"They are calling for the organisation of labour," said another: "Can this be conceived?"
"What could you expect," said a third, "when we see M. de Genoude giving his a.s.sistance to the _Siecle_?"
"And even Conservatives style themselves Progressives. To lead us to what? To the Republic! as if such a thing were possible in France!"
Everyone declared that the Republic was impossible in France.
"No matter!" remarked one gentleman in a loud tone. "People take too much interest in the Revolution. A heap of histories, of different kinds of works, are published concerning it!"
"Without taking into account," said Martinon, "that there are probably subjects of far more importance which might be studied."
A gentleman occupying a ministerial office laid the blame on the scandals a.s.sociated with the stage:
"Thus, for instance, this new drama of _La Reine Margot_ really goes beyond the proper limits. What need was there for telling us about the Valois? All this exhibits loyalty in an unfavourable light. "Tis just like your press! There is no use in talking, the September laws are altogether too mild. For my part, I would like to have court-martials, to gag the journalists! At the slightest display of insolence, drag them before a council of war, and then make an end of the business!"
"Oh, take care, Monsieur! take care!" said a professor. "Don"t attack the precious boons we gained in 1830! Respect our liberties!" It would be better, he contended, to adopt a policy of decentralisation, and to distribute the surplus populations of the towns through the country districts.
"But they are gangrened!" exclaimed a Catholic. "Let religion be more firmly established!"
Martinon hastened to observe:
"As a matter of fact, it is a restraining force."
All the evil lay in this modern longing to rise above one"s cla.s.s and to possess luxuries.
"However," urged a manufacturer, "luxury aids commerce. Therefore, I approve of the Duc de Nemours" action in insisting on having short breeches at his evening parties."
"M. Thiers came to one of them in a pair of trousers. You know his joke on the subject?"
"Yes; charming! But he turned round to the demagogues, and his speech on the question of incompatibilities was not without its influence in bringing about the attempt of the twelfth of May."
"Oh, pooh!"
"Ay, ay!"
The circle had to make a little opening to give a pa.s.sage to a man-servant carrying a tray, who was trying to make his way into the card-room.
Under the green shades of the wax-lights the tables were covered with two rows of cards and gold coins. Frederick stopped beside one corner of the table, lost the fifteen napoleons which he had in his pocket, whirled lightly about, and found himself on the threshold of the boudoir in which Madame Dambreuse happened to be at that moment.
It was filled with women sitting close to one another in little groups on seats without backs. Their long skirts, swelling round them, seemed like waves, from which their waists emerged; and their b.r.e.a.s.t.s were clearly outlined by the slope of their corsages. Nearly every one of them had a bouquet of violets in her hand. The dull shade of their gloves showed off the whiteness of their arms, which formed a contrast with its human flesh tints. Over the shoulders of some of them hung fringe or mourning-weeds, and, every now and then, as they quivered with emotion, it seemed as if their bodices were about to fall down.
But the decorum of their countenances tempered the exciting effect of their costumes. Several of them had a placidity almost like that of animals; and this resemblance to the brute creation on the part of half-nude women made him think of the interior of a harem--indeed, a grosser comparison suggested itself to the young man"s mind.
Every variety of beauty was to be found there--some English ladies, with the profile familiar in "keepsakes"; an Italian, whose black eyes shot forth lava-like flashes, like a Vesuvius; three sisters, dressed in blue; three Normans, fresh as April apples; a tall red-haired girl, with a set of amethysts. And the bright scintillation of diamonds, which trembled in aigrettes worn over their hair, the luminous spots of precious stones laid over their b.r.e.a.s.t.s, and the delightful radiance of pearls which adorned their foreheads mingled with the glitter of gold rings, as well as with the lace, powder, the feathers, the vermilion of dainty mouths, and the mother-of-pearl hue of teeth. The ceiling, rounded like a cupola, gave to the boudoir the form of a flower-basket, and a current of perfumed air circulated under the flapping of their fans.
Frederick, planting himself behind them, put up his eyegla.s.s and scanned their shoulders, not all of which did he consider irreproachable. He thought about the Marechale, and this dispelled the temptations that beset him or consoled him for not yielding to them.
He gazed, however, at Madame Dambreuse, and he considered her charming, in spite of her mouth being rather large and her nostrils too dilated.
But she was remarkably graceful in appearance. There was, as it were, an expression of pa.s.sionate languor in the ringlets of her hair, and her forehead, which was like agate, seemed to cover a great deal, and indicated a masterful intelligence.
She had placed beside her her husband"s niece, a rather plain-looking young person. From time to time she left her seat to receive those who had just come in; and the murmur of feminine voices, made, as it were, a cackling like that of birds.
They were talking about the Tunisian amba.s.sadors and their costumes. One lady had been present at the last reception of the Academy. Another referred to the _Don Juan_ of Moliere, which had recently been performed at the Theatre Francais.
But with a significant glance towards her niece, Madame Dambreuse laid a finger on her lips, while the smile which escaped from her contradicted this display of austerity.
Suddenly, Martinon appeared at the door directly in front of her. She arose at once. He offered her his arm. Frederick, in order to watch the progress of these gallantries on Martinon"s part, walked past the card-table, and came up with them in the large drawing-room. Madame Dambreuse very soon quitted her cavalier, and began chatting with Frederick himself in a very familiar tone.
She understood that he did not play cards, and did not dance.
"Young people have a tendency to be melancholy!" Then, with a single comprehensive glance around:
"Besides, this sort of thing is not amusing--at least for certain natures!"
And she drew up in front of the row of armchairs, uttering a few polite remarks here and there, while some old men with double eyegla.s.ses came to pay court to her. She introduced Frederick to some of them. M.
Dambreuse touched him lightly on the elbow, and led him out on the terrace.
He had seen the Minister. The thing was not easy to manage. Before he could be qualified for the post of auditor to the Council of State, he should pa.s.s an examination. Frederick, seized with an unaccountable self-confidence, replied that he had a knowledge of the subjects prescribed for it.
The financier was not surprised at this, after all the eulogies M. Roque had p.r.o.nounced on his abilities.
At the mention of this name, a vision of little Louise, her house and her room, pa.s.sed through his mind, and he remembered how he had on nights like this stood at her window listening to the wagoners driving past. This recollection of his griefs brought back the thought of Madame Arnoux, and he relapsed into silence as he continued to pace up and down the terrace. The windows shone amid the darkness like slabs of flame.
The buzz of the ball gradually grew fainter; the carriages were beginning to leave.
"Why in the world," M. Dambreuse went on, "are you so anxious to be attached to the Council of State?"
And he declared, in the tone of a man of broad views, that the public functions led to nothing--he could speak with some authority on that point--business was much better.
Frederick urged as an objection the difficulty of grappling with all the details of business.
"Pooh! I could post you up well in them in a very short time."
Would he like to be a partner in any of his own undertakings?
The young man saw, as by a lightning-flash, an enormous fortune coming into his hands.
"Let us go in again," said the banker. "You are staying for supper with us, are you not?"
It was three o"clock. They left the terrace.
In the dining-room, a table at which supper was served up awaited the guests.
M. Dambreuse perceived Martinon, and, drawing near his wife, in a low tone:
"Is it you who invited him?"
She answered dryly: