"This young man I afterwards learned was a M. Celestin de Macreuse.
"Mlle. Helena"s attention had been attracted to him, she told me, because, instead of kneeling upon a chair like every one else, he was kneeling upon the marble floor of the church. It must have been for his mother, too, that he was praying, for we afterwards heard him ask the priest who took up the collection in our part of the church for another novena of ma.s.ses in the same chapel for the repose of his mother"s soul.
"As we were coming out of church, M. de Macreuse offered us the holy water with a bow, for he had preceded us to the font. A moment afterwards, we saw him distributing alms among a number of beggars who had crowded around him, saying in a faltering voice: "The little I can give, I offer you in the name of my mother who is no more. Pray for her."
"Just as M. de Macreuse was disappearing in the crowd I perceived M. de Maillefort. Whether he was just entering or leaving the church I can not say; but Mlle. Helena, who caught sight of him just as I did, seemed surprised and even disturbed by his presence.
"On our way home she spoke several times of this M. de Macreuse, who seemed to be so truly devout and charitable. She did not know him personally, she said, but she could not help feeling a great interest in him because he seemed to possess virtues seldom found in young men of the present day.
"The next day we went to church again; and again we saw M. de Macreuse.
He was performing his devotions in the same chapel, and this time he was so deeply absorbed in prayer that, when ma.s.s was over, he remained on his knees with his forehead almost touching the marble pavement, and seemed positively crushed with grief. A moment afterwards he fell backward in a sort of swoon, and had to be carried into the sacristy.
""Unfortunate young man," whispered Mlle. Helena, "how inconsolable he is! How deeply he mourns for his mother! What a n.o.ble and tender heart he must have."
"I shared this feeling of compa.s.sion, for who could better sympathise with the sorrow of this young man whose melancholy face indicated the deepest grief.
"Just as the door of the sacristy opened to admit the beadles, who had come to M. de Macreuse"s a.s.sistance, M. de Maillefort, who chanced to be directly in their path, began to smile ironically.
"Mlle. Helena seemed more and more disturbed to see M. de Maillefort at church a second time.
""This imp of Satan must have come to the house of G.o.d for some deviltry or other," she remarked to me.
"On the afternoon of that same day, Madame de la Rochaigue insisted upon my driving with her and one of her friends, Madame la d.u.c.h.esse de Senneterre, a lady I had never met before. We went to the Bois. There were a great many people there, and as our carriage was moving along at a snail"s pace, Madame de la Rochaigue remarked to her friend:
""Isn"t that your son I see on horseback over there, my dear d.u.c.h.ess?"
""Yes, I believe it is Gerald," replied Madame de Senneterre, turning her lorgnette in the direction indicated.
""I hope he will see us, and come and speak to us," added Madame de Mirecourt, who was also with us.
""Oh, M. de Senneterre will not fail to do that, as the d.u.c.h.ess fortunately is with us," replied Madame de la Rochaigue. "I say fortunately, but that is not exactly the word, as that lady"s presence prevents us from saying all we would like to say in M. Gerald"s praise."
""Oh, as for that, I warn you I haven"t a bit of maternal modesty,"
answered Madame de Senneterre, smiling. "I never hear half enough nice things said about my son."
""However exacting you may be, you ought to be very well satisfied on that score, it seems to me, my dear d.u.c.h.ess," replied Madame de Mirecourt.
""But speaking of M. de Senneterre, did you ever hear why he enlisted as a common soldier, at the age of eighteen?" continued Madame de Mirecourt, addressing Madame de la Rochaigue.
""No," replied that lady, "I have heard that, beginning as a common soldier, in spite of his birth, he gained his several promotions, as well as his cross, on the battlefield, at the cost of several wounds; but I never heard why he enlisted."
""Madame la d.u.c.h.esse," said Madame de Mirecourt, turning to Madame de Senneterre, "is it not true that your son enlisted because he thought it cowardly to hire a man to go and be killed in his stead?"
""Yes, that is true," replied Madame de Senneterre; "that is the reason my son gave us, and he carried out his resolution in spite of my tears and entreaties."
""Superb!" exclaimed Madame de la Rochaigue. "n.o.body in the world but M.
de Senneterre would ever have made and carried out such a chivalrous resolution as that."
""It is easy to judge of the generosity of his character from that fact alone," added Madame de Mirecourt.
""Oh, I can say with just pride that there is no better son in the world than my Gerald," remarked Madame de Senneterre.
""And when one says that, one says everything," added Madame de la Rochaigue.
"I listened in silence to this conversation, naturally sharing in the admiration that M. de Senneterre"s generous act excited in those around me.
"A few minutes afterwards, a party of young men pa.s.sed us on horseback.
One of them, I noticed, paused on seeing us, wheeled his horse around and came back.
"This young man proved to be M. de Senneterre. He bowed to his mother; Madame de la Rochaigue introduced him to me. He made a few courteous remarks, and then walked his horse along by the side of our carriage while we drove several times around the race-track.
"It is needless to say that scarcely a handsome equipage pa.s.sed without an interchange of friendly bows between the occupants and M. de Senneterre, who seemed to be a general favourite.
"During the conversation he had with us, he was very gay and a trifle sarcastic, but not the least spiteful.
"A short time before he left us, we met a magnificent carriage, drawn by four horses. Its sole occupant was a man to whom many persons bowed with great deference. This man bowed very low to M. de Senneterre, who, instead of returning the salute, surveyed him with the utmost disdain.
""Why, that was M. du Tilleul that just pa.s.sed, M. de Senneterre!"
exclaimed Madame de la Rochaigue, evidently much surprised.
""Yes, madame."
""He bowed to you."
""True, madame."
""But you did not return his bow."
""I no longer bow to M. du Tilleul, madame."
""But everybody else does."
""Then they do very wrong, in my opinion."
""But why, M. de Senneterre?"
""You ask me that, with his recent affair with Madame--"
"Then suddenly checking himself, probably on account of my presence, he continued, addressing Madame de la Rochaigue:
""You have heard about his conduct with a certain marquise?"
""Of course."
""Well, in my opinion, a man who behaves with such cowardice and cruelty is a scoundrel, and I do not bow to a scoundrel."
""Still, he is received everywhere," remarked Madame de Mirecourt.
""Yes, because he owns the handsomest house in Paris, and everybody wishes to attend his entertainments."