The Bath Keepers Volume Ii Part 21

And then Ambroisine, who loved the little girl almost as dearly as her mother did, rarely let a day pa.s.s without coming to see Bathilde's child; so that, when he went to the Hotel de Marvejols, Jarnonville was almost certain to meet the fair G.o.dmother there; which was an additional motive for him to go thither often.

Bathilde saw with pride and rapture that her daughter became every day lovelier and sweeter; she was happy in the affection which everyone manifested for the child; but in the midst of her joy, surrounded by her faithful friends, with her child in her arms, she sometimes raised her eyes toward heaven and sighed, saying:

"Ah! if her father could see her, I am very sure that he too would love her!"

x.x.xVIII

THE ORANGE CHEVALIER

We left the Chevalier Pa.s.sedix, dressed in his orange-colored costume, just as he parted from the two clerks who had sold him his second-hand clothes, intending to exhibit himself for admiration in the streets of Paris, and, above all, to try to fall in with Miretta, of whom he was still deeply enamored, and whose favor he flattered himself upon winning in his new costume.

But to no purpose did the Gascon chevalier scour the streets during the whole afternoon and a large part of the night; he did not see the woman whom he burned to meet.

By way of compensation for his bad luck, Pa.s.sedix finished the night in a low resort which closely resembled a bawdy house; and there he became completely drunk by dint of treating all the habitues of the place who complimented him on his costume and on the n.o.ble way in which he wore it.

For some time Pa.s.sedix continued to lead a jovial life, turning night into day, pa.s.sing a great part of his time at the table, and parading through the streets during entire evenings; then betaking himself to the wine shop, treating his acquaintances and even perfect strangers, getting tipsy regularly every night, and returning at daybreak to the Hotel du Sanglier, where, the next morning, old Popelinette, with the utmost zeal, administered tea or some other calming potion of the sort that is often necessary to a man who leads such a disorderly life.

But sometimes, on the morrow of a more highly spiced debauch than usual, our Gascon, as he drank the cup of tea prepared by Popelinette, would heave tremendous sighs, run his hands through his hair, and stare at the ceiling, crying:

"Sandis! I would never have believed it! Ah! Popelinette, so it is true that wealth does not bring happiness!"

"Bah! is it possible, monsieur le chevalier?"

"The fact that I say it proves that it is possible! Now I have my pockets full of gold; I can indulge myself with the most exquisite dishes, the rarest wines."

"And you don't stint yourself, I should say!"

"Of course I do not stint myself! I must needs make the crowns dance, and do myself credit with my wealth! I breakfast for four, I dine for six, I sup like the greatest epicure in France; I receive eloquent glances from all sides until I am fairly bewildered; I gamble; I often frequent tennis courts; I am very strong at tennis--I always lose, but I am very strong at it; you should see how I send back the _esteuf_!

People flock to see me play at the courts in Rue de la Perle and Rue Ca.s.sette, and especially at the fine court in Rue Mazarine. In short, Popelinette, I lead what is called a joyous life."

"Oh! as to that, there's no doubt!"

"Well! I am not joyous at all; amid all these pleasures, I sigh, I languish.--Sandioux! your tea is devilishly insipid this morning; put some more sugar in it!--Yes, I would give all these parties, all these banquets, for a glance from my love!--Alas!"

"Aha! so you have a love who won't look at you, monsieur le chevalier?"

"What a blockhead you are, Popelinette!--She doesn't look at me, because I am not before her eyes. It is a century since I saw her; I cannot succeed in meeting her. In fact, she has not seen me since I have had this elegant costume, which all the women dote on, and thanks to which I make conquests at every step. Not a woman who does not turn to look at me!"

"Bless me! it's true enough, monsieur le chevalier, that you're very funny-looking in those orange-colored clothes!"

"Funny-looking! what do you mean by funny-looking, old woman?--Pray try to use more elegant language; you talk like a goose, Popelinette, and you serve me hot water instead of tea! Take away this drug, and prepare me an emollient not to be taken through the mouth--do you understand?--Go, old witch, and be careful not to call me funny-looking again, or I will bury Roland in your half-moons!"

The old woman withdrew, grumbling, and Pa.s.sedix paced his room as if he were rehearsing a scene from a tragedy.

"O Miretta!" he cried; "caprice of my heart! Shouldst thou but see me now, I cannot believe that thou wouldst be so cruel; women love fine apparel upon themselves and upon those who pay court to them. I was infernally seedy when thou didst know me, and that must have done me much discredit in thy sight.--And to think that I cannot meet her! I have planted myself like a sentinel twenty times in front of the Hotel de Mongarcin, but she has not come out. I cannot stand there all day long, especially as I attract too much attention--the women gather about me in flocks!--No matter! I will see my fascinating brunette again--I swear it by Roland!"

About midday Pa.s.sedix issued forth once more, saying to himself:

"I will turn my steps in another direction; perhaps chance will be more favorable to me."

