive with her in the depths of a forest.

These arguments assumed greater force from day to day; especially when
he was away from Sister Anne, he abandoned himself to such reflections,
and his absences became longer every day. The poor child groaned in
secret; she counted the minutes that she spent without her lover; she
ran down into the valley to watch for his coming, and she pouted--oh! so
sadly!--when he had been long absent; but she was so overjoyed to see
him again, that her dejection soon passed away; she forgot all her
anxieties when she held him to her heart.

A month had passed. Dubourg and Menard had not returned to inquire
concerning his plans, and he was greatly surprised. He did not know, as
we do, that his two travelling companions were at that time installed
under their friend Chambertin's roof, where that surprise in the way of
fireworks was being prepared, which disclosed to their host what you
already know, but what he did not know, even after the event, so they
say, because his wife convinced him that he had seen nothing but fire.

So that Frederic was at a loss to understand the indifference of his
friends, especially of Menard.

"Something new must have happened to them," he said to himself. "Dubourg
has probably performed some further crazy exploit. I did wrong to trust
him with all the money I possessed."

The invariable result of his reflections was that he must go to
Grenoble, to find out what those gentlemen were doing. But to join them
after saying to Dubourg that he would never leave those woods again,
that he had abandoned forever a false and wicked world, all of whose
pleasures were not equal to the tranquil life of a cottage--that was
most embarrassing, and that was why Frederic could not make up his mind
to go to the town; for a man often chooses to persevere in an act of
folly rather than admit that he is wrong.

Meanwhile, Frederic's absolute idleness had become a heavy burden to
him; with the best will in the world, one cannot talk twenty-four hours
at a stretch to a pretty woman, and the poor girl was unhappy because
she saw that her lover was melancholy and often sighed. At last, one
fine evening, Frederic, finding that he could endure it no longer, said
to her:

"To-morrow, at daybreak, I shall go to Grenoble, to learn something
about my friends."

As if struck by an unforeseen blow, the girl did not move for an
instant, then her bosom heaved, and two streams of tears gushed from her
eyes. She pointed to the road to the town, then to herself, as if to
say:

"And me? are you going to leave me?"

The poor child was unable, in order to detain her lover, to resort to
the sweet, loving words and entreaties which it is so hard to resist.
But how expressive her gestures were, and how eloquent her eyes! one had
but to glance at them to read all her thoughts.

"I will return," said Frederic, "I promise you; I will return, and I
shall never love anyone but you."

These words at once allayed Sister Anne's grief, for she did not doubt
her lover's word. Remember, mesdames, that Sister Anne did not know the
world--a very painful knowledge sometimes, since it teaches us to
renounce the illusions of the heart.

The evening passed sadly enough; for, although she did not doubt that he
would return soon, the idea of her friend's departure was very cruel to
that glowing heart, upon which love had bestowed an unalloyed happiness
which she had thought would endure to the end of her life. Frederic did
all that he could to comfort her; but by giving fresh proofs of his love
a man inspires greater love than ever. Surely, then, that is not the
best way to lessen the pain of a separation; but it is the way that is
usually employed.

The dawn was a gloomy one in the eyes of the young orphan. Can that be a
pleasant day which is to part us from all that we love best? Frederic
climbed the hill to the road, holding the poor girl's trembling hand in
his. There, having repeated his promises and bade her a most
affectionate farewell, he rode away and vanished from his sweetheart's
sight.

A heavy weight settled down upon the girl's heart. She could not see
Frederic, but still she stood there, still she sought him with her eyes.
Suddenly she turned them upon her immediate surroundings; a groan
escaped her, and she fell on her knees at the foot of an old oak, which
she kissed with profound respect. Poor child! she was on the very spot
where her mother had died while waiting for her father! She recognized
the spot, and, clasping her hands, prayed fervently, and commended
herself to her mother.

Sister Anne was in the habit of going several times a year to pray by
the old oak, near which the unhappy Clotilde had breathed her last; but
she had never been there with Frederic. On that day they had climbed
that hill, over which ran the road to the town, and Sister Anne,
absorbed by her grief, had not noticed it.

Poor child! what melancholy presentiment oppresses your heart? You think
of your mother's fate, and say to yourself:

"Shall I be as unhappy as she was?"

But she must needs return to the cabin; old Marguerite might need her
attention. She walked slowly down the hillside, sighing as she looked
back at the old oak. There he had parted from her, and there, as her
mother had done, she would come every day to await his return.

She returned to her cabin, her goats, and her woods; she resumed her
ordinary habits and occupations. But everything was changed in her eyes;
the woods seemed gloomy to her; wherever she went, she was oppressed by
ennui. Her garden no longer had any charm for her, her home was like a
desert. Frederic embellished everything, and Frederic was not there!
Before she knew him, her eyes looked with pleasure upon things that she
now viewed with indifference; and yet, the things themselves had not
changed; but she had lost peace of mind and repose, and nothing looked
to her as it did before.

Frederic had not said how many days he would be absent, and the girl
hoped to see him soon; she did not dream that he had found his father
at Grenoble, and that the Comte de Montreville was at that moment taking
his son with him to Paris.

Each day, Sister Anne went to the hilltop with her goats, and her eyes
were constantly fixed on the road to the town; she sought Frederic
there, even as poor Clotilde had sought her husband. She amused herself
by tracing her lover's name on the ground with a stick; that was all
that he had taught her, but she had practised writing the name so often
with him that she had succeeded in writing it legibly.

Several days passed, and Frederic did not return. Sister Anne still
hoped, because she could not believe that her lover would break his
promise; and every morning, as she went up the hill, she said to
herself:

"To-day I shall certainly come down with him."

Vain hope! she must needs return alone once more to her cabin, to that
abode whence repose had fled since love had crossed the threshold.

But a new sentiment diverted her thoughts from her sorrow. Sister Anne
bore within her a pledge of her love for Frederic; she was enceinte, but
had not yet tried to understand the change that she observed in herself.
In her simplicity, it had not occurred to her that she might be a
mother; but that thought suddenly came into her mind. Thereupon an
unfamiliar joy took possession of her heart; she abandoned herself in
ecstasy to that newborn hope. She would have a child--a child by
Frederic! It seemed to her that he must love her more than ever. The
thought filled her heart with joy. To be a mother! what bliss! and what
pleasure to be able to tell Frederic! The girl leaped and ran about
through the woods; in her excitement, she did innumerable foolish
things; she looked at herself in the brook and in the fountain; she was
proud to be a mother, and would have been glad that people should see it
when they looked at her.

Poor child! whose every action manifests your perfect innocence--enjoy
to the utmost this sentiment newborn in your heart! That, at all events,
will never grow less.

But the days passed, and Frederic did not return. Sister Anne was
certain that she was to be a mother, and she could not tell her lover
the joyful news! There can be no pleasure without pain; hers was
poisoned by the anxiety she felt at the non-appearance of the being whom
she adored; and every day the old oak was a silent witness of her sighs
and her tears.




XVIII

THE GREAT BEAST


We left Dubourg running across the fields to escape Monsieur Floridor,
the angry audience, and the raw potatoes of which Phedre had received a
specimen in the eye; we must not forget that his flight was so sudden
that he had no time to change his costume, that his head was still
buried under the huge Louis XIV wig, which fell in great curls over his
neck and shoulders, and that his body was enveloped in the cloak covered
with rabbit skins.

For an hour he ran at full speed, crossing highroads, jumping ditches,
stumbling through fields of wheat and tracts of ploughed land, with no
idea where he was or whither he was going, for the reader will remember
that these things happened late in the evening; consequently, it was
dark, and, as it was raining, there was no moon to light his path.

He paused at last and listened; he heard nothing to indicate that he was
pursued. The most profound silence reigned all about him; he tried to
look about and find out where he was; he no longer was afraid of being
caught, and he felt the need of rest. It was the middle of autumn, the
evenings were beginning to be cool, and our fugitive was not at all
desirous to pass the night in the open air, unprotected from the rain;
to be sure, his wig took the place of a hat, and his cloak was as good
as an umbrella; but they would be drenched in time, and then he would be
very uncomfortable; so that it was most advisable to seek a place of
shelter.

He knew by the feeling that he was walking over vegetables, and soon his
path was barred by a tall hedge; but as his cloak protected him from the
thorns, he climbed over, leaving two or three rabbit skins and two curls
from his wig in the bushes, and found himself at last on the other side,
uncertain whether he would be any better off there. But various
fruit-trees, pots of flowers, and a trellis, led him to think that he
was in a garden. He walked on, holding his hands in front of him, and
came to a wall; then he found that he was under a roof, where his
progress was arrested by bundles of hay and straw: he was in a shed
which was evidently used to store fodder.

"Parbleu!" he said to himself; "I have found all that I need for a
comfortable night; I am sheltered from the rain, so I'll just lie down
on this straw, wrap myself in my cloak, and sleep. To-morrow, we will
consider our future plans."

Dubourg was soon ready for the night; he was exceedingly comfortable
under the shed, and, after blessing the chance to which he owed that
shelter, he fell sound asleep.

The shed in which he lay was at the end of a garden belonging to a very
pretty little cottage, occupied by a farmer named Bertrand, who had
married, seven years before, a pretty damsel of his village, a fresh,
wide-awake young woman known as La Belle Claudine; she had already
presented Monsieur Bertrand with two bouncing children, and hoped that
the end was not yet.

In the country, everyone rises early. At daybreak, Fanfan and Marie, the
farmer's two children, one five years old and the other four, having had
their porridge, went out as usual to run about and play in the garden.
Happening to pass near the shed, what did they see on the straw? Imagine
Azor in _Beauty and the Beast_, and you will have an idea of the aspect
of Dubourg, whose face was entirely hidden by a profusion of
reddish-brown curls, which fell over his breast, while his whole body
was covered by the cloak, which counterfeited some other animal if not
the tiger; fancy, therefore, the fright of those children when they saw
that shapeless mass.

Little Marie dropped the slice of bread and butter she held in her hand;
while the little boy opened his mouth and could not close it again,
being almost petrified by fear.

"Oh! oh! brother, do you see?" said little Marie at last, clinging to
him and pointing to the object stretched out on the straw.

"Oh! oh! what a horrid beast!" said Fanfan, running behind his sister.

Then they ran at full speed to the house, uttering piercing shrieks
which did not wake Dubourg, because the fatigue of the preceding night
made his sleep very sound.

Bertrand had just kissed his Claudine, preparatory to going into the
fields to work, when the two frightened, screaming children appeared.

"What's the matter?" said their papa; "why don't you speak, you
rascals?"

The children were so panic-stricken that they could not speak
coherently. At last, they cried in unison:

"Over there--under the shed--a great big beast all covered with hair--on
the straw--with a black head and a red mane; he's bigger'n our donkey!
He's a horrid-looking thing!"

"Can you make anything of all that?" Bertrand asked his wife.

"They said something about a big beast, goodman."

"_Morgue!_ there's only us in the house; how could it get in? Perhaps
it's neighbor Gervais's bull, or Dame Catherine's donkey."

"No, papa, no; it's all gray and red. Oh! it's awful-looking!"

"The devil! what does it mean?"

"Has it got any tail?" inquired Claudine.

"I don't know 'bout that, mamma; he looked as if he was asleep, and we
ran right away."

"You must go and see what it is, goodman."

"Yes, yes; I must go and see."

But Bertrand, who was not naturally brave, had already begun to quake,
and, as a matter of prudence, went to get his gun, which was loaded with
salt. Claudine took a broom, the children seized sticks, and they
marched toward the shed. The little ones went first, because at that
age, although frightened, a child delights in anything out of the
ordinary, and the slightest event is a pleasure. Bertrand walked beside
his wife, who kept pushing him to make him go ahead. The nearer they
came to the shed, the more slowly they walked; they had ordered the
children to make no noise, because it was better to view the beast
asleep than awake.

At last they stood in front of the little building, and the children
said, their voices trembling with fear and excitement:

"There--look, in there!"

Bertrand and Claudine thrust their heads forward, saw the horrifying
object, and dared not advance; the husband turned pale and drew closer
to his wife, who motioned to the children not to go any nearer.

"Let's go and call help," said Bertrand at last, in a choking voice.

"S'pose you fire at it, goodman."

"I guess not! my gun's only loaded with salt; that wouldn't kill him,
but would just wake him up, and he'd be mad and go for us."

"Ah! you're right, you mustn't fire; let's run to the village. Come,
children. Great God! I hope he won't wake up!"

Bertrand had already started; he ran, as if the beast were after him, to
the village, which was only a gunshot from his house, and he was soon
joined by Claudine. They both told everybody they met what they had
found in their garden. As fear always magnifies objects, the beast they
had seen became as large as a bull; and as events are always exaggerated
by passing from mouth to mouth, because everyone adds a little to what
he hears, the beast was transformed from a bull to a camel, then into a
lion, then into an elephant; nor would it have stopped there if they had
been able to think of any larger animal.

The one undoubted fact was that there was an extraordinary creature in
Bertrand's garden, and in a moment that news had put the whole village
in a ferment. The people assembled, and took counsel together; the women
went to fetch their husbands from the fields, and the mothers brought
their little ones into the house and forbade them to go out. They called
on the mayor, who, like his constituents, was an honest peasant, and who
declared that he knew no more about beasts than did the other
inhabitants of his bailiwick. But there was a certain Latouche in the
village, who had once been a customs clerk at the barrier in Paris, and
who set up for a wit, a joker, and a scholar. They hunted up Latouche,
who was at work on a process of making preserves without sugar, and told
him of the event which had upset the equilibrium of the whole village.

Latouche listened gravely, passed his hand under his chin, required
every detail to be repeated several times, made a pretence of reflecting
long and profoundly, and said at last:

"We must go and see what it is."

"That is true, he's quite right," said all those who heard him; "let's
go and see the beast."

"When I have seen it," said Latouche, "I will tell you at once what it
is, and to what genus it belongs; I ought to know about such things; I
studied botany once, and my cousin was under-porter at the Museum of
Natural History."

The whole village made ready to visit Bertrand's garden. Everyone took
such weapon as he could find; even the women took hoes or rakes, because
the beast might be dangerous. The mayor joined the villagers, and
Latouche, who was the only man in the place who had a gun in working
order,--for Bertrand's would carry nothing heavier than salt,--Latouche
undertook to lead the march and to direct all the operations that were
to take place.

They left the village; men, women, boys, and girls plodded along,
discussing the adventure. But the nearer they came to Bertrand's house,
the less inclined they were to talk; and soon, as a result of the
general terror, the silence became general. They marched in closer
order, and everyone tried to gather courage from the glance of his
neighbor.

Latouche walked ahead, with his gun over his shoulder, arranging his
forces as if it were a matter of surprising a hostile camp. As they drew
near the garden hedge, Bertrand uttered an exclamation and dodged behind
a large rock.

"There it is!" he cried.

Instantly the whole body of peasants executed a retrograde movement, and
Latouche darted into the centre of his battalion; but soon, hearing no
sound, they moved forward again, looking for the object which had
frightened Bertrand. It was a red cat, which had glided under the hedge.

"Morbleu! Bertrand," said Latouche, hastily resuming his place as
leader, "do you know that you're terribly chicken-hearted? it's shameful
for a man of your years to have so little courage!"

"Yes, that's true enough," said Claudine; "he ain't brave a bit, and I
often tell him so."

"The idea of calling out and spreading an alarm just for a cat!"

"_Dame!_ Monsieur Latouche, I saw something crawling, and I
thought----"

"Perhaps it was some foolish thing like that that made him turn the
whole village upside down, and interrupt the chemical experiment I was
making."

"Oh, no! that wasn't anything foolish! you'll soon see that it was worth
the trouble; here we are, close to the shed; just go through this little
gate and you'll be right there."

"No; let's go in by the house, and examine the creature first at a
distance."

Latouche's advice was followed: they went through Bertrand's house into
the garden. As they approached the shed, the bravest turned pale,
several women dared not go any farther, and Latouche, who resembled
those persons who sing to dissemble their fear, issued precautionary
orders on this side and that, but found an excuse for abandoning his
position at the head of the procession.

"There it is! there it is!" exclaimed several of the villagers, pointing
to Dubourg, who was still in the same position, because he was in a
heavy sleep. Terror was depicted on every face, but it was blended with
curiosity; everyone stretched out his neck, or stooped forward, or
leaned against his neighbor. Latouche instantly ordered a halt, and one
could hear on all sides:

"Oh! what a horrid beast! oh! how ugly! What a head! what a body! I
can't see any eyes. No, nor any paws."

"Hush! hush!" said Latouche; "don't talk so loud, you may wake him up.
Wait till I examine him. Neighbors, did you ever hear of the famous
beast that ravaged Gevaudan?"

"No, no!" said the villagers.

"Well, this one looks to me very much like him. You don't see this
monster's feet, because he has them folded under him, like the Turks;
as for his eyes, they are turned toward the straw, luckily for us; for
the eyes of such creatures often emit a deadly poison. The more I look
at that skin and that mane--yes, it's a sea-lion, that must have found
its way here from Normandie."

"A sea-lion!" repeated the peasants; "are they ugly?"

"Parbleu! they eat a man as if he was an oyster."

"Oh! mon Dieu! What shall we do? how shall we catch him?"

"Perhaps he's dead," said Claudine; "he ain't changed his position since
this morning."

"Dead? where's the man who'll go and find out?"

"What if you should give him a shot?" suggested the mayor.

"To fire at him is taking a great risk; the bullet often glances off of
their skin."

"Aim at his ear."

"I should have to see it, first."

"No matter," said the mayor; "we must capture the animal, dead or alive;
take good aim, and fire; and we, that is I myself and the bravest men
here, will guard you with our hoes; and, _morgue!_ if he comes at us,
we'll give him a warm reception."

The mayor's speech revived the courage of the villagers; they formed in
line and stood with upraised hoes, ready to strike. Latouche finally
decided to fire, although he was not at all eager to do so. He stood
behind the line, passed the barrel of his gun between two peasants,
spent five minutes taking aim, and at last pulled the trigger--and the
gun missed fire, luckily for Dubourg, who had no suspicion of the danger
he had escaped.

The mayor was in despair, Latouche refused to try again, and the
peasants made no motion. Suddenly our sleeper turned over, with a yawn
which everybody took for a roar. Instantly the most courageous dropped
their weapons and fled, pushing and crowding one another, and listening
to nothing but their fright; the boys tumbled over the girls, the women
dragged their husbands away, Latouche climbed a tree, the mayor was
thrown down by Bertrand, the most agile leaped the hedge, the heaviest
slipped and fell when they tried to run. Claudine fell flat, as did
several of her neighbors, and, in the confusion, all the women, young
and old, were more on exhibition than they were in the habit of being in
public; but no one paid any heed to them; the most seductive objects do
not stop fugitives, for in great crises we do not give a thought to such
trifles.

But Dubourg was now fully awake; he rubbed his eyes, and, first of all,
snatched off his wig, which prevented his seeing, then removed his
cloak, in which he was stifling. He stood up, for he heard shouts, cries
of terror, words that he did not understand--in short, an uproar, the
cause of which he was very far from suspecting. He left the shed and
went out into the garden, where he was thunderstruck by the scene before
his eyes. There was ample ground for amazement; but as he saw some very
pleasing details amid the chaos, he walked on, saying to himself:

"I don't know what insect has stung all these people, but they have a
strange way of receiving travellers in this country; one ought to have
little difficulty in making acquaintances."

The boldest of the villagers, hearing no repetition of the roaring,
gradually turned his head; he saw Dubourg's features, which were in no
wise alarming when they were no longer surrounded by that infernal wig.

"Well, well! who's that man, and where did he come from?" said the
peasant.

At that, all his companions turned their heads and stared at Dubourg,
who, having politely assisted Claudine to rise, thus answered the mayor,
who repeated the question:

"I am an unfortunate devil, albeit an honest man, who, when surprised by
the storm last night, did not know where to go, so took the liberty of
lying on yonder bundles of straw, where I slept without waking until
this moment. I trust that I have done no harm."

"You say you slept under that shed?" said the mayor.

"To be sure."

"And the big beast didn't eat you?" asked Bertrand.

"What big beast?"

"_Pardi!_ the beast with long hair and red mane that was lying there."

Dubourg turned, and his eye fell on his cloak and wig; he divined the
source of the peasants' terror, and gave way to a longing to laugh,
which he could not control for several minutes. The villagers, hearing
his laughter, began to take courage; the fugitives stopped, the women
rose and arranged their dresses; everybody looked at Dubourg and awaited
an explanation from him. He went back to the shed, took his cloak in one
hand and his wig in the other, and returned to the villagers.

"Here, my friends, is the beast that seems to have frightened you. I
abandon it to your wrath."

As he spoke, he threw the cloak and wig on the ground; and the peasants
drew near, ventured to touch them, and laughed with Dubourg, saying:

"What! is that what it was? Mon Dieu! what a pack of idiots!"

At this juncture, Latouche descended from his pear-tree, crying:

"I told you that that idiot of a Bertrand, who's as cowardly as a hare,
had told us some fool story, and taken a nut-cracker for an ox. Tell me,
now, if I wasn't right."

"_Morguienne!_" retorted Bertrand; "I don't see but what my nut-cracker
gave you a good fright, too; for you climbed that pear-tree like a cat,
and knocked Claudine down when you ran by her."

"Hush!" said Latouche, turning as red as a beet at Bertrand's retort;
"hush, you clown! I only climbed the tree so that I could aim better at
what you called an animal."

"And you threw your gun away!"

"Unintentionally, of course."

"Come, come," said Dubourg; "I am the cause of all this confusion; and,
in truth, I don't wonder you were frightened when you saw me at a
distance in this cloak and wig; the bravest men aren't always eager to
fight with a savage beast, and Monsieur Latouche must be very brave to
have dared to fire at me."

This adroit speech conciliated everybody, and Latouche recovered his
good humor.

"This stranger expresses himself well," he said; "he is certainly a
learned man."

Dubourg might easily have passed himself off as a baron again, he had
created such a favorable impression; but since the happenings at
Chambertin's, he was little inclined to play the nobleman; and when the
mayor asked him whence he had come in such an extraordinary costume, he
instantly invented a fable of robbers who had attacked and stripped him,
stifled his cries with the wig, and wrapped him in the cloak, probably
intending to carry him to their cavern, when they had taken alarm at the
sound of horses' steps, and had run away, leaving him in the midst of
the fields.

This tale aroused the deepest interest among the villagers, in Dubourg's
favor; they found him very agreeable, having ceased to be afraid of him.
The mayor drew up a report, and Latouche observed:

"I have been saying for a long while that there are robbers in the
neighborhood; they stole two hens from me a week ago, and that isn't all
they've done. We must have a general _battue_, neighbors; I'll take
charge of it, and you know what a good hand I am at making plans. We
will begin immediately after the constables have made theirs in
pursuance of monsieur le maire's report."

Awaiting the general _battue_, they turned their attention to Dubourg,
who obviously stood in need of refreshment. Everyone wanted to treat
him, to give him food and lodging. Every male villager cordially offered
him a jacket to replace his cloak, and urged him to make his house his
home for a few days. Dubourg gave the preference to Bertrand, because he
had not forgotten certain impressions he had received when he assisted
Claudine to rise. Bertrand's better half seemed flattered by that honor;
she courtesied to the stranger, and accompanied the courtesy with a
smile, which smile meant many things. After all that Dubourg had
witnessed, it was a great triumph for her over her neighbors.

The mayor, as the official head of the commune, had the privilege of
offering him a stout woollen jacket to replace the coat the robbers had
stolen from him. As compensation, he awarded to himself the famous
cloak, with which he proposed to make a winter coverlet; and Monsieur
Latouche secured the wig, which he had well earned by his behavior
throughout the affair.

The villagers returned to their customary occupations: some to the
fields, others to their cottages. Bertrand, who had a large field to
plow, went off to his work, enjoining upon his wife to take good care of
the gentleman until his return. Claudine promised, and kept her word.
She was active and obliging; she was most anxious to prove to the
stranger that he had done well to give her the preference, and she
spared no trouble to make him content with his choice. For his part,
Dubourg desired to efface the ghastly impression produced by his
appearance in the village, and we know that he had a great talent for
making himself agreeable to the ladies; and so, when Bertrand returned
from the field at night, his wife ran to meet him, saying:

"_Jarni!_ goodman, what fools we was to be afraid of that gentleman;
he's just like anybody else, you see, and he knows a lot more'n you do."

Dubourg was extremely well treated by the villagers, and he found it
very convenient to pass some little time among those honest folk, who
strove, by their attentions, to make him forget his misadventure. He
paid for his entertainment by telling ghost stories in the evening. To
the peasant, a man who can talk for hours of interesting, terrifying,
and, consequently, amusing things, is a veritable treasure. Dubourg was
such a man, and when Monsieur Latouche was present he always sprinkled
his tales with a few Latin words; whereupon the village oracle, although
he did not understand, would turn to the peasants and say:

"This is all true, my friends; he just made oath to it in German."

But, after a fortnight, Dubourg began to tire of telling the peasants
fairy tales in the evening and making love to their wives during the
day; and he determined to leave the village, and go in search of news of
his former companions. He still had in his pocket, untouched, the
hundred francs he had earned by acting Hippolyte; with that amount he
could safely set out without being obliged to disguise himself as a
strange beast. Despite all that Claudine could do to detain him, he
determined to go. He thanked the mayor, Latouche, and all the villagers
for their kind treatment. He thanked Bertrand, and especially his wife,
with peculiar warmth. Then, with a stout knotted stick in his hand,
which harmonized with his jacket, and a broad-brimmed hat in place of
his wig, he left the village, saying to himself:

"Those people who saw me playing the swell will never recognize me; and
that is precisely what I desire."

However, he deemed it prudent to avoid Voreppe, where he might fall in
with Floridor or some member of his troupe. Nor did he care to pass
through Grenoble, where Durosey might still be lying in wait for him,
and a creditor's eyes are not easily deceived. So he headed for Vizille,
where he hoped to find Frederic, or, at least, to learn something about
him.

He strode gayly along, singing all the time, and sitting down on the
grass to eat the provisions with which Claudine had filled his pockets;
for women think of everything. Dubourg blessed Madame Bertrand's
foresight.

"How can I be melancholy," he thought, "when I have had ample proof, a
hundred times over, that tender-hearted women will always take an
interest in my fate! Here's to Claudine's health, and Madame
Chambertin's, and Goton's, and little Delphine's, and all the others to
whom I owe so many pleasant hours and delicious memories."

He drank their healths in water from a brook, for he could adapt himself
to anything. Moreover, he had money and might have wine, which
consideration made the water seem less disagreeable. Toward nightfall,
he drew near Vizille.

"If monsieur le comte learned of Frederic's amourette from Menard," he
said to himself, "he probably came here after him, and I shall not find
him; but I shall find the pretty blonde, and she will tell me what has
happened."

He did not then know that the poor girl could not tell him anything. He
walked through the valley, entered the woods, looked about, and called,
but saw no one. At last he discovered the cabin; he entered the garden,
which was deserted; then he went into the little house, where he found
no one but old Marguerite, dozing in her big armchair.

Surprised not to find the girl, Dubourg left the cabin; he was afraid
that the story he had invented for Menard would prove to be true, and
that Frederic had really taken his sweetheart away with him. He was on
his way to the village to try to learn something about Sister Anne,
when, in one of the paths in the forest, he met her walking slowly
toward her home.

Her whole bearing was so dejected, her features wore an expression of
such profound sorrow, that Dubourg was touched. He gazed at her for
several minutes, saying to himself:

"Poor creature! he has gone, and he didn't take you! How much better it
would have been for you if he had never come!"

At that moment, Sister Anne, hearing footsteps, looked up and saw that
someone was approaching. She ran forward like a flash; when she reached
Dubourg's side, she stopped, and her features, which hope had brightened
for a moment, resumed their grief-stricken expression; sadly she shook
her head--it was not he!

But Dubourg spoke; recognizing his voice, she looked at him more
carefully, and again her heart beat fast with joy. It was one of
Frederic's friends, who had come once before to seek him; doubtless he
came now to announce his return. She walked closer to him, questioning
him with her eyes, and waiting impatiently for him to explain his
presence; whereupon Dubourg, much surprised, asked her what had become
of Frederic.

The name of Frederic made her quiver; she pointed to the road he had
taken, counted on her fingers the number of days he had been gone, and
seemed to be trying to ask him why he did not bring him back.

This pantomime revealed to Dubourg Sister Anne's unhappy condition, and
he devoted all his efforts to consoling her. But for Sister Anne there
was no consolation, no happiness, without Frederic.

"Poor girl!" thought Dubourg; "he was quite right to assure me that she
did not resemble any woman he had ever known! But to leave her in these
woods--that was an outrage! for such grace and charm to live in a
wretched hovel is downright murder! Upon my word, I have a mind to take
her to Paris!"

"Why didn't you go with him?" he asked her; "what detains you here in
the woods? Come with me, my child, and we will find Frederic; or, if we
don't find him, there are thousands of others who will be only too happy
to fill his place."

Sister Anne stared at him in amazement; she seemed not to understand
him; but when he waved his hand in the direction of the town, she
hastily drew back, and, pointing to the cabin, made him understand by
signs that there was someone there whom she could not leave. Ah! had it
not been for Marguerite, how willingly she would have gone with Dubourg!
for she believed that he would lead her at once to her lover's arms. But
as for abandoning the one who had taken charge of her in her childhood,
who had been a second mother to her,--now, when she was advanced in
years and was most in need of her assistance!--such a thought did not
enter the dumb girl's mind; ingratitude was a vice to which her heart
was a stranger.

"Very good," said Dubourg; "then remain here in these woods, my child;
and may you recover your happiness and peace of mind!"

Sister Anne's eyes questioned him anew.

"Yes, yes," he said; "he will come back; you will see him again, I have
no doubt. Dry your tears. He will surely come soon and comfort you."

These words brought a gleam of hope to the dumb girl's pale, sorrowful
face. She smiled at him who had given her that assurance, and, bidding
him adieu with a motion of her head, left him, to return to Marguerite.

Dubourg left the woods, and, despite his heedless nature, he did not
sing as he walked back through the valley to the highroad. Like a heavy
weight upon his heart lay the image of that unhappy child, to whom he
had held out a hope which he thought would never be realized. He had
never been so moved. For several leagues, he thought constantly of
Sister Anne, saying to himself:

"Poor girl! she was well worth the trouble!"

But, at last, the thought of his own plight brought him back to his
natural frame of mind. He sold his jacket and hat to a second-hand
dealer, and for a few crowns obtained a more fitting costume; then he
started for Lyon, whence he proposed to return to Paris, in the hope of
finding his former travelling companions.




XIX

ILLUSIONS OF THE HEART.--INCONSTANCY AND LOYALTY


The post chaise which bore Frederic Parisward went like the wind. The
Comte de Montreville was in haste to deaden the intensity of his son's
memories, and seemed impatient to arrive at the capital.

They exchanged very few words: Frederic thought exclusively of Sister
Anne, his father of the best means of bringing his son to his senses,
and Menard of all the lies the false Polish baron had told him.

The count did not address a word of reproach to Frederic; he seemed to
have forgotten all his grounds of dissatisfaction; and Menard, who was
mortally afraid of Monsieur de Montreville's stern glance, because he
realized that his conduct had been far from exemplary, began to breathe
more freely, and ventured to hold up his head.

They arrived at Paris. Before Menard took leave of the count, Frederic
found an opportunity to speak with him in private, and asked him about
Dubourg. Menard did not answer for a moment; he bit his lips, as if he
were not quite sure whether he ought to take offence, and said at last,
with what he intended for a sly look:

"Is it Monsieur le Baron Potoski that you wish to know about?"

"Potoski, Dubourg--call him what you please."

"Faith! monsieur, I might well call him rather impertinent, considering
all the fables he told me. The idea of claiming to be a palatine----"

"Come, come, my dear Menard, forget all that."

"And his snuff-box that belonged to the King of Prussia!"

"That was a joke!"

"But I thought more of that tokay from Tekely's cellar than of anything
else."

"Remember that I am as much to blame as he, for giving him permission to
deceive you."

"That closes my mouth, monsieur le comte; besides, if it weren't for his
recklessness and his passion for gambling, he would be a man of great
merit. He is well informed, he knows his classics."

"But what has become of him? where did you leave him?"

"I left him acting Hippolyte, and coming to get me to make my _entree_
on the stage."

As Frederic was entirely in the dark, Menard described their adventures
in the little town, at which anybody but the young count would have
laughed heartily. But he heard only this, that Dubourg had been left in
a very embarrassing position. He could form no idea when he would see
him again, which was a grievous disappointment; for he had proposed to
send Dubourg to Sister Anne, to allay the poor girl's apprehensions and
explain his failure to return.

The Comte de Montreville dismissed Menard with a reasonable
compensation, not for the way he had looked after his son during their
journey, but for the time he had lost. Menard bade adieu to his dear
pupil, expressing the hope that he would remember him in case he should
ever propose to start around the world again.

Several days had passed since Frederic's return to Paris, and the dumb
girl's image was constantly in his thoughts. He imagined her in the
woods, awaiting his return, watching the road by which he was to come,
and in despair at his desertion of her. Every moment added to his
remorse and his longing to see Sister Anne again. But what could he do?
He dared not leave his father; he had no money, and, for the first time
in his life, the steward, at the count's bidding, had refused to supply
him. Monsieur de Montreville feared that his son would use it to resume
his travels, and he did not propose to let him go away again.

Every day, Frederic formed the most extravagant projects. He determined
to leave Paris on foot, to join his young sweetheart and conceal himself
with her in the heart of some forest. But Sister Anne could not leave
Marguerite; so that they must remain near the cabin, where his father
could easily find him; for Menard had told him everything.

Then what was he to do?--write? Alas! the poor child did not know how to
read--she knew how to do nothing, except love; and that is very little
in these days.

Frederic rarely went into society, for he did not enjoy himself. In vain
did pretty little Madame Dernange renew her provocations; he paid no
heed to them; and she, piqued by his indifference, employed all the
resources of coquetry to bring him to her feet. But Frederic did not
fall into the trap, for he had learned what true love is; he realized
the worthlessness of all those promptings of self-esteem, those caprices
of the senses, which one mistakes for love until he has learned to know
the real thing.

The count treated his son coldly, but never alluded to his adventures in
Dauphine. On the contrary, he avoided the subject; and when Frederic,
desirous to obtain some idea of his father's feelings, ventured to
mention his stay at Grenoble, to speak of the country in that
neighborhood, and of the pretty village of Vizille, a stern glance from
the count closed his mouth and forbade him to continue.

Frederic called again and again at the various lodgings which Dubourg
had occupied in Paris; but he could not find him at any of them. He went
to Menard, and urged him to do his utmost to unearth Dubourg, who, he
said, had perhaps returned to the capital, but was afraid to call upon
him, Frederic, for fear of meeting Monsieur de Montreville.

"Suppose I find him?" said Menard.

"Send him to me at once."

"Send him to you! God forbid! Monsieur le comte your father spoke very
harshly to him when he saw him in the costume of Hippolyte. To be sure,
the costume was unbecoming."

"Tell him to write to me; what is there to prevent his meeting me
somewhere else, if he's afraid to come to the house? Am I watched? Ah!
Monsieur Menard, I can't stand it any longer. Every day adds to my
torture! I must see her again, or at least hear something from her."

"Hear from whom?"

"From the woman I adore, the woman whom--I was compelled to desert, in
order to return to Paris with you."

"Ah! I understand--the little maid of the forest. Monsieur Dubourg told
me that you had furnished a lodging for her and had taken her away with
you."

"Would to God that I had! I should be with her now. Ah! my dear Monsieur
Menard, if you were a different man---- But you are kind-hearted and
sympathetic; you are fond of me, and you would restore me to life if you
would consent to go to her and tell her that I love her more dearly than
ever!"

"I am very sorry, monsieur; but I shall not go to tell her that or
anything else. I will do nothing to forward a passion which your worthy
father does not approve; he has too much reason now to complain of my
negligence. I love you dearly, and that is why I will not help you to
continue a guilty connection which would lead to no good end. Monsieur
your father knows very well what he is doing; it was high time that he
should come, for we were all making fools of ourselves, I most of all.
His presence restored our equilibrium. He snatched you away from
temptation; that distresses you, and yet it was the best thing he could
possibly do. _Qui bene amat, bene castigat; experto crede Roberto._"

Frederic went home, to think of Sister Anne, and to try to devise some
means of seeing her. If he had known that she bore within her a pledge
of his love, that she was about to become a mother, nothing could have
kept him in Paris. He would have flown to her, defying his father's
wrath. But he knew nothing of that circumstance, so he confined himself
to saying every day:

"I will go to her."

The count sent to ask his son to come to him, and Frederic obeyed, his
brow still clouded with ennui.

"You have ceased to appear in society," said the count; "have your
travels made a misanthrope of you?"

Frederic said nothing,--always the best course to pursue when one has
nothing to say.

"I wish you to go with me this evening," continued the count, "to call
on one of my old comrades in arms, General de Valmont. After a long
residence on his estates in the country, he has come to Paris to stay
some little time. He desires to see you, and I desire to present you to
him."

Frederic bowed, and prepared to accompany his father. He had heard him
speak of this Monsieur de Valmont, with whom he had served in the army,
and who was of about his age; so that there was nothing to cause
surprise in his desire to present his son to his old friend.

On their way to the general's house, Monsieur de Montreville was
unusually amiable, and Frederic strove to appear less melancholy than
usual. When they reached their destination, they were announced in due
course, and Monsieur de Valmont came forward to meet them. At first
sight, his appearance was most prepossessing. His manners were frank and
cordial, his features instinct with sincerity and good humor. He
embraced his old friend, shook hands heartily with Frederic, and seemed
delighted to see him.

After the exchange of greetings, the general invited his visitors to
step into an adjoining room.

"You have shown me your family," he said to the count; "now, I must show
you mine. It surprises you, perhaps, that I, an old bachelor, have a
family; it is not quite so near to me, to be sure, but it is none the
less dear."

As he spoke, they entered the room, where a young lady was seated at a
piano. At sight of the strangers, she hastily rose.

"Constance," said the general, "this is my friend, the Comte de
Montreville, and his son; messieurs, let me present my niece--my
daughter--for I love her as dearly as if I were her father."

Constance courtesied gracefully to the two visitors. Frederic looked at
her--he could not do otherwise than think her charming. As for the
count, a smile of satisfaction played over his features. I believe that
the sly old fellow had heard of Mademoiselle Constance, and that he had
his little scheme in his head when he took his son to see the general.

Constance was slender and graceful; there was something sweet and modest
in her aspect, which impressed one favorably. She was fair, with a touch
of color in her cheeks. Her great blue eyes, set off by long, dark
lashes, had an indefinable charm; her expression was amiable and frank;
every movement was instinct with grace, and she seemed absolutely
unconscious of it. Far from seeking to attract attention, she seemed
desirous to shun the admiration she aroused.

