The Flower Girl of The Chateau d'Eau Volume I Part 36

"Oh! mon Dieu! is it possible to say, when one is so young? One always imagines that one is in love, but one does not even know what love is.

You must have been very much surprised to learn that I was no longer living with Monsieur de Brevanne?"

"Yes, madame; and yet such things happen rather often."

"Look you, Armand, I am sorry that I didn't marry you; we should never have parted."

Monsieur de Merval shook his head slightly and answered with a smile:

"No one knows, no one knows!"

Madame de Grangeville blushed, then a.s.sumed a serious air.

"You may perhaps believe all the slanders that Monsieur de Brevanne no doubt spread about me?"

"I knew nothing, heard nothing, madame. Monsieur de Brevanne is too well-bred a man to say anything which could possibly injure your reputation."

"Oh! when a man is jealous, monsieur, when he fancies himself betrayed, he is sometimes so absurd!"

Monsieur de Merval made no reply, but continued to look about the salon, and seemed painfully affected by the lack of harmony in the furniture.

"Yes," said Madame de Grangeville after a long pause, "women are always the victims; that is their fate; the men make the laws for us, and we are the weaker party in every respect; we must needs endure the harsh treatment, the violent scenes, the sarcasms of those gentlemen. I tell you, Armand, that all the fault is on the men's part; I know it, poor abandoned wife that I am!"

Monsieur de Merval, who seemed far from convinced by the lamentations of his old acquaintance, rejoined:

"And Monsieur de Roncherolle, what have you done with him, madame? He was a very amiable, very gallant gentleman, who had great success with the ladies. A good-looking fellow, a hard drinker, and of a courage proof against any test; he had everything that a man needs to succeed."

The face of the abandoned wife had undergone a complete transformation; her lips were compressed, her brow was wrinkled, her eyes a.s.sumed a vague expression, and she retorted in a decidedly curt tone:

"Why do you apply to me for news of Monsieur de Roncherolle? What reason have you to think that I can tell you anything about him?"

"Really, madame, I had no idea of offending you by asking you that question; but a good friend of mine who met you thirteen or fourteen years ago in the Pyrenees, at the Baths of Bagneres, I believe, told me then that you were travelling with Roncherolle; that was what made me think that perhaps you still kept up some relations with him."

Madame de Grangeville was disconcerted.

"Oh! yes," she stammered, "that is true; I did meet Monsieur de Roncherolle when I was travelling in the Pyrenees, and we travelled together for some little time. Well, Monsieur de Merval, do you see any harm in that? After all, wasn't I at liberty to travel with whomever I pleased, since I had already been separated from my husband for several years?"

"I have already had the honor to tell you, madame, that I see no harm anywhere; I simply repeated what I have heard, as we were talking of our old acquaintances, that is all.--And in your financial affairs, I most sincerely hope that you have not suffered, madame? You had an independent fortune, I believe?"

"Yes, that is true, I had a fortune--I had one."

"What! have you had the misfortune to suffer from somebody's bankruptcy?"

"Why, yes, I think so; and then, you know, women are so stupid about managing their property."

"But when it is simply a matter of receiving income, one does not need a business agent for that."

The bell rang again. The baroness started, and Monsieur de Merval took his hat, saying:

"Somebody has come to visit you, madame, and I will take my leave."

"Why no, don't go yet, I beg you; it is no visitor, I expect no one; no one ever comes to see me now!"

The poor woman said this in such a melancholy tone that Monsieur de Merval was touched; he replaced his hat on the chair, and his eyes rested again on various parts of the furniture, which clearly betrayed the lamentable plight of their owner. As he pa.s.sed these objects in review, in order to conceal what was in his mind, he began to talk about the Glumeau family; but soon a hoa.r.s.e voice arose in the reception room and dominated Lizida's, although she did her utmost to drown it.

Thereupon Madame de Grangeville also tried to talk very loud, so that her visitor should not hear the altercation which was taking place in her reception room. She even tried to laugh.

"Oh, yes! ha! ha! ha! that party that those good people gave was very comical; there were such amusing faces there! They put me at the table beside an old gentleman who looked like an owl. Ha! ha! ha!"

But the noise in the reception room did not cease, and Madame de Grangeville laughed on the wrong side of her mouth. Monsieur de Merval, while doing his best not to listen, could not, unless he had stuffed his ears, help hearing a stentorian voice shout:

"I won't go away! I want my money! I said to my wife: 'They'll send you to the devil with your bill; I'm going myself!--_Fichtre!_ I won't go away without the money!"

Monsieur de Merval, who had been pensive and preoccupied for several minutes, suddenly said to his old friend:

"Mon Dieu! how thoughtless I am, madame! I knew that I had something else to say to you, but while we were talking I forgot it; it is a mere trifle, an old debt that I desire to pay, if you will allow me."

"What do you mean? I don't understand you."

"This is how it is: the last time that I was with Monsieur de Brevanne, a very long time ago, we played cards, and I lost five hundred francs to him on credit, for I had no money with me. After that, I tried in vain to find the count; he had left Paris suddenly. Now, as I have found his wife to-day, I ask permission to cancel a debt which troubles me. If you will allow me to hand you that amount, you will do me a favor."

Madame de Grangeville blushed slightly as she replied:

"But I don't know whether I ought to accept; Monsieur de Brevanne and I no longer have any property in common."

"Oh! I don't go into all those details," replied Monsieur de Merval, as he took from his wallet a five-hundred-franc note and laid it on the table. "I am only paying an old debt which I had on my conscience, and surely an old friend like you would not prevent me from accomplis.h.i.+ng that duty.--Adieu, madame, I am obliged to leave you; pray receive the homage of my respect."

Monsieur de Merval kissed the baroness's hand and hurried out of the room; as he pa.s.sed through the reception room, he saw a man pacing the floor with his hat on his head, paying no heed to Mademoiselle Lizida's entreaties.

This personage stared in an impertinent fas.h.i.+on at the gentleman going out; but Monsieur de Merval paid little heed to him; he was pleased to have put his old friend in a position to get rid of her visitor.

Madame de Grangeville had not been deceived by the little fable invented by Monsieur de Merval in order to oblige her; she had said to herself:

"That was very nice on his part; it was a very delicate proceeding; but after all, he is rich; he guessed that I needed money, and he has lent me some; it's a simple matter.--Lizida! Lizida!"

The lady's maid hurried into the room, and was stupefied when her mistress handed her a bank note.

"Here, my dear, go out and change this!"

"O madame! five hundred francs! How lovely!"

"Who is that wretched creature outside?"

"Your dressmaker's husband; he demands the total of the bill, one hundred and twenty-three francs!"

"Take him with you, and pay him."

"The whole amount?"