Part 56 (1/2)
As for young Bruno, he contented himself with thrusting his tongue into his cheek again and muttering:
”Thanks! that's a fine sort of talk! This game will get spoiled!”
The breakfast was served. The waiter left the room with the urchin, and they took care to close the door behind them. Mademoiselle Chichette did not wait for Cherubin to escort her to the table; forgetting all the lessons she had had in behaving like a comme il faut person, she ran and took her seat in front of one of the covers, crying:
”Let's eat! let's eat! Oysters! ah! that's good!”
”She seems to be very hungry!” thought Cherubin, as he took his seat at the table. And he made haste to supply the young woman with oysters; but she did not wait for him to select them for her; she put them out of sight with wonderful rapidity, then held out her gla.s.s, saying:
”White wine, please; I'm very fond of white wine too.”
Cherubin filled her gla.s.s with a white wine from a bottle which had been supplied with a long cork, to give it the appearance of sauterne; but it looked as if it were not drinkable with anything but oysters.
The young man considered that they were very badly served, generally speaking: the plates were the commonest china, the covers had not the ring of silverware, and the linen was very far from being fine. The wine, too, despite its yellow seal, seemed to him decidedly poor; but his conquest thought it delicious; she swallowed oysters, emptied her gla.s.s, called for more oysters and held out her gla.s.s to be filled, without any perceptible interval. Cherubin could not keep up with her; not until there were no more oysters on the table did Mademoiselle Chichette conclude to make a little pause.
”I will call the little concierge and tell him to take these things away,” said Cherubin.
”No, no, I'll take 'em away myself!” replied Chichette; she rose, and with a turn of the hand cleared the table of plates and sh.e.l.ls, and brought two of the covered dishes. The young man tried in vain to prevent the lady from performing that task; she would not listen to him, and did not resume her seat until it was all done.
”Mon Dieu! how it distresses me to see you take all this trouble, madame la comtesse!” said Cherubin; ”but you seem to have been brought up to household duties. In Poland, young ladies receive a less frivolous education, I see, than in France; and your n.o.ble parents did not disdain to teach you these little domestic details. They are dead, doubtless--your n.o.ble parents?”
”Yes, yes! Let's talk about something else! Let's see what's in this dish. Ah! how good it smells! It's rabbit! Oh! I'm so fond of rabbit!”
Cherubin did not fully agree with his inamorata; he did not like rabbit himself, and he found that the breakfast which had been ordered for him did not at all resemble what he ordinarily ate at restaurants in Paris.
But his companion was much less particular than he; she helped herself to the rabbit and seemed to enjoy it hugely; she even exclaimed from time to time:
”It's mighty well frica.s.seed!”
Cherubin offered her some wine with a different seal. Chichette drank red as well as white, then uncovered another dish, and shouted, leaping up and down in her chair:
”Ah! chowder! Oh! I'm glad of that! I'm so fond of chowder!”
”It seems to me that she's fond of everything!” thought Cherubin; ”she certainly has been very well brought up; she doesn't play the prude!”
Chichette voted the chowder delicious; she helped herself several times without waiting for Cherubin to offer it; she was particularly enthusiastic over the sauce; finally she began to lick her plate, unwilling apparently to leave the least particle of the sauce which she liked so much.
The young man was thunderstruck when he saw the Comtesse de Globeska put her plate to her mouth and run her tongue over it; but he concluded that custom in Poland permitted such behavior. When Chichette noticed that her companion was watching her, she realized that she had made a blunder, and instantly replaced her plate on the table, saying:
”Oh! that was just a joke! I won't ever do it again! But let's see what's under that other cover.”
Chichette uncovered the last dish, which contained fried fish. She uttered a joyful exclamation:
”Ah! gudgeons! fried gudgeons! Oh! I'm so fond of fried fis.h.!.+”
”I am delighted, madame, that you find all these things to your taste,”
said Cherubin, serving his charmer to gudgeons; ”but really you are not hard to suit; to me it seems that our breakfast is not worthy of you.
Evidently there are no good restaurants in this quarter.”
”Oh, yes, yes! at La Courtille.”