Volume Ii Part 53 (1/2)
”Oh! if he has apologized to you, that makes a difference.”
”What! my dear madame, have you seen the bear of the Tower?” Madame Droguet asked Thelenie.
”Yes, I met him and spoke to him.”
”It seems that the man is becoming less uncivilized; probably since he has been in love with that Dalmont woman.”
”What do you say?”
”I say that this Monsieur Paul pa.s.ses every evening now with that creature; everybody knows it, it is getting to be a public scandal.
Isn't that so, Monsieur Luminot?”
Luminot, who was sitting between the two ladies and was the only person who had heard this little _aside_, was busily stuffing himself with truffles, and contented himself with mumbling:
”It's perfectly scandalous.--They're from Perigord! what a perfume!”
”Hus.h.!.+ hus.h.!.+” said Thelenie; ”we will return to this subject this evening. My husband has something else to tell me.”
Chamoureau was in fact waiting until his wife should be ready to listen to him.
”Now, my dear love, as the dog is out of the way, we will go on to the case of the small boy.--You must know, ladies and gentlemen, that there is a small boy, a little vagabond, a very bad boy, so it seems, who had the audacity to throw stones at my wife.”
”I'll bet that it was the lost child!” said Doctor Antoine.
”Just so, doctor; it was the lost child. But I did not know it; madame had instructed me to find out whom the little rascal belonged to--he is about eight years old--in order to warn his parents to look after him a little better. I succeeded at last in finding out whom the rascal belonged to--that is to say, whom he lives with,--for n.o.body knows whom he belongs to, and that is why he is called the lost child.--It's rather an interesting story; the nurse told me everything--for I have seen the nurse. I will tell it to you; it would be a good subject for a melodrama.”
As this promised to be more interesting than the age of trees, everybody listened attentively to Chamoureau; even Thelenie herself was secretly impatient to hear what he had to say.
XX
THE NURSE.--THE QUARREL
”First of all, ladies and gentlemen, you must know that this nurse does not belong to this part of the country; she used to live with her husband at Morfontaine, a charming village near Ermenonville.”
”Morfontaine!” cried Thelenie, turning pale.
”Yes, my dear love, she lived at Morfontaine; her husband was a laboring man--I forgot to ask her in what trade; but they weren't rich, so that the woman, having become a mother, conceived the idea of going to Paris to get a nursling. Her husband approved of the idea, so Jacqueline Treillard--that is the woman's name--arrived in Paris one fine morning.”
”The woman's name is Jacqueline, you say?”
”Yes, my dear love, Jacqueline Treillard; but you will see how dramatic and romantic the story grows.”
Thelenie's brow grew dark, when she acquired the certainty that it was her own story that was to be told; but she strove to conceal her emotion and swallowed a gla.s.s of champagne frappe, saying:
”Well, monsieur, go on; your story has a romantic beginning.”
”It bears much resemblance to a romance.--Well, there was Jacqueline in Paris; she had no sooner left the stage than she met a woman, who said to her: 'You are looking for a child to nurse; I have just what you want--the child of a baroness, who will pay you handsomely.' Jacqueline was delighted and accepted the proposal; the woman took her to a house where she found a lady--a very beautiful lady, it seems,--and a cradle with a new-born child in it. They agreed on a price--thirty francs a month. This Baronne de Mortagne--I forgot to tell you that this lady called herself the Baronne de Mortagne. Does anyone here know a baroness of that name?”
Everyone answered negatively, and Freluchon said: