THE 1 IBRARY UNIVERSITY OF CAL IFORNIA LOSANGE ES The Works of CHARLES PAUL DE KOCK WITH A GENERAL INTRODUCTION BY JULES CLARETIE ADHEMAR TRANSLATED INTO ENGLISH BY EDITH MARY NORRIS THE FREDERICK J. QUINBY COMPANY NEW YORK LONDON PARIS Edition Limited to One Thousand Copies 2_r Number ' .t!T7. . . COPYRIGHT, 1904, BY THE FREDERICK J. QUINBY COMPANY All rights reserved PKIKTED ON OLD STRATFORD PAPER MADH BY MITTINEAGUB PAPER COMPANY Printers and Binders, Norwood, Mass. U.S.A. pa CONTENTS CHAPTER I A Meeting of Four I CHAPTER II A Burning Gown 23 CHAPTER III A Dealer in Toilet Articles 31 CHAPTER IV Two Friends V . 49 CHAPTER V A Little Served in Large Dishes 61 CHAPTER VI A Miscellaneous Dinner Party 79 CHAPTER VII How It Began 101 CHAPTER VIII The Dubotte Household , in CONTENTS CHAPTER IX Drive Away Natural Impulses, They Return at a Gallop J 3 T CHAPTER X A Young Man Who Did Not Smoke .... 143 CHAPTER XI An Ugly Brother-in-Law !73 CHAPTER XII A Box in the Pit 187 CHAPTER XIII Incorrigible J 99 CHAPTER XIV Monsieur Seringat's Secret 213 CHAPTER XV The End of the Year. Little Streams . ... 225 CHAPTER I A MEETING OF FOUR FIVE o'clock in the afternoon was just striking as a young exquisite, with a good figure and a very agreeable expression of countenance, although at times his big blue eyes expressed a decided liking for raillery, entered the cafe which is situated on the corner of the Faubourg Poissoniere and the boulevard, on the right as you come from the boulevards. This young man glanced around the first room, then he went into those which lay beyond, saying to himself, " Nobody here ! Not a single one of them has come. Not a single one of them will come, per- haps ; for in five years one has plenty of time to forget an appointment. However, I remembered it. I am positively certain they have not all joined the great majority, for I met Dodichet barely two months ago ; and I have seen Dubotte at the thea- tre within the past week ; Lucien is the only one of whom I have seen or heard nothing for a long time now. Well, I must wait a bit. They have still a quarter of an hour's grace ! " The young gentleman, by name Adhemar Vol. XXIV I 2 ADHMAR Montbrun, seated himself at a table, took up a newspaper, ordered a glass of chartreuse, and read a criticism of a piece which had had a great suc- cess on the evening before, but which the journal- ist damned because the author was not one of his friends; which, fortunately, did not prevent the play from making its way and having a long run, as the public was beginning to take at their true value the articles of these Aristarchuses of the press, who have, as a general thing, taken for their motto, "Nobody has any wit but we and our friends." Adhemar had not been reading the paper for two minutes when a gentleman who entered the cafe came straight to where he was seated and slapped him on the shoulder, saying, " Well, here I am too, old fellow ! as prompt as the sun that is, when he shines. You see, I didn't forget our appointment. Good-day, Adhe- mar, I'm delighted to see you again. Are you well ? I am perfectly so, as you may see for yourself. Everyone says that I look thriving. That bothers me sometimes, for I've noticed that your very pros- perous people often look stupid too; but I hope I don't go so far as that ! " This second personage was a man of thirty who quite looked his age, for he was already rather stout; rather under than over medium height, a plain, red, and always jolly-looking face, with a perfect thicket of curly light hair, china-blue eyes as round as those of a cat, and immense mutton-chop whiskers. Such CHARLES PAUL DE KOCK 3 was Philemon Dubotte,who thought himself a very pretty fellow and paid court to all the ladies, but was very neglectful of his wife, who, on the con- trary, adored him and overwhelmed him with ca- resses. But this is often the way with the ladies, the colder one is with them, the more ardent their affection becomes ; as far as that is concerned, you will tell me, they are so, perhaps, in order to re- awaken their husband's love. Adhemar pressed the newcomer's hand. " Good-day, Philemon, sit you down there. Yes, you look so well that it's delightful to see you !" " Believe me, I not only look well, but I am so I'm as sound as the Porte Saint-Denis ! By the way, is the Porte Saint-Denis still standing ? " " Yes, of course ! " "They are demolishing so many things ! Well, then, I was correct in saying I am as sound as the Porte Saint-Denis." " I see you have a good memory ! " "And why shouldn't I have one ? " "In five years one may forget many things!" " In love, possibly, but not in friendship." " People forget in friendship as they do in love. Memory is one of the rarest things on earth, espe- cially the memory of the heart." "There you go ! just the same as ever ; you have confidence in nothing." " I'm not to blame for the fact that my confi- dence has always been misplaced. Time deprives 4 ADHEMAR us of our illusions, and in five years I've lost a devilish lot of them." " As for me, I have lost nothing at all. I still worship the fair sex, who, I am bound to say, re- turn the compliment, too ardently sometimes, even. For I have a wife you don't know my wife, but you must make her acquaintance my dear fellow ! she worships me, she idolizes me it is a verita- ble passion ! When I am away from her for half a day, she no longer exists, she doesn't eat, she lan- guishes, she even carries it so far as to weep. When I come in I am obliged to scold her. I say to her, f Eleonore' she's named Eleonore I say 'Why, Nonore, what does this mean ? What, I can't ab- sent myself, stay a little late with my friends, with- out finding you in tears on my return ? ' She will kiss me and say, f I thought you had fallen from the top of an omnibus; my dear, I beg of you don't go on the outside, to those horrid three-sous places. Go inside, Philemon, I beg of you, go inside, and you will oblige me very much.' That's how my wife is, and I assure you it is extremely tiresome to be loved to such a point as that." "You complain that your wife is too fond of you ! but that will not last forever." "I should hope not, poor Nonore ! if she did but know how unworthy I am of such adoration, for I am a thorough rascal. I can't see a pretty face without making eyes at it. But there's Lucien ; come, I really think our party will be complete." CHARLES PAUL DE KOCK 5 The person who came towards the table where the two friends were sitting was a young man of twenty-six, tall, slight, and extremely thin ; his face was pale, but his features were very handsome, his eyes very soft, and his manners were such as to inspire those who spoke to him with interest. His dress was respectable, but was not indicative of easy cir- cumstances ; his black coat, which was buttoned from top to bottom, had been brushed and rebrushed a score of times ; no one would have dared to lay hold of the tail of this coat for fear it might remain in his hand detached from the garment to which it be- longed. His black necktie allowed one to perceive only the slightest tip of his collar; his hat seemed to have been cleaned with water, but his gray trou- sers had not the slightest stain of mud ; and his shoes, if they were not varnished, were at least care- fully blacked. This third personage was called Lucien Grischard. As soon as he perceived Lucien at a distance Adhemar rose and extended his hand as the thin young man drew near, exclaiming, " How do you do, Lucien, my dear fellow ? How pleased I am to see you again, for it is quite a long time nearly two years since I have had that pleasure ! " " That is true, Monsieur Adhemar, and I also am delighted to see you, for I had impatiently awaited this day which was to bring us together." "And why do you call me monsieur now ? and 6 ADHMAR not Adhemar, as formerly ? Am I not still your old schoolfellow ? " " Oh, excuse me but that is so long ago, and then in the past five years you have made a success in literature, as a playwright ; you have become a celebrity ; while I well, I have remained alto- gether in the shade." " My dear Lucien, if fame were to part us from all our friends, we should have to repulse it, instead of desiring it. I don't think mine has risen to such a height as yet as to make any one envious." " Don't think for a moment that I experienced any such feeling on hearing of your successes. On the contrary, I rejoiced and said to myself, f He's making his way, at least.' ' While this third friend was talking with Adhe- mar, Philemon, the fair man, was examining him with persistent attention, and the sight of the thread- bare coat and the water-cleansed hat did not seem to give a very lively impulse to his friendship ; however, he also shook hands with Lucien and said to him, almost in the tone of a protector, " Good-day, Lucien, good-day, my dear fellow. Confound it, you haven't grown fat since I last saw you." " I can't say so much for you, Philemon, for you are almost as round as a barrel." " A barrel ! that's putting it rather strongly, but, after all, I would much rather resemble a bar- rel than a gun barrel." CHARLES PAUL DE KOCK 7 Instead of being vexed by this comparison, Lucien shouted with laughter, while Adhemar ex- claimed, " Well, messieurs, how's this ? School comrades meeting after five years only to say sharp things to each other? is that how we should meet again after a lustre has passed over our heads ? and have you become so susceptible as to get angry at a joke ? " " Oh, I'm not angry at all ! " answered Lucien, " quite the contrary, you saw how Philemon's word made me laugh." " I confess," admitted Dubotte, " that I cannot bear to be compared to a barrel. Any sobriquet you like, except that ! But I bear Lucien no grudge. Come, sit you down beside us, my dear fellow ; you are going to take something." " Thanks, but it seems to me our party is not yet complete ; some one is missing, and that is Dodichet." " Oh, we mustn't count on him. When did Dodichet ever keep his word ? Does he know what it is to keep a promise ? He's a good fellow, but he's a crazy pate, a featherbrain, who always has a thousand plans of which he never puts a single one into execution, and who never has the slightest remembrance in the morning of what he has said the evening before." " Deuce take it, Philemon, you judge him too harshly." 8 ADHMAR " I only say what is true. However, for five years I have seen very little of him, he may have amended." " No," said Adhemar, " Dodichet is still the same. I have several times had occasion to meet him, and I have seen with pain that our old com- rade Dodichet had not become more reasonable. He was in a position where he had every chance of succeeding, for he is no fool and he had some money from his parents ; but he thinks of nothing but amusing himself and having what he calls l a good time ' ; but he is not always successful in this and sometimes it costs him dear. Now, I believe, he's almost ruined, and, unluckily, he has not yet decided on any profession." " Poor Dodichet ! " said Lucien thoughtfully, " then he must be unhappy ! " " Unhappy ! he ? why, that he never will be. He laughs at everything, sees everything through rose-colored spectacles and is persuaded that he will one day possess a hotel, a carriage and a hun- dred thousand francs income. He has the hap- piest disposition imaginable ! " ject. " Come with me you shall unfold your idea to me as we walk along." " I'm quite willing to accompany you, but I am afraid I can't tell you anything, for you would want to have something to do with the piece." "Well, what of that? I should do my part." " Thank you, I know you, you do nothing but lounge about, you say disagreeable things, you pick your comrades to pieces, you think everything bad that is done by others, and you produce noth- ing yourself." " You're really very nice this morning, I am the author of several pieces, however, which have had quite a success ! " " Yes, I am well aware of that, but that doesn't prove that you had anything to do with them. We know how such things are done in the theatres now, all the intriguing and scheming that goes on in them." " You are in a very bad temper today ! Do you know that I could demand satisfaction for what you are saying to me ? " " I am at your orders. Would you like to fight ? I ask nothing better." " And I have no desire to do so. You are in a bad temper I am not. You are seeking a quar- rel I am seeking a pleasure party. Good-by." " He is right," thought Adhemar, when his com- CHARLES PAUL DE KOCK 139 rade had departed. " I am in an evil mood be- cause she has made me unhappy. For it is always the women who are at the bottom of all ourmoods." The next day, after hesitating for a long time, Adhemar could contain himself no longer. He could not resist the desire he felt to see her whom he was trying in vain to forget. He said to him- self, " The idea of getting angry and breaking with her, all because of a smell of tobacco ; which, after all, might come from the neighbors why, that wasn't common sense." He did not run, he flew to Madame Dermont's, he did not give the servant time to warn her mistress, but entered pre- cipitately. Nathalie was alone, but her eyes were red, and there were still tears in them. Adhemar threw himself at her feet, and snatching her hands and covering them with kisses said, " Forgive me ! forgive me ! I have caused you grief. Please, forgive me." "Three days without coming to see me. Oh, my dear, is that how you love me ! " " Why, yes, I do love you adore you, and that is why I am jealous." " I had forbidden you to be so, and you had promised me." " I am guilty yes since I have caused your tears to flow." " I said to myself, s It is all ended, he will come no more.' ' " As if I could possibly stay away ! as if I could 140 ADHEMAR exist without you ! But let us forget this storm ! You will pardon me, won't you ? " " Yes, of course. But take my advice, and don't give way to your jealous feelings. Suspicion galls the most loving heart." " It won't occur again ; I am cured." So peace was made, and the most perfect accord reigned again between these two persons, who seemed made to love each other. A fortnight had passed since the reconciliation when the accursed odor of tobacco again became evident at Madame o Dermont's,when her lover came in to see her dur- ing the day. Adhemar said nothing. He did not wish to appear as if he had even noticed the smell of a pipe. He tried to be cheerful, amiable, as was his custom, but in spite of himself he was absent- minded, he often answered at cross-purposes what Nathalie said to him. The latter, who guessed the cause of his preoccupation, looked embarrassed. However, Adhemar had prolonged his visit, and had been for some time at Madame Dermont's, when, as he looked about him, he perceived some object on the floor, lying near the long curtain which draped the window, partly covered, but not entirely hidden by it. The object, rather singu- lar in form, attracted the curiosity of our author, and, seizing a moment when Nathalie was arrang- ing her flowers, he quickly went and picked up that which he had seen ; he was stupefied on seeing that it was a pipe case. CHARLES PAUL DE KOCK 141 " You cannot tell me this time that you do not receive a smoker," exclaimed Adhemar in a voice stifled by anger. " Why, whatever is the matter, my dear ? " said Nathalie, leaving her flowers. " What is the matter ? By Jove, a very trifling thing! Here, madame, is what I have just picked up there beside your window, where, no doubt, you hoped it would be well hid." " And what is it, monsieur ? " " You don't know what it is, madame ? " " No, I assure you that I cannot even guess what it is." " Well, it is a pipe case a very ugly case ; poisonous, in fact. The pipe is not in it, probably because the person to whom it belongs has gone out to smoke it." Nathalie reddened, her brow became overcast with gloom, but she remained silent. Adhemar's anger increased, he examined the case again, then he presented it to the young woman. " Wait, madame, take it and give it back to the one to whom it belongs. Ah, I wasn't wrong the other day when I accused you of receiving a smoker." "Well, monsieur, what of that? all the men smoke now ! " " All the men. Oh, you confess now that you did receive a man and in your bedroom. Who is this man ? Where does he come from ? Where i 4 a ADHEMAR does he go to ? What does he come here for ? and how long has he been coming ? Answer me those questions, if you please, madame ! " " No, monsieur, no ; I will not answer when anyone questions me as you are doing now." " Oh, I understand that is the best way out of it. When these ladies can't find a prevarication quickly enough, they retrench themselves in their dignity. But while that may do for simpletons, I hope you don't confuse me with them I have too much self-respect ! " " Adhemar, what you are saying is very wrong 1 Is that the way you keep your promises ? " " Madame, one is never jealous without reason. I was right the other time, today I have proof of it. You have intrigues, madame ; and when a woman has intrigues, when she secretly receives men one knows very well what that means " " Oh, monsieur ! " " You have deceived me like the others, I ought to have expected it. But I thought I had met some one who was better this time. Oh, the women. But it is ended ; hereafter I shall not be a dupe." Adhemar threw the fatal pipe case on the floor, then he went out without looking at Nathalie. CHAPTER X A YOUNG MAN WHO DID NOT SMOKE You are aware that after the famous dinner given by M. Mirotaine, when Dubotte had recognized, in the so-called Italian count, a former apothecary of Pontoise, the latter had immediately left the company, and a very short time thereafter M. Fan- fan Dodichet had done the same, announcing that he was going to challenge Miflores, who, he said, had deceived him in saying he was a bachelor. But once outside the Mirotaines' doors, instead of seeking M. Seringat, whom he expected to find easily enough the next day at his own house, Do- dichet betook himself to M. Lucien Grischard's, for he was desirous of telling that young man at once all that he had done in behalf of his love affairs. When he arrived at the Quai Jemmapes by the Faubourg du Temple bridge, Dodichet said to him- self, "At which corner of the Faubourg is it? To the right ? or to the left ? I forgot to ask him. No matter, I can go to both. On the right used to be, so they tell me, the famous Vendanges de Bourgogne,a caterer's, renowned for its sheep's