XXIII
THE SECONDS
On leaving the ball at Goldfish Villa, Freluchon and Edmond returned to the house occupied by the latter.
"You will need another second for to-morrow," said Freluchon; "where can you find one in this place?"
"He is all found: the owner of the Tower, a gentleman of the best tone, who comes to Madame Dalmont"s sometimes in the evening. I am sure that he won"t refuse to do me this favor. We will go to see him early to-morrow."
"Very good."
"But the most important thing of all is to keep all knowledge of this duel, and of the quarrel of this evening as well, from the two ladies."
"We won"t tell them; but everything becomes known so quickly in small places like this!"
"They never go out or receive any visits; from whom then can they learn what happened at that infernal fete?"
"So much the better; I trust you are right. But it"s daybreak already, and we have only a short time to sleep. Let us make haste. Luckily, I fall asleep very quickly myself."
At eight o"clock in the morning, Edmond was out of bed and woke his friend.
"What! already?" muttered Freluchon; "why, we"ve hardly got to bed!"
"That may be; but it"s a long distance from here to the Tower; then we must come back, and I don"t want Monsieur Luminot"s seconds to come and not find us."
"Oh! never you fear; those fellows won"t be in such a hurry as you are; especially if Chamoureau"s one of them."
"I should say that he must be, as the affair took place in his house."
"Then it will be more amusing; I will tell him that the seconds have to fight also."
Freluchon consented to rise at last, and the two friends were soon en route for the Tower.
"I recognize this part of the country," said Freluchon as they crossed Gournay bridge. "This is where I came for that famous _matelote_, which you left me to eat all alone."
"Yes, the estate we are going to is a little beyond Gournay."
"Ah, yes! Gournay! a little village that I could put in my pocket.
Suppose we should stop and eat a _matelote_ when we come back?"
"Can you think of such a thing? What about my duel, and the seconds I expect?"
"If Chamoureau is one of them, they won"t come till next week.--I am very hungry myself. Will your high-toned gentleman invite us to breakfast? It seems to me that that is the most high-toned thing he could do."
Edmond"s only reply was to quicken his pace.
Freluchon trotted along behind him, saying:
"If I had known it was so far, I"d have hired an a.s.s for us both; we should have resembled half of the _Four Sons of Aymon_. Do you know, I have always liked that story of the Four Sons of Aymon! particularly on account of their horse. Horses of that build aren"t made to-day! Think of putting four people on one of our ponies of the present day! even the third one would be on his tail--where would the fourth one be, I would like to know?"
The young men reached the Tower in due time. Edmond was about to ask to speak with the proprietor, when he, having seen them coming, hastened forward to meet the two friends.
Paul was no longer the same man; a complete change had taken place in his whole aspect since the preceding night. In place of the gloomy, careworn expression which was habitual to him, he presented himself to Edmond with a smiling, expansive countenance. His dress too had undergone a change; he was dressed with more care and had shaved part of his beard; he was no longer the man who shuns society.
"You at my house, Monsieur Didier, and at such an early hour! This is very kind of you. Come in, messieurs; the proprietor of the Tower is happy to welcome you to his manor house."
"Thanks for your cordial welcome, monsieur," replied Edmond, taking the hand that Paul offered him. "But we have only a few moments, and I have come to ask you to do me a favor."
"A favor! I am entirely at your service. But I supposed that another motive brought you here, I thought--Have you not seen Mademoiselle Agathe since yesterday?"
"Oh, no! and it is most important that she and Madame Dalmont should not know of our visit to you."
"Pardon me, monsieur," said Freluchon, throwing himself upon a chair, "but although he is in such a hurry, I will ask your permission to rest a bit. He has made me run almost all the way, and it"s a long distance from Ch.e.l.les; I am used up."
"Make yourselves at home, messieurs.--But speak, Monsieur Edmond; what you have just said makes me anxious."
"Monsieur, Freluchon and myself both went last night to a party given by Monsieur and Madame de Belleville."
"I know it."
"I didn"t go until quite late in the evening."
"But I dined there--which doesn"t mean that I am not very hungry this morning."
"You shall have breakfast here."
"Oh! Monsieur Paul, for heaven"s sake, pay no attention to what Freluchon says; you will see that we must go away again immediately.--At that party I had a scene, a quarrel, with a certain Monsieur Luminot, who lives at Ch.e.l.les."
"The ground of your quarrel--what was it?"
"The most serious imaginable, for a man of honor; he insulted the lady whom I love, he presumed to speak in contemptuous terms of Mademoiselle Agathe and her protectress, Madame Dalmont.--At first some ladies, intimate friends of Madame de Belleville, began to make those slanderous remarks which women are so adroit at flinging at people whom they detest; but luckily a man mingled in the conversation and chose to affirm what the women had said. I ordered him to take back his words; he refused and I struck him!"
"Ah! you did well!" cried Paul, grasping Edmond"s arm. "Insult Agathe!
insult that good, honorable woman who has been like a mother to her! the wretches! But those remarks, those dastardly slanders, all were certainly prepared, concerted beforehand by Thelenie."
"By Thelenie! Do you too know Madame de Belleville?"
"How nicely it comes about!" said Freluchon. "Parbleu! who doesn"t know that lady?--Oh, yes! there"s her husband, Chamoureau--he has no suspicion what she is."
"Yes, messieurs, ten years ago that woman was my mistress, and she is the cause of my having pa.s.sed my life since then in sadness and remorse. You shall know the whole story later; let us return to your duel."
"When this Monsieur Luminot received my blow, he attempted to throw himself upon me."
"And no one tried to prevent him," said Freluchon. "Observe that the worthy man is a giant and could have crushed Edmond simply by falling on him. Luckily I arrived at that moment; I am not a giant--on the contrary, I am rather slender and fragile to look at! But beneath this feeble exterior, I carry a pair of small steel wrists which are equal to the best made at Birmingham. I grabbed Luminot by the waist, lifted him up, and tossed him at hazard. I believe that when he fell he damaged the husband of one of the harpies who began the scene; there was no harm done; I am only sorry that I didn"t pulverize those women at the same time. What horrid-tasting salt they would have made! It would have been excellent rat poison."
"I will be your second, and I thank you for thinking of me. Monsieur is your other second, no doubt?"