He protested by repeated shakes of the head, without realising the exact meaning of the capitalist, who wished to give him advice.
He felt a desire to leave. The fear of appearing faint-hearted restrained him. A servant carried away the teacups. Madame Dambreuse was talking to a diplomatist in a blue coat. Two young girls, drawing their foreheads close together, showed each other their jewellery. The others, seated in a semicircle on armchairs, kept gently moving their white faces crowned with black or fair hair. n.o.body, in fact, minded them.
Frederick turned on his heels; and, by a succession of long zigzags, he had almost reached the door, when, pa.s.sing close to a bracket, he remarked, on the top of it, between a china vase and the wainscoting, a journal folded up in two. He drew it out a little, and read these words--_The Flambard_.
Who had brought it there? Cisy. Manifestly no one else. What did it matter, however? They would believe--already, perhaps, everyone believed--in the article. What was the cause of this rancour? He wrapped himself up in ironical silence. He felt like one lost in a desert. But suddenly he heard Martinon"s voice:
"Talking of Arnoux, I saw in the newspapers, amongst the names of those accused of preparing incendiary bombs, that of one of his _employes_, Senecal. Is that our Senecal?"
"The very same!"
Martinon repeated several times in a very loud tone:
"What? our Senecal! our Senecal!"
Then questions were asked him about the conspiracy. It was a.s.sumed that his connection with the prosecutor"s office ought to furnish him with some information on the subject.
He declared that he had none. However, he knew very little about this individual, having seen him only two or three times. He positively regarded him as a very ill-conditioned fellow. Frederick exclaimed indignantly:
"Not at all! he is a very honest fellow."
"All the same, Monsieur," said a landowner, "no conspirator can be an honest man."
Most of the men a.s.sembled there had served at least four governments; and they would have sold France or the human race in order to preserve their own incomes, to save themselves from any discomfort or embarra.s.sment, or even through sheer baseness, through worship of force.
They all maintained that political crimes were inexcusable. It would be more desirable to pardon those which were provoked by want. And they did not fail to put forward the eternal ill.u.s.tration of the father of a family stealing the eternal loaf of bread from the eternal baker.
A gentleman occupying an administrative office even went so far as to exclaim:
"For my part, Monsieur, if I were told that my brother were a conspirator I would denounce him!"
Frederick invoked the right of resistance, and recalling to mind some phrases that Deslauriers had used in their conversations, he referred to Delosmes, Blackstone, the English Bill of Rights, and Article 2 of the Const.i.tution of "91. It was even by virtue of this law that the fall of Napoleon had been proclaimed. It had been recognised in 1830, and inscribed at the head of the Charter. Besides, when the sovereign fails to fulfil the contract, justice requires that he should be overthrown.
"Why, this is abominable!" exclaimed a prefect"s wife.
All the rest remained silent, filled with vague terror, as if they had heard the noise of bullets. Madame Dambreuse rocked herself in her chair, and smiled as she listened to him.
A manufacturer, who had formerly been a member of the Carbonari, tried to show that the Orleans family possessed good qualities. No doubt there were some abuses.
"Well, what then?"
"But we should not talk about them, my dear Monsieur! If you knew how all these clamourings of the Opposition injure business!"
"What do I care about business?" said Frederick.
He was exasperated by the rottenness of these old men; and, carried away by the recklessness which sometimes takes possession of even the most timid, he attacked the financiers, the deputies, the government, the king, took up the defence of the Arabs, and gave vent to a great deal of abusive language. A few of those around him encouraged him in a spirit of irony:
"Go on, pray! continue!" whilst others muttered: "The deuce! what enthusiasm!" At last he thought the right thing to do was to retire; and, as he was going away, M. Dambreuse said to him, alluding to the post of secretary:
"No definite arrangement has been yet arrived at; but make haste!"
And Madame Dambreuse:
"You"ll call again soon, will you not?"
