"I should not be under the necessity of asking you this question if I could be fortunate enough to see your veil lifted."
"Monsieur--"
"Pray do not think that I am actuated by any impertinent curiosity, madame. I am incapable of such rudeness; but as I pa.s.sed you on the Rue de Vaugirard, a few minutes ago, it seemed to me that I had met you before, and under very peculiar circ.u.mstances."
"And I must confess that I, too, thought--"
"You had met me before?"
"Yes, monsieur."
"In Chili, was it not?"
"About eight months ago?"
"A few miles from Valparaiso?"
"About nightfall?"
"On the borders of a lake. A party of bandits had attacked your carriage, madame."
"The approach of a party of travellers mounted upon mules, whose bells could be heard a long distance off, frightened the scoundrels away. This party which had just left Valparaiso met us--"
"Precisely as I met you on the Rue de Vaugirard, a few minutes ago, madame," said the man, smiling; "and to ensure your safety, one of the gentlemen of the party, with three of his escort, decided to accompany your carriage as far as the nearest village."
"And this traveller was you, monsieur. I remember you perfectly now, though I had the pleasure of seeing you only for a few moments, and in the dusk, as night comes on so quickly in Chili."
"And it was very dark by the time we reached the village of--of Balameda, if my memory does not play me false, madame."
"I do not remember the name of the village, monsieur, but what I do, and what I always shall remember, is your extreme kindness; for after you had escorted us to the village, you had to make great haste to overtake your party, which was travelling northward, it seems to me."
"Yes, madame."
"And you overtook your friends without any unpleasant accident, I trust?
We felt very uneasy on that score, the roads along those precipices are so dangerous; besides, those same bandits might still be lurking behind the rocks."
"My return was made in the most peaceful manner. My mule only had to quicken his pace a little, that is all."
"You must admit, monsieur, that it is very singular that an acquaintance made in the wilds of Chili should be renewed in the garden of the Luxembourg."
"It is, indeed, madame. But I see that it is beginning to snow. Will you permit me to offer you my arm and a shelter under my umbrella, until we can reach the nearest cab-stand?"
"I really fear that I am trespa.s.sing too much on your kindness," replied the lady, accepting the proffered courtesy, nevertheless.
Arm in arm, they accordingly directed their steps towards the cab-stand near the Odeon. They found but one vehicle there. The young woman entered it, but her companion, from delicacy, seemed in doubt as to whether he should or should not follow her.
"What are you waiting for, monsieur?" the lady asked, affably. "There are no other carriages here; will you not make use of this one?"
"I scarcely dared to ask such a favour," replied the gentleman, eagerly availing himself of the permission thus accorded. Then--
"What address shall I give the coachman?" he added.
"Ask him to take me where the Rue de Rivoli intersects the Place de la Concorde," replied the lady, with some slight embarra.s.sment. "I will wait under the arcade there until it stops snowing, as I have some business to attend to in that locality."
This order given, the coachman turned his horses" heads towards the right bank of the Seine.
"Do you know, I think our meeting more and more marvellous," remarked the young woman.
"While I admit that the meeting is singular, it seems to me even more agreeable than singular."
"No compliments, if you please, monsieur. They do very well for people who have nothing else to say to each other; and I confess that if you are inclined to gratify my curiosity, you will not have answered half the questions I want to put to you, when the time comes for us to separate."
"You should not tell me that; I shall be sure to become very diffuse in my style of conversation, in the hope that your curiosity--"
"Will inspire me with the desire to meet you a second time, if you do not tell me all to-day. Is that what you mean?"
"Yes, madame."
The lady smiled faintly, then she continued:
"But in order that we may take things in their natural course, tell me first what you were going to do in the northern part of Chili. I was returning from there myself, when I met you, eight months ago, and, as I know it is a region little frequented by travellers, you will understand and excuse a question which might otherwise sound too inquisitive, perhaps."
"Before answering this question, madame, it is absolutely necessary that I should give you some insight into my character; otherwise, you might mistake me for a madman."
"And why, monsieur?"
"Because I am possessed--devoured, perhaps, would be a better word--by such a continual desire to be moving, that for several years past, especially, I have not been able to remain a month in the same place. In short, I have a pa.s.sion, perhaps I ought rather to say a positive mania, for travel."
"Strange to say, I, too, experience the same unconquerable restlessness, the same longing to be continually on the go, the same intense aversion to repose, and, like you, I, myself, have found a most welcome diversion in travel, for several years past," the young woman responded, smothering a sigh.
"So you, too, madame, have a horror of the dull, lethargic, monotonous life which reminds one of that of an oyster on his bank, or of a snail in his sh.e.l.l?"
"To me torpor and immobility are death itself, yes, worse than death, for, unfortunately, one must be conscious of this apathy of mind and body."
"And yet, there are persons--one can scarcely call them living beings--who would gladly remain for months, and even years, in the same place, lost in a sort of dreamy ecstasy, and enjoying what they style the charm of _dolce far niente_."
"Yes, monsieur, yes; there are such people, as I know only too well."
"So you have had a like experience, madame? So you, too, have seen how hopelessly intractable such persons are,--how they will eventually triumph over the strongest wills?"
And the two gazed at each other in a sort of bewilderment, so astonished were they by this strange similarity in their experiences.
CHAPTER X.
CONTRADICTIONS.