trot- ters, and which formerly was in great request for 143 i 4 4 ADHfiMAR weddings and festive occasions. c Sic transit gloria mundi ! ' To the left there were formerly, I think, only marshes. Let's begin on the left. I can't count on Lucien's being in, a bachelor does not stay in his chamber in the evening often, even, he goes out during the day and sometimes is not there at night. But, never mind, perhaps they can tell me to what cafe he has the habit of going to smoke, for it is impossible that heshould not smoke somewhere." And in the first house where Dodichet inquired for Lucien Grischard they answered him, "Yes, he lives here, monsieur." " Oh, he lives here! Very good ! And where can one find him in the evening ? " "Why, at home, monsieur." " What ! he stays at home in the evening he doesn't go out?" "Very rarely, monsieur " " Then, where is he now ? " " Go up to the sixth floor, the door to the left you will find him at home." Dodichet as he ascended the stairs muttered to himself, " A strange fellow this, to stay at home in the evening! Still, he may receive ladies here but, yet, it is hardly likely." When he got to the sixth floor, Dodichet knocked at the door that had been indicated to him, and a voice cried, CHARLES PAUL DE KOCK 145 " Come in, the key's outside." Dodichet opened the door, and found himself in a small room with a very sloping ceiling. An un- curtained bed, a large table which served as a desk, two chairs and a mirror comprised almost all the furniture ; however, the room had quite the appear- ance of being very well furnished, for on all sides the walls were lined with shelves like those of a library ; only, instead of books, one saw on these shelves a series of little cardboard boxes all of equal size. Then on the table were a great many more, but the latter were empty, and at this moment Lucien, seated in front of the table, was busied in placing in these boxes big black safety pins, of which he had before him an immense quantity. The young dealer had on as a dressing-gown a flannel jacket, patched in several places, and wore on his head a kind of cap that was minus its vizor. A small lamp did poor service in lighting this retreat; how- ever, Lucien immediately recognized his visitor, and thus greeted him, " Hallo ! Dodichet ! What lucky chance gives me the pleasure of seeing you ? I did not expect it ! " " I am quite sure you did not. But I greatly prefer to go where I am not expected. So this is your lodging, is it ? " " Yes, my dear fellow ! " "And there's just this one room,and that is all ?" " Absolutely all. That is quite enough for a sin- gle man." Vol. XXIV 146 ADHfeMAR " Quite enough ! you are not very difficult to please. But where are you going to put me ? " " Wherever you like ! " "Wherever I like! But I don't see a chair." " Why, yes, I've got two of them. Wait the other is hidden under my clothing, it serves as a bureau. I'll take the things off it." Lucien carried the clothing from the chair to the bed, then he returned to his occupation, saying to his visitor, "Now, sit down, and tell me what brought you here. As for me I shall go on with my work, for it is pressing." " Oh, don't bother about me, I shall go on all right. You've got confoundedly little room here! What the devil are you doing there ? " "As you see I'm putting these pins in the boxes. I have to lay them carefully so there are the same number in each box." " And does this business bring you in a little something ? " " Oh, so-so, but it looks as though it was going to take. Why, my fortune would have been made had I, like Roziere of Romainville, known how to discover all that they can do with panama." " Panama ? why they make a kind of straw hat there, don't they ? " " Yes, and Roziere has invented a soap that will clean those hats and a good many other things besides." CHARLES PAUL DE KOCK 147 When he had taken his seat Dodichet ex- claimed, " First of all, before I tell you what brought me here, let me have a whiff or two of your clay. I'm dying for a smoke. " My clay ? " " Yes, your pipe, if you like that better." " But I haven't a pipe." " You haven't a pipe ? you surprise me ! It's so much cheaper than cigars. Well, then, give me a cigar ; and let it be a dry one." " I have no more cigars than I have a pipe." "The devil you haven't! It seems I've taken you napping ; in that case, pass me your tobacco pouch and I'll make myself a cigarette." " I'm awfully sorry, my dear Dodichet, to be obliged to refuse you again, but I haven't a scrap of tobacco here." " No tobacco ! you haven't any tobacco ! Well, that is a rum go ! What do you smoke the straw out of your mattress ? For of course you must smoke something." " And why so ? As it happens I don't smoke at all ; I have neither the time for it nor the desire and, frankly, I don't see the necessity of so doing." " You don't smoke ? at your age ? you must get awfully bored." " That's where you mistake. I am never bored, for I am always at work. Why do so many men 148 ADHEMAR smoke ? Why, because they do nothing and time hangs on their hands and seems deathly long ; so these people smoke and imagine they are doing something, have an occupation. A poor occupa- tion indeed ! which only serves to encourage idle- ness ! " " Oh, come now, Lucien, you bore me with your reflection on smokers ! " "My dear fellow, it wasn't necessary for you to tell me I was very unlucky not to smoke, I an- swered and that was all ; I will add, however, that I think those men unfortunate who are incessantly smoking, who always have a pipe or a cigar in their mouths. In the first place, they smell very bad; in the second, they injure their lungs and then they spend a good deal of money it seems nothing because it is spent a trifle at a time, but the most trifling sum repeatedly disbursed comes to a good round sum at the end of the year. It is among workmen that this mania for smoking is the most fatal, and it has impoverished many households." " If you think that you are likely to correct smokers with your preaching, you are devilishly deceived." " Oh, I don't pretend to correct or convince anyone, I'm merely stating my opinion opinions are free ! " " Besides, look you, Lucien, when once one has got into the habit of smoking, one cannot give it up!" CHARLES PAUL DE KOCK 149 " I beg your pardon, my dear fellow ! one can give up any habit if one has only a strong enough will; if it were otherwise I should have to believe that men are but maniacs, machines, automatons, who are obliged always to make the same gestures; and, really, it would make me sorry for humanity. I have not said anything as to the fires and all the accidents caused by the carelessness of smokers. Why, Mademoiselle Juliette Mirotaine has a friend whose gown was set afire on the boulevard by a match which some smoker had thrown down with- out taking the trouble of stepping on it." " I always step on them myself. But let's say no more about it. Come now, haven't you a scrap of tobacco in your pouch ? " " I haven't even a pouch. What the devil do you think I should do with one ? " " He hasn't even a pouch! Hear him, ye gods! nor launch your thunders forth ! Well, when I leave here I'm going to see some ladies do you hear? And I'm quite sure they'll have some tobacco." " I don't doubt it there are a good many ladies who smoke now." "Yes, my dear fellow, you may shrug your shoulders as much as you will the fair sex is in favor of tobacco." " There are different categories." " Well, we'll drop that I am going to be brief. My dear fellow I've just been rendering you an eminent service." 150 ADHEMAR " You ? How is that ? " " I've just this moment come from M. Miro- taine's, where I've dined." " By Jove ! you make me shudder ! " " Rejoice, on the contrary ! I saw the dealer in toilet articles, and I told her that I had a very rich friend to marry and that he did not require a dowry." " I begged you not to do anything of the kind." " Yes, but I didn't listen to you, and I was quite right not to do so, for everything went off as well as possible." " And whom did you present as the would-be husband ? " " Some one who could refuse me nothing, who was willing to play any role that I wished be- cause I possessed a certain secret. Ha, ha, ha ! that poor chap Miflores-Seringat; or Seringat-Mi- flores that was indeed a pigeon that Providence sent to me to pluck just at the right moment." " Come, make an end of it, what took place at M. Mirotaine's ? " " We dined fairly well, save that the vin ordin- aire was pretty thin and the champagne more like * Roge's ' purgative lemonade than wine, and that the vanilla cream was flavored with camphor instead of sugar. My false count did not say a word, he confined himself to eating ; but as I had forewarned them that he wished to study and observe the young lady before making his proposal, everything CHARLES PAUL DE KOCK 151 was goingalong very nicely indeed; but after dinner, while they were picking up the radishes and gher- kins which that miserly Mirotaine had hidden in his pockets, along came Dubotte with his wife. A pretty little fair woman, by Jove! And if Dubotte did not find an old acquaintance in my false count, and say to him, 'Good-day, M. Seringat, and how is your wife?' You can imagine the stage effect of the situation. Papa Mirotaine was furious ; the dealer in toilet articles was confused, the guests were looking at each other in astonishment., and my pretended aspirant for matrimonial honors took a very hasty leave, consigning to his infernal ma- jesty the one who had inquired about his wife. In the midst of all this disorder, I was hard put to it to refrain from laughing. M. Mirotaine questioned me rather angrily, but I took a higher tone than he; I declared that Miflores had played me a trick, deceived me, and that I was going in search of him to call him out. I left, and here I am. Well, what do you say to that?" " I say you were wrong to play such a farce, and I fear it has done me more harm than good." " Why, no, on the contrary, the old miser, dis- gusted with suitors whom he does not know, will receive no more of them and will decide to give you his daughter." " I have no hope that events will transpire as you suggest." " You are ungrateful. If one tries to oblige 152 ADHEMAR people, this is how they recompense one ; and you can't even give me a bit of tobacco." "My dear Dodichet, you wished to be of service to me, no doubt, and I thank you for it ; but, I repeat to you, I am not at all sure as to the results of your unpleasant joke." " If you smoked you wouldn't be so frightened. Good-by, you virtuous, steady fellow, indefatigable worker; good-by, extraordinary man, who does not smoke. You are out of place in this century." " That is possible, but I firmly believe a century will come when the French, returned to their old gallant ways and nice personal habits, will wonder how their ancestors could have smoked so much." " Good-by, I must fly now in search of my treasury he is indispensably necessary to me just now, for the waters are at a very low ebb indeed, and I want to buy a dazzling costume in which to make my debut in the part of f Joconde.' ' "At the Opera Comique?" " No, at Quimper-Corentin." Lucien settled down again to the work of putting his pins in their boxes, reflecting on all that Dodi- chet had made known to him, and he said to him- self, " It will be prudent of me to allow several days to pass before presenting myself at M. Miro- taine's ; he must be very angry at having been taken in like that; I'll give his anger time to cool, and let him forget the events of this day, that he may not guess that I know anything about it." CHARLES PAUL DE KOCK 153 But during the week which passed before Lucien went to the Mirotaines', Dubotte had given a dinner to young Calle, and, as we have seen, dur- ing the meal he had informed his guest how it came about that Dodichet had had the idea of present- ing a suitor for Mademoiselle Juliette; that it was in the hope of aiding his friend Lucien in his love affairs. Young Calle, who was a tattle-bearer, as people who have nothing to do nearly always are, had not failed to let Aldegonde know all that he had learned at Dubotte's, and the stepmother had told her husband; the papa had made a scene with his daughter, exclaiming, " You were in connivance with these scamps, these scoundrels who cheated me out of a dinner, and it was your Lucien who urged them to play this scene for my benefit, which would be punish- able at the Court of Assizes. When I see him I shall treat him as he deserves." Juliette had in vain protested, sworn to her father that she knew nothing at all about it, that Lucien was incapable of having imagined the mischievous joke which they had allowed themselves. M. Miro- taine was convinced to the contrary, and when two days later poor Lucien called on the father of his beloved, humble and smiling, to inquire as to his health, M. Mirotaine assumed a furious expression and pushed him towards the door, saying, " My health ! Do you dare to come and inquire about my health after making sport of me in a 154 ADH&MAR fashion that has made me ill. You are bold indeed to dare to face me again." Lucien quite overwhelmed, stammered, " Why, monsieur, what have I done? for you to treat me thus ? " " What have you done ? you may pretend to be ignorant of it, but I am not to be deceived by you, monsieur ! And the dinner they forced me to give them, a dinner of eleven covers three courses ! my old bordeaux, and for an Italian count who was nothing but an apothecary and whom that Dodi- chet put forward as a millionnaire in search of a wife and he was only from Pontoise and the coffee and liqueurs! your friend Dodichet took brandy three times. Do you deny that he is your friend, and that he thought of this unworthy comedy in the hope of helping your love affair with my daughter?" " If Dodichet did that to render me a service I swear to you, upon my honor, monsieur, that he did it against my wishes, and that I had, on the contrary, forbidden him to allow himself to take the slightest liberties with you." " Tell that to others, monsieur, tell that to others ! You confess that this Dodichet is one of your friends, that is quite sufficient for me to say that you shall not put your foot in my house again." " Why, monsieur, my intentions are honorable, you know that, and my business in pins doesn't go badly ; I shall be able, I hope, to materially increase it." CHARLES PAUL DE KOCK 155 " Yes, yes ! You may get it extolled and praised by your good friends, but I shan't be taken in by you be off with you, and you need not think of coming to my house again, for you won't be re- ceived." M. Mirotaine pushed the young man on to the landing and violently shut the door on him. Then Lucien departed, muttering, " I shall never more see Juliette, nor shall I be able to talk to her again ! Ah, Dodichet, what a confoundedly bad turn you have done me." On leaving Lucien's, Dodichet first of all bought some tobacco, then he went on to Mademoiselle Boulotte's, where he was to meet Rosa, for these damsels had been instructed as to the farce that was to be played at M. Mirotaine's, and as they were extremely anxious to learn how it turned out, Dodi- chet had promised to meet them and tell them all about it that same evening. The two dancers were smoking and drinking grog, and Boulotte's room, although somewhat larger than that of Lucien, was so filled with smoke that one could hardly see across it, which did not prevent Dodichet from uttering a shout in joyous admiration of the picture which met his gaze, " Bravo ! bravo! this is something like life. I've just left a man who is not a man he does not smoke ; but here, on the contrary, I find women who can smoke like troopers that suits me." 156 ADHEMAR " Why, it's Dodichet ! How do, Dodichet ! " " Good-day, young caperers, have you any cigar- ette papers ? " " What a question, we would rather go without bread." " You are right, my question was out of place ; your education is perfected. Give me some of your papers. What are you drinking there ? " " Some grog common brandy grog." " I'll accept several glasses of it. Rosa, be kind enough to mix it for me, while Boulotte, who has a sconce for making cigarettes, goes and prepares me several. Mesdemoiselles, I am thirsty for smoke." " Well, it seems to me you have only to open your mouth, there's plenty of it here." " You don't understand me, my young Andalu- sian, I meant to say that I need to smoke myself, and I've just come from the place of a man who doesn't smoke." " Good heavens ! where does he come from, that kind of a bird." " He doesn't come, he always stays at home he is in love. He thinks of his sweetheart, and that stands to him in the place of a pipe." " What sort of a girl is his sweetheart ? " " I don't know, I didn't ask him." " Well, what about this betrothal scene at M. Mirotaine's, this marriage a la Putiphar ? " " Everything went off first rate ; only this even- CHARLES PAUL DE KOCK 157 ing one of my friends, Phoebus Dubotte I've nicknamed him Phoebus because he is fair and pre- tentious Phosbus arrived with his wife. He found that he knew the individual whom I had intro- duced as an Italian count." "The one who lends you money because you know a secret which concerns him, and before whom we must not speak of Pontoise ? " " Exactly, Boulotte, you have as good a mem- ory as a creditor. Why, Phosbus spoke of Pon- toise in calling my Miflores by his right name. So you may judge of the scene produced by this recognition pass me a cigarette. The Miro- taines were furious Putiphar would have liked to see me flogged. My false count escaped, and I followed him, vowing that I would make my sword acquainted with his anatomy. The denoue- ment of our little comedy was cut rather short; but it had to end, and I was beginning to have had enough of the Mirotaine's society. They had, however, some very good types there. One was M.Brid'oison,whowas lost in admiration of his son, whom he urged to gymnastic efforts to everybody's discomfort ; his wife chewed her hair, and a sister of the host was weeping all over the place because she had been hit in the eye with a pickled onion." " And the dinner, was it good ? " " A skinflint's dinner bad wine, no truffles, cream flavored with camphor." " With camphor ? " 158 ADHEMAR " Yes, in place of sugar ; I don't advise you to make use of it, for it does not replace the sugar advantageously. Finally, the trick is done, and I've just left Lucien after telling him how I had served his love affairs." " He thanked you heartily, I suppose? " " Not a bit of it, he scolded me, and then preached me a sermon on tobacco ! Pass me a cigarette. Now I must rejoin my Miflores, for I need money. I've seen a dramatic agent and he tells me they are expecting me at Quimper-Cor- entin, where they need a young first tenor. I am young I have a pleasing personal appearance, and a sufficiently good voice. I give the chest < sol.'" "The f sol'? Why that is not an c ut,' that isn't." " I know perfectly well, Mademoiselle Rosa, that a c sol ' is not an f ut,' or rather a f do,' to speak more elegantly ; but a very high chest c sol ' is quite pretty, too ; and, besides, if the public is not pleased I shall say to it, * Oh, you be hanged,' and that will be satisfactory." " And what part shall you come out in ? " "In that of Joconde. I'm to sing, Long I've wandered through the world, as if that was the only thing I'd been doing." " Do they play comic operas then at Quimper- Corentin?" CHARLES PAUL DE KOCK 159 "Why, my dear Rosa, where do you come from? Don't you know that since the theatres have had their freedom they play all sorts of things, and no matter where. I've seen f Tartuffe ' represented in a barn, and the { Battle of Pultowa ' in an alcove ; the Russians hiding behind a bedside table, and the Swedish carrying a wash basin at the point of the bayonet. So there is nothing surprising in their playing opera comique at Quimper. There is only one thing that hinders me ; the agent has informed me that the management does not furnish the costumes ; and, as I don't care to play Joconde in a sack-coat or a frock-coat, I must buy a cos- tume, and I want it to be dazzling, glistening. That is what I need money for, and what I must find Miflores for." " Why, I thought you were heir to some old aunt? " " Yes, I have an inheritance in perspective it is the last. But the old aunt does not show her- self at all obliging she doesn't die. That's why Miflores is necessary to me." " But by what charm do you manage to get that man to lend you money so often ? " " Ah, that is my secret." " Oh, Dodichet, you'll tell us your secret, won't you ? You'll confide it to us ? " " Mesdemoiselles I'll tell it to you when I have no further need of borrowing from Miflores, when I have inherited my aunt's property." 