""Why are you unwilling to prescribe for my dog, pray?" he rejoined in a savage tone; "your visits will be paid for as generously as if you came for me."
""I repeat, monsieur, that I attend men, not beasts!"
"Would you believe that he had the impertinence to reply:
""In most cases, monsieur, men are the beasts, and dogs are much better than they are!"
"Faith! mesdames, I had no desire to hear any more, so I put on my hat and left the Tower, vowing never to put my foot inside its doors again so long as this Monsieur Paul should be the owner."
"For all that," said Pere Ledrux, who had returned to the door of the salon, "if he had asked me for a receipt to cure his dog, I"d have given him one, and a good one, too. Still, his Newfoundland got well by himself, and so did his master, too! Ha! ha! You can"t deny that they didn"t need you for that, monsieur le docteur!"
"What does that prove, Pere Ledrux? simply that nature is sometimes as powerful as science."
"Oh, yes! and if science had taken a hand in it, perhaps the two invalids wouldn"t be so smart to-day."
"So you don"t believe in medicine, Pere Ledrux?"
"I don"t say that. I believe in anything you want; but I say just this, that medicine sometimes makes mistakes, but nature--oh! she never makes a mistake!"
"Now, mesdames, from these facts you may form your own opinion of the proprietor of the Tower, and judge whether he is unjustly called a bear and a disagreeable neighbor."
"It is evident, monsieur, that he avoids society," said Honorine; "probably he has reasons for that. Doubtless he has had much to complain of at its hands. But, nevertheless, his old servant said that he was an excellent man."
"Mere Lucas is very hard of hearing; she often hears wrong.--However, in addition to what happened to me and to Madame Droguet and Monsieur Luminot, we have had many other opportunities for judging this gentleman. On several occasions he has shown that he is really malicious. Once, Jaquette, Catherine the laundress"s daughter, a child of nine, went home crying with her little sister; one cheek was bright red. They asked her what the matter was, and she replied:
""I met the man with the dog and he slapped my face hard because he said I made faces at him."
"Another time it was Thomas Riteux"s son--a little boy of eleven, and a very sly rascal--whom my gentleman kicked more than once in--somewhere--because he happened to be in his way."
"Oh! that is very bad!" cried Agathe. "It seems that he detests children then."
"Did the parents complain?"
"Nonsense!" said the gardener; "what"s the sense of believing everything this one or the other one says! There"s people who heard Jaquette"s little sister say that Jaquette was beating her and eating her cherries, and that was why he came up and slapped her. And as for Thomas Riteux"s son, he"s a little devil. So far as he could see Monsieur Paul"s dog, he began to throw stones at him. Monsieur Paul saw it and told him not to throw any more stones at his dog, because the beast didn"t like it. The little scamp is obstinate, and he began again when he thought he wouldn"t be seen. But the dog ran at him, and faith!
he had him by the breeches and things looked bad for the boy when Monsieur Paul ran up and made him let go. That was when he kicked the boy and said: "You oughtn"t to get off so cheap!""
"But this puts an entirely different face on the matter," said Honorine.
"Don"t you agree with me, monsieur le docteur?"
"It is possible, mesdames; I know that children sometimes tell false stories; but I persist none the less in my opinion concerning the owner of the Tower. He"s a low fellow, whom I believe to be entirely uninformed and uneducated. And as Madame Droguet--a very bright woman, by the way--well said:
""That man shuns society because he realizes that he would be out of place in society."
"I trust, mesdames, that this will not have any influence upon your decision with regard to this house. Thank heaven, this Monsieur Paul will hardly be what is called a neighbor to you, for it is fully half a league from here to his place; and I venture to believe that you will find in Ch.e.l.les ample compensation. Society here is numerous but select.
You will find material for a game of whist or of Pope Joan. Of late, too, we have taken up bezique. Madame Droguet gives receptions which all the notabilities attend; sometimes there is dancing; she has a piano, and when Monsieur Luminot brings his flageolet, there is a complete orchestra. Recently they have tried the Lancers quadrille; they haven"t succeeded in dancing it through, but they will in time, especially as Monsieur Droguet is pa.s.sionately fond of dancing."
