As he was rumpling her dress she ended by disengaging herself, murmuring by way of compensation as she did so:
"Go; I love you well, my puss."
But he seized her by the waist and seized by madness, carried her rapidly away. He kissed her on the cheek, on the temple, on the neck, all the while dancing with joy. They threw themselves down panting at the edge of a thicket, lit up by the rays of the setting sun, and before they had recovered breath they became friends again without her understanding his transport.
They returned, holding each other by the hand, when suddenly, across the trees, they perceived on the river, the canoe manned by the four women.
The large Pauline also saw them, for she drew herself up and blew kisses to Madeleine. And then she cried:
"Until to-night!"
Madeleine replied:
"Until to-night!"
Paul believed he suddenly felt his heart enveloped in ice.
They re-entered the house for dinner.
They installed themselves in one of the arbors, close to the water, and set about eating in silence. When night arrived, they brought a candle inclosed in a gla.s.s globe, which lit them up with a feeble and glimmering light; and they heard every moment the bursting out of the shouts of the boatmen in the great saloon on the first floor.
Towards dessert, Paul, taking Madeleine"s hand, tenderly said to her:
"I feel very tired, my darling; unless you have any objection, we will go to bed early."
She, however, understood the ruse, and shot an enigmatical glance at him, that glance of treachery which so readily appears at the bottom of a woman"s eyes. Then having reflected she answered:
"You can go to bed if you wish, but I have promised to go to the ball at La Grenonillere."
He smiled in a piteous manner, one of those smiles with which one veils the most horrible suffering, but he replied in a coaxing but agonized tone:
"If you were very kind, we should remain here, both of us."
She indicated no with her head, without opening her mouth.
He insisted:
"I beg of you, my Bichette."
Then she roughly broke out:
"You know what I said to you. If you are not satisfied the door is open.
No one wishes to keep you. As for myself, I have promised; I shall go."
He placed his two elbows upon the table, covered his face with his hands and remained there pondering sorrowfully.
The boat people came down again, bawling as usual. They set off in their vessels for the ball at La Grenonillere.
Madeleine said to Paul:
"If you are not coming, say so, and I will ask one of these gentlemen to take me."
Paul rose:
"Let us go!" murmured he.
And they left.
The night was black, full of stars, overpowered by a burning air, by oppressive breaths of wind, burdened with heat and emanations, with living germs, which, mixed with the breeze, destroyed its freshness. It imparted to the face a heated caress, made one breathe more quickly, gasp a little, so thick and heavy did it seem. The boats started on their way bearing venetian lanterns at the prow. It was not possible to distinguish the craft, but only these little colored lights, swift and dancing up and down like glow-worms in a fit; and voices sounded from all sides in the shade. The young people"s skiff glided gently along. Now and then, when a fast boat pa.s.sed near them, they could, for a moment, see the white back of the rower, lit up by his lantern.
When they turned the elbow of the river, La Grenonillere appeared to them in the distance. The establishment, en fete, was decorated with sconces, with colored garlands draped with cl.u.s.ters of lights. On the Seine some great barges moved about slowly, representing domes, pyramids and elaborate erections in fires of all colors. Illuminated festoons hung right down to the water, and sometimes a red or blue lantern, at the end of an immense invisible fishing-rod, seemed like a great swinging star.
All this illumination spread a light around the cafe, lit up the great trees on the bank, from top to bottom, the trunks of which stood out in pale gray and the leaves in a milky green upon the deep black of the fields and the heavens. The orchestra, composed of five suburban artists, flung far its public-house ball-music, poor and jerky, which caused Madeleine to sing anew.
She desired to enter at once. Paul desired first to take a turn on the island, but he was obliged to give way. The attendance was more select.
The boatmen, always alone, remained with some thinly scattered citizens, and some young men flanked by girls. The director and organizer of this can-can majestic, in a jaded black suit, walked about in every direction, his head laid waste by his old trade of purveyor of public amus.e.m.e.nts, at a cheap rate.
The large Pauline and her companions were not there; and Paul breathed again.
They danced; couples opposite each other, capered in the most distracted manner, throwing their legs in the air, until they were upon a level with the noses of their partners.
The women, whose thighs were disjointed, skipped amid such a flying upwards of their petticoats that the lower portions of their frames were displayed. They kicked their feet up above their heads with astounding facility, balanced their bodies, wagged their backs and shook their sides, shedding around them a powerful scent of sweating womanhood.
The men were squatted like toads, some making obscene signs; some turned and twisted themselves, grimacing and hideous; some turned like a wheel on their hands, or, perhaps, trying to make themselves funny, sketched the manners of the day with exaggerated gracefulness.
A fat servant-maid and two waiters served refreshments.
This cafe-boat being only covered with a roof and having no wall whatever, to shut it in, the hare-brained dance was displayed in the face of the peaceful night and of the firmament powdered with stars.
Suddenly, Mount Valerien, yonder opposite, appears illumined, as if a conflagration had been set ablaze behind it. The radiance spreads itself and deepens upon the sky, describing a large luminous circle of wan and white light. Then something or other red appeared, grew greater, shining with a burning red, like that of hot metal upon the anvil. That gradually developed into a round body which seemed to arise from the earth; and the moon, freeing herself from the horizon, rose slowly into s.p.a.ce. In proportion as she ascended, the purple tint faded and became yellow, a shining bright yellow, and the satellite appeared to grow smaller in proportion as her distance increased.
Paul watched her for sometime, lost in contemplation, forgetting his mistress, and when he returned to himself the latter had vanished.
He sought for her, but could not find her. He threw his anxious eye over table after table, going to and fro unceasingly, inquiring after her from this one and that one. No one had seen her. He was thus tormented with disquietude, when one of the waiters said to him:
"You are looking for Madame Madeleine, are you not? She has left but a few moments ago, in company with Madame Pauline." And at the same instant, Paul perceived the cabin-boy and the two pretty girls standing at the other end of the cafe, all three holding each others" waists and lying in wait for him, whispering to one another. He understood, and, like a madman, dashed off into the island.
He first ran towards Chatou, but having reached the plain, retraced his steps. Then he began to search the dense coppices, occasionally roamed about distractedly, halting to listen.
The toads all round about him poured out their metallic and short notes.
Towards Bougival, some unknown bird warbled some song which reached him from the distance.
Over the large lawns the moon shed a soft light, resembling powdered wool; it penetrated the foliage and shone upon the silvered bark of the poplars, and riddled with its brilliant rays the waving tops of the great trees. The entrancing poetry of this summer night had, in spite of himself, entered into Paul, athwart his infatuated anguish, and stirred his heart with a ferocious irony, increasing even to madness, his craving for an ideal tenderness, for pa.s.sionate outpourings of the bosom of an adored and faithful woman. He was compelled to stop, choked by hurried and rending sobs.
The crisis over, he started anew.
Suddenly, he received what resembled the stab of a poignard. There, behind that bush, some people were kissing. He ran thither; and found an amorous couple whose faces were entwined, united in an endless kiss.