160 ADHEMAR " Dear little Dodichet, tell us your secret ! We will be very discreet." " Mesdemoiselles, I don't doubt your discre- tion. That's why I won't tell you anything more about it." Dodichet swallowed three glasses of grog, smoked five cigarettes, then went home, humming, But one always comes back To his first love. The next day, early in the morning, Dodichet went to the hotel where lodged the mysterious apothecary. He found him packing his trunks and preparing to move. " What does this mean ? " cried Dodichet. " Why these preparations for departure ? " " Because I am leaving this hotel." "And why are you leaving this hotel? " " Because I'm afraid they'll find me here. Your friend, that big fair fellow, called me Seringat yes- terday, before everybody. That was a very ugly trick you played me there, to take me to a house frequented by a person who knew me in Pontoise. It was not on that account that you should play me such turns as those that I was willing to lend you money." " My dear fellow, permit me to say that you are arguing like a goose. I shall prove to you in very few words that you have no common sense. I have borrowed money of you, but I shall return it to CHARLES PAUL DE KOCK 161 you as soon as I have inherited my aunt's prop- erty, you may be sure of that." " Very well that is of no consequence, I am in no hurry." " But if I have had recourse to your purse for some time past, it was because I was straitened, because I had need of you. You lent it to me it was not to oblige me, I know that perfectly well, but because you were afraid that I should divulge what you were so anxious to conceal." " Yes, monsieur, it was for that alone and not for friendship." " Thank you, I am sensible of that mark of affection. But if I were to bring you in contact with some one whom you had known at Pontoise, some one in fact who might reveal that which concerns you all would be at an end ; you would lend me no more money, since all would be known. So you see very well, that it would be to my in- terest that people should not know you. This Dubotte came to Mirotaine's by a miracle ; he never went there before because they offer liquorice water for refreshment he himself said so before me. It was, therefore, by an unlucky chance that he came this evening. Furthermore, I was ignor- ant of the fact that Dubotte had seen you at Pon- toise ; but, luckily, it was before your event ; he does not know of it " " Oh, if he had mentioned it, I should have done something desperate." Vol. XXIV 162 ADHMAR " I don't know what you would have done! but you must acknowledge that I could not have fore- seen this meeting. Look you, my dear Seringat, you're not angry with me, are you ? " "Don't call me Seringat I don't wish to be called so again." "That is correct, you are Miflores. That is un- derstood my dear fellow, I shall again be obliged to dip into your purse. I am going to make my first appearance on the stage at Quimper-Corentin, and in Joconde nothing less than that! But I need a costume for the part, a rich and elegant costume ; you know, Joconde is the friend of Count Robert." " No, I don't know that play." " I am going to answer you like M. Prudhomme in the f Famille improvisee ' ; you are wrong not to know it, if you had the opportunity of doing so. How much do I owe you now ? " " Two thousand francs, that I have lent you in four parts." " That's correct five hundred francs each time; oh, well, today lend me a thousand francs at one go. I shall then owe you three thousand francs ; but my old aunt can't last much longer ; besides, I am going to have a great success on the stage, and ten- ors are now paid an outrageous price. I can easily repay a thousand crowns when I shall earn fifty thousand francs a year." M. Seringat took from the pocket of his note- CHARLES PAUL DE KOCK 163 book a bill for a thousand francs, which he gave to Dodichet saying, " That's for your secrecy." " Thank you, my dear fellow ; you have ugly moments, but very pretty quarters of an hour. Will you come and witness my debut at Quimper ! " "No, I don't wish to leave Paris ; one is much safer lost in a crowd. Besides, I have discovered a little hotel at the back of a court, at the back of the Rue Jacques, and I'm going to take refuge there." " Very good ! but as I must be able to find you, if it's only to return what I owe you, I'll go with you as far as the little hotel at the back of a court which must be very difficult to get at, for ordi- narily the courts are behind the hotel. Then I shall say good-by to you, and be off to Brittany to gather laurels and yellow boys." A cab was in waiting in front of the mysterious gentleman's lodging ; they loaded it with baggage. Dodichet took his place inside with Seringat, and did not leave the latter until he had seen him in- stalled in an old house in the Rue Saint-Jacques, which looked as much like a hotel as Suresnes wine is like chambertin. Dodichet's first care was to buy some tobacco, pipes, cigars, and papers for cigarettes. His pro- visions laid in, he busied himself with the costume in which he was to appear as Joconde. He spent three hundred francs, but had a dazzling costume 164 ADHMAR which was almost new. When he got home he tried it on and thought so well of it he sent his porter to find Boulotte, that she might see him as Joconde. Mademoiselle Boulotte came and uttered a cry of admiration when she saw Dodichet, who had on tight breeches of white silk slashed with violet vel- vet, a velvet tunic of the same color, a lace ruff, a velvet cap in which was stuck a handsome white feather, a gilt belt, and yellow funnel-shaped boots. She insisted that Dodichet should go down with her as he was, to get a chop; but the latter dared not risk himself in a cafe in such a costume, since it was not carnival time. All that he could do was to send and order a dinner at the neighboring restau- rant, and to dine with his little acquaintance in Joconde's costume. Mademoiselle Boulotte was delighted, she imag- ined that she was dining with a noble stranger. They laughed, they ate, they drank heartily. Do- dichet sang between each dish a scrap from his part; his voice was of good compass, but had be- come husky from the abuse of tobacco. " My good fellow," said Boulotte, " you must not smoke on the day of your debut, nor even on the night before." " All right ! all right ! I am a little hoarse this evening, but if I swallow the yolk of an egg raw, my voice will become clear as if by magic. Mean- while, let us drink and smoke. I am not going to appear tomorrow." CHARLES PAUL DE KOCK 165 They smoked and drank so much that Joconde ended by rolling under the table in his fine costume, which the next day he found to be stained, dusty and torn. Dodichet was obliged to buy another pair of silk breeches, and hastened to the railway without again putting on his stage costume. Arrived at Quimper-Corentin, Dodichet imme- diately sought the manager of the play. As he had much assurance and audacity, he presented himself as if he was one of the first actors of the day ; and the manager, deceived by his manner, took him for a man accustomed to success. To ensure the man- ager's good will, and that of his future comrades, Dodichet invited them all to dinner at the best hotel in the place. At table he begged them not to spare either bordeaux or champagne. The actors of this neighborhood were quite unused to being treated in this way, and the manager himself, quite astonished at having a tenor who was rolling in gold was persuaded that he had obtained an Ellevion or a Tamberlick. That same evening they announced at the the- atre the approaching appearance of a young tenor who had already obtained the greatest success on the first stages of Russia, Germany and Italy for prudence' sake Dodichet did not mention France. As his name was inharmonious to the ear, and seemed rather fitted for a comedian than a virtu- oso, Dodichet had himselfannounced as Signer Rou- kdini, which seemed to promise an Italian singer. i66 ADHEMAR " How many rehearsals do you want ? " de- manded the stage manager of his new artist ; and the latter answered with that self-possession that never abandoned him, " A single one will suffice. I know the play by heart, and at a push I could play all the parts." However, at the rehearsal Signer Rouladini, who said he knew the whole play by heart, did not even know his part, and turned every moment to the prompter. " I have forgotten a little of it because I know too much," said Dodichet. " But tomorrow, before the public, I shall not miss a word." " You are still quite hoarse," said the manager ; " do you want me to retard your appearance a little?" " No, indeed, no ; for I shall have the same voice later on, but on the day of my debut I'll swallow the yolks of several raw eggs and my voice will be clear and clean. You need be uneasy about nothing." The manager did not seem quite reassured ; but all the actors to whom Dodichet had given the din- ner declared that he must have a very pretty voice when he was not hoarse. The young prima donna advised him not to smoke until after his debut, but Dodichet laughed in her face, and wagered that he would smoke on the stage while she was sing- ing ; but the manager formally objected to the new singer making any such attempt, and he warned CHARLES PAUL DE KOCK 167 Rouladini that the public of the neighborhood would not put up with much nonsense. " It's because you don't know how to take them," answered the latter, " but with me I defy them to show me any bad temper." The day of the appearance arrived. I n the morn- ing they rehearsed again, and again Dodichet did not know his part, appealing incessantly to the prompter, a very stubborn old dancer, who de- clared that the new tenor was deaf. His voice was a little more mellow, thanks to the yolks of eggs ; but on leaving rehearsal and to give himself cour- age, Dodichet drank punch and treated all his com- rades except the prompter, with whom he was not pleased, and here he made a great mistake ; an actor should be on as good terms with his prompter as a tenant with his porter. In dining, Dodichet thought it necessary to take a little more, to give him courage before the pub- lic. Then he smoked, coughed, cleared his throat, tried his voice ; the punch had completely de- stroyed the effect of the eggs ; his voice was gone. Dodichet sent out for some more eggs, he swal- lowed several raw while he was dressing, and went on to the stage feeling horribly sick at his stomach. The sight of the audience chamber rilled with people quite daunted the debutant, he did not know where he was, nor what he was doing, and seeing in one of the orchestra seats a gentleman with whom he had played dominos the evening 168 ADHEMAR before, he took off his cap and bowed to him. Fortunately the public took the salutation to it- self. The actor who was on the stage with Dodi- chet made him a sign that it was his turn to speak ; but the novice had forgotten what he was to say, he turned towards the prompter muttering in a low voice, " The word ! the word ! " And the prompter with great coolness answered him, " I gave it you." The audience began to murmur. The actor who was playing Count Robert again came to the help of his comrade ; he omitted a part of the scene, and came to the cue of the music for Joconde's fa- mous song, " Long Have I Wandered Through the World." Then a deep silence fell on the au- dience, for they were extremely curious to hear the voice of this gentleman who acted so badly, and some of them said, "That's exactly like an Italian singer ; for them, the dialogue is nothing and the song is everything." But this time the song was found to be still worse than the spoken dialogue. The eggs, the punch, the wine and the tobacco had given the debutant such a singular voice that when he tried to sing they heard an inhuman sound which re- called at one and the same time all the harsh and unmusical noises that can be thought of. At first the house re-echoed with loud shouts of CHARLES PAUL DE KOCK 169 laughter. But Dodichet coughed, turned away, cleared his throat and tried to smile at the public saying, " It is nothing ! it is a cat! " Then he began again, Long have I wandered through the world. " Well, go back and stay there," cried a gentle- man in the pit. Dodichet began to cough again, then he spat on the prompter, who had put out his head and shouted at him, " Attend to your business, confound it ! " The debutant began his song again, Long have I wandered through the world, And they have seen me they have seen me ! Hisses came from all parts of the house ; this time the public thought he was making game of them. They shouted from everywhere, " Down with the debutant ! Turn him out ! " Dodichet tried to go on, And they have seen me and they have seen me " They've seen enough of you," cried the pit with one voice. "Get out of here ! " Dodichet pretended not to hear, and insisted on continuing his song, but the public made a fright- ful uproar, and some young men in the pit sent a shower of raw apples and coppers at the unlucky performer. 170 ADHEMAR " Oh, so that's how you receive me, is it ? " said Dodichet ; " oh, well, you are all calves' heads ! " and turning his back on the public he made a very vulgar gesture and escaped into the wings. But the gesture he had permitted himself and the words he had uttered had completely aroused the ire of the audience ; they jumped into the midst of the musicians ; they clambered on to the stage, and ran towards the scenery, saying, " We will teach him to fail in respect to the public, this gentleman; it is not hisses, but a good drubbing with a cane that Signer Rouladini needs." And the prompter rubbed his hands in his den. The manager tried in vain to calm the public, they would not listen to him. But Dodichet's comrades, seeing that the affair was becoming seri- ous, hastened to make him leave the theatre by a secret entrance ; they threw on his shoulders a gendarme's cloak, they put on his head a fireman's helmet and they said to him, " You must leave the town at once. Don't go back to your hotel, you will not be safe there. Go to the railway station and get away the Bretons will not take a joke, and you played your part very badly." Quite out of his wits at what had happened to him, Dodichet found himself in the street without quite knowing how. Fortunately for him he always wore his purse in his belt, in order that he might constantly have the means of purchasing liquid CHARLES PAUL DE KOCK 171 refreshments ; he, therefore, quickly made up his mind. Wrapping himself in the mantle they had thrown around him, and putting the fireman's hel- met firmly on his head, he directed his steps towards the station, saying to himself, " These provincials are not capable of appreciating me, I'll go back to Paris, I've still two hundred francs in my pocket and with that I can await events." Dodichet threw himself into a third-class car- riage, where there were already three women. His singular costume frightened them, they wanted to change their places, but Dodichet reassured them by telling them he was coming from a masquerade ball and that it was to win a bet that he had kept his disguise. However, at the first station he bought other clothes, not daring to return to Paris attired as Joconde, with a gendarme's cloak and a fire- man's hat in addition to the original costume. These changes of attire cost money, and on arriv- ing in Paris Dodichet had barely a hundred francs of the thousand that M. Seringat had lent him. But on the very day of his arrival he received a letter from Troyes, and that letter was bordered with black. " My poor aunt is dead ! " he said to himself. " But faith ! I shan't be such a hypocrite as to weep for her. My inheritance just comes in time. I shall pay Seringat, I shall buy a shawl for Bou- lotte and I shall pass golden days of champagne and truffles ; for the good aunt was rich. She can't have left me less than a hundred thousand francs." ADHEMAR Dodichet opened the letter, which, in fact, an- nounced his aunt's death, and that she had left her fortune to a distant cousin, since she was unwilling that it should revert to her scapegrace of a nephew, who had already made such a bad use of that which his other relations had left