"I must find Louise, my friend, I must find her, for I know now how dearly I love her. Poor Louise, it was to be near me, it was in the hope of seeing me, that she accepted that place in Paris. Nicole told me all, for Louise still thought of me, she never let a day pa.s.s without speaking of me, and I, like an ingrate, let three years pa.s.s without a sign that I remembered her!"
"That is true," said Monfreville, "and to-day you are in the depths of despair because you don"t know what has become of her! But from all that you tell me, it seems to me that this girl is worthy of your love, and that it would be a great pity that she should fall into some trap, that she should be victimized by some miserable villain. Is she pretty, did you say?"
"She was lovely at fifteen, and Nicole told me that she had improved every day."
"The deuce! poor child! If she is very pretty and has lost her way in Paris, it"s very dangerous. As for your tutor, there is a very natural explanation of his conduct: he was in love with Louise, no doubt, and deemed it prudent to keep you from seeing her, which was sure to happen sooner or later. For a pedagogue, that was rather clever."
"In love with Louise! the insolent old idiot!--But where shall I look for poor Louise--where can I hope to find her now?"
"That will be rather difficult, perhaps; but rely upon me to help you, to guide you in your search. You must set your servants at work; we will not spare money, and that is a powerful auxiliary in all the emergencies of life."
Cherubin thanked his friend warmly for lending him his a.s.sistance, and they began their search the same day.
While these things were taking place at Monfreville"s apartment, Monsieur Gerondif stood in the street, as if turned to stone by his pupil"s anger and threats. Comtois had long since returned to his duties and the tutor was still in front of the porte cochere. He decided at last to go his way, saying to himself:
"The Scripture says: "Seek and ye shall find." I am going to seek you, Louise, but I probably shall not find you."
XXVII
THE LITTLE DOG FANCIER
We left Louise at the moment when, in compliance with Madame de Noirmont"s wishes, she left the house before anybody had risen.
Thus Louise found herself in the street at a very early hour. She had her bundle of clothes under her arm, and in her breast that letter, of such inestimable value, which would perhaps enable her to find her father.
When she was at a sufficient distance from the house that she had left, her first thought was to learn the name of the person to whom Madame de Noirmont had sent her. She took out the letter and read this address:
"For Monsieur Edouard de Monfreville. To be delivered to him in person."
"Monsieur de Monfreville," said Louise; "I have never heard of that gentleman. But Madame de Noirmont said that he was a great friend of Cherubin, and that they would give me his address at Cherubin"s house.
So I will go there. Oh! I shall not ask to see him! I know that he no longer cares for me, that he doesn"t choose to know me any more; and besides, as he has three or four mistresses at once, why, I haven"t any desire to see him either."
The girl heaved a sigh as she spoke, for her heart was by no means in accord with her words; but she started toward Faubourg Saint-Germain, saying to herself:
"I must not think any more about my old playfellow; I will think only of what Madame de Noirmont said to me last night."
Louise at last reached the street on which the hotel de Grandvilain stood. When she realized that she was so near Cherubin"s abode, she stopped and began to tremble:
"As Cherubin wouldn"t admit us," she thought, "when I came with his dear old nurse, perhaps they"ll shut the door in my face. They will think that it is he whom I wish to see, and that will make him even more angry with me. Oh dear! what am I to do?"
And instead of going toward the house, Louise retraced her steps, walking very slowly. But in a moment she stopped again and said to herself:
"But I must ascertain this Monsieur de Monfreville"s address! Suppose I should wait until someone comes out of the house? Yes, I think that that will be the better way. I shall not be so afraid to speak to someone in the street. But it is still very early; people don"t get up at this time in these fine houses. I will walk back and forth, and wait; there"s no law against that, and, besides, not many people are pa.s.sing yet. If I should see him come out, I would hide so that he might not see me. But I could look at him, at all events--and it is so long since I saw him!"
