Volume VI Part 45 (1/2)
”Yes A million between us Forty thousand francs' incoe on it”
They had reached the last of the reception-rooarden full of tall, tropical trees, sheltering clureenery, through which the light streamed like a flood of silver, they breathed the warm odor of dae sensation, at once sweet, unwholesome, and pleasant, of a nature that was artificial, soft, and enervating They walked on carpets exactly like moss, between two thick clumps of shrubs All at once Du Roy noticed on his left, under a wide doh to bathe in, and on the edge of which four large Delft swans poured forth water through their open beaks The botto about in it were so eyes and scales edged with blue, mandarins of the waters, who recalled, thus suspended above this gold-colored ground, the embroideries of the Flowery Land The journalist halted with beating heart He said to hiht to live Others have arrived at it Why should not I?”
He thought of rew irritated at his powerlessness His cohtful, did not speak He looked at her in sidelong fashi+on, and again thought: ”To marry this little puppet would suffice”
But Susan all at once seee through a group which barred their way, she ht
In the e plants, which extended in the air their quivering leaves, opening like hands with slender fingers, was seen theon the sea The effect was surprising The picture, the sides of which were hidden in the e, see horizon It had to be carefully looked at in order to understand it The frame cut the center of the shi+p in which were the apostles, scarcely lit up by the oblique rays froht of which one of the Savior Jesus was advancing with his foot upon a wave, which flattened itself subly beneath the divine tread All was dark about him Only the stars shone in the sky The faces of the apostles, in the vague light of the lantern, seemed convulsed with surprise It was a wonderful and unexpected work of a ive you so to dreas at the outset rehtfully away, and only speak later on of the worth of the painting
Du Roy, having contemplated it for some time, said: ”It is nice to be
able to afford such trifles”
But as he was pushed against by others co on his arhtly She said: ”Would you like a glass of chane? Come to the refreshment buffet We shall find papa there”
And they slowly passed back through the saloons, in which the croas increasing, noisy and at hoe all at once thought he heard a voice say: ”It is Laroche-Mathieu and Madame Du Roy” These words flitted past his ear like those distant sounds borne by the wind Whence came they? He looked about on all sides, and indeed saw his wife passing by on theinti, and with their eyes fixed on one another's He fancied he noticed that people whispered as they looked at the upon the hiht of Forestier Perhaps they were saying: ”That cuckold Du Roy” Who was she? A little parvenu sharp enough, but really not over-gifted with parts People visited hith, but they must speak in unrestrained fashi+on of this little journalistic household He would never reat ith this woman, ould always render his home a suspected one, ould always co betrayed the woue She would now be a cannon ball riveted to his ankle Ah! if he had only known, if he had only guessed What a bigger gaht have ith this little Susan for stakes Hoas it he had been blind enough not to understand that?
They reached the dining-roo with old tapestry Walter perceived his descriptive writer, and darted forward to take him by the hands He was intoxicated with joy ”Have you seen everything? Have you shown hi, Susan? What a lot of people, eh, Pretty-boy! Did you see the Prince de Guerche? He calass of punch here just now,” he exclaimed
Then he darted towards the Senator Rissolin, as towing along his wife, bewildered, and bedecked like a stall at a fair A gentlehtly bald, with yellohiskers, and that air of good breeding which is everywhere recognizable George heard his name mentioned, the Marquis de Cazolles, and beca had she known him? Since her accession to wealth, no doubt He divined a suitor
He was taken by the ar hair and worn dress-coat with a weary and indifferent air ”This is what they call a themselves,” said he ”By and by they will dance, and then they will go bed, and the little girls will be delighted Have solass filled for hi to Du Roy, who had taken another, said: ”I drink to the triumph of wit over wealth” Then he added softly: ”Not that wealth on the part of others hurts ry at it But I protest on principle”
George no longer listened to hi for Susan, who had just disappeared with the Marquis de Cazolles, and abruptly quitting Norbert de Varenne, set out in pursuit of the young girl A dense crowd in quest of refreshh it, he found himself face to face with the de Marelles He was still in the habit ofthe wife, but he had not for some ti: ”How can I thank you, h Clotilde I have gained close on a hundred thousand francs over the Morocco loan It is to you I owe them You are a valuable friend”
Several ant brunette Du Roy replied: ”In exchange for that service,to take your wife, or rather to offer her my arm Husband and wife are best apart, you know”
Monsieur de Marelle bowed, saying: ”You are quite right If I lose you, ill ed into the crowd, followed by the husband Clotilde kept saying: ”How lucky these Walters are! That is what it is to have business intelligence”
George replied: ”Bah! Clever men always make a position one way or another”
She said: ”Here are two girls ill have fro that Susan is pretty”
He said nothing His own idea, co from another's mouth, irritated hi on the Water,”
and he proposed to take her to it They anized, andfun of those they did not Saint-Potin passed by, bearing on the lapel of his coat a nureatly a him showed far fewer
Du Roy remarked: ”What a mixed salad of society”