him. Dodichet had not expected to be disinherited ; he angrily crushed in his hands the lawyer's letter which brought him this news and, for the first time, his reflections were not rose-colored. CHAPTER XI AN UGLY BROTHER-IN-LAW SINCE he had broken with Nathalie, vainly had Adhemar sought amusement and distraction ; he could find them nowhere. When he loves truly, it is with great difficulty that a lover refrains from seeking her whose presence is so delightful to him; he tries in vain to be brave, and says to himself that a lost love can be replaced by another; but he cannot tear away so easily from the depths of his heart the beloved image ; he feels a void, experi- ences a loneliness, which follows him from place to place, and he prefers the memory of the re- gretted past to all the pleasures that are offered to him in the present. Adhemar was unhappy, and he was also dis- pleased with himself; however, he tried to prove that he had been right to break the connection which had had so much charm for him. He said to himself, " I loved her, I loved her sincerely ; but she did not love me, since she has deceived me. That pipe case did not belong to a woman, so she must have admitted male visitors without telling me. And the moment one's mistress has this sort of 173 i 7 4 ADHEMAR secret, one knows what it means very well indeed. And I had detected the smell of tobacco on a pre- vious occasion, so the smoker goes to see her often. Ah, Nathalie ! you were the woman of my dreams ! I should have been so happy had you loved me. But no, women cannot be faithful; and why should she be different to others ? " On a certain day, as the man of letters was walk- ing sadly along and meditating thus, whom should he meet face to face but Lucien, who was also in the dismals. "Why, Lucien!" " Adhemar ! " " And where are you off to, looking so melan- choly, my dear Lucien?" " I was going faith, I don't know where I was going. I was walking at hazard, I am so unhappy so out of sorts." " Are you indeed ! Come, tell me your troubles, my poor Lucien. I am not very cheerful myself, either. Well, let us share our griefs, we shall per- haps find a little consolation in so doing. Is it about your inventions? isn't your little business successful? " " Pardon me, that is going very well indeed, on the contrary, and that is exactly the reason why you see me so distressed." " I don't understand you." " My little business was going well, and I had every reason to hope that, at last, they would give CHARLES PAUL DE KOCK 175 me Juliette's hand ; well, instead of that, M. Miro- taine showed me to his door and forbade me ever to return and all that because Dodichet eot the o unlucky idea of trying to help my love affairs by presenting to the Mirotaines a pretended Italian count, a millionnaire, who was going to demand Juliette's hand. They invited him to dinner, and went to great expense to entertain him. Then ar- rived Dubotte, who discovered the fraud. M. Miro- taine saw that he was being hoaxed, and he is persuaded that I was acting in conjunction with Dodichet, hence his anger against me and the order he gave me to stay away from his house." " That devil of a Dodichet ! I remember, how- ever, that you strictly forbade him to play the slightest joke on M. Mirotaine." "He thought he was doing me a service, so I can't bear him any grudge. For all that he was the cause of my being put out." "The old miser's anger will wear itself out if you are successful in your undertakings. His daughter will make him listen to reason." " But, in the mean time, I can't see her, nor come to an understanding with her. When I was allowed to go there we found a way to exchange a few words on the sly, but now that I can't see Juliette how can I put her in possession of facts concerning my- self. But to be quite unable to see, even for a single moment, the woman one loves, why, Ad he- mar, it is nothing short of torture." 176 ADHEMAR " It is, as you say." " Can't you see her you love, either ? " " You mean she whom I loved, but who did not love me she has deceived me, which comes to the same thing. Then I ceased to visit her, but I feel that I love her still." "Are you quite sure she deceived you?" " Sure ! as much so as a man can be who sees that a woman is keeping secrets from him. Come, Lucien, if you were to learn that your Juliette re- ceived visitors of whom she breathed not a word to you, would you not think that she had other love affairs ? That is, supposing she was mistress of her own actions ? " " If Juliette were her own mistress, if she lived in the most modest little room, if any one should say to me, c She receives other men beside you,' I would not suspect her for an instant." " By Jove ! what a trustful fellow you are. And if you had a proof that she received men secretly?" " Well, then, I should say to myself, * No doubt she has some reason for hiding these visits from me but she has not the slightest reason for tell- ing me, swearing to me, that she loves me, if she doesn't. When I go to see her, does she not al- ways receive me with the sweetest smile ? Can I not read in her eyes all the pleasure that my pres- ence causes her? Only if she should cease to be the same to me, should I fear she no longer loved me." CHARLES PAUL DE KOCK 177 " That's all very well ; you have a happy dis- position, you are not jealous." "Oh, not at all!" " Tell me, do you know Madame Dermont ? She is, I think, a friend of Mademoiselle Juliette." " Madame Dermont ? Yes. I have met her several times at Juliette's when M. Mirotaine still allowed me to talk with his daughter. A very agreeable woman indeed. She is Juliette's best friend. They tell each other their sorrows and their joys, they hide nothing from each other. She is well aware that Juliette loves me, and if she could serve us in our love affair she would like nothing better. But it is out of her power to do so. She has had a good deal of trouble also." " She Nathalie ? I mean to say, Madame Dermont what trouble has she? She never spoke to me of it." " Do you know her, then, this lady ? " "Yes a little. I go to her house sometimes but these troubles, what are they ? Lucien, my dear fellow, I beg of you, tell me all you know." " Why, I know it through Juliette, to whom, as I told you just now, this lady confides all her trou- bles." " But what are these troubles? for God's sake, come to the point." Lucien smiled as he looked at Adhemar, and answered, " How very much interested you are in every- Vol. XXIV 178 ADHMAR thing that concerns this young lady Is it because, by any chance ? " "Yes, yes, I love her, I adore her, I am mad about her but these troubles? please, my dear fellow, tell me all that you know " " Madame Dermont is a widow, as you know, but her husband had a brother a very bad fellow, by the way who will do nothing but get tipsy, gamble, and frequent the worst places. When M. Dermont died, Alexandre, that's the brother's name, Alexandre was furious to see that he inher- ited nothing, that everything passed into the young widow's hands, the whole fortune modest enough, for the matter of that which the defunct had left. He went to his sister-in-law and made a scene, even went so far as to threaten her ; but the young woman has some strength of mind, some character, and she showed her brother-in-law the door. Alex- andre then saw that he had gone the wrong way about it and that he could obtain nothing from Madame Dermont with threats ; he returned to her house, not threatening this time, but weeping and groaning. The young woman did not drive him away, she gave him five hundred francs and advised him to become a soldier; the only career in which he could hope to succeed. Alexandre promised to fol- low her advice ; but in a few months he returned saying that he was dying of hunger, that he had had nothing to eat since the day before, and he pois- oned the atmosphere with brandy and tobacco ! " CHARLES PAUL DE KOCK 179 " And tobacco ! he smokes ! Ah, I understand now. Poor woman ; but why did she not tell me all this ? " " Why not ? Because it is painful to say that a man with whom one is connected, who bears the same name, for Alexandre is also named Dermont Well, she doesn't like to confess that a worthless fellow, a scamp, is her brother, and that he has at least the right to call her sister." " And this wretch came back again to torment Nathalie ? " " Good God ! she doesn't know how to get rid of him ! and it's hard to be always giving money when it only serves to encourage vice and debauch- ery." "Ah, I'll get rid of him, this ugly brother-in-law! Dear Nathalie ! But why didn't she confide in me. No matter, I am a wretch, I am unworthy of being loved by so good, so sweet a woman if Lucien, give me your hand. My dear fellow, if you did but know what a good turn you have done me you have restored me to life to hap- piness, to love, to her in fact ! Good-by, Lucien, good-by. I shall run, I shall fly to ask her to par- don me. Oh, she will forgive me, will she not?" And without awaiting Lucien's answer, Adhe- mar set off walking precipitately to Madame Der- mont's ; but when he approached her dwelling, when he saw the house in which she lived he slack- ened his pace ; he asked himself how he would be 180 ADHEMAR received by her whom he had left in so rude a fashion after having unjustly suspected her. When he reached the door he stopped, he dared not enter and racked his head for a pretext, a motive for presenting himself. For some minutes he stood irresolutely before the gateway, when he was suddenly pushed aside by an individual who went into the house, saying to him in a coarse tone, "Get out of the way there don't you see that you're stopping up the gateway ? " The person who addressed these words to him was a man of thirty, very negligently dressed, and whose hat seemed to have received several dents. This man, whose face was wrinkled and pimpled from drink before its time, had a common, insolent appearance, smelled strongly of tobacco, and seemed to be half tipsy already. " Monsieur, where are you going ? " cried the porter, to the individual who had entered the ves- tibule and was going towards the staircase, while Adhemar, who had been on the point of taking him to task for the rude manner in which he had pushed him, stopped to hear his answer. " Where am I going ? Why, hang it all, you know very well ; it isn't the first time. I am going to see my sister Madame Dermont." " Madame Dermont is out, monsieur." " You always tell me the same thing, and you know very well I shall go up, just the same." CHARLES PAUL DE KOCK 181 " Monsieur, I am expressly forbidden to allow you to go up and this time you shan't go up." " I shan't go up ? Have you done, you old snoozer ? Look you here ! Madame Dermont doesn't want to receive me, but I am Alexandre Dermont, her husband's brother, and she has no right to refuse me admission, so I shall go up, all the same, and you be hanged, porter ! And my sister-in-law will be obliged to receive me, because because I " M. Alexandre did not finish this phrase because some one in front of him barred the way and forced him to recede, looking fixedly into his eyes. Then he muttered, " Come now, what's it got to do with you let me pass, do you hear ! " " I will show you what it has to do with me, M. Alexandre Dermont." " I don't know you let me go up " " You will not go up ; you will not go to your sister-in-law, who is perfectly right to refuse to admit a wretch, a scoundrel of your kind." " What are you saying ? What is that ? what are you meddling for ? " " I tell you that you are a low rascal, that you shan't go to Madame Dermont's to get money from her, which you spend in orgies and debauch- ery ! Aren't you ashamed to conduct yourself in such a way ? and do you think that Madame Dermont's modest fortune will continually serve. 182 ADHEMAR to gratify your low tastes ? No, monsieur, you need expect nothing more. I forbid you do you hear me ? I forbid you to again present yourself at your sister-in-law's." "And by what right, if you please?" " By the right that all good men are born to the right to defend a woman who is oppressed, who is threatened, who is robbed " " Oh, you're a nuisance ! I'm going up." And M. Alexandre, making a half turn, tried to gain the staircase, but Adhemar caught him, seized him by the throat, and pressed him against the wall, saying, " If you again attempt to go up those stairs, I'll break your head against this wall." " Monsieur, you are strangling me ! " " Do you understand me ? " "Yes but let me go." " Will you swear to come no more to Madame Dermont's ? " " Yes I swear but you wrong me. I left a pipe case at my sister's I was going to look for it." "It wasn't for such a miserable trifle as that, that you came ; it was to ask the lady for money again, thief that you are." " Monsieur, you insult me ! " " Oh, you think I insult you ? well, if you have the smallest spark of courage, come, and I will give you satisfaction. There's an armorer's near CHARLES PAUL DE KOCK 183 here, we'll go and get some pistols, and take a cab. Come along." " Me fight not if I know it ! thank you ! let me go, I've had enough of it, and I swear never to come back." " Go, then ; but if you fail to keep this vow, I swear to you I won't fail you ! " M. Alexandre listened no further, but hurried off as though he feared pursuit. Then the porter, who had armed himself with his broom to help Adhemar if it had been necessary, cried, " Oh, monsieur, how lucky that you were here to drive away that wicked scapegrace. Me, he would not listen to but you ! Oh, you shook him so soundly that I'll answer for it he won't show himself here again. You have rendered Madame Dermont a famous service." "And has the lady really gone out? " " No, monsieur, no, she has been out scarcely at all this long time past but that was my orders for that ruffian at all times. Oh, you can go up you will be well received, you will." Adhemar mounted the staircase, then he stopped in front of Nathalie's door ; he was deeply moved and said, " She hardly ever goes out, the porter said. Has she been ill ? and was I the cause of it ? Cursed jealousy ! How will she receive me ? No matter, I wish to see her, and to die at her feet if she will not forgive me." Tremblingly he rang the bell ; the maid opened 1 84 ADHEMAR to him, and uttered an exclamation of joy when she saw him, for servants can always guess their mistress' secret thoughts, and the latter knew very well that Adhemar's return would bring back joy and happiness into the house, which had been very gloomy and dull ever since he had ceased to visit it. " Ask Madame Dermont if she is willing to re- ceive me," murmured Adhemar. The servant ran joyfully to her mistress and re- turned almost immediately to say he might come in. Adhemar did not allow her to repeat her words. He found Nathalie with her embroidery in her hand, but she was not working. One glance suf- ficed to show him that she was pale, changed ; that an expression of sadness was imprinted on her features. Adhemar could no longer contain him- self, he threw himself on his knees at her feet, he took her hands and pressed them in his own, exclaiming, " Pray forgive me ; if you could but know how I have reproached myself! But I swear it shall not occur again, for I am entirely cured now. Oh, I have been so unhappy and miserable while away from you." " And I, monsieur, do you suppose I did not suffer ? why did you not come back sooner ? what prevented you ? " " Why it was because I don't know why Come, Nathalie, I can't lie to you today I met CHARLES PAUL DE KOCK 185 Lucien, and I learned from him that you had a brother-in-law who smoked." " And then you understood that I had no other love affair. Hothead ! if you had not gone so quickly, so suddenly, I should have told you all disclosed everything but when jealousy seizes hold of you there is no way of making you listen to reason." " Hereafter, my confidence in you will be com- plete. You love me and you forgive me again, do you not ? " " Yes, but this is the last time, for such scenes try me too much." At this moment they heard the servant shriek- ing with laughter in the kitchen. Nathalie rang the bell and inquired of her as to the cause of this fit of merriment. " Oh, madame, hasn't monsieur told you what he has done to your rascal of a brother-in-law ? The porter has just told me. Monsieur drove him out of the house, and took him by the throat and threatened to break his head if he ever dared to come near you." " Is that true, Adhemar ? " " Of course was I wrong ? " " Oh, quite otherwise ; you have rendered me a great service. It seems that I am destined to be saved from all kinds of dangers by you ! You see, monsieur, you were quite wrong to abandon me." i86 ADHEMAR As his only answer Adhemar covered her hand with kisses, and the maid went back to her kitchen, exclaiming, " Oh, what good luck ! that man and his to- bacco will never come here again." CHAPTER XII A Box IN THE PIT ELONORE, after the evening on which M. Calle had played bezique with her up to midnight, said tenderly to her husband, " Do you not know, monsieur, that it is ex- tremely wrong of you to leave me to thus pass the evening quite alone with a young man it shows a good deal of indifference to your wife and, in fact, if I did not love you I might wish to avenge myself for your frequent absences. You expose me to having false declarations of love made to me." " My dearest, you don't look at those things from the right pointof view," answered handsome Phile- mon, caressing his mutton-chop whiskers, which threatened to overrun his cheeks. " Come now, did Calle make you a declaration ? " "Oh, no!" ' " You see it is all right, then. Devil take it ! I know whom I'm leaving you with ; this young man is as chaste as Voltaire's ' Candide.' Do you know Voltaire's ' Candide ? ' " " No, my dear." " I must get you to read it, for you know too i88 ADHMAR little about literature, and I should like to instruct you in everything. I don't like people to say of my wife, ' She is a simpleton.' You understand, I don't want people to say that, and you must con- duct yourself accordingly." " I'll try, my dear." " To come back to Calle ; he's one of those who are rather simple; he dare not look a woman in the face, and scarcely dares to speak to her. So you see, I can leave him with you without fear. If ever he should fall in love with any lady it will be because she has made the first advances." " Do you think so, my dear ? " " I am sure of it ; he would never dare to declare himself if he wasn't