""He seems like a very agreeable man, Monsieur Dalbreuse?"
""He isn"t cross, mademoiselle."
""What does he do in Paris?"
"All those questions began to tire me, and I replied rather short:
""He does what he chooses, mademoiselle; it doesn"t make any difference to me."--At that she went away. But in a minute she came skipping back, and said to me almost in my ear, as she tried to slip a gold-piece into my hand:
""He is a bachelor, isn"t he?"--I didn"t take the money, but I touched my hat and said:
"" Yes, mademoiselle, he is a bachelor."--At that she began to laugh, and went away, saying:
""The servant is almost as unique as the master."--Upon my word, if she isn"t inquisitive, I don"t know who is."
So Mademoiselle Derbin was determined to find out who I was, what my rank and position were in society. My silence had piqued her. But to go so far as to ask if I were married--that was decidedly peculiar.
Pettermann believed me to be a bachelor; I had never said anything in his presence which would lead him to suppose that I had ceased to be one. What did it matter to that young woman whether I was married or not? Could it be that she had taken a fancy to me? I could not believe it; I had never said a word of love to her. So that it was probably the whim of a coquette who desired to subject everybody to her empire. She had known me only a fortnight. Moreover, it seemed to me that I was no longer likely to inspire love, that no one could ever love me again.
I said all this to myself as I looked over my box of colors. But it did not prevent me from going to Mademoiselle Derbin, for she expected me; and even if I did attract her, that would be no reason for avoiding her. We must leave such n.o.ble acts to the patriarchs of Genesis, whom we are by no means tempted to imitate.
They were waiting for me. The uncle was there; he congratulated me on my talent, and thanked me for my good-nature. Caroline was much perplexed as to the position she should take. I begged her to act as if I were not painting her portrait, so that there should be no affectation in the position, and I set to work.
My model was very docile; she looked at me and smiled very affably. The uncle walked about the room, and soon said:
"She will make a very pretty portrait, monsieur. I was painted once in the costume of Scapin. It was an artist of great talent--I have forgotten his name but it will come to me directly. It was at Bordeaux, at Madame la Comtesse de Vernac"s, who entertained the leading artists of Paris--Mole, Saint-Phal, Fleury, Dugazon. In fact, it was at her house that I met Dugazon. Oh! the rascal! as amusing in society as he was on the stage. You must have seen Dugazon?"
"Yes, monsieur, I think so; but I was so young that I hardly remember.
Mademoiselle, raise your head a little, if you please."
"To return to my portrait,--the artist considered me so amusing in _Les Fourberies de Scapin_, my face was so absurd when I came out of the bag--You know _Les Fourberies de Scapin_?"
"Yes, monsieur."
"Oh! how can you keep asking monsieur such questions, uncle? Does he know Moliere? You would do much better to see if the picture looks like me yet."
"Are you crazy, my dear love, to expect that it will look like you after fifteen minutes?--So I was painted as Scapin, and it was an excellent likeness. That wasn"t my favorite part, however; I won my triumph as Pasquin in _Le Dissipateur_. I made them cry, monsieur, yes, I made them cry, by the way I said: "The little that I possess!" There are a great many ways of saying that. I had heard Dugazon say it, and if you please, monsieur, I gave it an entirely different expression: "The little that I possess!" There are some who declaim it; Dugazon always declaimed it, but I maintain that you should simply put truth and soul into it: "The little that I possess!"--And I saw tears in people"s eyes!--"The little that----""
"Oh! for heaven"s sake, uncle! are you trying to make us cry too? You distract monsieur"s attention; you will be responsible for my portrait not looking like me."
"Your uncle may talk, mademoiselle; I a.s.sure you that it doesn"t interfere with my work at all."
Caroline gave a little pout of vexation, which I would have liked to reproduce on the ivory, because it was very becoming to her. I thought that she wanted her uncle to leave us; but Monsieur Roquencourt had no such intention.
After walking about the room several times, he came to watch me work, then looked at his niece and exclaimed:
"Upon my word, Caroline has in her face, especially in her eyes, much resemblance to Mademoiselle Lange. You did not know Mademoiselle Lange, who used to act at the Francais, did you?"
"No, monsieur."
