"But supposing you had a nice room of your own, clean and comfortable, with an iron bedstead like this one here, and chairs and a table, and two windows looking out over the Luxembourg gardens,--and nothing to pay."
"Ah, monsieur!"
She dropped her pillow, and fixed her great brown eyes earnestly on my face.
"It is impossible," pursued I, reddening under her gaze, "for you to return to the horrible quartier in which Maman Paquet lives.
It is not fit for a young girl; you would grow wicked and base like the people who live there,--or else you would die,--and I think you would die, Noemi."
"But I have no money, monsieur."
If you have no money, you have friends; a friend has given you your new pillow, you know, and another friend, perhaps, may give you a room to live in."
Her eyelids drooped, her color came and went quickly, I detected beneath her bodice the convulsive movement of her heart. The agitation she betrayed communicated itself to me; I rose from my chair and leaned against the window-sill, so that my face might be no longer on a level with her eyes.
"I understand you, monsieur!" she cried, and immediately burst into tears.
"Yes, Noemi," I said, "I see you understand me. There is really a room for you such as I have described. In two days you will leave the hospital, but you are not without a home. The woman of the house in which you will live is kind and good, she knows all about you and Bambin, and has promised me to take care of you.
Your furniture is bought, your rent is paid,--you have nothing to do but to go and take possession of the room. I hope you and Bambin will be happy there."
She made me no reply in words, but bending forward over her pillow she took my hand and timidly kissed it.
It would be hard to say which of us was the happier on the day which saw Noemi installed in her new abode,---she, or I, or Bambin.
Bambin"s delight was certainly the most demonstrative; he careered round and round the room uttering joyous barks, returning at intervals in a panting and exhausted condition to his pretty mistress to give and receive caresses which I own I felt greatly disposed to envy him.
I left my four-footed friend with some regret, for he and I had been good companions during Noemi"s sojourn at the hospital, and I knew that my rooms would at first seem lonely without him. His fair owner, as she bade me goodbye at the door of her new domicile, begged me to return often and see them both, but hard as I found it to refuse the tempting request, I summoned up resolution to tell her that it would be best for us to meet very seldom indeed, perhaps only once or twice more, but that her landlady had my name and address and would be able to give me tidings of her pretty often.
Her childlike nature and instincts were never more apparent than on this occasion.
"What have I done, monsieur?" she asked with a bewildered expression, her brown eyes lifted pleadingly, and the corners of her mouth depressed. "I thought you would like to come and see us. Bambin is so fond of you, too,--we shall both be so sorry if you don"t come."
As gently and as tenderly as I could, I tried to explain to her our mutual position and the evil construction which others would be sure to place on any friendship between us. But she only shook her head in a troubled way and sighed.
"I don"t understand," she said, "but of course you know best. I used to hear something like that at Maman Paquet"s, about other girls, but I never understood it. Only say that you are not angry with me, and let me hear about you as often as you can."
I promised, smiling, and left her standing at the open door with Bambin tucked under her arm, looking after me down the street and nodding her pretty golden head.
Many days went by. I concentrated my mind upon my books, and devoted the whole of my time and of my thoughts to preparation for my last two doctorate examinations, contenting myself with only a few pa.s.sing inquiries of Noemi"s landlady concerning the welfare of her lodger, and with the a.s.surance that both she and her dog were well and happy.
But one evening late in September, as I sat immersed in study, my ear caught the sound of light girlish footsteps on the staircase leading to my rooms; then came a momentary pause, a tap on the door, and the next minute Noemi herself, closely followed by the faithful Bambin, burst upon my solitude.
"I have found him, monsieur!" she cried breathlessly. "I came at once to tell you,--I knew you would be so glad!"
"What,--Antoine?" I asked, rising and laying my book aside.
"Yes; Antoine! I met him in the street. He was dressed like a gentleman; no one would have known him except me! He had no idea I was in Paris; he turned quite white with the surprise of seeing me.
And I told him what a search I had made for him, and how miserable I had been, and how good you were to me, and where I was living.
And he is coming to see me this very evening! Oh, I am so happy!"
"You should have sent me word of this, Noemi," said I gravely.
"You ought not to have come here. It is very foolish--"
She interrupted me with an imploring gesture.
"Oh, yes, I know; I am so sorry! But just at the moment I forgot.
I longed to tell you about Antoine, and everything else went out of my head. Don"t be cross with me!"
Could any one be angry with her? She was thoroughly innocent, and natural, as innocence always is.
"My child, it is only of yourself I am thinking. Antoine will teach you to be wiser by-and-by. Tell him to come and see me. I suppose you will be married soon now, won"t you?"
"Oh, yes, monsieur, very soon! Antoine only wanted money, and he has plenty now; he has a business of his own, and is a patron himself!"
"Well, Noemi, I am very glad. You must let me come to your wedding.
I shall call at your house tomorrow, and ask all about it; for no doubt Antoine will want you to settle the arrangements at once.
And now run home, for your own sake, my child."
"Goodbye! monsieur." She paused at the door and added shyly, "You will really come tomorrow morning?"
"Yes, yes; before breakfast. Goodbye, Noemi."
III.
At about ten on the ensuing day I repaired to Noemi"s lodging, and found Madame Jeannel, the landlady, on the look-out for me.
"Noemi told me you were coming," she said; "I will go and fetch her.
Her fiance was here last night, and she has a great deal to tell you."
In two minutes she returned with my pretty friend, radiant as the sunlight with happiness and renewed hope. Antoine loved her more than ever, she said, and he had brought her a beautiful present, a silver cross, which she meant to wear on her wedding-day, tied round her throat upon the bit of tinsel ribbon I had given her, and which matched it exactly. And was the wedding-day fixed? I asked. No, not the precise day; Antoine had said nothing about it; but he had spoken much of his love; and of the happiness in store for them both, and of the lovely things he should give her.
The day was nothing; that could be settled in a minute at any time.
Then she fetched me some lace she had made, and told me that Antoine knew of a rich lady who would buy it,--a marquise, who doated on lace of the sort, and who gave enormous sums for a few yards; and the money would do for her dot, it would buy her wedding-dress, perhaps. So she prattled on, blithe and ingenuous, the frank simplicity of her guileless soul reflected in the clear depths of her eyes, as the light of heaven is mirrored in pure waters.
Days went by, and weeks, but Antoine never came to see me, and whenever I called at Madame Jeannel"s and asked for Noemi--which I ventured to do several times, now that the good woman knew she was engaged to be married, and understood so well our relations with each other--I always heard the same story; and always received, on Antoine"s behalf, the same vague excuses for the postponement of the visit I had invited him to pay me. At one time, he bade Noemi tell me his work was too pressing, and he could find no time to come; at another, that he feared to disturb me, knowing I was very busy; and again, that he had been just about to start when an important letter or an inopportune customer had arrived and detained him. As for the wedding-day, he would never come to the point about it, and Noemi, naturally shy of the subject, never pressed him. She was quite happy and confident; Antoine loved her with all his heart, and told her so every day. What more could she want? He brought her lovely bunches of red and white roses, little trinkets, sweetmeats, ribbons; indeed, he seemed never to come empty-handed. She used to take walks with him when his day"s work was over, in the Luxembourg gardens, and once or twice they went out as far as the Champs-Elysees. Oh, yes, Antoine loved her dearly, and she was very happy; they should certainly be married before long. We were already in November, the days were getting bleak and chill, I had to light my lamp early and close my windows against the damp evening air. One afternoon, just as it was beginning to grow dark, Madame Jeannel came to see me, looking very disturbed and anxious.
"Monsieur," she said, "a strange thing has happened which makes me so uneasy that I cannot help coming to tell you of it, and to ask your opinion and advice. Antoine came about half-an-hour ago and took Noemi out for a walk. Not ten minutes after they had left the house, a lady whom I do not know came to my door and asked if Mademoiselle Bergeron lived there. I said yes, but that she was out.
The strange lady stared hard at me and asked if she had gone out alone.
I told her no, she was with her fiance, but that if any message could be left for her I would be careful to give it directly she should return. Immediately the lady seized me by the arm so tightly I almost screamed. She grew white, and then red, then she seemed to find her voice, and asked me if she could wait upstairs in Noemi"s room till she came back. At first I said "No," but she would not take a refusal; she insisted upon waiting; and there she is, I could not get her to leave the place."
Madame Jeannel stood opposite to me; I lifted my eyes, and met hers steadily. When I had satisfied myself of her suspicions, I said in a low voice,--
"You have done rightly to fetch me. There is great trouble in store for our poor child. I fear this woman may have a better right to Antoine than Noemi has."
"I am sure of it," responded Madame Jeannel. "If you could but have seen how she looked! Thank the good G.o.d she has come in time to save our Noemi from any real harm!"