The Bashful Lover Part 41

"All right, I'll tell him that! Great G.o.d! Cherubin a rake! so that's why he's forgotten the village altogether!"

Louise soon had her parcel ready. She put on the little hat of coa.r.s.e straw, which she sometimes wore to walk about the neighborhood, and beneath which, although it was not of fas.h.i.+onable shape, her face was as lovely as possible.

She threw herself into Nicole's arms and whispered in her ear:

"When I see him, I'll tell him that it's very wicked of him not to come to see you!"

Nicole covered Louise with kisses.

"If by any chance you should get sick of it, my child," she said, "if you ain't happy there, you know that there's always a place for you here, and that we'll be very happy if you conclude to come back."

Monsieur Gerondif speedily put an end to these farewells by taking the girl's arm. Jacquinot was at the wine-shop as usual. Louise cast a last glance at her adopted mother and went away with Monsieur Gerondif, who had incurred the expense of a cab by the hour, in order to take the girl to Paris more quickly.

On the way he said to her:

"I must give you some preliminary instructions, my lovely child, as to your behavior in the place you are to fill. In the first place, if they ask you what you know how to do, answer boldly: 'everything!'"

"Everything! But that would not be true, monsieur, for I know how to do very few things."

"You can learn the others; you are saturated with intelligence, therefore you will learn very rapidly; so that it's the same as if you already knew. Do what I tell you--it is essential, to inspire confidence; in the world you must never act as if you were uncertain of yourself. Secondly, you must understand that you must not speak of the young Marquis Cherubin and say that you were brought up with him. The world is very unkind! people might think things; and you mustn't trifle with your reputation."

"What, monsieur? What could people think, pray? Is it wrong to love one's foster-brother, then?"

"Foster-brother! foster-brother! as much as you please! I must make you understand me better: my n.o.ble pupil does not want it to be known now that he remained out at nurse until he was sixteen; that annoys him terribly. And then you must see that a marquis can't be the friend of a--a--a lady's maid; if you should talk about him, it might make him blush."

"Blus.h.!.+" cried Louise, putting her handkerchief to her eyes. "What!

monsieur le--Cherubin blush because of my friends.h.i.+p, my acquaintance?

Oh! never fear, monsieur; I shall never speak of him, I shall never mention his name."

"That is very well, _O flavia_!--No, you are not a blonde.--Come, come!

don't weep any more about that; what I say doesn't prevent the marquis from still being interested in you, and myself as well. I will say no more now, young Louise, but be virtuous and prudent; do not joke with the young men; if anyone should presume to take any equivocal liberty with you, scratch the insolent knave's face; for you must keep yourself free from stain, like the Paschal Lamb, until--But, mum's the word! I will go no farther now."

Louise had ceased to listen; she was thinking of Cherubin, who was ashamed of knowing her; and that idea destroyed all the pleasure she had enjoyed in the fact of going to Paris.

Meanwhile, the cab had entered the city; Monsieur Gerondif told the driver to take them to Faubourg Saint-Honore, whereupon Louise exclaimed:

"Is it near Monsieur Cherubin's house?"

"Not very far, my child; in fact there are no distances in Paris now; the six-sou carriages take you to all quarters of the city, and you don't even need to know the way, which is very convenient for strangers."

The carriage stopped in front of a handsome house which Monsieur Gerondif pointed out to the driver, very near Rue de la Concorde. The tutor helped Louise to alight and carried his gallantry so far as to offer to carry her bundle.

"Follow me," he said; "it's in this house, on the second floor; a magnificent apartment; they're very swell people. See how this staircase is polished! It doesn't look much like our village hovels, which are floored with mud."

As he spoke, the professor slipped down two stairs and nearly broke his neck on the waxed staircase; perhaps it was a punishment from on high for his ingrat.i.tude to the village. But he clung to the rail, muttering: "_Ne quid nimis!_ They put on too much wax."

Louise followed Monsieur Gerondif; she was slightly tremulous and covered with confusion at the thought that she was about to appear before people whom she did not know, and that she must remain alone amid those surroundings which were so strange to her. She heaved a profound sigh and invoked the memory of Cherubin to sustain her courage.