"Ah! Monsieur Dalbreuse, she was perhaps the one actress who had more truth, more charm in her way of speaking than any other; and a charming woman besides! I knew her well; she taught me to put on my rouge. It is a very difficult thing to put on one"s rouge well; I used to daub my face all over with it. She said to me one evening when I had just done Gros-Rene--you know, Gros-Rene in _Le Depit Amoureux_:
""La femme est, comme on dit, mon maitre, Un certain animal difficile a connaitre, Et de qui la nature est fort encline au mal; Et comme un animal est toujours animal, Et ne sera jamais----""
"Oh! we have seen _Le Depit Amoureux_, uncle! That speech isn"t the best thing in Moliere, in my opinion."
"As I was saying, I had been playing Gros-Rene, and with great success, on my word! I had made the audience laugh until they cried. Lange led me aside after the performance, and said to me: "You acted like a G.o.d! you acted divinely; but, my friend, you don"t know how to put on your rouge; you make big daubs everywhere; that isn"t the way; you must put on a lot under the eyes; your eyes are very bright already, but you will see how much brighter that makes them; then, put on less and less toward the ears, and almost none at all on the lower part of the face."--I followed her advice, and I gained greatly by it."
"Uncle, weren"t you to play a game of backgammon this morning with that Englishman who challenged you yesterday?"
"It isn"t this morning, my dear girl, but to-night that we are to play."
"I thought that it was this morning."
"You are mistaken.--Backgammon is a very fine game; do you play it, Monsieur Dalbreuse?"
"A little, monsieur."
"It was Dazincourt who taught me; he was a very fine player. I remember that one evening we played for one of his wigs; it was the wig that he wore in--wait a minute--a beautiful wig, and that counts for a great deal on the stage. It was the wig he wore in----"
Caroline rose and exclaimed impatiently:
"That will do for to-day; I do not want to tire monsieur; let"s go to drive; it is a fine day and I long for the fresh air. Uncle, will you be good enough to fetch my bonnet?"
Monsieur Roquencourt went to fetch the bonnet, scratching his ear and muttering:
"Strange! I can"t remember the name of the part."
When he had left the room, Mademoiselle Derbin said to me:
"To-morrow, if you choose, we will have a sitting earlier, when my uncle is reading the papers; for really he is terrible with his actors and his acting. One forgets what one is doing; it seems to me that you must be able to work better when there is no one beside you, talking; that is to say, monsieur, unless you are afraid to be alone with me."
She smiled as she said that; but there was a touch of sadness in her smile. "Really," I thought, "this young woman is able to a.s.sume every sort of expression. Sometimes laughing, playful, mocking; sometimes serious, thoughtful, and languishing; she is never the same for two minutes."--Was it art, I wondered, or was it that the different sensations that she felt were instantly depicted upon her features? It mattered little after all. However, I had not yet answered her question; I felt almost embarra.s.sed. At that moment her uncle returned with her bonnet, crying:
"This much is certain, that I won the wig by a _carme_, which gave me twelve points. Dazincourt jumped from his chair in vexation, and said: "I won"t play with you again.""
Mademoiselle did not care to listen to any more; she took my arm, and we left the room. She took me to drive, without even asking me if I would like to go with them; she evidently divined that it would give me pleasure. She was successful at divination: I was never bored with her.
The next morning I went to her uncle"s room at the hour she had appointed; I found her alone; I had no feeling of confusion or embarra.s.sment, for I had no declaration to make to her; even if she had attracted me, I should not have told her so. I was not free, and I did not propose to deceive her; but I had nothing to fear. My heart would never know the sensation of love again; I liked Mademoiselle Derbin"s company, I liked her disposition, her wit, her unreserve; I did full justice to her charms; but I was not in love with her.--I could never love again.
We set to work at once. I labored at her portrait with pleasure; but sometimes a cruel memory awoke in my heart; I remembered the delightful sittings which my wife had given me. What a joy it was to me to paint her! Ah! her smile was very sweet too, and her eyes were filled with love for me.
When such ideas a.s.sailed me, a very perceptible change took place in my expression, no doubt, for my model said to me for the second time:
"What on earth is the matter with you, Monsieur Dalbreuse? Don"t you feel well?"
"Yes, mademoiselle."
"You a.s.sumed such a melancholy expression all of a sudden! If it is a bore to you to paint me, monsieur, there is no reason why you should go on."