"No. Haven"t you even a match here?"
"Faith! it"s doubtful. Ah, yes! I see three in the corner. Why? have you got some firewood in your pocket?"
"No; but I have some cigars, and I propose to smoke one."
"An excellent idea! smoking keeps you warm. Have you a cigar for friendship?"
"Always."
"I recognize you there!"
"Could Achilles have smoked without Patroclus?"
Balloquet gave me a single match, begging me to be careful of it. I lighted a cigar, and from it he lighted the one that I gave him. Then he covered himself with the bedclothes, I wrapped myself hermetically in my cloak, and he began:
"The last time I saw you was at the dinner Dupreval gave us, where Fouvenard told us such a villainous story."
"By the way, you were rather intimate with Fouvenard, I think; what is he doing now?"
"I don"t know. I never see him. I am very far from being a saint, but his adventure with that poor girl from Sceaux made me detest him."
"Give me your hand, Balloquet; I am glad that you think as I do on that subject. I should have had a very poor opinion of you, if you had continued to be that man"s friend. Take another cigar, and go on; I am listening."
"You remember those two famous wedding parties, don"t you? I attended Mademoiselle Petronille Bocal"s, where, after some rather lively scrimmages, I became the jewel, the Benjamin of the family, thanks to your arrival with Papa Bocal"s landlord. You saw how refreshments were served at that function: punch, mulled wine, and _bischoff_ circulating all the time. The women were of all the colors of the rainbow, and so lively and free and easy! the number of glances that were flashed at me was fabulous! but I had cast my spell on a buxom, high-colored brunette, with red roses in her hair."
"I remember your charmer; I saw you talking with her."
"In that case, you see that I don"t flatter her. To make a long story short, after supper, during which there was a time when the whole company was fighting because Madame Girie, the groom"s mother, swore that she hadn"t had the second joint of a chicken that rightfully belonged to her, and that they hadn"t given her any truffles when all the others had some, we left the mother-in-law quarrelling, the father swearing, the groom apologizing, and the bride weeping and tearing her hair, and stole away, my widow and I, in much better spirits than the givers of the feast. But it"s almost always like that; _sic vos_--you know the rest.
"My new conquest sold gloves; she had a fine shop on Boulevard des Italiens. No end of style! Mirrors everywhere, violet-wood counter, and an odor of perfumery as soon as you entered the shop! I was in raptures.
"At last, here"s a woman who won"t cost you anything, and they"re very scarce!" I said to myself. In fact, during the first few days, my pretty widow invited me to dine in her back shop. We dined very well, for Madame Satine likes good things, the delicacies of the season; moreover, she kept me in gloves; as soon as she saw that mine were shabby, she"d say:
""Fi! fi! what sort of gloves are you wearing? I like to have a man always well gloved; that"s the way to recognize a dandy."
"I let her do as she pleased; I can never refuse a woman anything.
"One day, my loving Satine, with whom I was dining, said to me:
""Look you, my little Loquet,"--she always called me by the tail of my name,--"I have an opportunity to make a lot of money."
""My dear," said I, "you must seize it as you do my name--by the tail."
""I know someone who has invented a way of making gloves without seams.
They will be splendid; fashionable people won"t wear anything else.
There"s a hundred thousand francs to be made in it."
""Somebody once invented seamless boots," I replied, "but I don"t think he ever made much money, for they didn"t take."
""Hands aren"t like feet. I am sure of the success of this enterprise."
""Go on and make your seamless gloves, then."
""But I must buy the secret process first, and I can"t get it for less than fifteen thousand francs."
""That"s rather dear for a few less seams."
""But with that fifteen thousand francs I shall make a hundred thousand!"
""Buy the secret, then."
""That"s what I want to do. A mere trifle prevents me--I haven"t any money; but I thought of you. You told me, you know, that it would make you unhappy if I didn"t always think of you."
""When it"s a matter of love, that is true."
""I think of you for everything. My little Loquet, you must lend me the fifteen thousand francs."
""I should be delighted to oblige you, my sweet love; but there"s a trifle that prevents me too: I have no money."
""Oh! nonsense!"
""Five or six hundred francs, at your service, but no more. I am just beginning the practice of medicine, you understand; I have a large number of patients already: almost all the lorettes in the Breda quarter have me to attend them, and they often have trifling indispositions; but not one of them ever pays me, that isn"t their custom. As for my parents, who live in La Beauce, they have got tired of sending me money.
They claim that I ought to have acquired talent enough to earn my living. Parbleu! talent isn"t what I lack, but paying patients."
"My brunette stamped impatiently, crying:
""I mean to make my fortune, I tell you, and I can do it by selling seamless gloves. Look you, my little Loquet, you can give me your notes of hand; I can negotiate them; the owner of the process will take them in payment."
""But how am I to pay them?"
""The profits will begin to come in before they fall due; I shall be selling my new gloves, and we shall have the means to pay them."
"I hesitated; but my brunette was so sure of success; and then, I had dined well, and at such times I sign whatever anyone asks me to. I made five notes of hand, of three thousand francs each.--You can guess the result! The seamless gloves tore as soon as anyone attempted to put them on. My poor Satine was forced to a.s.sign. We paid the first two notes, but I was obliged to sell almost everything I possessed. The third has come due, and they will soon be here to demand payment. I am besieged already by a crowd of other creditors; for, after all, a man must live, and clothe himself, and have a roof over his head. I am completely cleaned out! But I don"t bear my mistress any grudge; she has gone to law with the villain who defrauded her with his secret, and hopes to make him disgorge the last two notes at least, and----"
A ring at the doorbell interrupted Balloquet, who sat up in bed and looked at me, saying in an undertone:
"d.a.m.nation! there"s someone!"
"Shall I open the door?"
"No, no! wait a moment. I recognize a creditor by his way of ringing; perhaps it"s the bearer of that note. No matter! I might as well have it over with. Wait!"
Balloquet jumped out of bed and opened a closet near the headboard, in which I saw a rather large iron chest set into the wall.
"I found this safe here when I took possession," whispered Balloquet, "and it serves my turn splendidly."
"I can"t imagine what purpose a safe can serve, when you have no money."
"You will see, my dear fellow."