It was Comtois--that was the name of Monsieur de Noirmont's servant--who received Monsieur Gerondif when he introduced his protegee. Louise's aspect could not fail to prepossess everybody in her favor, and the valet smiled with satisfaction as he said:

"Ah! mademoiselle seems to have every quality likely to give pleasure here: a gentle, unaffected manner. I am sure that she will please our young Mademoiselle Ernestine, who has said to me several times: 'Above all things, Comtois, I want a young lady's maid, because if I have an old one, I shall not dare to give her any orders, or to laugh in her presence!'--Mademoiselle is a very merry young person; a little quick-tempered, a little whimsical; but that is perfectly natural at her age, and she isn't the least bit unkind with it all. When she loses her temper, she asks our pardon; that isn't common with masters, I tell you!"

"This servant is very talkative!" thought Monsieur Gerondif, as he blew his nose.

Comtois, after looking at Louise again with a satisfied air, continued:

"I will present mademoiselle at once.--By the way, what is your name?"

"Louise, monsieur," replied the girl timidly.

"Louise--very good; that is your Christian name. And your family name?

sometimes one is very glad to know that."

The girl blushed and lowered her eyes, without replying; but Monsieur Gerondif made haste to say:

"Louise Frimousset; Frimousset is the name of this young woman's parents."

Louise glanced at the tutor; but he had a.s.sumed a solemn air, which seemed to indicate that it would not be proper to contradict him, and that it was only after mature reflection that he had replied; so the girl said nothing.

"Frimou--Frimousse--Friquet," said Comtois. "That's a queer name; however, I only asked so that I might know it; for you understand of course that mademoiselle will always be called by her baptismal name here. As I was saying, I am going to present you now. If madame was here, I should naturally take you to her first; but madame has been absent a fortnight; she has gone to see an aunt of hers, who's sick. She wanted to take her daughter, but monsieur insisted on keeping Mademoiselle Ernestine with him; for, although he looks very stern, monsieur is very fond of her--he never refuses her anything; and sometimes I've even known him to be angry with madame, because he claimed that she spoke to mademoiselle too sharply, and that she didn't love her. But, to be just, I must say that monsieur is mistaken; I am sure that madame's very fond of her daughter. However, it's true that sometimes she hardly speaks to her, she responds coldly to her caresses; but we all have days when we're in ill humor, more or less."

Monsieur Gerondif blew his nose at great length, saying to himself:

"Is this never going to finish?--My worthy man," he said to Comtois, "excuse me if I interrupt you; but it seems to me that it is not necessary for me to be present at the introduction of our young Louise, as you tell me that the business is settled. So I will take my leave, urging you to watch over this child, as if she were your niece."

"Never fear, monsieur; mademoiselle is in a good family; I am quite sure that she won't be unhappy here."

"Adieu then, Louise, adieu! I shall come to inquire for you, to learn how you are getting on; in short, I shan't lose sight of you; you will always be my guiding star, my object, my--my polygon!"

The girl offered her hand to Monsieur Gerondif, who seemed inclined to kiss her, and said in an undertone:

"You will tell him that I am in Paris; won't you, monsieur? that I didn't hesitate to come, as he wished it, but that it makes me very depressed not to see him, and that my only desire----"

"I shall say all that it is my duty to say," replied the tutor, showing his teeth, although he had no desire to smile. Then, turning quickly on his heel, he saluted Comtois and went out.

The valet escorted him to the door, and Monsieur Gerondif said in his ear:

"This girl is very pretty, and the men in Paris are terribly licentious.

I need not urge you to watch over her innocence and not allow her to converse with floor-washers."

"Monsieur," Comtois replied rather stiffly, "none but respectable people are received in this house, and no young girl will ever be ruined here.

If the last lady's maid was a giddy creature, it wasn't our fault; and at all events she was discharged at once, as well as the floor-washer."

"Your reply scatters all the clouds which might have obscured my firmament. Adieu, excellent Comtois, I repeat my a.s.surances of esteem."

Monsieur Gerondif took his leave, and Comtois returned to Louise, who was standing, lost in thought, in the hall; he motioned to her to follow him, led her through a salon, then opened the door of another room, and said, standing in the doorway:

"Mademoiselle, this is the lady's maid I was expecting; she has just arrived."