Frederick considered their parting salutation a last mockery. He had resolved never to come back to this house, or to visit any of these people again. He imagined that he had offended them, not realising what vast funds of indifference society possesses. These women especially excited his indignation. Not a single one of them had backed him up even with a look of sympathy. He felt angry with them for not having been moved by his words. As for Madame Dambreuse, he found in her something at the same time languid and cold, which prevented him from defining her character by a formula. Had she a lover? and, if so, who was her lover?
Was it the diplomatist or some other? Perhaps it was Martinon?
Impossible! Nevertheless, he experienced a sort of jealousy against Martinon, and an unaccountable ill-will against her.
Dussardier, having called this evening as usual, was awaiting him.
Frederick"s heart was swelling with bitterness; he unburdened it, and his grievances, though vague and hard to understand, saddened the honest shop-a.s.sistant. He even complained of his isolation. Dussardier, after a little hesitation, suggested that they ought to call on Deslauriers.
Frederick, at the mention of the advocate"s name, was seized with a longing to see him once more. He was now living in the midst of profound intellectual solitude, and found Dussardier"s company quite insufficient. In reply to the latter"s question, Frederick told him to arrange matters any way he liked.
Deslauriers had likewise, since their quarrel, felt a void in his life.
He yielded without much reluctance to the cordial advances which were made to him. The pair embraced each other, then began chatting about matters of no consequence.
Frederick"s heart was touched by Deslauriers" display of reserve, and in order to make him a sort of reparation, he told the other next day how he had lost the fifteen thousand francs without mentioning that these fifteen thousand francs had been originally intended for him. The advocate, nevertheless, had a shrewd suspicion of the truth; and this misadventure, which justified, in his own mind, his prejudices against Arnoux, entirely disarmed his rancour; and he did not again refer to the promise made by his friend on a former occasion.
Frederick, misled by his silence, thought he had forgotten all about it.
A few days afterwards, he asked Deslauriers whether there was any way in which he could get back his money.
They might raise the point that the prior mortgage was fraudulent, and might take proceedings against the wife personally.
"No! no! not against her!" exclaimed Frederick, and, yielding to the ex-law-clerk"s questions, he confessed the truth. Deslauriers was convinced that Frederick had not told him the entire truth, no doubt through a feeling of delicacy. He was hurt by this want of confidence.
They were, however, on the same intimate terms as before, and they even found so much pleasure in each other"s society that Dussardier"s presence was an obstacle to their free intercourse. Under the pretence that they had appointments, they managed gradually to get rid of him.
There are some men whose only mission amongst their fellow-men is to serve as go-betweens; people use them in the same way as if they were bridges, by stepping over them and going on further.
Frederick concealed nothing from his old friend. He told him about the coal-mine speculation and M. Dambreuse"s proposal. The advocate grew thoughtful.
"That"s queer! For such a post a man with a good knowledge of law would be required!"
"But you could a.s.sist me," returned Frederick.
"Yes!--hold on! faith, yes! certainly."
During the same week Frederick showed Dussardier a letter from his mother.
Madame Moreau accused herself of having misjudged M. Roque, who had given a satisfactory explanation of his conduct. Then she spoke of his means, and of the possibility, later, of a marriage with Louise.
"That would not be a bad match," said Deslauriers.
Frederick said it was entirely out of the question. Besides, Pere Roque was an old trickster. That in no way affected the matter, in the advocate"s opinion.
At the end of July, an unaccountable diminution in value made the Northern shares fall. Frederick had not sold his. He lost sixty thousand francs in one day. His income was considerably reduced. He would have to curtail his expenditure, or take up some calling, or make a brilliant catch in the matrimonial market.
Then Deslauriers spoke to him about Mademoiselle Roque. There was nothing to prevent him from going to get some idea of things by seeing for himself. Frederick was rather tired of city life. Provincial existence and the maternal roof would be a sort of recreation for him.
The aspect of the streets of Nogent, as he pa.s.sed through them in the moonlight, brought back old memories to his mind; and he experienced a kind of pang, like persons who have just returned home after a long period of travel.