Honorine rose, as did her companion. The young woman thanked the doctor for all the information he had been obliging enough to give them, a.s.suring him that it had only confirmed her in the plan she had formed of purchasing Monsieur Courtivaux"s estate.
Then the ladies left the house, to return to the railway station, saying to the gardener:
"To-morrow morning we shall see the agent, and doubtless the bargain will soon be concluded."
"Very good!" said Pere Ledrux, "and meanwhile, as I told you, you know, I won"t show the house to anyone, because sometimes it happens--Well!
someone who happened to want it would only have to offer a little more than you. Men never think of anything but their own interests, you know; and it would slip out of your hands. But the way I"m going to do, there"s no danger; it"s just between you and me. And then I"m going to keep on with the garden, and I"ll keep an eye on the hens; there"s one black one that fights the others; hum! I"ll watch her! You see, she might keep "em from laying!"
XV
THE GENTLEMAN WITH THE SARCASTIC LOOK
Chamoureau was in an execrable humor when he left Madame Sainte-Suzanne"s. As he could not walk home with his coat all open behind, he had to take a cab, and when he stepped in, the accident that had befallen his trousers was so aggravated that when it was time to alight he was reduced to the necessity of taking off his hat and holding it glued to the unfortunate garment in front.
His concierge, who pa.s.sed a large part of his time in his doorway, stared with all his eyes again when the tenant of the second floor appeared, this time holding his hat in front of his trousers instead of wearing it on his head.
In fact, even Madame Monin, his servant, seeing her master return with his clothes torn from his head to his heels, said to herself:
"In G.o.d"s name, what kind of a life is Monsieur Chamoureau leading now, to come home in this state? The man is getting to be very dissipated!"
"She refuses to be my mistress!" reflected our widower, as he changed his clothes. "And she won"t be my wife either! In that case, what does she propose to be to me? And why did she speak to me at the Opera ball?
Why did she herself urge me to call? She gives me permission to be her friend--much obliged! At thirty-five years of age, and with a volcanic temperament like mine, a man isn"t content to be the friend of a fascinating woman! Besides, I love the woman. I adore her, since I saw her in her lovely velvet robe de chambre--or was it plush? I am not quite sure, but it doesn"t matter. I feel that my pa.s.sion has taken a new flight. It is all over with me; the image of that lovely brunette is here--engraved on my heart; it has replaced Eleonore"s.--Poor Eleonore!
If I should want to weep for her now, I could not. That is some compensation. But what am I to do? I am going to be very wretched now.
She has ten thousand francs a year, so of course I am not a very good match for her. But if she adored me! Sapristi! if Freluchon were in Paris, I would go to him and ask his advice; n.o.body but he can tell me how I ought to act now toward Madame de Sainte-Suzanne."
That evening, Chamoureau did not fail to call at Freluchon"s house, to inquire if he had returned. But his dear friend was still at Rouen.
The next day Honorine and Agathe called early at the agent"s office.
"We have been to Ch.e.l.les," said the young woman, "we have seen Monsieur Courtivaux"s house and we like it very much. Be good enough to arrange the matter as quickly as possible, monsieur; we would like to be living there already."
"Very well, madame. You know that he asks twenty thousand francs?"
"I am ready to give that, monsieur."
"Yes, but perhaps he would take something off; you pay cash, which is a consideration. Then there are the expenses, the deeds and so forth; they will amount to at least a thousand francs, and are ordinarily paid by the purchaser. If we could induce the vendor to pay them at least----"
"Well, monsieur, do the best you can; I leave it to you."
"Never fear, madame. I will go to see Monsieur Courtivaux to-day; then I will call on you with his answer. I have your address--Madame Dalmont, Rue des Martyrs."
"But do not forget us, monsieur."
"I will devote my whole time to you, mesdames."
But when the two friends had gone, Chamoureau, after sitting for some time lost in thought, suddenly struck his forehead and exclaimed: