Part 30 (2/2)

”No, no, I haven't been sick,” replied Adeline, blus.h.i.+ng; then she hid her face in her handkerchief and tried to restrain her sobs.

”Pardi!” rejoined the kind-hearted Marie, ”madame does very wrong to grieve like this. Mon Dieu! husbands all act the same way; they seem to have a sort of rage for doing the town! You can't keep them from it. But they get over it; and madame is so good that----”

”Leave me.”

The domestic was about to go away, but Adeline recalled her.

”Marie, did anybody come to the house last night?”

”Did anybody come--last night!” and the maid looked at her mistress in amazement, for she could not understand her question.

”Yes, did you hear anyone knock? Was there any noise?”

”If anybody knocked at night, it couldn't be anybody but monsieur, but he did not come in; we were not disturbed, thank G.o.d! And everybody slept soundly; that isn't surprising after the hurly-burly of the night before last; we were tired out.”

Adeline dismissed her maid, feeling a little more tranquil; she was certain at all events that her dishonor was a secret; she went to her little Ermance; she took her in her arms, and sought consolation with her; a voice within told her that she was not to blame; she felt that it was true, and recovered a little courage. Intent alone const.i.tutes the crime, and Adeline felt the most violent hatred for Dufresne; she nourished that sentiment with delight; it seemed to her that the more horror she felt for him, the less guilty she was in her own eyes.

But a crus.h.i.+ng thought came to her mind; she remembered Dufresne's last words: Edouard loved another woman. It was in the arms of a woman that he had pa.s.sed that wretched night; he had come home and had not thought of seeking her; it was all over; he had forgotten her, he was unfaithful. That certainty filled the cup of poor Adeline's despair; it took away her last hope of happiness.

Still bewildered by the day and night that he had pa.s.sed, Edouard had left Madame de Geran's house to return home; but a sense of shame, a secret feeling of remorse prevented him from going to his wife. In vain does a man make excuses for himself, unless he has long been addicted to all forms of excess, and accustomed to defy public opinion--he does not commit a culpable act without feeling an inward dissatisfaction, without hearing the reproofs of his conscience. Edouard was still too unused to the paths of vice not to feel the remorse which follows a first sin. A night pa.s.sed away from home, his wife neglected, a large sum of money lost at play in two days! What fruitful subjects for reflections!

Edouard did as most men do who have just committed some foolish act; instead of determining to be more prudent and more orderly in the future, he sought to forget himself, and abandoned himself more ardently than ever to his pa.s.sions; like those poor wretches who drown themselves for fear the world's end is at hand.

With Dufresne, Edouard was sure of finding distraction. So it was to his lodgings that he betook himself. Dufresne was alone, absorbed in deep thought. For the first time Murville began to use the familiar form of address; he felt more at his ease with him since he had ceased to be happy in his own family. He shared Dufresne's principles and his way of looking at things to the full, so that all ceremony was naturally banished between two friends so closely united. Edouard threw himself into a chair and looked at Dufresne, who waited for him to speak first.

”Here I am, my dear fellow; I expected to find you at my house.”

”I went there last evening; but as you didn't return and I was tired of waiting, I came away.”

”Faith! it is quite as well that you did. You would have waited in vain.

I pa.s.sed the night at Madame de Geran's. You understand me?”

”Yes, perfectly. I congratulate you; you could not be more fortunate.

That woman adores you!”

”Oh! she is mad over me!--that's the word; she didn't want me to leave her this morning; I had difficulty in tearing myself from her arms.”

”Be careful; Madame de Geran has intense pa.s.sions, a fiery brain, an exalted imagination! She is capable of d.o.g.g.i.ng your steps all the time.”

”You enchant me! I like such women!”

”But suppose your wife should discover it?”

”Bah! she is such an indolent creature! Her way of loving doesn't resemble Madame de Geran's in the least.”

<script>