The two old friends fell to talking over their campaigns and their
youthful adventures, and, at sixty, such subjects are inexhaustible. So
that it was necessary for Frederic to talk with the general's niece;
and, although one's heart is heavy, one does not like to bore a pretty
woman, but makes an effort to forget one's sorrow momentarily, in order
not to appear too dull. That is what our hero tried to do while chatting
with Mademoiselle Constance, who talked very agreeably, and, without the
least trace of ostentation, revealed a judicious, cultivated mind, great
love for art, and a candor and modesty which imparted an additional
charm to everything she said. She was not one of those young women who
know everything and discuss every subject, of whom we have so many, and
whom we are good-natured enough to call little prodigies because they
chatter on for hours with extraordinary assurance, and because it is
customary to praise every word that falls from a pretty mouth, even when
it lacks common sense.

May God protect you from prodigies, reader, especially of the female
variety! There is nothing comparable to that which is simple, modest,
and natural; we are always glad to return to that. Those qualities do
not exclude intelligence and knowledge, but they add to them a varnish
of unassuming gentleness which makes them even more attractive, and
which is never found in the others.

The young people talked of painting, music, and the pleasures of the
country. Suddenly the general said to his niece:

"Sing us something, Constance; sit you down at your piano and sing. I
like singing myself, and perhaps it will entertain our young friend
here."

Constance did not wait to be urged; she took her place at the piano and
sang, accompanying herself excellently; her voice was sweet and full of
expression; it had not a great range, but she sang with so much taste
that one never tired of listening to her. Frederic listened with keen
delight; he had never heard a voice that pleased him so much. Constance
sang several pieces, until at last her uncle said to her:

"That is well, very well; you are good-natured and don't make so much
fuss about singing as some people do. Morbleu! I can't endure such
affectation!"

The count and his son joined in their praise of the singing, and thanked
Constance, who blushed at their compliments. But their visit had lasted
two hours, and they rose to go.

"I will pay you a visit," said the general; "I have just bought a little
country house in the suburbs for mademoiselle, who drives me crazy with
her chatter about fields and birds. I hope that we shall see you and
your son there before the season is much further advanced."

The count promised, and returned to his carriage with Frederic, to whom
he was careful not to say a word of the general's niece. The sight of
Constance was certain to do more than anything a father could say.
Frederic said nothing; his thoughts had returned to the poor dumb girl
in the woods. For two hours he had almost forgotten her! Two hours is no
great matter; but Sister Anne did not forget him for an instant.

Three days after this visit, the general and his niece dined with the
Comte de Montreville, who entertained quite a large party. When he
learned that he was to see Mademoiselle de Valmont again, Frederic was
conscious of a thrill of excitement, which he attributed to the
annoyance of being obliged to conceal his melancholy. Was that the real
cause?

The general was jovial, outspoken, and unaffected, as usual; his niece
was as pretty and affable and modest as ever. In a large party, it is
easier to arrange a tete-a-tete than when the guests are few in number,
and Frederic returned again and again to Constance's side. He fancied
that he did so from courtesy simply, because it was his duty to pay
especial attention to the general's niece; but he could not blind
himself to the fact that, of all the assembled company, Constance was
the one who attracted him the most, if it were possible for anyone to
attract him. He could talk with her without having to think what he was
going to say. The words that fell from her mouth were not mere trite
phrases and tasteless epigrams; Constance did not devote her attention
exclusively to other women's costumes; she did not pass them in review
and criticise them one after another, as a young woman is very likely to
do. With her, he felt more free, more at his ease; it seemed to him that
he had known her a long while. She smiled at him so pleasantly when he
seated himself beside her, her voice was so tender, her eyes so sweet,
that it was natural that he should prefer her conversation to that of
all the rest; even when he was not talking with her, he was conscious of
a secret charm in her presence. Although he strove to overcome his
sadness, his face still wore a melancholy expression, which was not
unbecoming to him; and women often yield to the seduction of such
expressions. When he was pensive, Constance looked at him with deep
interest, her eyes seemed to ask him if he was unhappy. And when she
spoke to him, her voice was even softer, her manner more sympathetic;
one would have said that she unconsciously shared his sorrow, or that
she was trying to make him forget it.

Several young ladies exhibited their talents and their voices in
selections self-accompanied on the harp or piano, but Frederic heard no
one but Mademoiselle de Valmont. She sang only one ballad, but she sang
it so beautifully! As he listened, Frederic examined her more closely
than he had hitherto dared to do. Whether it was mere chance, or an
illusion of the heart, he discovered in Constance's features a striking
resemblance to those of Sister Anne: the same expression, the same
melting sweetness; and if the poor mute could speak, surely her voice
would be as tender and expressive. Frederic, while listening to
Constance, persuaded himself that it was Sister Anne's voice that he
heard, and his eyes were wet with tears. Full of that illusion, and
discovering every moment some new point of resemblance in feature, he
did not take his eyes from Mademoiselle de Valmont. When she had
finished singing, Frederic remained by her side, and his eyes,
persistently fastened on her face, shone with a new fire and meaning.
Constance noticed it, and avoided his gaze; a crimson flush overspread
her cheeks. If Frederic, when he gazed so tenderly at her, fancied that
the dumb girl was before him, should he not have told Mademoiselle de
Valmont of the real object of his preoccupation? And was not Constance
justified in the belief that the Comte de Montreville's son did not look
upon her with indifference?

The evening passed very swiftly to Frederic. When the general and his
niece went away, the former announced that they were going to their
country house on the following day, and that he should await impatiently
a visit from the count and his son.

When Constance had gone, Frederic felt entirely alone in the midst of
the company; and as soon as he could with courtesy retire, he hastened
to his room to think--of Constance? oh, no! of Sister Anne; it was still
the poor dumb girl who filled his thoughts; but was it his fault if now
and then the memory of Mademoiselle de Valmont intruded itself? It was
solely because of the resemblance between them. A loving heart sees its
loved one everywhere, even where she is not. It loves her in another who
recalls her features. That is why it is no safer to trust sentimental
lovers than fickle ones.

Several days passed; Frederic heard nothing from Dubourg, and concluded
that he had not yet returned to Paris. The young count was still sad and
thoughtful, but there was something not unpleasant in his sadness. The
thought of Sister Anne often caused him to sigh. He was intensely
anxious to see her again; but he had ceased to form those extravagant
projects which, in the first days after his return, seemed so easy of
execution. He longed to ensure Sister Anne's happiness and repose
forever; but he thought of the future, and he was more certain than ever
that his father would never consent to give her to him for his wife. He
said to himself:

"What should we do? what would be the result of our liaison? One cannot
always live in the woods. Man is made for society, and Sister Anne is
utterly unfitted for it: she is ignorant of everything that it is
indispensable to know."

Poor girl! why did he not think of all these things the first time he
saw you by the brook? Ah! then you seemed fascinating to him, just as
you were; your very ignorance made you a thousand times more alluring in
his eyes; and now---- I say again, that men whose sentiments are so
easily stirred are no better than other men.

One morning, the count suggested to his son a visit to the general at
his country house. Frederic was always at his father's orders, but he
now chose to take unusual pains with his toilet. Even though one have no
desire to please, one does not wish to repel. The count closely observed
his son's actions, and exulted in secret; but he said no more to him on
the subject of Mademoiselle de Valmont than on any other subject.

The general's country house was in the outskirts of Montmorency, and the
visitors arrived about noon. As he alighted from the carriage, Frederic
was conscious of a quickening of the pulses, which he attributed to the
pleasure of seeing a woman whose features recalled those of his beloved.
He was, in truth, deeply moved, and, when he entered the house, his
eyes sought Mademoiselle de Valmont. But he saw no one but the general,
who welcomed them with great cordiality.

"You must stay with us several days," he said; "I have you in my power,
and I shall not let you go at present. We will talk and laugh and hunt
and play cards; my niece will play and sing to us; in short, we will
pass the time as pleasantly as we can."

Frederic continued to look about for the niece, whom he did not see; and
as the general had already begun to discuss with his father one of their
campaigns, which was likely to lead them far afield, he ventured to
inquire for her.

"She is probably in the garden," said the general; "either in her
aviary, or looking after her flowers, or in her summer-house. Go and
find her, young man; corbleu! that's your business; at your age, I would
have run here from Paris for a pretty face."

Frederic profited by the permission; he went down into a garden, which
seemed to be extensive and well kept, and walked about at random,
looking for Mademoiselle Constance. He passed the aviary, but she was
not there; he turned into an avenue of lindens, at the end of which the
ground rose slightly and a winding path led to a sort of platform, where
there was a beautiful view. That was presumably what the general called
the summer-house, for Constance was sitting there, with a drawing-board
on her lap, sketching the lovely valley which could be seen from that
point. She did not see Frederic, because her back was turned to the path
leading to the platform, and the young man drew near and leaned over her
shoulder without attracting her attention.

"So you have all the talents?" he said. Constance looked up, and at
sight of him her eyes expressed the pleasure she felt, while her bosom
rose and fell more rapidly. She made a motion as if to lay aside her
drawing.

"Go on, I pray you," said Frederic; "I did not come here to interrupt
your studies; on the contrary, I should be glad to join you in them.
And, furthermore, your uncle insists that we must remain here several
days; so that our presence must not be allowed to disarrange your
habits."

"And are you really going to give us the pleasure of keeping you for
some days?" said Constance, unsteadily.

"Most assuredly. I cannot believe that my father will refuse his old
friend's invitation; he is much too happy with him for that."

"I am afraid, monsieur, that you, not having the same reason to enjoy
yourself here, will soon regret the diversions of Paris. We see very few
people here; you will surely be bored."

"You judge me very ill, if you think it possible for me to be bored with
you."

"Oh! I beg your pardon. I said that--because I was afraid; but if you
really love the country and music and drawing and reading, you ought to
enjoy yourself here."

Frederic did not reply at once; he looked closely at Constance, and his
heart was oppressed by innumerable conflicting feelings. He saw in her
features a face that was still dear to him; he transported himself in
his imagination to the little wood by the brook, and a cloud of
melancholy darkened his brow. A profound sigh escaped him, and not until
several minutes had passed did he answer Constance, as if waking from a
dream:

"Yes, I am very fond of the country."

The young woman looked at him in amazement, and smiled; then, finding
that he said nothing more, she returned to her drawing-board, and tried
to continue her sketch. But Frederic's presence embarrassed her; the
hand that held the pencil trembled, and she did not know what she was
doing.

Frederic continued to gaze at her in silence; he was charmed by her
manner, her grace, her amiable yet reserved air. If Sister Anne had had
a good education, she would have been like her; she would have had her
manners, her talents; she would have had the same command of language.
And he began to consider that education, instead of lessening a woman's
attractions, imparts an additional fascination to them.

The conversation languished, for Frederic often relapsed into reverie;
but, for all that, the time passed very quickly; it seemed that they
were happy to be together, and that that sufficed them. So far as
Frederic was concerned, he would gladly have passed the whole day
looking at Constance and drawing comparisons. She noticed that he kept
his eyes constantly upon her; but his eyes were so soft, there was in
their expression something so tender and touching, that no woman could
have been offended at being the object of their scrutiny.

The arrival of the two old friends put an end to this situation, which
was very agreeable to the young people, although they dared not confess
as much, even to themselves. The general pointed out to the count all
the beauties of his garden, and the summer-house was one of them. The
count seemed extremely well pleased, for, as he approached the
platform, he detected a certain embarrassment, a certain emotion, which
added greatly to its attractions in his eyes. The general saw nothing of
it; he was not so keen an observer as his friend.

"We have two guests, as you see, niece," he said; "try to do the honors
of the establishment so satisfactorily that they won't think of leaving
us for a long time."

"I will do my best," said Constance, blushing.

"Mademoiselle," said the count, "your presence alone is enough to detain
us."

Frederic said nothing, but looked at Constance, who, as she thanked the
count, cast a furtive glance at his son, as if to make sure that he
thought the same.

After dinner, two of the general's neighbors called. One was an
enthusiastic player of billiards, who could not sleep if he had not had
his game; the other, who was somewhat younger, had seen service in the
army, and had an endless stock of campaign stories, which he
interspersed with compliments and gallant speeches to Mademoiselle de
Valmont.

Frederic declined to join them at billiards, in order to remain with
Constance and to hear her sing or play.

"Don't feel bound to stay with me," she said; "remember that we are not
in Paris."

"Unless it is disagreeable to you," Frederic replied, "I prefer to stay
with you."

Constance smiled, and it was easy to see that it was not disagreeable to
her. In the country, especially under the general's roof, the most
delightful liberty of action was the rule. During the day, everyone did
whatever he chose; the count and his friend made frequent excursions in
the neighborhood, while Frederic remained with Constance; they passed a
part of every day together in the garden.

"We must make the most of the last fine days," said Constance; "the
winter is at hand, and I must say good-bye to my trees and my flowers
and my birds. But I shall see them again; it is not an eternal
farewell."

"Don't you expect to return to your uncle's estate in the provinces?"

"Oh, no! I like this house much better; he bought it for me, and he is
willing that I should spend seven months of the year here. We shall
return to Paris for the winter. Uncle is so kind to me! He does whatever
I want, for he is very fond of me."

"Who could fail to----"

Frederic did not finish his question; he checked himself, as if he
regretted what he had said, and Constance, taken by surprise, lowered
her eyes and said nothing. But she was beginning to become accustomed to
the young man's eccentricities. Sometimes, when he sat by her for a long
while without speaking, and seemed to be sad and distressed, she was
tempted to ask him what was troubling him; but she dared not; so she
held her peace, and sighed with him, although she did not quite know
why. Melancholy is a disease readily transmitted between two young
people of different sexes. Often the hours of silence are more dangerous
than a conversation devoted to love making.

Meanwhile, the intimacy between Frederic and Constance was growing
closer day by day: hardly a week had passed, and they had abandoned that
reserve, that tone of gallantry and of formality, which is never the
tone of friendship or of love. The count talked of returning to Paris,
and Frederic was surprised to find that he himself had not thought of
it; the week had passed so quickly!--Upon reflection, he was almost
angry with himself; he was remorseful because he had enjoyed himself.
But remorse never comes until after the fact.

"No," he said to himself, "I have not forgotten Sister Anne. I always
see her when I look at Constance. I always think of her when I have
Constance's lovely features before my eyes; I fancy that I am with her,
when, sitting beside Constance, I quiver with delicious emotion."

And he was probably still thinking of Sister Anne, when, on the day
before he returned to Paris with his father, as he sat beside Constance
in the garden, he took her hand and held it a long while in his.
Constance did not withdraw her hand. She lowered her eyes, and seemed
deeply moved. Frederic said nothing, but he pressed her hand very
tenderly; and the sweet-tempered girl, perhaps unconsciously, returned
the pressure.

Thereupon the young man's embarrassment revived; he dropped the hand he
held, and hastily moved away from Constance, who raised her head, and,
observing his agitation, smiled at him with that indefinable charm which
captures and enslaves.

"Are you really going to-morrow?" she said.

"I must," faltered Frederic, returning to her side; "I should have gone
sooner, I fear---- Ah! yes, it is she, always she, whom I see! I would
like to stay with you forever; I am so happy here! Oh! forgive me,
mademoiselle; I don't know where I am."

Constance was at a loss to understand this speech; but lovers never know
what they say, or say it very badly; and she readily forgave him,
because she interpreted it all according to her own heart, which told
her that Frederic loved her; and such sentiments always seem to be well
expressed, for, in love, the eyes speak as loudly as the voice.

The count took his son back to Paris; but never a word concerning
Constance! Ah! monsieur le comte, you have your project, and you are
well aware what you are doing. A few days later, Frederic said that they
ought to take advantage of the last of the fine weather to call on the
general; for he was burning to see Constance again--so that he could
think of Sister Anne!




XX

LUNEL, DUBOURG, AND MADELON


We left Dubourg about to start for Paris. He no longer travelled as a
Polish nobleman, but fared modestly on foot, with a stick in his hand,
which he swung jauntily as if he were simply out for a walk. He had no
bundle to carry, because he had his whole wardrobe on his back, which he
found much more convenient for a pedestrian. He saw at a distance the
localities where he had recently appeared in such magnificent and noble
guise. He passed quite near to Monsieur Chambertin's house, waved his
hand by way of salutation to that hospitable abode, and sighed--not for
its mistress, but for the old pomard in the cellar.

However, he walked quickly, for he still dreaded a meeting with that
infernal Durosey, whose presence he looked upon as the cause of all his
misfortunes. As he emerged from a narrow pathway into the highroad, he
found himself face to face with old Lunel, who was returning home in
charge of an ass laden with divers objects he had bought at Grenoble.
Dubourg hurriedly pulled his hat over his eyes and lowered his head,
having no desire to be recognized by Monsieur Chambertin's jockey. But
as he walked blindly on, he collided with the ass and nearly threw her
down.

"Can't you see where you're going, idiot?" exclaimed Lunel; "the road
isn't so narrow that you need to run into my donkey."

At the word _idiot_, Dubourg, who had never liked the old jockey, for he
had waited upon him with an ill grace during the whole of his sojourn at
Monsieur Chambertin's, and had constantly sought opportunities to show
his spite to him and to Menard--Dubourg, who had not forgotten, either,
the horsewhipping Lunel had given the two little Poles, turned suddenly
upon him and struck him thrice with his knotted stick.

"Help! murder!" cried Lunel.

And as Dubourg's sudden movement had disarranged his hat, the old
servant recognized his features, and shouted louder than ever:

"It's that miserable palatine, who owes four hundred francs at his
restaurant! It's that sham baron, who showed madame such attention and
surprised monsieur! Peste! he ain't such a swell now!"

"Will you hold your tongue, you rascal!" said Dubourg, raising his stick
again.

"What are you hitting me for?"

"I am simply returning what you gave my servants; I've owed you this a
long while."

"Your servants--your servants! pretty servants they were! I suppose this
is my _pourboire_, because my master boarded you for a month, you and
your great scholar, who ate enough for six!"

"If I did your master the honor to visit him, what business have you to
make comments on it, you clown?"

"Oh, yes! a great honor you did him!"

"Take care, or I'll begin again."

As Dubourg still had his cane in the air, the old jockey decided to
lower his tone. He held his peace and looked about for the ass, in order
to go his way; but the animal had disappeared while they were
quarrelling; she had wandered into the underbrush that lined the road,
and was nowhere to be seen.

"Oh! mon Dieu! my ass! where is my ass?" cried Lunel, searching
anxiously in every direction.

"Faith! I have no idea. Find your ass, and I'll continue my journey.
Give my compliments to your mistress, and tell your master that, if he
ever comes to Paris, I'll give him a little reception, with fireworks."

Lunel paid no heed; he ran to right and left, calling: "Madelon! ohe!
Madelon!"--He rushed into a wooded path, and Dubourg, having lost sight
of him, went his way, laughing heartily at the adventure. About half an
hour after he had parted from Lunel, as he reached a place where the
road left the woods for the open country, he saw Madelon within twenty
paces, trotting slowly along with her pack on her back, following such
roads as she pleased, and halting now and then to eat a thistle or a
mouthful of wild briers.

"Parbleu! this is a strange chance," said Dubourg; "can it be that this
beast is sent to me by Providence? But I must be wary; the law may not
approve of my receiving gifts from Providence. However, I had nothing to
do with diverting this jenny from her road. Am I to blame because she
left her master? Never mind; I will begin by trying to restore her to
him."

Thereupon he walked back some distance into the forest he had just left,
and began to shout at the top of his lungs:

"Lunel! hola, Lunel! here's your jenny!"

There was no reply; Dubourg called again and again, to no purpose. Weary
at last of calling, he returned to the ass, saying to himself:

"It seems to me that I have done all I can, and my conscience is
beginning to be less troublesome. I can't go back half a league, and I
have no desire to present myself again at the house of my friend
Chambertin, who is no longer my friend. But let us see what this
creature has on her back; it is not probable that there's anything of
much value."

Dubourg began an examination of the two baskets, which were covered with
stout canvas. In one he found two syringes, one mechanical, marked: _For
madame_; the other plain: _For monsieur_; also, a large box containing a
number of phials and small pasteboard boxes.

"Oho! I seem to have struck a whole apothecary's shop! But here's a big
sheet of paper. Ah! it's the receipted bill; this will tell me what we
have here. 'Sold by Dardanus, Apothecary, Grenoble, to Madame
Chambertin.' Let us see: 'Tooth powder, salve for the gums, three jars
of superfine rouge, liquid almond paste, macassar oil to dye the hair,
bear's grease to keep it from falling out, Essence of Venus to soften
the skin, rouge _au vinaigre_ for the evening, vegetable blue to make
veins.'--Great God!" exclaimed Dubourg, interrupting his reading; "it's
very lucky that I didn't find this bill a month sooner, for it would
have taken away my courage, and I shouldn't have dared to make pretty
speeches to Madame Chambertin. Let us read on: 'Laxative pastilles,
emollient pills, soothing tablets.'--The deuce! it would seem that
madame is very excitable.--'Two pounds of hygienic chocolate.'--Ah!
that's better. Now, let's see what monsieur requires: 'Three hundred
issue peas.'--Ah! the rascal! that's what keeps his complexion so
fresh.--'Three bottles of Eau de Bareges, salve for corns, ointment for
bunions, cachou pastilles, mint, astringent pills, tonic tablets.'--Hum!
monsieur evidently isn't constipated. That's all of that. Now, let's
have a look at the other basket."

First of all, he found a box containing an exquisitely curled wig, which
madame probably wore when she had not time to arrange her hair. Also, a
wooden head, designed to hold the wig when it was not in use. Also, a
pair of riding-boots, and doeskin gloves.

"Deuce take me if I'll walk back to Allevard for a couple of syringes
and a parcel of pills!" said Dubourg, when he had concluded his
examination; "monsieur and madame may go without their supplies for a
few days. I will take possession--although I don't quite know what I am
to do with all these drugs. But I have an idea. Parbleu! an excellent
means of making use of this donkey and of travelling without touching my
purse, which is none too full. Who knows if I may not make my fortune?
Well, the die is cast! I have been a baron, a palatine, and an actor; I
have even played the part of a beast, unwittingly; surely I can play the
charlatan: it's the simplest trade, the easiest of all parts to play,
provided one has ever so little wit, cheek, and loquacity, and I have
all three. A charlatan I am, then. Indeed, who is not, in this world?
everyone plays the part in his own way: men in office with petitioners,
speculators with capitalists, knaves with fools, gallants with women,
coquettes with their lovers, debtors with their creditors, authors with
actors, booksellers with readers, and tradesmen with everybody. I am
one of those who cure all diseases, who divine them and forestall them;
in short, I am a second Cagliostro; I am familiar with the universal
pharmacopoeia, I have no confederate, I deal honorably; I have
discovered a thousand secrets, a single one of which would suffice to
make a man's fortune; and I sell pills for two sous, because I am a
philanthropist."

Having fully decided to embark upon this new escapade, Dubourg led his
donkey into a dense thicket. There he began operations by removing his
palatine boots, which were badly worn, and throwing them into the
bushes; he replaced them with the long riding-boots, which came halfway
to his hips, so that no one might recognize Baron Potoski in the dealer
in pills; he pulled over his head the blonde wig intended for Madame
Chambertin, having first tied the hair behind and made a Prussian queue;
he daubed his cheeks, forehead, and chin with superfine rouge; then,
mounting Madelon _en croupe_, with the two baskets containing his
itinerant pharmacy in front of him, he resumed his journey, inciting his
steed with his stick, by way of riding-whip.

Dubourg's singular aspect, his face surrounded by beautiful flaxen
curls, the long queue falling down his back, his high boots, which he
held as far back as possible because the baskets were much in his way,
and, lastly, his majestic bearing, attracted the attention of all the
peasants he met. They called to one another to look at him. They stood
at doors and windows to watch him pass, and at times a number of boys
followed at his heels. Dubourg bowed to right and left, with a
benevolent expression, calling out in a loud tone:

"Have you any aches or pains, my children, in the foot or the ear? do
you have bad dreams? do you suffer when you are asleep? have you been
beaten? are you blind, dumb, or paralyzed? Draw near; grasp the golden
opportunity! I am the great restorer, the great cure-all, the great
operator! Make haste to profit by my presence in this province; I shall
not come again for thirty years, and probably I shall not find you all
then. Come, my friends; I cure everything, I do everything--I even make
children, when they are ordered in advance. The only thing I don't do is
extract teeth, but I can supply a lotion that makes them drop out, and
the result is the same."

Peasants are naturally credulous. On hearing this harangue, some of them
approached Dubourg, and, after respectfully removing their hats or
making a reverence, proceeded to tell him their ills. When the number
about him was considerable, Dubourg took from his basket the mechanical
syringe, which he had filled with Eau de Bareges; then he pressed the
spring, and the villagers had to hold their noses; but they remained,
because the syringe played the air _Avec les Jeux dans le Village_, and
Dubourg said:

"This magic syringe, my children, came to me from the favorite sultana
of the Sultan of Egypt. It plays three hundred tunes; but, as it is
subject to whims, it insists on playing the same one over and over
to-day. This marvellous water that comes from it--it does not smell like
rosewater, by the way--is a prompt and certain remedy for women with the
colic. I sometimes administer these remedies myself, but I have to be
very particular as to persons, for this syringe doesn't fit all
figures."

After this speech, Dubourg listened to the complaints of each one in
turn, then looked through his pharmacy, and distributed drugs at random,
but received the price with the utmost assurance, promising that the
effects would soon appear. He gave a nurse liquid almond paste; a man
with a fever, cachou pastilles; for a cold, he prescribed pellets that
he had made of the salve for corns; for asthma, macassar oil; for a pain
in the chest, bear's grease; and for the stomach-ache, rouge _au
vinaigre_.

After this promising debut, he belabored Madelon and rode away as fast
as possible from his patients. He was not half a league away, when the
poor creatures began to feel the effects of his remedies. Some held
their hands to their bellies, some were nauseated, some had a violent
headache, some could not endure the taste of the drug they had
swallowed, and some ran after the charlatan, calling him _swindler_ and
_thief_. But he did not wait for them. Luckily, he was prudent enough to
administer his remedies in very small quantities, so that the results
were not serious.

Dubourg was careful not to attempt any cures in the neighborhood of the
places where he stopped to eat or to sleep. After travelling about forty
leagues in a fortnight,--for, as the great healer halted frequently to
sell his drugs, and as his steed's best gait was a slow trot, he did not
get ahead very fast,--Dubourg found himself one day in front of an
extensive farm. It was a long while since he had sold anything, for as
he drew nearer to the capital he found the country people less and less
gullible. His fortune had not increased. He spent regularly at night
what he had earned during the day; and when his receipts were large, he
fared sumptuously, content to leave his original hoard untouched.

The appearance of the farm made Dubourg disposed to stop there. As he
had neither bugle nor hunting-horn, he announced his presence with his
mechanical syringe, beating time with his cane on the wig-block. The
farm people came out. Among them Dubourg noticed a fresh, rosy-cheeked
girl, with a mischievous eye and a small foot, and he at once conceived
a fervent desire to become her physician.

Several buxom dairymaids procured ointments for fever and chilblains,
and a number of peasants bought pastilles of mint and cachou for
toothache; but one and all stared in amazement at the marvellous syringe
that made music, and the wig-block that spoke when it was stormy, as its
owner assured them.

The pretty girl was a daughter of the farmer, who happened to be absent.
With her was her aunt, a good old soul who believed in dreams, fortune
telling, magic, ghosts, talismans, and sorcerers. She was anxious to
consult Dubourg, because for three nights past she had fallen asleep on
her back and waked up on her stomach, which she considered very
extraordinary.

"I'll give you something that will keep you from changing your
position," said our charlatan to the old woman, while ogling the young
one; "here are some pastilles that came to me from a native of the
Guinea Coast, who sometimes slept a whole week on his left ear. But if
you take them in moderate doses, you pass a delightful night, and have
charming dreams, divine dreams, such dreams as you had at fifteen! It is
so pleasant, that you don't want to wake up. And then, my dear lady,
when you have taken them, you are certain to dream of any person you
choose; all you need to do is walk round your somno before you go to
bed."

"Oh! my dear monsieur," said the old woman, "pray give me some of the
pastilles at once; I'll eat some every night. I mean to dream of my
first husband this very night; he was a dear, good man, not a sot like
my second. I'll walk round the somno, monsieur; I won't fail."

Dubourg gave her a box of laxative pills, which she received with deep
gratitude; then he turned to the young woman and asked her what he could
do for her.

"_Dame!_ monsieur," she replied, "a week ago, while I was dancing with
Thomas, I fell and sprained my wrist, and since then I haven't been able
to use it as well as usual; have you got anything that will cure that
right away?"

"Have I, my sweet child! As if I hadn't everything! In a quarter of an
hour, I'll drive away your pain, and it will never come back. All I've
got to do is rub you with a certain ointment of mine; but I must say
some magic words over it, and I can't say them before witnesses; that
would break the spell. So take me to your chamber, or some other place
where we shall be alone, and I'll operate."

"Shall I, aunt?" asked the farmer's daughter.

"Shall you!" repeated the good woman; "why, of course. Make the most of
this great man's kindness, and let him rub you."

The girl made no further objection, but requested Dubourg to follow her.
He fastened his donkey, with his whole outfit, at the farmhouse door,
and walked quickly after his pretty patient, who led him to her chamber
and closed the door, abandoning herself with perfect confidence to the
skill of the sorcerer, whose appearance was rather laughable than
terrifying.

Meanwhile, the aunt, being in haste to enjoy the effect of the
pastilles, and too impatient to wait for the night in order to dream of
her first husband, had also withdrawn to her apartment, and, having
swallowed a pill and performed the prescribed ceremonial, had gone to
bed and was anxiously awaiting the operation of the charm, which was not
precisely ushered in by prodigies.

While the ladies were experimenting with Dubourg's specifics, the farmer
came home. He began by inquiring who owned the ass that he found at his
door, and was told that it was the property of the great healer who had
recently arrived. The farmer asked who this great healer was, and his
servants replied that they did not know, but that he was probably a
sorcerer, because he wore his hair in curls, like a woman, and had a
long queue, enormous boots, a syringe that played dance music, and a
wig-block that spoke when it was stormy.

Now, the farmer was one of those men who are so unfortunate as not to
believe in sorcerers, spells, and magic, who insist on seeing with their
eyes and hearing with their ears, and cannot be convinced that a black
hen evokes the devil, or that the future can be read by means of a
sheep's liver, coffee grounds, or molten lead thrown in water. Such men
are the bane of the occult sciences.

Vexed by what he learned from his servants, the farmer inquired where
this great healer had gone. They told him that they had seen him go into
the house with the young woman and her aunt. The farmer hurried to the
old lady's chamber and found her in bed, still awaiting the delicious
dream that did not come.

"Oh! brother! what are you doing?" she cried. "You have disturbed
me--upset me completely. The dream was coming! I was going to see my
first husband, and we were going to pick nuts together. Do go away;
you'll prevent the pill that wonderful man gave me from working."

"Morbleu!" retorted the farmer; "ain't you nearly through with your
fairy tales and nonsense? Where is your sorcerer? stealing my rabbits,
most likely."

"What an idea! he's with your daughter, in her room, saying magic words
to cure her wrist."

"Locked in with my daughter!" cried the farmer; "_morgue!_ we'll see
about this!"

And he ran to his daughter's chamber without listening to what the old
woman said. He opened the door with a vigorous kick, and it is to be
presumed that he was not pleased with the great healer's method of
healing his daughter; for he seized a broom, and opened the conversation
by striking him with it again and again.

Dubourg had no time to parley; with a muttered oath, he fled; the girl
wept, the father swore, and the whole household was up in arms.

Our charlatan, seeing that the farm hands were arming themselves with
clubs in imitation of their master, thought of nothing but his personal
safety; he fled from the farm, abandoning his ass, his syringes, and all
his remedies; all of which was very fortunate for the invalids along the
route he still had to traverse.




XXI

LOVE IS ALWAYS THE STRONGEST


Dubourg reached Paris at last. He had taken only a few days more than a
month to travel nearly a hundred and eighty leagues; which is not an
inordinately long time, when one makes marvellous cures all along the
road. As he fled from the farm, where his last miracle had been so ill
rewarded, he was careful to throw away his blonde wig with the long
pigtail, which tempted all the little ragamuffins to run after him. He
arrived in the capital rather travel-stained and muddy and unkempt; but
nevertheless he arrived, and went at once to his last lodgings, which no
longer belonged to him, but where he had left a pair of trousers in the
custody of his concierge, an excellent woman, who was rather partial to
ne'er-do-wells, because they are, as a general rule, more open-handed
than virtuous and orderly young men.

Together with his trousers, the concierge handed him a bulky sealed
package, which Dubourg took with a trembling hand, supposing it to be a
bundle of summonses or judgments; of executions and levies he had no
fear.

He broke the seal and read a letter which he found inside; an expression
of delirious joy stole over his features, but soon he began to make wry
faces as if he were trying to weep; however, as he could not manage it,
he abandoned the attempt.

"My dear Madame Benoit," he said to the concierge, "you must often have
heard me speak of my venerable aunt in Bretagne, who used to send me
money sometimes?"

"Yes, monsieur."

"Well, she is dead, Madame Benoit--that venerable woman is no more."

"Ah! mon Dieu! what a misfortune!"

"Indeed, yes. But I am her only heir; her fortune was not large, but
there is enough for a man to live on, especially if he is prudent and
philosophical."

"What did she die of, monsieur?"

"As to that, I'll tell you some other time. I am expected in Bretagne,
and I must start at once."

"During your absence, monsieur, your friend Monsieur Frederic has sent
here several times to inquire about you."

"I will see him when I return; the interests of my inheritance demand my
presence, and they are more important; a man should attend to his own
business before other people's. Adieu, Madame Benoit, adieu! Here, I'll
make you a present of these trousers, for the news you have given me;
you can make a blouse out of them for your daughter. As for myself, I go
away just as I arrived, except that I shall not go on foot this time."

He ran to the diligence office, having money enough still to pay his
fare; to be sure, that left him only five francs to live on during the
journey, but he put himself on a strict diet, promising to make up for
his abstinence before long.

The old aunt had left all her property to her nephew, believing him to
be married and a father. He found himself possessed of sixteen hundred
francs a year. A man cannot play the baron with that, but he can live on
it in a modest way, when he is orderly in his habits and economical.
Those were not among Dubourg's qualities, but, like all men, he made a
vow to reform and not to pledge his income.

"Monsieur," said the attorney who was settling the estate, "your worthy
aunt instructed me to recommend you to be faithful to your wife, and to
give your little triplets a good education."

"Never fear, monsieur; I shall carry out my dear aunt's wishes to the
letter. My wife and I are like turtle-doves, and my triplets already
love each other like Castor and Pollux."

Dubourg sold the furniture and personal effects of the deceased, in
order to obtain a supply of ready money. He was detained two months in
Bretagne, at the end of which time he returned to Paris, dressed in
black from head to foot. To signalize his return to virtue, he began by
paying his creditors, and strove to retain the serene expression and
dignified bearing which he had assumed as soon as he learned of his
inheritance.

He thought of Frederic, but was still hesitating whether he should write
to him or call on him, when, as he entered a cafe one evening, he spied
Menard watching a game of dominoes and absorbed in the play. Dubourg
touched him lightly on the arm; he turned, recognized his former
travelling companion, and could not decide how he ought to receive him.

"Surely I have the pleasure of seeing my dear friend Monsieur Menard,"
said Dubourg, with a smile.

"Himself, monsieur le--monsieur du--really, I am not at all sure what I
should call you now." And the ex-tutor smiled, delighted by the epigram
he had achieved.

"How now, Monsieur Menard! are we at odds?"

"Really, monsieur, I ought to bear you a grudge, after all the fables
you told me. Hereafter, if I ever believe you----"

"Come, come, Monsieur Menard, let us leave gall and bitterness to
atrabilious souls, and let it not be said of us: _Nec ipsa mors odium
illorum internocinum exstinxit._"

"Oh, yes! I know that you are very well read," said the tutor, softening
a little; "but that castle of Krapach! And then, to make me act!"

"Allow me to offer you a cup of coffee, and a glass of Liqueur des
Iles."

"Very well, if you insist."--And the tutor said to himself, as he
followed Dubourg to a table: "This devil of a fellow has a persuasive
way that seduces you and carries you away; it's impossible to remain
angry with him."

"Where are you from?" he asked; "my pupil has been looking for you a
long while; he's very anxious to see you."

"I have just arrived from my province--Bretagne."

"Ah! so you are from Bretagne? I am not surprised, then, that you were
constantly bringing it into your descriptions of Poland; and then, the
milk and butter that you were always boasting about."

"Excellent they are, Monsieur Menard."

"And what have you been doing in Bretagne?"

"I have just inherited a very pretty little fortune from my aunt."

"I'll wager that that isn't true!"

"O Monsieur Menard! don't you see that I am in mourning?"

"That proves nothing; you were dressed as a Polish nobleman when we
walked arm in arm through the streets of Lyon. Oh! when I think of
that----"

"Do you think also of the delicious dinners I ordered for you?"

"Of course, of course! Oh! you order a dinner perfectly. But that poor
Monsieur Chambertin! To make him believe that he was entertaining an
illustrious character!"

"Look you, Monsieur Menard, I don't see why I'm not as good as another
man----"

"And to make him give parties and fireworks and magnificent dinners!"

"Where you did your part wonderfully well."

"I acted in perfect good faith, myself; I was your accomplice, without
suspecting it. Do you know that you compromised me, and that that was
very ill done of you?"

"Have a glass of punch; what do you say?"

"Oh! I am afraid----"

"It shall be very mild."

"All right, if it's mild----"

"Waiter, two glasses of punch."

"For, you see, my friend, I am not as young as you are, and the follies
which are overlooked in the young admit of no excuse in those of mature
years."

"You talk like Cicero; but I reply that Cato learned to dance at sixty."

"Are you quite sure of that?"

"I didn't see it; but our follies were very reasonable ones.--Let us
take a drink."

"I admit that we didn't injure anybody, after all. This punch is good,
very good. But when you made me run across fields on account of that
imaginary Turk----"

"Faith! I'll admit that he was a creditor; but aren't they Turks to
their unfortunate debtors?--Another drink."

"It is true that creditors---- Look you, my dear Dubourg, you have all
the qualities of a charming companion: you know all the good authors,
you know history; take my advice, reform, settle down----"

"I have done it; it's all over now: no more gambling, no more escapades,
no more drunkenness.--But we aren't drinking."

"Your health, my dear friend!"

"No more fairy tales, no more lies."

"Ah, yes! no more lies, above all; for lying destroys confidence; and
then, you made me look like an idiot."

"Oh! not altogether."

"That's a very handsome seal ring of yours."

"It's an emerald that was worn by Ali Pacha."

"It's magnificent."

"Another glass."

"Dear Dubourg! My friend, I am extremely glad to have renewed my
acquaintance with you."

The liqueur and the punch had completely melted Menard, who, when he
parted from Dubourg, called him his loving friend, and assured him that
he might safely go to the Hotel de Montreville, that monsieur le comte
bore him no ill-will and would receive him cordially.

