Adeline"s heart had not changed; still sentimental and emotional, she loved her husband with idolatry, she was happy so long as he was with her, and so long as she could read in his eyes the same sentiments, the same love, the same happiness. She carried in her bosom a pledge of Edouard"s love; that was a new subject of delight, of hopes, of projects for the future. Engrossed by that happiness, Adeline was less thoughtless, less vivacious.
They had little company in the country, but Edouard was still in love with his wife, and he was not at all bored. Sometimes, however, the evenings seemed rather long to him; Madame Germeuil"s game of piquet was endless, and the excursions about the neighborhood impressed him as being slightly monotonous. But Adeline"s caresses were still pleasant to him, and her kisses as sweet as ever.
One fine day a carriage stopped in front of Edouard"s house, and two ladies and a gentleman alighted and entered the courtyard. The concierge asked the strangers" names in order to announce them to the ladies, who were in the garden. But they desired to surprise the Murville family and one of the two ladies who seemed to be in command, at once walked toward the garden, beckoning to her friends to follow her.
At last they discovered Madame Germeuil and Adeline, who rose in surprise and ran to meet Madame Dolban.
"What! is it you, my dear love? How kind of you to come!"
"I wanted to surprise you; I have been promising myself this pleasure for a long time, for I am pa.s.sionately fond of the country. I have brought my little cousin with me; and as we required an escort, I have taken the liberty of bringing Monsieur Dufresne, who is delighted to present his respects to you."
Monsieur Dufresne bowed low to the ladies, and Mamma Germeuil a.s.sured Madame Dolban that anybody whom she might bring would always be welcome.
"But monsieur is not a stranger to you," continued Madame Dolban; "he was at my dear Adeline"s wedding; it was Madame Devaux who introduced him to you."
"Indeed I believe that I remember," said Madame Germeuil; "but on such days one is so busy that one may be pardoned for not noticing all the young people. You know too, how many strange things happened that evening! Poor Madame de Volenville, and Monsieur Robineau!"
"Oh! don"t speak of them, my dear love, or I shall die of laughter.--But where is Murville?"
"He is somewhere in the neighborhood; he will soon return home; meanwhile, come into the house and rest yourselves."
They went to the salon; Dufresne offered Madame Germeuil his hand, and Adeline escorted Madame Dolban and her cousin. Edouard soon returned. He seemed agreeably surprised to find company. No matter how much a man may be in love, the most delightful tete-a-tetes become tiresome after a while; so that a coquette is very careful to be sparing of them, interrupting them sometimes in order that they may be more eagerly desired afterwards. But Adeline was not a coquette.
Let us return to our company. Madame Dolban was still a young woman; she was not pretty, but her face had character, and she had that quality which in society is called ease of manner, and plenty of small talk.
Little Jenny was a girl of eighteen, very sweet and simple-mannered, and trained to be silent when her cousin was talking. As for Dufresne, we know him already; imperfectly to be sure, but the sequel will enable us to judge him better.
It was at Adeline"s wedding that he had made Madame Dolban"s acquaintance. Had he fallen in love with her? That seemed rather improbable; however, he had acted like a very pa.s.sionate lover; paying the most a.s.siduous court to the widow, he had easily triumphed over her.
Madame Dolban was not a prude, but she made a point of concealing her feelings, in order to be received more willingly in circles where morality and decency are held in esteem, and Madame Germeuil"s house was one of the small number of which that could be said.
Dufresne had acquired absolute empire over the mind of Madame Dolban, who loved him pa.s.sionately and who would have sacrificed everything for him. She had soon discovered that that young man, who claimed to be a business agent, broker, commission merchant, and tradesman, and who a.s.sumed all sorts of t.i.tles according to circ.u.mstances, was in reality nothing more than a knight of industry, having no trade, no office, and no perceptible means of livelihood.
A prudent woman would have broken with such a character; Madame Dolban had not the moral courage; on the contrary, she devoted herself absolutely to him, opened her purse to him, and allowed him to become absolute master in her house; and Dufresne used his friend"s small fortune without the slightest hesitation, a.s.suring her that he was about to make a bold stroke in business, and that he would very soon treble her capital.
Impelled by some unknown motive, Dufresne often inquired about Adeline and her husband. At last, he expressed one day a desire to go to their place in the country. Madame Dolban instantly made her preparations to go; she took her little cousin, in order to dispel any suspicion of a too close intimacy with a young man whom she wished to introduce to Madame Germeuil.
Dufresne was bright, he was accustomed to society, and could be entertaining when he chose to be; and in the visit to the young husband and wife he did whatever he considered most likely to attract the whole family. Attentive, zealous, even gallant with Madame Germeuil,--for he knew that gallantry has a fascination even for mothers,--he was agreeable, reserved and respectful to Adeline; but it was with Edouard especially that he put forth all the resources of his wit, in order to obtain Murville"s entire confidence; and he at once applied himself to the study of his disposition, and to finding out his tastes and sounding his sentiments.
