"Why are we to disturb ourselves? Good G.o.d, isn"t it enough that she should be like that?"
I laughed, as I blew out my cigarette smoke.
"This is an old story," said I. "She is not in love with you, I suppose?
That"s it, isn"t it?"
"It"s not the absence of the fact," said he, with a smile; "it"s the want of the potentiality that is so deplorable."
"Why torment Struboff, though?"
"Struboff?" he repeated, knitting his brows. "Ah, now Struboff is worth tormenting! You won"t believe me; but he can feel."
"I was right, then; I thought he could."
"You saw it?"
"My prospects, perhaps, quicken my wits."
My arm was through his, and he pressed it between his elbow and his side.
"You see," said he, "perversity runs through it all. She should feel; he should not. It seems she doesn"t, but he does. Heavens, would you accept such a conclusion without the fullest experiment? For me, I am determined to test it."
"Still you"re in love with her."
"Agreed, agreed, agreed. A man must have a spur to knowledge."
We parted at the Place de la Concorde, and I strolled on alone to my hotel. Vohrenlorf was waiting for me, a little anxious, infinitely sleepy. I dismissed him at once, and sat down to read my letters. I had the feeling that I would think about all these matters to-morrow, but I was also pervaded by a satisfaction. My mind was being fed. The air here nourished, the air of Artenberg starved. I complimented Paris on a virtue not her own; the house in the Rue Washington was the source of my satisfaction.
There was a letter from Varvilliers; he wrote from Hungary, where he was on a visit. Here is something of what he said:
"There is a charming lady here, and we fall in love, all according to mode and fashion. (The b.u.t.tons are on the foils, pray understand.) It is the simplest thing in the world; the whole process might, as I believe, be digested into twelve elementary motions or thereabouts. The information is given and received by code; it is like playing whist. "How much have you?"
her eyes ask. "A pa.s.sion," I answer by the code. "I have a _penchant_," comes from her side of the table. "I am leading up to it," say I. "I am returning the lead." Good! But then comes hers (or mine), "I have no more." Alas! Well then, I lead, or she leads, another suit. It"s a good game; and our stakes are not high. You, sire, would like signals harder to read, I know your taste. You"re right there. And don"t you make the stakes higher?
I have plunged into indiscretion; if I did not, you would think that Bederhof had forged my handwriting. Unless I am stopped on the frontier I shall be in Forstadt in three weeks."
I dropped the letter with a laugh, wondering whether the charming lady played the game as he did and a stake as light. Or did she suffer? Well, anybody can suffer. The talent is almost universal. There was, it seemed, reason to suppose that Struboff suffered. I acquiesced, but with a sense of discontent. Pain should not be vulgarized. Varvilliers"
immunity gave him a new distinction in my eyes.
CHAPTER XXIV.
WHAT A QUESTION!
Struboff"s inevitable discovery of my real name was a disaster; it delayed my operations for three days, since it filled his whole being with a sense of abas.e.m.e.nt and a hope of gain, thereby suspending for the time those emotions in him which had excited my curiosity. Clearly he had unstinted visions of lucrative patronage, dreams, probably, of a piece of coloured ribbon for his b.u.t.ton-hole, and a right to try to induce people to call him "Chevalier." He made Coralie a present, handsome enough. I respected the conscientiousness of this act; my friendship was an unlooked-for profit, a bonus on the marriage, and he gave his wife her commission. But he seemed cased in steel against any confidence; he trembled as he poured me out a gla.s.s of wine. He had pictured me only as a desirable appendage to a gala performance; it is, of course, difficult to realize that the points at which people are important to us are not those at which they are important to themselves.
However I made progress at last. The poor man"s was a sad case; the sadder because only with constant effort could the onlooker keep its sadness disengaged from its absurdity, and remember that unattractiveness does not exclude misery. The wife in a marriage of interest is the spoiled child of romancers; scarcely any is rude enough to say, "Well, who put you there?" The husband in such a partnership gains less attention; at the most, he is allowed a subordinate share of the common stock of woe. The clean case for observation--he miserable, she miles away from any such poignancy of emotion--was presented by Coralie"s consistency. It was not in her to make a bargain and pull grimaces when she was asked to fulfil it. True, she interpreted it in her own way. "I promised to marry you. Well, I have. How are you wronged, _mon cher_? But did I promise to speak to you, to like you?