On the day following this meeting, Dubourg did, in fact, call upon
Frederic, who had just returned from the general's country house. He
passed all his time with Mademoiselle de Valmont. As it was no longer
necessary that he should be accompanied by his father, for the general
treated him like his own son, he made the most of the liberty accorded
him. Every day, he invented some pretext for going to see Constance; for
he persisted in deluding himself, in excusing himself in his own eyes,
and strove to persuade himself that there was no trace of love in the
feeling that drew him to the general's niece. He still thought of Sister
Anne, but no longer with the same ardor and affection, and that was what
he refused to acknowledge to himself; perhaps, if he should see her
again, it would still be inexpressibly sweet to him to hold her in his
arms. But it was not she whom he saw, it was Constance; Constance, who
was more amiable, more tender, more sentimental with him, day by day;
who felt such unbounded pleasure in seeing him and made no attempt to
conceal it. Already there was the closest intimacy between them. When
she passed two or three days without seeing him, she would reproach him
good-naturedly, and avow that she was vexed at his absence; and she said
it with such perfect candor and sincerity that Frederic was deeply
touched. However, he had never breathed a word of love to her; but is it
necessary to speak to make one's self understood? and what woman, in
Constance's place, would not have believed that she was loved?

At sight of Dubourg, Frederic made a gesture of surprise; a keen
observer might even have detected a trace of embarrassment.

"Here I am," said Dubourg; "I have been in Paris only a week."

"Yes, I supposed that you were away. But why this mourning?"

"Ah! my friend, my poor aunt--she is no more!"

At this point, Dubourg drew his handkerchief and blew his nose three or
four times.

"Come, come, Dubourg, stop blowing your nose; you know perfectly well
that you're not crying."

"Never mind; she was a most respectable old lady: she has left me
sixteen hundred francs a year."

"That is something; try not to gamble it away."

"What do you say? Why, ecarte is like an emetic to me. But tell me about
your love affairs. Do you know, you don't seem to me to look any too
wretched for an unhappy lover."

"But I---- Since my father suddenly appeared at Grenoble, where I had
gone to find out something about you, I have not been able to see that
poor girl, we started for Paris so hurriedly! Since then, he hardly
leaves my side. I could write--but who would read my letters? we can't
use that method; and I don't know how to communicate with her."

"Well, I can tell you something."

"Have you seen her?"

"Yes; but it was a long while ago--about a fortnight after you left."

"Well! where was she? what was she doing?"

"Where was she? in the woods, returning from the road, where she had
been watching for you, no doubt. What was she doing?--weeping; that is
her only resource now, I fancy."

"She was weeping!"

"Yes; and I confess that she made my heart ache."

"Poor child! but you spoke to her, I suppose--she saw you? Tell me about
it."

"She saw me; indeed, she recognized me, although she had seen me only
once. You didn't tell me that she was dumb, but I very soon understood
her pantomime. She counted off the days you had been away, and asked me
if you would return soon. I told her _yes_."

"Ah! you did well."

"But that was three months ago."

"True: but I haven't been able----"

"I left her at last, after giving her a little hope; I could do nothing
more for her; but in three months that hope must have vanished."

Dubourg said no more, and Frederic sat for some moments buried in
melancholy reflections.

"If you knew, Dubourg," he said at last, "what a most surprising thing
has happened to me!"

"I should know, if you told me."

"It is really inconceivable; it is a stroke of fate. On returning to
Paris, I found Sister Anne."

"You found her here?"

"Yes; I saw her again--in another woman, the niece of General de
Valmont, a former comrade in arms of my father. Why, my friend, it is an
astonishing thing--I never saw such a perfect resemblance."

"Ah! I begin to understand."

"If you should see Constance,--that is the name of the general's
niece,--you would be as surprised as I was--not at once, but on a close
examination."

"Ah! you were surprised after some time, eh?"

"It's her eyes--their sweet expression. Constance's are a little darker,
to be sure. The hair is the same color; the forehead as high and noble;
the same complexion--but Constance isn't as pale as Sister Anne. The
same expression in the features."

"I am surprised that a general's niece should have all the features of a
goatherd."

"Of course, there's the difference due to rank and education and social
customs. In the first place, Constance is much taller; she has a
beautiful, well-proportioned figure; but so has Sister Anne. Constance
has the grace, the dignified carriage which no one can attain who lives
in the woods."

"Ah! you have discovered that now."

"And she has a charming voice, an enchanting voice, that goes to the
very bottom of your heart. Well, my friend, when I listen to her, I
persuade myself that the poor orphan is no longer dumb; I imagine that I
am listening to her; her voice, I am sure, would have the same sweet
quality, the same fascination. So that I am deeply moved when I listen
to that other voice."

"I doubt whether that emotion would make Sister Anne very happy."

"But it is impossible for me not to feel it. Tell me, isn't it strange
that there should be such a resemblance?"

"Exceedingly strange, no doubt; but I fancy that it would be less
striking to my eyes. I am no longer surprised at your leaving the little
one in her woods. You have found her here, you see her, and listen to
her--a pleasure that you did not enjoy when you were with her. You are
privileged to gaze upon her every day, at your leisure; here, she has
graces and talents which she did not have down yonder. It is extremely
convenient. I congratulate you. I can understand that you don't need to
bother your head about the one who is far away, in her cabin or on the
hilltop, watching for you to come, since you can still be with her,
without putting yourself out, and since she is more lovely and
fascinating here than there."

There was an undercurrent of satire, of reproach, in Dubourg's tone that
made Frederic lower his eyes.

"No," he said, with evident embarrassment, "no, I will not desert Sister
Anne. I shall certainly go to see her--I haven't forgotten her, for I
think of her every day. Is it my fault that I find all her features in
another woman's? On the contrary, isn't it a proof that I am always
thinking of her? But really it is surprising; Mademoiselle de Valmont
resembles her so closely--in spite of some slight differences--she is so
sweet and kind! her voice moves me so deeply! Ah! I would like you to
see Constance!"

Dubourg did not reply at once, and for some minutes there was silence
between them. Dubourg broke it at last.

"Look you, Frederic, I confess that I am sorry that I saw that
girl--that I saw her waiting for you and weeping."

"Why so?"

"Why? Because I imagine that I still see her, and, despite my
heedlessness, I feel--it makes me unhappy. I am nothing more than a
reckless chap, a libertine, a ne'er-do-well, if you please; but, after
all, I prefer my way of loving to yours. With your great passions, which
are destined never to end, but which do end just like others, you
wheedle inexperienced young hearts, sentimental women, who allow
themselves to be touched by your sighs, your noble sentiments; they give
themselves to you, and then--why, they weep and tear their hair over
your inconstancy. Faith! I know none but women of easy virtue, grisettes
or coquettes, who, if they're no better, are at least more lively. They
deceive me, I deceive them, we deceive each other; it's all understood
and accepted beforehand. But we don't rave about it; we weep only for
sport; and when we fall out altogether, it doesn't make us melancholy. I
agree that the ladies I speak of are not absolutely virtuous; but for an
amourette, a caprice, should we seek that flower of pure sentiment, an
inexperienced heart that knows love only from romantic novels in which
it is always painted in colors that, while they may be very seductive,
are altogether false? No; on the contrary, I think that it's barbarous
to try to win a girl's whole heart, to inspire a great passion, and then
to leave your victim to waste her best days in tears and despair."

"Why do you say this to me? I still love Sister Anne; I am not
unfaithful to her. Is it my fault that my father dragged me back to
Paris all of a sudden? and that it has been impossible for me to absent
myself since then? Most certainly I shall see her again, I shall not
abandon her; she is still dear to me."

"Pshaw! Frederic, don't talk that humbug to me! Do you want to make me
believe that my nose is crooked? I tell you, I'm an old hand, and I am
not to be hoodwinked; indeed, I may have read your heart better than you
have yourself. You no longer love Sister Anne, or at least you are no
longer enamored of her; for you are burning now for this fascinating
Constance, who is a perfect image of the poor dumb girl, except that she
is taller and stouter, has darker eyes and a different complexion,
and----"

"No, no, Dubourg! I swear that I am not in love with Constance; I love
her--like a brother--but no word of love has ever passed my lips."

"Well, I give you my word that that will soon come. Oh! it's of no use
for you to look up at the sky; I tell you that you are in love with
Mademoiselle Constance. I don't charge you with it as a crime; it's
perfectly natural: she is pretty, she attracts you--and why not? But
what I do blame is your prowling about in the woods after that poor
little creature who has no knowledge of the world or men, and who
yielded to your seductions and believed all your oaths, because they
were the first oaths she had ever heard. What was wrong was your
inspiring in her heart an exalted passion, which will ruin her life,
because she has nothing there in the woods to divert her thoughts. If,
yielding to a sudden temptation, you had seduced her and then left her
at once, the pain would have been sharp, but it wouldn't have lasted so
long; she wouldn't have had time to love you so dearly; but you always
have to run things into the ground. You abandon everything to live in
the woods--in order not to be separated from her; for six weeks, you
don't leave her for a single moment; you eat nuts together and lie on
the grass; you would live on roots, if need be, in order to speak of
love to her. How in the devil do you think that that can fail to turn
her head? The girl has reached a point where she cannot do without you;
she lives and breathes for you alone; she imagines that that sort of
life will last forever; and then--presto! my gentleman vanishes;
good-evening, it's all over! Weep, and tear your hair! you won't see him
again.--But I have seen her, and I'm almighty sorry; for I fancy that I
see her still, pale, dishevelled, walking without seeing, listening
without hearing, and, absorbed by a single thought, keeping her
tear-dimmed eyes fixed on the road by which he went away; then returning
to her poor cabin, to weep on; and so again the next day, and forever!
And remember that she has not even the one poor consolation of the
unhappy, the power to complain and pour her sorrows into a friend's
bosom. That is what you have caused, and it isn't the noblest chapter in
your history. That is what you would have avoided if you had not
followed the guidance of your romantic ideas, or if you had paid your
addresses to women of the world only."

Frederic made no response; he seemed to be lost in thought.

"My friend," continued Dubourg, taking his hand, "I have told you just
what I think; you ought not to be angry. Moreover, all that one can say
to a lover never makes any difference; he always follows his own
impulses solely. I know, too, that you cannot marry Sister Anne.
Parbleu! if a man had to marry all the charmers he has loved, I should
have as many wives as King Solomon. I tell you simply that it gave me
great pain to---- But, enough of that! I am none the less your friend,
do with me as you will. Adieu! I am going to dine at a thirty-two-sou
ordinary, because when a man has an income of sixteen hundred francs a
year and wants to keep it, he doesn't go to Beauvilliers."

Long after Dubourg had gone, Frederic remained where he had left him,
absorbed in his reflections. Argue as he would, Dubourg had opened his
eyes to the state of his heart, and, although he still tried to delude
himself, he knew that he was no longer the dumb girl's devoted, ardent,
faithful lover, who was ready to sacrifice everything in order to pass
his days with her.

It is hard for a man to admit his faults to himself, and even when he
does he always finds some excuse to palliate his conduct, and says to
himself that he could not have done otherwise. Especially in love do we
reason thus, and the last passion, being always the strongest, speedily
vanquishes its predecessor.

Frederic, cudgelling his brains for some means of repairing the wrong he
had done, said to himself:

"I will see Sister Anne again, I will not leave her to pass her life in
a wretched hovel, cut off from all intercourse with society; I will buy
her a pretty cottage, with a lovely garden, and some cows and sheep; I
will surround her with everything that will make her life pleasant and
happy; I will find some village girl, of her own age, to wait upon her,
whose presence will enliven her; she will live there with old
Marguerite, and she shall have everything that she needs; the sight of
her neighbors, of the passers-by, and of the people at work in the
fields, with her own household cares, will drive away her melancholy; I
will go to see her sometimes, and she will be happy."

Happy, without Frederic! No; to Sister Anne, that was impossible.
Comfort, even wealth, would not compensate her for the loss of her love;
for Sister Anne was not brought up in Paris; she could not conceive that
anyone could prefer diamonds and fine clothes to joys of the heart, or
that a wrong could be atoned for with gold. Nor, five months earlier,
could Frederic have conceived it; but as he could readily do so now, it
was natural that he should believe that Sister Anne could do the same:
we judge others' hearts by our own.

For several days, Frederic, tormented by what Dubourg had said to him,
had the dumb girl's image constantly before his eyes; even when he was
with Constance, his melancholy, which had at one time almost
disappeared, seemed to weigh upon him more heavily than ever. The
general and his niece had returned to Paris. Frederic was able to see
Constance every day. But he trembled when he entered her presence, and
she, though surprised by his dejection, dared not ask him the cause of
it; but her eyes, when they met Frederic's, spoke for her, and revealed
all the concern she felt for his secret sorrow, and often, too, her
longing to know its cause.

In his desire to be relieved from his anxiety, and to have news of
Sister Anne, Frederic several times urged Dubourg to go to Vizille, to
see the poor girl and try to comfort her. But on that point Dubourg was
immovable.

"I will not go," he said; "I saw her once, and that was quite enough. I
have no desire to see her again, and then have unpleasant thoughts for
six weeks--I, who never knew what such thoughts were. Besides, my
presence would not comfort her; she wouldn't believe anything that I
could say to her, because I lied to her once; so my journey would do no
good and would not change her plight at all."

As he could not induce Dubourg to take the journey, Frederic decided to
ask his father's permission to leave Paris for a fortnight. Not until
after long hesitation did he determine upon that step; but his remorse
was troublesome, he was constantly tormented by the memory of the poor
mute, and he was persuaded that he would be calmer and less
conscience-stricken after he had seen her.

For some time past, the count had treated his son most affectionately;
convinced that he had entirely forgotten the person who had fascinated
him during his stay in Dauphine, and having no doubt of his love for
Mademoiselle de Valmont, the count had entirely laid aside his former
sternness of manner with Frederic; he hoped soon to see the plan he had
formed successfully carried out, being confident in advance of the
general's consent; so that he was greatly surprised when his son asked
his permission to leave Paris for a few days.

The Comte de Montreville's brow became clouded and severe, and Frederic,
who was accustomed to tremble before his father, anxiously awaited his
reply.

"Where do you want to go?" asked the count, after a brief silence.

Frederic attempted to stammer some pretext, but the count did not give
him time.

"Don't try to beat about the bush; I don't like it. You are still
thinking of a woman who interested you during your journey, and for
whom, I know, you committed a thousand follies. I thought, I confess,
that you had become reasonable; I thought that the memory of that fancy
had long since vanished from your mind--I do not say from your heart,
for the heart has no concern in such affairs."

"Ah! father, if you knew her!"

"Enough, monsieur! You do not propose to marry your conquest, I presume?
Still, it is possible that you have some wrongs to undo. I do not know
this girl. Perhaps you are more culpable than I think; perhaps she whom
you seduced, or led astray, is now cast off and abandoned through your
fault, and is living in want. If her misfortunes can be mended with
money, you may be sure that I will not spare it, monsieur; but I will
attend to the business, not you."

"You, father?"

"Yes, monsieur, I; I shall be better able to arrange it than anyone
else. So you need not leave Paris now. Besides," the count continued,
after a moment's thought, "your presence here is indispensable. The
general expects to marry his niece to a young colonel, who will probably
arrive in Paris very soon."

"The general expects to marry his niece!" echoed Frederic. Already his
features had assumed a different expression: sadness and melancholy were
succeeded by violent emotion, a jealous perturbation which was manifest
in his excited glance, and which made it impossible for him to remain
seated. His voice trembled, and, as he questioned his father, it seemed
as if his life or death hung upon the answer he was to receive.

"Yes," said the count, in an indifferent tone, pretending not to notice
Frederic's state of mind, "yes; and, for my part, I see nothing
surprising about it."

"And--this colonel is coming to Paris? Do you know him, father? Is he
young? Is he supposed to be handsome? Mademoiselle de Valmont loves him,
of course?"

"You don't think that I am in Mademoiselle de Valmont's confidence, do
you? She met the colonel in society, I presume. I believe he's a young
man of twenty-eight or thirty."

"Good-looking?"

"Oh! whether he's good-looking or ugly, isn't an honorable man always
attractive?"

"And this marriage is all arranged?"

"So it seems."

"And Mademoiselle Constance has never mentioned it to me!"

"Why on earth should she have told you beforehand of something that a
well-bred young woman never mentions?"

"Oh! of course--I had no claim--there was no reason why I should
know--and still, I should have thought----"

"Besides, it is possible that the general hasn't mentioned his plans to
his niece as yet."

"And this is the reason why I must stay in Paris?"

"To be sure; at such times, there are innumerable details to be attended
to--clothes and presents and wedding festivities; the general, being
accustomed to camp life, knows nothing about such things; a bachelor
always needs advice, and he relies on you to help him."

"Indeed! that's very kind of him; I am highly flattered that he
considers me good enough for that."

"So, Frederic, I say again that you must not think of leaving Paris
now."

This argument was no longer necessary. The count left the house to call
upon his old friend, to whom he had something to say privately; and
Frederic, long after his father's departure, was completely crushed by
what he had learned. Poor Sister Anne! your image had vanished.

Pale and excited, hardly able to breathe, Frederic paced the floor of
his apartment, now throwing himself into a chair for a moment, then
springing abruptly to his feet, sighing, and clenching his fists
convulsively. It was in that frame of mind that Dubourg found him when
he came to bid him good-bye, for Frederic had told him of his projected
journey.

"What in God's name is the matter, Frederic?" he said, pausing in the
doorway, alarmed to see him in that condition. "Come, won't you speak,
instead of rushing about like this and banging the furniture?"

"Who would have believed it? who would have thought it?" said Frederic,
dropping into a chair. "Ah! these women!"

"Oho! so it's a question of women, is it? I begin to feel less alarmed."

"With such an honest face, such lovely eyes, to conceal such perfidy!
for it is perfidy! she ought to have told me that she loved another. To
welcome me so cordially! to seem so pleased to see me! Oh! it's
horrible!"

"There's no doubt of that. Whom are you talking about?"

"Mademoiselle de Valmont--Constance. She is so lovely! so sweet!"

"Oh, yes! and she looks so much like Sister Anne!"

"Would you believe, my friend, that she is going to be married--to a
young colonel whom I don't know, but whom she loves--that goes without
saying; whom I have never seen, and who is coming to Paris very soon to
marry her?"

"Mademoiselle de Valmont is going to be married?"

"Yes, Dubourg."

"Well, what difference does that make to you? you don't love her; you're
not in love with her; no word of love has ever passed your lips; you are
her brother, her friend, nothing more. You told me this yourself, within
a month."

"No, I certainly do not love her; but one owes some regard, some mark of
confidence, to a friend; and when you see a person every day----"

"Oho! you see her every day, do you?"

"She might have told me, have let fall a hint. Ah! I never would have
believed it, Constance!"

"By the way, have you given up going to Dauphine? I say--Frederic!
Frederic!"

But he was already far away, running like a madman to Mademoiselle de
Valmont; and Dubourg left the house, saying to himself:

"He's a good one to accuse women of perfidy! Ah! these men!--I must go
and dine. I don't know how it has happened, but I am already in debt at
my restaurant, and the month has only half gone!"

When Frederic reached the general's house, he had formed no plan of
action, and had no idea what he was going to say or do. He entered the
house, where his was a familiar presence, and walked rapidly through
several rooms to the salon where Constance usually sat. She was there,
seated at her piano. Seeing that she was intent upon her music and as
placid as ever, Frederic stood for a moment, gazing at her.

Constance turned her head when she heard footsteps. She smiled when she
recognized her visitor, whose excitement she did not notice at once.

"Is it you, monsieur," she said; "I am glad you have come; you are a
good musician and can help me decipher this piece."

The young man did not reply, but continued to gaze at Constance, who,
being accustomed to his peculiar and often taciturn humor, did not at
first observe that anything was wrong; but, finding that he did not
approach, she turned again, and then his evident excitement did not
escape her notice.

"What is the matter, monsieur?" she asked, with manifest concern; "you
seem excited."

"Oh! nothing's the matter, mademoiselle; what could be the matter?"

"I am sure I don't know; you are not in the habit of telling me your
troubles."

There was a faint tinge of reproach in the tone in which Constance made
this remark. Frederic sat down beside her, and seemed to try to read in
her eyes; never before had he looked at her with such an expression, and
Constance, in her surprise, felt that she was blushing, and averted her
lovely eyes.

"You are afraid that I shall guess what is taking place in your heart,"
said Frederic, affecting an ironical tone to dissemble his suffering.

"I, monsieur! on my word, I don't know what you mean; I don't understand
you. Why should I fear to allow my thoughts to be read? I am conscious
of no guilt; and if it were otherwise, you are not the one to reprove
me."

"Oh! certainly not! you are entirely free as to your feelings,
mademoiselle; I know that I have no claim to your heart."

"Mon Dieu! what is the matter, Monsieur Frederic? really, you alarm me;
your agitation is not natural."

"What is the matter! Ah! Constance, you love another, and you ask me
that question!"

Mademoiselle de Valmont was speechless with surprise; Frederic had never
called her by that name before, and are not the words: "You love
another" equivalent to: "You should love no one but me"? A wave of
blissful emotion surged in Constance's heart, which beat faster and with
greater force; joy and happiness shone in her eyes, and her voice was
softer than ever, as she said:

"I, love another! Mon Dieu! what does he mean? Explain yourself,
Frederic: I don't understand."

The dear girl had understood but one thing, and that was that Frederic
did not want her to love another; and that was enough to make her
understand that he loved her. For a long time, she had hoped that she
had inspired the sweetest of sentiments in Frederic's heart; but he had
never said a word to her on the subject, nothing that signified: "I love
you;" and even when everything tends to that conclusion, a woman longs
none the less to hear the words.

Again Frederic was silent; he sighed long and loud, but said nothing.

"Will you speak, monsieur? what has happened to disturb you so
to-day?--what have I done to deserve your reproaches? Explain yourself
clearly; I insist upon it--do you hear, monsieur? I insist upon it."

The expression of her voice was so tender that Frederic could not resist
the temptation to look at her again, and doubtless her eyes were in
accord with her voice, for he gazed at them several minutes in a sort of
ecstasy; but suddenly he cried again:

"What an unhappy wretch I am!"

"You unhappy, Frederic? Why so?"

"You are going to be married."

"Married! This is the first I've heard of it."

"Oh! it's useless for you to try to conceal it from me; I know all,
mademoiselle: I know that your future husband will be here in a few
days, that he's a colonel, and that you love him."

"What do you say? a colonel? and I love him? Upon my word, this is
rather strong! What is the name of this colonel I am going to marry, if
you please?"

"His name! Faith! I forgot to ask that. But you must know perfectly well
whom I mean. Will you say that you don't know a colonel?"

"Several colonels have called on my uncle, but----"

"Ah! several of them--you admit it now."

"Who told you, monsieur, that I am going to be married?"

"Someone who is absolutely certain of it: my father, who learned it from
your uncle."

"From my uncle? Why, I can't understand this at all."

"You pretend not to understand; but, I doubt not, you are impatiently
waiting for your future husband's arrival."

Constance reflected for some little time, then replied in a tone which
she struggled to make indifferent:

"Really, monsieur, I am very much surprised by what you have told me;
but, after all, suppose it to be true that I am to be married--how does
it concern you? I imagine that it is a matter of the utmost indifference
to you."

"Ah! you think that, do you? You are quite right, mademoiselle; of
course, it cannot make any difference to me."

"Very well! then why do you ask me all these questions, monsieur?"

"Why? O Constance! are you going to be married? and this colonel--do you
really love him?"

"And if I did love anyone--would that cause you any grief?"

She was determined to force him to the wall and make him avow his
sentiments. Frederic could contain himself no longer; his heart could
not keep its secret.

"Yes," he cried, "I love you, I adore you! I shall die if you marry
another man!"

"He loves me!--Ah! it's very lucky that I have extorted that from you! I
thought you would never say it."

And the blushing girl gave her hand to Frederic, who had fallen at her
feet; and he covered that hand with kisses, while she said to him with
deep earnestness:

"Ah! Frederic, I love you, too. I shall never love anyone else. Why, my
dear, did you not long ago say those words, which make me so happy, and
which I have been expecting so long? My uncle is very fond of me; he
will never do anything to make me unhappy. If it be true that he has
planned a marriage for me--he has never mentioned the subject--why, he
must abandon it, for I will tell him that I will marry no one but you,
that you alone can obtain my heart and hand; and he will consent, I am
certain of it. He is fond of you too, Frederic; indeed, who would not
be? You see, you do wrong to be sad and depressed, and to conceal your
sorrows from me. My dear, I read your heart long ago; should you not
have been able to read mine?"

Frederic replied only by protestations of love; he was beside himself
with joy; Mademoiselle de Valmont's avowal had disturbed his reason; not
without difficulty did she succeed in calming him, and he did not leave
her until she had repeated her solemn promise that she would never give
her hand to another.

Frederic left the house in a very different frame of mind from that in
which he had entered it. The certainty that Constance loved him had
revolutionized all his ideas in an instant: in his delirious joy, Sister
Anne was entirely forgotten; he did not even feel a pang of remorse.
Like those sick persons who, when the fever is at its height, are
unconscious of pain, he said to himself again and again:

"Dubourg was quite right: I do love Constance, I adore her! I can never
again love anybody else."

Two days after this declaration, the Comte de Montreville, well assured
that his son no longer thought of leaving Constance, set out for
Dauphine, in his own carriage, attended by a single servant and a
postilion.




XXII

DEATH OF MARGUERITE.--SISTER ANNE LEAVES HER CABIN


Let us now return to the dumb girl in the woods, whom we left awaiting
Frederic's coming, and whom we shall find still awaiting him.

But the trees have lost their foliage; the fields no longer offer to the
eye the pleasing prospect of luxuriant vegetation; there is no green
turf in the valley, no verdure on the banks of the stream. The leaves
have fallen, and the villager's steps are deadened by that which shaded
him and embellished his garden a few days since. He tramples under foot
the beautiful foliage to which the approach of a harsher season has
brought death. Thus do all things pass away. Other foliage will be born,
only to die in its turn; and the man who tramples upon it must likewise
return to the dust whereon future generations will tread. He fancies
himself of some account because his allotted time is longer; but when
the ages have dispersed his ashes, what more will he have left behind
him than those leaves have done which whirl about in the wind at his
feet?

The autumn disposes us to melancholy; it brings reverie and reflection,
not to him who lives in the city, detained in the vortex of the world by
the necessities of business or pleasure, but to the man of the fields
who can contemplate each day the successive changes in the face of
nature. Not without emotion does he look upon the forest, whose black,
skeleton-like trees seem to be in mourning for the spring; if he walks
along a path but lately shaded by dense foliage, if he seeks the thicket
where he was wont to rest during the heat of the day, he sees naught but
dry branches, often broken by the poor man's hand. The forest is less
dark than in summer, for the sunlight finds its way in on all sides. But
that brightness, far from embellishing it, robs it of all its charm; one
regrets the dark, mysterious paths, through which it is so pleasant to
wander in the season of love.

As he watches the approach of the frost and snow, as he contemplates the
effects of the winter's cold, man, always buoyed up by hope, says to
himself:

"The spring will come again; I shall see once more my leafy lanes, my
lawns, and my shrubs."

The spring comes again--but many men do not see it!

Sister Anne observed the change in the season only because it emphasized
the length of time that had elapsed since Frederic left her. The unhappy
child could no longer count the days; their number was too great.
However, hope had not vanished from her heart; she could not believe
that her lover intended to abandon her forever; sometimes, she imagined
that he had ceased to live, and then the blackest despair took
possession of her thoughts. When that idea forced itself upon her, life
seemed to be only one long agony. Could she live on, unsustained by the
hope of seeing her lover? Often she longed to die. But she was soon to
be a mother; that thought made her cling to life once more; something
told her that she must live for her child.

It was a very long time since she had been to the village. An old
shepherd, who went back and forth through the woods, was in the habit of
leaving every day, at the foot of a tree, the loaf of rye bread
required by the occupants of the cabin, and always found there, in
exchange, a large pitcher filled with milk. This bread, with milk and
fresh eggs, was all that the two poor women ate in winter. When Sister
Anne had finished preparing the meal, and had given the old woman all
that she required, she drove her goats to the hilltop, and seated
herself at the foot of her mother's tree. Despite the cold, which was
beginning to be severe, the girl did not fail to go thither a single
day. Wrapped in a wretched woollen cloak, half worn out, she defied the
rigor of the season, although the garment was but little protection to
her; her goats, finding nothing on the hill to browse upon, huddled at
her feet; and Sister Anne, her features pinched and worn by her
condition and her sufferings, presented only too faithfully the image of
poverty and sorrow.

More than once, the snow, falling in great flakes, formed an icy cloak
about her body, so that the poor girl's form could hardly be
distinguished from the ground she lay upon; and often she removed her
cloak to cover her shivering companions. The traveller who happened to
pass over the hill could make out nothing in that snow-covered group
save the dumb girl's head, always turned toward the road to the town.
But, unheeding the cold, she did not realize that her whole body
shivered, that her teeth chattered, that her limbs stiffened; she was
unconscious of physical suffering; a single sentiment absorbed her whole
being, and the pain it caused left her no feeling for any other.

When the darkness made it impossible for her to see the road, she rose
and looked at herself, amazed to find that she was almost buried in
snow. Then she would shake her cloak, caress her goats, and slowly
descend the hill to the cabin and old Marguerite. When the old woman was
asleep, and she threw herself on her solitary couch, she no longer found
love there, nor even rest, to which she had long been a stranger. The
memory of her lover was there, as it was everywhere. If only she could
express her grief in words, call to him and implore him to return! It
seemed to her that her voice would reach his ears.--Poor girl! heaven
had deprived you of that priceless organ. Tears! always tears! those
were all that remained to you!

But, meanwhile, Sister Anne saw that old Marguerite was failing from day
to day. For a long while she had not left the house; she was hardly able
to totter to her great armchair. Marguerite was seventy-six years of
age; she had led an active, laborious life, and her old age was placid;
she had no disease and did not suffer; age alone was wearing out her
strength, which was daily diminishing. She was going out like a lamp
whose light has been soft and mellow; she had not shone with great
brilliancy, but she had been useful, which is far preferable.

The hour fixed by nature drew near; Marguerite was destined not to see
another spring. Sister Anne redoubled her loving attentions to her
adopted mother; observing the gradual weakening of her faculties, she
gave up going to the hilltop, in order to be always with her. She could
have made no greater sacrifice. Good Marguerite, touched by her
devotion, smiled at her affectionately, and called her her dear child.

But one morning, when Sister Anne went as usual to her mother's bed to
ask how she had passed the night, Marguerite did not answer, or, as her
custom was, hold out her trembling hand. Her eyes were closed, never to
open again. Sister Anne was terrified; she seized the old woman's
hand--it was cold and inert, and she tried in vain to warm it in her
own. She stooped and kissed Marguerite's forehead, but no smile rewarded
her.

The girl stood by her aged companion's bedside, overwhelmed with grief;
she gazed at the venerable features of her who had taken care of her
from childhood, of her only friend, who had been taken from
her!--Marguerite seemed like one asleep; the serenity of her face
indicated the serenity of her mind in its last moments. Sister Anne,
standing beside the bed, with one hand resting upon it, could not tire
of gazing at her adopted mother. Her grief was calm, but none the less
profound; her eyes were dry, but their expression was none the less
heartrending.

She passed a large part of the day beside the good woman's lifeless
remains; not without difficulty did she succeed in tearing herself away;
but she knew that she must perform the last duties for Marguerite, that
she must consign her to her last resting-place; and she realized that
she was incapable of doing it alone, without assistance. She must go to
the village, therefore, where she had not been seen for a long while.

She left her cabin and went out of the woods on her way to Vizille. As
she passed, she bowed, as usual, to those of the village women whom she
knew; but she could not understand why they turned their heads away, or
stared at her with contempt. Instead of stopping, as their custom was,
to bid her good-day, they walked quickly away, and seemed desirous to
avoid meeting her. The young men looked at her with mocking smiles; some
pointed at her, whispering to one another; and not upon a single face
did she observe the marks of interest which they were accustomed to
manifest.

"What can be the matter?" thought the poor child; "everybody seems to
avoid me; is it because I am more unhappy than ever, because I have lost
my kind mother, and Frederic has abandoned me?"

She forgot that she bore the testimony of her weakness; that pledge of
love, of which she was so proud, was, in the eyes of the peasants, a
proof of her shame. In villages, people are more severe than in cities;
they set great store by innocence, because it is often the only treasure
they possess. The good people of Vizille held very austere views on the
subject of such falls from virtue: a girl who had been seduced became an
object of general contempt, so long as her seducer did not repair her
fault before the altar. Perhaps they should have been more indulgent to
the dumb girl, who, living in the woods, did not know that she was
culpable in yielding to the promptings of her heart. But peasants do not
reason; they act in obedience to habit, and often mechanically. They had
shown deep interest, so long as she was innocent as well as unfortunate;
now that she bore manifest proofs of her weakness, they spurned her,
without waiting to inquire whether she was not more unfortunate than
before.

At last she reached the village, unable to understand the conduct of the
people, having no idea why the young girls fled at her approach without
deigning to answer her signs, or why their parents stared at her with a
stern, disdainful air.

She knocked at the door of a cottage, the owners of which were friends
of Marguerite. The woman who opened the door made a gesture of surprise
when she saw her, then drove her away from the house. Sister Anne tried
to insist and to make her understand the loss she had met with; but,
refusing to notice her signs, the woman pushed her into the street,
where a number of peasants had assembled and stood staring at her.

"How do you dare to come to the village in that state?" asked an old
man; "to show your face here and try to get into our houses? You're
carrying the token of your shame; you'd do better to hide it in your
woods. And you come here and show yourself to our daughters! Do you do
it to let them admire your pretty behavior, and set them an example? Off
with you, Clotilde's child! you ought to die of shame! Go back to your
cabin, clear out with your seducer, but don't come here again among our
wives and children!"

Sister Anne could not understand how a person could be guilty for having
known love. She gazed at the peasants in surprise; she held out her
hands, clasped in entreaty: she tried to make them understand that she
had not come to seek their aid for herself. But they did not choose to
understand; they turned their backs on her and went into their houses;
some escorted her to the outskirts of the village, and did not leave her
until they had ordered her never to return.

The poor child was suffocated by the sobs that convulsed her whole body.
To be treated so for having loved Frederic! That thought sustained her
courage; it was for him that she was subjected to such humiliation; she
would endure everything rather than cease to love him. She returned to
her cabin, weeping bitterly. It was dark. Absolute solitude reigned in
her poor home, thenceforth the abode of silence. She was utterly alone
on earth. Proof against idle terrors, against the childish fear which
even the greatest geniuses sometimes feel at sight of death, Sister Anne
went to the bed on which Marguerite lay, and, falling on her knees
beside it, held out her arms to her protectress, as if to say:

"You would not have spurned me, mother, if I had come before you even
guiltier than I am! You would have had pity on me. Your great age, your
enfeebled sight, did not permit you to notice my condition; but you
would have forgiven me; and they turned me away! Is it by heaping
obloquy on the unfortunate that the path of repentance should be pointed
out to them?"

She passed the whole night by Marguerite's bed. She prayed with all her
heart for her who had been a mother to her; she implored her to protect
her still, and during that mournful night Frederic's image did not
disturb her pious occupation.

The next morning, at daybreak, Sister Anne went to the woods to wait for
the old shepherd who supplied her with bread in exchange for milk. He
soon appeared. He was a man of some sixty years, still strong and well,
who had passed most of his life in the forest, and, like Sister Anne,
knew almost nothing of what happened in the village, which is the whole
world to a woodsman. The girl took him by the hand and seemed to urge
him to go with her to the cabin. The old shepherd complied with her
entreaty, and she led him to Marguerite's bedside. He shook his head,
but did not seem moved: the habit of living the life of a savage
sometimes makes men indifferent to the suffering of others. But Sister
Anne appealed to him by signs which he could not fail to understand, and
the old fellow consented to perform the service she asked at his hands.

She led him into the garden, to the fig-tree under which Marguerite
loved to sit, and pointed to the ground: that was where she wished that
her adopted mother should rest. The old shepherd soon dug the grave,
then carried the old woman's remains thither and covered them with
earth. Sister Anne planted a cross by the spot. It was the only monument
she could erect to her benefactress's memory; but she would come often
to water it with her tears. How many magnificent mausoleums there are
whereon no tear was ever shed!

The shepherd went his way, and Sister Anne was once more alone--and
forever! At that moment, she felt more keenly than ever the loss she had
sustained. Marguerite talked little; for some time past, she had dozed
constantly; but she was always there, and the poor child felt that she
was not altogether alone in the world. There was one person who could
comfort her; but he did not come, and each succeeding day helped to
destroy the little hope that still sustained her. She would not have had
the courage to endure her torments, but for the feeling that heaven
would soon give her someone to lighten them. She was now fully aware of
the existence of the being in whom she was to live again. She had
already suffered much for its sake: people shunned and despised her; she
could no longer seek help or shelter in the village; but the mere sight
of that little creature would bring forgetfulness of all her agony; is
it not just that we should find in the cause of our sorrows their
compensation?

As the days passed, Sister Anne's profound grief for the loss of
Marguerite changed into a tender, grateful memory; but time, which
soothes the regrets of friendship, does not allay the sufferings of a
lover. The memory of Frederic was more constantly in her mind than
ever, for there was nothing to divert her thoughts from it. She saw no
one; and if the movements within her reminded her that she was soon to
be a mother, that fact made her desire more ardently the presence of her
child's father.

While Frederic was with Sister Anne, he had talked to her sometimes of
the outside world, of his father, and very often of Paris, his
birthplace. During the day, while they sat together by the brook, it
amused him to draw a picture of the great city for the wondering girl,
to describe the pleasures, the plays, the splendid avenues, which make
it a place of enchantment. She did not always comprehend what he said,
but she listened with wide-open eyes, manifesting her amazement by
artless gestures, by curious tokens of surprise; and it amused Frederic,
who was often obliged to tell her stories to satisfy her, for one cannot
be always making love. Some people maintain that it is a great pity;
they forget that those things which one can do all the time end by
losing their value.

What Frederic had told Sister Anne was engraved in her memory. Each day
she thought about it more and more, and said to herself:

"He is probably in that great city, Paris, that he used to tell me so
much about, where he was born. Perhaps his father won't let him come
back to me. But if I could go there and find him, if I could once throw
myself into his arms, I'm very sure he would be glad to see me. Then he
would keep me with him, I would never leave him again, and I should be,
oh! so happy! But how can I find my way to Paris?"

Every day, the longing to set out in search of her lover became stronger
in that loving heart, which could not persuade itself that Frederic had
forgotten her, but believed that the reason he did not return was that
someone was keeping him away from her. Marguerite being dead, there was
nothing to detain Sister Anne in the woods. In her condition, and bereft
as she was of so essential an organ, she ought doubtless to have felt
that her cabin was preferable to the dangers, the suffering, and the
fatigue that would be her portion in the journey she contemplated; but a
woman who loves truly sees neither danger nor suffering; she dares
everything, sustained by the hope of seeing once more the object of her
affection. Sister Anne, unacquainted with the world, unable to speak,
and bearing within her the fruit of her love, determined to leave her
home to go in search of her lover; to face every danger, to endure
poverty and privations of every sort; and even though she should have to
employ years in her search, it seemed to her that every step would bring
her nearer to her lover.

