Volume I Part 24 (1/2)
”He's taken his cap already.”
”Answer; what are you doing here, merry-andrew?”
Chamoureau decided to rise; he tossed the concierge's cap aside, resumed his own cap with the plumes, and replied, affecting a dignified air:
”In the first place, messieurs and mesdames, I am not a thief and you will soon have proof that I am not. I am waiting for the concierge to return; he has gone to get me a cab, for you will understand that I could not go home on foot in this disguise.”
”But you don't belong in the house. Why did you come here?”
”I came here, intending to go to the apartment of my intimate friend Freluchon, on the fourth floor, opposite Mademoiselle Cremailly, because my clothes are there and I expected to put them on. But Freluchon did not come home, which was very wrong on his part, as he has my clothes.”
”Oh! it very often happens that he doesn't come home at night,” murmured the young servant who came for the newspaper, smiling as she said it.
”You understand now, messieurs and mesdames, why I let everybody go up; Pere Mignon did not tell me his orders, he didn't have time; besides, even if he had, I should probably have made mistakes, for I am beginning to realize that the trade of concierge demands strict attention as well as memory.”
Chamoureau's explanation seemed plausible, but no one was willing to go away until the concierge came. His wife arrived first, however, and when she saw the gentleman in fancy costume in her room, she exclaimed:
”Mon Dieu! my husband has been changed! Who in the world is this Spaniard? What's happened to Mignon? I want my husband! He's never been to Spain!”
They strove to pacify the concierge's wife by repeating what Chamoureau had just told them, but she refused to credit the Spaniard's story and continued to cry:
”That ain't true, I say. Mignon wouldn't have left his post for this disguised man that n.o.body knows. He took Mignon's place; what's he done with him? If my husband don't return soon, I'll have this carnivalizer arrested!”
But the concierge's return put an end to his wife's shrieks and to the tenants' suspicions.
”Faith, monsieur,” he said, going up to Chamoureau, ”I had lots of trouble finding a cab for you; I went to at least four stands, and not a cab to be seen! I met an empty one at last, on Rue de Provence a minute ago, and brought it here. But if I'd known I should be away so long, I certainly wouldn't have done your errand for you!”
”Especially as your subst.i.tute does such nice things!” cried Madame Duponceau's maid.
”Let me hear no more of all that nonsense!” said Chamoureau, leaving the room.--”Your husband isn't lost, you see, Madame Mignon.--Messieurs and mesdames, you must be convinced now that I am not a thief. I have the honor to salute you.”
With that, Chamoureau hurried to the sidewalk and was stupefied to find there an open _milord_.
”Why, concierge,” he cried, in dire distress, ”I asked you to get a closed cab, so that I couldn't be seen.”
”Go and get one for yourself and leave us in peace!” exclaimed Madame Mignon, who was still in a bad humor.
Chamoureau made the best of it, jumped into the _milord_, gave the driver his address, and throughout the journey held his cap in front of his face, like a fan.
IX
A BUSINESS AGENT'S OFFICE
Chamoureau occupied a very comfortable apartment on what is called the Carre Saint-Martin, that is to say, the junction of Rue Saint-Martin and the boulevard. There he carried on the profession of business agent; he undertook the purchase or sale of houses, the investment of funds, the recovery of old debts, in short, everything which business agents--_hommes d'affaires_--generally undertake; most of them having pa.s.sed the examination for admission to the roll of advocates, and some having even a.s.sumed that t.i.tle, they are generally familiar with the laws and with all the tricks of the profession.
Chamoureau did not lack clients, for he had the reputation of being an honorable man, and was one in fact; in his case that quality was an advantageous subst.i.tute for cleverness, which unfortunately is not always a guaranty of uprightness. By which we do not mean that a man may not be both a fool and a knave. Nature is sometimes as lavish of evil as of good qualities.
Several persons had already called to confer with the business agent on the morning following the Opera ball. They had found no one but the woman employed to do his housework, who always found the key at the concierge's lodge. Not finding Chamoureau, she a.s.sumed that he had gone out very early on business.