Paul and His Dog Volume Ii Part 36

"You have failed to obtain the place that you expected, haven't you, Monsieur Edmond? Well, you must not be cast down on that account; we can afford to wait, it seems to me. I am so happy, now that my dear good friend has said that I shall be your wife, that I feel as if I could not be any happier."

Edmond did not feel the same way, and he could not restrain a sigh; but he kissed Agathe's hand and promised to be patient.

The girl lost no time in telling her friend what there was new at Ch.e.l.les since he went away.

"You must know, Monsieur Edmond, that a fine estate on the other side of the town, known as Goldfish Villa, has recently been sold. The people who have bought it are very rich, so they say; they have carriages and saddle horses. They have already given a great dinner, to which all the princ.i.p.al land owners of the neighborhood were invited; so that n.o.body speaks of them now without a reverence."

"I presume they called on you to invite you?"

"No indeed!" cried Honorine; "we have only a tiny house! We are not worthy to be admitted to such dazzling heights!"

"What you tell me gives me a very low opinion of these people to begin with. Are they young?"

"Yes!--that is to say, we have seen only the wife; but it seems that the husband is young too. As for the lady, she is very good-looking, a brunette with black eyes and an elegant figure; and she rides superbly."

"She rides, you say?"

"She does nothing else, and she pa.s.ses our house every day."

"Yes, and one day when I was at the window of the little summer-house at the end of the garden, she stared at me so persistently! Oh! I am quite sure that she will know me again."

"Probably she didn't expect to find such a sweet face in this part of the country."

"I don't know what she expected, but her manner of staring at me was not at all agreeable."

"And I," added Honorine with a laugh, "nearly had a duel with her."

"A duel! this is worse and worse! How came you to quarrel with this woman?"

"I was out on the road and I heard shrieks; it was that little boy we have told you about--the lost child, as he is called by the peasants--whom the beautiful amazon was thrashing with her hunting crop because he didn't get out of her way quickly enough. Naturally I took the child's part, which made the lady very angry with me. I must confess that the boy put himself in the wrong by throwing a lump of earth which struck the horse in the head; he reared, and his rider was furious. I don't know what she would not have done to little Emile if a defender had not arrived in the person of Ami, Monsieur Paul's dog, who bravely championed the cause of the weaker, and forced the amazon to beat a retreat. Since that day Ami comes very often to see us; he has no difficulty in making us hear, for he scratches, or rather knocks, at the small garden gate, until it is opened; he pa.s.ses a quarter of an hour with us, then goes back to the little gate and gives us to understand that he wants it opened; he looks at us both, sitting down in front of us, and offering us his paw like an old friend. That is by way of bidding us adieu, and then he trots off without further delay."

"And his master?"

"His master doesn't come himself, but he allows his dog to come; that is a good deal for him."

"I should be very glad to see that man; what you have told me about him has aroused my curiosity."

"We very rarely meet him; but it is probable that you will soon see Madame de Belleville."

"Madame de Belleville, did you say?"

"Yes, that's the name of the newcomers who have made so much stir. Do you know them?"

Freluchon had once told Edmond that Chamoureau called himself Monsieur de Belleville; but Thelenie's former lover had paid no attention. And yet the name sounded familiar to him; he tried to recall where and when he had heard it.

"Well," continued Agathe, "you don't answer me. I asked you if you knew Monsieur and Madame de Belleville?"

"I am trying to think, mademoiselle; the name is not unfamiliar to me."

"Try hard; something tells me that you do know that lady."

"What can make you think that, dear Agathe?" asked Honorine.

"The extraordinary way in which she stared at me."

"Really?--Then I hope to see her soon, in order to be able to tell you that you are mistaken."

"Tutu--turlututu."

"Ah! here's Pere Ledrux," said Honorine. "Well! did you carry off the black hen?"

"Yes, madame; and not a minute too soon! She was making the others as bad as herself. We shall have to watch now and see if the rooster hasn't taken a spite against another one. Because, you see, when the rooster is down on a hen, he thrashes her till she dies--and that makes the others feel bad."

"Really, Pere Ledrux, I wouldn't have believed that there were so many crimes committed in a hencoop."

"Oh, yes! and everywhere else. Animals, you see, they ain't any better or worse than us humans; they hate each other and they fight!"

Agathe had become pensive; Edmond meanwhile was wondering if Madame de Belleville could possibly be Thelenie.

The gardener, who loved to gossip, continued:

"This little place of ours is getting well filled up; and more swells, too--a baron! nothing less."

"What do you say, Pere Ledrux? there's a baron in the village?"

"Just that--a real baron, who's hired a little belvedere within a couple of days; it's about the size of a dovecote, but Monsieur Remplume calls it a belvedere. It's right at one end of his land, and he's let it to this German baron, who's an intimate friend, so they say, of the owners of the confectioner's place, or Goldfish Villa; he's dined there twice already."

"Why, you know everything, Pere Ledrux."

"I tell you! I've seen the baron walking arm-in-arm with Monsieur de Belleville. So then I says to myself: 'It seems that they know each other and are good friends.'"

"What sort of looking man is this German?"

"Well! he's neither young nor old; he ain't much to look at; in fact, he's terrible homely; but he's got rings on his fingers, gold fal-lals on his watch chain, and a fine cane with a gold head too. Oh! he looks as if he was well fixed. Monsieur Remplume says he's a n.o.bleman from the Bavarian country."

"And his name?"

"Wait a minute; it's a hard name to p.r.o.nounce; Baron _j'tape_--and then a _merg_! I could never get the name right. But look, I see him now on the road--yes, here comes this newly-arrived baron, walking with Madame de Belleville. If you want to get a look at them, all you've got to do is to go up to your little summer-house."

"Really, it's too good an opportunity to lose. Come, Monsieur Edmond,"

said Honorine; "you shall see Madame de Belleville and this newcomer who, we are told, is a German baron."

The party entered the little summer-house and went to the window.

Thelenie, who was on foot this time, was walking very slowly, talking with her brother, but she had not taken his arm.

Croque was dressed in a brand-new black _redingote_ and trousers; his boots were polished, his hat, although c.o.c.ked over his ear, was new and glossy; he wore kid gloves, on which he kept his eyes fixed, and well-starched shirt-cuffs, which he made haste to pull down when they disappeared under his sleeves.

They were walking quite slowly and Thelenie seemed to be speaking with much earnestness. Croque, as he listened to her, strutted proudly along in his new clothes, and twirled his cane.