Having formed her decision, she devoted all her thought to its
execution; but she did not wish to leave her cabin and Marguerite's
grave to be utterly neglected. Again it was the old shepherd to whom she
addressed herself: she led him into the house one morning, and pointed
to a small bundle containing her clothing, which she slung over her
shoulders, to indicate that she was going away; then she motioned to him
to sit down, as if to say:

"This cabin is yours, stay here; I ask you only to take care of the
fig-tree that shades my mother's tomb, and these poor creatures who have
been my only companions so long."

The old man readily understood her; but, although the hovel was a palace
in his eyes, and Sister Anne's cession of it to him made him richer than
he had ever been, he tried to induce the girl to abandon a plan which
seemed to him insane.

"Where do you propose to go, my child?" he asked; "can you think of
leaving home in the condition you are in? Within two months you will be
a mother, and you propose to go on a journey; and you a poor, dumb girl!
Who will take you in, who will help you, how will you ask the way? Come,
my girl, you are going to do a very foolish thing. Wait a little while,
at least."

But Sister Anne had made up her mind, and nothing could move her; she
shook her head as she looked at the old shepherd; then raised her eyes
to heaven, as if to say:

"God will take pity on me and guide my steps."

He tried once more to keep her.

"What about money?" he said; "you need money in the world, my girl; I
know that, although I haven't lived much in the world. I haven't got any
myself, and I can't give you anything for your house and what there is
in it, although it's well worth something."

Sister Anne smiled, then took from her bosom a small canvas bag, and
showed the old man four gold pieces: it was Marguerite's little hoard.
Some time before she died, the good woman had told her to look in the
corner of the cabin, under her bed; there she had found the little bag
securely tied, and Marguerite had said to her:

"Take it, my child; it's for you; it's the fruit of my savings in sixty
years of toil. I have always meant it for you; perhaps it will help you
to buy some more goats."

At sight of the four gold pieces, the old shepherd ceased his efforts to
detain her, for he believed that with that amount of money she could go
round the world.

"Go, my child," he said; "I will keep your cabin; remember that it still
belongs to you, if ever you want to come back to it."

Sister Anne smiled sadly; then, with a last glance at her home, she went
forth, with her light bundle in one hand, and in the other a stick on
which she leaned as she walked. She saluted Marguerite's grave in the
garden; her goats ran after her, as if they expected her to drive them
to the hill as usual. She caressed them, weeping, for they had come to
be her only friends, and something told her that she would never see
them again.

What memories stirred her heart as she walked through the woods! There
was the place where they had sat so often! yonder the brook, by which
she first saw him, and where he told her that he loved her! Those
familiar spots seemed alive with his presence, and she found it hard to
make up her mind to leave them. But she said to herself, to sustain her
courage:

"I am going to join him; and perhaps we shall return together."

She climbed the hill, and knelt at the foot of the tree where Clotilde
died. She prayed to her mother to watch over her from on high, and to
guide her in her journey. Then she descended the hill, in the direction
of the town; she followed the road that he had taken, and wished that
she could discover his footprints.




XXIII

SISTER ANNE'S JOURNEY.--THE FOREST


The dumb girl had begun her journey at daybreak; it was a cold but fine
morning; a heavy frost had dried up the roads, frozen the streams, and
checked the torrents. The fields were deserted; the peasants who were
abroad wasted no time, but hastened to return to their cabins and sit
down in front of the fireplace, where the stumps they had brought from
the forest snapped and crackled. A bright fire enlivens the long winter
evening, and the poor beggar, as he passes through a village, stops and
gazes enviously at the flame that shines through a cottage window,
overjoyed when he finds an opportunity to warm himself on the public
square, before a bundle or two of straw which other poor wretches have
set on fire.

It was only four hours since Sister Anne had set out, and her eyes were
already struck by the novelty of what she saw. Having never seen
anything besides her own cabin, her woods, and the village of Vizille,
she paused in amazement before a forge, or a mill, or a country house,
which seemed to her a very castle. Everything was new to her; but how
was she to find her way in this world, which seemed to her so immense,
how could she find that city which she could not name, and of which she
did not even know the direction? Sometimes these thoughts made her heart
sink; she would stop and look sadly about; then she would think of
Frederic, and resume her journey.

Toward midday, she arrived at a small hamlet, and knocked at the door of
a peasant's cottage; it was opened by a young woman, who was nursing one
child, while four others played about her, and an old woman kindled the
fire with an armful of dry branches she had just brought from the woods.

"What do you want, my good woman?" asked the young mother. Sister Anne
gazed at the picture before her, and could not take her eyes from the
child at its mother's breast. A gleam of joy lighted up her face; one
could see that she was thinking at that moment:

"I will nurse my child, too; I will carry him at my bosom and receive
his caresses."

"Why don't you say what you want?" said the old woman, without taking
her eyes from the fire.

"Oh! see how pale she is, mother!" said the younger woman; "and how she
seems to be suffering! To think of such a young thing, and so near her
time, travelling about when it's as cold as this!--You are going to join
your husband, I suppose?"

Sister Anne sighed; then, seeing that they were waiting for her answer,
she explained by signs that she could not speak.

"Mon Dieu! mother, she's dumb! Poor woman!"

"Dumb!" cried the old mother. "What, my dear, can't you talk? How I pity
you, poor child! Are you deaf too?"

Sister Anne's pantomime indicated that she could hear them perfectly.

"Well, that's lucky, on my word!" exclaimed the old woman, walking
toward the traveller; while all the children stared curiously at her,
thinking that a mute was not like other people.

"Was it some accident that made you dumb, my girl? have you been so
long? Was it an illness? Can't it be cured?"

"Let us first give the poor creature what she needs, mother," said the
young woman; "let her rest and eat something; then you can question
her."

They bustled about, and seated Sister Anne in front of the fire; one
child took her bundle, another her stick, and the old mother brought her
food, for the daughter could not leave the child she was nursing. Sister
Anne, touched by their kindness to her, manifested her gratitude by such
pathetic gestures, that the occupants of the little cottage were deeply
moved.

"So it isn't the same everywhere as it is at my village," thought the
young wayfarer; "here, instead of turning me away and looking down on
me, they are kind to me, and treat me like their own child. The world
isn't so cruel, after all."

This welcome revived her courage; but she could not answer all the old
woman's questions. The peasants believed, according to her signs, that
she was going to join her husband.

"He's in the city, I suppose?" queried the old woman.

Sister Anne nodded her head; and as Grenoble was the nearest city, they
concluded that that was her destination.

After remaining several hours beneath that hospitable roof, she
determined to resume her journey; but first she took one of the gold
pieces from her little bag and offered it to the young woman.

"Keep it, my dear," said she; "we don't want anything for what we've
done. You're so much to be pitied for not being able to talk, that you
deserve to be taken in and put up everywhere for nothing; but,
unluckily, everybody don't think so; there's some folks with hard,
unfeeling hearts. You're going to the city, and you'll need all your
money; they won't refuse it there."

Sister Anne expressed her gratitude as best she could. She kissed the
young mother and her little nursling affectionately, then left the
cottage, after they had pointed out the road to Grenoble, where they
supposed that she was going.

The young woman did not travel rapidly; her pregnancy, her lack of
practice in walking, and the bundle of clothing she carried, compelled
her to stop frequently. She would sit down on a felled tree, a stone, or
the bank of a ditch, and wait until her strength had returned and she
could go on.

Sometimes other travellers passed her while she was resting. Those in
carriages did not look at her; several men on horseback cast a glance at
her; but the pedestrians stopped and said a few words to her. Receiving
no reply, they went their way, some thinking that she was half-witted,
others calling her impertinent because she did not deign to speak to
them. Sister Anne gazed at them with an air of surprise, smiled at a
peasant who proposed to take her on his horse, and lowered her eyes when
another lost his temper because she did not answer him; the most curious
ended by doing as the others did, and left her.

Toward nightfall, Sister Anne, having followed the directions given her,
reached Grenoble. The sight of a large city was a source of fresh
surprise, which increased with every step she took in the streets, where
the people were dressed so much more handsomely than in her village.
Everything surprised and bewildered her, and she trembled as she
walked. The tall houses, the shops, the throng of people moving in every
direction, the continual uproar, the strange way in which the passers-by
gazed at her--everything tended to increase her confusion. Poor girl!
how would it be if you were in Paris?

But it grew dark, and she must seek shelter for the night. She dared not
enter any of the houses; they all seemed too fine; she was afraid that
she would not be admitted. For a long while, she wandered at random
through those unfamiliar streets; but she was tired out at last, and
determined to knock somewhere. The poor child did not know what an inn
was; she thought that she could obtain a place to sleep anywhere by
paying for it.

She knocked at the door of a house of modest appearance. The door
opened, and she entered trembling.

"What do you want?" demanded an old tailor, who acted as concierge.

The girl looked sadly at him, and made signs to indicate that she could
not speak; but he paid no attention to them, and repeated his question.
Receiving no reply, he sprang to his feet in a rage, ran to Sister Anne,
took her by the arm, and put her out of the door, saying:

"Oho! so you won't tell where you're going, won't you? Folks don't get
in here that way, my girl."

This reception was not encouraging; the poor girl was once more in the
street; her eyes filled with tears, but she summoned all her courage and
knocked at another door. There, they called her a beggar, and refused to
admit her. She could stand it no longer; her sobs choked her; she sat
down on a stone bench beside a door and wept bitterly. In a moment the
door opened, and an old couple came out, wrapped in furs and
comforters, followed by a servant carrying a lantern. As they passed,
they ordered Sister Anne to leave the bench, which belonged to their
house, calling her an idler and a beggar, and threatening to have her
put in prison if she did not move on. Sister Anne rose, trembling in
every limb, and dragged her sorrow and weariness elsewhere; and the old
couple went their way, chuckling over what they had done, and promising
to hold forth concerning the audacity of the lower classes at the party
where they were to pass the evening.

The dumb girl, utterly worn out, could hardly stand erect, and did not
know which way to turn. The treatment she had met with gave her a very
depressing idea of life in cities. But she must find a shelter for the
night. She spied a house more brightly lighted than the others; the
front door was open, and many persons were going in and out. She took
one of her gold pieces in her hand, afraid to enter unless she exhibited
it. This time she had made a more fortunate selection: the house in
question was an inn, and the sight of the gold piece procured her a
cordial reception.

When the landlady found that the young traveller could not answer her
questions, she felt called upon to talk for two, and, while she led the
way to a small bedroom, extolled the advantages of her house and the way
in which it was kept, asked her where she came from and where she was
going, then interrupted herself by exclaiming:

"Mon Dieu! what a fool I am! I ask that just as if you could answer."

A moment later, she resumed her chatter, saying:

"It's very hard! I don't understand your signs, I don't understand 'em
at all. Never mind, my child; you shall be served on the dot. If my
nephew was only here! he knows mathematics, and he'd soon explain your
signs. But he's gone away, poor boy! he's a clerk in the telegraph
office at Lyon, now."

At last she left Sister Anne, who, having eaten sparingly, was able to
enjoy the rest she needed so sorely. Sleep, poor girl, and may happy
dreams bring momentary oblivion of your sufferings!

As she had heard the hostess say more than once: "You are in the best
hotel in Grenoble," she knew the name of the city, and remembered that
Frederic had mentioned that name. That recollection led her to resolve
not to leave that place until she had sought him there; and the next
morning, after she had succeeded in making her hostess understand that
she proposed to pass that day also at Grenoble, she left the inn and set
out to search the city, which seemed to her enormously large.

As she walked along, she looked at every window in every house. If
Frederic were there, she thought that he would see her pass, and would
either call to her or run after her. Sometimes she stopped, thinking
that she recognized his figure; but she soon discovered her error. She
passed the whole day thus, and did not return to the inn until it was so
dark that she could see nothing.

"Have you been looking about our city?" inquired the landlady; "it's a
very pretty place, I tell you, a very pretty place, our city of
Grenoble. But it isn't as big as Lyon, and even Lyon don't come near
Paris."

At the word _Paris_, the young traveller made a joyful movement, and,
grasping the hostess's arm, signified that that was where she wanted to
go. But she did not make her meaning clear.

"You are going to Lyon, I'll wager," said the hostess; "that isn't so
far; fifteen leagues, that's all. To be sure, in your condition you
can't walk very fast; but in three or four days at most, you ought to do
it."

Sister Anne went sadly to her room. How could she find the road to
Paris, if she could not make people understand that that was where she
wanted to go? That thought disheartened her; but she had implored her
mother to guide her on her journey; she prayed to her again, and hope
was born anew in her heart; without hope, what would be left for the
unhappy?

The next day, the girl prepared to leave the inn; the landlady presented
a bill to her, of which she could make nothing; but she tendered a gold
piece and received very little change. In cities, one has to pay for
every reverence, every attention. Sister Anne had been treated with
great courtesy, so that her stay at the inn cost her rather dear.

They pointed out the road to Lyon, and she set forth once more, with her
little bundle and her stick. But how easy it is to lose one's way in the
hilly, wooded paths between Grenoble and Lyon! She abandoned herself to
Providence for guidance. She walked most of the day, and at night,
thoroughly exhausted, went to a farmhouse, where they consented to let
her sleep in a barn. But, provided that she could pass the night where
she was sheltered from the cold, she slept as well on straw as on
feathers; fatigue enabled her at last to sleep several hours.

Her accommodation at the farm helped to exhaust her little store, and
the young traveller began to realize that she must be sparing of it, for
it was almost the only talisman by means of which she could obtain
shelter. Hospitable folk are rare. The most humane think that they are
doing much for the poor wayfarer when they give him a trifling sum of
money and a crust of bread; but they will not receive him under their
roof. Far distant are the days when men deemed it an honor to give
shelter to a stranger, without inquiring as to his rank and his means;
when they shared their fire and their repast and their bed with him.
Other times, other manners! We have become very proud, we are no longer
inclined to share anything. By way of compensation, we have excellent
friends, who come to our house and eat our bread, drink our wine, and
sometimes make love to our wives, and who, when they leave, go elsewhere
and say countless cruel things about us; but they do it from excess of
affection, and because they are afraid that we may have other friends
than themselves.

Toward noon of the second day after she left Grenoble, Sister Anne,
absorbed by her recollections, did not notice that she had strayed from
the road that had been pointed out to her. Not until she began to feel
the need of rest did she look about for the village, which, according to
the directions she had received in the morning, could not be far away.

The place where she was at that moment was wild and deserted; there was
no house in sight. She climbed a hill, and could see nothing in front of
her but an extensive forest of firs. On her left, a mountain stream,
with ice floating on the surface, plunged into a deep and winding
ravine; on her right was a bare mountain side, with steep cliffs, but no
human habitation.

She began to fear that she had lost her way, and hesitated for some time
as to the best course for her to pursue. The roads to the right and left
had a most unpromising look; she was reluctant to retrace her steps; so
she decided to take the road leading to the forest. After walking about
half an hour, she found herself among the stately firs, which time had
not bent, and whose branches, although partly despoiled of their
foliage, seemed to rise no less proudly toward the clouds and to defy
wind and frost.

An excellent road led directly into the forest, and Sister Anne did not
hesitate to take it. She could see the marks of wheels and of horses'
feet, and she hoped that it would lead her to the village or to some
nearby city. She surmounted her fatigue, in order that she might reach a
place of shelter before dark. As she walked on, she did not meet a human
being, and there was a sombreness and gloom about that road, hemmed in
by the forest on both sides, that depressed her beyond words. Her eyes,
straining to discover the end of the interminable road, saw naught save
the dark firs, and there was no indication that she was approaching the
village. Her heart sank; night was beginning to envelop the earth in its
dark folds; she could no longer distinguish anything in the paths that
led to right and left; and soon Sister Anne, her strength giving way
before her courage, felt that it was impossible for her to go farther.
So she was forced to make up her mind to pass the night in the forest.
It was not fear that made the poor child's heart beat fast; she did not
know what robbers were, for there had never been any in her woods. But
the thought of passing a whole night in the forest, without shelter, in
such cold weather, and in her condition! However, it must be done. She
seated herself at the foot of a large tree. She was always careful, when
she passed through a town or a village, to supply herself with
provisions; so she ate some bread and dried nuts; then, wrapping
herself as well as she could in her clothes, and placing her bundle
under her head, she waited for sleep to come. Thanks to the fatigue of
that long day's journey, she had not long to wait.

It was midnight when the dumb girl opened her eyes, and the moon,
shining directly over the road on the edge of which she had fallen
asleep, lighted the strange picture which awaited her at her awakening.

Four men stood about her, all dressed like poor woodcutters, in jackets
and loose trousers held in place by broad belts; they wore broad-brimmed
hats, some with the brims turned down, while the others, being turned up
in front, revealed faces that bore no trace of gentleness or humanity.
Their long, uncombed hair and beards intensified the sinister expression
of their features; each of them carried a gun, on which he leaned; and
each had a hunting-knife and a pair of pistols in his belt.

Two of these men were stooping over Sister Anne; another held a dark
lantern near her face; while the fourth, who also had his eyes upon her,
seemed to be listening, to make sure that everything was quiet on the
road.

The sight of those four faces fixed upon hers caused Sister Anne an
involuntary shock; and, although she did not appreciate the danger that
threatened her, she was conscious of a feeling of terror which she could
not understand, and closed her eyes to avoid those searching glances.

"What in the devil have we got here?" said one of the two who were
leaning over her; "I'm very much afraid that it don't amount to much,
and I doubt if it's worth while to stop."

"Eh? why not?" said the man with the lantern; "it's better'n nothing,
anyway. Look, Pierre, she's got a bundle under her head."

"A lot of worthless rags; don't you see that she's a woman as works in
the fields?"

"I say! is she dead or asleep?" said a third. "Come, Leroux, just push
her a bit! Are we going to spend the night staring at this drudge?"

"Death of my life! I don't know as we've got anything better to do.
All's quiet on the road--eh, Jacques?"

Jacques was the man who stood a few steps away, apparently listening.
When his comrades addressed him, he approached the group about the girl,
saying:

"Damnation! another bad night!"

"Not so bad as it might be!" rejoined Leroux, still gazing at Sister
Anne; "morbleu! that's a pretty woman!"

It was at that moment that Sister Anne opened her eyes, resolved to
appeal to the compassion of the men who surrounded her, and whose
language she did not comprehend, having no suspicion of their
profession.

"I say, look!" cried Leroux; "she's waking up. She's got a fine pair of
eyes, on my word! I'm curious to hear what she'll say."

Sister Anne cast a glance of entreaty upon them, one after another,
clasping her hands as if to implore their pity.

"Oh! don't you be afraid," said Pierre; "we ain't going to hurt you.
Where did you come from? where you going? what put it into your head to
sleep in our forest?"

The dumb girl, taking the robbers for woodcutters, tried to make them
understand that she had lost her way.

"What's this! a woman, and she won't speak!" cried Jacques; "what does
this mean? Is it fear that makes her dumb? Come, speak--damnation!"

Sister Anne rose, and indicated by signs that she could not speak.

"What devilish kind of a woman is this?" cried Pierre; while Leroux,
holding his lantern still nearer to her, exclaimed, with a roar of
laughter:

"My eyes, comrades! Dumb or not, the hen has found her rooster, and the
egg won't be long coming!"

This jest was welcomed with a savage laugh by the other three robbers;
and all four kept their eyes fixed on the poor girl, who, not divining
the cause of their merriment, but unable to endure their glances,
timidly lowered her eyes and stood trembling in the midst of them.

"Come on, let's leave the woman," said Pierre; "she's a poor deaf mute;
we mustn't take her on our shoulders."

"Deaf?" rejoined Leroux, whose eyes gleamed with a terrifying
expression; "why, such a woman as that's a downright treasure. She's so
pretty! she takes my eye, and I'll make her my moll as soon as she gets
rid of her load."

"Nonsense, Leroux! you're joking."

"No! ten thousand thunders! a deaf mute--think how useful she'll be to
us in our business."

Sister Anne, trembling like a leaf, did not fully understand the
conversation of the miscreants; but, observing their indecision, and
fearing that they would refuse to give her the shelter of which she felt
more in need than ever, for the cold had benumbed all her limbs, she
took her little store from her bosom. She knew that the sight of money
smooths all obstacles; so she took a coin from her little bag, and
offered it with an air of entreaty to one of the ruffians.

"Oho! she's got money, and she offers it to us; that's good! Parbleu!
give it here, give it here, girl!"

As he spoke, Pierre snatched the bag from Sister Anne, who was stupefied
at being thus forcibly despoiled of her treasure; while the robbers
greedily counted its contents.

"Three gold pieces, as I'm alive!" cried Jacques; and the brigands'
faces gleamed with savage joy. "That's more'n we've made in five days!"

"Didn't I tell you this wasn't a bad find?" rejoined Leroux. "Come,
comrades, let's take this girl to our hole, and have a good time."

With that, the fellow seized Sister Anne's arm and dragged her into the
forest; Jacques took charge of the bundle, Pierre followed him, and
Franck, the fourth man, taking the lantern from Leroux's hand, went
ahead to light his companions.

The dumb girl walked unresistingly in the midst of the robbers, still
not realizing the horror of her position; she thought they were taking
her to their home, to their wives and children. But their brutal
features, their abrupt and insolent manners, the weapons they carried,
and the strangeness of their language, inspired her with a terror she
could not control. She glanced timidly at them again and again, hoping
to find, for her comfort, a look of sympathy or pity on their faces; but
whenever she raised her eyes, they met Leroux's fastened upon her and
blazing with brutal passion. That ruffian's features intensified the
fear caused by his manners: his curly hair corresponded in color with
his name, which his companions had given him on that account; his pale,
gray eyes rolled this way and that with amazing rapidity; his mouth,
about which a ferocious smile always lurked, was surmounted by heavy
moustaches of the color of his hair; and a broad scar, extending from
the top of the nose to the bottom of the left ear, put the finishing
touch to his sinister countenance. He had one arm about the girl's
body, supporting her as they walked rapidly along the forest paths,
while the other bandits, by their actions and their speech, momentarily
added to Sister Anne's alarm.

The robbers lived in a wretched hovel in the heart of the forest; by
day, they passed for poor woodcutters, being careful to keep their
weapons out of sight in a cellar under their den. But at night they
armed themselves to the teeth and betook themselves to the highroad,
where, when they considered that they were sufficiently numerous, they
attacked belated travellers.

Sister Anne was surprised that they had to go so far to reach their
home, and even more surprised by the almost impassable paths they chose.
At last, after walking more than an hour, they led her down into a
ravine, amid dense underbrush. Soon she made out a flickering light in
the window of a hut, and a woman opened the door after the robbers had
whistled several times.

The appearance of one of her own sex cheered Sister Anne for a moment;
but when she looked closely at the woman who appeared in the doorway,
her short-lived hope vanished. In truth, the aspect of the robbers'
companion was not calculated to restore tranquillity to the unhappy
girl's mind: she was a tall woman, shockingly thin, and her strongly
marked features wore an expression of calm, cold cruelty which pointed
to absolute lack of sensibility; her face was of a livid pallor; a red
silk handkerchief covered her head, and a handful of rags barely
concealed her emaciated body.

"Here we are, Christine," cried the brigands, as they approached. "We've
got a prize; we've brought you a companion you can't quarrel with."

At that, Christine stepped out of the house, and, snatching the lantern
from Franck's hand, held it close to Sister Anne's face. After examining
her closely for several minutes, she said, in a harsh voice:

"What's all this?"

"A woman, can't you see? And a rare woman, too! a deaf mute!"

"A deaf mute! A fine capture, I swear! What do you expect to do with
her?"

"That's none of your business," said Leroux, in a voice that echoed
through the forest; "I took this woman for myself; I like her, she suits
me just as she is. Don't you dare to look crooked at her, or I'll hang
you up to the tallest fir in the forest!"

Christine did not seem alarmed by the threat; she continued to stare at
the girl, and, when she noticed her condition, a sarcastic smile lighted
up her face, and she muttered between her teeth:

"You'll be sure of having a brat, anyway."

A blow which sent her reeling against the wall of the cabin was Leroux's
only reply to this remark of the repellent Christine; she rushed at him
with a threatening air, but Pierre stepped between them.

"Come, come, comrades," he said, "that's enough of such fooling; we
mustn't let the new-comer raise a row here. Go in, Christine, and see
about giving us some supper, quick; we're as hungry as wolves!"

During this altercation between the robbers and their housekeeper, the
unfortunate dumb girl felt a sensation of fear, of absolute terror, such
as she had never known before. The aspect of the woman, the language of
the men, whose brutal character she began to divine, the appearance of
that horrible lair--everything combined to give her some conception of
the perils that encompassed her. But what could she do? what would
become of her? She would have been only too glad, at that moment, to be
far away from that spot, even though she had to endure the severe cold,
unsheltered, in the forest. But there was no means of escape, and they
did not return her money; they had taken her treasure and her clothes;
was it for a moment only? she dared not hope so, and she discovered some
new cause of alarm every minute. She shuddered from head to foot, her
teeth chattered, her knees gave way under her.

"See!" said Leroux, holding her up; "that fury has frightened my pretty
bird.--Come, don't be afraid, little one, and let's go in and get warm."

The robbers entered the hovel, which was divided into two rooms: the
outer one was that in which the occupants of that horrible den passed
most of their time; there they ate, and slept on bundles of straw in one
corner. There was a fireplace, where a huge fire was blazing, which
warmed the room, the larger and better of the two. The other, which had
no fireplace, and but a single window looking into the forest, was
Christine's bedroom; they kept their provisions and firewood there.

When she entered that dirty, smoke-begrimed room, and saw the heap of
straw in a corner, the weapons standing against the wall, and the great
fire, at which several huge joints of meat were cooking for the robbers'
supper, Sister Anne's strength gave way, and Leroux carried her to the
fire, saying:

"Sit down there and warm yourself; the supper'll bring back your
strength."

"What a damned fool you are, to talk to her as if she could hear you!"

"That's so, but I keep forgetting it."

"How do you know she's deaf, anyway?" said Franck; "perhaps she's making
believe. She might be just dumb."

"Then someone must have cut her tongue out," said Leroux; "but anyone
can see that she's got one like anybody else; so, as she can't speak, it
must be because she's deaf. You fellows don't understand about that; but
I've travelled in my time, I know more'n you do, and I know that deaf
mutes are mute because they can't hear. All you've got to do is look at
the woman; anybody can see that she don't hear a word we're saying."

In truth, Sister Anne, since she had entered the cabin, being completely
prostrated by fatigue, pain, and fear, had seemed to be insensible to
everything that was taking place. However, she heard every word that the
brigands said; but, on learning that they believed her to be deaf, a
secret presentiment warned her not to correct their error. If they felt
sure that she could not hear them, they would not hesitate to discuss
their plans before her; thus she would learn what she must fear or hope;
and perhaps they might unwittingly suggest a means of escape. That ray
of hope sustained the poor girl's courage, and she strove to conceal the
emotion caused by the conversation of the cutthroats.

They had laid aside their arms, and while waiting for supper discoursed
of their exploits. The dumb girl learned with dismay that she was among
villains capable of any crime. But in the very excess of her despair she
found a source of courage; and realizing at last the full extent of the
perils which encompassed her, she felt that her only hope of escaping
them was by craft and adroitness. If she alone were threatened with
death, she would not fear it, but she wished to save the life of the
being she carried within her. Mother-love has inspired many acts of
heroism; it was that sentiment which sustained Sister Anne and gave her
strength to endure her horrible situation.

Christine placed a table in the middle of the room, and covered it with
food, bottles, and glasses; the robbers seated themselves about the
table, and fell to with a sort of brutal satisfaction. Sister Anne
remained in front of the fire. Leroux placed bread, wine, and roast meat
before her; she thanked him with an inclination of the head, and forced
herself to eat a little, in order to keep up her strength and to
dissemble her terror.

"You see that woman?" said Leroux to his companions; "well, I'll bet
she's as meek as a lamb; I'll do whatever I choose with her."

"Don't trust to looks," said Christine, as she joined the robbers at the
table; "a woman can take a man in with those airs and graces; but faces
are deceitful."

"Yours isn't, for you're the picture of Lucifer's sister!"

This jest made them all laugh, they filled and emptied their glasses
with startling rapidity; the more they drank, the more they talked. The
hideous Christine kept pace with them, and only Leroux, whose thoughts
were fixed on Sister Anne, retained some show of reason.

"Where could this woman have come from?" queried one of the thieves;
"she don't look as if she worked in the fields."

"Bah! it's some girl that's gone wrong; her lover's left her, and she's
travelling about looking for him. That's the way with all the girls that
listen to lovers!"

Sister Anne wiped away the tears that trembled on her eyelids, for her
heart told her that the man was right.

"_Morgue!_" said Christine; "if I had a daughter, and she was unlucky
enough to go wrong, I'd strangle her with my own hands."

"Hear that!" said Jacques; "it's a blasted shame that you haven't got
some children; they'd be a handsome lot!"

"I don't care who the woman is," said Leroux; "she shan't leave this
house.--And you, Christine, treat her well, or remember what I promised
you!"

"I snap my fingers at your hussy. Look, you'd do much better to comfort
her; I believe she's squalling now; go and give her a kiss."

"What about us?" said the other robbers, heated by the fumes of the
wine; "we'll comfort her, too. Let's go and kiss the pretty mute; we
must cheer her up a bit."

With that, Leroux's three comrades rose to go to Sister Anne; but he
planted himself in front of them, and, taking a pistol in each hand,
shouted to them in stentorian tones:

"Not another step, corbleu! or I'll kill you! That woman's mine; I found
her on the road, when you were going by like fools without seeing her; I
insisted on bringing her here; I swore I'd make her my wife; and, damn
your eyes! the first man who touches her dies by my hand!"

This harangue checked the ardor of his fellows; they knew their
companion, they knew that the act would follow close on the heels of the
threat; so they contented themselves with laughing at Leroux's jealousy,
while Sister Anne, frozen with terror by the scene, retreated into a
corner of the room and fell on her knees before her captors.

Leroux went to her and tried to soothe her; but, fearing some new
enterprise on the part of his companions, he led her into the other
room, and, pointing to a wretched pallet, motioned to her to lie down
upon it; then he went out, locking the door on her.

Sister Anne was alone in the little room, where there was no light
except that which shone through the interstices of the partition, and
which enabled her to make out her surroundings. Having made a pretence
of lying down on the pallet, she soon rose and listened intently to what
the robbers said. They continued to drink, and began to sing. If only
she could escape while they were thus engaged! She felt along the wall
until she came to a window; it must open into the forest, and the room
was level with the ground, so that it would be easy to escape that way.
But a moment later her hand came in contact with stout bars, which
prevented her passing through. Poor girl! the pangs of disappointment
were more cruel than all the sufferings she had endured hitherto. When
she believed that she was on the point of recovering her liberty, to
lose that last hope! to be unable to conceive any possible means of
escaping from that horrible den! It was like dying twice over. She fell,
utterly disheartened, on the bed, and tried to stifle with her hands the
groans that escaped from her breast.




XXIV

THE STRANGER


Thus the night passed. The robbers fell asleep in front of the fire;
and, luckily for Sister Anne, their vile housekeeper did the same, and
did not come to share the bed with the poor girl, who lay there all
night, listening intently, quivering at the slightest sound in the next
room, and praying to heaven to send her a rescuer.

At daybreak, the ruffians woke; they hastily concealed their weapons,
then went forth into the forest to work as woodcutters. Before he left,
Leroux went to Sister Anne, smiled at her, patted her under the chin,
and muttered under his breath:

"To-night, my beauty, I'll say a couple of words to you."

The unhappy girl could not evade those disgusting caresses. Not without
an effort did she restrain her indignation. But he went away at last, on
the heels of his companions, bidding Christine to keep a sharp lookout
on her prisoner.

When Sister Anne was alone with the robbers' female confederate, she was
fain to endure the ill humor of that fury, who, being jealous of her
presence there, tried to avenge herself by heaping all sorts of
indignities upon her, being well assured that she could not complain of
them. She laughed at her tears and gestures of entreaty, and the poor
child felt that she would die if she did not escape soon from that
horrible place.

At night, the four men returned; they ate a little, then took their
weapons, Leroux alone excepted.

"Well! don't you propose to go out on the trail with us?" his companions
asked him.

"No, no, not yet; I'll join you later; but I'm glad of the chance to say
a word to my little mute."

As he said this, a bestial smile gleamed in his eyes, which were
constantly fixed upon Sister Anne.

"Oh, yes! I understand," said Pierre; "we'll let it pass to-day, but you
mustn't let love make you forget your duty."

"But if a well-lined post chaise should happen along," said Jacques, "we
shan't be strong enough to attack."

"Bah! it ain't likely that there'll be one to-night; anyway, I tell you
I'll join you soon."

"All right! all right! we'll get along without him; and if some rich
prize does turn up, why, it will belong to us, and he won't get any of
it."

"That's fair enough, mates."

The three men left the cabin, with a mocking glance at the dumb girl,
who did not divine her impending peril, or the meaning of their smile.
But when she saw that Leroux did not accompany them, she shuddered
involuntarily and turned her eyes on Christine, as if she hoped for aid
from her. But she, after glancing at her and at Leroux with the same
mocking smile, went into the other room and slammed the door behind her.

Sister Anne started to follow her, but when she saw that it was
impossible she fell back on the straw on which she had been sitting; she
trembled convulsively; she was alone with the brigand.

Leroux seated himself in front of the fire and poked it; then lighted a
pipe and smoked for several minutes, interrupting his smoking only to
drink and to glance at Sister Anne. She trembled in every limb, in the
corner where she had seated herself in order to be as far as possible
from the robber, whose eyes, as he glanced at her, were inflamed with
lust.

"Damned fine, ten thousand devils!" he cried, from time to time. "Fine
eyes, fine teeth. She'll be even better looking in a few months, but
damn the odds! And those clowns didn't see her! Oh! I won't give her up
to you, my mates! We don't capture such prizes often."

These words added to the poor girl's alarm; it was increased tenfold
when Leroux, who had not remained behind solely to drink and smoke,
motioned to her to come to him. She pretended not to understand, and
lowered her eyes. Thereupon he rose and walked toward her. The girl
could hardly breathe. The brigand threw himself on the straw, beside
her; she tried to rise and go away from him, but he detained her by
force, passing his arm about her waist, and putting his repulsive face
close to hers. The poor girl put her hand before her eyes, so that she
could not see Leroux's.

"Ha! ha! I really believe she's trembling!" he exclaimed, with a roar of
savage laughter. "I promise you, my dear, it don't become you to play
the prude; anyone can see you haven't always been one."

With that, he put his face still nearer to hers, and tried to kiss her
on the lips; but she, summoning all her courage, pushed him away, and,
taking advantage of his surprise, sprang quickly to her feet and ran to
the other end of the room, behind the table on which the robbers ate.

Leroux stared at her in amazement, but in a moment smiled again,
saying:

"Oho! so you're balky, are you? Pretty good! Do you really think of
resisting me?"

He rose and went toward her; with a well-directed kick, he sent the
table to the other end of the room; then, seizing the girl, who
struggled to no purpose, he took her in his arms and carried her back to
the heap of straw. Once more she summoned all her courage, all her
strength, to resist the brigand, who was determined to triumph over her,
and who, after laughing scornfully at her defence, finally became
furious at her obstinate resistance. This pitiful struggle lasted a long
time, but the unfortunate girl felt that her strength was failing her;
tears and sobs suffocated her, and she was on the point of becoming the
victim of the villain who strove to force her, when of a sudden there
was a succession of violent blows on the door of the cabin.

"The devil take anybody who comes just now!" cried Leroux. "Those
fellows have done it on purpose; but I won't let 'em in."

At that moment, he heard a strange voice, which said:

"Open, for God's sake! save me! you shall be handsomely rewarded!"

It was not the voice of any of Leroux's companions. The robber was
surprised beyond words. He listened in terror, while Sister Anne fell on
her knees and thanked heaven for rescuing her.

Christine came hastily from the other room, and ran up to Leroux in
evident perturbation.

"Somebody's knocking, do you hear? It's a strange voice."

"Morbleu! yes, I hear it well enough. Go and look out of the window, and
try to see whether it's just one man."

Christine obeyed, and returned in a moment.

"Yes, he's alone," she said.

"Then let's let him in," said Leroux; "but we must be prudent till our
friends return."

Having replaced the table in the middle of the room, Leroux resumed his
pipe and his seat before the fire, while Christine opened the door of
the hovel to the person who had knocked.

The stranger who appeared in the doorway was an elderly man, whose dress
denoted wealth, and his manners high rank; but he was hatless, his
clothes were in disorder, and the pallor of his cheeks betrayed
agitation and fear. He rushed into the cabin, and did not seem to
breathe freely until he saw the door closed and locked behind him.

"Pardon, pardon, good people!" he said, addressing Leroux and Christine;
"I fear I have disturbed you and interrupted your rest; but by giving me
shelter you save my life."

"How so, monsieur?" said Leroux, with an air of deep interest.

"I have just been attacked, my friends, yonder, on the road that crosses
the forest I was in my carriage, with my servant, and the postilion was
urging the horses. Suddenly a party of robbers came out of the forest;
they rushed to the horses' heads and fired point-blank at the postilion;
the poor fellow fell dead! Having stopped the carriage, they ordered me
and my servant to alight, and one of them got in to search it; while he
was inside, I took advantage of a moment when the villains had not their
eyes on me, and plunged into the forest, selecting the darkest paths; I
succeeded in getting thus far, when I saw this light and knocked at your
door."

"You did well, monsieur," said Leroux, with a significant glance at
Christine. "Sit you down before the fire, and warm yourself and get back
your breath."

"Oh! you are too kind!" said the traveller, seating himself by the
hearth; "but my unfortunate servant--what have they done to him? will
he, too, be their victim?"

"Oh! that ain't likely. They probably let him go, after robbing him.
They only killed the postilion to make him stop. I know their ways;
there's so much robbery in this infernal forest!"

"I ought not to have taken that road; it was out of my way; but I wanted
to see this region."

"Did the rascals rob you, monsieur?"

"No, thank heaven! they were going to do it, no doubt, when I got away.
I have saved my wallet and my purse, at all events."

"You're very lucky, on my word," said Leroux, with another glance at
Christine. "Well, monsieur, you must make the best of it, and try to
forget all about it. We'll do our best for you; for you mustn't think of
leaving here before daylight; that would be very imprudent."

"I have no intention of doing so, if you will allow me to remain."

"Allow you! why, with great pleasure! Come, Christine, be spry! prepare
our guest's supper."

