Part 65 (1/2)

”Dear me, uncle! all this has very little interest for monsieur. What is the use of giving him all these details?”

”Anything that concerns you, mademoiselle, cannot fail to interest me.”

Caroline turned her face away. Her uncle continued:

”Yes, my dear girl, you are not well; it is of no use for you to try to conceal it, for anybody can see it; and this solemn, melancholy expression which has taken the place of your former gayety--for you have lost all your gayety and----”

”Why, you are mistaken, uncle; I am just the same as always.”

”Well, you insisted on coming here for your health--at all events you told me so; and when you insist upon a thing--you know, my dear Dalbreuse, it's just as it was when she made us go to drive at Mont-d'Or--it has to be done on the instant. And so, inside of twenty-four hours, we came, we saw, and we hired a house! And we must needs take possession of it at once.”

”It was because I was bored to death in Paris; and then I--I did not know this neighborhood----”

”Well, I know it; but I am very fond of it. Dugazon had a country house at Saint-Mande! I will show it to you when we return. We used to come here to have little supper parties and theatricals, and to enjoy ourselves. I played _L'Avocat Patelin_, and Pet.i.t-Jean in _Les Plaideurs_; and by the way, in _Les Plaideurs_, I played a wicked trick!

You know, when----”

”But we are detaining monsieur, uncle; we are taking his time, perhaps!”

”Oh! by no means, mademoiselle; I was just going back to Saint-Mande.”

”We are going back there too; we will go together. As I was saying, it was in _Les Plaideurs_. In the third act, you know, some little dogs are brought on. Dugazon had said to me: 'Will you undertake to provide some little dogs?' I already had my plan in my head, so I said: 'Yes, I will.' Very good. The performance began and the moment came when the unfortunate orphans are called for. I brought on a large open basket.

Guess what came out of it: a dozen mice, which I had concealed inside and which instantly ran about all over the stage, and jumped down into the orchestra; and the men laughed and the women shrieked, for everyone of them thought that she had a mouse under her skirt! I held my sides with laughter! After the play, those ladies said that I was a monster!

That affair was worth three conquests to me!”

Monsieur Roquencourt chattered on, and in due time we reached the village. Caroline had held Eugene's hand all the way, and had talked frequently with my daughter.

”Here is our hermitage,” said Monsieur Roquencourt, stopping in front of a pretty house within two gun shots of Ernest's. ”I trust that you will come to see us, Monsieur Dalbreuse. In the country one must be neighborly,--isn't that so, niece?”

”If monsieur chooses to give us that pleasure, if he would bring his children to see us, I should be delighted to see them again.--Would you like to come, my dear love?”

”Yes, madame.”

”And you, my little man? you must like sweeties and I always have some.”

Eugene replied with great solemnity that he would like to come to see the sweeties. I thanked her for the children and took my leave, promising to bring them the next day.

So Caroline wished to see me again; her fiery wrath against me was allayed; doubtless it was because the sentiment that had given birth to that wrath had also vanished. But why had she lost her former playful humor? Upon my word, I was very conceited to think that it had anything to do with me. Might not Mademoiselle Derbin have some heartache, or some secret, with which I was absolutely unconnected? I would have been glad to know if she had seen Madame Blemont again before leaving Mont-d'Or. However, I was not sorry for the meeting. When Ernest was at work, it was impossible to talk with him; and his wife was constantly busy with her children and with her household cares. So I thought that it would be pleasant to go sometimes to Monsieur Roquencourt's for a chat.

At dinner I informed my hosts of our meeting.

”If they are pleasant people, ask them to come to see us,” said Ernest.

I noticed that his wife did not second that invitation. I had said that Caroline was lovely, and wives sometimes dread the visit of a lovely person; Marguerite was a wife now.

”My friend,” she said, ”if they are people with twenty-five thousand francs a year and a carriage, I shall never dare to receive them.”

”Why not, pray, my dear love? I am an author, and genius goes before wealth. Isn't that so, Henri?”