Although they were still at some distance from the window at which he was standing, Edmond instantly recognized Thelenie. Noticing his momentary embarra.s.sment, Agathe said to him:
"I guessed right, did I not? You know that lady?"
"Yes, I think that I have met her and her husband; I knew her husband the better of the two."
"Ah! her husband. Well, why do you leave the window? are you afraid to have her see you with us?"
"Oh! mademoiselle, everywhere, before the whole world, I should be proud and happy to be seen with you."
"Very well! then stay at the window. She is coming near now; we shall see whether she will stare at you as she stared at me."
"Bless my soul!" cried Honorine; "I don"t know whether that man is a great German n.o.bleman, but he certainly is very ugly! and he cuts a most curious figure!"
Thelenie, although she pretended not to look in the direction of the summer-house, saw that there were people at the window; she touched Croque"s arm and whispered:
"Look carefully; there are those women."
"I see; but there"s a young man with them."
"A young man!"
Thelenie looked up and saw Edmond. Her face became ghastly pale. But, making a mighty effort to conceal her emotion, she stopped in front of the summer-house, bowed to the young man and said with a gracious smile:
"Why! it"s Monsieur Edmond Didier! I am delighted to meet you here. I hope that we shall have the pleasure of seeing you occasionally. We have bought a place here and mean to stay all summer."
Edmond bowed very coldly, but made no reply.
Thereupon the beautiful brunette nodded her head to him very familiarly, and, as if she had not noticed the two ladies who were present, turned to Croque and said:
"Come, my dear baron, we must walk faster; my husband will not know what has become of us; he must be worried.--Au revoir, Monsieur Edmond!"
The pretended baron raised his hat and bowed very respectfully as he pa.s.sed the window, muttering:
"_Bigre_! a pretty morsel, that young blonde! I wouldn"t object at all to that game!"
"Very well! take her, I give her to you," said Thelenie, contracting her heavy eyebrows.
"You give her to me? that"s all right, so far as it goes. But unfortunately she isn"t at your disposal."
"Can it be that Croque has lost all his imagination, ingenuity, audacity? Make a conquest of that girl, I tell you, and on the day that you furnish me with proof that you have succeeded,--that she has yielded,--I"ll give you three thousand francs!"
"Three thousand francs and such a sweet little phiz to win! I"ll do it or forfeit my name; not Schtapelmerg, but my real name."
"What a brazen air that woman has!" said Agathe, when the brother and sister had disappeared. "She spoke to you just as if you were alone; she didn"t condescend even to bow to us. Shall you go to her house?"
"Oh no! no, indeed! I a.s.sure you that I haven"t the slightest intention of doing so."
"Why, you are unreasonable, Agathe," said Honorine; "if Monsieur Edmond is intimate with this lady"s husband, why do you wish him not to go to their house?"
"I knew Chamoureau before he married that woman, madame; now----"
"Chamoureau? why, that is the name of the real estate agent to whom we went to buy this house, and who would never have done anything about it, I fancy, but for you."
"Just so, madame; he is the very man, who, after inheriting twenty thousand francs a year, married Madame Sainte-Suzanne."
"What! he is the husband of that magnificent amazon? But in that case her name is Madame Chamoureau."
"To be sure."
"And why does she call herself De Belleville?"
"Because the name of Chamoureau did not seem to her sufficiently distinguished."
"Ha! ha! ha! this is delicious! What a discovery! Just let her stare at me so obstinately again, and I"ll say: "Has Madame Chamoureau anything to say to me?""
"That would be the best way to put her to flight, I a.s.sure you! But you must excuse her; she is bewildered by the position she occupies; and the high and mighty airs she a.s.sumes prove how unused she is to her newly-acquired wealth."
Night had come, and Edmond remained at Madame Dalmont"s to dinner. In the bottom of his heart he was displeased to find Thelenie in the same place with the girl he loved; something whispered to him that his love for Agathe was one of the motives which had brought his former mistress to Ch.e.l.les. He was conscious of a vague uneasiness; for that woman had sworn to be revenged upon him, and he knew that she was capable of defying heaven and earth to keep her oath.
However, Edmond did his utmost to conceal his pre-occupation, but it is difficult to dissemble successfully before the eyes of those who love us. Agathe"s eyes often rested on the young man, and she sighed as she said to herself:
"How that woman smiled at him! how she looked at him!"
Suddenly Honorine"s attention was attracted by a scratching as of claws, and blows on the small garden gate.
"I will wager that Ami has come to see us!" she cried.
"He doesn"t usually come in the evening," said Agathe.
"No matter; it is he, I am sure."
And the young woman hastened to the gate which opened into the fields.
It was in fact Ami who had knocked; he rushed into the garden, then ran back to Honorine and gambolled about her. She put her hand on the dog"s head, saying:
"What, Ami! is it you? so late? How does it happen that you come to Ch.e.l.les in the evening? Is your master in the neighborhood?"
Ami listened attentively, then ran into the living-room on the ground floor, where Agathe and Edmond were.
"Honorine was right," said the girl, as she went to pat Ami, "it is Monsieur Paul"s dog--the owner of the Tower. Make his acquaintance, my dear; he is very fond of me, and I am sure that he will love you too.--Come, Ami, look at Monsieur Edmond. Do you see, I put my hand in his, to show you that you must love him as you do me. Come, give me your paw; that"s right; and let monsieur shake hands with you."
Ami looked earnestly at Edmond, but his eyes were full of kindliness, and he did exactly what Agathe told him.
"Now I am happy," she cried; "for you may be sure, Monsieur Edmond, that you have now a new friend, who will be perfectly well able to defend you, if he should see that you were in danger."
"It is very strange, however, that the dog should come so late to call upon us," said Honorine; "it makes me feel uncomfortable. Do you suppose that his master is sick--that he has come to ask for help?"
"Oh! my dear, you are very foolish to be alarmed; just see how lively and contented Ami is! If he were the bearer of bad news, he wouldn"t play about us like this."