Throughout this conversation, Sister Anne had kept her eyes fixed on the
stranger, whose face, although rather stern, aroused her interest and
respect. She shuddered at the thought that he had escaped one danger
only to fall into another. Knowing now the unmitigated villainy of the
occupants of the hovel, she trembled for the traveller's life, and her
gaze, fastened insistently upon him, seemed to be striving to warn him
of the perils by which he was surrounded.

But the stranger had not yet noticed the dumb girl, who was seated on
the floor in a corner of the room; hardly recovered from his agitation,
he drew nearer to the fire, and rarely removed his eyes from it.

"It's lucky, on my word, that the robbers didn't follow you," said
Leroux, offering the traveller a glass of wine.

"What saved me, I fancy, was this: at the moment I escaped, I heard a
great clatter of hoofs----"

"Oho! you heard the sound of horses?" queried Leroux, uneasily.

"Yes; at least, I thought so. But I was so excited! It may have been
other brigands, or the constables in pursuit of them."

"Yes, that's so; it might have been."

"I served in the army once, but I confess that I don't care for an
encounter with robbers; against such hounds, courage is often of no
avail. Besides, I had no weapons about me."

"Ah! you have no weapons?"

"No; my pistols were in the carriage, but they didn't give me time to
take them."

Leroux seemed to reflect. Since the stranger had said that he had heard
horses on the road, he was less tranquil in his mind.

"You are a woodcutter, I presume?" said the traveller.

"Yes, monsieur; I'm a woodcutter; and this is my wife," said Leroux,
pointing to Christine, who was laying the table for supper.

"Aren't you at all afraid, here in the heart of this forest?"

"Why, what should we be afraid of? We're not rich enough to tempt
robbers. Come, Christine, look alive; monsieur will want to sleep when
he's had his supper."

"Oh! don't hurry her so."

The stranger, having recovered somewhat from his excitement, began to
look about him with more attention; and as he scrutinized the different
parts of the room, he at last observed Sister Anne seated on the heap of
straw, with her eyes fixed upon his with an expression which made it
impossible for him not to notice her. Taken by surprise, he gazed for
some time with interest at the dumb girl's pale, worn features, and
seemed puzzled by the strange way in which she looked at him.

"Who is that girl?" he asked Christine; "I didn't notice her before."

"That! oh! she don't amount to much," replied the tall woman, shortly.

"Isn't she your child?"

"No, monsieur," said Leroux; "she's an unfortunate deaf mute that I
found in the forest; and we took her in from charity. She'll soon be a
mother, and I took pity on her."

"That does you honor, monsieur; the poor thing is so young, and her face
so sweet! Haven't you been able to find out where she came from, or her
name?"

"How in the devil do you suppose one can find out anything from a deaf
and dumb woman? However, it don't make much difference; she's pretty
near an idiot, too, I think; but I'll keep her here."

When she heard this, Sister Anne rose and walked slowly toward the
stranger, still gazing at him with an expression of interest blended
with compassion.

"Well, well! what's she doing?" said Leroux; "the poor girl has surely
lost her reason! Make her go into the other room, Christine; it's time
she went to bed."

Christine pushed the dumb girl roughly toward the door of the rear room.
Sister Anne left the stranger's presence with profound regret; she would
have liked to keep him in sight, because she took the liveliest interest
in his welfare; but she was forced to obey. She walked slowly toward the
door, still looking at the stranger, who seemed touched by the intensity
of her gaze and followed her with his eyes until the door closed upon
her.

Christine went into the rear room with Sister Anne; she looked through
the window, and seemed disturbed by the non-return of the robbers. The
dumb girl lay down on the pallet, not to sleep, but to reflect upon the
means of saving the stranger by warning him of the risk he ran if he
remained in the cabin. How could she gain access to him, and how make
herself understood? At that moment, Leroux entered the room and closed
the door carefully; then he went up to Christine, and, thanks to their
conviction that Sister Anne could not hear them, she was soon made
acquainted with their plans.

"Well! can't you hear them coming?" asked Leroux.

"No; I can't hear anything."

"It's very strange! what can they be doing in the forest since that man
got here? I don't feel easy in my mind; he said something about horses
and constables. Suppose our friends are arrested!"

"The devil! would they sell us?"

"Hark ye! when this stranger's had his supper and gone to sleep, I'll go
out and try to find out something. If the others are in the forest, I
know where to find 'em. If they're taken or gone, we'll take advantage
of the stranger's sleep to make way with him, and with what he has on
him we'll do well to get out of danger ourselves by leaving the forest."

"That's a good idea; give him his supper, and let him go to sleep; and
then, when you come back, we'll go to work. Meanwhile, I'll lie down and
rest a bit."

"Yes, do; don't be afraid but what I'll wake you when I need you."

Leroux went back to the traveller, and the repulsive Christine threw
herself on the bed, beside Sister Anne, who had to endure the close
proximity of a creature whom she knew to be planning a murder with the
most revolting deliberation. But the poor girl did not stir; she had
overheard all the conversation of those monsters, she had not lost a
word of their schemes, and she still hoped to save the stranger. A
single fear oppressed her: that the three robbers would return; for then
all would be lost; she would be compelled to witness the unfortunate
man's death, or to die with him.

Christine was hardly on the bed when a prolonged snore indicated that
she was asleep. Thereupon Sister Anne rose softly and crept to the
partition, where she put her eye to a crack through which she could look
into the other room.

The stranger was tranquilly eating his supper; Leroux strove to
entertain him, but he constantly listened with marked disquietude for
sounds out of doors, and seemed desirous that the traveller should go to
bed at once. Sister Anne was able to observe the old man's features at
her leisure; and the more she looked at him, the stronger grew her
feeling of interest and attachment, which seemed not to be born solely
of his perilous situation. At the slightest noise caused by the wind or
by the falling of a dead branch, the girl shivered in mortal terror,
fancying that it was the three brigands returning; whereas, on the
contrary, Leroux's face would assume a look of satisfaction, as he ran
and listened at the door, hoping to hear his confederates' voices.

"Are you expecting company?" inquired the stranger.

"No, monsieur, no; it's the fear of robbers that makes me keep my ears
open; but I'm beginning to think they haven't followed you; so you can
go to sleep quietly."

"I'll lie down till daybreak; then you will be good enough to guide me
to the nearest village."

"Yes, monsieur, with pleasure; but you can sleep comfortably; it's a
long while to daybreak. This is the only bed I can offer you--fresh
straw; I'm sorry not to be able to give you anything better, but we're
pretty poor!"

"Oh! I shall be very comfortable; don't worry at all about me."

As he spoke, the stranger lay down on the straw and tried to sleep;
while Leroux stood before the fire, turning his head now and again to
see if his guest had fallen asleep. The dumb girl, her eye still glued
to the crack in the partition, did not lose either of them from sight,
and prayed fervently that Christine might not wake.

At last, the traveller seemed to doze, and Leroux went to fetch his
weapons from the cellar, the opening to which was covered by a plank and
concealed by a heap of straw. Sister Anne shuddered; suppose the villain
proposed to murder the old man at once! But, no; having replaced the
board, he stole softly from the cabin, muttering: "I'll go to the usual
place; and if they ain't there, I'll come right back."

He opened the door without a sound, and disappeared. The time to act had
come; the dumb girl summoned all her courage, and stole into the other
room, walking on tiptoe for fear of waking Christine; then she locked
the door securely, to prevent her from coming out in case she should
wake. The room in which the stranger lay asleep was lighted only by the
fire on the hearth. Sister Anne went to him, grasped his arm, and
squeezed it with all her force. The old man woke, and was surprised to
see her bending over him with an expression of the most intense and
painful anxiety on her face. He was about to speak, but she hastily
placed a finger on his lips, and her eyes, as she glanced about in
terror, bade him keep perfectly still. He rose and nervously awaited an
explanation of this mysterious scene.

Sister Anne ran to the cellar, succeeded in raising the opening, took a
blazing brand from the fire, and, motioning to the traveller to come
near, showed him the interior, where there were weapons and garments of
all sorts, the blood with which they were covered sufficiently attesting
the method by which the robbers had come into possession of them. The
stranger shuddered.

"Great God!" he said; "am I in a den of thieves?"

The girl nodded her head, then ran to the pile of straw, and indicated
by signs that they intended to return and murder him while he slept.

The stranger at once took possession of a pair of pistols which he found
near the entrance to the cellar.

"At all events, I will sell my life dearly," he said. "But you, poor
woman, what are you to do?"

Sister Anne interrupted him by running to the door of the cabin,
throwing it open, and making signs that he must fly at once and that she
would go with him. The stranger took her hand, and they left the house.
At that moment, Christine, hearing a noise, rose and tried to leave her
room; when she found that she was locked in, she began to shriek and
call Leroux, and, running to the window, saw the dumb girl and the
stranger just disappearing in the forest.

"Damnation! they've got away!" cried Christine, trying to remove the
bars at the window.

The old man pointed one of his pistols at her; but Sister Anne stopped
him, making him understand that the report would attract the brigands.
Her companion saw that she was right; so they fled, and, leaving the
vile creature hurling curses at them, they were soon far away from the
robbers' lair.

After wandering about the forest more than an hour, trembling at the
slightest sound, lest they should fall in with Leroux and his
confederates, the fugitives heard the steps of several horses. That
could be nothing but the constabulary in search of the brigands. The
dumb girl and the stranger started in the direction of the sound. Soon a
man passed them, running at full speed; it was Leroux, with a horseman
in pursuit. Another man on horseback followed, and, when he saw Sister
Anne's companion, cried: "Here's my master! Thank heaven, the scoundrels
didn't kill him!"

The traveller pointed out to the officers the abode of the brigands;
then, mounting a horse that his servant was leading, he took the dumb
girl _en croupe_ who had saved his life, and they rode rapidly out of
the forest.

The traveller did not cease to express his gratitude to his liberatress,
while she thanked God that she was no longer in the power of the
robbers.

The servant told his master that, a few moments after he had fled into
the forest, the constables appeared, and the outlaws thought of nothing
but escape; but two of them were overtaken, and were killed while
resisting capture. Thereupon, taking the horses, which had already been
unhitched from the chaise, the servant had mounted one and joined the
constables who were searching the forest, hoping to find his master.

A danger passed is soon forgotten. They arrived at a large village, and
the travellers knocked at the door of a farmhouse, where they were made
welcome and received every attention. The dumb girl was especially in
need of speedy assistance. The horrible situation in which she had been
placed for two days, the danger she had barely escaped, the superhuman
effort she had made during that ghastly night--all these things together
had been too much for the unfortunate child, who was hardly able to
stand erect. They put her in a warm bed; the people at the farm, when
they learned of her condition and of what she had done to save the aged
traveller, manifested the most sympathetic interest in her, and her
companion would not go to bed until he was certain that everything
possible had been done for his liberatress.

The next day, the carriage, which had been found on the road, was
brought to the farm, and there was nothing to prevent the stranger from
continuing his journey; but Sister Anne was in a high fever, and he was
unwilling to leave her until he was assured that her life was in no
danger. The best physician in the neighborhood was summoned; the
stranger spent money lavishly to provide her with everything that her
condition demanded. He passed a large part of the day in her room,
adding his attentions to those of the farmer's family.

Sister Anne was conscious of all that he did for her, and her heart was
deeply touched. Despite her weakness and suffering, she seized his hand
and pressed it gratefully.

"Poor woman!" said the stranger, profoundly affected; "I will not leave
you until my mind is at rest concerning your life. I would have liked to
take you to your destination, in my carriage. What can I do for you? You
can hear me, I see; so that you are deprived of the power of speech
only. Do you know how to write?"

Sister Anne shook her head; then she seemed suddenly to remember
something, and made a movement with her hand as if she were trying to
form letters. The old man handed her a pen, but she could not use it;
then he gave her a piece of chalk; whereupon she sat up in bed, leaned
over a table that stood beside it, and succeeded, not without a mighty
effort, in writing the name _Frederic_ with the chalk. That done, she
pointed to it and sadly shook her head, as if to say:

"That is all I know."

The old man seemed greatly surprised when he read the name she had
written on the table. He reflected a moment, then looked at Sister Anne
with renewed interest; but it seemed to her that the expression of his
eyes was less gentle, that there was in it a touch of sternness which
she could not define.

"And your own name," he said; "can't you write that?"

Sister Anne shook her head, and again wrote the name _Frederic_.

The traveller seemed extremely preoccupied all the rest of the day, and
whenever his eyes rested on the dumb girl he fell into a profound
reverie. For five days, Sister Anne's condition was such that her life
was in danger, and the old man did not leave the farm. At the end of
that time there was a perceptible improvement; the physician promised
that she would recover, but said that she would be very weak for a long
time, and that it would be imprudent in the extreme for her to leave
the farm before her lying-in.

Sister Anne's eyes filled with tears when she was told of this; she was
afraid of being a burden to the kind-hearted folk who had taken her in;
but the stranger lost no time in pacifying and consoling her.

"I have provided for everything," he said; "wait here until your health
is fully restored, and, if nothing calls you elsewhere, remain
permanently with these good people; they love you, and you will be happy
here."

But Sister Anne sadly shook her head, and motioned with her hand that
she must go a long, long way. The stranger, who had already given
twenty-five louis to the villagers for their past and future care of the
young woman, put a purse filled with gold in his rescuer's hands. She
would fain have refused it, and was sadly at a loss to express her
gratitude.

"You owe me nothing, my child," he said; "remember that you saved my
life, and that I shall owe you gratitude as long as I live. Take this
paper too; my name and address are written on it. If you are ever in
difficulty, let me know, and always count on my protection."

Sister Anne took the paper and placed it in the purse he had given her.
He, after gazing at her for some moments with evident emotion, kissed
her on the forehead, then, tearing himself away from her demonstrations
of gratitude, entered his carriage and drove away, leaving at the farm
abundant tokens of his generosity.

After he had gone, Sister Anne was melancholy and depressed for a long
while. Her heart went out to that stranger; in her mind, his image had
taken its place beside Frederic's; but the loving friendship she felt
for the one in no wise impaired her ardent love for the other.




XXV

THE MARRIAGE TAKES PLACE


Frederic did not pass a day without seeing Constance; since the lovers
had mutually avowed their love, that sentiment seemed to grow stronger
hourly in both their hearts. Mademoiselle de Valmont loved with the
unrestrained ardor of a heart that no longer seeks to conceal its
feelings. She was proud of Frederic's love for her, and her happiness
consisted in returning it.

Frederic, even more passionate and impulsive, yielded to the sentiment
that swept him off his feet; but, while he loved as dearly, he could not
be so happy; he needed to forget himself, to banish recollections which
disturbed his bliss. Like those persons who never look behind, for fear
of seeing something to frighten them, Frederic tried to drive away the
thoughts that carried him back to a still recent period. He desired to
think solely of Constance, he knew that thenceforth she ought to prevail
over all other women; of what use, then, was an occasional sigh which
would bring no comfort to her whom he had abandoned? A man may argue
thus, but, none the less, even in the very bosom of happiness, there is
something in the bottom of his heart that reproves him for the wrong he
has done--unless, indeed, he has no heart, and there are many people in
whom we should seek for it in vain.

The Comte de Montreville had been absent a fortnight. Frederic was not
certain as to the purpose of his father's journey, although he
suspected it; but he had no desire to take advantage of his absence to
go away himself. Could he leave Constance for a single day? Although she
had set his mind at rest as to the marriage that had frightened him,
Frederic was not altogether satisfied. He begged his betrothed to
question her uncle on that subject. Constance dared not mention it to
the general; but at last, vanquished by Frederic's entreaties, she made
up her mind to question him, and one morning she went to him in his
study.

"Uncle," she began, blushing, and lowering her eyes, "I have been told
that you have been making plans for me."

The general smiled as he looked at her, then tried to assume a serious
tone, with which, however, his expression did not harmonize.

"Who told you, mademoiselle, that I had made plans concerning you?"

"Monsieur Frederic, uncle, who learned it from his father."

"The devil! so Monsieur Frederic interests himself in it, does he? What
might these plans be, mademoiselle?"

"You should know better than I, uncle."

"Gad! that's true, you're right. Well, yes, I have a plan of my own."

"For my future, uncle?" asked Constance, in a trembling voice.

"Yes, for your marriage, in fact."

"Marriage! can it be possible? Oh! uncle----"

And the sweet girl looked up at the general, with appealing eyes already
filled with tears.

"Come, come, calm yourself, morbleu!" exclaimed the general, taking her
hand. "Here you are up in arms, as if I proposed to make you unhappy.
Don't you want to marry?"

"Oh! I don't say that, uncle."

"Well, then, why this terror when I tell you that I think of giving you
a husband?"

"Why, because I want--I don't want----"

"Because you want and don't want! Deuce take it! why can't a woman ever
say what she means! Why don't you tell me at once that you don't want to
marry anyone but Frederic?"

"Oh! uncle, did you know----"

"I should have to be as blind as a bat not to know that; and this fine
gentleman, who presumes to love my niece--and who sighs and is
melancholy and tears his hair, instead of just coming to me and asking
for her hand----"

"Oh! my dear uncle--are you really willing?"

"Parbleu! am I in the habit of not being willing to do anything you
want?"

"But this marriage with some colonel?"

"That was a fable invented by my old friend--I don't quite know why; but
he came to me and begged me to let him say that; I couldn't refuse to
let him do as he chose, although I don't understand all this mystery;
for it seems to me that when two young people love each other and are
suited to each other, there's no need of marching and countermarching to
marry them. But, no matter; Montreville has his tactics, and he's bound
to follow them. Don't think of telling Frederic this, for his father
would be angry with me; but when he comes back, which will be soon, I'll
put an end to all this prevarication, and give you to your lover, or
he'll end by making himself ill with his sighing."

Constance kissed her uncle and left him; the certainty of happiness made
her more beautiful than ever. Frederic soon returned, and inquired
anxiously what her uncle had said to her. Constance tried to dissemble
her joy; the most loving woman is not sorry to tease her lover a little
now and then, for in his torments she sees fresh proofs of his love.

"Well!" said Frederic, impatiently; "why don't you answer me? You have
spoken to your uncle about this proposed marriage--has he formed such a
plan?"

"Why, yes; he is thinking of marrying me."

"Then I was right!" cried the young man, with an agitation that made
Constance tremble; "he is thinking of it; my father told me the truth.
But you shall not be stolen from my love----"

"My dear, don't get excited."

"How can I help it, when you tell me that you are to be married?
Constance, if your uncle is a tyrant, I will carry you off. We will fly
together to the ends of the earth! You, you alone, will suffice for my
happiness! This very night, if you agree, we will start. What,
mademoiselle, you laugh at sight of my despair!"

"Oh! Frederic, what a hot-headed boy you are!"

"Ah! mademoiselle is pleased to give me lessons in self-restraint! It
seems to me that this projected marriage doesn't disturb you much. Is
this how you love me?"

"Naughty boy! what a savage reproof! Ah! my dear, because my love is
more placid than yours, don't think that it is less strong and deep."

"But this marriage that your uncle has in mind?"

"Suppose it were you, monsieur, to whom he thinks of marrying me?"

"Me!"

Frederic's features lightened up with a new expression; and Constance
put her finger on his lips, saying:

"Hush! not a word, my dear; uncle forbade me to speak--but how can I let
you suffer long?"

"What, Constance, can it really be true? Oh! what bliss! your uncle is
the best of men! Let me go and throw myself at his feet!"

"No, indeed! do you want him to scold me? shall I never be able to make
you amenable to reason? Sit down here, monsieur, by my side."

"But when may I tell him that I love you?"

"When your father returns--he won't be away much longer, I am sure. Do
you know whether he went very far?"

"Why--no--I don't think so; I am not certain."

"Well, my dear, now you are pensive."

"No, indeed I'm not!"

"So long as we were not certain of our happiness, I overlooked these
dreamy airs, these fits of melancholy that seize you sometimes when you
are with me; but understand, monsieur, that I won't have any more of
such nonsense. You have no trouble, dear, no secret sorrow, that you
can't confide to Constance, have you?"

"Of course not!"

"Promise me that you will tell me everything, absolutely everything;
that I shall have your entire confidence. Ought a husband and wife to
conceal anything from each other?"

"Yes, Constance, I promise; I will tell you all my thoughts."

Frederic was not absolutely truthful at that moment, but his falsehood
was excusable, for his entire confidence just then would not have
afforded great pleasure to Constance, who was convinced that her lover
thought of no one but her, and who, despite her tranquil air, her
gentleness, and her confidence, loved Frederic too ardently not to be
susceptible to jealousy, a sentiment which, in women, is almost always
inseparably connected with love.

The Comte de Montreville returned to Paris after an absence of nearly a
month. Under any other circumstances, Frederic would have been surprised
at the length of a journey which might have been completed in a
fortnight, but in Constance's company he had given little thought to it.
When he saw his father again, however, all his memories of Dauphine
rushed back into his mind; he was embarrassed in his presence, longing
to question him, but shrinking from it.

The count himself did not seem the same as before his departure; he was
often pensive and abstracted, as if his thoughts were engrossed by some
subject; and when he looked at his son, he, too, seemed to desire and
dread an explanation. At last, Frederic ventured to question him, and,
contrary to his expectation, his father replied with no trace of the
stern, cold manner which he was wont to assume on approaching that
subject.

"Have you been in Dauphine?" said Frederic; "did you go to Vizille?"

"Yes," said the count; "I visited the neighborhood of that village,
including the wood where you lived so long."

"And did you see that--girl?"

"No, I did not see her; she had left her cabin only a few days before,
and there was nobody there but an old shepherd."

"What! Sister Anne not at her old home? Is it possible? And what of
Marguerite?"

"The old woman died some months ago."

"And Sister Anne has gone away? Poor child! what can have become of her?
In her plight, how could she find her way, make herself understood? Ah!
unfortunate girl!"

"What do you mean?" cried the count, gazing at his son with an
expression of the most intense interest; "what is this girl's plight,
which makes her such an object of pity? Answer me, Frederic!"

"When she was seven years old, father, Sister Anne lost the power of
speech; a shocking calamity and a horrible fright deprived the poor
child of the possibility of making herself understood."

"Great God!" said the count, thunderstruck by what his son had said; "it
is she! I had divined it!"

But Frederic did not hear his father's last words. He was engrossed by
the thought of Sister Anne, fancying that he saw her wandering through
the woods and fields, helpless and without shelter, turned away from
most public-houses, and everywhere exposed to want and misfortune. He
reflected that that was all his work, that, if he had not tried to
arouse in her heart a violent passion, she would have lived quietly in
her solitude, with no thirst for pleasures of which she knew nothing,
and with no dreams of happiness and of a different existence. At that
moment, Frederic was overwhelmed by remorse, and he reproached himself
bitterly for his conduct to a woman of whom he was no longer enamored,
but who was still dear to him.

For a long time, the count and his son were buried in thought. The count
broke the silence at last, saying in a voice that shook with emotion:

"Have no concern as to that young woman's present lot. I have found
her."

"You have found her, father? is it possible?"

"Yes; on a farm near Grenoble. I left her there, and I provided against
her ever being in want."

"But how did you find her? You could not recognize her."

"Her misfortune, her youth--she interested me deeply; something told me
that she was the person I sought, and I have no doubt of it now, since
you have told me that she is dumb. I tell you again that you need not be
alarmed concerning her future; I left her with excellent people, who are
fond of her, and she will be very comfortable there; moreover, I shall
not fail to have an eye to her welfare."

The count was careful not to mention his adventure in the forest and his
indebtedness to Sister Anne; he was afraid that Frederic's love would
blaze up anew if he should learn that she had saved his father's life.
He was especially solicitous that Frederic should not know that the dumb
girl was on the point of becoming a mother; that intelligence might
disarrange the plans he had formed. For the count, although he was
interested now in Sister Anne, and proposed to take care of her and her
child, was none the less desirous for his son's marriage to his old
friend's niece; and to that end he considered it most essential to
conceal everything relating to the unhappy mute.

On arriving in Paris, he had expressly forbidden his servant to mention
the adventure in the forest or the young woman they had left at the
farm.

His father's assurance that Sister Anne was living among kindly people,
and was amply provided against want, allayed Frederic's remorse. That
sentiment rarely lasts long in love, and the new passion is always at
hand to dispel the memories of the old one. By Constance's side the
young man entirely forgot the poor maid of the woods; and while renewing
his oaths and protestations of love to Constance, he lost the memory of
those he had laid at another woman's feet.

The Comte de Montreville's return was soon to be followed by the
marriage of the young people. Frederic longed for it, Constance hoped
for it, and the general made no objection, because he did not believe in
making lovers sigh too long.

Thus everybody was agreed; there was no obstacle to delay their
happiness. The wedding day was fixed. The general vowed that he would
dance at his niece's wedding, although he had never danced in his life;
the count was anxious to greet Constance by the sweet name of daughter,
and the lovers--oh! you know what their desires were; it may be guessed,
but must not be said.

Engrossed by his approaching happiness, Frederic was rarely disturbed by
the memories which brought a sad expression to his face; if by chance a
sigh escaped him, a glance from Constance speedily put to flight the
thoughts of other times. Constance was so sweet-tempered, and the near
approach of happiness made her so beautiful, that it was impossible not
to adore her.

At last the day arrived which was to witness the union of Frederic and
Constance. The Comte de Montreville was so overjoyed that he allowed his
son to invite everyone he chose. Frederic knew no better friend than
Dubourg, who, with all his follies, had often given him proofs of a
genuine attachment. Moreover, since Dubourg had inherited his aunt's
property, he had become much more sensible. To be sure, he was always
hard up about the middle of the month, but he had not pledged his
income, and he had taken up dominoes instead of ecarte, that being a
game at which one gets much less excited.

Menard was not forgotten, either. The worthy man was much attached to
Frederic; he had been a little too indulgent on the journey, but the
count had forgiven that; moreover, he had always acted with the best
intentions. As for his fondness for the table, that is often considered
in society an estimable quality.

Constance was dressed with taste and elegance; but one could pay no heed
to her toilet, in presence of her beauty and her charms; for happiness,
which embellishes everything, adds to the fascination of a pretty face.
The men can only admire that; as for the women, they see at a glance
every detail of the costume, and can, at need, tell us how every pin was
put in, and how many pleats there were in the gown, in front and behind;
our perspicacity will never go so far as that.

Frederic was radiant with love; he did not lose sight of Constance,
which is the surest means of having no unpleasant recollections.
Frederic was very comely, too; his face was noble and winning; and if
the men admired Constance, the women were not inclined to pity her for
marrying Frederic.

The general and the count felt the keenest satisfaction in the union of
their children. In his joy, Monsieur de Valmont was more hilarious and
effusive than the Comte de Montreville; but the latter smiled benignly
upon everybody, and, for the first time, embraced his son tenderly.

Monsieur Menard was dressed with care and maintained a very sedate
bearing until the dinner. As for Dubourg, he was overjoyed to be invited
to his friend's wedding, and, as he desired to obtain the count's good
graces, he assumed throughout the day such a dignified air, that he
looked as if he had a fit of the _spleen_; and he tried so hard to be
staid and respectable, that he might well have been taken for a man of
sixty. Whenever the count approached him, he discoursed upon the
illusive pleasures of the world, of the bliss of retirement, and of the
joys that await the just man after death. He carried it so far, that the
general said to Frederic:

"What a devil of a fellow your friend Dubourg is! Does he pass his time
in graveyards? I have been to him once or twice to talk, and he at once
quotes a passage from Young's _Night Thoughts_ or Massillon's _Petit
Careme_. He's a very cheerful guest for a wedding party."

Frederic went to Dubourg and urged him to act as he naturally would;
but, convinced that his conversation, his tone, and his bearing
delighted Monsieur de Montreville, it was impossible to induce Dubourg
to change them.

A magnificent dinner was served at the Hotel de Montreville, whence the
young people were to return in the evening to the general's house, where
they were to live. As the general was often absent, he required only a
small suite, and gave up three-fourths of the house to the newly married
pair.

Marriages in the first society have not the hilarity of bourgeois
marriages; which fact is some compensation to the bourgeoisie for not
belonging to the first society. However, the repast was rather merry in
a mild way. Monsieur Menard devoted himself to the good cheer, as he did
at Monsieur Chambertin's; but Dubourg ate little; he refused almost
every dish, because he thought it much more _comme il faut_. Nor was it
possible to induce him to accept a glass of champagne or liqueur.

"I never take it," he said, with imperturbable phlegm.

The Comte de Montreville stared at him in amazement, while Menard, who
sat next to him, said again and again:

"You used to take it, though; I've seen you take it often enough! Say
you're sick, and I'll believe you."

"Your friend is wonderfully sober," said the general to Frederic; "you
have brought us an anchorite."

After the dinner, dancing engaged the attention of the guests for the
rest of the evening. The new husband and wife indulged in that pastime,
which enabled them to wait with more patience for the greater pleasures
to come; dancing is always essential to bring a wedding party to a
cheerful termination.

But Dubourg did not dance; he walked stiffly through the salons, holding
his head as if he had a stiff neck, and never stopping near an ecarte
table.

"Don't you play, Monsieur Dubourg?" asked the count, with a smile.

"No, monsieur le comte; I have altogether renounced all games for money;
I care for nothing but chess; that is the only sensible game, and the
only one suited to me."

"Don't you dance, either?"

"Never; I care for nothing but the minuet, which is a sedate and
dignified dance. It's a great pity that it isn't danced nowadays."

"The deuce! Monsieur Dubourg, you are tremendously changed. You used to
be a little giddy, I think."

"Ah! monsieur le comte, other times, other cares; with advancing years,
one grows wiser."

"Advancing years! why, it's not one year yet since you played Hippolyte,
and would have made poor Menard play Thesee."

"Oh! monsieur le comte, a very great revolution has taken place in me
since then. I care for nothing now but study and science--science above
all things; for, as Cato says: _Sine doctrina vita est quasi mortis
imago_."

The count walked away with a smile on his face, and Dubourg was
convinced that he was greatly pleased with him. The day was at an end.
Menard returned to his tiny lodging, reviewing in his mind all the
delicious dishes he had eaten. Dubourg was no sooner outside the house
than he began to jump and run like a schoolboy who is no longer under
the master's eye. Frederic and Constance were happy. Annoying witnesses
were no longer present to curb the transports of their affection.
Company is a burden to lovers, and they await impatiently solitude and
mystery. At last, Frederic was permitted to take his wife away; on the
wedding night, a husband is a lover who abducts his mistress.




XXVI

SISTER ANNE BECOMES A MOTHER.--HER LONG STAY AT THE FARM


Sister Anne was still at the farmhouse where the Comte de Montreville
left her; for it is no longer a secret to us that the stranger whom she
had rescued from the robbers' hovel was Frederic's father, then
returning from Vizille, where he had been to inquire concerning the fate
of the girl whom his son had abandoned. He had found no one in the cabin
in the woods but the old shepherd, who did not know in what direction
Sister Anne had gone. To all the count's questions, he could make no
other answer than:

"She's gone away; she insisted on going; I don't know where she's gone."

On leaving the woods, the count had visited the outskirts of Grenoble,
and was on his way back to Lyon when his carriage was stopped in the
forest.

Sister Anne, despite her longing to continue her journey, realized that
she was in no condition to travel; the moment of her delivery was
drawing near, when she could press to her heart the fruit of her love.
That thought diminished her suffering to some extent; the hope of seeing
her child diverted her thoughts at times from her troubles, and everyone
at the farm strove to restore her peace of mind and to bring back a
smile to her lips. They were worthy people, who took the most
affectionate interest in the poor girl. Even without recompense, they
would have been no less kind to her; but money does no harm, and the sum
the Comte de Montreville had given them, when he requested them to
continue to take care of Sister Anne, was considerable, according to
their ideas.

The dumb girl, realizing that her stay among them must be long, offered
them the purse that the old gentleman had given her just before he went
away; but they would take nothing from her.

"Keep the money," said the farmer's wife; "keep it, my child; that
excellent man you saved from the robbers paid for everything; in fact,
he paid us too much. We didn't need that to be kind to you; you're so
pretty and sweet and unfortunate! Poor little woman! I can make a guess
at your situation. Some man abused your innocence and inexperience; he
deceived you, and then dropped you! That's the story of most young girls
who haven't got any father and mother to protect 'em from the snares
those fine fellows lay for 'em. Don't cry, my child; I'm a long way
from blaming you; you're less to blame than other women! But the man who
deserted you's the one as ought to be punished. The idea of leaving you,
in the condition you're in! he must be a hard-hearted wretch!"

When she heard that, Sister Anne made a hasty gesture as if to prevent
the farmer's wife from saying any more; she put her finger on her lips
and shook her head vigorously, evidently to deny what the woman had
said.

"Well, well!" said the farmer's wife; "she don't want me to speak ill of
him! she still loves him! That's just like a woman: always ready to make
excuses for the man that does 'em the most harm. But don't you be
worried about the future, my child; stay with us; we'll love you like
our own daughter and take good care of you. You're out of reach of want
forever here."

Sister Anne pressed her hand affectionately, but her eyes refused to
make a promise which her heart had no intention of keeping. Frederic was
still supreme in that ardent heart, and the girl did not renounce the
hope of finding him.

A short time after the stranger's departure, Sister Anne, remembering
that he had given her a paper, took it from the purse and carried it to
the farmer's wife, being anxious to know what was written on it. The
woman read: _Comte de Montreville_, _Rue de Provence_, _Paris_. There
was nothing else on the paper, and Sister Anne had no suspicion that it
was Frederic's father's name, for her lover had never mentioned his
family name in her presence. But she was overjoyed when the farmer's
wife read _Paris;_ she tried to make her understand that that was where
she wanted to go; then she carefully replaced the paper in the purse.

"That's the gentleman's address," said her hostess; "I tell you, he
ain't like most men; he's grateful, and he won't ever forget what you
did for him. I'm sure he'd give you a kind reception, if you should go
to Paris; but what would you do in that big city? Take my advice, my
child, and stay with us; you'll be happier here."

Sister Anne was overjoyed to possess that paper with the name of the
city to which she meant to go some day. With it, she could make herself
understood, and she thanked heaven for that gift, which would enable her
to find that wonderful Paris where she hoped to find her lover as well.

After she had been two months at the farm, Sister Anne brought a son
into the world. With what delirious joy did she contemplate her child!
with what transports did she listen to his first cries! One must have
been a mother to understand the perfect bliss of that moment. Already
she fancied that she could recognize Frederic's features in her child's;
she gazed at him incessantly and covered him with kisses; her son was
never out of her arms; weak as she was, she nursed him herself. The
farmer's wife did not try to thwart her desire, for it is a source of
ever-recurring delight to a mother, and Sister Anne seemed to enjoy it
more keenly than another. She was so proud and happy when she held her
child to her breast, that she forgot her sorrows for the moment. She did
not forget Frederic, but her heart was no longer oppressed by sombre
melancholy; the sight of her child often brought a smile to her lips;
she felt that for her son a mother can endure everything.

Some weeks after her confinement, Sister Anne manifested a wish to
resume her journey; but the good people at the farm remonstrated with
her.

"Can you think of such a thing," said the farmer's wife, "as starting on
a journey, with a child at the breast? Remember that you don't expose
your own life only, but his too. Do you suppose that if you set out in
search of new dangers and fatigue, he'll be able to get nourishment from
your breast? No, it isn't possible; the child will soon get sick and
die, if you persist in your plan."

Endanger her son's life! that thought made the dumb girl shudder. There
was no sacrifice she would not make for her child; it was a very great
one to postpone her journey; but what the farmer's wife had said
instantly decided her to remain at the farm until her son could no
longer feel the effects of his mother's trials and sorrows.

"Good, good! you are going to stay," said the good woman, reading in
Sister Anne's eyes that she would not insist. "That's right, my child;
you are sensible. In a year, or a year and a half, if your son is strong
enough, then we'll see; but till then you mustn't think of travelling."

Sister Anne had made up her mind, and, although she still thought of
Frederic, she devoted her whole attention to her child. As the result of
her unremitting care, she had the joy of seeing him grow larger and
stronger every day; his cheeks glowed with health, his lips wore a sweet
smile, and his little arms seemed to embrace with gratitude her who had
given him life.

By writing before her hosts the name of Frederic, Sister Anne had
succeeded in making them understand that this was the name she wished to
give her son. They called him by no other name, and the young mother
felt a fresh thrill of joy every time that that name fell upon her ear;
how much greater her joy would be when her child should answer to it!

She had been at the farm six months, when a courier arrived with a
package containing twenty-five louis and a note from the Comte de
Montreville to the farmer and his wife. In the note, he once more
commended the young woman to their care, and informed them that he would
send them a like sum for her every six months.

The farmer's wife lost no time in telling Sister Anne what Monsieur de
Montreville had done for her, and the poor girl's eyes filled with tears
of gratitude.

"What an excellent man!" said the farmer's wife. "I was sure he wouldn't
forget you. _Morgue!_ I tell you once more, if the fancy to go to Paris
should take you again by and by, you must go to this gentleman's house
right away. _Dame!_ my child, he's a count, you see, a nobleman, a
powerful man. He seems to be very rich, too; and if your seducer's in
Paris, he'll soon find him for you; and perhaps he'll give him such good
advice that he'll induce him not to leave you again."

Sister Anne signified that she agreed with the farmer's wife, and that
she would do all that she suggested. Then she compelled her to accept
the money sent by the count, and was much happier in the thought that
she was not a burden to the good people who treated her so kindly.

The weeks and months passed. Sister Anne fairly idolized her son. He
filled the place of all that she had lost; in him, she saw once more the
brother who was so dear to her, and whose death caused her such a fatal
shock; she saw Frederic too; his features were reproduced in his son's.
She sought to anticipate the child's slightest desires; she watched his
glance, his smile; and her touching devotion made the time since she had
seen her lover, and that which was still to pass before she could hope
to see him again, seem less long to her.

Little Frederic promised to have the beauty and the sweet temper of her
who gave him life; he had already learned to lisp that name which is so
sweet to a mother's ear, and Sister Anne realized how essential it was
that he should not be deprived of the care and thought that were so
freely bestowed on him at the farm. If he knew no one but her, the poor
child would never speak; for speech is an art in which a teacher is
necessary.

The count sent a second remittance at the time he had fixed. His
messenger inquired concerning the dumb girl's condition and the health
of her child, and urged Sister Anne not to leave the farm, where she led
a peaceful life and could devote all her care to her son.

But Sister Anne did not renounce her desire to go to Paris. Despite the
remonstrances of the farmer's wife, she was determined to resort to
every means of finding Frederic. Her love for her son did not lessen her
regret at her separation from her lover; on the contrary, it seemed
that, as she contemplated the child's beauty, she felt a most intense
longing to present him to his father.

"If he should see him," she thought, "could he help loving him? No; and
then he would not dream of parting from me again."

Little Frederic was twenty months old. He had long since ceased to
receive nourishment at his mother's breast. He was beginning to take his
first steps; every day he walked more steadily. Sister Anne guided him
and held him up; she watched the growth of his strength and his
faculties. Like the gardener, who observes the changes that the night
has wrought in his young plants, a mother observes each day with delight
the changes that denote her child's progress.

