"So you are not afraid of the cold?" she said laughingly.
"When ladies defy it, what would you think of me if I were afraid of it?"
"And then," said one of her companions, "if we had to pa.s.s the whole winter indoors, for fear of the cold, I fancy we should not be very fresh in the spring."
The ladies criticised the costumes and equipages of those who pa.s.sed, and I put in a word or two now and then. But I was rather distraught, for I was dreaming of the happiness which I hoped for and expected, and I was counting the minutes. My plan was already formed. There are some excellent restaurants on the Champs-elysees, with charming private rooms into which one can slip without being seen. If she refused to go to a restaurant, there were plenty of cabs; I had only to hire one with blinds and tell the driver to take us outside the walls.
I glanced at Armantine from time to time and motioned toward her two companions, murmuring under my breath words which she understood; for she whispered:
"Be patient a while."
At last, about three o"clock, Madame Gerbancourt said to her sister:
"We must be thinking about going home, for we are to have company to-day, you know.--Are you going soon, my dear?"
This question was addressed to Armantine, who replied:
"Madame Dauberny promised to join me here, and I shall wait for her. If Monsieur Rochebrune will honor me with his company till she comes, it will be very kind of him. It is putting his good nature to a severe test, but we have only one cavalier, and I must make the most of him."
I hastened to reply that I was entirely at her service; my heart beat fast with joy, for I thought that the two sisters were going away at last. But the younger said, as she drew her cloak about her:
"Oh! we have time enough; it isn"t three o"clock. Your people won"t come so early; we don"t dine at three!"
"But they are provincials, my dear, and they think it"s more polite to come and bore us two hours ahead of time."
"So much the worse for them! I am going to stay here until my watch says three o"clock."
"Obstinate!--You see, monsieur, she is younger than I am, and I always have to give way to her."
I was strongly tempted to reply that she did very wrong to give way. But I contented myself with tearing savagely at whatever I found in my pocket. There are times when one vents one"s spleen on whatever happens to be at hand.
Suddenly we heard sounds of a dispute; the sounds drew nearer and came to a standstill about ten yards behind us, and a man"s voice, which, although a little hoa.r.s.e, rang out like a clarinet, cried:
"I tell you, you shan"t go off like that! I"ve been looking for you long enough. It ain"t an easy job to run you to earth; but I"ve got you now, and I"ll hang on to you!"
"Come, come, no nonsense, Pere Piaulard!" replied another voice; "you shouldn"t insult a friend. I"m a friend, and you"re a friend; you"re an old friend, an old fellow I respect. Don"t shake me like that! _Cre coquin!_ I don"t like to be shook!"
The tones of this second voice struck me as familiar; I could not say at once of whom they reminded me, yet I was conscious of a vague feeling of alarm, of apprehension; I listened anxiously for what was to come.
The clarinet-like voice continued, more forcibly than before:
"Friends has nothing to do with it! Customers is all I know. You owe me money, and you"ve got to pay me; the last time you came to my place to drink with your girl, you didn"t so much as ask my leave not to pay, but skulked off with your good-for-nothing s.l.u.t through the back door, while the waiter was busy somewheres else."
"As I hadn"t any money, what would have been the sense of my asking leave not to pay? Would that have put any _stuff_ in my pockets?"
"When you haven"t got anything to pay with, you shouldn"t go and drink at a place where you owe twenty-two francs already."
"Well, that"s a good one! I owe you money, and you want me to take away my custom, eh? Why, your wits are wool gathering just now, old Piaulard."
"A fine thing your custom is! Monsieur Ballangier"s custom! My word!
You"re the kind of customer that ruins a place!"
I could doubt no longer: the name of Ballangier rang in my ears; indeed, I had already recognized the man; my face was flushed with shame, and my heart stood still. I dared not stir, or turn my head. I longed to be a hundred miles away. If I could have made my escape unseen by that man, I would have fled without a word. But he would probably see me. What was I to do? How could I hide from him?
All these thoughts pa.s.sed through my mind at the same instant. The ladies spoke to me, but I did not reply; I had no idea what I was saying. Doubtless my perturbation was reflected on my face, for Armantine cried:
"What on earth is the matter with you, Monsieur Rochebrune? You seem to be in pain; aren"t you well?"
I stammered something, but I was listening--listening intently. It seemed to me that the voices came still nearer.
"Come now, Pere Piaulard, let alone of my coat! it"s old, and you"ll tear it."
"I won"t let you go. Pay me what you owe me; with the old account, it"s twenty-nine francs. I need the money; pay me, or come before the magistrate; he"ll have you arrested as a good-for-nothing, a tramp, a vagabond, as you are--and something worse, perhaps."
"I say! no rough words, or I"ll lose my temper, too!"
"Mon Dieu!" said Madame Gerbancourt; "are those horrid men coming any nearer?"
"One of them is very drunk!" said Armantine. "How disgusting! Why, the men ought to be arrested! If we hadn"t Monsieur Rochebrune with us, I should have run away long ago."
"Oh! mon Dieu! I believe they"re going to fight; and they"re coming this way!"
"Oh! look, monsieur!"
I did not turn my head; I pretended not to hear, pulled my hat over my eyes, and sat perfectly still.
Suddenly all three of the ladies jumped to their feet with a cry of alarm. Armantine seized my arm, so that I was compelled to rise.
Ballangier, trying to escape from his persecutor, had almost fallen over our chairs, to one of which he clung to keep from falling. The wretch was drunk, but not enough so to prevent his recognizing familiar faces; and the fatality which had brought him to that exact spot decreed that he should be at my side when I rose to follow the ladies.
The miserable sot uttered a cry of joy on recognizing me, and, seizing my overcoat with both hands just as his creditor descended upon him, he cried:
"Stop, Piaulard! you may go to the devil now! Here"s a friend who"ll answer for me--pay for me if necessary. Ah! he has the _stuff_, he has; and I forbid you to call me a thief before him; if you do, I"ll have a crack at you in my turn--ugly mug!"
I stood as if petrified. I had not the strength to move a muscle. The great colossus, who was on the point of striking Ballangier, paused in amazement, and stared at me with the expression of one who cannot believe his ears. As for the ladies, they continued to pull me by the arm.
"For heaven"s sake, push that man away!"
"Do come, Monsieur Rochebrune!"
"That drunkard takes you for a friend of his; drive him away, do! Come!
let"s not stay here. Oh! it"s horrible to come in contact with such people!"
But I was incapable alike of speech and action. Moreover, Ballangier did not relax his grasp on my coat.
"Drive me away!" he cried; "me--his friend--the most intimate friend he"s got in the world! I think I see him driving me away, good old Charles! Charlot--Rochebrune, if you like that better. Ah! you think I"m mistaken, do you? you think I don"t know him? Just ask him if he don"t know me; ask him, and see what he says. Piaulard, you"re an old a.s.s! I"m not a vagabond and a tramp, for I"ve got friends to answer for me.--You"ll answer for me, won"t you, Charles? you won"t let this old rascal arrest me?"
Since Ballangier had mentioned my name, and I, by my silence, had admitted that he was not lying when he said that he knew me, Madame Gerbancourt, her sister, and even Armantine herself, had dropped my arm; and, as a crowd soon collected about us, the first two speedily disappeared, and were lost in the mult.i.tude. Armantine also walked away, but I could see that she was still listening.