And for two hours the orange chevalier traversed the Saint-Honore quarter and the Halles in all directions. Then he changed his route, and, turning toward the Cloister of Saint-Merri, entered Rue Brisemiche, then in very bad repute, being specially a.s.signed for the residence of prost.i.tutes. At the end of the fourteenth century, the Provost of Paris had, at the request of the cure of Saint-Merri, issued an edict expelling the _golden girdles_ from Rue Brisemiche and Rue Tire-Boudin; but certain bourgeois resisted the execution of this edict and insisted upon maintaining the prost.i.tutes in possession of those streets. And the Parliament, by a decree of January 21, 1388, ratified the opposition of the bourgeois!--What do you think of the _good old times_?

Pa.s.sedix had just pa.s.sed a dark second-hand clothes shop of very grimy aspect, when a little man, advanced in years, but thickset and powerful, who was taking the air on the threshold of the shop in question, having scrutinized the chevalier for a moment, set up a screech worthy of a peac.o.c.k, and, darting after the saunterer, overtook him and seized him by his cloak.

"Ah! I have him! here he is!--Oh! you won't get away from me, my buck!"

Surprised by this sudden attack, the Gascon turned, eyed the clothes dealer with a disdainful air, and tried to release his cloak, saying:

"Who in the devil are you seizing, my good man? You have certainly made a mistake; you should try wearing spectacles.--Let this cloak alone, cadedis! you will rumple it!"

But the dealer had strong hands; he did not release the cloak, and so detained Pa.s.sedix, shouting all the while:

"Let you go, you thief, you brigand! Oh, no! you shall not get away from me! This is my merchandise: cloak, doublet, short-clothes, and even the girdle--nothing is missing!--What an impudent knave you must be, to walk about with it all on your body!--Help, friends, neighbors! Help! Watch!

watch! Come and help me arrest a thief!"

"A thief!" the cry was echoed on all sides; people ran to the spot, and in a trice a compact crowd surrounded the two struggling men.

"He takes me for a thief!" exclaimed Pa.s.sedix, addressing the witnesses of the scene. "I should find it very amusing, if I were not afraid that this clown would tear my cloak! Sandis! if he makes the slightest rent in it, I will make him pay for it!"

"He will make me pay for what is mine, what he stole from my own nephew!" exclaimed the shopkeeper. "Ah! you villain! you don't belie your reputation.--My friends, messieurs, mesdemoiselles, do you know who this man is? He is Giovanni! the celebrated Giovanni! the Italian robber who has been working Paris for a long while, and whom the police can never catch! Well! I have caught him, I have! And I promise you that I won't let him go.--It's a great capture! Help me take him to the guardhouse at the Chatelet; we shall render a great service to society!"

"Giovanni! Giovanni!" cried the bystanders. And one and all pushed and crowded and stood on tiptoe, trying to obtain a better view of the famous brigand of whom everyone was talking, and of whom stories were told that made women and children, and often husbands and brothers too, quake with fear.

"What! is that the Italian brigand?" said a bourgeois; "I have heard that he has a horrible face. This tall fellow makes me more inclined to laugh."

"I was told he is a handsome young man," said a corpulent matron; "this man is very ugly and he isn't young."

"He hasn't a surly look at all, this cavalier," said a tradesman; "are you quite sure, neighbor, that you are not mistaken?"

"Am I sure!" cried the dealer in clothes; "why, it's very easy to explain.--I intrusted to my nephew Plumard, a solicitor's clerk, the complete costume, orange silk, slashed with lemon, which this man is wearing. My nephew Plumard came back and told me, with tears in his eyes, that he had been attacked and robbed in Rue des Bourdonnais by the brigand Giovanni, dressed in the costume in which he is always seen.--Now, then, as this man is wearing the complete outfit that I intrusted to my nephew, he must be the man who stole it; and he must have been very glad to put on this costume, because he knows that the police have his description in the other."

"Yes, yes, he's Giovanni, he's the robber!" cried the crowd, inclined, like all crowds, to find a culprit.

"We must take him to the Chatelet; we mustn't let him escape. Let's take away his long sword!"

"Sandioux! you are cowards all!" shouted Pa.s.sedix, drawing Roland from the scabbard, and trying to force his way through the mult.i.tude. "This old clothes man is a fool--I don't know him! The clothes I have on I paid for in honest crowns--thirty pistoles, do you hear?"

"The proof that he lies," cried the second-hand dealer, "is that I asked only fifteen pistoles for the complete outfit, as it was second-hand."

"Ah! the blackguards! the reptiles! they cheated me!" rejoined the Gascon. "But I paid for the whole suit, none the less. Let the man who says I did not, come forward; I offer to fight him to the death--with dagger, sword, or partisan!"

But no one listened to the chevalier, because they were only too glad to be able to believe that they had Giovanni in their hands.

Meanwhile several soldiers and arquebusiers had forced their way into the crowd, and the unfortunate Pa.s.sedix was speedily disarmed; they bound his hands behind his back and forced him to go with them to the Chatelet, while the crowd heaped insults upon him and beat him with their fists. The little clothes dealer headed the procession, which increased in size every moment, because all the pa.s.sers-by and shop clerks on the route they traversed, when they heard someone say: "It is Giovanni whom they have arrested," hastened to join the crowd, hoping to obtain a glimpse of the brigand who had caused them to tremble with dread for many months.