Being at ease in her mind concerning the boy's health, and ensured
against want by the sum the count had given her when he went away;
moreover, having no doubt that on her arrival in Paris she would find in
him a protector and a friend--Sister Anne determined to undertake the
journey, and one morning she showed the farmer's wife the paper the
count had left with her. That was to announce her purpose.

Again her hosts tried to induce her to change her resolution, but this
time Sister Anne was immovable; she was determined to leave them and go
to Paris; her heart told her that she would find Frederic there.

"Why do you take your child?" said the farmer's wife; "leave him with
us; you know how dearly we love him."

But Sister Anne could not comprehend a mother's parting from her child
for a single instant; she pressed him to her heart, and signified that
she would never leave him.

"At least," said the good woman, "as you're bent on going to Paris, you
won't go on foot, like a beggar. I'll take you in my wagon to Lyon, and
there I'll put you into a diligence that will take you and your child to
the end of your journey. When you get there, just show the address
you've got, and they'll show you the way to the Comte de Montreville's.
That gentleman won't turn you away; and when you want to come back to
us, he'll find a way to send you back."

Sister Anne expressed as best she could her gratitude for all the
kindness she had received. The journey being determined on, they turned
their attention to the preparations. The villagers bought the young
mother linen and clothes and everything that her son needed; they even
tried to force money on her; but her purse contained fifty louis; that
seemed an enormous sum to her, and much more than sufficient to live on
for an indefinite time in Paris, even if the Comte de Montreville should
not help her. She refused to accept any more, and the clothes in which
she was dressed seemed magnificent to her in comparison with those she
had worn in her woods. Her heart throbbed joyfully when she looked at
her simple and tasteful costume, which was that of a young farmer's wife
of Dauphine.

"He'll think me prettier than before," she thought; "perhaps he'll love
me more."

All the preparations were completed; the farmer's wife had her horse
hitched to the wagon, in which she took her place beside Sister Anne,
who held her son in her lap. They started early in the morning, and
arrived at Lyon the same evening. The farmer's wife engaged a seat for
the young mother in the diligence which was to start for Paris the next
day, and recommended her to the conductor, so that he would keep an eye
on her during the journey.

The hour for their departure arrived: not without abundant tears did the
kind-hearted peasant part from the dumb girl and little Frederic.

"You would leave us, my child," she said; "I'm very much afraid you're
making a mistake. You're going to an enormous city. People there won't
be so much interested in you as the folks in our village are. But don't
forget us. Send us word how you're getting along, through Monsieur de
Montreville, who seems to be very fond of you; and if the time should
ever come when you're miserable and unhappy, why, come right back to us;
you'll always be as welcome as a child of our own."

Sister Anne kissed the good woman affectionately; then, with her son in
her arms, she entered the carriage that was to take her to Paris.




XXVII

THE DILIGENCE.--SISTER ANNE IN PARIS


A young woman who has never been away from her cabin in the woods until
she is sixteen years of age, whose condition makes her peculiarly
unfamiliar with the world and its customs, must experience countless
novel sensations when she finds herself for the first time surrounded by
strangers in one of those rolling houses that bear us through city and
country.

Such was the case with Sister Anne, who was not eighteen and a half when
she left Lyon for Paris with her little son of twenty-one months. Seated
in the inmost corner of the conveyance, with her child on her knees, she
dared not look at her fellow travellers, and blushed when she saw that
they were scrutinizing her.

Her youth, her beauty, her manifest affection for her son, were certain
to make her interesting in the eyes of every sympathetic person. But one
finds little of that quality in a diligence, and the people about Sister
Anne did not seem abundantly provided with it. At her left was a
tradesman who talked incessantly of his business, with another tradesman
who sat opposite him. The course of shares, the price of sugar, coffee,
and cochineal, the transactions that were carried through at the last
market, engrossed these gentlemen so completely that they did not even
find time to apologize to their neighbors when, in their gesticulations,
they stuck an elbow into their ribs or a snuff-box into their faces. At
her right, our young mother had a man of some forty years, with a long,
gaunt face and an oblique glance, who talked little, but seemed to be
listening and trying to become acquainted with his neighbors. Opposite
him was a woman of fifty, in an old, stained silk dress, with a
dilapidated velvet hat embellished by feathers which resembled fish
bones; her bloated face was daubed with rouge, _mouches_, and snuff.
This lady had told her fellow passengers, within ten minutes after
starting, that, having played _ingenue_ parts at Strasbourg, princesses
at Caen, _amoureuses_ at Saint-Malo, shepherdesses at Quimper, queens at
Nantes, noble mothers at Noisy-le-Sec, and _jeunes premieres_ at Troyes,
she was on her way to Paris to take the _grande coquette_ parts at the
Theatre des Funambules; and that she expected to obtain at once an order
permitting her to make her debut at the Comedie-Francaise, which she had
been soliciting for thirty-six years. Lastly, beside the would-be
debutante was a stout man, who slept most of the time, waking up now and
then only to say:

"Oh! we're going over! I thought we had upset!"

An exceedingly pleasant neighbor in a diligence.

During the first few moments, Sister Anne heard nothing but a confused
jumble of words which she could not understand, the tradesmen's talk of
indigo and cochineal being inextricably mingled with the adventures of
the _grande coquette_, who paused only to take snuff and say to her
neighbor the sleeper:

"Be careful, monsieur; you're rolling over on me. Show me the respect
due to my sex!"

"Oh! we're going over!" the stout man would reply, rubbing his eyes.

After attending to our own comfort, we generally end by turning our
attention to other people. The party with the sidelong glance had
already complimented Sister Anne on the beauty of her son, and had
thereby earned a sweet smile from the dumb girl; one is certain to
please a mother by praising her child.

The lady in the old hat also scrutinized Sister Anne, and said:

"She's very good-looking, that little woman--a very interesting face.
That's just the costume I wore in _Annette et Lubin_, in 1792; how
becoming it was to me! I must play that part at the Funambules."

The two tradesmen glanced at Sister Anne; but as little Frederic had a
lump of sugar in his hand, that naturally brought them back to the
recent fluctuations in the price of that staple.

"It's a pretty child," said the actress; "he has a lot of expression
already. If he was mine, I'd put him on the stage. In a year he could
play Little Joas in _Athalie_, and in two he could manage the antics of
Polichinello as a vampire. Ah! that's the way children are brought up
now! It's superb! All who stand it are Foriosos at twelve years of age!"

Sister Anne had no idea what Forioso was, or Little Joas, but she saw
that her companions were noticing her child, and her heart throbbed with
the pleasure and pride so natural in a mother. Soon, however, they began
to question her.

"Are you going to Paris to have him vaccinated?" said the actress. "Has
he been vaccinated at home? What are you going to do in Paris? Has your
husband gone ahead of you?"

As she received no reply to any of these questions, the lady began to
lose patience and to consider the young woman's conduct exceedingly
impertinent.

"Don't you hear me, madame?" she continued, ironically. "It seems to me
that you might do me the honor to answer, when I speak to you."

Sister Anne shook her head and sadly lowered her eyes.

"Well! what does that mean?" cried the old debutante; "I verily believe
that she means to imply that she won't answer me! Let me tell you, you
little hussy, that I can find a way to make you speak, and that
Primerose Berenice de Follencourt is not of a temper to put up with an
insult! I've fought on the stage more than once. I've played men's
parts, and I know how to use a sword--do you hear, little saucebox?"

Sister Anne, alarmed by the old woman's tone and by her wrathful glance,
looked imploringly at her right-hand neighbor; and he, after gazing at
her with interest, said to the actress:

"You do wrong to be angry, madame."

"What do you say? I do wrong?"

"Surely; for this young woman's silence is not natural. She has not
spoken a word, even to her child, since she has been in the diligence; I
think that she is dumb."

"Dumb! a dumb woman! that's impossible, monsieur."

But Sister Anne eagerly nodded her head to confirm the supposition;
whereupon the old actress voiced her amazement so emphatically that her
neighbor woke up.

"Dumb! can it be possible? Do you hear, monsieur? she's dumb!"

"Oh! I thought we had upset!"

"What an insufferable creature you are! He'll give me the hysterics with
his upsets. Poor angel! dear love! are you really dumb, my sweet child?
Oh! how I pity you! how you must suffer! I should much rather be blind
and deaf. Poor little thing! how interesting she is! what a charming
face! And to be unable to talk! How did it happen, my child?"

Sister Anne, almost as surprised by the actress's sudden outpouring of
friendliness as she had been by her anger, took her purse from her
bosom, took out the paper which she always carried about her, and handed
it to her neighbor, who read it to himself and simply said:

"It's the address of the house she's going to."

"To be a wet-nurse, no doubt. Ah! how beautifully she would act in
pantomime! Such a pretty face! how lovely she'd be in _Philomele et
Teree_!"

Sister Anne's right-hand neighbor paid no further heed to the old
actress; he seemed preoccupied since he had seen the well-filled purse
which the young mother took from her breast in order to show him the
count's address. From that moment, he redoubled his attentions to her;
he caressed little Frederic, and carried his gallantry so far as to buy
him barley candy and gingerbread at the first stopping-place. Sister
Anne, whose pure and guileless mind saw only friends and protectors
everywhere, did not notice the shiftiness of her neighbor's expression,
but, on the contrary, felt disposed to give him her full confidence.
Poor child! what will you do in Paris?

During the second day, Sister Anne's neighbor said to her:

"I'm well acquainted with the Comte de Montreville, to whose house you
are going. He's a friend of mine. If you like, I'll take you there
myself."

The dumb girl signified that she accepted his offer with gratitude; and
the old actress, seeing that Sister Anne smiled at her neighbor, pursed
up her lips and cast a contemptuous glance at her, muttering between her
teeth:

"They're doing well; acquaintance is soon made in a diligence."

Which shows how quick one is to suspect evil, especially when one has
done it all one's life. As for Sister Anne, she stared at the actress in
amazement; she was utterly unable to understand why, within twenty-four
hours, she should treat her with indignation, friendliness, and scorn.

At last the diligence reached the great city: Sister Anne was dazed and
bewildered by all that she saw and heard; she felt as if she were in a
new world; for having arrived at Lyon after dark and left early in the
morning, she had seen nothing of that city, whose great size, wealth,
and populousness would have given her some idea of Paris.

The thin, shifty-eyed gentleman, who was persistent in his attentions to
the dumb girl and her son, helped them to alight from the diligence; and
while the _grande coquette_ of the Funambules rearranged her hat and
crumpled feathers, while the two tradesmen hurried to the Bourse, and
the stout man walked away congratulating himself that the diligence had
not been overturned, the gallant man called a cab, and, having put
Sister Anne's bundles inside, he got in with her and the child.

The stranger spoke to the driver, then said to the young mother:

"We will go at once to Monsieur le Comte de Montreville's; I am
delighted to take you there myself, for, being a stranger in Paris, you
might be seriously embarrassed, as you can't make yourself understood."

Sister Anne thanked him with a glance; the poor child had no suspicion
that she had fallen into the hands of a sharper, a vile blackleg, who,
after exhibiting his talents in all the larger cities, by divers little
exploits which had compelled him to fly from one after another, was now
returning to Paris in the hope that an absence of eight years would have
caused his former dupes to forget him, and that he would be able to make
new ones. But it was inevitable that the dumb girl should fall into the
first trap that was set for her. Meek, trusting, unacquainted with craft
in any form, she never suspected evil. Her adventure in the forest would
have made her afraid of robbers under similar circumstances; but it had
not taught her to distrust those robbers whom she met in the world, and
whom it is much more difficult to recognize, because they cover
themselves with the mask of probity, which often makes them more
dangerous than those who attack us on the highroad.

The cab stopped in front of a handsome house. Sister Anne's escort at
once alighted, saying to her:

"Wait a moment; this is the count's house, but we must make sure that he
is at home."

With that, he went in, but returned in a few moments with a disappointed
air.

"My dear lady, what I was afraid of has happened: the Comte de
Montreville is in the country; he won't return for two days."

The girl's expression seemed to say:

"What shall I do meanwhile? where am I to go?"

"Don't be alarmed," said the obliging man; "I will not leave you in
embarrassment; I will take you to a respectable house, where you will be
well cared for. Two days are soon passed; then you can return to
monsieur le comte's."

Sister Anne again expressed her gratitude; she was touched by all the
trouble he took for her, although she was not surprised by it: she
imagined that that was the way everybody acted in the large cities. The
cab started again. The movement delighted little Frederic; he crowed,
and jumped about on his mother's lap; and she, as she gazed at the tall
houses, the shops, and the crowds of people, artlessly manifested her
amazement.

"Oh! you'll see much more than this," said her friend; "you'll be
surprised in a thousand different ways; this journey will be very useful
to you."

The cab stopped in front of a wretched furnished lodging-house in
Faubourg Saint-Jacques; and Sister Anne, on going in, found that that
respectable abode was very dirty and very gloomy; but she followed her
escort, who ordered her bundles carried to the room assigned to them,
and was soon left alone there with the young mother and her child.

"Before I leave you," he said to Sister Anne, "I must tell you that
there is one little formality to be attended to: when you hire lodgings
in Paris, you must make a statement of what money you have about you.
This is a rule made by the police, so that nothing can ever be lost in
the city; for if you declare to-day that you have forty louis, and one
of them is stolen from you to-morrow, then they go about and count the
contents of the purses of everybody in the capital, and the man who has
one louis too many is the thief. What do you say to that? it's a bright
idea, isn't it?"

Sister Anne did not clearly understand what he said; she looked at him
as if awaiting a further explanation, and he continued:

"Will you go to settle the matter with the mistress of the house? or
would you like me to go for you? That will be better. Give me your
purse; it's the quickest way."

The poor child drew her purse from her bosom; and the obliging gentleman
took it, saying:

"Don't be impatient; I'll go and count what there is in it."

Then he left the room, and as he went downstairs he gave the mistress of
the house a gold piece, saying:

"This is to pay for that young woman's lodging; she's a mute."

With that, he hurried away, flattering himself that he had performed a
very neat trick; he went to the Palais-Royal, where he found other
blacklegs of his stamp, and soon lost the money he had stolen from a
helpless woman; then, as he was unable to find other dupes who would
give him their purses, he filched one from the pocket of a stout English
milord; the Englishman, having detected him in the act, caused his
arrest; he was taken to the Prefecture, then to Bicetre, then to the
galleys, where he kept his hand in by stealing from his fellow convicts.
There we will leave him.

Sister Anne waited and waited for the return of the kind friend who had
gone out with her purse; the poor child had no suspicion, she was not at
all anxious, and played quietly with her son, glancing out of the window
now and then, but instantly drawing back in alarm, because the room was
on the third floor, and she had never been so far above the ground.

But her friend did not return, and Sister Anne was beginning to wonder
at his long absence, when the landlady appeared.

The young mother put out her hand for her purse, but the woman simply
asked what she could do for her.

"I'll take good care of you," said she; "for the gentleman, when he went
away, paid for your board and lodging and whatever you might want during
the two days that he said you would stay here."

He had gone away! A horrible presentiment enlightened Sister Anne at
last; she tried to make herself understood, constantly holding out her
hand and going through the motion of counting money.

"I am paid, I tell you," said the landlady; "I don't want anything, my
child, and I'll send up your dinner."

Sister Anne was overwhelmed; it was not the money simply that she
regretted, for she did not realize its value; but the Comte de
Montreville's address was in her purse, and the villain had carried that
away with all that she possessed. What would become of her? how could
she find her protector's house now?

During the day, the young woman still retained a little hope, trying to
convince herself that the stranger would return; but night came, and he
did not appear. Sister Anne strained her child to her breast, weeping
bitterly; it was not for herself alone that she trembled, and her terror
was all the more intense on that account. Already she imagined her child
deprived of the sustenance he required; she shuddered as the whole
horror of their situation dawned upon her, and she was sorry now that
she had left the farm, for the thought that her son would suffer
destroyed her courage.

She passed in her room the second day after her arrival in Paris; the
villain who had robbed her had told her that the count was absent for
two days, so she waited until the third day before trying to find him.
She flattered herself that she could recognize the house in front of
which the cab had stopped. The poor child thought that she could find
her way in that immense city, where she had never been before! she did
not know that the wretch who had deceived her had caused the cab to stop
in front of a house which was not the count's.

The next day, she took her son in her arms, and, with the bundle that
contained her effects, left the lodging-house, whose mistress made no
attempt to keep her, because she had been paid for two days only. Sister
Anne commended herself to Providence, and tried to revive her courage as
she ventured forth into that city which was entirely unknown to her.
Every minute the horses and carriages frightened her, and the cries of
the street peddlers deafened her; the sight of all those people, going
and coming in every direction, and often jostling and crowding her, so
confused her that she had no idea where she was. The poor child went
under a porte cochere and began to cry. The concierge asked her what the
trouble was, but Sister Anne was unable to reply except with more tears;
whereupon the concierge turned away in a pet, saying:

"What's the use of sympathizing with people who won't tell you what's
the matter!"

After she had wept a long while, Sister Anne walked on; but she had been
on her feet four hours and had made no progress; she saw nothing but
endless streets, and shops; she had no idea in which direction she
should go, and often walked a long distance only to find herself at the
point she had started from. How was she to recognize that house of the
count's? she began to think that it was impossible. She was sinking with
fatigue, for she had had her child in her arms all the time; and soon
hunger made itself felt, and added to the horror of her plight.

She sat down on a stone bench; the passers-by glanced at her, but went
on; they would have stopped if, instead of a woman weeping over a child,
they had seen a cat fighting with Polichinello.

Luckily, it was midsummer; the weather was beautiful, and the approach
of night did not drive people indoors. The dumb girl entered a
pastry-cook's shop and bought cakes for her child, offering a garment
from her bundle in payment; but they gave it back, looking at her with
compassion and surprise; for her appearance did not denote poverty, and
they could not understand her having no money.

She tried to walk on, but the darkness increased her terror tenfold,
and, despite the lamps in the streets, the clatter of the horses' feet
seemed to her more terrifying than ever; she was in mortal dread of
being run over with her son by the carriages which often surrounded her
on every side; so she sat down again on a bench.

At this time she was on Rue Montmartre; several times during the day,
she had walked through Rue de Provence and had passed Monsieur de
Montreville's house; but the poor child did not know it. It was
impossible now for her to find her lodging-house, and she was on the
point of giving way to despair; but she pressed her son to her heart,
and tried to recover her strength by covering him with kisses. The child
smiled at her and played with her hair; he was at the age at which a
child does not know what unhappiness is when he is in his mother's arms.

The night advanced; the shops were closing, the pedestrians becoming
less numerous, the carriages passed at longer intervals. Sister Anne
raised her eyes and looked about her with a little more confidence.
Where should she ask shelter for the night? She felt lost amid all those
buildings; she dared not apply anywhere. She gazed imploringly at those
who passed her, and several men stopped to look at her.

"She's very pretty!" they said; but as soon as she held out her child,
they walked on.

"Great God!" thought the unhappy girl; "don't the people of Paris love
children? they walk away very fast as soon as I show them mine."

About midnight, a patrol passed through the street. As they drew near,
she shuddered; one of the soldiers went up to her, and said:

"Come, come! what are you doing here with your child? Go home, or we'll
take you to the guard-house!"

The man's harsh tone made her tremble; she rose hastily and hurried
away, with her child in her arms. But before she had gone a hundred
yards, she discovered that she had left her bundle of clothes on the
bench. She went back to look for it, and found the place where she had
been sitting; but, alas! her clothes had already disappeared. They were
the unfortunate creature's last resource.

She shed no tears over this last catastrophe; an enormous weight seemed
to have settled on her chest. She moved away with her child, afraid to
think. She walked more rapidly, with no idea where she was going; she
embraced her son convulsively; a sort of nervous contraction stiffened
her limbs; she had almost lost consciousness of her sufferings. She
descended Rue Montmartre to the boulevard, where the trees caught her
eye, and her heart dilated. The poor child thought that she had reached
the outskirts of that city where fate pursued her so pitilessly; she
fancied that she was once more approaching her fields and her woods; and
running wildly to the nearest tree, she stood close against it, touched
it with rapture, and the tears came at last.

She sat down beneath the foliage, the sight of which had given her fresh
courage; she covered her child with her apron and determined to wait
there for the dawn.

The day came at last, but the dumb girl had not enjoyed one moment's
rest; she thought of the future, and saw that she must needs appeal to
public charity for herself and her son. If she had been alone, she would
have preferred death; but for him she could endure everything. She had
been so comfortable at the farm, surrounded by people who were attached
to her and who loved her son, and now she was reduced to beg for bread!
How bitterly she repented having left that peaceful abode! When she
looked at her son, she reproached herself even more severely.

"Poor little fellow!" she thought; "all your sufferings will be caused
by me. But am I so guilty, after all, for longing to give you a father?
Ah, me! if only I could find my way back there! if only I could return
to those kind-hearted peasants who treated me like their own daughter! I
feel that I must abandon all hope of finding Frederic; but if my grief
kills me, what will become of my son in this great city?"

The poor mother wept as she gazed at little Frederic, who was still
asleep. Some peasants on their way to market offered her bread and
fruit; a milkwoman gave her and the child some milk to drink; all hearts
are not insensible to pity, and even the Parisians give freely to the
poor; if they do not do it more frequently, it is only because they
dread to make themselves melancholy by the contemplation of misfortune.

During a large part of the day, Sister Anne continued to wander about
the city in search of her protector's abode; she met many men who had
Frederic's figure and were dressed like him; she quickened her pace to
overtake them; but when she was near enough to see their faces,
recognized her error. Some looked at her in amazement, others with a
sneer; whereupon she would turn away, shamefaced and broken-hearted.

"O God!" she thought; "I shall never meet him again!"

By the end of the day, the food that had been given her in the morning
was exhausted, and it became necessary to hold out her hand to the
passers-by, in quest of charity. In order to obtain courage to beg for
bread, Sister Anne had to gaze upon her boy. If those who give alms
always did so with a gracious manner, the unfortunate would be less to
be pitied; but many persons accompany their charity with a harsh or
disdainful air; in fact, they almost grumble at those they relieve.

"Alas!" thought the poor girl, as she wept; "why do they consider it a
crime that I am poor?"

She longed to leave Paris, for the country people seemed to her to be
more humane and gentle; with them, she felt less abashed. But in what
direction must she go to return to the hospitable farm? She could only
trust in Providence, which had not thus far been very propitious to her.
Poor child! may it guide thee at last to the end of thy woes!

Having no idea what road she should take, but absolutely determined to
leave the city, she decided to follow a man who was walking beside a
small canvas-covered wagon. As it happened, this man went through one of
the faubourgs, and in due time passed the barrier. Thus, by dint of
following the wagon, which went always at a walk, the young mother found
herself at last in the country; she breathed more freely; she kissed her
son, and, beseeching the mercy of heaven for him, bent her steps toward
the nearest village to ask hospitality.




XXVIII

CHANCE BRINGS THEM TOGETHER


Frederic still loved his wife--perhaps with a less violent passion than
during the first month of their union; but the husband's facility of
intercourse with his wife had not diminished his love, for he discovered
new qualities, new virtues, in Constance every day. Beauty of feature
fascinates, but does not suffice to enslave; happy the husband who finds
in his wife attractions over which time has no power!

Constance was chargeable with but one fault--a very lamentable one when
one cannot control it, but which she confined sedulously within her own
breast. She was jealous; the very excess of her love for Frederic
sometimes caused her a secret alarm. When he seemed dreamy and pensive,
Constance became uneasy, and a multitude of apprehensions crowded into
her mind. What could it be that engrossed her husband's thoughts,
saddened him, and made him sigh?--for he still sighed sometimes. Before
their marriage, she attributed to his love for her the melancholy that
often darkened his brow. But now that they were united, now that they
could give a free rein to their affection, and there was nothing to mar
their happiness, why did Frederic continue to sigh? why was he sometimes
preoccupied? That was what Constance asked herself, but the amiable girl
was careful not to let her husband see what she felt; she would have
been terribly distressed to display the slightest suspicion. Although
jealous, she would not annoy her husband; she would continue to be as
loving and sweet as always; and if she suffered, she would carefully
conceal her suffering, in order not to distress him whom she loved
better than her life.

After a year, their happiness was interrupted for a moment by the
general's death. Monsieur de Valmont was beloved by all who knew him; he
was very dear to his niece, to whom he had been as an affectionate and
indulgent father. Her husband's love alone could comfort Constance in
her profound grief for her uncle's death. Monsieur de Montreville
mingled his regrets with her tears; he had lost a true friend; but in
old age we often show more courage than in the springtime of life, in
bearing the death of those who are dear to us. Is it because age makes
us selfish? Is it because the heart, having become insensible to the
flames of love, closes its doors to the transports of friendship; or is
it rather because of the reflection that the separation cannot be for
long, and that we shall soon join those whom we have lost?

Constance was her uncle's sole heir; the general was very rich, and
owned a number of farms and estates in the provinces, with which
Frederic wished to make himself familiar. So he had formed a plan of
visiting their new possessions, and Constance was to remain at Paris, in
order not to leave Monsieur de Montreville alone with his grief for the
loss of his friend. But how could he make up his mind to leave his wife
before her grief had begun to subside? As the visit of inspection was
not urgent, Frederic postponed it from month to month; and Constance,
who had not as yet been separated from her husband for a single day,
could not decide to let him go.

Some time after the general's death, Frederic learned that Monsieur
Menard, being frequently incapacitated by the gout, had lost all his
pupils and was in very reduced circumstances. So he went to see his
former tutor, and asked him to come to live with him.

"I need a prudent, clever man," he said, "to take charge of my affairs,
overlook my stewards' accounts, and correspond with them. Be that man,
my dear Menard. Remember that it is not as an employe, but as a friend
that I ask you to come; and if heaven sends me children, you shall be to
them what you were to their father."

Menard accepted gratefully, and he was installed under Frederic's roof,
where Constance treated him with much consideration and affection; she
loved the former tutor, because he was attached to her husband, and
Menard, deeply touched by the young woman's attentions, often exclaimed,
as he kissed her hand respectfully:

"Ah! madame, do have children! I will be their tutor, and they'll grow
up like their excellent father, who was my pupil and who does me
credit."

Constance smiled at that; doubtless she would have asked nothing better,
but we do not always obtain what we desire.

Dubourg had not abandoned his friend.

"Come and see me whenever you please," Frederic had said to him; "your
room will always be ready for you."

Dubourg made the most of that permission, not to quarter himself on
Frederic in Paris, but to visit him at his country house. He was
particularly apt to appear during the latter half of the quarter; for
his income was paid quarterly, and he could never succeed in making it
last more than six weeks; then he would take his meals at Frederic's, if
he was in Paris, or would visit him in the country.

"Thanks to you, my friend," he would say, "with my sixteen hundred
francs a year, I live as if I had twice that; I spend my income in six
months, and you pay my expenses the other half of the year."

Dubourg's merry humor pleased Constance, and Frederic was always glad to
see his friend, for he knew that he would never say a word to his wife
that she ought not to hear, and that, despite his easy principles, he
would look upon her as a sister. We can overlook some faults in the man
who respects friendship. There are so many sincere, virtuous,
high-minded friends, who take delight in sowing discord in families!

When Dubourg and Menard met at Frederic's board, which always happened
toward the end of the quarter, the former tutor never failed to sing the
praises of the couple who lived under his eyes.

"They are like Orpheus and Eurydice, Deucalion and Pyrrha, Philemon and
Baucis, Pyramus and Thisbe!"

"Morbleu! yes," Dubourg would reply; "Frederic has a charming wife, who
has every estimable quality--a perfect treasure, in short. It would be
infernally strange if he were not content."

"True enough! But if I had not inculcated in my pupil excellent
principles of virtue and morality, perhaps he wouldn't lead so decorous
a life as he does, although loving his wife none the less. Peter the
Great adored Catherine, but that didn't interfere with his having
mistresses; many princes have had concubines; and I have known some
excellent husbands who slept with their maid-servants, probably from a
sense of ownership."

"Don't extol Frederic's virtue so highly, my dear Monsieur Menard! if he
had had nobody but you to guide him----"

"Perhaps you would have done it better; for instance, when you travelled
with us as Baron Potoski----"

"Hush, hush, Monsieur Menard! Let that journey be forgotten; there was
nothing to choose between us. I trust that you have never spoken of that
little adventure in the woods--that love affair of Frederic's--before
Madame de Montreville?"

"Oh! what do you take me for? I am well aware that it would be a great
mistake now: _non est hic locus_; and yet, Madame de Montreville could
not take offence; anything that happened before her marriage doesn't
concern her; she has too much good sense not to laugh at her husband's
little escapades as a bachelor."

"Despite her good sense, there are some things a woman never likes to
hear about; we should always avoid saying anything to make her think
that another has possessed her husband's heart. Although when she
marries a young man, a woman is well aware that he has already known
love, she persuades herself that he has never loved anyone as dearly as
he loves her; she desires to be the one who has inspired the most ardent
passion, and it is a great affliction to her to lose that illusion."

"I understand; it's like telling a cook that one has never eaten a
better dish of macaroni."

"Precisely. You're an amazing fellow for similes. Besides, I believe
that the young woman is capable of being jealous, she loves her husband
so passionately!"

"Indeed, I believe you are right. I noticed one day that she didn't seem
in such good spirits as usual; I suppose that it was because her
husband had amused himself for some time patting a cat."

"The devil take you and your cats! the idea of suspecting Constance of
such folly!"

"Folly? Why, there are men who prefer their dog to their wives, just as
there are women who prefer their canary to their husband. I don't refer
to my pupil; but----"

"But has Madame de Montreville ever asked you, as she has me, whether
Frederic has always been subject to fits of depression, of melancholy?"

"Yes, yes; I remember that only the other evening she said to me in an
undertone: 'See how Frederic sighs! Do you know whether anything is
troubling him? Can you guess the reason?'"

"Well! what was your answer?"

"Parbleu! I answered: 'I suppose it's because he has indigestion,
madame; that interferes with the breathing; it is often the
case.'--Since then, she hasn't asked me any questions on that subject."

"I can well believe it!"

Although Frederic was happy, he had not forgotten the dumb girl of the
woods, and it was the thought of her that caused his frequent fits of
abstraction. He longed to know Sister Anne's fate, but he dared not
mention her to his father. The count had told him that he would take
care of her, and Frederic knew that he could rely on his promise; but to
have no idea where she was or what she was doing--not even to know
whether she still loved him!--The ingrate dared to doubt it, for he had
done all that he could to kill her love! Meanwhile, as his love for
Constance became more calm and placid, the memory of Sister Anne
obtruded itself more frequently upon his mind; a smile or a caress from
his wife quickly made him forget the dumb girl, but a little later her
image returned again; it would seem that the heart of man always craves
memories or hopes.

For more than two years, Frederic had been Constance's husband. Their
only sorrow was their failure to have children. Frederic longed for a
son, Constance would have been overjoyed to present her husband with a
pledge of her affection, and Monsieur Menard ardently desired the
arrival of some little pupils.

The Comte de Montreville did not live with his children; but he came
often to their house; he still had in his service the man who was with
him when he was attacked in the forest, and whom he had forbidden to
mention that adventure. But one evening, when he was talking with the
other servants, he forgot his master's injunction; and as the others
told stories about robbers, he did not fail to tell of the risk he had
run in company with monsieur le comte, who had been saved, almost
miraculously, by a young dumb woman. Frederic's valet was present; and
the next day, while dressing his master, he asked him if what Dumont had
said was true; because he believed that Dumont was a liar, and that
monsieur le comte had never mentioned being attacked by robbers and
saved by a dumb woman.

These last words attracted Frederic's attention; a secret presentiment
told him that Sister Anne was concerned in the adventure. He made no
reply to his servant, but hastened to his father's house. The count was
absent, but Dumont was there; Frederic was able to speak to him alone,
which was just what he desired. At his first question, Dumont blushed,
remembering his master's orders; but it was too late for him to keep
silent. Moreover, it did not seem to him that he was committing any
great sin in telling his master's son the whole story, and he could not
understand why Monsieur de Montreville wished to make a mystery of the
adventure.

Frederic made him describe the girl his father had taken to the farm;
from the beginning, he had no doubt that it was Sister Anne. He asked
Dumont innumerable questions, and the valet told him all that he knew.

"Do you think that she remained at the farm?" Frederic asked.

"Oh! yes, monsieur; she wasn't well enough to continue her journey; and
then, I forgot to tell you that she was on the point of becoming a
mother."

"What do you say, Dumont?--that girl----"

"Girl or wife, I don't know which; but I can swear she was enceinte."

Sister Anne had a child! Frederic understood now why his father had
acted with so much mystery. He inquired particularly as to the name of
the village and the location of the farm at which they had left the dumb
girl; then, giving Dumont a handsome present, he enjoined upon him
absolute secrecy concerning their interview. Dumont promised not to
mention the subject again, and lost himself in conjectures touching the
conduct of father and son alike.

After Frederic had learned that Sister Anne had made him a father, he
did not enjoy a moment's repose. The thought haunted him incessantly,
and he was consumed by the desire to see his child. His reveries were
more frequent, his brow was clouded more often than ever before, and
Constance heard him sigh. She dared not question him; but she suffered
torments in secret; she flattered herself that she filled Frederic's
heart, that she was the sole object of all his thoughts; but she was
always near him, she held his hand in hers, and it could not be she who
made him sigh.

When she ventured to ask him what the matter was, he strove to recover
himself, pressed her to his heart, and said:

"What more can I possibly desire?"

But, even then, Constance detected a trace of sadness in his smile; he
did not seem to her entirely happy.

One day Frederic told his wife that he was about to undertake the
journey which he had postponed so long, but which had become absolutely
necessary. Constance had flattered herself that Menard would go in his
stead; indeed, Frederic himself had suggested it; but he had changed his
mind, and was evidently determined to go. Constance dared not try to
detain him, or to propose to accompany him; she was afraid of annoying
him; she was unwilling to thwart him in the most trivial thing.
Moreover, if Frederic had wanted her to go with him, he would have had
but to say the word; she would have left everything to go; but he did
not say the word! Constance groaned in secret, but she showed her
husband a cloudless brow and a smiling face.

Frederic embraced her tenderly; he promised to hasten his return, and to
be with her again within a month. She tried to be brave; and Frederic
took his departure, commending her to the care of Menard and Dubourg.
But Constance did not need to be entertained: although absent, Frederic
was always with her.

It was the month of August, that lovely season when it is so pleasant to
live in the pure air of the country. Constance determined to pass at her
country house near Montmorency all the time that her husband was
absent. As it was much quieter there than in Paris, it seemed to her
that she would be more free to think of him, to count the moments which
must pass before his return. Monsieur de Montreville visited his
daughter-in-law in the country. But at the count's age a man has settled
habits, and amusement becomes a necessity. The count loved Paris, for he
had a great number of acquaintances there; and the never-ceasing life
and animation of the capital had always attracted him. After a week's
stay in the country, he returned to his favorite city and his wonted
amusements.

Constance was left alone with Menard and the servants. It was still
early in the quarter, and Dubourg was not in the country; but Constance
did not suffer one moment from ennui; when the heart is well occupied,
the head is never empty. The old tutor was always ready to bear her
company; he talked to her of Greek and Roman history, quoted his
favorite Latin authors, and sometimes plunged into Biblical history. It
is not certain that Constance was greatly entertained; but when Menard
had finished speaking, she would smile at him so amiably that he was
invariably satisfied.

Toward nightfall Constance always went to the summer-house. It was her
favorite spot; there she and Frederic had begun to understand each
other, there she had felt the first approach of love. Since that time,
she had often visited the summer-house, more often than ever now that
she was awaiting her husband's return. From that eminence she could
overlook the whole valley and the country round about the walls of her
garden.

One fine evening, as she happened to glance at the road which passed the
house, Constance noticed a young woman seated at the foot of a tree,
with an infant in her arms; the unfortunate creature was evidently in
the last stages of destitution; she was gazing mournfully at her child,
and, while covering him with kisses, seemed to be utterly hopeless and
desperate.

Constance was deeply affected. At that moment, Monsieur Menard joined
her on the platform.

"Look!" she said; "do you see that poor woman? See how frantically she
kisses her child! She seems in terrible distress. Do you see her?"

"One moment, madame," said Menard; "I can't find my spectacles.--Where
in the devil have I put them?"

At that instant the poor woman raised her eyes, and, when she saw
Constance, her glance became so expressive, so full of entreaty, that it
was impossible not to understand her.

"Oh! she is crying," exclaimed Constance; "wait, wait, my poor woman! I
will come down."

She rushed out of the summer-house, while Menard was still looking for
his spectacles.

Not far away was a small gate by which the road was reached. Constance
opened it, and soon stood beside the unfortunate creature she longed to
assist. As she drew near to her, she was even more touched, for the
wayfarer's every feature was eloquent of suffering and despair; but it
was for her child, above all, that she implored Constance's pity. She
held him out to her, and great tears flowed from her drawn and reddened
eyes.

"Poor child!" said Constance; "how pale and thin he is! but what lovely
features!"--And she took the child in her arms, saying to the mother:
"Come, and I will give you something to restore your strength. Follow
me."

The woman walked a few steps, but soon fell to the ground; her strength
had failed her.

"Great heaven!" said Constance; "what a state the poor creature is
in!--Monsieur Menard, do come and help me take her to the house."

"Here I am, here I am, madame! They were in my waistcoat pocket," said
Menard. "Oho! this young person seems sadly in need of help."

"Support her--let us help her to walk. Poor woman! how she distresses
me! Mon Dieu! is it possible that there can be people so unfortunate?"

"Very possible, certainly, madame; but it is important to know the
_causa causarum_."

With the assistance of Menard and Constance, the latter of whom carried
the child as well as supported the mother, the poor woman succeeded in
reaching the house. There Constance at once gave her whatever she
thought would do her and the child good; and while the mother recovered
her strength, she observed her with interest.

"Just see," she said to Menard, "she is still a mere girl--and already
so greatly to be pitied! Her features are sweet and pathetic. Poor
mother! where have you come from? what do you mean to do?"

The unfortunate creature did not reply to these questions; the reader
will have divined the cause: it was Sister Anne and her son to whom
Constance had brought succor.

Ten days had passed since the dumb girl left Paris, during which she had
wandered about the country, guided by chance alone. Being forced
constantly to beg for shelter and food, often repulsed, often depriving
herself of sustenance to give it to her son, she had felt her strength
and her courage grow less day by day; despair took possession of her
mind, it sapped all her faculties, and the unhappy mother was embracing
her child in momentary expectation of death, when chance, which had led
her to Madame de Montreville's house, decreed that she should notice her
and fly to her assistance.

Surprised at receiving no reply to her questions, Constance repeated
them; whereupon Sister Anne, putting her hand to her lips and mournfully
shaking her head, succeeded in making her understand her pitiful
condition.

"O heaven! she cannot speak! Poor soul! All alone with her child, and
without money, without a guide, and unable to ask her way! Oh! this is
too much, too many trials at once!"

And Constance stooped over Sister Anne, weeping freely at the sight of
her misery, while the dumb girl, touched by a compassion to which she
had become unaccustomed, took her benefactress's hand, covered it with
kisses, and pressed it to her heart.

"Faith!" said Menard, drawing his handkerchief,--for the kind-hearted
tutor could not witness this scene without emotion,--"faith! I agree
that she was in a critical position. Indeed, speech is essential
throughout life; and anyone who has no tongue, or can't use it, is like
a fox without a tail, a butterfly without wings, or a fish without
fins."

Constance continued to devote her whole attention to Sister Anne and her
son; already the child was laughing in her arms; he was at the happy age
when grief vanishes at sight of a cake or a toy. It seemed that
Constance could not tire of caressing him.

"See," she said to Menard, "see how he smiles at me!"

"Of course, for you are giving him bonbons. Men are caught by sugared
words, and children by sugar without words; wherein they show more
sagacity than men."

"What pretty features, what lovely eyes! It may be a delusion, but it
seems to me that he has my husband's eyes."

"My pupil's? I can hardly conceive eyes of two years resembling eyes of
twenty-three."

"Poor little dear! I feel that I love him already. How happy I should be
to have a child like him!"

"That will come, madame: Sarah was ninety years old when she gave birth
to Isaac. You have plenty of time before you."

Sister Anne's heart throbbed with joy when she saw Constance caress her
son. Madame de Montreville did not tire of gazing at him, for she
detected in his features some resemblance to those of her husband.
Menard gazed compassionately at Sister Anne; he was very far from
suspecting that that poor mendicant was the young girl he had seen
seated beside Frederic in the woods at Vizille. How could he have
recognized her! He had seen her only a moment, and then she was radiant
with happiness and love; her lovely features were not worn by tears and
sorrow; the fatigue of a long and toilsome journey, and of incessant
suffering, had not made her body weak and her steps tottering. And,
lastly, Menard did not know that that girl was dumb; so that it was
impossible for him to suspect that she was before him at that moment.

"Do you know how to write, poor woman?" Constance asked her.

She shook her head.

"What a pity! I would like to know this pretty boy's name."

The dumb girl looked eagerly about. They had taken her to a room on the
ground floor, looking on the garden. She went out, motioning to
Constance to follow her. She broke a branch from the first shrub she
came to; then, stooping over, she traced on the gravel path her son's
name.

"Frederic!" cried Constance, after reading the name; "what! your child's
name is Frederic? Ah! that will make him all the dearer to me. Frederic!
why, that is my husband's name.--What do you think of this, Monsieur
Menard? isn't it strange?"

"I don't see anything so extraordinary in it," said the tutor. "As there
are great numbers of Martins, Pierres, and Pauls, there may very well be
as many Frederics. I know of no name but _Thesaurochrysonicochrysides_,
which Plautus invented, that has never become common. So, if I had had a
son, I should have insisted on giving him that name, although it isn't
very easy to say."

Constance took the child in her arms again. She called him Frederic; and
he, answering to that name, by which he had been called at the farm,
lisped the word _mamma_, and looked about as if in search of the good
peasants who used to call him so.

"I am determined that my husband shall see this dear child," said
Constance; then, after a moment's reflection, she went up to Sister
Anne, took her hand, and said, following her signs closely so that she
might understand her answers:

"Where were you going with your child?--She doesn't know.--Unfortunate
creature! have you no father or mother?--Ah! they are dead!--And your
child's father, your husband--why isn't he with you?--She weeps! Poor
dear! He has deserted her! The idea of deserting such a pretty child!
and such a sweet, unfortunate mother! Why, it's perfectly ghastly! he
must have a terribly hard heart.--But cheer up, and dry your tears; I
will not abandon you! No, my mind is made up; I will take care of you
and your child. You shall not leave me. You shall live with me; I will
give you needlework to do; I will teach you to work, and I will have
your child educated under your eyes. My husband is kind, tender-hearted,
and generous; I am perfectly certain that he won't blame me for what I
am doing. He will love you, too, and you shall end your days with us. Do
you understand, poor dear? Don't cry any more, don't worry about your
child. Hereafter you shall be out of reach of want.--Why, look, Monsieur
Menard! she actually throws herself at my feet and kisses my hand, as if
I were a god! What would be the use of wealth, if we could not do a
little good with it?"

"To be charitable, madame, is one of the precepts of the Gospel;
unfortunately, everybody doesn't put it in practice as you do!"

"But it's high time to think about arranging a room for this young
woman," said Constance, leading Sister Anne back to the house. "After
all the fatigue she has undergone, she must feel the need of rest. Where
shall we put her? Oh! I know; in that little building adjoining the
greenhouse in the garden. My husband intended to make a study of it; but
he can work in his own room. Yes, that is what we'll do. Be kind enough
to give orders accordingly, Monsieur Menard. Have a bed taken there, and
everything she needs for the night; to-morrow, I will have it properly
arranged. She will be quiet there, and she will have her son with her
and can take him to walk in the garden in the morning."

Menard went to tell the servants to prepare a room in the pavilion in
the garden. Meanwhile, Constance remained with Sister Anne, who was
unable to express her boundless gratitude; her features were beginning
already to lose their haggard, hopeless look. As she looked at her,
Constance found her face more and more interesting; the dumb girl in no
respect resembled those beggars who seem determined to extort alms by
lamentations and importunities, and who receive it without gratitude.
Sister Anne was meek and shrinking; she was amazed at the interest she
inspired; her gratitude could be read in her eyes; and in her whole
bearing, her whole aspect, there was something which seemed to indicate
that she was not born in the lowest rank of society.

"The more I look at her," thought Constance, "the more surprised I am
that anyone could have deserted her. Her features are refined, her eyes
sweet and full of charm. How lovely she will be in other clothes!--And
you, dear love, ah! I will take good care of you!"

Menard announced that everything was ready in the pavilion for the
reception of the poor woman and her son. Constance took Sister Anne's
arm and led her thither, made sure that she had everything that she
needed for the night, and left her, urging her not to grieve any more,
but to go to bed and sleep.

Sister Anne pressed her hand to her heart, and Constance said to Menard
as they walked away:

"Now the time won't seem so long while Frederic is away! I realize that
the best way to divert one's thoughts from one's own troubles is to
relieve those of other people."




XXIX

ARRIVAL OF DUBOURG.--THE STORM GATHERS


On waking the next morning, Sister Anne feared for a moment that all
that she saw was an illusion of her eyesight. After suffering the most
horrible tortures of destitution; after wandering so long, often unable
to obtain a place to lay her head and her son's; after going through all
that a mother can go through who trembles every moment for her child's
life--to find herself in a handsome and comfortable apartment, lying in
a soft bed, and with her mind at rest concerning her future; instead of
the cold contempt of pity, to receive the loving attentions of a
noble-hearted woman, who added tenfold to the value of her kind acts by
the grace with which she did them--was to pass abruptly into a situation
so entirely different, that her softened heart feared to give way to the
enjoyment of a happiness in which it could not as yet believe.

Sister Anne embraced little Frederic; then rose and took him into the
garden, which surrounded on all sides the building in which she was
lodged. What a lovely spot! what bliss to live there, and guide her
child's first hesitating steps! He tried to run about alone among the
paths bordered by roses and lilacs; when he fell, the soft gravel
deadened his fall, and the child waited, smiling, for his mother to come
and help him to start afresh.

Constance was awake very early; she had thought all night of the dumb
girl and her son; her determination to be their benefactress made it
impossible for her to sleep; for pleasure has its insomnia, and women
display in all their decisions more ardor and more sentiment than men.
If they sometimes seem to be unduly engrossed by a piece of jewelry or
some other trivial object, with what energy and what heartfelt sympathy
do they perform a good deed!

Madame de Montreville hurried down into the garden to see her protegee.
She found Sister Anne and the child under an arbor of honeysuckle. The
boy was playing by his mother, who, when she saw Constance, flew to meet
her, and seized one of her hands, which she held for a long time to her
heart.

"Up so early!" said Constance, as she kissed little Frederic; "how did
you pass the night? Well? I am glad. After so much trouble and fatigue,
you needed a long rest. The dear boy! see how he smiles at me; one would
think that he recognizes me already. But you must not continue to wear
those clothes; come with me and I will give you one of my dresses. It
will fit you, for we're very nearly of the same size. Oh! I won't allow
you to refuse; remember that you must obey me, or I shall be angry."

Constance took Sister Anne and little Frederic to her own room, where
she selected one of her simplest gowns and compelled her protegee to put
it on. In that new costume the dumb girl seemed to acquire new charms,
and her timidity and embarrassment were entirely free from the
awkwardness which characterizes so many people in clothes that were not
made for them.

"She is charming," said Constance, when she had summoned her maid and
had caused her to arrange the young woman's hair, quite simply, but with
excellent taste. "How lovely she is so! And in a few days, when she has
entirely recovered from her fatigue, when her cheeks have a little
color, she'll be lovelier still.--Come, come and look at yourself, and
don't lower your eyes. Is it anything to be ashamed of that one is
pretty?"

Constance led Sister Anne in front of a mirror. The dumb girl looked at
her own image, hesitatingly at first; but she soon recovered her
self-possession to some extent, and her face flushed with modest
pleasure. Is it possible for a woman to be insensible to anything that
beautifies her? Sister Anne, after looking at herself for several
minutes, fell at Madame de Montreville's knees.

"Oh! I don't want you to do this any more," said Constance, raising her;
"I want you to love me and to be happy, that's all. As for your son, I
propose to make him handsome, too, and I will send to Paris for whatever
is necessary."

Monsieur Menard, whose sleep had not been interfered with by thoughts of
the wayfarer, came down at last, and was thunderstruck when he saw
Sister Anne in such different guise.

"Well, Monsieur Menard, what do you think of her?"

"Faith! madame, she is so much improved that I should not recognize
her."

"Because in her other clothes you saw nothing but her misery, and
overlooked the refinement of her features."

"It is an undeniable fact that misery is a great disfigurement. Indeed,
a handsome setting adds to the charm of everything. We cannot dine so
satisfactorily when the cloth is soiled, and the commonest wine tastes
much better in a dainty glass."

Constance was busy all day with her plans for Sister Anne. The room on
the first floor of the pavilion was arranged, and supplied with
everything that could make it more attractive. By Madame de
Montreville's orders a pretty cradle was procured, and placed beside the
young mother's bed. The windows were embellished with flowers in boxes.

"She is debarred from other enjoyments," said Constance; "books and
music are useless to her; as yet, the poor child doesn't know how to do
anything, so we must surround her with things that are pleasing to the
eye."

Sister Anne was at a loss to express her gratitude for such overwhelming
kindness. Constance was much amused by the astonishment which each new
thing caused her. Above all, when she heard for the first time the notes
of a piano, blended with Constance's sweet voice, was she conscious of a
fascination, an intoxicating pleasure, which moved her to tears. The
charm of music was keenly appreciated by that ardent soul, which knew
not the art of concealing its sensations.

As she watched Constance sew and embroider, Sister Anne sighed and
revealed her grief at her inability to do as much. But Constance
undertook to teach her; and the dumb girl was so anxious to make herself
useful, that in a very short time she did all that she saw others do.

A week had passed since Constance had taken Sister Anne and the child
into her family, and every hour seemed to increase her affection for
them. The child very soon learned to love her, for she lavished caresses
upon him; and Sister Anne, always gentle, attentive, and grateful,
proved to her that her benefactions were well bestowed.

One morning, while the dumb girl was walking with her son in the garden,
Dubourg appeared at his friend's house; the quarter was more than half
gone, and Constance, who knew something of Dubourg's habits from her
husband, was not at all surprised at his arrival.

"Welcome!" she said; "you promised my husband that you would come to see
me while he was away, and I was beginning to be offended with you."

"Madame," said Dubourg, with a smile, "I am not one of those friends who
undertake to make a wife forget her husband; but if I have it in my
power to entertain you, I am entirely at your service until next
quarter-day; or the whole year, if I can be of any use to you."

"Oh! you will find a change here; I have someone with me. I have made a
new acquaintance since Frederic went away."

"Indeed! I am sure that it is an acquaintance which will be agreeable to
your husband too."

"Why, I hope so."

"My dear Dubourg," said Menard, "madame does not tell you that she has
taken into her family an unfortunate woman and her son; she doesn't
boast of her good deeds."

"Hush, Monsieur Menard! as if that young woman did not deserve all that
I have done for her! Could I have placed my benefactions more wisely?"

"I agree that she has learned to work beautifully; I expect very soon to
teach her to read."

"You will see, Monsieur Dubourg, how pretty and how interesting she is.
And then, her child, a boy of two, is a charming little fellow."

"Ah! she has a son, has she?"

"Yes; and I am sure that you will agree with me that he looks like----
But I want you to see for yourself; I will go and find her."

Constance was already in the garden.

"The dear soul!" said Dubourg; "what a happy mortal Frederic ought to
be! And yet, here he is travelling already!"

"Business before everything, my dear Dubourg.--A pinch of snuff, if you
please. My pupil has come into extensive estates, through his wife, and
a man ought to be familiar with his estates."

"But why not take his wife with him? Don't you think that she would have
been very glad to go along?"

"I don't say she wouldn't, but---- What a fellow you are! always harping
on the same subject!"

"Hum! I trust that this journey doesn't conceal some scheme! I know that
Frederic would be terribly sorry to cause his wife the slightest pain;
but I know also that such sentimental fellows as he take fire when they
hear a woman sigh!"

"I tell you that my pupil is visiting his estates, deuce take it!--What
about dominoes? are you beginning to be strong at it?"

"Much stronger than you, who can never guess where the double-six is.
But let us join Madame de Montreville; I am curious to see this woman
she has taken under her wing."

"She's a woman whom you will find it hard not to agree with, for there
can't be a quarrel without a dispute; now, when there's no dispute,
there can't be a quarrel; and there can't be a dispute in this case,
because----"

But Dubourg was not listening; he was already in the garden, where he
saw Madame de Montreville in the distance, with a child in her arms, and
beside her a young woman dressed in a simple white gown. He walked
toward them; the young woman saw him and ran, yes, flew to his side,
seized his arm, and gazed at him in anxious suspense; while Dubourg
stood like one petrified, for he had recognized Sister Anne.

"Mon Dieu! what has happened to her?" Constance asked Dubourg, who was
completely bewildered to find the dumb girl, in such a different
costume, walking with Constance, who was carrying her son in her arms.
"What an extraordinary effect your presence has produced on her! See how
she looks at you! She seems to be questioning you with those eloquent
eyes. Do you know this poor child?"

"Why, no--that is, yes, yes, I saw her once; but she was so different
then; in this dress--and with this child--faith, I did not recognize
her!"

Dubourg was confused and embarrassed; he did not know what he ought to
say, and Sister Anne still held his arm, while her eyes implored him to
speak.

"What! you know her?" said Constance, in surprise; "but what does she
want of you now? can't you guess what it is that she seems to want to
know?"

"Oh! I beg your pardon--I begin to understand. I knew this poor girl's
lover, and she is trying to ask me about him."

"Well, answer her, then, at once; see! her eyes are full of tears."

"Faith! I have nothing pleasant to tell her; her seducer has gone
abroad, and, in all probability, she will never see him again.--I don't
know what has become of him," he said to Sister Anne; "I have never seen
him since, any more than you. And so, my dear child, you must try to
forget him."

Sister Anne, who had listened with the closest attention to every word
that fell from Dubourg's lips, dropped her head on her breast when he
had finished; then she went and sat down under a tree, and gave free
vent to her grief and her tears.

"Poor woman!" said Constance; "alas! she still loves the man who
deserted her. Who could have abused her innocence so heartlessly?"

"He was a young painter, madame; he was travelling at the time--for his
instruction. While in search of fine views, he fell in with Sister
Anne--for that is her name. She is, I believe, the child of peasants;
but I can't say so with certainty, for I do not know her family;
however, my friend saw her and fell in love with her. These painters
have flighty imaginations--and a child was the result. That's all that I
know; I never saw this girl but once, when I was riding with my friend."

"In my eyes, he is very blameworthy. You men treat such affairs very
lightly. To seduce a woman, and then abandon her, is, in your eyes, a
mere youthful escapade, of which, indeed, you often boast!"

"Oh! madame, I can flatter myself that I never seduced anybody."

"I am speaking generally; but I am very certain that my Frederic never
did as so many thoughtless, heedless young men do! He is too sensitive,
too loving, to try to deceive a young and inexperienced heart. See what
horrible results such reckless conduct may have! This poor child,
finding that she was enceinte, must have left her parents and fled from
her native place. Without money, and bereft of that organ which is so
necessary in the world, she travelled through city and country at
random, and exposed to all the horrors of want. The unhappy creature!
how she must have suffered! Oh! if you had seen her when I took her in,
she would have made your heart ache. But she has found a friend now; I
will not desert her, and, if I cannot make her altogether happy, she
will not, at all events, have to dread want while she is with me."

Dubourg made no reply; the sight of Sister Anne gave him too much to
think about.

"Your presence has renewed her grief by recalling her seducer," said
Constance; "go away for a moment, and I will try to comfort her,
although I am well aware that for such griefs there is no comfort. Could
I enjoy a moment's happiness if Frederic should forget me? But she has
her son at least, and his caresses will allay her sorrow."

Constance carried little Frederic to his mother and placed him on her
knees, while Dubourg walked quickly back to the house and joined Menard,
who did not know what to think when he saw his former travelling
companion's horrified expression.

"All is lost, Monsieur Menard!" cried Dubourg, halting in front of the
tutor.

"What? what is lost? King Stanislas's berlin or the King of Prussia's
snuff-box? You know perfectly well that I am not to be taken in in that
way again."

"Oh! let's hear no more of all that nonsense! This is a very serious
matter, involving the happiness and peace of mind of Frederic and his
wife."

"I'll bet that it's not true; you're going to tell me some new fairy
tale to lead me into a trap; but _non me ludit amabilis insania_."

"Will you listen to me, Monsieur Menard? Morbleu! how could a man of
your years fail to anticipate what has happened?"

"What do you mean by that? a man of my years! I beg that you will
explain yourself, Monsieur Dubourg."

"You allow Madame de Montreville to take into her house, to install
there----"

"Whom, in heaven's name?"

"Whom! morbleu! the girl for whom Frederic made a fool of himself; the
girl who turned his head, and with whom he lived six weeks in the woods;
the girl whom he adored then, and whom, for all I know, he loves still;
for a man's heart is beyond comprehension! In short, Sister Anne, the
dumb girl of the woods, of Vizille, is the one whom Madame de
Montreville now has in her house!"

"Mon Dieu! what do I hear?"

"Do you mean to say you didn't recognize her?"

"Recognize her! a girl I never saw but once, and then at a distance? I
don't scrutinize young women as you do, monsieur; and could I suspect,
did I know, that she was dumb? did anyone tell me so? No; no one tells
me anything, and then they expect me to know everything by divination!
You young men are inconceivable! do you suppose I should know Latin if I
had never learned it?"

"Well! you know it now."

"Parbleu! I was thrashed often enough to know it! Gad! how many stripes
I got for the _Epitome_, and how many _pensums_ for Phaedrus's fables!"

"Great heaven! Monsieur Menard, I am talking about Sister Anne, who is
here in this house, with Frederic's wife."

"I understand, I understand perfectly."

"When Frederic returns, she will see him; her excitement, her tears, and
her caresses will betray the truth. Just think of Madame de
Montreville's feelings, when the husband whom she adores and believes to
be a model of fidelity finds in his house a mistress and a child--a
child, above all!"

"Yes, yes; I realize all that."

"Well, then, speak! what are we to do?"

"I have no idea."

"It is impossible to let Sister Anne live under the same roof as
Frederic."

"Of course; it's most embarrassing! But she was so wretched!"

"Do you think that I mean to abandon her? I've only sixteen hundred
francs a year, but I would gladly sacrifice it all to prevent her
presence from disturbing the happiness of this young couple. Yes; I will
work for my living, if necessary, or I'll pass the whole of every
quarter with Frederic; but that young woman and her child shall be
placed beyond the reach of want."

"That is very noble, my dear Dubourg, and if I had any property--but I
have nothing save my old classics, which wouldn't be of any use to her,
because she can't read."

"But how are we to set about inducing Sister Anne to leave this house?"

"That would be a very hard task: Madame de Montreville is very fond of
her, and is wild over the child; she thinks that he looks like my
pupil--Frederic. By the way, I can conceive a reason for that
resemblance now."

"I don't know what to do; I can think of nothing. When does Frederic
return?"

"In a week; we have plenty of time."

"Time! a week will soon be gone; and if he finds Sister Anne here!"

"Why, it seems to me that we might tell the girl not to speak."

"Of course she won't speak; but her gestures, the expression of her
face, will say enough."

"Indeed! well, I give you my word that I often can't understand her at
all."

Dubourg tortured his brain to find some method of sending away Sister
Anne and her son. Menard sat with his eyes fixed on his snuff-box, and
pretended to be equally engrossed by that subject, but in reality his
thoughts were full of a pate of hare which had arrived from Paris the
night before, and which they were to attack at dinner.

Constance returned to the house with the dumb girl and the child; Sister
Anne's face still bore traces of suffering, but she was calmer and more
resigned; when she saw Dubourg, she smiled sadly at him, and presented
her son, at whom he gazed with interest, dismayed by the striking
resemblance between his features and his father's.

"Don't you think he's a lovely boy?" said Constance.

"Yes, madame," Dubourg replied, as he kissed the child; "he's very
pretty."

"Does he look like his father?"

"Very much."

"And don't you think he has a look of my husband?"

"Oh! not the slightest!"

"That's strange; it impressed me at once. His name is Frederic, too, the
dear child; I believe that I love him the more for that."

As she spoke, Constance took the child in her arms; Sister Anne watched
her, deeply moved, and Dubourg turned his face away to conceal the
sensations aroused by that scene.

During the rest of the day, Dubourg cudgelled his brain to think how he
could bring about Sister Anne's departure from Madame de Montreville's
house, but he could not decide upon any plan. How was he to remove her
from a luxurious home, where the most affectionate attentions were
lavished upon her, and where her son was overwhelmed with caresses?
Would not Sister Anne, far from consenting to such a plan, refuse to see
therein anything more than shocking ingratitude, of which her loving,
grateful heart was utterly incapable? To tell her that Constance's
husband was her seducer would not avail to induce her to go away, for
her intense longing to see Frederic would prevail in her heart over
every other consideration. She conceived herself to be united to her
lover by the oaths they had exchanged; could she imagine that another
woman had rights, more sacred at least, if not more equitable, than her
own?

Dubourg dared not risk that method, and he tormented himself in vain to
find another. At last he went to Menard, and said to him:

"Well, have you thought of any expedient to induce Sister Anne to leave
this house?"

And Menard, after taking a pinch of snuff and reflecting for five
minutes, led Dubourg into a corner and replied in an undertone:

"I can't think of anything at all."

While talking with Constance, Dubourg tried to persuade her to send the
dumb girl to live on one of her estates at some distance from Paris; but
Madame de Montreville scouted the suggestion with much earnestness.

"Why," she said, "should I deprive myself of this young woman's company,
and of the presence of her son, whom I love as if he belonged to me? If
the unhappy creature were not under my eyes, would she receive all the
attentions that tend to alleviate her position? No; I shall never part
with her; every day I feel that I become more and more attached to her.
If you knew how grateful she is to me for everything I do for her! Ah! I
have read to the very bottom of her heart; I have not misplaced my
benefactions, and I am certain that Frederic will not blame me."

"Well," said Dubourg to himself, "I have done all I could; and even if I
should give myself the jaundice trying to separate these two women, I
fancy that I shouldn't succeed; I'll just let things take their course,
and see what happens. The most that I can do will be to warn Frederic
when he comes home."

On the evening after Dubourg's arrival, Constance said to him:

"I want you to see what pleasure my unfortunate companion derives from
music; when she hears me play and sing, it always seems to me as if she
were going to speak."

She took Sister Anne's hand and led her to a seat near the piano; the
dumb girl was more melancholy than usual; Dubourg's presence had revived
all her sorrows; however, she smiled at her benefactress, and did her
utmost to appear less downcast.

Constance had played several pieces, when she said:

"I believe I have never sung her that pretty little thing that my
husband likes so much."

She played the prelude to the air. Dubourg paid little attention to the
music; he was still thinking of the strange chance that had brought
Sister Anne and Frederic's wife together. Menard was sitting in a corner
of the salon, doing all that he could to understand the music; and
little Frederic was playing near his mother, who listened intently to
her benefactress.

Constance had no sooner sung the first words of the ballad than Sister
Anne manifested an emotion which seemed to increase with every measure;
she leaned toward the singer, listening with all her ears, and hardly
breathing; her whole body shook, all her faculties were absorbed by an
overpowering memory; and before Constance had finished the first stanza,
a deadly pallor overspread the dumb girl's features; she uttered a
plaintive moan, and fainted.

Intent upon her music as she was, Constance had not observed Sister
Anne's agitation; but when she heard her groan, she sprang to her feet
and flew to her side.

"Great God!" she exclaimed; "what is the matter with her? She is
unconscious!"

Dubourg hastened to her assistance, while Menard ran to fetch salts and
call the servants.

"Can you imagine what upset her? She was listening to me with evident
pleasure, and suddenly she fainted."

"Madame," said Dubourg, attempting to take advantage of this incident,
"haven't you noticed that this young woman is not always in her right
mind; that there are moments when she seems--rather light-headed?"

"Why, no; I have never noticed anything of the sort. Since she has been
here, she has always been very reasonable, and her depression seems
perfectly natural to me. Poor dear! she doesn't open her eyes."

"Oh! this will amount to nothing; probably her emotion when she saw me
this morning is the cause of her swoon."

"I am inclined to think so."

Menard returned, armed with a dozen bottles of salts. For a long while,
all their efforts were unavailing: Sister Anne did not recover
consciousness, and Constance was in despair; at last, a long-drawn sigh
announced that the sufferer was returning to life, and she soon opened
her eyes. Her first thought was for her son; he was too young to realize
his mother's danger, and had not interrupted his play. Sister Anne took
him in her arms and kissed him, then looked at all those who stood about
her, as if to thank them for their kindness.

"Come with me, and go to bed," said Madame de Montreville; "all your
sorrow has been revived to-day, and you must forget it in sleep."

But, instead of following her, Sister Anne took her hand, led her to the
piano, and motioned to her to sit down again.

"No, to-morrow," said Constance; "the music excites you too much. I will
sing to you to-morrow."

Sister Anne clasped her hands, and her glance was so expressive, it
besought her so earnestly to do what she desired, that Constance had not
the heart to refuse; she seated herself at the piano, while Menard
observed _sotto voce_:

"That young woman is passionately fond of music; it would be a good idea
to teach her to play."

Constance began an air, but Sister Anne stopped her and shook her head
emphatically, as if to say: "Not that."--Thereupon she played another,
but still the dumb girl was not satisfied. At last, Constance remembered
that she was singing a ballad when she was interrupted; she sang it
again, and had no sooner begun it than Sister Anne's emotion and the
strained attention with which she listened showed plainly enough that
that was what she wanted to hear.

"Just see how this ballad excites her!" said Constance; "it's the one
Frederic always liked so much!"

The words were hardly out of her mouth, when Sister Anne seized her
hand, pressed it with all her strength, and nodded her head. Madame de
Montreville did not understand her pantomime; she looked at Dubourg, who
said in an undertone:

"I assure you that there are times when she doesn't know what she is
doing. She thinks that she sees her lover everywhere; love has turned
her brain."

Sister Anne's agitation partially subsided; the tears forced their way
to the surface and relieved the strain. Constance gazed at her with
emotion, repeating again and again:

"Poor child! what a guilty wretch he was to desert you!"

For several minutes everybody was silent. Constance resorted to her
usual method of allaying the young mother's suffering: she took little
Frederic in her arms and carried him to her. She looked up gratefully at
her benefactress, and, having covered her son with kisses, rose and
prepared to go to her room.

Constance insisted on accompanying her to the pavilion; there she left
her, after urging her anew to be brave.

"Your troubles will come to an end before long, I hope," she said. "Yes,
your seducer will certainly return to sentiments more worthy of the man
you love; he cannot have forgotten you entirely. Dubourg may not be
accurately informed. Dry your tears; some day you will see him again;
and how can he ever leave you after you put this darling boy in his
arms?"

These comforting words went to Sister Anne's heart; she welcomed the
soothing hope that Constance held out to her, and parted from her
somewhat less unhappy. Madame de Montreville returned slowly to her
apartment; the sight of the suffering of the woman she had saved from
want made her sad; Frederic was not there to divert her thoughts and
make her forget everything but her own happiness; she had never been
separated from him for so long a time, and his absence tended to
increase her melancholy.

Menard had retired, after saying to Dubourg:

"This has been rather a tempestuous day."

"Ah!" was the reply; "I apprehend a much more violent storm! If that
young woman fainted simply because she heard the ballad that Frederic
used to sing to her, what will happen to her when she sees him again,
and when she learns that he is another woman's husband? I tell you,
Monsieur Menard, I can't think of anything else!"

"I can well believe it; it has taken away my appetite!"

"Let us try to ward off that catastrophe."

"Let us ward it off; I ask nothing better."

"Remember that the repose, the happiness, yes, even the honor, of your
pupil are at stake, and that his sins will rebound on you."

"I beg your pardon: a mistake in syntax, or in Latin verses, I agree;
but I never taught him to seduce innocent girls; it was rather your evil
counsels that perverted him."

"Monsieur Menard!"

"Monsieur Dubourg!"

"Let's go to bed."

"_Recte dicis._"




XXX

FREDERIC'S RETURN.--CONSTANCE AND SISTER ANNE


Dubourg had been Madame de Montreville's guest for ten days, and during
those ten days he had not ceased his efforts to invent some means of
warding off the effect that the sight of Frederic would surely produce
on Sister Anne. He saw that Constance's attachment to her protegee and
the latter's gratitude to her benefactress increased from day to day. To
separate them seemed more difficult than ever; Constance frequently said
that she could not do without Sister Anne and her son, and the young
mother seemed to feel her grief less keenly by her side.

Frederic was expected at any moment; indeed, he was already overdue.
Constance was worried by his delay; she was less cheerful than usual,
and her eyes were often wet with tears. At such times, Sister Anne
strove to comfort her, and to say to her by signs that her husband would
soon return.

"Suppose he no longer loves me!" Constance would say sometimes; and the
dumb girl would take her hand and lead her before a mirror, as if to
say:

"Look at yourself; can anyone help loving you?"

"Alas!" Constance would reply; "someone forgot you very quickly, and you
are as pretty as I am!"

The Comte de Montreville, who had promised to pass a few days in the
country, was detained by the gout. Dubourg was not sorry; he preferred
that he should not be a witness of the recognition he dreaded; he had no
idea that the count knew Sister Anne.

At last, Constance received a letter from her husband: he wrote her that
unforeseen circumstances had delayed his return, but that he hoped to
arrange everything soon. His letter was affectionate and expansive; he
seemed to be as much in love as ever. Nevertheless, Constance was not
satisfied: to stay away from her so long seemed in itself to indicate
less warmth. Frederic was not there, so she was at liberty to weep;
before him, she concealed her tears. As always, it was to Sister Anne
that she confided her troubles; on her bosom she poured out her tears
and found consolation.

Dubourg saw in this delay so much time gained.

"Let us try to make use of it to prevent an interview between the
lovers," he said to Menard.

"Let's prevent it; I agree with you."

"But I've been trying for ten days to think up some expedient, and I
can't find anything."

"Faith! then I'm luckier than you, for I found something the day before
yesterday."

"What! if that's so, for heaven's sake tell me what it is!"

"It's my receipt for making milk punch, which I thought I had lost."

On leaving home, Frederic had gone at once to the farm to ascertain the
whereabouts of Sister Anne, and of his son, whom he ardently desired to
embrace. But when he arrived there, he learned from the worthy peasants
that the lone girl had started for Paris with her child long before.
Frederic did not know what to do, and what caused him the greatest
distress was that a messenger from his father followed close on his
heels, bringing, as usual, money and divers other things for her whom
the count called his liberatress; which fact proved that he was unaware
that Sister Anne had left the farm, and that she had failed to find her
friend's house in Paris.

Frederic was distressed beyond words; the people at the farm shared his
disappointment. They regretted that they had allowed Sister Anne to go;
but how could they have opposed her resolution with success? What had
become of her? what was she doing in Paris, without friends or
protector? If they had known that the unfortunate girl had been
heartlessly robbed of all that she possessed, their grief would have
been greater.

Frederic remained only one day at the farm; he started back toward
Paris, and all along the road tried to obtain some information that
might put him on Sister Anne's track. On reaching Paris, he did not go
home; he did not wish his presence in the city to be known, because he
desired his wife to remain in ignorance of it, so that he might have
time to institute a search for the dumb girl and her son. For more than
a week he searched the vast city, visiting the most deserted as well as
the most populous quarters, often going up to rooms under the eaves, and
asking everywhere if anyone had seen a young woman who could not speak
and who had a child. But his search was fruitless; he did not obtain a
shred of information to put him on Sister Anne's track. With an aching
heart, he decided at last to return to Constance; he was very far from
thinking that he would find there those whom he had been seeking so
long.

Every day, Dubourg lay in ambush on one road, and stationed Menard as a
sentry on the other to notify him if he should see Frederic coming. As
the country house could not be reached except by those two roads, he
felt certain of not missing him. But one morning, Menard, having taken
his Horace with him, became so interested in an ode he was reading, that
the man for whom he was watching passed him unnoticed. Frederic entered
the house and hurried to Constance's room, where she was sitting, alone,
thinking of her husband.

She looked up, uttered a joyful cry, and flew into his arms. All the
pain of separation was instantly forgotten on her husband's breast.
Frederic responded affectionately to her outbursts of love. After the
first transports of joy had subsided, Constance said:

"During your absence, I have taken an unfortunate woman into the house.
Oh! I hope that you will love her as I do."

"Whatever you do is well done, my dear Constance; your heart could never
lead you astray; I am certain beforehand that your benefactions have
been well bestowed."

"Oh! she is such an interesting young thing! a victim of love, and we
women are always sympathetic with that sort of unhappiness. Her seducer
deserted her, with a charming child, whom I am perfectly wild over. His
name is Frederic, like yours.--Why, what's the matter, dear? you are as
pale as a ghost, and all of a tremble!"

"Oh!--fatigue, I fancy--I was in such a hurry to get home!"

Frederic sat down, for his legs were giving way: what Constance had told
him caused him an emotion that he could not control. He looked about
him, shuddering involuntarily.

"And this woman--this child--where are they?" he asked, in a trembling
voice.

"She has a room in the pavilion in the garden. But I see her now.--Come
here, my dear, come quickly," Constance called, running to meet Sister
Anne, who was coming through the hall with her son. "My husband has
returned; oh! I am so happy! Now my happiness is complete!"

She took the dumb girl's hand and drew her into the room, where her
husband was still sitting. At sight of Frederic, Sister Anne uttered a
heartrending shriek; she ran to him, threw herself into his arms,
pointed to her son, and lost consciousness.

With one hand Frederic supported Sister Anne, whose lifeless head lay
against his breast; with the other he covered his eyes, as if he were
afraid to look about him. His son was at his feet, still holding his
mother's hand, and Constance, speechless with amazement and trembling
from head to foot, stood before them.

In an instant a thousand conflicting sensations seemed to be at work in
Constance's breast. She changed color her eyes expressed surprise and
apprehension; she shuddered, and seemed to be trying to banish the
thought that had forced itself upon her mind. But her glance, resting
alternately on Sister Anne and her husband, strove to discover the
truth. Her first impulse was to run to Sister Anne and take her from
Frederic's arms.

"What is the matter? Why did the sight of you put her in such a
condition?" she faltered, looking at Frederic. "Answer me, dear; do you
know this young woman?"

Frederic had not the courage to reply, or even to look at Constance. But
his eye fell upon his son, and he took him in his arms and covered him
with kisses; thereupon Constance's heart received a terrible shock, for
the whole truth was laid bare before her.

Dubourg appeared upon the scene, followed by Menard; at sight of
Frederic, he divined all that had happened, and he instantly ran to the
assistance of Sister Anne, crying:

"Fainted again! an attack of madness, I'll wager! I told you before,
this poor creature has times when she loses her reason."

Constance made no reply; she left Sister Anne to the ministrations of
Dubourg and Menard, and returned to her husband, who still held the
child in his arms.

"He is lovely--is he not?" she asked, in a trembling voice, with her
eyes still fastened on Frederic. He did not speak, whereupon Constance
roughly snatched the child from his arms; but soon, repenting of that
impulsive movement, which she could not control, she covered the child
with kisses, crying in a heart-broken tone:

"Poor child! you are not guilty!"

Dubourg and Menard carried Sister Anne away to the pavilion, leaving
Frederic and Constance with the child. Frederic's eyes were fixed on the
floor, as if he were afraid to meet those of Constance, who had seated
herself a few steps away and had taken little Frederic on her knees. She
tried to restrain her tears, but she had not the courage to speak. For
some minutes neither of them broke the silence. At last, Frederic raised
his eyes and saw his wife caressing Sister Anne's son. At that sight he
was on the point of throwing himself at her feet and confessing all,
when Dubourg rushed into the room.

"It's all right! I don't think it will amount to anything," he said,
motioning to Frederic not to betray himself. "That young woman is
subject to attacks of insanity; then she thinks that she sees her lover
everywhere. I have already advised madame more than once not to keep
her in the house."

"Really," faltered Frederic, trying to recover his self-possession, "I
am utterly unable to understand what has happened. I was so agitated by
that poor creature's condition--that I didn't realize what I was doing."

Constance said nothing; she simply looked from her husband to Dubourg.

"I'll take her son to her," said the latter, walking toward Constance to
take the child.

"Let him stay," said Constance; "Frederic will do that."

Frederic was thrown into confusion again; he could not support his
wife's glance. In vain did Dubourg whisper:

"Come, come, morbleu! have your wits about you. Remember that, for her
own happiness, you must deceive her."

At that moment Menard appeared, in a comical state of dismay.

"She has recovered her senses," he said to Dubourg, in an undertone;
"but it's impossible to make her stay quietly in her room! She's a
perfect devil! She insists on seeing him. She's running about the garden
like a madwoman."

"Why did you leave her?"

And Dubourg hurried from the room.

"What is the matter?" said Constance; "is she worse?"

"No, madame," replied Menard, who had no idea what he ought to say or
do; "but, I'm afraid--her head--these women--love--_quid femina
possit_."

"I will go and look after her," said Constance; "I will take her her
son, and perhaps, when she sees him---- Aren't you coming with me,
Frederic; won't you add your efforts to mine to pacify the poor,
unhappy creature?"

Frederic hesitated; he did not know what it was best for him to do. He
longed to see Sister Anne, whose terrible plight had torn his heart; but
he was afraid of betraying himself when he saw her. At that moment, they
heard cries in the garden; they looked out and saw Sister Anne running
hither and thither, pursued by the servants and Dubourg. The former,
when they saw how intensely excited she was, rushing in all directions,
with her hair flying in the wind, had no doubt that she had lost her
reason; and Dubourg confirmed them in that idea, which might prevent
their guessing the truth.