Everything a.s.sumed a festive appearance in the household at Villeneuve-Saint-Georges. Three additional persons cause much change in a house. They sang and played, drove, hunted and fished. The time pa.s.sed very quickly to Edouard, who longed for company. But it seemed long to Adeline, who was unable to find a moment in the day to be alone with her husband.
On the third day after her arrival, Madame Dolban talked about returning to Paris. Edouard insisted on keeping his guests a few days longer. He could not do without Dufresne. They went hunting together, and drove in the morning before the ladies were up. Murville was delighted with his new friend; wit, merriment, an even disposition, and a similarity of tastes made Dufresne"s presence a necessity to him, as his friendship was a delight.
Adeline could not be jealous of this new intimacy; and yet she felt a secret pain when she saw that her own affection did not fill her husband"s heart sufficiently to exclude every other sentiment. Love is often selfish and even friendship offends it; anything which for a moment attracts the loved one seems a theft to that exacting G.o.d. But this excess of love is always excusable, and it does not seem a burden except when it ceases to be shared.
Madame Dolban and her friends took leave of the young couple at last.
Adeline was pleased, for she was about to be alone with Edouard once more; she could talk to him without reserve as to the future, of the education of their children, and of all the family joys which were in store for them. Murville was sorry to see their guests go; but he was careful to urge Dufresne to come often to see him, and to pa.s.s at Villeneuve-Saint-Georges all the time that his business left him at leisure.
In the evening, Adeline took her husband"s arm and led him into the garden; she told him how delighted she felt at being alone with him; she pressed his hands lovingly in hers; and she fixed her lovely eyes, filled with love, upon him. But Edouard was distraught and preoccupied; while replying to his wife, he seemed to be thinking of something else than what he said. Adeline noticed it; she sighed and the walk came to an end much earlier than usual.
The next day when they met at breakfast, Edouard spoke of Dufresne and of the pleasure it had afforded him to make his acquaintance. He was a charming man, full of intelligence and talent, who could not fail to succeed and make a handsome fortune.
"But, my dear," said Adeline, "it seems to me that you can hardly know that gentleman as yet."
"I myself," said Madame Germeuil, "think Monsieur Dufresne a most agreeable man; he is pleasant in company, and then, too, Madame Dolban has known him a long time, no doubt. But after all, my dear Edouard, you never spoke to him until within a week, for we cannot count the day of your wedding; you were too busy to pay any attention to him then."
"Oh, yes," said Adeline, with a sigh, "that day he thought of nothing but me."
"Really, mesdames, you talk rather strangely; does it require so very long, pray, to know a person and to form a judgment upon him? For my own part, two days are enough for me; besides, what interest could Dufresne have in putting on a false face with us? He has no need of our services, and you know that in the world we are constantly guided by our own interests; but aside from that, why should he put himself out? Dufresne has money, he is in business."
"What business?"
"Oh! business on the Bourse, commerce, speculation; in short, very extensive business, according to what he tells me."
"Has he an office, or any place? Is he a solicitor--a business agent?"
"No! no! But a man need not have any of those things now, to make his way. Moreover, mesdames, allow me to tell you that you know nothing about it."
"Upon my word, my dear, you are very amiable! Why do you think that we are not so well able as men to decide what may be useful to us?"
"Because you are not brought up to do it."
"My dear," said Madame Germeuil, "education supplies neither intellect nor judgment. Believe me, a woman may give very good advice, and men are almost always wrong to despise it. The only advice that I can give you myself is not to form too rashly an intimacy with a man whom you have known only a week. Friendship should not be given so readily."
"But Edouard is naturally so kind, so easy-going----"
"Oh! I know how to value people. I promise you that Dufresne"s friendship will be very valuable to me."
"How so?"
"Parbleu! I mean to do as he does; and to increase our fortune, I too will go into business. I feel, moreover, that a man cannot live without having something to do. When we are in Paris, I can"t walk about from morning till night; I shall neither go hunting nor fishing."
"That is just what I told you when you insisted on leaving your place,"
said Mamma Germeuil; "but then you didn"t listen to me."
"Oh! my dear mamma, if I had remained twenty years nailed to an office stool, what would that have led me to? To be a deputy chief perhaps, a year or two before being retired on a pension. A n.o.ble prospect! Instead of that, I may become very wealthy some day."
"What, Edouard, have you become ambitious now?"
"I am not ambitious, my dear Adeline; but suppose I were? our family may be increased, and there is no law against a man"s thinking about the welfare of his children."
"Of course not! of course not!" said Madame Germeuil; "but sometimes, by insisting upon running about after vain chimeras, you lose what you have for certain."
"Oh! never fear, madame, I shall not run after chimeras. I shall act only upon certainty; I shall advance only a very little; and besides, Dufresne will give me good advice."
Thus ended this conversation. Edouard left the house to meditate upon his new plans for acquiring wealth; Madame Germeuil returned sadly to her bedroom, and Adeline went out to muse alone in the garden.