"What is there in your gourd?"
"There is some--some very bad eau-de-vie."
"Very bad!--Ah! you rascal! from the way in which you say that, I would swear that you are lying. Give us your gourd; and we will judge whether its contents are so bad as you say."
"But, seigneur, I have been drinking from it, and I could not allow----"
"Give it to me, all the same; we must be governed by circ.u.mstances.
Come, gallows bird! I verily believe that you hesitate!"
Repressing a sigh, the valet handed his master an enormous gourd.
Senange swallowed a mouthful, then cried:
"Ah! I suspected as much; it is exquisite, delicious,--it is thirty years old, I will stake my head! The villain must have stolen it from my father"s cellar.--Here, Leodgard, judge for yourself."
Leodgard took the gourd and drank slowly but at great length, so that the young men called out:
"Enough, count, enough!--He will drink it all! We too want a chance to judge of the liquor!"
At last Leodgard pa.s.sed the gourd to his neighbor, who, after drinking, pa.s.sed it to another. They did not cease to drink, until they had exhausted the contents of the gourd. Then they returned it to Bruno and made themselves comfortable on the gra.s.s, some half reclining, others at full length. Leodgard, who had maintained a sitting posture, with his head resting on his left hand, said to his companions:
"What do you wish me to tell you about, messieurs? an amourette among the common people? Mon Dieu! it is always the same story! They kept the girl closely confined, but not so closely that she did not see me pacing the street under her window."
"So long as parents leave windows in their houses," said Monclair, "they cannot answer for the innocence of their daughters!"
"There was a balcony on which she had placed a pot of flowers, which she used to come out to water."
"Messieurs, it is not without a motive that women display so much love for flowers; intrigues almost always begin with bouquets."
"Hold your tongue, Monclair! sleep off your wine, and allow the count to finish his story."
"Sleep off your eau-de-vie, you fellows!"
"I threw a billet-doux in at the window; she pretended to be angry at first; I did not appear again for four days, and on the fifth I found the little one on the balcony at midnight, peering into the darkness in quest of me!"
"Ah! that"s the way! it is always like that!"
"The next day, with the aid of a silk ladder, I stood by my charmer"s side!--You see, messieurs, that this affair was like every other; indeed, it was too easy--no jealous husband, no guardian keeping watch."
"Oh! that sort of thing is very insipid; when there"s no danger, there"s no pleasure."
"Oh! Sire de Beausseilly, what you say is altogether false; there is always pleasure in the conquest of a pretty girl! And it seems that this one is an angel of beauty.--Is that so, Leodgard?"
"Yes, she was very pretty."
"She _was_! Is she dead, pray?"
"No, but I have not seen her for several weeks; that is why I use the past tense."
"Oho! so it is already over?"
"Already? An amourette that lasts two months--is not that long enough?"
"It"s a long time!"
"It is too long!"
"It is never too long when one is happy."
"And then a mother arrived--a very unamiable person, so it seems, who had been absent a long while. If I had still been in love, the obstacles that would thenceforth have made our rendezvous an affair of some difficulty would have served only to sharpen my desires; but my love was extinct. Faith! the little one may look out for herself now as best she can; it is no longer any concern of mine."
"Well said! Of course, a gentleman could not run the risk of a controversy with churls!"
"Faith! messieurs, for my part, I care for none but _grandes dames_!
They are so adroit in carrying on an intrigue, they display so much coquetry, that it keeps you in breathless suspense! A fellow is much more in love when he is not certain that he is loved in return!"
"And you, Sire de Beausseilly?"
"I! do you suppose that I have patience to make love to a woman? to dance attendance on her and languish and sigh? Nonsense! never! I like the love affairs that give one no trouble!"
"Oh, yes! we all know what that means! He frequents Rue Fromenteau, Rue Tire-Boudin, Rue Brisemiche, Rue du Hurleur, Rue de la Vieille-Bouclerie."
"Peste! La Valteline, you seem to know perfectly where all the wantons"
houses are; for you mention all the streets to which _girls who are mad over their bodies_, as they are called, are obliged to confine themselves."
"One must needs know his Paris, messieurs."
"Yes; especially when one desires to meet _golden girdles_."
"Oh! messeigneurs, the edict of King Louis VIII has long been forgotten, and those damsels no longer comply with it; so that the proverb: "A good reputation is worth more than a golden girdle" has no meaning now."
"I say, messieurs, it must be very late."
"You mean that it must be very early in the morning!"
"About three o"clock, I fancy."
"Oh! more than that; it is four o"clock at least; I am sure that the dawn will soon be here."
"Do we propose to finish the night in this place?"
"It is very strange that Montrevert has not overtaken us!"
"He certainly will not come now!"
"I do not propose to wait for daylight to return to Paris, in the condition in which I am! If some _ame d.a.m.nee_ of the cardinal should happen to meet me, Richelieu would hear of it, and I should receive a sharp reprimand.--Come, messieurs, let us get up and go on."
"No, no!" murmured the Marquis de Senange, rolling over on the gra.s.s; "I am very comfortable here. Let La Valteline go, if he pleases! I shall stay; for when day breaks, the little dairymaids from the country will cross the Pont-aux-Choux; we will watch for the prettiest ones, and they will have to pay toll,--eh, Leodgard?--Well, he is still thinking of his losses at cards!"