But Sister Anne spied Frederic at one of the windows on the ground
floor; instantly she rushed in that direction, entered the room, and, in
the twinkling of an eye, threw herself into Frederic's arms, pushing
away Constance, who stood beside him, and looking at her with a jealous
and at the same time anxious expression, as if to say:

"I alone have the right to be here."

The servants halted in the doorway and gazed at the picture before them.
Constance felt a terrible sinking at the heart when she saw Sister Anne
in her husband's arms; but she retained sufficient strength to walk
toward the servants and say in a trembling voice:

"Go, my friends; this unhappy woman is not in her right mind, but we
shall be able to pacify her."

The servants retired; Menard had gone in search of Dubourg, to whom he
always had recourse at difficult crises; Sister Anne was left alone with
her son and Frederic and Constance.

The dumb girl seemed as if she would attach herself inseparably to
Frederic, who had not the courage to push her away. She smiled at him,
she took his hands and held them to her heart, then pointed to their
son. At the same time, she glanced uneasily at Constance, who was seated
a few steps away, with her face hidden in her hands, unable to endure
that scene. But her tears were suffocating her; they burst forth at
last, and she sobbed as if her heart would break. Sister Anne shuddered.
Constance's grief seemed to touch her to the quick. Frederic could
contain himself no longer; he ran and threw himself at his wife's feet;
but she, without looking at him, gently repulsed him.

"Go, go," she said; "this unhappy girl has more claim to your love than
I; this child is your son. Console her for all she has suffered since
you deserted her. I know the whole truth now. No; she has not lost her
reason; she has found her seducer, the father of her child!"

Frederic was thunderstruck. Pale and trembling, he remained at
Constance's feet; and Sister Anne, with her eyes fixed upon his face,
seemed to be waiting to hear what he would say. But Frederic seized his
wife's hand and covered it with tears and kisses; at that sight a
plaintive moan escaped the dumb girl, and again she fell unconscious to
the floor.

Constance hastened to her assistance.

"Leave us," she said to Frederic; "your presence is too painful to her.
Oh! you can trust her to me; I shall be no different to her from what I
have always been."

Frederic made no reply, but left the room, in a state of complete
bewilderment. He met Dubourg and Menard hurrying toward him.

"The pretence is of no avail," he said; "Constance has divined the
truth; she knows all."

"As she knows all," said Menard, "we mustn't conceal anything more from
her."

Constance lavished upon Sister Anne the most zealous attention. At last,
the dumb girl opened her eyes. When they fell upon Frederic's wife, her
first impulse was to push her away; then she looked about in search of
Frederic. Constance beckoned to the child, who held out his little arms
to his mother. Sister Anne seemed touched by Constance's conduct; she
looked at her with less jealousy, but she shuddered from head to foot,
her teeth chattered violently, her eyes closed again, and a ghastly
pallor overspread her cheeks.

Constance ordered the servants to carry her to the pavilion, where she
was put to bed. She was in a raging fever, and was really delirious. Her
eyes rolled from side to side with an expression of intense anxiety; she
recognized nobody, and even repulsed her son.

"Poor dear! I will not abandon you," said Constance; and she passed the
whole day beside Sister Anne's bed. Not until evening, when she found
that she was a little calmer, did she decide to leave her; but she left
her in charge of faithful and willing servants, intending to return
frequently to ascertain her condition.

She returned to her own apartment, where Frederic awaited her. How
different was that day, which reunited them, from those that they had
previously passed together! Constance said nothing; her heart was drawn
hither and thither by a multitude of conflicting emotions; her bosom
rose and fell convulsively, but she tried to conceal her suffering and
to appear calm before her husband. Frederic stood before her,
motionless, like a criminal awaiting his doom; her kindness made him
keenly alive to his wrong-doing. At last he approached her, not daring
to speak, and fell at her feet.

"What are you doing?" said Constance, gently; "why do you kneel at my
feet? You are not guilty toward me. Ah! it would be more just for you to
kneel at the feet of her whom you have betrayed and deserted! I have no
right to complain: your fault is only too common among men. You knew
this poor girl before your marriage. She has become a mother. But, in
the world, your conduct would be considered perfectly natural and
proper. Far from blaming you, society would perhaps applaud you for
forgetting a woman who could not be your wife. But, I confess, I thought
that you were different from the heedless rakes who pride themselves on
the tears of which they are the cause. What lamentable results your
fault has had! If you only knew all that the unhappy creature has
suffered! She was in the last stages of destitution, actually dying of
starvation, when I took her in; yes, dying of starvation--with your son
in her arms. Oh! Frederic! do you realize what your remorse would have
been? You weep? Ah! my dear, let your tears flow; I would rather lose
your heart than believe that it was capable of utter lack of feeling.
Listen: you have found your child's mother; you must not abandon her
again. If you will leave everything to me, I will assure her future; she
shall live in a house which I will buy for her in some pleasant place in
the country; she shall want nothing. Her son is a dear boy; I would have
liked to be a mother to him, but it would be a horrible thing to
separate her from her child. He shall have a good education. When he has
grown up, you shall decide his fate; and be assured that I shall never
consider anything that you do for him more than you ought to do. That is
what I propose to do for the woman you once loved. But it may be that
this plan does not satisfy you. Perhaps, on seeing the poor girl again,
the love that she formerly inspired in you has revived. Perhaps you love
her still. Oh! Frederic, I entreat you to be sincere with me; let me
read in the bottom of your heart. There is no sacrifice of which I am
not capable to make you happy. Yes, my dear; I shall be able to endure
anything--except the sight of your regret for another. If you love
her--if you still feel drawn to her--I will go away, I will bury myself
on one of our estates; you will not see me again, and you will be at
liberty to keep the mother of your child with you."

Constance could no longer hold back the tears that were suffocating her.
She had made a prolonged effort to restrain her feelings, but her
courage gave way when she proposed to Frederic that they should part.

"I, leave you!" he cried, throwing his arms about her. "Oh! Constance,
can you believe that I have ceased for one instant to love you? No, I
swear to you, you alone possess my heart! I realize the wrong I have
done; I propose to assure Sister Anne's future; I must do it. Could I
help feeling profoundly moved when I saw her again? And the child--I
love him, and I propose to see to his future welfare and happiness; for
that you cannot blame me. I approve all your plans; I know the goodness
of your heart, the nobility of your soul. How few wives would have acted
as you have done! Command me: send Sister Anne away; let her go
to-morrow."

"To-morrow! oh! no, dear. The poor child is ill--very ill! she shall not
leave this place until she has fully recovered. So long as she is
here--you must avoid seeing her; your presence can do her nothing but
harm. Promise me that you will not see her; that is the only sacrifice I
ask of you."

"I will do whatever you say."

"When she has recovered, I will go with her myself to her new home, and
I will not leave her until I am certain that she lacks nothing."

Frederic embraced Constance with profound affection; her kindness of
heart made her even dearer to him. A wife ought never to employ any
other weapons; reproaches and complaints repel a husband; gentleness and
indulgence always end by winning back his heart.

In her husband's arms, Constance found happiness once more; he swore to
her that he loved no one but her, and she believed his oaths: could she
live without his love?

Early the next morning, Constance went to the pavilion; and Frederic
sought Dubourg and Menard, to tell them of his wife's noble conduct.

"There aren't many women like her," said Dubourg; "guard her carefully;
you cannot love her too dearly; you have a veritable treasure in her!"

"Madame de Montreville's conduct," said Menard, "is certainly worthy of
one of Plutarch's heroines; and I know of nothing finer in history save
that of Cunegunde, wife of the Emperor Henry II, who grasped a red-hot
iron to prove her chastity."

Sister Anne was still in an alarming condition; she recognized nobody,
but she seemed to be constantly looking for somebody and holding out her
arms to him. Constance looked to it that she wanted nothing; she herself
brought a doctor to her, and installed at her bedside an old
maid-servant, who did not leave her for an instant. Then Constance took
little Frederic and carried him to her husband.

"Love him dearly," she said, as she placed him in his arms; "by making
the child happy, you can best atone for the wrong you have done the
mother. I feel that I, too, love him as if he were my own son. When I
first saw him, a secret presentiment seemed to tell me that he belonged
to you; and that thought made me love him more rather than less."

Frederic embraced his son, who thenceforth passed a large part of the
time with him; for the poor child no longer received the caresses of his
mother, who was still in a raging fever, and delirious, and, for nearly
a fortnight, lay at the gates of death. During that time, Constance
passed whole days and often whole nights in the pavilion, refusing to
leave to another the nursing that the young patient required; she hung
over her pillow, and held her in the most violent paroxysms of her
delirium; she triumphed over fatigue, she was unconscious of suffering,
she devoted her whole attention to Sister Anne; in vain did Frederic,
day after day, urge her to be careful of her own health and to take some
rest.

"Let me nurse her," said Constance; "by devoting myself to her, it seems
to me that I repair a part of the wrong that you have done her."

Frederic had not a moment's peace of mind so long as he knew that Sister
Anne was in danger. He was consumed with the longing to see her again,
but he had promised his wife not to enter her presence; and how could he
break his promise, after all that Constance had done for him? He often
hovered about the pavilion where the poor girl lay, and waited
impatiently for someone to come out from whom he could obtain news of
her condition. But when it was Constance who came out, he concealed a
part of what he felt, afraid to reveal the extent of his interest in the
dumb girl.

Thanks to the unremitting care of Frederic's wife, the patient returned
to life; her delirium ceased, she recognized her child, strained him to
her heart, and refused to be separated from him. When she first saw
Constance again, her whole body quivered; but in a moment she seemed to
recover herself, and seized her benefactress's hand, which she covered
with tears and kisses; it was as if she were trying to ask her
forgiveness for the wrong she had done her.

"Poor girl!" said Constance, affectionately pressing her hand; "I shall
always be the same to you; it is my place to try to make up for your
misfortunes. I am your friend; your child is mine; henceforth his fate
and yours are assured. Oh! don't shake your head--I am simply paying a
debt. Your son is a sweet, lovely boy; his happiness will enable you to
forget your own sorrows some day. Courage! you may yet be happy!"

Sister Anne sighed, and her eyes seemed to say that it was impossible.
Constance herself did not believe that it was possible to forget
Frederic; but it is lawful to lie a little in order to comfort others.
The dumb girl looked about the room, but, in a moment, turned her eyes
again upon her benefactress, as if resigned to her fate.

"I will do what you order me to do," she seemed to say.

Constance informed her husband that Sister Anne was saved, although her
convalescence would be long and slow; the doctor had said that the
invalid would not be able to travel for a long time, but that the
proximity of the garden would afford her an excellent opportunity to
test without injury the return of her strength.

Frederic was overjoyed to learn that his victim was restored to life;
every day the longing to see her, though but for a moment, tormented him
more. Nor was that his only longing: while the dumb girl was very ill,
they had brought his son to him, and he had passed a great part of the
time with him. He had become accustomed to his presence, he had learned
to know the pleasures of a father's love; and that sentiment is not one
of those which time or separation impairs. Frederic, who dared not let
his wife know of his longing to see Sister Anne, had no hesitation in
asking for his son.

"He is his mother's sole consolation now, my dear; do you want to
deprive her of him? Later, when time has allayed her suffering somewhat,
I have no doubt that she will consent to send him to you now and then;
but just at this time she wants him with her every moment."

Frederic said no more, but tried to conceal his feelings; for Constance
was gazing at him as if she would read his inmost thoughts.

Sister Anne recovered her strength very slowly; it was several days
before she was able to go down into the garden with her son, leaning on
Constance's arm. As she supported the convalescent's tottering steps,
Constance glanced anxiously about, dreading to see Frederic, although
she had told him that Sister Anne was coming into the garden, which was
equivalent to asking him not to appear there. Frederic knew that his
presence would certainly cause an agitation that would be dangerous to
the invalid, and he remained in his apartment.

Sister Anne was calmer, but her calmness seemed to be the result of
complete prostration rather than of resignation; she kept her eyes fixed
on the ground, except when she turned them on her son; she did not weep,
but the expression of her face indicated her mental suffering;
meanwhile, her strength constantly increased, and soon she was able to
go out alone with her son, to stroll about the pavilion.

A few days more, and Madame de Montreville was to set out with Sister
Anne and her son for the estate on which she proposed that they should
make their home. Frederic approved his wife's plan, but he was consumed
by the desire to see once more the woman he had loved so dearly, and
whom he was not certain that he did not love still.

He knew that Sister Anne and her son went every morning at daybreak to
sit in an arbor near the pavilion. One morning he rose softly, while
Constance was still asleep; it was almost dawn; he could not resist the
craving to see the dumb girl and her son; he did not mean to speak to
her, or to show himself to her, but only to see her once more. She was
to go away the next day, so that that day was the last on which it would
be possible for him to satisfy the desire that beset him.

He dressed noiselessly and walked to the bed where Constance lay; she
was not resting quietly, but her eyes were closed, she was asleep; he
determined to seize the opportunity, and he stole quickly from the room
and into the garden. The first rays of dawn were just beginning to
dispel the mists of the night; he walked rapidly toward Sister Anne's
favorite arbor; his heart beat fast; it seemed to him that he was living
anew those moments of his first love when he arrived at the wood of
Vizille and looked for the dumb girl on the bank of the stream where
they were wont to meet.

She was not yet in the arbor; she probably would not be there for at
least a quarter of an hour; he sat down on the bench where she usually
sat, from which he could see the pavilion where she and her son lived.
He fastened his eyes upon that building; his heart was full, he felt
again the delicious emotion that he used to feel as he gazed at old
Marguerite's miserable hovel. At that moment, he forgot all that had
happened since; he waited impatiently for her to come out; it seemed to
him that he would see her come running toward him, driving her goats.

Time passes very quickly when one is engrossed by such memories.
Suddenly the door of the pavilion opened and a child appeared--it was
his son. Frederic was on the point of running forward to embrace him,
but he remembered the promise he had given Constance. If he went nearer
to the pavilion, Sister Anne would see him, for she could not be far
behind her child. He must keep out of her sight; so he crept behind the
shrubbery, and there, hidden by a thick clump of hornbeams, he waited
tremblingly for her to appear.

He had hardly left the arbor, when the dumb girl came out of the
pavilion and took her son by the hand. Frederic could not take his eyes
from her. She was dressed in a plain white gown; her hair, gathered
carelessly on top of her head, fell over her forehead, whereon sadness
and suffering were written. She smiled, however, as she looked at her
child; then paused, glanced about the garden, and heaved a profound
sigh.

Frederic did not tire of gazing at her; that unfamiliar costume, in
which he was now for the first time able to examine her at his
leisure,--for in his wife's presence he had hardly dared to look at
her,--seemed to add to her charms and make her more beautiful than ever.
She came toward him, she entered the arbor; he hardly breathed. She sat
on the bench--she was close beside him--only a few branches separated
them; he heard her sighs, he could count the throbs of her heart. How
sad she seemed! Alas! who would console her now? He was the cause of her
woes, and he could do nothing to put an end to them. The child put his
little arms about his mother's neck; it was as if he were already
trying, young as he was, to soothe her grief. She pressed him to her
heart, but her tears continued to flow. Frederic could control himself
no longer; he heard her sobs, he forgot his promise, he saw nothing but
Sister Anne's tears, which fell upon his heart. He abruptly put aside
the branches that separated them; he fell at her feet and embraced her
knees, crying:

"Forgive me!"

At sight of Frederic, Sister Anne started to rise and fly, but she had
not the strength; she fell back on the bench and tried to look the other
way, but an irresistible power forced her to turn her eyes upon her
lover. He was at her feet, entreating her forgiveness; she had not the
courage to repel him; she placed her son in his arms, and soon she was
straining him to her heart. At that moment they heard a cry, not far
away. Frederic, disturbed and alarmed, left the arbor and looked in
every direction; seeing no one, he returned to Sister Anne. But she was
already going back to the pavilion with her son; he tried to detain her;
she slipped from his arms, while her eyes bade him an affectionate
adieu. She had enjoyed a moment's happiness, but she did not propose to
be culpable toward her benefactress by remaining longer with Frederic.

Sister Anne and the child having returned to the pavilion, Frederic was
alone in the garden; he was still agitated by the pleasure it had
afforded him to see his former sweetheart, but that pleasure was
mingled with anxiety. The cry he had heard worried him. He searched
every part of the garden, but found no one. He persuaded himself that he
had made a mistake, that the voice came from the fields. For a moment he
thought of his wife. Suppose that Constance had seen him! But he soon
rejected that idea, for Constance was asleep when he left his room. He
returned to the house. The servants were astir. Dubourg and Menard came
down into the garden. Frederic dared not go to his wife, but waited till
breakfast before seeing her again.

He strolled about the garden with his friends; but he was thoughtful and
ill at ease.

"Are you grieving over Sister Anne's approaching departure?" said
Dubourg. "I tell you, my dear fellow, it is indispensable. A man can't
live under the same roof with his wife and his mistress, even if the
latter has ceased to be anything to him; for the wife must always stand
in dread of chance meetings and accidents; and if she loves her husband
ever so little, she won't sleep peacefully."

"Unquestionably," said Menard, "one cannot live with the wolf and the
lamb. It's as if you should put a canary and a parrot in the same cage;
they'll always end by fighting. I don't refer to Madame de Montreville;
she's an angel of gentleness; and certainly the other little woman will
never talk loud. But, after all: _naturam expellas furca, tamen usque
recurret_. Furthermore, a Greek philosopher has said: 'Do you want to
have hell on earth? if so, live with your wife and your mistress.'"

"But, Monsieur Menard, far from having any such desire, I wish with all
my heart that the poor creature were already far away. I realize too
well that I must not rely on my resolutions."

"There's only one thing in the world you can rely on; and that is
indigestion, if you bathe right after eating."

The breakfast hour arrived; Constance appeared, and, as usual, went to
her husband and kissed him.

"I was mistaken; she knows nothing," said Frederic to himself.

However, it seemed to him that she was pale, that her eyes were red and
swollen, that her hand trembled in his. He inquired affectionately
concerning her health.

"I am all right," said Constance; "I am not sick; there's nothing the
matter with me."

But her tone seemed to contradict her words.

The day passed, and Frederic was surprised to see that Constance made no
preparations for Sister Anne's departure and her own. He ventured at
last to mention the subject.

"I have changed my mind," said Constance, struggling to conceal her
emotion; "I don't see why that young woman should leave the house; she
is so happy with us! Her presence cannot be disagreeable to you; on the
other hand, her absence might cause you too much regret."

"What do you say?" cried Frederic.

"No, she shall not go," continued Constance, coldly; apparently not
noticing her husband's bewilderment. "It is useless now."

With that, she turned away and shut herself up in her own apartment.
Frederic did not know what to think of that sudden change of plan; but
that evening Constance's maid went to the pavilion, at her bidding, and
informed Sister Anne that she was to live on at the pavilion; that
there was no further question of her going away.

The dumb girl was greatly surprised; but her heart could not be
indifferent to the bliss of remaining near Frederic. She was astonished,
however, that her benefactress, who had been so unvaryingly kind to her,
did not come to her and explain her change of plan. Several days passed,
and she did not see Madame de Montreville. The same attention was paid
to her comfort and her son's, but her benefactress had ceased to visit
the occupants of the pavilion.

Constance passed all her time in her own room; she did not say a word to
Frederic; but her face was drawn and haggard; it was evident that she
was suffering and that she was doing her utmost to conceal it. Frederic
hardly dared to question her, and when he did she always answered
gently:

"Nothing is the matter with me."

"Morbleu!" said Dubourg; "this isn't natural! That young woman has
something on her mind. She insists now that the other one shall stay; I
can't make anything out of it."

"Nor I," said Menard; "but I think, with you, that there's some mystery
about it. Tertullian says that the devil isn't as mischievous as woman,
and I agree with Tertullian."




XXXI

THE CATASTROPHE


Sister Anne and her son continued to occupy the pavilion in the garden.
She went out very rarely, and then only to walk in the paths that were
near by. She did not go near the house; she was afraid of meeting
Frederic again, although her heart still burned for him with the same
ardent flame.

Nor did Frederic dare to go near the pavilion; his wife's conduct, ever
since the day that he embraced the dumb girl, had left no doubt in his
mind that it was she who had uttered that cry of which he had
unavailingly sought the author. If Constance had seen him at Sister
Anne's feet, what could she think of his promises? Of course, she
believed now that she was not the sole object of his love. He was often
tempted to throw himself at her feet, to assure her that he adored her
still; but, in that case, he must confess that he had broken his word;
and suppose his wife did not know it, after all! In his uncertainty,
Frederic held his peace, hoping, by keeping a close watch upon himself,
to dispel the suspicions which were devouring Constance's heart in
secret.

Constance did not leave the house; she did not even go into the garden.
Her face was careworn, her cheeks had lost their color; she tried in
vain to smile; the melancholy that was eating her heart away betrayed
itself in every act. She was still as sweet and amiable as ever; she
seemed to appreciate her husband's attentions, and, noticing that he
never went into the garden, she often urged him to do so.

"Why do you wish me to leave you?" said Frederic; "can I be as happy
elsewhere as I am with you?"

Whereupon Constance lovingly pressed his hand and turned away to conceal
a tear. She had the scene in the arbor constantly before her eyes; she
saw her husband pressing Sister Anne to his heart; she believed that she
no longer possessed his love, and persuaded herself that he was unhappy
because he no longer saw the dumb girl, but that he was sacrificing
himself for her peace of mind. That cruel thought was the source of the
keenest torture to her heart,--torture the more painful because she
strove to conceal it.

"Things can't go on like this," Dubourg often said to Frederic. "Your
wife is changing perceptibly, and the poor dumb girl's melancholy is
enough to break one's heart. Morbleu! if these two women remain
together, both of them will very soon die of consumption."

"What can I do? Is not Sister Anne's fate absolutely in Constance's
hands? When I attempt to speak to her about it, she closes my mouth, or
else declares again that she doesn't choose to send her away."

"It's very embarrassing, on my word," said Menard; "and if I were in my
pupil's place, I know what I would do."

"Well, what would you do?" queried Dubourg.

"Pardieu! I would do as he does--not know what to do."

A very simple occurrence was destined to effect a revolution in
Frederic's household: one morning, the Comte de Montreville, having at
last shaken off the gout, arrived at his son's country house.

Dubourg, although he had no idea that the count knew Sister Anne, was
pleased by his arrival, because he felt sure that his presence would
compel Frederic to take some decisive step. Frederic was terribly
disturbed when his father appeared, having as yet had no explanation
with him. Should he tell him the truth--that the dumb girl was under his
roof? But, before he was left alone with the count, Constance made him
promise that he would not mention Sister Anne; for she thought that the
count was ignorant of his son's wrong-doing, and she did not want him to
know of it at all.

The Comte de Montreville had been anxious for a long while concerning
the fate of the young woman who had saved his life. His last messenger
had brought him the intelligence that she had left the farm, intending
to go to Paris. As she did not appear at his house, he had caused a
search to be made for her, but to no purpose; he had no idea what could
have become of her.

On arriving at his son's house, the count was at once impressed by
Constance's melancholy and dejection. He inquired anxiously concerning
the cause of the change; the young woman tried to evade his questions,
on the pretext that she was slightly indisposed; but the old man was
sharp-eyed: he saw that some mystery was being hidden from him, and he
determined to fathom it. His son was embarrassed in his presence. Menard
avoided him as if he were afraid of being reprimanded for something.
Dubourg alone appeared delighted by his arrival. Everything seemed to
indicate that something extraordinary was taking place in the house.

As Constance knew that Monsieur de Montreville was accustomed, when he
was at Montmorency, to go to the pavilion in the garden to read, she
lost no time in informing him that a young woman and her son, of whom
she had taken charge, were quartered there. The count asked no
questions; he was far from suspecting that that young woman was the one
he had been seeking so long: he certainly did not expect to find her
under his son's roof.

On the day after his arrival, the count rose early, as usual, and went
into the garden. He walked toward the pavilion, and not until he was
about to enter did he remember what Constance had told him the day
before. He turned away, and was walking in another direction, when a
child came out of the pavilion and ran toward him; in a moment, another
person had seized his hand and pressed it to her heart. The Comte de
Montreville was surprised beyond expression when he found himself in the
presence of the dumb girl and her son.

Sister Anne had seen the count from her window as he came toward the
pavilion; she recognized him instantly; her protector's features were
engraved on her memory. When he turned away, she at once ran after him.
The poor girl did her best to express the pleasure she felt at seeing
him again; and he was a long while recovering from his amazement.

"You here!" he said, at last; "who took you in? Do you know that the
young woman who has given you shelter is Frederic's wife--your seducer's
wife?"

Sister Anne explained by signs that she did know it, that she had seen
Frederic, and that it was Constance who insisted that she should live in
that pavilion.

Every instant added to the count's bewilderment. As he could not obtain
from the dumb girl all the information he desired, he was intensely
anxious to see his son.

"Go back to the pavilion," he said to Sister Anne; "you will soon leave
it. You have been here only too long. Go, my poor child; I will see you
again soon."

Sister Anne obeyed; she returned to the pavilion with her son, whom the
count could not refrain from embracing tenderly.

Frederic dreaded just what had happened; he trembled lest his father
should meet Sister Anne, and was on the point of going to him to tell
him the truth, when the count appeared before him; his stern expression
announced that it was too late to warn him.

"I have just seen the person who is living in the pavilion in the
garden," said the count, watching his son closely; "and I am no longer
surprised at the depression, the great change, which I have noticed in
your wife's whole appearance. Unhappy man! so this is the recompense of
her love! of her virtues! You permit the woman you seduced to live under
the same roof as your wife!"

"I am not to blame in this," said Frederic; and he told his father how
his wife had taken in the dumb girl and her child during his absence;
how she had become attached to the unfortunate creature; and everything
that had happened on his return.

The count listened in silence to Frederic's story.

"So your wife knows all!" he said; "she knows that you are that girl's
seducer, the father of her child; and she insists that she shall
continue to live in your house?"

"Her purpose at first was to send her away, to take her and the child to
one of our estates, where she would have everything that her comfort and
welfare required; the day for their departure was fixed. I have no idea
why she changed her mind, but now she insists that Sister Anne shall not
go."

"And you can't divine the reason? My son, such conduct is too
extraordinary not to have some secret cause. It is not natural that a
wife who loves, yes, adores her husband, should want to keep by her side
her rival, or, at all events, the woman he once loved and may love
again. But Constance has a soul capable of sacrificing everything, of
immolating itself for your happiness! Ought you to allow that? Don't you
see how she has changed? She conceals her tears from you, but she can't
conceal her pallor, the suffering that is working havoc on her lovely
features. There is not a minute in the day when she is not thinking that
you are under the same roof as the mother of your son; that you can see
her, speak to her."

"Oh! I swear to you, father, that I never----"

"I am glad to believe you; but your wife is in a cruel position.
To-morrow, your victim will no longer be under your eyes."

"What! father!"

"Do you disapprove of my determination?"

"I? oh, no! far from it. No; I realize all that I owe you. Surely I do
not need to commend that poor creature--and my son--to your care!"

"No, monsieur; I know what my duty is; your wife's beneficent intentions
shall be carried out. Indeed, do you suppose that that young woman is
indifferent to me, or that her son has no claim upon my heart? Because
it is no longer subject to the ardent passions of youth, do you think
that it is closed to all sentiment? Let me restore peace of mind and
repose to your wife; and do you restore her happiness, if possible, by
redoubling your devotion and your love. That is the way to atone for
your wrong-doing, Frederic, and to pay me for all that I propose to do
for Sister Anne and her son."

Frederic shed tears upon his father's hand. The count left him, to go to
Constance; he did not mention the dumb girl to her, but, as he looked
into her face, he felt that he admired her and loved her more than ever.
Constance did not know to what she should attribute the marks of
affection which the count, usually so cold, took pleasure in lavishing
upon her; she could not divine the explanation of them. She believed
that he was ignorant of his son's fault.

The count sent his servant to Paris, with orders to have a post chaise
with two good horses at the garden gate the next morning at daybreak. He
proposed to accompany Sister Anne, and he went to the pavilion to tell
her what he had determined upon.

His frequent going and coming led Dubourg to conclude that the count had
some project in contemplation.

"We shall have a change here," he said to Menard; "God grant that it may
restore happiness and pleasure to this house!"

"It certainly hasn't been very gay here of late," said Menard; "madame
la comtesse sighs, my pupil is preoccupied, the dumb girl says nothing;
and I can hardly recognize you yourself, my dear Dubourg."

"Well! how do you expect me to be in high spirits, when I see that all
the people I love are unhappy? In spite of my philosophy, I am not
insensible to my friends' suffering."

"You're like me; I think of it all day long."

"Indeed! but it doesn't take away your appetite."

"Would you have me make myself ill, to cheer them up?"

"You're not likely to; you're getting to be a regular ball!"

"That fool of a cook gives us beefsteak every day; how can I help
growing fat?"

"I expect great things from the arrival of Frederic's father; he has
been to the pavilion and seen Sister Anne, and a change is coming, I am
sure of it."

"Ah! do you think that we shan't have any more beefsteaks?"

"Really, Monsieur Menard, you weren't born to live in France; you ought
to take up your abode in Switzerland, where they eat all day."

"I was born, monsieur, to live anywhere; and when you called yourself
Baron Potoski, you had a pretty knack of squandering our funds with your
three-course dinners; but I won't say of you: _Quantum mutatus ab illo_,
because I noticed you at table yesterday; you ate all the tunny, and
when I wanted some more it was all gone."

"Tunny is very indigestible, Monsieur Menard; it isn't good for you."

"I beg you, monsieur, not to worry about my health, and to leave some
tunny for me at the next opportunity. You will see that, old as I am, I
can steer clear of indigestion if I choose!"

While those whom he left in the house lost themselves in conjectures,
the count walked through the garden to the pavilion. It was dark when he
was ready to tell Sister Anne what he proposed to do. Her room was on
the first floor; he hesitated a moment before he went upstairs to the
woman who had saved his life.

"Poor child!" he said to himself; "I am going to deal her a heavy blow.
I must take her away from Frederic; I must separate them forever; but I
am simply doing my duty, and her heart is too pure not to feel that she
must think first of all of the peace of mind, yes, the life, of the
woman who saved her and her son from the horrors of starvation, and who
has taken pleasure in heaping kindnesses upon her."

The old man entered the dumb girl's room; at sight of him, she rose and
ran to meet him; one could read in her eyes the respect and affection
that she felt for him. The count was touched to the heart; he looked at
her for several minutes in silence; but he felt that he must say at once
what he had to say, so that she might be ready at dawn.

"My child," he said, "I told you this morning that you cannot, you must
not, remain any longer in this house; your presence here will in the end
be fatal to her who rescued you. Constance loves her husband dearly; do
you wish to rob her of repose and happiness forever? She conceals the
torments she is suffering; but I have read her inmost thoughts. You
surely do not wish to cause the death of the woman who saved your son?"

Sister Anne, by a most eloquent gesture, signified that she was prepared
to sacrifice herself for Constance.

"Very well," continued the count; "then you must go away, you must leave
this place--to-morrow at daybreak--without seeing your benefactress. I
will undertake to tell her all that your heart would impel you to say to
her. You must not see any of this household again; it is unnecessary.
There is one person in particular--but I need not urge upon you the
necessity of taking every precaution to avoid meeting him."

Sister Anne was overwhelmed with grief. To go away so suddenly, without
any preparation! to go without seeing him, and forever! Her courage
failed her, and the tears gushed from her eyes.

The count went to her and took her hand.

"Poor child!" he said; "this sudden departure grieves you, but it must
be; under such circumstances, every minute's delay is a crime. I tear
you away from this house, but I have a right to be harsh. Courage, dear
child! It is Frederic's father, whom you saved from the knives of the
brigands, it is he who asks you to sacrifice yourself once more, for his
son's good."

These words produced upon the dumb girl all the effect that the count
anticipated; on learning that he was her lover's father, she fell at his
knees, and with clasped hands seemed to implore his forgiveness.

"Rise, rise," he said, kissing her on the forehead; "unfortunate girl!
would to God that I could give you back your happiness! At all events,
you may be assured of a comfortable home, and your son's future is
provided for. I am going to take you to a farm, which I propose to give
you; there is a pretty little cottage connected with it, where you will
live, attended by faithful servants who will love you dearly. There you
will bring up your son; I will come often to share your retirement, and
before long, I hope, peace and tranquillity will have returned to your
heart."

Sister Anne listened, and was ready to obey; she had no hope of being
happy again, but her eyes seemed to say:

"Do with me as you will; I am ready to abide by your slightest wish."

"Until to-morrow, then," said the count; "I will come for you at
daybreak; I want to be away before anybody in the house is astir. A
comfortable carriage will be ready for us at the garden gate. Make all
your preparations to-night; they need not be long, for you will find in
your new home everything that you and your son will require. Au revoir,
dear child; be brave! At daybreak I shall be with you."

The count took his leave, and Sister Anne was alone; her son was asleep;
it was night, the last night that she was to pass near Frederic. She
must go away from him--fly from him forever. That thought overwhelmed
her. She sat, perfectly motionless, on a chair beside her son's cradle;
a single thought absorbed all her faculties: she must go away from him
whom her heart had ached to find, whom she idolized, and who, in the
arbor, had acted as if he loved her still; she must go away from him;
the peace of mind, the existence, of her benefactress demanded that
terrible sacrifice.

The last hours that she was to pass in the house seemed to fly with
unexampled rapidity. Engrossed by these thoughts, she had done nothing
toward preparing for her departure. The village clock struck twelve, and
the dumb girl still sat beside her son's cradle, in the same position in
which the count had left her.

The mournful clang of the bell roused her from her reverie; she rose,
and made a small bundle of her clothes; her preparations were soon
completed, and there were still several hours before the dawn. Should
she try to sleep? no; she knew that it would be in vain! But what
thought is this that makes her heart beat fast? Everybody in the house
is asleep; suppose she should take advantage of her last remaining
moments to go a little nearer to him! She did not propose to see him,
for she knew that that would be a breach of her promise to the count and
of her duty to her benefactress. But she could go, without Frederic's
knowledge, to bid him a last farewell; she knew which were the windows
of his room; it seemed to her that she should go away a little less
unhappy, and that Frederic might perhaps hear her whispered farewell in
his sleep.

She hesitated no longer; she put her bundles on a chair and placed her
candle on the hearth. Her son was sleeping soundly; she leaned over and
looked at him, and shed tears upon his pillow at the thought that she
was soon to take him away from his father.

Everything was perfectly quiet, as she stole noiselessly from the
pavilion. It was a dark night, but she was familiar with the garden.
Like a shadow, her feet barely touching the earth, she glided swiftly
along the paths, until at last she reached the house. Frederic's
apartment was on the first floor, at the right; she knelt under his
windows, she held out her arms to him, and bade him a last farewell.

Weeping bitterly, with her head resting on her hand, but unable to
remove her eyes from the room in which she knew him to be, Sister Anne
abandoned herself to her love, her regret, her despair. It was a long
while since she had left the pavilion; the minutes were passing rapidly,
but she could not tear herself away from that spot. But it must be done.
The unhappy girl made a final effort; she rose and walked away,
broken-hearted; she staggered along the paths, hardly able to restrain
her sobs.

Suddenly she became conscious of a bright light in the garden; she
raised her eyes; she could not conceive where it came from. As she
walked on, the light became brighter and brighter; the darkness of the
night was succeeded by a terrifying glare; it was fire, which lighted up
every nook and corner of the garden. As that certainty burst upon her
mind, Sister Anne, seized by an indescribable fear, no longer walked,
but ran, aye, flew toward the pavilion; the flames were pouring forth in
clouds from the windows of the first floor.

A heartrending shriek burst from the young mother's lips; she could see
nothing but her son, whom she had left in that room, her son, whom the
flames were perhaps already consuming!

In her desperation, she recovered her strength; she rushed into the
pavilion; the hall was filled with dense smoke; but a mother knows no
danger, she must have her child. She groped her way upstairs, felt for
the door, which the smoke concealed and which her trembling hands sought
in vain. At last the flames guided her; she entered the room; everything
was ablaze. A bundle of clothes had fallen against the candle, and the
flames had spread rapidly to all parts of the room. Sister Anne ran to
the cradle, which the fire had just reached; she held her son in her
arms; she tried to go out, but she could not see what direction to take.
Already the flames surrounded her; her limbs were badly burned; she
tried to call, for she felt that she was dying. At that moment, her
voice, yielding to a mighty effort of nature, broke the bonds that held
it; and the unfortunate girl, as she fell, exclaimed distinctly:

"Frederic, come and save your son!"

The flames rising from the pavilion had been seen by the people at the
house, several of whom were unable to sleep. Frederic rushed from his
room in dismay, shouting as he ran. Everyone rose and dressed in haste.

"The pavilion's on fire!" was the general cry.

Frederic arrived there ahead of all the rest; he defied death, to make
his way to Sister Anne; he entered the room a few seconds after she had
lost consciousness; he took her on one arm and his son on the other; he
passed through the flames into the garden; he had saved them both.

On learning what had happened, everybody had followed Frederic.
Constance was not the last to fly upon her husband's footsteps. It was
she who received Sister Anne in her arms, who hung over her with loving
solicitude, and ordered the unconscious girl to be carried to her
apartment. They all gathered about the young woman, whose body bore the
marks of the flames; but her son was uninjured, and they waited
impatiently for her to open her eyes, so that they might show him to her
safe and sound.

At last, she drew a long, quivering breath; her eyes opened. Constance
led her child to her side.

"My son!" cried Sister Anne, covering the child with kisses.

Those words caused the greatest surprise to all who heard them. They
stared at Sister Anne, listening intently, as if they doubted whether
they had heard aright.

"O my God!" continued the young mother; "it is not a dream; Thou hast
given me back the use of my tongue.--Ah! Frederic! I can tell you now
how I loved you--how I love you still! Forgive me, madame; I feel that I
shall not long enjoy this voice which has been restored to me. All that
I have suffered to-day has exhausted my strength; I am going to die, but
my son is saved. Oh! don't pity me!"

The unfortunate woman had made a mighty effort to say thus much; her
eyes lost their expression, her hand became like ice, a ghastly pallor
overspread her face. Frederic fell on his knees beside her; he bathed
with his tears the hand she abandoned to him. The count was overcome by
grief. Constance tried to recall the dying girl to life by holding up
her son before her. Even Dubourg, the man who had never shed a tear,
could not restrain his sobs as he supported Sister Anne's head.

"Why do you weep for me?" she said, making a final effort; "I could not
be happy, but I die less wretched. Keep my son, madame; he is so happy
in your arms! you will be a mother to him. Adieu, Frederic--and you--his
father--oh! forgive me for loving him so much!"

Sister Anne cast a last glance at Constance, who held little Frederic in
her arms; then she closed her eyes, still smiling at her son.






End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Sister Anne (Novels of Paul de Kock,
Volume X), by Charles Paul de Kock

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