Part 10 (1/2)
”It seems that that appalling face which frightened the ladies so does not show itself every day;” and he was on the point of putting the key into the lock, when the face with moustaches appeared above the broken plank, exactly on a level with the eyes.
Edouard stopped; he felt that his heart was beating violently; but he soon recovered himself.
”What do you want?” he asked the stranger; ”and why are you continually behind this gate, with your eyes fixed upon the garden?”
”I want nothing,” the stranger replied, in a loud voice and with an abrupt manner. ”I am looking at this garden because I choose to, and I look at it through this gate, because they would not permit me to walk about inside.”
”If that is what you wish, you may gratify yourself now. Come in, monsieur; there is nothing now to prevent you.”
As he spoke, Edouard, who was curious to see the whole of the stranger's face, opened the gate leading into the fields.
The stranger seemed surprised at Edouard's invitation; however, as soon as the gate was opened, he did not wait to be asked a second time, but entered the garden. Murville was then able to contemplate him at his ease. He saw a man of tall stature, dressed in an old blue frock-coat, b.u.t.toned to the chin, who wore black gaiters and a dilapidated three-cornered hat, which he carried in his hand.
As he examined this singular individual, whose pale face, long beard and neglected dress seemed to indicate misfortune and want, Edouard remembered his mother-in-law's suspicions, and a feeling of distrust entered his mind.
The stranger walked about the garden, pausing from time to time in front of a clump of shrubs or an old tree, and apparently forgetting that there was some one with him.
”Parbleu!” said Edouard to himself, ”I propose to have something to show for my good-nature; I must find out who this man is, and why he planted himself behind the little gate. I must take the first step, and as he says nothing, I must begin the conversation; he will have to answer me.”
The stranger had seated himself upon a mound of turf, from which the front of the house could be seen. Edouard approached and sat down beside him.
”Oh! I beg your pardon, monsieur,” said the stranger, as if suddenly arousing himself from his abstraction, ”I have not thought yet to thank you for your kindness. But I was in such a hurry to see this place again!”
”Oh! there is no harm done.”
”Are you the son of the owner of this house?”
”No.”
”So much the better for you.”
”Why so?”
”Because he is an old money-lender, an impertinent fellow; and so is his concierge, to whom I was strongly tempted to administer a thras.h.i.+ng, in order to teach him how to behave!”
”What have they done to you?”
”I came to this village for the express purpose of seeing this house. I arrived here yesterday, utterly tired out; I entered the courtyard, and sat down on a stone bench to rest. The concierge came to me, and asked me what I was there for. I told him that I wanted to see the garden. He asked me if I intended to buy the house. That question was an impertinence in itself, for I don't look like a person with money to invest.”
”That is true,” thought Edouard.
”When he learned that I had come here for another reason, he ordered me to leave; I asked him again to let me walk about this garden for a moment; he called his master; an old Jew appeared, and the two together tried to turn me out! Ten thousand thunders! Turn me out! me--a--But, no! I forgot that I am one no longer! All the same, if it hadn't been that my memories restrained me, I would have thrashed master and servant. I didn't do it, however, and as I was able only to look at the place from a distance, I took my stand behind that gate where you saw me yesterday.”
”I am very glad that I have been able to atone for the discourtesy of the concierge, and that I found you again to-day at the same place.”
”Faith! it's a mere chance! If I were not waiting for a comrade, whom I agreed to meet in this village, I certainly should not have stayed here.”
”Ah! you are waiting for a comrade?”
”Yes, monsieur.”