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〃I knew I should find myself in this fix!〃 cried the old sailor;
waking up。 He looked round the room; but his niece had vanished 〃like
Saint…Elmo's fires;〃 to use his favorite expression。
〃Well; uncle;〃 Monsieur de Fontaine went on; 〃how could you hide from
us all you knew about this young man? You must have seen how anxious
we have been。 Is Monsieur de Longueville a man of family?〃
〃I don't know him from Adam or Eve;〃 said the Comte de Kergarouet。
〃Trusting to that crazy child's tact; I got him here by a method of my
own。 I know that the boy shoots with a pistol to admiration; hunts
well; plays wonderfully at billiards; at chess; and at backgammon; he
handles the foils; and rides a horse like the late Chevalier de Saint…
Georges。 He has a thorough knowledge of all our vintages。 He is as
good an arithmetician as Bareme; draws; dances; and sings well。 The
devil's in it! what more do you want? If that is not a perfect
gentleman; find me a bourgeois who knows all this; or any man who
lives more nobly than he does。 Does he do anything; I ask you? Does he
compromise his dignity by hanging about an office; bowing down before
the upstarts you call Directors…General? He walks upright。 He is a
man。However; I have just found in my waistcoat pocket the card he
gave me when he fancied I wanted to cut his throat; poor innocent。
Young men are very simple…minded nowadays! Here it is。〃
〃Rue du Sentier; No。 5;〃 said Monsieur de Fontaine; trying to recall
among all the information he had received; something which might
concern the stranger。 〃What the devil can it mean? Messrs。 Palma;
Werbrust & Co。; wholesale dealers in muslins; calicoes; and printed
cotton goods; live there。Stay; I have it: Longueville the deputy has
an interest in their house。 Well; but so far as I know; Longueville
has but one son of two…and…thirty; who is not at all like our man; and
to whom he gave fifty thousand francs a year that he might marry a
minister's daughter; he wants to be made a peer like the rest of 'em。
I never heard him mention this Maximilien。 Has he a daughter? What
is this girl Clara? Besides; it is open to any adventurer to call
himself Longueville。 But is not the house of Palma; Werbrust & Co。
half ruined by some speculation in Mexico or the Indies? I will clear
all this up。〃
〃You speak a soliloquy as if you were on the stage; and seem to
account me a cipher;〃 said the old admiral suddenly。 〃Don't you know
that if he is a gentleman; I have more than one bag in my hold that
will stop any leak in his fortune?〃
〃As to that; if he is a son of Longueville's; he will want nothing;
but;〃 said Monsieur de Fontaine; shaking his head from side to side;
〃his father has not even washed off the stains of his origin。 Before
the Revolution he was an attorney; and the DE he has since assumed no
more belongs to him than half of his fortune。〃
〃Pooh! pooh! happy those whose fathers were hanged!〃 cried the admiral
gaily。
Three or four days after this memorable day; on one of those fine
mornings in the month of November; which show the boulevards cleaned
by the sharp cold of an early frost; Mademoiselle de Fontaine; wrapped
in a new style of fur cape; of which she wished to set the fashion;
went out with two of her sisters…in…law; on whom she had been wont to
discharge her most cutting remarks。 The three women were tempted to
the drive; less by their desire to try a very elegant carriage; and
wear gowns which were to set the fashion for the winter; than by their
wish to see a cape which a friend had observed in a handsome lace and
linen shop at the corner of the Rue de la Paix。 As soon as they were
in the shop the Baronne de Fontaine pulled Emilie by the sleeve; and
pointed out to her Maximilien Longueville seated behind the desk; and
engaged in paying out the change for a gold piece to one of the
workwomen with whom he seemed to be in consultation。 The 〃handsome
stranger〃 held in his hand a parcel of patterns; which left no doubt
as to his honorable profession。
Emilie felt an icy shudder; though no one perceived it。 Thanks to the
good breeding of the best society; she completely concealed the rage
in her heart; and answered her sister…in…law with the words; 〃I knew
it;〃 with a fulness of intonation and inimitable decision which the
most famous actress of the time might have envied her。 She went
straight up to the desk。 Longueville looked up; put the patterns in
his pocket with distracting coolness; bowed to Mademoiselle de
Fontaine; and came forward; looking at her keenly。
〃Mademoiselle;〃 he said to the shopgirl; who followed him; looking
very much disturbed; 〃I will send to settle that account; my house
deals in that way。 But here;〃 he whispered into her ear; as he gave
her a thousand…franc note; 〃take thisit is between ourselves。You
will forgive me; I trust; mademoiselle;〃 he added; turning to Emilie。
〃You will kindly excuse the tyranny of business matters。〃
〃Indeed; monsieur; it seems to me that it is no concern of mine;〃
replied Mademoiselle de Fontaine; looking at him with a bold
expression of sarcastic indifference which might have made any one
believe that she now saw him for the first time。
〃Do you really mean it?〃 asked Maximilien in a broken voice。
Emilie turned her back upon him with amazing insolence。 These words;
spoken in an undertone; had escaped the ears of her two sisters…in…
law。 When; after buying the cape; the three ladies got into the
carriage again; Emilie; seated with her back to the horses; could not
resist one last comprehensive glance into the depths of the odious
shop; where she saw Maximilien standing with his arms folded; in the
attitude of a man superior to the disaster that has so suddenly fallen
on him。 Their eyes met and flashed implacable looks。 Each hoped to
inflict a cruel wound on the heart of a lover。 In one instant they
were as far apart as if one had been in China and the other in
Greenland。
Does not the breath of vanity wither everything? Mademoiselle de
Fontaine; a prey to the most violent struggle that can torture the
heart of a young girl; reaped the richest harvest of anguish that
prejudice and narrow…mindedness ever sowed in a human soul。 Her face;
but just now fresh and velvety; was streaked with yellow lines and red
patches; the paleness of her cheeks seemed every now and then to turn
green。 Hoping to hide her despair from her sisters; she would laugh as
she pointed out some ridiculous dress or passer…by; but her laughter
was spasmodic。 She was more deeply hurt by their unspoken compassion
than by any satirical comments for which she might have revenged
herself。 She exhausted her wit in trying to engage them in a
conversation; in which she tried to expend her fury in senseless
paradoxes; heaping on all men engaged in trade the bitterest insults
and witticisms in the worst taste。
On getting home; she had an attack of fever; which at first assumed a
somewhat serious character。 By the end of a month the care of her
parents and of the physician restored her to her family。
Every one hoped that this lesson would be severe enough to subdue
Emilie's nature; but she insensibly fell into her old habits and threw
herself again into the world of fashion。 She declared that there was
no disgrace in making a mistake。 If she; like her father; had a vote
in the Chamber; she would move for an edict; she said; by which all
merchants; and especially dealers in calico; should be branded on the
forehead; like Berri sheep; down to the third generation。 She wished
that none but nobles should have the right to wear the antique French
costume; which was so becoming to the courtiers of Louis XV。 To hear
her; it was a misfortune for France; perhaps; that there was no
outward and visible difference between a merchant and a peer of
France。 And a hundred more such pleasantries; easy to imagine; were
rapidly poured out when any accident b