The White House Part 13

"Bah! you are joking; let her canter then."

"One moment; my stirrup leathers are still too long."

"You don't mean that; your knees are on the level of your horse's ears!"

"Never mind; I learned to ride in accordance with certain principles."

"Very pretty, your principles are!"

"There--now I am ready."

"Off we go then!"

The two friends set off at a gallop. Robineau had no desire to ride at that pace; but the mare he bestrode was determined to follow the other horses, and her rider was fain to gallop whether he would or not. As he had never ridden at such a pace, he did not know what to do; he threw himself forward and backward, pulled the reins tight, then suddenly dropped them. He was convinced that his steed had taken the bit in her teeth, and he shouted with all the strength of his lungs:

"Stop her! stop her, I say!"

But Alfred replied:

"Don't be afraid, Robineau, let her go."

And Edouard called back to him:

"Come on, Monsieur Jules; steady, sit straighter; you should be a little more graceful than that!"

The unskilled equestrian answered to neither name; he was utterly bewildered; he lost his hat, and ere long he himself lay sprawling in the dust; and Alfred, who was far ahead with Edouard, suddenly saw the little mare by his side without a rider.

The young men concluded that some accident had befallen their companion; so they turned back, leading Robineau's horse. He had picked himself up and found that he had escaped with a few bruises, and after going back to get his hat, he had entered a cafe, where his friends found him.

"How is this? did you allow yourself to be thrown?" queried Alfred, smiling when he saw that Robineau was not hurt.

"Yes, messieurs. Parbleu! it's a most surprising thing! You went off like the wind! My horse tried to follow you, and ran away. You told me to let her go, and I did let her go to such good purpose that I fell off. You see, I didn't tell you that I could ride like Franconi or Paul!"

"We have discovered that!--Well! will you remount?"

"No, thanks; I have had enough for to-day. Besides, I am rather sore. Go and finish your ride; I will wait here for you and read the Pet.i.tes-Affiches while you are having your canter; as I want to buy an estate, you will understand that the Pet.i.tes-Affiches interests me more than the Bois de Boulogne."

The little mare was stabled, and the two friends rode away. Robineau, sipping a gla.s.s of sweetened water the while, as a restorative after his fall, ran through the Pet.i.tes-Affiches, and read all the advertis.e.m.e.nts of estates for sale; but he constantly shrugged his shoulders, with such muttered comments as:

"These are too small! twenty thousand francs! forty thousand francs!

They must be mere hovels! I want something better than that!--Dovecotes!--gardens in full bearing! What do I care for that?--I am not buying an estate in order to have pigeons and plums to eat; but in order to be called Monsieur de la--that is to say, by the name of my estate.--Ah! eighty thousand francs; that's better; but pastures--farm lands--I can't give b.a.l.l.s and be a great lord in a farmhouse.--Aha! a chateau--two chateaux--twelve guest-rooms! That is what I want. Let's see what the price is--three hundred thousand francs--two hundred and forty thousand francs. It's absurd to fix such a price as that for a chateau! It seems to me that there ought to be cheaper ones for amateurs."

Robineau knew the Pet.i.tes-Affiches by heart when the two young men returned from their ride. As he absolutely refused to mount his horse again, Alfred led the little mare by the bridle, and Robineau followed in a hired cabriolet. They returned to the hotel De Marcey; but it was only half-past three, and they could not dine until six. Alfred went to his study to write some letters, Edouard went out to pay some visits, and Robineau, who did not understand that the days last twice as long when one does not know what to do to amuse one's self as when one is at work, betook himself to his notary's to pa.s.s the time.

At six o'clock, the three young men were together once more, and they went to a restaurant. Alfred and Edouard, who had concocted the scheme beforehand, persuaded Robineau that it was good form to eat very little and to send away most of the dishes ordered without touching them. So Robineau sent away several dishes which he was very desirous to eat, sacrificing his appet.i.te to what he believed to be the acme of good form.

In the evening they attended the Bouffes. Robineau, who listened to music without appreciating it, dissembled as well as he could his overpowering desire to yawn.

"Bravi! brava! bravissima!" he cried; then looked at his watch to see if the play would soon be done. It came to an end at last; Alfred returned home, Edouard to his lodgings, and Robineau reentered the cab that awaited him at the door, to take him to Rue Saint-Honore.

Robineau stood in front of his abode, where he hoped not to sojourn long; for the house seemed to him a wretched place, and the entrance disgusting. However, he must needs sleep there once more. But before entering, he ordered Francois, his new servant, to call for him early the next morning with the cabriolet.

"Early to-morrow morning with the cabriolet!" cried a person who happened to be in the pa.s.sage just as Robineau entered. And he recognized Fifine, whom he had not seen since the change in his fortunes.

Fifine held in her hand a candle wrapped in a half sheet of brown paper, and lighted; she had stopped and was waiting for Robineau, who did not quicken his pace.

"Hallo! is it you, my dear friend?"

"Yes, to be sure it's I."

"What has become of you since the day before yesterday, that I haven't laid eyes on you, monsieur? And all this style? this cabriolet? Have you made yourself a duke and peer while riding?"

"Let us go upstairs, Fifine; I can't endure to talk in the hall--it's very bad form!"

"Oh! mon Dieu! His Highness is afraid of compromising himself! Ha! ha!

ha! Pardon me, Your Excellency; if I had known at what hour you would return, I would have cut my candle in four pieces to illuminate the staircase."

Robineau went upstairs, and entered his room, followed by the young milliner, who still held her candle in her hand. Robineau threw himself carelessly on a chair, and Fifine held her light to his face, saying:

"I say--what is the meaning of this coat? I didn't know that you had any coat except the one that used to be black, and the threadbare gray."

"Well! now you know that I have another--that's all."

"And this gold chain! these watch charms!--Ah! something must have happened."

"Yes, Fifine, there has been a very great change in my circ.u.mstances since the day before yesterday."

"Really! Have they given you a bonus of a hundred crowns?"

"A hundred crowns! Mon Dieu! a mere trifle!" said Robineau with a smile of contempt.

"What's that? a trifle! Do me the favor to give me a dozen trifles like that, and I'll go up in a balloon to-morrow morning."

"Fifine, listen to me attentively."

"Wait till I sit down, for what you are going to tell me may produce a deep impression on me."

Fifine put her candle in a candle-stick, and seated herself in front of Robineau, who tried to a.s.sume an important air before he began.

"Mademoiselle, I----"

"What! _mademoiselle?_ are you talking to me?"

"Certainly."

"And you call me mademoiselle!--Try first to be a little more decent than that! What a fool you make of yourself with your _demoiselle_!"

"Well, then, Fifine--I must tell you that you no longer see before you the young man whose salary of fifteen hundred francs composed his whole fortune; the hopes that I have mentioned to you more than once are realized. I knew that my uncle would end by enriching me. Dear Uncle Gratien! he is dead and has left me twenty-five thousand francs a year."