Part 4 (2/2)
”Go there and expose myself to his fury, to his wrath, before everybody?
surely you don't mean it, my friend?”
”A man of breeding doesn't take society into his confidence in such matters.”
”I told you that Montdidier was a brutal fellow.”
”If he thinks that he has been wronged, he won't go to a party with his wife.”
”That is true; but there is another way to make sure, and that is for you to go to Giraud's. If our husband and wife are there, you can watch them, and you will be able to tell at once on what terms they are; furthermore, you might slyly give the lady to understand that you have just left me. What do you say? Oh! my dear Blemont, do me this favor; go to Giraud's.”
”I will do it solely to oblige you, for the business agent's receptions are not very interesting; and this evening I intended to go to see some very agreeable ladies.”
”You can see your ladies to-morrow, they will be in the same place.
Besides, perhaps they are married ladies, and who knows that I am not saving you from some unpleasant sc.r.a.pe?”
”To listen to you, one would think that no one ever called upon a lady except with the design of making a conquest.”
”Oh! you see I know you. Come, Blemont, sacrifice your ladies to me; consider that I am between life and death so long as I do not know what to expect.”
”To oblige you, I will go to Giraud's.”
”You are a friend indeed. It is almost nine o'clock, and the reception is just at its height. To-night there is to be singing and playing. Be prudent, and if our couple are there, watch them closely.”
”I'm like the confidential friend in a melodrama.”
”I will wait for you at the cafe on the corner of the boulevard; I will drink a gla.s.s of sugar and water. If everything goes well, if I can safely show myself, you will have the kindness to tell me so.”
”Very good.”
We quickened our pace, and when we reached the corner of Rue Poissonniere, Belan grasped my hand and shook it violently.
”My friend,” he said, ”I will wait for you at the cafe opposite. Don't say that I am there, don't mention my name.”
”Never fear.”
I had taken a few steps when I felt someone grasp me from behind; it was Belan again; he had run after me, and he said most earnestly:
”My dear Blemont, I trust that this adventure will cause you to reflect seriously, that it will reform you as it will me. We must mend our ways, my friend. For my own part, I swear on the faith of Ferdinand Belan, that the loveliest woman in Paris, if she is not free----”
I did not wait for the end of the little man's sermon; I smiled and left him, and walked up the street toward Monsieur Giraud's.
III
THE GIRAUD FAMILY
Monsieur Giraud's was a most amusing household; there was nothing extraordinary about it, however, for the absurdities that one met with there are common in society; but in order to be comical, things never need to be extraordinary.
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