Volume I Part 40 (1/2)
The little Baroness de Grangerie had thrown the book which she was reading on the sofa, and looked at Annette curiously She was already laughing herself, and at last she asked:
”What have you been doing now?” ”Oh!my dear! my dear! it is too funnytoo funny Just fancyI am saved! saved!
saved!” ”How do you mean, saved!” ”Yes, saved!” ”From what?” ”From my husband, my dear, saved! Delivered! free! free! free!” ”How free? in what?” ”In what? Divorce! Yes, a divorce! I have my divorce!” ”You are divorced?” ”No, not yet; how stupid you are! One does not get divorced in three hours! But I have ht in the very actjust think! in the very act I have got hiht” ”Oh! do tell me all about it! So he deceived you?” ”Yes, that is to say noyes and noI do not know At any rate, I have proofs, and that is the chief thing” ”How did you e it? This is how! I have been energetic, very energetic For the last three ether odious, brutal, coarse, a despot, in one word, vile So I said to myself: This cannot last, I must have a divorce! But how? for it is not very easy? I tried totill night, o out when I did not wish to, and to remain at home when I wanted to dine out; he made my life unbearable for me from one week's end to the other, but he never struck me
”Then I tried to find out whether he had a mistress Yes, he had one, but he took a thousand precautions in going to see her, and they could never be caught together Guess what I did then?” ”I cannot guess” ”Oh!
you could never guess I asked raph of the creature” ”Of your husband's mistress?” ”Yes It cost Jacques fifteen louis, the price of an evening, fro a dinner, at three louis an hour, and he obtained the photograph into the bargain” ”It appears to ht have obtained it anyhow by means of so obliged to take the original at the same time” ”Oh! she is pretty, and Jacques did not mind the least And then, I wanted soure, her breast, her cos, in fact”
”I do not understand you” ”You shall see When I had learned all that I wanted to knoent to ahow shall I put itto a man of businessyou knowone of those ents ofofof publicity and complicityone of those menwell, you understand what I mean” ”Pretty nearly, I think And what did you say to hiraph of Clarisse (her name is Clarisse): 'Monsieur, I want a lady's raph I require one who is pretty, elegant, neat and sharp I will pay her whatever is necessary, and if it costs me ten thousand francs so much the worse I shall not require her for more than three months'”
”The man looked extremely astonished, and said: 'Do you require a maid of an irreproachable character, Madame?' I blushed, and stammered 'Yes, of course, for honesty' He continued:'Andthenas regards n with nified: _no_ Then suddenly, I co my presence of mind, I exclaimed: 'Oh, Monsieur,it is for my husband, in order that I h, and froained his esteely haveto shake hands with me However, he said to me: 'In a week, Madame, I shall have what you require; I will answer for my success, and you shall not pay raph of your husband's mistress?'
'Yes, Monsieur,' 'A handsome woman, and not too stout And what scent?'
”I did not understand, and repeated: 'What scent?' He smiled: 'Yes, Madame, the perfus to his mind certain reminiscences which dispose him to action; the perfume creates an obscure confusion in hishis pleasures to him You must also try to find out what your husband is in the habit of eating when he dines with his lady, and you ive hiot hihted, for here I had lighted on a very intelligent irl arrive at my house; she was very handsome and her looks were modest and bold at the same time, the peculiar look of a female rake She behaved very properly towards me, and as I did not exactly knohat she was, I called her _Mademoiselle_, but she said ian to talk
”'Well, Rose, you knohy you have coirland that will notbe too hth divorce that I shall have caused; I a to succeed?' 'Oh! Madame, that depends entirely on Monsieur's temperament When I have seen Monsieur for five minutes alone I shall be able to tell you exactly' 'You will see him soon, my child, but I must tell you that he is not handsome' 'That does not ly ones But I must ask you, Madame, whether you have discovered his favorite perfume?' 'Yes, Rose,--verbena' 'So much the better, Madame, for I am also very fond of that scent! Can you also tell me, Mada and nightdresses?' 'No, ether of superior station, for silk underclothing is getting quite common' 'What you say is quite true!'
'Well, Madame, I will enter your service' And so, as a matter of fact, she did i else all her life
”An hour later my husband came home Rose did not even raise her eyes to hily of verbena, and in five minutes she left the rooirl?' 'Whymy new lady's ot her for me with the best references' 'Ah! she is rather pretty!' 'Do you think so?' 'Why, yesfor a lady's hted, for I felt that he was already biting, and that sa Rose said to me: 'I can now proht Monsieur is very easily caught!' 'Ah! you have tried already?' 'No, Madaht hear what my voice was like' 'Very well, my dear Rose Get on as quick as you can' 'Do not be alarh not to make myself depreciated'
”At the end of a weekabout the house the whole afternoon, and as er preventedout And I, I was out of doors nearly the whole day long,in orderin order to leave him at liberty
”On the ninth day, while Rose was undressing , Madame' I was rather surprised, or rather overcome even, not at the part itself, but at the way in which she told me, and I stammered out: 'Andandit went off well?'
'Oh! yes, very well, Mada me, but I did not wish matters to proceed too quickly You will tell ht, Madame' 'Yes, certainly
Here! let us say Thursday' 'Very well, Mada more until then, so as to keep Monsieur on the alert' 'You are sure not to fail?' 'Oh! quite sure, Madame I will excite him, so as to make him be there at the very moment which you may appoint' 'Let us say five o'clock, then' 'Very well, Madaood, Madame, in your bedroom'
”You will understand what I did then, my dear I went and fetched Mamma and Papa first of all, and then my uncle d'Orvelin, the President, and Monsieur Raplet, the Judge,to show theo on tiptoe as far as the door of my room I waited until five o'clock exactly, and oh! how my heart beat! I had made the porter come upstairs as well, so as to have an additional witness! And thenand then at the an to strike, I opened the door wide Ah! ah! ah! Here he was evidently,it was quite evident, my dear Oh! what a face!
if you had only seen his face! And he turned round, the idiot! Oh!
how funny he looked I laughed, I laughed And papa was angry and wanted to give ood servant, helped him to dress himselfbefore usbefore us He buttoned his braces for himwhat a joke it was! As for Rose, she was perfect, absolutely perfect She criedoh! she cried very well
She is an invaluable girl If you ever want her, don't forget!