helped a little. But then, my darling, since I am so assured of your virtue and the love you bear me, I am quite easy on that score. I trust you to Calle as to the guardian of a seraglio. Do you know what the guardian of a seraglio in Turkey is ? " " No, my dear." " Well, it is an eunuch." " And what is an eunuch ? " " Why, don't you know ? I will tell you one of these evenings when it rains. Really, I have a good many things to teach you." Some days later Philemon said in the morning to his wife, " My dear, you are going to have a great pleas- ure. I know you like the play, and above all the CHARLES PAUL DE KOCK 189 Theatre du Gymnase ; well, I've a box for you for this evening." " What a delightful treat the Gymnase, too. You've a box ! now that was nice of you. What time shall we start, my dear ? so I may be ready, and not keep you waiting." " Oh, the play doesn't begin till half-past seven, be ready at a quarter past, that will be soon enough; no one would call for you before that time." " What ! call for me ! Am I not going with you ? " " No, no, I shall go later on and join you, be- cause I'm obliged to go this evening to a party at my chief's. You understand ! I can't fail them. When one wants to get on one must try to stand well with those who are above him." " But, then, if you knew you were going to a party, why did you order a box for this evening ? " " Why did I ? Well, if I amuse myself on one side, should not you do so on the other ? " " But you always used to take me with you to the parties at your chief's." "Oh, yes,on eveningswhen there was dancing or music but today it will be a a serious party; they will talk politics, they will be interested in conversing about the future obligations of a new oriental railway, and, as you can imagine, it would bore women fearfully to have to listen to all that. That is why there will be no women at the party." " And with whom do you intend that I should go to the play ? " 190 ADHEMAR " Oh, don't be uneasy about that, I've let Calle know ; I saw him yesterday, and said to him, c Will you come tomorrow evening and take my wife to the theatre ? ' He jumped at my proposal with delight; he's extremely fond of the theatre." " But you will abuse this young man's kind- ness." " You mean that I shall give him a great deal of pleasure ; the poor fellow has never known what it was to have a mistress of the right kind ! He is quite proud at the thought of escorting you ; he says to himself, ( People will think I have made a conquest of this fair lady.' ' "And you are quite willing that people shall think I am this young man's mistress? " " Why no, no one will believe it ! I tell you that it is he who will imagine they think so. One has to be careful to dot all one's i's to make you un- derstand anything." "There is one thing that I understand very well, monsieur, and that is that you are now doing your best to prevent my going with you. And although you think me very simple, I beg you to believe that I perceive your object perfectly." " Oh, these women, these women they take everything the wrong way. I've done the best I can to be agreeable, I've got you a box for the play a charming play too, so they say ; I can't take you with me this evening, it's a political party very good! I don't wish that you should sit CHARLES PAUL DE KOCK 191 moping alone beside the fire and instead of thanking me for what I have done, you overwhelm me with reproaches and say all manner of absurd things. Be quite easy, when I order a box for you again you will know it." M. Dubotte went out in a very bad temper. Madame Dubotte said nothing more, but she prob- ably thought a great deal. In the evening she made a very careful and elaborate toilet. Young Calle arrived very promptly at the appointed hour; he was attired, curled, and scented as if he were going to a wedding. Philemon gave him the ticket, saying, " Here is your box I shall join you later on, if it is possible to tear myself away from my chief's in time to do so. See that my wife amuses herself which is not easy, for she isn't always in a good temper. If you render her amiable you will work a miracle." Young Calle bowed and left the house with Eleonore, who was getting used to hanging on his arm. The young man wished to take a carriage, but the lady refused, because the Gymnase theatre was at no very great distance from her house. On the way Calle began several speeches as to the pleasure he experienced in finding himself with so charming a lady ; but as he could not manage to finish any of them, Eleonore came to his aid every time by saying, " You are very kind," and there the sentence remained, 192 ADHEMAR When they reached the theatre, Calle looked at the box and said, " It is a pit box." " A pit box ? I don't know what that is ; is it very high ? " " On the contrary, it is down below, around the x_ > pit. When they opened the box, Eleonore hesitated at going in, and exclaimed, " Good heavens ! how dark it is in there ! What, is that our box ? " " Why, yes, madame," answered the box-keeper, " and you will see very well, it is almost fronting the stage." " Oh, how strange it is. Yes, that's true, we can see the stage very well but we can't be seen it is hardly worthwhile to have made a toilet; but I shall get used to it, perhaps. M. Calle, do you like these boxes ? " " Madame, I am always pleased when I have the privilege " " You are very kind." Eleonore placed herself in the front of the box; Calle seated himself modestly behind madame. When the young woman had looked into the house for a moment she was able to see but a very small part of it she turned towards her squire, who looked at her, smiled, and said nothing. " M. Calle, you can see nothing where you are; place yourself in front, beside me." CHARLES PAUL DE KOCK 193 " Oh, madame, you are very kind, but I am very well here in front I should be in the way of your crinoline." " Not at all." " I can see the stage very well." " But you can't see the house at all." " That doesn't matter to me in the least what I can see is much more agreeable to me to look at and when I am near you, madame then I have no need to I don't need to look elsewhere to to "You are very kind." The play began. They listened to the piece, in which love-making was the chief point of interest. Eleonore seemed to be interested in this; the young man sighed continually. After the act he went out and quickly came back with bonbons and crystallized fruits, which he offered to Madame Dubotte. The latter accepted them with a sweet smile. It was again a case of saying to her escort, " You are very kind." But she contented herself with offering him a quarter of orange, crystallized, and feasted herself on the candied fruits. Women are generally very fond of bonbons ; a man ought always to have his pockets full of them if he wishes to please the ladies. You can vary this form of treat, however, by offering truffles cooked in cham- pagne, then your triumph will be still more com- plete. They played the after-piece ; sometimes, that he Vol. XXIV i 9 4 ADHEMAR might see better, the young man leaned over Eleo- nore. Then, with his head he brushed the shoul- ders of the pretty, fair woman ; these shoulders were very white, and her bust was beautifully moulded. So young Calle had not been so very simple in placing himself behind her, and Eleonore, turning her head suddenly, met the head of her escort, who was not at that moment looking at the play, and the two faces found themselves so near each other that the tips of their noses almost met. A man accustomed to success with the ladies would have profited by the occasion to kiss the young woman, but Calle hastily drew back, stammering excuses that were quite unnecessary, for Eleonore, in meeting this face plunged in contemplation of her charms, had been on the point of saying to him, " You are very kind." The second piece was quite as full of love as the first. After the first act, Eleonore, seeing that her companion continued to sigh without daring to speak, remembered that her husband had told her that this young man needed to be encouraged and that unless he was he would not dare to speak to a lady, and she opened the conversation. "M. Calle, I have noticed one thing." " What is that, madame ? " " It is that in every play on the stage there is something about love." " That is true you are right ; they do put it in everywhere." CHARLES PAUL DE KOCK 195 " And why is that, monsieur ? " " Oh, madame, it is because apparently the au- thors don't know how to talk about anything else." " Do you think so ? I have understood some people to say that the theatre copies everything that goes on in real life. However, in the world no one talks incessantly of love, do they, mon- sieur ? " " Oh, no, madame, they don't speak of it, al- though, often, they would like to ; but they dare not." " Oh, it is because they dare not well, they are very wrong. It seems to me that is a more interesting, a more amusing subject than anything else." Young Calle had a declaration at the tip of his tongue. But the second act commenced and he said nothing further ; while they were playing, Ele- onore let her opera-glass fall into the box. Calle immediately precipitated himself to the floor to pick it up. But in order to do that he had to pass in front of her, and almost get on his knees, for it was very dark in the box and he had to search gropingly. Instead of the opera-glass it was Ele- onore's ankle that the young man seized, and he pressed it tenderly. " Why, M. Calle, that isn't my opera-glass, that's my ankle you have hold of," said the pretty blonde laughing. " Do you think so, madame ? " 196 ADHEMAR " I am very sensible of the fact. Why, M. Calle, where are you looking now my opera-glass isn't there ! oh, wait ! I can feel it with my foot." Calle decided very regretfully to bring his head out from beneath the seat ; he held the opera-glass and presented it to the young lady with a trem- bling hand ; the latter was also moved, so much so that in taking the opera-glass she dropped it again. This time it was on her knees. Calle had retaken his place, but now, as she turned round to speak to him, Eleonore partly leaned on him, it may have been without noticing it ; ladies often commit lit- tle familiarities like that, which give great hopes to those who are the recipients of them. The young man was as red as a cherry and his eyes were still fixed elsewhere than on the stage. The act finished, and Madame Dubotte, turning towards her squire, asked him what he thought of the play. He stammered, " I don't know, madame, I did not understand a word of it." " What ? you were not listening, then ? " " I was listening, but I did not understand, I was so distracted by by Have you dropped your opera-glass again, madame ? " " Why, no, here it is, on my knees." " Ah that's a pity ! " " What, would you like it to be on the floor again ? " " Of course, because I should then have the CHARLES PAUL DE KOCK 197 pleasure of looking for it again, and then and then" Following his custom, the young man did not finish his sentence, but he heaved such a deep sigh that the young woman said to him kindly, " Are you in pain, M. Calle ? " " Oh, no, madame, quite the contrary." " What are you sighing so deeply for, then ? " " It is my way of showing that I am happy." " Ah that's strange. You are happy, then ? " " Oh, yes, madame I always am when I am near you." This time the sentence had been completed ; Eleonore thanked the young man with a sweet smile, and during the last act she leaned a good deal more on the person behind her, whose knees served her as an armchair. The play came to an end and they returned to the house slowly, very slowly ; they did not seem at all in a hurry to get there. Eleonore spoke of the play; the young man answered, " Yes,"and," No," at random ; but he squeezed the arm that was within his own very tenderly, which did not seem to vex the person who received that mark of esteem. When she reached her dwelling, Madame Du- botte invited her young escort to come and see her soon and have a game of bezique while her hus- band was out without her, according to his usual custom. Calle swore that he would profit by this permission. 198 ADHEMAR In fact, during the following week M. Calle came nearly every evening to have a game of cards with the fair Eleonore, and the latter showed no more ill-temper when her husband went out with- out her. She even said to him sometimes, "My dear, if you have business, don't trouble about me, M. Calle will come and keep me com- pany he plays bezique very well indeed. He never can get enough of it, he is indefatigable." Then Dubotte was delighted ; he exclaimed, " At last I have formed my wife ! She is just where I wanted her to be. She's no longer inces- santly on my heels she leaves me entire freedom. This is just where I wanted her to get to. I've had a good deal of trouble to bring it about, but I've managed to do so. She goes to the play now with Calle without being in a bad temper, even if I do not rejoin her later." The young woman did still more ; when her husband promised to order a box for the play for her, she said to him, " My dear, try and get a pit box." NATHALIE received daily visits from Adhemar, who spent with her all the time he could spare from his literary pursuits during the day, and he also passed almost every evening with her; he often communicated his plots to her, his ideas for new plays ; he would read a scene to her, a chap- ter from a new novel ; he consulted her, he listened to her opinion. If Moliere consulted his servant, was it not even more natural to consult his mistress. There is, however, one difference in this respect; the servant, Laforest, was proud and happy to be consulted by his master ; while among twenty mis- tresses you will find nineteen who would refuse to listen to you if you talked of literature to them ; who would yawn were you to read but one page that you had written ; or who would interrupt you at the most interesting place to say to you, " My dear, would you prefer green or blue for a gown. I think blue becomes me best what do you think ? " Then you see that your efforts to read what would move her will be lost, you put your manu- script back in your pocket, and you resolve never 199 200 ADHEMAR to talk with your sweetheart about anything but fashions and finery, since she takes interest in noth- ing but those. But, of course, there are exceptions, there are women who are willing to listen when one speaks of something besides themselves, who know how to talk about some thing other than fashions and love. Nathalie was one of these ex- ceptions ; that was why Adhemar was so happy when with her, that was why they suited each other so well. The most perfect harmony existed between the two lovers, when one day, arriving at Madame Dermont's sooner than usual, the servant told him that her mistress was not in. " What ! she has gone out before noon to make some purchases, no doubt? " " I don't know, monsieur ; but I am quite sure that madame won't be long before she comes in ; for every time she goes out like that in the morn- ing, she always comes in before noon." "Every time she goes out like that?" mut- tered Adhemar, who already felt his heart op- pressed. " Oh, Madame Dermont often goes out in the morning, then ? " "Mercy, monsieur, I didn't say that exactly but several times lately she has." Adhemar stopped his questions then and there. He threw himself into an armchair, saying, " I will wait for her ; no doubt she will tell me where she has been." CHARLES PAUL DE KOCK 201 And he tried to drive from his mind the evil thoughts that were already besieging it. Five min- utes had barely elapsed when Nathalie came in. She seemed rather surprised to find Adhemar there ; but she went to him, held out her hand to him, and smiled as usual. " Good morning, my dear." " Good morning, madame." " Why, what does that madame mean ? Since when have I become madame to you ? is it because I was out when you came in that you call me madame ? " "Why no it was simply a change." " I don't like such changes as that ! What is the matter with you ? " " Me ? nothing ! Have you been for a walk ? " " Yes that is to say I have been making a visit." " Ah, a visit ! Perhaps it would be indiscreet to ask you whom you have been to see so early in the morning." " Why, it is perhaps rather indiscreet ! How- ever, as I see you are scowling, and as you prob- ably suspect me of some treason already " " Why, what an idea ! " " No, you are incapable of that, are you not ? Well, monsieur, I've been to see my poor friend Juliette are you satisfied ? " " By Jove ! I only asked you that by way of conversation." 