Part 40 (1/2)
”You said 'several reasons,'--you have given me one; let us hear what the others are.”
”Oh, no!” said Madame de Rueille, ”it was just my way of speaking.”
”Nonsense! you are not clever at telling untruths, my dear Bertrade; I am pretty sure I know what you thought!”
”I don't think you do.”
”Well, you'll see! You were thinking that one of the reasons why Bijou will never take any notice of Paul is--”
”Because he is married.”
”Yes, of course; but you fancy, too, I am sure of it, that Bijou is thinking of someone else? Ah, you see! you don't answer now! Yes, you believe, as your husband does--he told me so two or three days ago--that she is madly in love with young Giraud!”
”Oh, grandmamma, what an unlikely supposition! In the first place, Bijou is not, and never will be, madly in love with anyone.”
”What do you mean?”
”I mean that when she marries, it will be in a reasonable, calm sort of way, just as she does everything else.”
”But when will it be?”
”When will it be? Well, I do not know exactly--soon, I think.”
”Then you are saying that just at random? You are speaking of the future in just a vague sort of way?”
”The future always is vague, grandmamma,” answered Madame de Rueille, smiling.
XII.
FOR a whole week there was scarcely anything else thought about but the rehearsals of the little play, which was to be given the day after the races.
The La Balues, the Juzencourts, and Madame de Nezel, came to Bracieux nearly every day, and M. de Clagny also, for he was very much interested in the rehearsals. He acted as prompter when Giraud, who had undertaken this post, was occupied, and he appeared to be delighted whenever he saw Bijou acting.
”Old Dubuisson” and M. Spiegel had been to dinner several times, and Denyse, under the pretext of letting him be more with his _fiancee_, had persuaded the young professor to take a minor role, in which he was execrable. Perhaps Jeanne had noticed this, as the last few days she seemed to be low-spirited, and she was not as even-tempered as usual. Her father was astonished to see her frequently with tears in her eyes, and for no apparent motive, so that at last he declared that ”she must be sickening for some illness or another.”
The Rueilles had not left Bracieux. Bertrade felt that everyone was against her, as it were, and had resigned herself to the inevitable; she had quite given up the plan she had proposed, and was now letting herself drift along, carried forward by the society whirl in which she was living.
Young Bernes arrived one evening to invite the marchioness and her guests to a paper-chase which was being organised by his regiment. He, himself, was to be hare, and all kinds of obstacles were being put up; there had never been so fine a paper-chase run in the forest.
Bijou at once persuaded her grandmother to allow her to follow on horseback, M. de Rueille and Jean de Blaye both answering for it that nothing should happen to her. She was, besides, very prudent, like most people who are accustomed to riding, and who ride well, and she always managed to avoid accidents, and not to run useless risks.
Madame de Bracieux kept Hubert to dinner, and in the evening, as she watched Denyse talking to him, she said to Bertrade:
”It's very odd. It seems to me that Bijou is not at all the same now with that young man. She used to just give him an indifferent sort of bow, and then leave him alone, and now it seems almost as though she were 'gone' on him, to use your elegant language. She has quite changed her att.i.tude towards him,” continued the marchioness, puzzled.
”And he, too, has quite changed his att.i.tude towards her,” said Madame de Rueille.
”Yes, hasn't he? The first few times he came to Bracieux, I was struck with his coolness towards our sweet girl, whom everyone adores. He was just simply polite to her, and that was all.”