The Flower Girl of The Chateau d'Eau Volume I Part 26

"And I the Nose," said Chambourdin.

"But what on earth can this play be in which there's an Eye and a Nose?"

queried Monsieur Camuzard, appealing once more to his neighbor. "I can't imagine, can you, madame?"

"I, monsieur? Why I am accustomed to seeing them in all the plays that are acted, and it doesn't seem at all strange to me."

Far from satisfied with this reply, Monsieur Camuzard dropped his chin on his cravat and his nose beneath his spectacles.

The choice of plays being made, they sent out for books, in order to distribute the roles during the evening. Then they left the table and returned to the salon, where other guests, invited for the evening, were already a.s.sembled.

In the confusion that takes place when a number of people pa.s.s from one room to another, it is very easy to approach a person to whom one has something to say. A lover never lets that opportunity escape him, when he has not been seated beside the lady of his thoughts at dinner.

On this occasion it was a lady, who, as if without design, seated herself in a corner of the salon where a gentleman was already standing.

The lady was the Baronne de Grangeville, and she said to Monsieur de Merval in an undertone:

"Have I changed so very much, pray, that Monsieur de Merval does not recognize me?"

"Pardon me, madame--I recognized you perfectly the instant that you arrived."

"In that case, why did you not speak to me?"

"You have changed your name and I supposed that you did not wish to be recognized; I respected your incognito."

"If I have changed my name, you must be well aware of the--the reason; you must have learned of what--of what happened to me."

"People say so many things in society, madame, that one never knows what to believe, and in my opinion the man who believes nothing is wisest."

"Ah! monsieur, if one could foresee--could conceive what would happen!"

"Why, there are some things that one can easily foresee."

The baroness cast a penetrating glance at Monsieur de Merval, then rejoined:

"You are not married?"

"No, madame."

"Faith, I am inclined to think that you have done as well to abstain!--Will you not do me the pleasure to come to see me?"

"You do me much honor, madame; and if it will not be indiscreet----"

"Oh! not in the least; I am absolutely my own mistress. We will talk of the past; that will not rejuvenate me, but it will give me pleasure.

You will come, won't you?"

"I shall take advantage of your permission, madame."

"Here is my card."

Madame Dufournelle, who always knew what was taking place in the salon, no matter where she happened to be, whispered to her husband:

"The baroness seems to be talking with Monsieur de Merval a great deal."

"What of that? isn't everybody here talking?"

"Yes, those who know one another."

"Perhaps they know each other."

"It looks to me very much that way; she just put something in his hand--something like a small piece of paper. What can it be?"

"Instead of worrying about that, go and select a part; they are just bringing the books."

"A part. Oh! I mean to have a good one; I don't propose that they shall make me play a supernumerary, or Monsieur Camuzard's sweetheart--it's so agreeable when he speaks to you; he would kill a fly on the wing! And it's of no use to try to get away from it, for he has a mania for talking into your face."

"What do you expect, my dear love? everybody hasn't a perfumed breath."

"No, indeed! I should think not! in fact, it's a sad thing to see how rapidly mankind is degenerating! But there are people who seem to take pleasure in poisoning one. Nowadays, three-fourths of the young men carry about an odor of tobacco, of pipes, of the barracks, that turns the stomach of a person who doesn't smoke; and women, as a general rule, haven't adopted that habit."

"And then," said Chambourdin, who had overheard their conversation, "we have people with poor digestions--it's dangerous to speak to them after dinner. And there are some too with decayed teeth; I can't forgive them, for they might go to a dentist, who would make them inodorous. We also have ladies who lace too tight and ruin their stomachs in that way."

"Oh! really, monsieur, I don't believe that!"

"I will procure you the testimony of physicians, madame, to the effect that many ladies, married and unmarried, have attempted to make their waists so slender, have so squeezed their poor bodies, that the internal organs have suffered, and foul breath has arrived after some time. What madness! what idiocy! Ah! mesdames, the most willowy, the most slender waist will never be worth a fresh, pure breath, which is an indispensable accompaniment of beauty!--Dufournelle, I trust that we are going to have a little one?"

"A little what?"

"Parbleu! a little game of bouillotte--you and I and Monsieur de Merval, and that little villain of a Miaulard, who has just arrived sneezing; he always has a cold in his head."

"Oh! messieurs, you think of nothing in the world but your cards; how nice it is of you, instead of playing with us!"

"Playing what?"

"Why, little games."

"More or less innocent.--I'll do it, on condition that I am allowed to play blindman's-buff sitting down, and that the ladies guess who I am.--Ah! good! if that unlucky Kingerie hasn't upset a Carcel lamp, and Mademoiselle Glumeau's dress is covered with oil! That youth is really very dangerous in company!"

"Oho! there's a different sort of thing over yonder! Just look at Mademoiselle Polymnie and Monsieur Astianax playing battledore and shuttlec.o.c.k, and seated, at that!"

"Why, no, they're going to play cup and ball; they both have pointed sticks in their hands."

"It's a new kind of shuttlec.o.c.k, monsieur: instead of hitting it with a racquet, somebody, not long ago, invented cornets to catch it in; but it's a much prettier way that they do it now: the shuttlec.o.c.k has a hole at the end, and you have to catch it by sticking the point into the hole."

"That's a game that the ladies enjoy greatly; it is immensely popular in salons."

"But it must be rather hard."

"Mademoiselle Polymnie is very strong at it, they say; she has asked young Kingerie to come to count the strokes."

"Thus far I haven't seen him do anything but pick up the shuttlec.o.c.k, which the players don't seem to catch on their sticks."