202 ADHEMAR "Yes, I understand and to know where I had been." " And you've seen your friend Juliette ? " " Of course." " And you have been to see her quite often for some time past? " " Why not, if I can console her, be agreeable to her, listen to her confidences ? If you have any grief, does it not ease you when a true friend comes to see you and offers you consolation." " Oh, when I'm in trouble, I keep it to myself, I don't go and tell it to others ! " " My dear, women are not like men ; when they have troubles love troubles above all they like to pour out their hearts in the bosom of a friend." " Yes, women are very fond of having secrets among themselves of making mysteries " " Come, you have not yet got rid of your bad thoughts; as if I could not read them in your eyes! You promised to have entire confidence in me ! " "It seems to me I am proving that I have it at this moment." " By looking cross because you did not find me when you came here this morning ! Come, my dear, let us reason a little ; we must be logical. If I do not love you I am not obliged to tell you I do, to feign feelings which I do not experience, to deceive you, in fact, am I ? Come, why don't you answer me ? " Instead of answering, Adhemar rose, walked CHARLES PAUL DE KOCK 203 about the room, sat down to the piano and drummed upon it, beginning waltzes, polkas, mazurkas, then he kissed Nathalie, saying, " Pardon me, dearest, I slept ill, last night. I have a bit of a headache, and that is what made me seem sulky to you." Nathalie pretended to believe this and harmony was re-established, apparently at least, for in the depths of his heart Adhemar felt troubled ; he thought of these frequent morning journeys, for which visiting Juliette was the pretext, and he said to himself, " She used not to go out so often, and she would always tell me when she intended to go." Several days passed ; Adhemar often changed the hour of his visits, but Madame Dermont was always at home ; he began to feel a little more tran- quil. However, under the influence of that jeal- ousy which, in him, always accompanied true love, it happened more than once, after he left Nathalie's, that he walked up and down in the street for a long time, or placed himself under a neighboring gate- way to see if his mistress did not go out directly he left her ; but he had his trouble for his pains, at which he was of course delighted. One morning before nine o'clock the idea came to him to take a turn in the street where Madame Dermont lived. " I shall not show myself at her house," he said to himself; "she gets up late, and I should risk disturbing her slumber but perhaps I shall see her servant go out and I shall charge her 204 ADHEMAR with a pretty bunch of flowers that I am going to buy for her mistress. Nathalie will find them be- fore her when she wakes, and she will suspect well where they come from." Adhemar dressed hastily and went and bought a handsome bouquet in the Passage Verdeau. Then he went to the Rue de Paradis-Poissoniere, arrived in front of the house where Madame Dermont dwelt, looked at the windows, of which all the shut- ters were as yet closed, and walked up and down the street, looking at his watch, which marked the half hour after nine. It was too soon to go up to Nathalie's, but he hoped that the servant would come out. Ten minutes rolled by ; Madame Dermont's servant had not appeared. Adhemar was tired of walking in the street with his bouquet in his hand. He had almost decided to go up, saying to himself, "I will ring very gently, so as not to awaken her," when a cab came very fast in his direction, and slack- ened speed as it neared Madame Dermont's dwell- ing. Without being able to give any reason for it, Adhemar drew a little aside. Something told him that the cab was interesting to him, and he wanted to see who alighted from it. The cab stopped in front of Nathalie's gate, a young lady got out of it, paid the cabman, and has- tened into the house. But this woman Adhemar recognized," there was no mistaking her, he had seen her features, he had recognized her dress, the CHARLES PAUL DE KOCK 205 hat which she wore of a morning when she went out it was she, it was Nathalie. For an instant Adhemar was on the point of running after her and calling to her, " Where do you come from ? " But he thought that she might again lie to him ; a better idea came to him. The cab was still there, the cabby was about to mount to his box again ; Adhemar ran to him, opened the door, threw him- self into the vehicle, and taking ten francs from his pocket put it in the cabby's hand as he asked where he was to go. The man was quite surprised that the gentleman should give him ten francs before he had employed him ; he said, " It will be a long trip, then, we are going into the country no doubt, boss." " These ten francs are to pay you for simply answering some questions. A lady has just got out of your cab? " "Yes, boss, a pretty little woman the right kind. I know them when I see them ! " " Where did you take her? " "Where did I take her? why, here, boss, an hour and a quarter or so ago, it didn't quite make the half hour, but the little lady paid me generously without bargaining." " Then she took you by the hour on leaving here?" " That's correct." "And where did you carry her ? don't lie to me." 206 ADHMAR t( You pay too well for me to lie to you ! besides, it's no secret. I took the lady to the Jardin des Plantes." " To the Jardin des Plantes ? " "Yes, boss, in front of the railing at the water's edge. She got down there and she told me to wait, and then she went into the garden." "Alone?" " Yes, yes, alone when she went in, but when she came back, at the end of a good quarter of an hour, she was not alone." " Who was with her? " " A gentleman a young man." "A young man what was he like? his dress? his features ? " " Excuse me, but you can imagine I didn't take his photograph he was dressed, like everyone else, in a sack coat, he seemed a nice enough fellow to me. That's all I can tell you." "And this man this gentleman, this sack- coated individual, he came back with the lady, you say ? he gave her his arm ? " " Ah, that I can't swear to, I was on my seat and I didn't see them till they were right beside my carriage, where the young man helped the lady in." " And got in with her ? " " No, no, he didn't get in not he ; he said good-by." " How did he say good-by ? Did he kiss her? did he kiss her hand ? " CHARLES PAUL DE KOCK 207 " By jingo ! I was fixing my reins and I didn't see them kiss. The lady called to me, * Take me back where we started from,' the young man shut the door, and went off only, yes, I remember that in leaving he said to the young lady, 'Thank you ! thank you a thousand times for coming ! ' Now, boss, where do you want me to drive you?" " To the Jardin des Plantes, to the same place where this lady got down." Adhemar, his head burning, his heart beating violently, put his hands to his forehead, exclaim- ing, " It is quite certain now that she also has de- ceived me; and she dared to tell me that she loved me ! Ah, people don't deceive those they love. It is ended, quite ended, this time. I will see her no more, for she will lie to me again ; she will forge stories to make me think she is innocent. And I shall perhaps be foolish enough to place faith in her words. Why, no, I will not be her dupe again. I will see her no more. But this man with whom she makes appointments so early in the morning. Ah, if I could but know him I would kill him; however, it is not he who is guilty ; he loves her but not as I love her ! " Glancing around him, Adhemar perceived a handkerchief at his feet ; he picked it up, exam- ined it, recognized Nathalie's initial, which he had seen her embroider herself; he pressed the hand- kerchief in his nervous hands, muttering, 208 ADHEMAR " She was so preoccupied that she forgot her handkerchief. Just now she was here, in this place and she was thinking of some one else." He could no longer master his sorrow, his sobs came fast, his tears rolled down his cheeks, but he still felt it pleasurable to wipe them with that handkerchief which belonged to her. The cab stopped and the cabby opened the door, saying, " Boss, this is exactly the place where the little lady got down, and where I waited for her this is the Jardin des Plantes." Adhemar, plunged in his reflections, in his mem- ories, did not know where he was, or where he was going. The cabby's words recalled him to himself. He jumped quickly out of the cab, then he said to the man, " You will come with me." " Where to, boss ? " " Into the Jardin des Plantes." " Vehicles can't go in there ; it is forbidden." " I wasn't talking about your cab; I only need you; we'll walk about the gardens, you will look attentively at all the men you see, and if you rec- ognize the one who brought the lady to your cab, you will point him out to me immediately." The cabby began to laugh as he answered, "Come now, that's a good one ! You want me to follow you on foot ; and my cab and my horses what's to become of them while I am gone?" CHARLES PAUL DE KOCK 209 " By Jove ! they aren't likely to fly away ! you go and put your cab down there where those others are standing." " That can't be, boss, it is against orders for us to lose sight of our cabs or horses ; I should be punished have my license taken away." Adhemar took another ten francs from his pocket and put them in the cabby's hand, saying, " Only a few turns in the garden during your absence one of your comrades down there will look after your horses." Money always produces its effect, the cabman was mollified, then he exclaimed, "I'll go and ask Jerome, he's down there, I think he'll watch my horses, if I share my ten francs with him; will that do, boss? " " Yes, yes, wait, here are a hundred sous you can give him. Go ! quick ! " " Oh, Jerome's a good fellow, he'll be willing." The cabby drove to the cab stand, told his com- rade what he wanted, and showed him the last hundred sous he had received, saying, " We'll eat that together, you and I, presently." Jerome ac- cepted, the cabby pocketed the hundred sous and came back to Adhemar, saying, " Here I am! it is settled. Jerome will have an eye to my beasts." " Then come with me." They went into the garden. The coachman walked beside Adhemar, who said to him, 2io ADHfiMAR " Look well at all the men, the young men, and as soon as you recognize the one who brought this lady, say to me, ' Here he is.' ' " Yes, boss, or rather, I will cough to warn you." " That is understood." There were very few people in the garden. Adhemar hastened his steps; the cabman could hardly keep up with him and said, " Dang it ! why, you go as fast as my horses ! " A young man passed near them, the cabman began to cough. " Well," cried Adhemar, stopping. " That isn't the one, boss." " Why the devil did you cough then ?" " Why, to warn you that it wasn't him." They set off walking again. They met several young men, but the cabman did not cough again, only he said from time to time, " But if Jerome should get a fare, who will watch my horses for me ? " Then, after pausing for a moment, he said to Adhemar, "Wait, monsieur, I ought to confess something." "What is that?" " It is that if I should not recognize the indi- vidual you are looking for, it will be because I hardly looked at him, hardly saw him, and I don't even know if he was light or dark." Adhemar stamped his foot impatiently, and, realizing fully that his search would be fruitless, CHARLES PAUL DE KOCK 211 decided to leave the garden. The cabby uttered an exclamation of joy on seeing his friend Jerome still in his place, and said to the person who had paid him, " Where shall I drive you to now, monsieur ? " " Nowhere, thank you. I have no further need of you." In his present state of mind Adhemar preferred walking to getting into the cab again. He needed air and exercise and walked quickly, often with- out even looking before him ; he reached his dwell- ing, however, and had hardly got in when he hurried to his desk, saying, " I will write to her, I must not delay telling her that I am aware of her treachery. Then all will be over. I must try to forget her." And with a feverish hand, which his thoughts impelled to fly over the paper, he wrote Nathalie the following note, Madame, you can no longer deceive me ; this time I have seen with my own eyes that you devote to another the time you pass away from me. And you tell me I am wrong to be jealous! Your treachery is unworthy of you. Why did you not say frankly that you had ceased to love me but women will never be frank. It is their nature to deceive. I knew this, and I should not have believed you. Good-by, madame, and this time it is indeed forever. After signing and sealing this letter, Adhemar called a messenger and ordered him to give the missive to the person to whom it was addressed, 212 ADHEMAR and to come away immediately, saying that there was no answer. Then, throwing himself into an easy chair, and resting his head on his hand, he remained plunged in his reflections and muttered, " Oh, if only I could forget her ! " CHAPTER XIV MONSIEUR SERINGAT'S SECRET DISINHERITED by his aunt, and possessing as his whole fortune barely a hundred francs, Dodi- chet should have sought an occupation which would have procured him the means of existence; instead of that he went to buy tobacco, cigars, went into a cafe to have some beer, then got into a cab and had himself driven to the Rue Saint-Jacques, where he stopped in front of the so-called hotel where he had left M. Seringat; on the way he said to himself, " I must again have recourse to this idiot ; it is vexatious, for I already owe him a thousand crowns, and now I can't see an inheritance in the future, by means of which I can pay him but then, no one knows, the public will not be so hard to me everywhere as they were at Quimper-Corentin. My voice will come back. I'll put myself on a diet of yolks of eggs and egg flip; and meanwhile, Seringat can very well lend me a thousand crowns ; he is rich. If he were not rich, I would ask noth- ing of him if only for the reason that he would have nothing to give me. But he himself said to me, as we were talking, that he possessed twelve 213 ADHMAR thousand francs income. The idiot ! he might be so happy with that, and to think that he's hiding because he's afraid that they'll recognize him, and all because his wife really it's unbelievable ! I am sure there is not his equal in Paris." Dodichet sent away his cab when he reached the old house ; he crossed the courtyard, and at the end of it, on the groundfloor, found the proprietor, who was also the portress and the hostess of the hotel ; this lady multiplied her occupations that she might increase her profits ; at this moment she was preparing snails a la proven^ale, first taking them out of their shells, filling the latter with a forcemeat strongly seasoned with garlic, then put- ting back the univalve in the shell, and simmering the whole over a slow fire. " Why, that smells good," said Dodichet as he entered; "ah, you are cooking snails, madame." " Yes, monsieur, and I dare to assert they will be delicious." " I am not very fond of snails myself; I think that when they are cooked they are exactly like India-rubber; however, they have a very seductive smell." " They are cooked a la proven9ale. If monsieur desires a portion, it costs six sous, that is not dear." " By Jove, no! and one has to come to the top of the Rue Saint- Jacques to find a well-cooked dish at that price, in Paris. Put a portion on one side for me. I'll eat them when I have my friend CHARLES PAUL DE KOCK 215 Miflores. For I think Miflores is at home, isn't he? and I'll go up to him." The landlady dropped a snail she was just going to finish ; she looked at Dodichet with a tragic ex- pression and cried, " Stop, monsieur, don't go up ! it is useless you won't find M. Miflores." " He's gone out. Oh, well, then I'll wait for him, and eat my snails at once, he won't be long out, I think." " Excuse me, monsieur, but I can assure you that he will not come in again ! " " What, he won't come in again? Has he moved then ? What does this mean ? " "You don't know what has happened then, monsieur?" " Hang it, madame, if I knew what had hap- pened, I shouldn't ask you ! " "Well, then, monsieur, I'll tell you all that has passed. But permit me first to pick up the snail I dropped." "That's right it will cook with the others." " Fire purifies everything, monsieur. I have it. It will be exactly a fortnight tomorrow since a gentleman, middle-aged, very well dressed, and very jovial-looking, came to my hotel, followed by a porter bearing his luggage. He asked for a com- fortable room and announced that he expected to spend a couple of weeks in Paris, where he had come to amuse himself and take a holiday from 216 ADHEMAR business, and he gave me his name Jacques Ron- flard. Very good ! I installed this gentleman in a room on the first floor which looks on to this court- yard ; he soon went out and did not return till very late. The next morning your friend, M. Miflores, went out, according to his custom, to walk about a little before breakfast. Hardly had he gone when my new lodger, M. Ronflard, came down from his room and said to me, '"Confound it, you have some one I know here; I've just seen him through the window. I recog- nized him perfectly. I am delighted to meet him in the same hotel he's one of my friends, is this dear Seringat, and from Pontoise like myself.' I looked at the gentleman and I answered, "'Why, monsieur, you are mistaken, I have no one at the hotel, called Seringat.' " c Excuse me, madame, for I have just this mo- ment seen him leave this house.' " c The gentleman whom you saw leaving the house is called Miflores, and not Seringat, and he has never said that he came from Pontoise.' " f Madame, he has apparently thought fit to change his name, but I am perfectly sure that the individual who has just gone out is named Serin- gat, a former dispensing chemist at Pontoise. Hang it! I know him well, I have often bought powder of him to destroy bedbugs. Poor Seringat, poor chap, he has been much tried. His wife you know what I mean ? The whole town knew it ; CHARLES PAUL DE KOCK 217 they even made a song on him. Wait, I remem- ber a verse of it, it went to the tune of the " Bells of Dunkirk," ' and thereupon the gentleman started off singing, Seringat of Pontoise ! He made such a noise, That all the town knew That his wife was untrue ! Then he went up to his room again, saying to me, f As a proof that what I say is true, I shall throw myself in his arms when he returns. Do me the kindness to tell me when he is coming.' " This gentleman went up to his room again and, to tell you the truth, I was quite indifferent as to whether the gentleman was or was not the hero of the song. At the end of a quarter of an hour M. Miflores came in. As soon as I saw him, the first thing I did was to say to him, f Monsieur, is it true that your name is Seringat ? and that you come from Pontoise ? There's a gentleman here in the house who says he recognizes you. He even knows a song about you. He begged me to let him know when you came in.' Thereupon I saw the poor gentleman change color, roll his eyes, and clench his fists, as he said to me, " ' Madame, I forbid you to let this gentleman know I have come in. Have my bill made out, I'll go up and get my effects and leave this hotel immediately.' " I promised him to say nothing to the other, 2i8 ADHEMAR but he would not listen to me, he went up to his room, got his valise, came down, paid me, and departed. But from his window M. Ronflard had seen him go out. He came down exclaiming, " f What ! he's gone ? he did not wait for me ? Oh, well, I'll soon catch up with him.' " And he went out to try and rejoin his friend. He saw M. Miflores in front of him, but the latter turned and, seeing that he was followed, he set off running as if the devil was after him. M. Ron- flard was stubborn and followed, and it seems he shouted after him, 'You can't escape like this, Seringat ; it's Ronflard ; don't you recognize me ? ' " The gentlemen from Pontoise ran faster than ever. Some one who saw them both running in the street told me that he thought they were going to look for the firemen. In short, M. Miflores had reached the water's edge, he went on to the bank and saw a boatman going down the river, to whom he made a sign that he would like to