"I told you that I did not believe in any man"s love until he had given me proofs of it."
Her neighbor frowned, and faltered:
"Ah! yes--to be sure--I remember now--proofs. But I don"t feel quite sure what you mean by that."
"Oh! monsieur, I should consider that I insulted you if I explained my meaning any further!" retorted Georgette, satirically. "If you don"t understand me, so much the worse for you!"
"Did you enjoy the play last night?" hastily inquired Monsieur de Mardeille, anxious to change the subject.
"Yes, monsieur, very much. I would go very often, if I had the means."
"But if someone takes you, it"s the same thing, isn"t it?"
"No, monsieur; it isn"t the same thing to be able to give one"s self pleasure when one chooses, as to take it only when it pleases others to offer it."
"At all events, my pretty neighbor, when it is your pleasure to go again, I shall be at your service and delighted to escort you."
"You are too kind, monsieur.--Did you notice that lady in pink who was in a box on the stage last night?"
"In a proscenium box, do you mean?"
"I don"t know whether you call it a proscenium box, but the lady I mean had a sort of crown of flowers on her head--and she was very pretty, too."
"Oh! yes, I remember--a lovely blonde. That was Irma, one of the women most in vogue at this moment."
"Do you know her?"
"Oh! as one knows a great many of the women one meets at all the b.a.l.l.s at the Casino, at all the first performances--in short, at all the functions to which one can gain admission by paying for it."
"Is she married?"
"Married? the deuce! never!--As if those creatures ever married! She"s a kept woman, that"s the whole story."
"Ah! she"s a kept woman. At all events, she is kept handsomely. She had a magnificent diamond necklace and brooch. For they were diamonds, weren"t they, monsieur?"
"They were--or, at all events, they looked like it; but they may have been false. Nowadays, they make false gems that resemble real ones so closely that it"s very hard to distinguish them. They"re quite as handsome; indeed, they are often more effective, on account of the way they"re mounted."
"False diamonds! how horrible! I should never be willing to wear anything false, myself!"
Monsieur de Mardeille looked at his watch, then rose, and said:
"How the time flies with you, charming Georgette! But I have some business at my broker"s, and I have only just time to go there. So, au revoir, my lovely neighbor! You are not angry any longer, are you?"
"No, monsieur, no; I have entirely forgotten the past."
The ex-beau bowed and left her, saying to himself:
"She has forgotten the past! Therefore she has entirely forgotten that I gave her a complete toilette. She looks upon that as such a trifling matter! And now she"s beginning to talk about diamonds! Oh! that is going too far! The little one has extravagant ideas! I wonder if she would like me to keep her like Irma? It"s incredible! a shirtmaker wanting diamonds! The deuce! I didn"t expect to encounter so many obstacles with a grisette; it never happened to me before! She talked with self-a.s.surance! She"s no fool, that"s clear! And the worst of it is that, when she gets excited, her eyes have such fire and expression! She is enchanting! She"s a little demon! But give her diamonds! never!
never! I"d rather eat them!"
Several weeks pa.s.sed. Monsieur de Mardeille continued his visits in the daytime to Georgette, who always had her windows open, whatever the weather. But he did not make the slightest progress in his love affair.
When he tried to move nearer to the girl, she compelled him to remove his chair; if he tried to take her hand, she withdrew it; if he tried to place his hand on the little skirt, at which he gazed with covetous eyes, she pushed him away roughly, and exclaimed in her sternest tone:
"I won"t have you touch my skirt; that is forbidden!"
Thereupon our gallant heaved profound sighs, to which she replied by laughing heartily, and by mischievous glances which made her prettier than ever; for, while confining her neighbor strictly within the limits of respect, Mademoiselle Georgette did not hesitate to employ all the little coquettish arts that make a man more enamored than ever and put the finishing touch to his distraction.
The result was that one day, on leaving Georgette, who had done nothing but walk about the room in her simple morning costume, Monsieur de Mardeille exclaimed:
"Well! I can"t do anything else! I"ll send her a little brooch--in diamonds--rose ones--something not too expensive; and yet it must be pretty; for if it isn"t, I know her well enough to know that she is quite capable of making a fool of me again. Oh! these women! to think that I never spent a sou on them! And this little hussy has made me depart from my custom, and now I"m as big a fool as other men."
The next day, when he presented himself at his neighbor"s door, Monsieur de Mardeille was amiable and lively and in high spirits; one would have taken him for a boy of twenty. Having taken a seat beside Georgette, he took a little pasteboard box from his pocket and handed it to her, saying:
"Allow me, my charming friend, to offer you this token, this proof, of my affection; and be a.s.sured that in offering it to you I do not consider that it gives me the slightest claim to your love; I desire to owe that to your heart alone."
"Good! that is very well said," replied Georgette, hastily opening the box, in which she found a little brooch, worth eight or nine hundred francs, and very effective.
"Oh! this is most gallant of you!" she cried. "Really, monsieur, you are coming on!"
"What"s that? I am coming on?" thought Mardeille; "what does she mean by that? No matter! I won"t ask any questions. This will touch her, and I am sure that to-morrow she will be the one to say: "I expect you to-night.""
"This is a lovely brooch," said Georgette.
"And you will deign to accept it?"
"Will I accept it? Most a.s.suredly, monsieur, and I am very grateful to you."
"She is grateful for it; that"s good!" said our seducer to himself; "the rest will go of itself. I won"t commit the blunder of seeking payment now for my present; I"ll go away, that will be more adroit.--I am obliged to leave you, my dear neighbor," he said, rising.
"Already, monsieur?"
"That word is very pleasant in your mouth!--Yes--I have some urgent business to attend to. I leave you so soon with the greatest regret, but to-morrow, I hope, I shall be more fortunate."
"I hope so, too, monsieur."
Mardeille bowed most respectfully to the young woman; without even taking her hand. He took his leave, enchanted with what he had done.
"I have taken the right way," he thought. "Women are stubborn, as a general rule; to refrain from asking them for anything is enough to induce them to grant you everything. The little one is mine now!"
XIV
COLINET"S SECOND VISIT
On the day following the gift of the brooch, Monsieur de Mardeille, buoyed up by the sweetest hopes, left his couch with this thought in his mind: