"True; we shall go and return very quickly, and that will be so much gained."
"But, now I think of it, what are you to do? Your work will suffer from your visits to the prison."
"Oh, no, no; I have made my calculations. In the first place, I have my Sundays to myself, so I shall go and see Louise and Germain on those days; that will serve me for a walk and a change. Then, in the week, I shall go again to the prison once or twice. Each time will occupy me three good hours, won"t it? Well, to manage this comfortably, I shall work an hour more every day, and go to bed at twelve o"clock instead of eleven o"clock; that will be a clear gain of seven or eight hours a week, which I can employ in going to see Louise and Germain. You see I am richer than I appear," added Rigolette, with a smile.
"And you have no fear that you will be overfatigued?"
"Bah! Not at all; I shall manage it. And, besides, it can"t last for ever."
"Here is your shawl, neighbour."
"Fasten it; and mind you don"t p.r.i.c.k me."
"Ah, the pin is bent."
"Well, then, clumsy, take another then,--from the pincushion. Ah, I forgot! Will you do me a great favour, neighbour?"
"Command me, neighbour."
"Mend me a good pen, with a broad nib, so that when I return I may write to poor Germain, and tell him I have executed all his commissions. He will have my letter to-morrow morning in the prison, and that will give him pleasure."
"Where are your pens?"
"There,--on the table; the knife is in the drawer. Wait until I light my taper, for it begins to grow dusk."
"Yes, I shall see better how to mend the pen."
"And I how to tie my cap."
Rigolette lighted a lucifer-match, and lighted a wax-end in a small bright candlestick.
"The deuce,--a wax-light! Why, neighbour, what extravagance!"
"Oh, what I burn costs but a very small trifle more than a candle, and it"s so much cleaner!"
"Not much dearer?"
"Indeed, they are not! I buy these wax-ends by the pound, and a half a pound lasts nearly a year."
"But," said Rodolph, who was mending the pen very carefully, whilst the grisette was tying on her cap before the gla.s.s, "I do not see any preparations for your dinner."
"I have not the least appet.i.te. I took a cup of milk this morning, and I shall take another this evening, with a small piece of bread, and that will be enough for me."
"Then you will not take a dinner with me quietly after we have been to Germain"s?"
"Thank you, neighbour; but I am not in spirits,--my heart is too heavy,--another time with pleasure. But the evening when poor Germain leaves his prison, I invite myself, and afterwards you shall take me to the theatre. Is that a bargain?"
"It is, neighbour; and I a.s.sure you I will not forget the engagement.
But you refuse me this to-day?"
"Yes, M. Rodolph. I should be a very dull companion, without saying a word about the time it would occupy me; for, you see, at this moment, I really cannot afford to be idle, or waste one single quarter of an hour."
"Then, for to-day I renounce the pleasure."
"There is my parcel, neighbour. Now go out first, and I will lock the door."
"Here"s a capital pen for you; and now for the parcel."
"Mind you don"t rumple it; it is _pout-de-soie_, and soon creases. Hold it in your hand,--carefully,--there, in that way; that"s it. Now go, and I will show you a light."
And Rodolph descended the staircase, followed by Rigolette.
At the moment when the two neighbours were pa.s.sing by the door of the porter"s lodge they saw M. Pipelet, who, with his arms hanging down, was advancing towards them from the bottom of the pa.s.sage, holding in one hand the sign which announced his Partnership of Friendship with Cabrion, and in the other the portrait of the confounded painter.
Alfred"s despair was so overwhelming that his chin touched his breast, so that the wide crown of his bell-shaped hat was easily seen. Seeing him thus, with his head lowered, coming towards Rodolph and Rigolette, he might have been compared to a ram, or a brave Breton, preparing for combat.
Anastasie soon appeared on the threshold of the lodge, and exclaimed, at her husband"s appearance:
"Well, dearest old boy, here you are! And what did the commissary say to you? Alfred, Alfred, mind what you"re doing, or you"ll poke your head against my king of lodgers. Excuse him, M. Rodolph. It is that vagabond of a Cabrion, who uses him worse and worse. He"ll certainly turn my dear old darling into a donkey! Alfred, love, speak to me!"
At this voice, so dear to his heart, M. Pipelet raised his head. His features were impressed with a bitter agony.
"What did the commissary say to you?" inquired Anastasie.
"Anastasie, we must collect the few things we possess, embrace our friends, pack up our trunk, and expatriate ourselves from Paris,--from France,--from my beautiful France; for now, a.s.sured of impunity, the monster is capable of pursuing me everywhere, throughout the length and breadth of the departments of the kingdom."
"What, the commissary?"
"The commissary," exclaimed M. Pipelet, with fierce indignation,--"the commissary laughed in my teeth!"
"At you,--a man of mature age, with an air so respectable that you would appear as silly as a goose if one did not know your virtues?"
"Well, notwithstanding that, when I had respectfully deposed in his presence my ma.s.s of complaints and vexations against that infernal Cabrion, the magistrate, after having looked and laughed--yes, laughed, and, I may add, laughed indecorously--at the sign and the portrait which I brought with me as corroborative testimony,--the magistrate replied, "My good fellow, this Cabrion is a wag,--a practical joker. But pay no attention to his pleasantries. I advise you to laugh at him, and heartily, too, for really there is ample cause to do so." "To laugh at it, sir-r-r!" I exclaimed,--"to laugh at it, when grief consumes me,--when this scamp poisons my very existence; he placards me, and will drive me out of my wits. I demand that they imprison, exile the monster,--at least from my street!" At these words the commissary smiled, and politely pointed to the door. I understood the magistrate, sighed, and--and--here I am!"
"Good-for-nothing magistrate!" exclaimed Madame Pipelet.
"It is all over, Anastasie,--all is ended,--hope ceases. There"s no justice in France; I am really atrociously sacrificed."
And, by way of peroration, M. Pipelet dashed the sign and portrait to the farther end of the pa.s.sage with all his force. Rodolph and Rigolette had in the shade smiled at M. Pipelet"s despair. After having said a few words of consolation to Alfred, whom Anastasie was trying to calm as well as she could, the king of lodgers left the house in the Rue du Temple with Rigolette, and they both got into a coach to go to Francois Germain"s.
CHAPTER II.
THE WILL.
Francois Germain resided No. 11 Boulevard St. Denis. It may not be amiss to recall to the reader, who has probably forgotten the circ.u.mstance, that Madame Mathieu, the diamond-matcher, whose name has been already mentioned as the person for whom Morel the lapidary worked, lodged in the same house as Germain. During the long ride from the Rue du Temple to the Rue St. Honore, where dwelt the dressmaker for whom Rigolette worked, Rodolph had ample opportunities of more fully appreciating the fine natural disposition of his companion. Like all instinctively n.o.ble and devoted characters, she appeared utterly unconscious of the delicacy and generosity of her conduct, all she said and did seeming to her as the most simple and matter-of-course thing possible.