"Follow me, but do not appear to be with me."
"Very well, Marton," answered Chaudoreille; and he followed on the heels of the old woman, so as not to lose her from sight.
They entered the house; the servant mounted the stairs, put her finger on her lips and signed to Chaudoreille to follow her. The chevalier did so, but all of a sudden he seized the old woman"s petticoat and stopped her, saying,--
"Is your mistress married?"
"Why?" asked the old woman, looking at him mockingly.
"Why! by jingo! because some husbands have very little patience in an affair of this kind. Hang it! a stroke of the sword is soon given, and I can"t throw myself thus into the wolf"s den."
"Are you not armed, monsieur? and if anyone should attack you, can you not defend yourself?"
"Yes, I know how to defend myself," said Chaudoreille, going down some stairs, "but I have an infinite respect for the marriage vow, and, taking everything into consideration, I should prefer to take myself off."
"Come I tell you, monsieur," said the domestic running after him, "my mistress is not married, and you have nothing to fear."
"Well, by jingo! You should explain yourself, my good woman. My life is too precious for me to expose it with temerity. Come, Lisette, go up! I will follow you, but if you have lied to me, tremble!"
The old woman paused on the second landing; she opened a door and took Chaudoreille into a pretty dining-room and from thence into a small well-furnished parlor, where she left him, saying,--
"Wait here, I will go and tell madame."
"Do not be long, for I am not fond of waiting," cried he, looking around him anxiously.
Left alone he examined the apartment curiously, saying,--
"It is pretty enough, it is all in very good taste; this is a woman of distinction. Come, Chaudoreille, you"re in great luck. Don"t act like a novice, but show some self-possession. Everything has come to me at once; fortune--money--love--I am sure that I shall finish by making my way. Oh, the deuce! here"s a hole in my doublet! But I must pull my hat up in front, it will hinder me from seeing my princess; I feel in advance that I can adore her. But it"s dark and they have left me without a light, that"s very singular. My heart beats, this is certainly love."
Here Chaudoreille raised his voice, saying,--
"Besides, if anyone should dare to rub against me, Rolande has an edge and four men could not frighten me."
At this moment the door creaked and opened behind Chaudoreille, who started back against a table, overturning several porcelain cups, as he exclaimed,--
"Who goes there?"
"It"s me, monsieur," answered the servant. "I came to conduct you to madame."
"Oh! that"s right; but you left me without a light and I mistook you for a rat, of which I have a great horror. I would much rather fight with a lion than see only the tail of one of these little animals, but show me the way, my good woman."
The servant led him through another room and opened a door into a handsome boudoir lighted by many candles; a young woman was seated on a sofa at the end of the room. The old woman retired. Chaudoreille, very uneasy in this tete-a-tete, to which he had looked forward, dared not look at the person with whom he found himself, and racked his imagination to find a compliment suitable for the occasion; but his Phoebus was stubborn, and nothing had occurred to him when he heard these words,--
"Will not Monsieur Chaudoreille speak to his old acquaintances?"
Struck by the voice, the little man raised his eyes and uttered an exclamation of surprise on recognizing Julia, the young Italian, who looked smilingly at him.
"Can it be? Is it indeed you whom I see?" said Chaudoreille.
"And what do you find so extraordinary in that, monsieur le chevalier?
Did you think that the marquis would always leave me in his little house?"
"No--undoubtedly not, beautiful lady--I do not know--but I was so far from expecting to see you," and he glanced tenderly at her, saying to himself: "I always thought that she loved me, behold me now the rival of a marquis; it"s a tremendously ticklish position."
"Be seated, Monsieur Chaudoreille," said Julia, who appeared for some moments very much amused by the embarra.s.sment and the oglings of the little man. The latter, however, resumed his audacity, and was about to seat himself on the sofa beside Julia, but, by a gesture, the young woman indicated to him a folding chair, and signed to him to seat himself opposite her.
"She"s afraid of me," said Chaudoreille, seating himself on the folding chair, "she felt that she could not resist me and wished to defer her defeat. There"s no need to hurry matters, my eyes can accomplish the business for me."
"Can you imagine why I sent for you?" said the young woman, looking at him mischievously.
"Why beautiful lady--I flatter myself, I presume there are some things that one divines when one lives in society."
"And I think that you are mistaken," said Julia, a.s.suming a serious tone, "and I will explain myself."
"Mon Dieu," said Chaudoreille to himself, dismayed by Julia"s change of tone, "Is she going to kill herself on account of me?"
"I am the marquis" mistress; you are not ignorant of that fact."
"Undoubtedly not, since I myself was the messenger of--"
"Silence! do not interrupt me! If I do not seek to hide my frailty it is because, far from having yielded to interest or ambition, love only has caused my fall, and, in the eyes of a woman, love excuses many faults.
Yes, I have loved the marquis for a long time. I had often seen him on the promenades, and in spite of all that I heard said about him, I could not resist the feeling which he inspired. My heart yielded itself to him. Be not astonished that I yielded so readily to your proposition. I flattered myself that the marquis shared the devouring flame which consumed me. I hoped to have enough strength not to show my love until I was certain of his. Alas! I counted too much on myself and it was very easy for him to persuade me that he loved me. Ungrateful man! the love which he swore to me has already given place to indifference, and I!--I feel that I love him more than ever."
In speaking of the marquis, Julia became animated; her glance was fiery and her whole person indicated the violent pa.s.sion to which she was a prey; Chaudoreille, much surprised at what he had heard, and almost alarmed at Julia"s fate, drew his stool farther away as she grew warmer.
"Yes," said the young woman who had apparently forgotten that Chaudoreille was there, and gave way to all her feelings; "yes, I shall always love you, fascinating Villebelle--this burning heart beats but for you! But I cannot bear your indifference; and if you should love another then my fury would know no bounds, and in your blood and that of my rival, I would revenge my outrage."
"O my G.o.d! she wants me to stab the marquis," said Chaudoreille, and he tried to draw his chair still farther away, but, as it was now up against the wall, it was impossible for him to go any further, and he could only glance towards the door from the corner of his eye, murmuring,--
"This is a fine rendezvous! That woman"s possessed of the devil. I like my portress much better."
Julia had ceased speaking, little by little she became calmer and resumed her ordinary manner, and, glancing at Chaudoreille, she could not prevent a smile on seeing him glued against the tapestry.
"Come nearer! come nearer," she said to him, "that I may tell you what I desire of you. You are, you have told me, very intimate with the barber Touquet?"
"Yes--mada--mademois--signora."
"The barber is a man who habitually serves the marquis in his gallant intrigues; and I think that through him it would be very easy for you to learn if Villebelle has any new conquest in sight. Do you understand me?"
"Yes, yes; I understand you perfectly."
"Are you willing to serve me?--to inform me of all you can learn from the barber in regard to the marquis? and if you yourself should be employed in some love intrigues to come and impart to me immediately the plans which they have formed."
"Yes, certainly. I consent with all my heart. Zounds!" added he to himself, "if she knew what I said to her lover yesterday, I shouldn"t get out of here alive."
"What are you trembling for?"
"Oh, it"s nothing, it"s my nerves; that happens to me often."