get aboard his boat. The boatman came in to the bank and threw a plank that he might cross to the boat. At this moment M. Ronflard approached the per- son he was pursuing, and began to sing at the top of his voice, Seringat of Pontoise ! He made such a noise, That all the town knew That his wife was untrue ! " Hardly had he heard this song when poor CHARLES PAUL DE KOCK 219 M. Miflores darted on the plank, that he might reach the vessel. But his foot slipped, and he fell into the water. The current carried him along, he could not swim. When they managed to fish him out he no longer lived, he was dead ! " " Dead ! he was dead ! Poor Seringat, for that was really his true name. Well, it must be con- fessed that M. Ronflard made a nice mess of it." " Why, monsieur, it seems he was so grieved at it that it gave him a jaundice and it was only yesterday that he left Paris. He said, as he left, ' I'm going to inform Madame Seringat that she is a widow, and I'm sure that she won't be so put out about it as I am.' " Dodichet remained for some moments under the impression of the news he had received. Then he seated himself at the table, saying, " Madame, will you give me my dish of snails, with some bread and some wine, for my not eating them will not restore poor Seringat to life, a good reason why I would just as soon eat them." The hostess hastened to serve Dodichet, and re- mained near him to engage in conversation, which was the sweetest pastime for this lady. Dodichet heaved from time to time a slight sigh, but he lost no time from his repast. " Does monsieur find my snails to his tast ? " "Very good, madame; perfectly cooked. You almost make me like this kind of shell food and forget the loss I have had. Poor Seringat ! " 220 ADHEMAR " Did monsieur lose much by his death ? " " Yes ; I really lost everything I had in pros- pect." " This gentleman owed you money, then ? " " No, not exactly. But it comes to the same thing." '* You will have recourse to the wife to your friend's widow? " " No, I have not the slightest claim on her. Nothing remains for me now but to give a last sigh to the defunct and turn to something else. How much do I owe you, madame ? " " Monsieur, the dish, the wine, and the bread, come all together to sixteen sous." " Well, upon my honor that isn't dear. When I want to feast a mistress, I shall bring her here, and I'm more likely to do so because I don't see any prospect of a dinner at Brebant's." Dodichet paid his score and left the old hotel which he had previously thought so bad, and which now he was not sorry to know of, for he regarded it as a resource in adversity. He betook himself to Boulotte's. The wine he had drunk with his snails had not been strong enough to go to his head, and he reflected on his position. The two events which had so suddenly happened to him one after the other had destroyed all his hopes, and rendered his present very precarious. However, he would not let himself be cast down, his care-free disposi- tion prevented his disquieting himself about the CHARLES PAUL DE KOCK 221 future. These are the happiest dispositions, so some people assert. Such men as this are never bilious, and see everything through rose-colored spectacles. I am not of that opinion ; to be care- free, happy-go-lucky, is disorderly, and disorder is ruin ; that is the result of these happy dispositions. When Dodichet arrived at the young dancer's she was not making mineral rouge from bricks, but she was making a pretty tracery of blue veins on her temples with indigo. When she saw her lover she threw aside her paint-brush and ran to kiss him, exclaiming, " Here you are ! oh, how pleased I am. Tell me about your debut, your success. You must have received crowns, made conquests. You were so handsome as Joconde. How many times were you called before the curtain ? " Dodichet threw himself on a chair and an- swered, "They recalled me, it is true, but I did not wish to re-appear, because they wanted to do me an ill turn, and I had barely time to escape in a fireman's helmet and a gendarme's cloak." " What are you telling me now? Was it some farce you were playing ? " " Yes, but it was against me ; the public of Quim- per hissed at me, sent me to the bears, but I turned round and showed them the other side of my face. Thereupon shouts, scandal, rumpus ; and, as I told you before, I had barely time to save myself." 222 ADHEMAR " Is it possible ? and your pretty costume ? " " I resold it on the way home, that I might get myself a pair of trousers and a sack coat." "So that's how you made your first appearance. Well, I suppose you'll have to begin all over again ? " " Thank you, I have no desire to begin over again, in the same line. My voice will never come back." " Ah, you smoke too much, I told you so ! For- tunately your aunt is dead. Some one who knows you told me." " Yes, my aunt is dead, that's true, but she has disinherited me." "Oh, my poor friend! what a piece of hard luck. But, thank heaven, you've still got your gold mine that gentleman who can't refuse you when you want to borrow of him the man of the secret." " My darling, the man with the secret has done the same as my aunt; that is to say, he hasn't dis- inherited me, but he is dead also." " Good heavens ! was it because some one spoke to him of Pontoise ? " " They did more, they sang a song to him that was composed on him in Pontoise, and in which they made game of his misfortune, for now I may really tell you what that idiot feared so much to have known. The noble Seringat had a very pretty wife, and he thought her a Lucretia. This gentle- man had an unfortunate habit of making game of husbands whose wives betrayed them, and of laugh- ing at their expense, declaring loudly that such a CHARLES PAUL DE KOCK 223 thing could never happen to him. But on a cer- tain day at a fete, our Seringat saw a veiled lady at a distance glide in the dusk of the evening into an isolated tent. Feeling assured that the lady he had seen was the wife of one of the prominent men of the town, Seringat got several young men to- gether, imparted to them his discovery, and led them to the tent, which was not lighted ; but into which these gentlemen took several torches, under the pretext of lighting it. What did they find there? Why, Madame Seringat in criminal conversation with a young officer. Who was crestfallen ? who was ashamed now ? Why, this Seringat ; for all the husbands of Pontoise took their revenge, and be- fore the night was over his adventure was being sung all over the place. Seringat, vexed at him- self and furious at being himself that which he had always made fun of, the next day left Pontoise, swearing he would never go back. He made peo- ple call him Miflores, and they could get anything they wanted of him when they recognized him or threatened to divulge his name and his adventure. And he perished at last because a gentleman from Pontoise ran after him calling him by his right name and singing after him a verse which dwelt on his misfortune. In his haste to escape, Serin- gat, who wanted to board a vessel, made a misstep, fell into the river, and was drowned. You know now, my dear, why this gentleman lent me money. He had so much self-respect, he was so vexed at 224 ADHEMAR wearing a pair of horns, that one had but to threaten to divulge all this to obtain all that one wished." " Good gracious ! what an idea ! What a sim- pleton he was to throw himself into the water for fear they should know that his wife was unfaithful. What are you going to do now, Dodichet?" " Tomorrow I'll go and see the agent for the theatres. I'll tell him that now I play in dramas, the leading parts, like Frederick- Lemaitre, Melin- gue and Dumaine ; he will soon find me an en- gagement in some big town." " You are sure you have talent, then ? " " By Jove ! one always has talents ; it's only a question of finding them. Look you, something tells me I have dramatic talent within me." " And you want to make it come out ? " " I wish to find at last my true vocation. After all, I still have a little money left in my pockets, I can take you to dear Bonvalet's ; on the way I will buy several play books, and this evening I will learn by heart some of the leading parts." " The idea ! " said Boulotte, putting on her lit- tle bonnet, " this evening you will smoke." CHAPTER XV THE END OF THE YEAR. LITTLE STREAMS HAVING firmly resolved that he would not see Madame Dermont again, Adhemar, not knowing how to resist the inclination he felt to seek her, to see her, even if it was but from afar, suddenly got the idea of going to England. He hardly gave himself time to pack a few things into his valise, he put a sufficient sum in his purse, and flew to the railway which led to Boulogne ; from there he soon made the passage ; he believed he should escape his memories in leaving his country, and hastened to London. He passed six weeks there, which seemed six years in duration ; he did his best to fall in love with an Englishwoman, but could not manage it, and re- turned at length to Paris, saying to himself, " I think it would be easier for me to fall in love with a Parisian ; besides, now it is ended, I think no more of Nathalie ; for her part she no doubt goes with the young man she went to meet in the Jar- din des Plantes. Oh, hereafter the sight of her will not produce the slightest impression upon me, and I can meet her without a fluctuation of the heart. I love her no longer." Vol. XXIV 225 226 ADHfiMAR However, on reaching Paris, Adhemar's first care was to go and look at the window of her whom he pretended to no longer love. He walked up and down for a long time before her dwelling, ex- amined all those who went in or came out, and at length returned home saying, " It is the force of habit and will soon pass." And for a week he con- tinued his promenades in the Rue de Paradis-Pois- sonniere. The ninth day, while taking the same way, he remembered that it was exactly a year since he had found himself with his three friends in the cafe which was on the corner of the boulevard and the Faubourg Poissonniere, and that all four of them had appointed to meet there at the end of a year. So, changing his path, he turned towards the cafe, curious to learn if his friends would also remember the appointment, and seizing every occasion which might distract him from his one thought. On entering the cafe, Adhemar saw Philemon Dubotte, who was solacing himself with some hot spirits and water and a paper, and who extended his hand exclaiming, " Bravo ! here are two men of their word ! two men who have some memory. Oh, I never had the slightest doubt about you, my dear fellow ! How are you ? I think you are rather pale did not the London air agree with you? for you've just got back from England, they tell me." " Yes, the London air is not quite clear. It is composed in great part of smoke and fog ; how- CHARLES PAUL DE KOCK 227 ever, it is not malarial, the vicinity of the sea drives away bad vapors." " Did you make any conquests there ? that goes without saying, however." " Indeed, I had not the slightest intrigue." " You astonish me. I have counted on going to England myself, expressly to learn how the English make love." " Beware ! the English take it much more seri- ously than do the French." " Meanwhile, you see before you, my dear Ad- hemar, the happiest man in Paris. I have suc- ceeded in all my desires. I am the chief of an office, the position for which I was ambitious and as a husband I have now nothing more to desire. My wife was perfectly foolish in her love for me, she would have liked to be continually hanging on my arm. I have corrected her of this ridiculous de- sire ; now, she lets me go out as much as I wish ; sometimes, even, she is the first to invite me to do so there's a young man who comes to play cards with her, who takes her to the play and out walking. I had some trouble in getting her used to that, but now the thing goes of itself, and it leaves me as much liberty as I can wish for. Well, now, Adhemar, haven't I steered my bark well ? Congratulate me, why don't you ? " Adhemar who had smiled in a rather equivocal fashion while the handsome fair man was boasting of his good fortune, hastened to answer, 228 ADHEMAR " You have got where you wished to be, Du- botte, and since you are content I can do nothing, in fact, but congratulate you." " Confound it ! I should be hard to please if I were not content. You, my dear fellow, must be so also, for you are always successful and you earn a great deal of money." " Happiness does not always come from money." " And the other two comrades, have you any news of them ? " " No, not since I left Paris." " Between ourselves, I fear that poor Dodichet has turned out badly. That young fellow allowed himself some jokes of rather too risky a nature sometimes. I found him one day at that poor Mirotaine's; he had brought with him a pretended suitor, I recognized in the latter an apothecary of Pontoise who was very happily married. Then there was confusion, deception, revolution a very ugly joke indeed ! " " Some one told me about that business. Yes, Dodichet squanders his life in the effort to invent jokes which provoke laughter for the moment, but which never result advantageously for those who play them." " I am sorry for it, for at bottom Dodichet is a good fellow." " A good fellow ! People think they have said everything when they exclaim, in speaking of some one, f He's a good fellow, a rattling good fellow!' CHARLES PAUL DE KOCK 229 But I think that epithet nearly always indicates a person with whom one would do well to avoid any intimate connection, for the < good fellow ' is con- stantly doing something foolish ; he spends his money recklessly, and when it is gone thinks it perfectly natural to borrow and never return what he borrows. He owes his tailor, his shoemaker, and all his tradespeople. He has no longer a sou in his pocket, but if you propose a party of pleas- ure he always accepts and obliges you to pay for him. Sometimes, even, it is he who invites you to dine at one of the best restaurants in Paris, treats you splendidly, spares neither truffles nor cham- pagne; but when it is a question of paying the bill, which mounts up to forty francs, can only find fifty sous in his purse and begs you to advance him the rest; in fact, he will ally himself with the first comer, and sometimes finds himself playing bil- liards with thieves, because he is so confiding that he calls people his friends whose name he hardly knows ; he has no conversation, lulls himself in- cessantly with chimerical illusions, flatters himself that later on he will make millions, and has not what will buy him a breakfast. That is what a good fellow is ; frankly, I prefer a bad one." As Adhemar finished speaking, a gentleman, very meanly dressed, his body squeezed in an old greenish sack coat, buttoned up to the chin ; wear- ing a black tie which barely allowed the merest tip of his collar to be seen, and an old bowler hat that ADHEMAR was almost void of brim, and shod with trodden down and muddy boots, came into the cafe, limp- ing badly, and stopped in front of the two talkers, saying, " Well, don't you recognize me ? Here I am, faithful to the appointment we made last year." " Dodichet! " exclaimed Adhemar and Dubotte together. " Yes, gentlemen, Dodichet; a little deteriorated and extremely shabby, as you may see, but still ready to laugh when occasion offers." " Why, you limp, it seems to me." " Yes, by Jove ! yes, I limp and hereafter, that is to say for the rest of my life, I shall always limp that is the result of a foolish attempt that I will tell you about presently. But make room for me at your table." " Willingly ; will you have some grog or some beer?" " Thank you, if it is all the same to you, I would rather have a beefsteak." " Waiter, a beefsteak for this gentleman." "With plenty of potatoes." They served Dodichet, who, with his beefsteak, swallowed two rolls and emptied three small de- canters"; it was evident that the poor fellow had need of refreshment. His two old friends respected his appetite and refrained from questioning him until he had finished his repast. "Gentlemen," said Dodichet, "having been dis- CHARLES PAUL DE KOCK 231 inherited by my aunt, and that idiot of a Seringat having allowed himself to fall into the water in fleeing from one of his friends, who was singing a ballad made to celebrate his conjugal misfortune, I had to make up my mind to do something. I told you the theatre was my vocation. I think so still, but I must confess that I did not win applause as a tenor I had smoked too much on the day of my first appearance ; in short, I was not fortu- nate at Quimper-Corentin. "On my return to Paris, the dramatic agent to whom I announced that I wished to play the Frederick- Lemaitres, told me to go as quickly as possible to Carpentras, where the person who played the leading parts had overdone himself in running after an individual who owed him three francs fifty centimes. I went to Carpentras, and presented myself to the manager with all the assurance of which I am capable ; he welcomed me with joy, and said to me, c We want to give an extraordinary representation tomorrow, for the benefit of nurses who have no nurslings; I want to play "Thirty years ; or the life of a gambler," and to cap it all, I have a young man of Pithiviers, who makes peri- lous leaps, as good as Leotard's. Can you take the part of Frederick in "Thirty Years"?' * I can take it immediately, if you like,' said I, laughing ; * be easy, I have it at my fingers' ends.' I lied a bit, but as I had seen the piece very often I said to myself, f I know the entries and the exits, that's 232 ADHEMAR the principal thing. When the dialogue escapes me I will express myself by pantomime, or I'll try to find something to say that relates to the situa- tion.' The manager was delighted, he announced his extraordinary representation, as well as my debut and that of the second Leotard. "The time for the play arrived, the theatre was full, the receipts fabulous for the locality. We played f Thirty Years.' I did not know a word of Georges' part well, I played it like an angel. The natives of the place did not know the play and so did not suspect that I substituted my prose for that of the author ; my comrades opened their eyes wide, but when they did not respond, I urged them so well that they were obliged to speak. In short, the play ended with a great burst of applause ; I was recalled, clapped, acclaimed. The manager kissed me, and told me I was engaged. "At this moment some