"As for myself," said Edward, "I propose to wait just five minutes more; but if Mademoiselle Georgette hasn"t arrived at the half-hour, I am going away!"
"Georgette!" cried Monsieur de Mardeille.
"Georgette!" muttered Monsieur Dupont. "On my word! this is strange; it"s a Georgette I am waiting for, too!"
"And I."
"Pardieu! this is rather unique! A dark girl, medium height, but built like a Venus! And such a foot! and a leg! altogether enchanting!"
"That is the exact portrait of the person I am waiting for."
"It is the exact portrait of the Georgette who wrote to me."
"This becomes decidedly interesting!" said the viscount. "I have her letter here."
"So have I."
"And I."
"Let us compare them. Yes, it certainly is the same writing! Well, messieurs, I have a petticoat of hers here, which she left in my hands and asked me to bring back to her.--Tom! come here and show what you have under your arm."
The little groom drew near and unfolded the white petticoat; Monsieur de Mardeille and Dupont instantly took the petticoats out of their pockets, and exhibited them, saying:
"I also have brought her a petticoat."
"And so have I, as you see."
Thereupon the three gentlemen laughed so uproariously that the monkeys tried to imitate them. When their outburst of hilarity had subsided, the viscount said:
"Don"t you believe that the girl has made fools of us by writing to us all to meet her at the same place?"
"I begin to think so," said Mardeille.
"And she made us come in front of the monkeys!" exclaimed Dupont. "She selected this place purposely."
"She certainly won"t come; it is past the half-hour. I am going away."
"Wait a moment, monsieur; there"s a lady coming in this direction."
"But she is with a gentleman."
"Mademoiselle Georgette didn"t write us that she would come alone."
"I can"t distinguish her features yet, for she has on a bonnet. But it isn"t her figure at all. This one has an enormous funnel-shaped skirt."
"That"s a hoopskirt--the latest fashion."
"Great G.o.d! how ugly she is! The Georgette I am expecting used to dress in such excellent taste! One could see how she was built."
"Still, the nearer she comes, the more I think that I recognize her."
"Why, yes, that"s so! I would swear that it is she."
"It is she! it certainly is, messieurs. See, she"s coming toward us!
There"s no doubt about it now."
XXIV
THE MOTIVE
It was, in fact, Georgette, dressed in good taste, but very simply, and wearing one of the skirts then in fashion, which transformed a woman into a sugar loaf. She was arm in arm with Colinet, who had entirely laid aside his artless, timid manner.
Georgette and her escort walked up to the three gentlemen, and the young woman bowed pleasantly to them, saying:
"Excuse me, messieurs, for having kept you waiting. It was our driver"s fault, for his horses hardly crawled. Allow me, first of all, to present my husband, Monsieur Colinet."
Colinet gravely saluted the three men, who returned his salutation.
"Did she send for us to introduce her husband?" they said to themselves.
"That was hardly worth while!"
"I asked you to meet me in this garden, messieurs," continued Georgette, "because I know that there are paths here where very few people pa.s.s, and where we can talk as if we were at home. I see one on the other side of these flower beds, where we shall be very comfortable; will you have the kindness to go there with me?"
The three gentlemen bowed, and the whole party walked to a path, usually quite deserted, where there were benches. Georgette and her husband having seated themselves, the others did the same, and the little groom stood at some distance. Then the young woman turned to Messieurs de Sommerston and de Mardeille, and addressed them thus:
"A few words will suffice to inform you why I acted as I did with respect to you. In the first place, messieurs, I am neither from Normandie nor from Bordeaux; I am a Lorrainer; Toul is my native place; my parents, who are poor but honorable farmers, are named Granery; I am the sister of Aimee and Suzanne."
The viscount and Monsieur de Mardeille made a gesture of surprise and their brows grew dark when they heard those names; while Dupont thought:
"What has this to do with me?"
"Yes," continued Georgette, addressing Mardeille, "I am the sister of that poor Aimee, who came to Paris, where she hoped, by means of her skill in embroidery, to be able to help her parents. As ill luck would have it, she fell in with you. Aimee was beautiful, and she caught your fancy; being innocent and inexperienced, she believed your fine speeches, your promises, your oaths--in short, she allowed herself to be seduced. A child, a son, was the result of her misstep. But you had already begun to act differently toward her, your visits became more rare; and when she asked you for the means to support and bring up her child, then you ceased entirely to see her. Ah! monsieur, a man must be very hard-hearted to behave like that. To stop loving a person is possible, I admit; but to spurn a mother who asks you for bread for her child! Oh! that is shameful!"
Monsieur de Mardeille hung his head and made no reply. Thereupon Georgette turned to the viscount:
"Do I need to remind you, monsieur, that your treatment of my sister Suzanne was exactly the same as this gentleman"s treatment of Aimee? You seduced a poor girl who was innocence itself--you cannot deny it; then, after making her the mother of a daughter, you abandoned her, and, to avoid seeing her tears and hearing her complaints, you went away, you left Paris. My sisters returned to the province, in utter despair. They threw themselves at our parents" feet, with the children they were nursing; and, instead of cursing them, my parents wept with them and tried to comfort them; for with us, people don"t curse their children when they are unfortunate. Isn"t it more natural to forgive them? But I, seeing my sisters weep every day over their children"s cradles, said to myself: "I will go to Paris, too, but I will go to avenge them!"--I was twenty years old, I was well and strong, and I was especially noted for a resolute will. My parents tried in vain to oppose my determination. I started for Paris. Unfortunately, Aimee did not know Monsieur de Mardeille"s address, and Suzanne did not know whether Monsieur de Sommerston had returned to Paris. But nothing could deter me.--"I shall succeed in finding them," I said to myself; "and something leads me to hope that my enterprise will be successful."--I flattered myself that I should be able to make your acquaintance, messieurs. You know whether I succeeded.--Now, Monsieur de Mardeille, is it necessary for me to tell you that the twelve thousand francs I asked of you was for your son, that it has been invested in his name, and will be used to bring him up?--And you, monsieur le vicomte, whom I asked for twenty thousand francs, because I knew that you were a richer man, and because a girl"s education costs more than a boy"s--you know now that that sum will be used to bring up Suzanne"s daughter, and to provide her with a dowry.--Well, messieurs, do you consider now that my conduct was so blamable? That money, with which you intended to seduce and ruin me, as you ruined my sisters, I have put to a good use. It will make it possible to bring up your children carefully; and what you would have employed in an evil action will accomplish a result that will do you honor. Tell me, messieurs, do you bear me a grudge now?"
"Faith! no," cried the viscount; "the play was well acted! You performed your part perfectly! Accept my congratulations, madame, together with this petticoat, which I hasten to restore to you.--Here, Tom! hand that garment to madame."
Monsieur de Mardeille did not seem to have accepted the inevitable so gracefully as the viscount; however, he realized that he must resign himself, and at least pretend to repent of his wrongdoing. Consequently, he said to Georgette:
"Madame, I judged you ill, that is true. I did treat your sister Aimee somewhat inconsiderately, and you have repaired my neglect, my fault.
We men are drawn on by the current of business and pleasure, and are sometimes at fault when we do not mean to be. Present my compliments to your sister. Here is the little petticoat that became you so well!"
"But why am I mixed up in this affair, madame, I who never seduced any of your sisters?"