After crossing the bridge, he found himself in an isle, where he beheld on his right the ruins of an abbey. A mill with its wheels revolving barred up the entire width of the second arm of the Oise, over which the manufactory projected. Frederick was greatly surprised by the imposing character of this structure. He felt more respect for Arnoux on account of it. Three paces further on, he turned up an alley, which had a grating at its lower end.
He went in. The door-keeper called him back, exclaiming:
"Have you a permit?"
"For what purpose?"
"For the purpose of visiting the establishment."
Frederick said in a rather curt tone that he had come to see M. Arnoux.
"Who is M. Arnoux?"
"Why, the chief, the master, the proprietor, in fact!"
"No, monsieur! These are MM. Leboeuf and Milliet"s works!"
The good woman was surely joking! Some workmen arrived; he came up and spoke to two or three of them. They gave the same response.
Frederick left the premises, staggering like a drunken man; and he had such a look of perplexity, that on the Pont de la Boucherie an inhabitant of the town, who was smoking his pipe, asked whether he wanted to find out anything. This man knew where Arnoux"s manufactory was. It was situated at Montataire.
Frederick asked whether a vehicle was to be got. He was told that the only place where he could find one was at the station. He went back there. A shaky-looking calash, to which was yoked an old horse, with torn harness hanging over the shafts, stood all alone in front of the luggage office. An urchin who was looking on offered to go and find Pere Pilon. In ten minutes" time he came back, and announced that Pere Pilon was at his breakfast. Frederick, unable to stand this any longer, walked away. But the gates of the thoroughfare across the line were closed. He would have to wait till two trains had pa.s.sed. At last, he made a dash into the open country.
The monotonous greenery made it look like the cover of an immense billiard-table. The scoriae of iron were ranged on both sides of the track, like heaps of stones. A little further on, some factory chimneys were smoking close beside each other. In front of him, on a round hillock, stood a little turreted chateau, with the quadrangular belfry of a church. At a lower level, long walls formed irregular lines past the trees; and, further down again, the houses of the village spread out.
They had only a single story, with staircases consisting of three steps made of uncemented blocks. Every now and then the bell in front of a grocery-shop could be heard tinkling. Heavy steps sank into the black mire, and a light shower was falling, which cut the pale sky with a thousand hatchings.
Frederick pursued his way along the middle of the street. Then, he saw on his left, at the opening of a pathway, a large wooden arch, whereon was traced, in letters of gold, the word "Faences."
It was not without an object that Jacques Arnoux had selected the vicinity of Creil. By placing his works as close as possible to the other works (which had long enjoyed a high reputation), he had created a certain confusion in the public mind, with a favourable result so far as his own interests were concerned.
The main body of the building rested on the same bank of a river which flows through the meadowlands. The master"s house, surrounded by a garden, could be distinguished by the steps in front of it, adorned with four vases, in which cactuses were bristling.
Heaps of white clay were drying under sheds. There were others in the open air; and in the midst of the yard stood Senecal with his everlasting blue paletot lined with red.
The ex-tutor extended towards Frederick his cold hand.
"You"ve come to see the master? He"s not there."
Frederick, nonplussed, replied in a stupefied fashion:
"I knew it." But the next moment, correcting himself:
""Tis about a matter that concerns Madame Arnoux. Can she receive me?"
"Ha! I have not seen her for the last three days," said Senecal.
And he broke into a long string of complaints. When he accepted the post of manager, he understood that he would have been allowed to reside in Paris, and not be forced to bury himself in this country district, far from his friends, deprived of newspapers. No matter! he had overlooked all that. But Arnoux appeared to pay no heed to his merits. He was, moreover, shallow and retrograde--no one could be more ignorant. In place of seeking for artistic improvements, it would have been better to introduce firewood instead of coal and gas. The shop-keeping spirit _thrust itself in_--Senecal laid stress on the last words. In short, he disliked his present occupation, and he all but appealed to Frederick to say a word in his behalf in order that he might get an increase of salary.
"Make your mind easy," said the other.
He met n.o.body on the staircase. On the first floor, he pushed his way head-foremost into an empty room. It was the drawing-room. He called out at the top of his voice. There was no reply. No doubt, the cook had gone out, and so had the housemaid. At length, having reached the second floor, he pushed a door open. Madame Arnoux was alone in this room, in front of a press with a mirror attached. The belt of her dressing-gown hung down her hips; one entire half of her hair fell in a dark wave over her right shoulder; and she had raised both arms in order to hold up her chignon with one hand and to put a pin through it with the other. She broke into an exclamation and disappeared.
Then, she came back again properly dressed. Her waist, her eyes, the rustle of her dress, her entire appearance, charmed him. Frederick felt it hard to keep from covering her with kisses.
"I beg your pardon," said she, "but I could not----"
He had the boldness to interrupt her with these words:
"Nevertheless--you looked very nice--just now."
She probably thought this compliment a little coa.r.s.e, for her cheeks reddened. He was afraid that he might have offended her. She went on:
"What lucky chance has brought you here?"
He did not know what reply to make; and, after a slight chuckle, which gave him time for reflection:
"If I told you, would you believe me?"
"Why not?"
Frederick informed her that he had had a frightful dream a few nights before.
"I dreamt that you were seriously ill--near dying."
"Oh! my husband and I are never ill."
"I have dreamt only of you," said he.
She gazed at him calmly: "Dreams are not always realised."
Frederick stammered, sought to find appropriate words to express himself in, and then plunged into a flowing period about the affinity of souls.
There existed a force which could, through the intervening bounds of s.p.a.ce, bring two persons into communication with each other, make known to each the other"s feelings, and enable them to reunite.
She listened to him with downcast face, while she smiled with that beautiful smile of hers. He watched her out of the corner of his eye with delight, and poured out his love all the more freely through the easy channel of a commonplace remark.
She offered to show him the works; and, as she persisted, he made no objection.
In order to divert his attention with something of an amusing nature, she showed him the species of museum that decorated the staircase. The specimens, hung up against the wall or laid on shelves, bore witness to the efforts and the successive fads of Arnoux. After seeking vainly for the red of Chinese copper, he had wished to manufacture majolicas, faience, Etruscan and Oriental ware, and had, in fact, attempted all the improvements which were realised at a later period.
So it was that one could observe in the series big vases covered with figures of mandarins, porringers of shot reddish-brown, pots adorned with Arabian inscriptions, drinking-vessels in the style of the Renaissance, and large plates on which two personages were outlined as it were on bloodstone, in a delicate, aerial fashion. He now made letters for signboards and wine-labels; but his intelligence was not high enough to attain to art, nor commonplace enough to look merely to profit, so that, without satisfying anyone, he had ruined himself.
They were both taking a view of these things when Mademoiselle Marthe pa.s.sed.
"So, then, you did not recognise him?" said her mother to her.
"Yes, indeed," she replied, bowing to him, while her clear and sceptical glance--the glance of a virgin--seemed to say in a whisper: "What are you coming here for?" and she rushed up the steps with her head slightly bent over her shoulder.
Madame Arnoux led Frederick into the yard attached to the works, and then explained to him in a grave tone how different clays were ground, cleaned, and sifted.