one brought him a letter, it was from his acrobat, and informed him that the latter had been recalled to Pithiviers by his father, to fill an extraordinary order for pies, and that he must depart on the instant. Here was my mana- ger at his wits' end ; he had promised some acts on the trapeze, the public expected them ; if he did not give them they could demand their money back, and he would have done anything in the world rather than give it back. I saw the manager's em- barrassment and I made him explain to me what the acrobat had to do. His act consisted of run- CHARLES PAUL DE KOCK 233 ning and jumping through a hoop, bursting the paper, then to go high enough to catch a cord that was hanging further on. ' Is that all ? ' said I, laughing, to the manager, ' why, it's as simple as the asses' bridge ! I've done a great deal more than that when I was amusing myself at the gymnasium. Calm yourself, give me the customary tights and fleshings and I'll do some gymnastics that will quite come up to those of your tumbler from Pithiviers.' "The manager fell on my neck and promised that he would double my salary, which did not commit him to much, since he had not as yet made me any offer ; then he went to tell the orchestra to play the Tartar's march while I was dressing, and after that he made an announcement to the public. He advanced, bowed and announced that his tumbler had been suddenly taken ill, and that the actor who had just played the part of Georges would replace him. Everybody lauded me to the skies ; they said among themselves, c What a man ! he enacts at the same time Frederick-Lemaitres and Leo- tard.' " During this time I was struggling horribly to get into the flesh-colored tights which belonged to the tumbler. I had a good deal of trouble to manage it for they were terribly narrow for my rotundity, but at last I got them on. They struck the three blows, the orchestra played me the triomphe of c la Muette,' I appeared ; they overwhelmed me with applause. To show at once my elasticity, I made 234 ADHEMAR three culverts, one after the other, before the pub- lic; at the third one I tore my tights terribly, and I showed not only my elasticity but somewhat of my skin, but that did not stop me, and the public, who thought that I had another costume beneath my fleshings, and that I was changing in sight, re- doubled its applause. That excited me, animated me. I ran to the trapeze, I broke through the hoop and passed through it; but, in thinking to catch the cord later on, I jumped too high and only seized a wing which I dragged down with me to the stage, and in falling I injured my knee, that finished the spectacle. " I must render justice to the director; it was in obliging him that I was hurt, he cared for me, and the surgeon did his work so well that I shall re- main lame all my life. Here was my stage career closed to me at the outset ; for one cannot repre- sent Buridan or Kean limping. To indemnify me, the manager offered to employ me as the prompter of the troup. I accepted, though I said to myself; a prompter is not a player ; but, since I can no longer play, I must prompt, it is still a situation in the dramatic line; one is not seen by the public, it is true, but one is none the less useful in the play, where one sometimes takes part in all the roles. " So here was I, prompter for the troup. I wasn't so badly off, either, for after my accident they gave me a benefit, which was fruitful enough. " I passed more than a month thus when CHARLES PAUL DE KOCK 235 I must confess it, my fatal mania for playing jokes again took me. We had a young lover who as- serted that he never made a mistake in playing; one evening, when I felt like laughing, our lover was on the stage with a princess whom, in the play, he is abducting and when she says to him, with the tears running down her cheeks, 'What are you go- ing to do with me ? ' he made me a sign to come to his aid, and I prompted him, f Oh, you bother me !' the unlucky fellow said that to the princess. You may judge of the effect which that produced in the theatre ; they laughed, they shouted, they called for it over again ; the actress who was play- ing the princess gave her lover a slap in the face, saying, * Take that to teach you to address me thus on the stage.' " The young leading man had some trouble in justifying himself; they knew that I was the only guilty party and the result was my discharge. I came back to Paris, where I was reduced to prompt- ing in a so-called suburban theatre. That is my history that's where I've got to." " Confound it ! my poor Dodichet," said Du- botte, "it seems to me that that should at last have cured you of your mania for playing jokes." " What can you expect, handsome Phoebus ? it seems that was my real vocation. But here's our fourth comrade coming. Devil take it ! he must have got on, for he looks radiant, and he's made as great a change in his dress as in his person." 236 ADHEMAR Lucien Grischard, who now entered the cafe, was no longer the poor fellow in a threadbare jacket and with a face lengthened by unhappiness and privation, that he formerly was. Today his eyes were sparkling, the expression of his face an- nounced his contentment of mind ; his costume, without being that of a dandy, indicated that he was a man in easy circumstances ; he smilingly ex- tended his hand to the three persons with whom he had again met, and who were already congratulat- ing him on the happy change in his appearance. " Good-day, messieurs, good-day," he said, in cheerful accents. " I am the last to keep this ap- pointment, but you will excuse me when you know how busy I am." " Good-day, Lucien. What we already see, and with joy, is that your position is ameliorated, for you seem happy ; that is easily read in your face." " And why should I not be happy ? I am about to marry the one I love. In a week Juliette will be my wife, M. Mirotaine has at last consented to call me his son-in-law. I am at the height of my wishes." " And how did you manage to arrive there ? Tell us all about it." " By means of work and perseverance. My pins have proved a success, I made money by them ; I discovered something else, I made more money still by that ; I managed to extend my busi- ness. But how was I to make that known to CHARLES PAUL DE KOCK 237 M. Mirotaine, who had forbidden me his house? That was the difficulty ! It was absolutely neces- sary for me to see Juliette, in order that I might tell her all that I was doing ; it was necessary to come to an understanding with her, to give her the exact details of my position, in order that she might be able to say to her father, ' You may go to such and such people, and they will give you informa- tion as to Lucien's position.' Fortunately, Juli- ette possessed a friend who came to our aid. This friend often obtained permission to take Juliette with her, either to the bath or to make purchases, but in reality these ladies came to join me in the Jardin des Plantes, where I would wait for them ; there I could arrange with Juliette all that she had to say to her father regarding my position." " To the Jardin des Plantes," cried Adhemar, " was it there that these ladies used to meet you ? " " Of course, and one day, even, when I had some excellent news to tell Juliette I had to tell her that I had succeeded in a new commercial en- terprise my sweetheart was rather unwell ; and her friend, Madame Dermont, had the kindness to come alone to our meeting place. I told her that I had been successful. She hastened to go and inform Juliette of this happy circumstance, and M. Mirotaine, convinced at length that he was not being imposed upon, that I knew how to make money, reopened the doors of his house to me and consented to grant me his daughter's hand." 238 ADHEMAR Dubotte and Dodichet congratulated Lucien. Adhemar alone said nothing to him, for what he had learned had produced such a revulsion in all his feelings, that he remained as one overwhelmed and had not the strength to speak. However, Dubotte took his hat and rose, saying, " Come, I see with satisfaction that we have all reached the situations we aspire to. There is only this poor Dodichet whose position is becomeworse. But, after all, that is his own fault. No one should prompt, c Oh, you bother me,' to a lover. All the same, you know my address, Dodichet, and when you find yourself hard up, come and ask me for a dinner. I have always a place at my table for an unfortunate old friend. Messieurs, excuse me for leaving you, but I must go and see whether Calle can take my wife to the play this evening." Dubotte had gone. Dodichet prepared to do the same, as he said, " No, I shan't go and ask him for a dinner. If I should get too hard up, it is not to him I should go. There are people whose benefactions are too heavy to carry. Good-by, messieurs, I have eleven acts to prompt this evening, I'll go to my post, or to my hole, it is the same thing. I sometimes feel a desire to take a syringe and prompt with that. That would, indeed, be a good joke. I shall wait until they play Pourceaugnac.' ' " Dodichet, I don't offer you a dinner," said Lucien, " but I shall never forget that you wanted CHARLES PAUL DE KOCK 239 to render me a service. If you should find your- self without occupation, come and see me and I shall be able to tell you of some way of making a living." " Thanks, old fellow ; some tobacco with that, and everything will go all right." " Dodichet," said Adhemar, " my purse is at your disposition." " I am well aware of it, I know your kindness. But I want to try and depend on myself. Besides, now I like snails, and they are not dear, I want to breed them in my den, and that occupies me be- tween the acts. Good-by, my dear fellows ! " When he was alone with Adhemar, Lucien said to the former, "You have not congratulated me on my ap- proaching marriage. You seem very much out of sorts. I know you too well, however, not to be sure that you sympathize in my happiness." "Yes, Lucien, yes, I do sympathize in it. But if you did but know what it has cost me ! It was you whom Madame Dermont went to meet in the Jardin des Plantes ? " " Of course. Juliette could not come on that day." " Nathalie went in a cab ? " " Yes, and left it at the entrance to the garden ; I conducted her as far as the cab, and I rather wanted to get in with her that I might thank her again for her kindness in coming." 2 4 o ADHEMAR " Oh, my dear fellow, if you had told me this sooner, I should not have suspected a woman whom I adore." " I could not tell you sooner, for you were in England. I could not follow you there. You were angry again, then, with Madame Dermont ? " " Yes, my cursed jealousy. I wrote her a letter which contained nothing sensible. I can see that now very well." " Console yourself she will forgive you." " Oh, no, it is all ended now ; she can no longer forgive me, and I am quite aware, besides, that I do not deserve forgiveness." " Good-by, my dear Adhemar, excuse me for leaving you so abruptly, but Juliette is waiting for me, and I have many preparations to make for our marriage." " Go, my dear fellow, go. If I am unfortunate, at any rate I don't wish to retard the happiness of others." Adhemar returned home alone. What he had learned, while proving to him that he had been wrong to suspect Madame Dermont's fidelity, caused him, however, more pleasure than pain ; he was sorry, he was grieved, to have failed in his promises, to have had so little confidence in Nath- alie's love, but, also, he felt happy, quite happy, to know that she had not deceived him, and that he might say to himself, " She loves me still." There was something in the midst of his sorrow, CHARLES PAUL DE KOCK 241 then, that made his heart beat with delight, and which deprived his regret of its bitterness. Returning to his home, Adhemar tried to work. It is very difficult to write a novel or a play when the heart is entirely occupied, when one thought alone has possession of one's mind. But on re- flecting upon what he and his three friends had done during the year, he said to himself, "The proverbs are always right, 'The little streams make the mighty rivers,' for the effect of the little streams must either be for our gain or our loss. Philemon Dubotte had a wife who adored him, who wanted to be hanging on his arm continually ; and instead of congratulating himself on his felicity in having found such a phoenix, this gentleman sought on every occasion to go out without his wife, he turned her love into ridicule, he left her of an evening to the company of a young man who was immensely more amiable to this lady than was her husband. All these things were the little streams which led to a result which married people should, on the con- trary, try to avoid. " Lucien Grischard possessed not the slightest fortune ; but he had what was more substantial, more solid courage, perseverance, love of work. By means of patience and privations, he could un- dertake a small business ; he made himself known and appreciated for his probity ; little by little he extended his relations, augmented his business, and, diminutive as it was at first, he made it lucrative. Vol. XXIV 242 ADH&MAR All these little streams led to his end to fortune. He has well earned it. " Dodichet had everything to render him happy ; sufficient means, health and cheerfulness ; but an unfortunate mania, to constantly make game of others, to make jokes and play tricks on his friends and acquaintances, led him on a road where he be- gan by spending all that he had, and ended by living at the expense of others. Unable to behave reasonably in any employment, he even managed to lose his place as a prompter in the provinces, and is now reduced almost to abject poverty by a series of follies accumulated one on the other and which some day may perhaps lead him to the great river for this is often the end of these joking humbugs who are so agreeable in company. " As for myself! ah, I am unfortunate indeed, and I have only myself to blame for it ; I had, after a good many light connections, met a woman who was such as I had dreamed of, and I had the happi- ness of being loved by this woman; I knew, at last, that true love which is so sweet to the heart ; that love which so far excels all the intoxicating mo- mentary madnesses in which our youth is involved. I was happy, very happy. But my cursed jealousy would not let me rest. Having been deceived a hundred times by women who did not know how to love, I could not persuade myself that she could be faithful to me. My suspicions were unjust, I had had proof of it several times, but that did not CHARLES PAUL DE KOCK 243 prevent me from imagining it anew. These of- fences so often repeated have lost me Nathalie's heart. She forgave me many times, but I can no longer hope that she will pardon me again after that letter which I wrote in my delirium ; I was not afraid to write to her that her treachery was un- worthy, when she thought of nothing but assur- ing Juliette's and Lucien's happiness; and I left without seeing her, without even demanding the slightest explanation of her conduct. The fearful effect of jealousy. I had promised to cure myself of it, and instead of that I began all over again. Ah, I did not deserve to be loved sincerely." And Adhemar, who held his arm on his desk, rested his forehead in his hand and would have remained in that position for a long time, if a little hand had not rested on his shoulder while a well- known voice said in his ear, " And yet I love you still, monsieur." Those accents had touched the poor lover's heart, he raised his head Nathalie was beside him, she smiled at him, looked as tenderly at him as of old. He uttered an exclamation, he stammered, " Is it possible that you can forgive me again?" " Yes, my dear, of necessity I must. Wait, look here at your scar your burn. You see that I must always forgive you ! " " Good God ! I fear my happiness is but a dream." "No, monsieur; Lucien came and told me how 244 ADHEMAR sad and unhappy you were. I thought you had been punished enough and I came. Was I wrong?" " Oh, you are good! I do not really deserve to be loved thus." "Are you going to begin over again?" " Ah, this time, Nathalie, I swear to you." " Don't swear ! Believe me, vows amount to nothing. One can conduct one's self without mak- ing any promises." And now, readers, do you want to know what became of these personages, few though they be, who have figured in this simple study of contem- poraneous life? In the first place Dubotte continued to be very content; his wife no longer incessantly hung on his arm, she let him go out alone as much as he pleased. Sometimes, even, she was the first to refuse to ac- company him, she had acquired a great liking for the game of bezique, and young Calle was always ready to come and play a game with her. Lucien Grischard, after he became Juliette's husband, did not cease to love his wife and to work ; also his business prospered, and they lived in a perpetual honeymoon. Dodichet, having thought it would be funny to smoke in the den of a little theatre where he was prompting, had set fire to the stage and had been found burned to death as the result of this last joke. M. Mirotaine, not having found any one who CHARLES PAUL DE KOCK 245 wanted to come to his parties in the winter,where they served hot liquorice water to the company, decided, for the sole refreshment, to open the windows ; but when any one treated him to a dinner or a breakfast at a restaurant, he did not fail to empty the salt cellar and the pepper caster into two little paper cornets which he put in his pocket. M. Brid'oison continued to be delighted with the agility and skill exhibited by his son in gym- nastics. Little Artaban could not enter a draw- ing-room without making a culvert ; and the papa flattered himself that this fashion would be adopted by the ladies. Madame Putiphar, the dealer in toilet articles, still arranges marriages in the interest, not of young girls, but of second-hand cashmere shawls which she puts in the brides' baskets. Mademoiselle Boulotte is now trying to make vegetable rouge with one thing or another. We all have, here below, our inclinations, our little streams, which lead us, the one towards the good, the other towards the evil. We must try to avoid the latter and to follow those of which the water is pure and the borders flowery ; these are the good ones. UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY Los Angeles This book is DUE on the last date stamped below. REPD LD-UHB Form L9 Series 444 UWV. OF CAUF* U88AHY, LOS ANGat3