Part 26 (1/2)
”Well, do you see him, Monsieur Menard?” said Dubourg.
”The chateau?”
”No; Frederic.”
”Not yet, monsieur le baron; but let us sit down and rest; unluckily, I am afraid that this is the last halt that will refresh us much, as our provisions are near the end, and we have only a quarter of a bottle left.”
”We shall find plenty of springs, Monsieur Menard.”
”But they won't be like those of Cana in Galilee, monsieur le baron.”
”Meanwhile, let's finish the bottle and this chicken. We are very well placed here to enjoy the landscape. This is a charming valley. See, Monsieur Menard, what a picturesque effect these mountains make on our right; they're covered with snow, and that reminds me of Mount Krapach.
See, the snow never melts up there.”
”I see, monsieur le baron, that this is our last wing; and I shudder to think of the walk back.”
”We'll go into some house--or a mill; there are plenty of those in this region.”
”Do you mean that you have any money, monsieur le baron?”
”Not a sou; and you?”
”No more.”
”The devil! this becomes embarra.s.sing. Think of Frederic carrying the cash-box off with him, and leaving us in the lurch, without stopping to think what will become of us! I am aware that we may live on at the inn, where we have an open account; but it isn't pleasant to be tied down to an inn while my gentleman is travelling about the country.”
”One thing is certain, monsieur le baron, and that is that walking gives one an appet.i.te.”
”Morbleu! I am beginning to find this travelling decidedly monotonous; and if I wasn't afraid of my creditors----”
”Your creditors, monsieur le baron?”
”I mean, if I hadn't the creditors of my government to settle with--that is to say, if---- But, hus.h.!.+ I see somebody--probably people who have come to inspect these ruins. They must live in the neighborhood, for they don't look as if they had taken a long walk.”
Menard looked up and saw a man and woman at their left, walking slowly toward the chateau. The tutor hastily thrust the bottle and napkin into his pocket, then he rose and joined Dubourg, who was walking toward the new arrivals with a graceful swagger which reminded Menard of their promenades in the streets of Lyon.
”It seems that monsieur le baron proposes to lay aside his incognito again,” he said to himself. Whereupon, he straightened the ends of his ruff and a.s.sumed a more dignified bearing.
Dubourg had replaced by a very simple round hat the shabby tile which had been left for him at the false Marquise de Versac's, but he had retained the little silver ta.s.sels on his boots; above all, he had retained the power to impart to his features an expression befitting the part he proposed to play. When he approached the couple examining the ruins, one would have judged from his manners, his voice, his language, and the way in which he looked about, that he was some foreign n.o.bleman.
The gentleman and lady whom Dubourg seemed disposed to join were dressed in a style that indicated comfortable circ.u.mstances, but which smelt of the province and of a decided tendency to ostentation. The gentleman, who seemed to be about fifty years old, wore his hair powdered, and carried his hat in his hand in order not to disarrange his carefully curled locks; he had a black coat and trousers, and boots with tops which fell below the calf; he carried a cane, with which he pointed out the various objects of interest to his companion; and one could read on his face extreme self-satisfaction and contentment, heightened by an important air which, doubtless, he felt in duty bound to maintain.
The lady on his arm was at least forty years old. She had evidently been comely in the past, but she made the mistake of trying to appear only twenty; for, despite her mincing manners, her infantile speech, the curls behind her ear, and those that peeped out from beneath her hat, and a manner which she strove to render giddy and kittenish, one could readily see that she had pa.s.sed her majority.
Dubourg walked toward the chateau, apparently without noticing the strangers further than to bow to them; he made a pretence of continuing his conversation with Menard, speaking so loudly that he could be heard at some distance.
”This chateau reminds me of my grandfather's in the neighborhood of Sandomir. You know, my dear Menard, the one where we endured such a long and b.l.o.o.d.y siege?”
Menard opened his eyes as he met Dubourg's, but he instantly replied: