The White House Part 69

"Nothing is the matter, my dear Alfred; but you know very well that lovers are never entirely satisfied. If I had any real cause for unhappiness, to whom could I more fittingly confide it than to him who sacrificed his love to mine?"

But one day more, and Mademoiselle de la Pincerie would become Robineau's wife. All the doc.u.ments were ready, the gifts were purchased, the dresses prepared. The wedding was to take place at the town; and the husband and wife were to return thence to the chateau, where the wedding feast would be spread. It would have been more in accordance with custom that the bride's family should return to their own house in the town, and that the groom should go thither to fetch his wife. But among his economical plans, the marquis numbered a determination never to keep house again, but to live always at his son-in-law's chateau. That is why all the family had remained there. As the marquis declared that only the lower orders danced on their wedding-day, it was agreed that there should be no ball, and no dancing at the chateau; but Robineau had obtained from his future father-in-law a promise not to play whist that evening.

Nearly an hour had elapsed since all the guests in the chateau had separated in search of repose. Robineau, who had persuaded himself that he was very much in love, and who deemed himself highly honored to enter the family of a marquis, reflected that on the following day he was to lead the superb Cornelie to the altar, that the whole town would probably go to church to witness the ceremony, and that the wedding would be talked about for a long time. Cornelie thought of nothing but the two dresses that she was to wear that day, and the anger which all the young ladies would feel who had flattered themselves that they would be Robineau's choice.

She remembered too that she was about to be the lady and mistress at the chateau, and she proposed to make the most of the privileges which those t.i.tles conferred upon her.

Edouard gave but little thought to the marriage which was in preparation. All his ideas, all his affections were centered in the little valley which contained Isaure and the White House, and he had too much to think about to make sleep easy for him. The marquis and his brother Mignon were already sound asleep; the former dreaming that he had invented a way of bringing up children on vapor; the other that he was looking for pins in a haystack. As for Alfred and Eudoxie, I cannot tell you positively what they were doing.

But suddenly shrieks were heard in the part of the building occupied by the servants. It was Benoit's voice, waking the scullions, the cook and the concierge. He called them in great haste, shouting as loud as his fright allowed him to do:

"Get up! Look at the tower! Look over there! It's the ghost! This time they're not likely to say that I see double!"

Mademoiselle Cheval had gone to her window; she saw a light in one of the windows of the abandoned tower, whereupon she added her shrieks to Benoit's.

"It is true!" she cried; "there is something there; perhaps it's a thief; that light ought to be arrested!"

All the servants were soon on their feet; and as Monsieur de la Roche-Noire had told them that he would discharge them all if they did not discover what it was that had frightened them, they thought that they had better wake their master and let him see what was taking place.

So they ran to the large gallery on the first floor, on which the chief apartments opened. The shouts of the servants woke Robineau with a start. He thought that the chateau was on fire; so he rang for Francois, and his first words when he appeared were:

"Firemen! firemen!"

"Firemen for the ghost, monsieur?" asked Francois in surprise.

"The ghost!" cried Robineau, putting his legs back into bed. "What! has anyone seen anything horrible?"

"We've seen a light in the North Tower, monsieur!"

"A light! the deuce! Go at once, Francois, and wake the gentlemen. Wake everybody! I will get up at once."

Francois went to Alfred's door and knocked, but no one answered. Soon, however, all the other doors opened except Eudoxie's. Edouard had drawn on his trousers, and came out to inquire the cause of the uproar.

Cornelie, in a dressing jacket, over which she had hastily thrown a large silk shawl, appeared, with a candle in her hand. Monsieur Ferulus also arrived, followed by Jeannette, whom no one had seen heretofore, and who had put on over her night-dress an old black waistcoat, which in no wise resembled a dressing jacket; while Monsieur Ferulus, in his haste, had put on a housemaid's cap; but everybody was too much engrossed to notice that. Everybody questioned everybody else.

"It's the ghost in the tower!" said all the servants, while Mademoiselle Cornelie did not cease to call her sister, saying:

"And Monsieur Alfred, too--why doesn't he get up?"

Robineau appeared in a pair of drawers in the waistband of which he had thrust a pair of pistols, while he had his gun under his left arm and a razor in his right hand.

At last Eudoxie partly opened her door, saying in a low voice:

"Why do you knock so at my door? It is a shame to wake me so suddenly!

This will make me ill for a fortnight! I certainly shan't go roaming about after the ghost! Let me sleep, I beg you; I have a sick headache."

"You shall have your sick headache some other night, sister," said Cornelie; "but as everybody else is up, you might as well do like the rest."

Eudoxie showed much temper, but finally came out of her room, half covered by a pelisse which she had thrown over her shoulders, and taking pains to stand in front of her door.

At that moment all the servants began to shriek at the top of their voices:

"There it is! It's coming here!" they cried. And they ran to the other end of the gallery, pushing and jostling one another, while from the opposite direction advanced majestically a tall white figure, which was no other than Monsieur le Marquis de la Pincerie, who, with his tall, thin form, his fluttering night-shirt and his nightcap, might very well pa.s.s for a spectre.

Robineau had already taken aim at his future father-in-law, when he was recognized by his familiar cough.

"It is monsieur le marquis!" cried Robineau; "I believe that these fellows have become idiots."

"Certainly, it is I," said Monsieur de la Pincerie, stalking as proudly in his night-shirt as if he were in full uniform. "What has happened, in heaven's name? Has anybody made an attack on the chateau?"

"Yes, what is it all about?" asked Alfred, who, in the midst of the uproar caused by the arrival of the marquis, had suddenly appeared among the company, no one knew whence.

"Ah, there you are, monsieur!" said Cornelie, with a sarcastic air. "For a gallant man, you are very slow in coming to the a.s.sistance of ladies."

"Because, mademoiselle, I thought that before all else, I ought at least to put on the necessary clothing."

"Yes," said Monsieur Ferulus, stepping forward, "decency and good morals before everything,----"

Ferulus did not finish his sentence, for he suddenly noticed that Jeannette was wearing an easily recognizable waistcoat. He led her into a dark corner of the gallery, and there while Jeannette removed his cap, he hastily took off the waistcoat, saying:

"_Errare humanum est_, Jeannette."

"But after all, what is the cause of all this shouting and uproar?" said Edouard.

"It's the ghost, the spirit, walking in the tower at this time of night!" said Benoit.

"We all of us saw a light," said the servants.

"Well," said Alfred, "we must go and examine the tower, that's all."

"That is so," said Robineau, "we must send all these cowards to examine the tower."

"Where is my Uncle Mignon?" asked Cornelie; "he is the only one who isn't up."

"He absolutely refused to get out from under his bedclothes," said the marquis; "I told him to get up, but it was in vain. He never showed so much resolution before."

"Let us leave Monsieur Mignon under his bedclothes," said Edouard, "and let us go to the tower. Come, concierge, you know the way,--guide us."

Monsieur Cunette was no longer so incredulous since he had seen the light; he displayed much disinclination to guide the young men; and the other servants were no more anxious than he to accompany them to the tower.

"But, messieurs, who is going to take care of us?" said Eudoxie; "for we certainly are not going to examine that horrible tower with you."

"For my part, I am going back to bed," said the marquis; "for I feel a cold wind which makes me shiver, and if I had known that all this fuss was about a ghost, I would have done just as Mignon has--I would have remained in my bed."

"Mesdames, I will stay and take care of you," said Robineau; "I will not stir from your side; I refuse to leave you for an instant."

The ladies did not seem very much rea.s.sured by Robineau's presence, and they absolutely insisted that Alfred or Edouard should remain with them also. But the former had already started, compelling the concierge to walk in front of him; so that Edouard was obliged to remain with the ladies, while Robineau said to the other servants:

"Follow Alfred, and at the slightest danger call me. It is very disagreeable not to be able to sleep in peace on the eve of one's wedding!"

The servants bowed obediently, but when they reached the end of the gallery, they turned toward the kitchen instead of toward the tower.