Volume I Part 37 (2/2)
”'Paul is it!' said the country folk; 'after all, a man may have no other name than Paul and be a perfectly honorable man; we have had merchants and manufacturers who were called simply Jean or Pierre. If this Paul is an agreeable man, a jovial companion, he'll be a welcome addition to the neighborhood. And then, it's probable that he has a wife and children; as he has bought that big house, he must have people to put in it. Perhaps he will give a party, a ball to his new neighbors, to become acquainted with them; then we shall find out what sort of man he is.'
”That, madame, was what the people said here in Ch.e.l.les and in the neighborhood. But time pa.s.sed and no one arrived; the estate of the Tower showed no sign of life, a.s.sumed no festal air.
”'For heaven's sake, isn't the new owner going to occupy his house?'
people began to say. 'In that case, why did he buy it?'
”But one morning Jeannette the poulterer informed her neighbors:
”'Well, the gentleman who's bought the Tower has arrived; he's been in the house a fortnight. What do you suppose his household consists of?--a dog! nothing but a great dog that's always at his master's heels. But I suppose he found out that his dog couldn't get his dinner and do his housework, so he's hired old Mere Lucas, from the village of Couberon, who's almost blind and a little deaf, and she takes care of his house.'
”You can understand, mesdames, that everybody was amazed to learn that the only occupants of that enormous house were a man, a dog and a half-blind and deaf old woman.
”'The gentleman has come on ahead,' people thought; 'his family is probably going to join him here.' But no one came. And then, the new owner, instead of showing himself to his neighbors and trying to become acquainted with them, never went out to walk, or at all events not in any frequented part of the country; and people said: 'Have you seen the owner of the Tower?'--'No.'--'Nor I; where in the devil does the man keep himself?'--'Doesn't he ever leave his house or his grounds? he must live like a hermit, then?'
”One day, however, one of the townspeople met him and lost no time in letting everybody know that this Monsieur Paul was a tall, well-built man, neither young nor old, that is to say, with a full beard which covered a large part of his face and made it impossible to guess his age; but that he had a savage, repellent, disagreeable manner; that he was dressed very simply, in hunting costume: jacket, long leather gaiters and a cap with a broad vizor which concealed all the upper part of his face. He had a gun in his hand and a large dog at his heels.
”People said: 'He is probably very fond of hunting and pa.s.ses all his time at it; hunters aren't very good-natured, so we must overlook his peculiarities. But the hunting season doesn't last forever, and no doubt the man with the big dog will become more sociable; let us wait.'
”They waited in vain. However, they saw Monsieur Paul occasionally, walking in the fields with his faithful companion. But when anyone approached, he quickly turned in the other direction to avoid meeting them.
”One day, however, Madame Droguet, one of the largest land-owners in the neighborhood--Madame Droguet, having watched to see which roads the master of the Tower usually chose for his walks, said to her friends:
”'I am determined to see our new neighbor and to speak to him; in short, I propose to find out what that man has to say for himself; if he's a foreigner, I can tell by his accent what country he comes from. The fact is, I propose to find out what we are to think about him, and it won't take me long to see whether he's a _comme il faut_ person or an ill-bred one.'
”'How will you go to work to find out?' someone asked Madame Droguet--'As the owner of the Tower avoids everybody, as he only goes where n.o.body else goes, how do you expect to talk with him?'
”'That's my affair, I shall find a way! you know that what a woman wants always comes to pa.s.s in time.'
”Madame Droguet is a woman who has no doubt of her ability to do anything, and who fears nothing. There are some people hereabout who declare that she was a _vivandiere_ in her youth, and that she served in Africa; that is a statement hardly worth repeating.
”And so this lady, who, as I have had the honor to tell you, had carefully observed what roads the master of the Tower frequented, concealed herself in a dense thicket at the corner of one of those roads. For four days in succession she had the resolution to station herself there and to wait several hours for the gentleman to pa.s.s. I presume that she carried her knitting; one can knit anywhere, even in a thicket. But the man with the dog did not pa.s.s. On the fifth day, however, her patience was rewarded; she saw the hunter coming along a path, and when he was within ten yards of her, she quickly stepped from her thicket, so that she was directly in front of him, in a path so narrow that it was impossible to avoid the meeting. The gentleman, amazed to see a lady suddenly appear in front of him, stopped and seemed disposed to turn back; but he concluded to step aside so as to allow Madame Droguet to pa.s.s, while his dog glared at her as if he longed to ask her what she was doing there.
”But, instead of pa.s.sing the hunter, Madame Droguet halted directly in front of him, made a low curtsy, and said:
”'I believe that I have the pleasure of addressing the new owner of the Tower? I am charmed that chance affords me the pleasure of making his acquaintance. I am a land-owner at Ch.e.l.les; I receive all the best people in the province, and if monsieur will deign to do me the honor to come to see me----'
”But at that point the hunter abruptly interrupted the lady and said to her in a sharp and none too courteous tone:
”'I go nowhere, madame, and I do not desire to make any new acquaintances!'
”With that, he just touched his hand to his cap, which he did not even raise from his head, and strode away, followed by his huge dog.
”Ah! if you could have seen Madame Droguet when she got home! She was perfectly furious! She ran about to all her acquaintances, saying: 'I know the owner of the Tower now! he's a boor, a clown, a man of no breeding whatever! He didn't even raise his cap to me! He must be a mere n.o.body who has made money, no one knows how. I'll wager that he doesn't know how to read or write, and if he avoids society, it's because he realizes that he would be out of place therein, and wouldn't know how to behave himself! Thanks! I shan't undertake his education; it would be too hard work to grub up that fellow.'
”For some time people talked of nothing but Madame Droguet's interview with the newcomer, and the whole district knew that that gentleman needed a thorough grubbing up; Madame Droguet's expression was a great success; she often makes some very remarkable ones. After all, when a person talks a great deal and says whatever comes into his head, it isn't surprising that in the vast output of words there should be a few clever ones--they may occasionally fall from the dullest person's lips.
”Several months pa.s.sed and the proprietor of the Tower continued to follow the same line of conduct.
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