_Mon Dieu!_ who promised, or would ever promise, to love you?" The mingled impatience and amus.e.m.e.nt of such questions expressed themselves in her neglect of him and in her yawns. Under his locket, and his paunch, and his layers, he burned with pain; Wetter was laying the blisters open to the air, that their sting might be sharper. At last, sorely beset, he divined a sympathy in me. He thought it disinterested, not perceiving that he had for me the fascination of a travesty of myself, and that in his marriage I enjoyed a burlesque presentiment of what mine would be. That point of view was my secret until Wetter"s quick wit penetrated it; he worked days before he found out why I was drawn to the impresario; his discovery was hailed with a sudden laugh and a glance, but he put nothing into words. Both to him and to me the thing was richer for reticence; in the old phrase, the drapery enhanced the charms which it did not hide.
A day came when I asked the husband to luncheon with me. I sent Vohrenlorf away; we sat down together, Struboff swelling with pride, seeing himself telling the story in the wings, meditating the appearance and multiplication of paragraphs. I said not a word to discourage the visions; we talked of how Coralie should make fame and he money; he grew enthusiastic, guttural, and severe on the Steinberg. I ordered more Steinberg, and fished for more enthusiasm. I put my purse at his disposal; he dipped his fingers deep, with an anxious furtive eagerness. The loan was made, or at least pledged, before it flashed across my brain that the money was destined for Wetter--he wanted to pay off Wetter. We were nearing the desired ground.
"My dear M. Struboff," said I, "you must not allow yourself to be embarra.s.sed. Great properties are slow to develop; but I have patience with my investments. Clear yourself of all claims. Money troubles fritter away a man"s brains, and you want yours."
He muttered something about temporary scarcity.
"It would be intolerable that madame should be bothered with such matters," I said.
He gulped down his Steinberg and gave a snort. The sound was eloquent, although not sweet. I filled his gla.s.s and handed him a cigar. He drank the wine, but laid the cigar on the table and rested his head on his hand.
"And women like to have money about," I pursued, looking at the veins on his forehead.
"I"ve squandered money on her," he said. "Good money."
"Yes, yes. One"s love seeks every mode of expression. I"m sure she"s grateful."
He raised his eyes and looked at me. I was smoking composedly.
"Were you once in love with my wife?" he asked bluntly. His deference wore away under the corrosion of Steinberg and distress.
"Let us choose our words, my dear M. Struboff. Once I professed attachment to Mlle. Mansoni."
"She loved you?"
"It is discourteous not to accept any impression that a lady wishes to convey to you," I answered, smiling.
"Ah, you know her!" he cried, bringing his fist down on the table.
"Not the least in the world," I a.s.sured him. "Her beauty, her charm, her genius--yes, we all know those. But her soul! That"s her husband"s prerogative."
There was silence for a moment, during which he still looked at me, his thick eyelids half hiding the pathetic gaze of his little eyes.
"My life"s a h.e.l.l!" he said, and laid his head between his hands on the table. I saw a shudder in his fat shoulders.
"My dear M. Struboff," I murmured, as I rose and walked round to him. I did not like touching him, but I forced myself to pat his shoulder kindly. "Women take whims and fancies," said I, as I walked back to my seat.
He raised his head and set his chin between his fists.
"She took me for what she could get out of me," said he.
"Shall we be just? Didn"t you look to get something out of her?"
"Yes. I married her for that," he answered. "But I"m a d.a.m.ned fool! I saw that she loathed me; it isn"t hard to see. You see it; everybody sees it."
"And you fell in love with her? That was breaking the bargain, wasn"t it?" It crossed my mind that I might possibly break my bargain with Elsa. But the peril was remote.
"My G.o.d, it"s maddening to be treated like a beast. Am I repulsive, am I loathsome?"
"What a question, my dear M. Struboff!"