The Bath Keepers Volume I Part 29

But one morning Ambroisine came to Landry's establishment, and was much surprised to be able to reach Bathilde's room without meeting her mother's sour face and hearing her say:

"My daughter is busy; don't stay long, for it disturbs her."

When she learned that her friend's mother was away from Paris, Ambroisine uttered a cry of joy, and said to Bathilde:

"What! you have been free for several days, and you haven't sent me word or come to see me?"

"You know very well that I never go out."

"Because your mother is not willing; but when she is away----"

"Oh! father wouldn't let me go out, either; mother is sure to have told him not to!"

"Well, I will bet that he would; I will bet that your father will not be so strict, that he will understand that you have no pleasure, no distraction at all, and that it is not fair that a poor girl should pa.s.s her best days shut up in her room. Look you, I have a G.o.dmother, a nice old woman, a farmer's wife, who lives in the village of Vincennes. I never have time to go there, nor does my father; and yet Mere Moulineau--that is my G.o.dmother--often sends us little cheeses and cream, and begs us to come to see her. The poor woman is old and infirm and can't come to Paris. Every day, I say to father: 'To-morrow I will go to see my G.o.dmother Moulineau;' and he says: 'Go, my child.'--Well, Bathilde, if you like, I will take you with me, and we will sleep at G.o.dmother's. Ah! she will give us a warm welcome; she will be so glad to see me!"

"Oh! father wouldn't allow me to sleep away from our house."

"After all, perhaps you would find it tiresome at my G.o.dmother's.--By the way, it just occurs to me--the day after to-morrow is the day for the Fire of Saint-Jean on Place de Greve. Father has promised to take me there; I have never seen it, and they say it's beautiful; will you come with us?"

"Will I! Why, you know very well that I should be overjoyed--I who know nothing and have never seen anything. But I shall never dare to ask father to let me go; he would refuse."

"Perhaps so, if you asked him; but if my father, his friend, his comrade, should undertake the mission----"

"Your father! do you think that he would be willing to ask him that?"

"Why not? Father is kind-hearted, he loves me dearly, he sees no harm in his daughter having a little enjoyment sometimes. When it is a respectable kind of pleasure, where is the harm? Because one enjoys one's self a little, does that prevent one from behaving decently. Never fear--I will send him here, to your father, to-morrow, and the day after to-morrow you will come with us."

"Oh! if it might be true!"

"I have made up my mind, and it shall be. I have a will of my own, you see!"

And in fact, on the day following this interview, Master Hugonnet, to gratify his daughter's wish, betook himself to his confrere Landry's shop, and, while emptying a jug of wine with him, said:

"I have a request to make of you, comrade."

"Speak; you know that if I can be of service to you in any way, I am at your disposal--I and my old blade, which is still serviceable at need!"

"Oh! I know the worth of your blade and the strength of your arm, but there is no question of them in what I have to ask.--You know that my girl is a friend of yours, that it is her greatest joy to be with her--for they have known each other a number of years; they were children when their acquaintance began; but now they are big girls, and their friendship has grown like their bodies!"

While Master Hugonnet was speaking, Landry played with his moustache, but did not frown.

"I know all that," he said at last, when his friend paused to take a drink. "Well! what then?"

"Well! I myself seize every opportunity that presents itself to provide my daughter with a little pleasure; for Ambroisine deserves it! The wench keeps my house in fine shape! she has brains and activity and character! She's a good girl, I tell you, and doesn't let the c.o.xcombs and gallants, no, nor the grands seigneurs themselves,--and many of them come to my shop, G.o.d knows!--talk nonsense to her. When they try to be too free in their manners with Ambroisine--jernidie! she has a tongue and nails, and a stout fist. You should see how she makes them dance!"

"She does well. But what then?"

"Why, to-morrow is the ceremony of the Fire of Saint-Jean on Place de Greve; Ambroisine has never seen it, so she asked me to take her there, and I promised; but she told me, too, that she would be much happier if her young friend Bathilde could come with us, because she knew it would be a great pleasure for your daughter, who--who--who has none too many!

You see, comrade, it isn't right to work all the time and never have any amus.e.m.e.nt; on the contrary, when one is young is when one should enjoy one's self. We old fellows still make merry once in a way, when we have an opportunity; and then, after all, where's the harm in a young girl having a little amus.e.m.e.nt, when it's with the knowledge of her parents and under their eyes? To cut it short, comrade, the purpose of all this is to ask you to confide your daughter Bathilde to me to-morrow, in the latter part of the afternoon, so that I may take her with Ambroisine to see the Fire of Saint-Jean; unless you will come with us, which would be much better."

As he listened to this request from his old friend, the ex-trooper's brow became clouded, and he caressed his gray moustache for a long while before replying:

"But, you see, I promised Ragonde not to let Bathilde go out."

"Alone! I understand that; but won't she be as safe with me and my daughter as with you? Come, come! jernidie! let us not be so strict with our children; if our parents had always been so with us, it wouldn't have tended to make us worship them."

"Well!" Landry said at last, after a moment's hesitation; "come to-morrow and fetch Bathilde; I will try to join you later."

You know now by what concatenation of circ.u.mstances Bathilde found herself on Ambroisine's arm on the square where the Fire of Saint-Jean was to be celebrated.

XVIII

THE CROWD

"I say, Bahuchet! come this way; we can see the show explode much better!"

"Just wait, Plumard; before I can pa.s.s, this lady in front of me will have to move; and her equilibrium is stable, I tell you! Once planted, she's like the tower of Notre-Dame! there's no way of moving her."

"What's that you say, blackguards, ne'er-do-wells, miserable little Basochians! You come here to insult ladies! you're good for nothing else! The idea of moving for such gentry!"

"Oh! mon Dieu! madame seems to be getting excited! because she has a fine new petticoat with fal-lals on it, and a silver buckle on her belt!--I say, Plumard, I thought there was an edict providing that only strumpets and pickpockets might wear gold or silver on their clothes?"

"Oh, yes! an edict of Henri IV. But perhaps this stout lady is within her rights!"

"Ah! you little villains, if the watch was pa.s.sing, I'd have you apprehended!"

"Oho! the watch!"

"Aha! apprehended! she must be an attorney's wife."

"Don't push me, or I'll box your ears!"

"If you don't choose to be pushed here, you should come in a sedan chair."

"Or on your husband's mule."

"With his junior clerk.--Well! I must pa.s.s, all the same."

"You are treading on my foot, monsieur!"

"Why do you put your feet on the ground? in a crowd like this, you should stand on the air or perch on your neighbors."

"Oh! look yonder, Bahuchet! there's a lady with a mask!"

"Because she is ugly; that is why she doesn't choose to show her face."