Louise had been walking the street for some time, looking in vain for somebody to leave the house, when two persons came toward her from a street near by. They were not arm in arm; indeed, one of them allowed his companion to keep always a few steps in advance, as if a certain residuum of respect kept him from putting himself on a level with the other. The first wore a long coat lined with fur, very stylish and sadly soiled, and a hat which was almost new, but which seemed to have received a number of blows; he had a cigar in his mouth; the second wore his huge umbrella hat and nut-colored box-coat, a pair of shockingly dirty trousers, and boots which were not made for him and in which his feet and legs seemed fairly to dance. In addition, he had a black eye and a bruised nose.
Darena and Poterne had pa.s.sed the night at a party where they had played cards until daylight, and had indulged in a fight before separating.
Darena had chosen to pa.s.s through Cherubin"s street on his way home; he always took that road by preference, a fancy which did not please Poterne, who muttered as he followed him:
"If your former friend the young marquis should meet us, he might pay me a few more compliments behind, and I can do without them."
"Bah!" retorted Darena, "you always look at the dark side. For my part, I would like to meet Cherubin. I would go up to him with a laugh, and I would say: "Who ever heard of friends falling out for a jest? I obtained your introduction to a charming girl; instead of being a Pole, she was an Alsatian, but what"s the difference? And, faith, it isn"t my fault that you went to sleep in her company!"--I"ll bet that he would shake hands with me, and all would be forgotten."
"Hum! I don"t think it! If you knew how his friend Monfreville gave it to you!"
"Ta! ta! mere empty words! nonsense! I am above all that!"
The two worthies were walking on when Poterne, spying Louise standing a few steps from the hotel de Grandvilain, upon which her eyes seemed to be fixed, put his hand on Darena"s arm, saying:
"Look--yonder, at the right."
"Bigre! what a pretty girl! What in the devil is she doing there, in rapt contemplation, before the door of Cherubin"s house? Do you know, Poterne, that girl is perfectly bewitching! The more one looks at her, the more charms one discovers."
"Yes, and it"s not Parisian style; however, she"s something more than a peasant. She has a bundle under her arm--do you suppose she has just arrived from the provinces?"
"She is still staring at the house. I certainly must find out what she is doing here."
"What are you going to do?"
"I don"t know yet, but I am a Frenchman, and a lady"s man before everything; and I am bound to aid and protect the fair s.e.x. Forward, and you will see. Walk beside me, idiot!"
Darena and Poterne crossed the street and walked toward Louise; when they were near her, Darena stopped and said in a loud tone:
"Monsieur Poterne, as we are pa.s.sing through this street, suppose we stop and bid our good friend, Marquis Cherubin de Grandvilain good-morning? this is his house. You know that he is constantly asking us to breakfast with him."
Poterne enveloped himself closely in his box-coat and replied:
"It"s too early as yet; no one is up in the marquis"s house."
These words were not lost on Louise, who started at the name of Cherubin. She approached Darena and said to him timidly:
"Excuse me, monsieur, but as you are a friend of Monsieur de Grandvilain, who lives in this house, perhaps you know Monsieur de Monfreville also?"
At that name Poterne made a wry face; but Darena replied as amiably as possible:
"Yes, my lovely maiden, I know Monfreville; indeed, I am intimately acquainted with him. Have you business with him?"
"I have a letter for him, but I do not know his address, and I was told that I could learn it at Monsieur Cherubin"s; but, although I know Monsieur Cherubin, I dared not go into his house."
"Ah! so you know my friend Cherubin, mademoiselle? In that case he must have spoken to me about you, for I was his most intimate confidant."
"Oh, no, monsieur!" replied Louise sadly, "he would never have spoken to you about me, for he has forgotten me; he doesn"t want to see us again.
I am Louise, Monsieur Cherubin"s friend in childhood."
"Young Louise!" cried Darena; "who was with Cherubin, at his nurse Nicole"s, at Gagny?"