第23章

"Parbleu！thethingisplainenough；monsieurseesnothinginit？

Well，Ishallnotputmyhonorandmyfortuneintothehandsofalittleupstartlikeyourself；Ishalltakesomegreatlawyerifthecasecomestotrial。I’vehadenoughofyourcollaborationbythistime。"

UndertheinjusticeoftheseremarkslaPeyradefelthisangerrising。

However，hesawhimselfdisarmed，andnotwishingtocometoanopenrupture，hepartedfromThuillier，sayingthatheforgaveamanexcitedbyfear，andwouldgotoseehimlaterintheafternoon，whenhewouldprobablybecalmer；theycouldthendecideonwhatstepstheyhadbettertake。

Accordingly，aboutfouro’clock，theProvencalarrivedatthehouseinthePlacedelaMadeleine。Thuillier’sirritationwasquieted，butfrightfulconsternationhadtakenitsplace。Iftheexecutionerwerecominginhalfanhourtoleadhimtothescaffoldhecouldnothavebeenmoreutterlyunstrungandwoe—begone。WhenlaPeyradeenteredMadameThuillierwastryingtomakehimtakeaninfusionoflinden—

leaves。Thepoorwomanhadcomeoutofherusualapathy，andprovedherself，besidethepresentSabinus，anotherEponina。

AsforBrigitte，whopresentlyappeared，bearingafoot—bath，shehadnomercyorrestrainttowardsTheodose；hersharpandbitterreproaches，whichwereoutofallproportiontothefault，evensupposinghimtohavecommittedonewouldhavedrivenamanofthemostplacidtemperamentbesidehimself。LaPeyradefeltthatallwaslosttohimintheThuillierhousehold，wheretheynowseemedtoseizewithjoytheoccasiontobreaktheirwordtohimandtogivefreereintorevoltingingratitude。OnanironicalallusionbyBrigittetothemannerinwhichhedecoratedhisfriends，laPeyraderoseandtookleave，withoutanyeffortbeingmadetoretainhim。

Afterwalkingaboutthestreetsforawhile，laPeyrade，inthemidstofhisindignation，turnedtothoughtsofMadamedeGodollo，whoseimage，totellthetruth，hadbeenmuchinhismindsincetheirformerinterview。

CHAPTERVI

’TWASTHUSTHEYBADEADIEU

NotonlyoncewhenthecountessmetthebarristerattheThuilliershadshelefttheroom；butthesameperformancetookplaceateachoftheirencounters；andlaPeyradehadconvincedhimself，withoutknowingexactlywhy，thatineachcase，thisaffectationofavoidinghim，signifiedsomethingthatwasnotindifference。Tohavepaidheranothervisitimmediatelywouldcertainlyhavebeenveryunskilful；

butnowasufficienttimehadelapsedtoprovehimtobeamanwhowasmasterofhimself。Accordingly，hereturneduponhisstepstotheBoulevarddelaMadeleine，andwithoutaskingtheporterifthecountesswasathome，hepassedthelodgeasifreturningtotheThuilliers’，andrangthebelloftheentresol。

Themaidwhoopenedthedooraskedhim，asbefore，towaituntilshenotifiedhermistress；but，onthisoccasion，insteadofshowinghimintothedining—room，sheusheredhimintoalittleroomarrangedasalibrary。

Hewaitedlong，andknewnotwhattothinkofthedelay。Still，hereassuredhimselfwiththethoughtthatifshemeanttodismisshimhewouldnothavebeenaskedtowaitatall。Finallythemaidreappeared，buteventhenitwasnottointroducehim。

"Madamelacomtesse，"saidthewoman，"wasengagedonamatterofbusiness，butshebeggedmonsieurbesokindastowait，andtoamusehimselfwiththebooksinthelibrary，becauseshemightbedetainedlongerthansheexpected。"

Theexcuse，bothinformandsubstance，wascertainlynotdiscouraging，andlaPeyradelookedabouthimtofulfilthebehesttoamusehimself。Withoutopeninganyofthecarvedrosewoodbookcases，whichenclosedacollectionofthemostelegantlyboundvolumeshehadeverlaidhiseyesupon，hesawonanoblongtablewithclawfeetapell—mellofbookssufficientfortheamusementofamanwhoseattentionwaskeenlyaliveelsewhere。

But，asheopenedoneafteranotherofthevariousvolumes，hebegantofancythatafeastofTantalushadbeenprovidedforhim：onebookwasEnglish，anotherGerman，athirdRussian；therewasevenoneincabalisticlettersthatseemedTurkish。Wasthisapolyglotticjokethecountesshadarrangedforhim？

Onevolume，however，claimedparticularattention。Thebinding，unlikethoseoftheotherbooks，waslessrichthandainty。Lyingbyitselfatacornerofthetable，itwasopen，withthebackturnedup，theedgesoftheleavesrestingonthegreentable—clothintheshapeofatent。LaPeyradetookitup，beingcarefulnottolosethepagewhichitseemedtohavebeensomeone’sintentiontomark。ItprovedtobeavolumeoftheillustratededitionofMonsieurScribe’sworks。TheengravingwhichpresenteditselfontheopenpagetolaPeyrade’seyes，wasentitled"TheHatredofaWoman"；theprincipalpersonageofwhichisayoungwidow，desperatelypursuingapooryoungmanwhocannothelphimself。Thereishatredallround。Throughherdevilriesshealmostmakeshimlosehisreputation，anddoesmakehimmissarichmarriage；buttheendisthatshegiveshimmorethanshetookawayfromhim，andmakesahusbandofthemanwhowasthoughthervictim。

Ifchancehadputthisvolumeapartfromtherest，andhadleftitopenattheprecisepagewherelaPeyradefounditmarked，itmustbeownedthat，afterwhathadpassedbetweenhimselfandthecountess，chancecansometimesseemcleverandadroit。Ashestoodthere，thinkingoverthesignificancewhichthismoreorlessaccidentalcombinationmighthave，laPeyradereadthroughanumberofscenestoseewhetherinthedetailsaswellasthegeneralwholetheyappliedtothepresentsituation。Whilethusemployed，thesoundofanopeningdoorwasheard，andherecognizedthesilveryandslightlydrawlingvoiceofthecountess，whowasevidentlyaccompanyingsomevisitortothedoor。

"ThenImaypromisetheambassadress，"saidaman’svoice，"thatyouwillhonorherballwithyourpresence？"

"Yes，commander，ifmyheadache，whichisjustbeginningtogetalittlebetter，iskindenoughtogoaway。"

"Aurevoir，then，fairestlady，"saidthegentleman。Afterwhichthedoorswereclosed，andsilencereignedoncemore。

ThetitleofcommanderreassuredlaPeyradesomewhat，foritwasnottherankofayoungdandy。Hewasneverthelesscurioustoknowwhothispersonagewaswithwhomthecountesshadbeenshutupsolong。

Hearingnooneapproachtheroomhewasin，hewenttothewindowandopenedthecurtaincautiously，preparedtoletitdropbackattheslightestnoise，andtomakeaquickright—about—facetoavoidbeingcaught，"flagrantedelicto，"incuriosity。Anelegantcoupe，standingatalittledistance，wasnowdrivenuptothehouse，afootmaninshowyliveryhastenedtoopenthedoor，andalittleoldman，withalightandjauntymovement，thoughitwasevidenthewasoneofthoserelicsofthepastwhohavenotyetabandonedpowder，steppedquicklyintothecarriage，whichwasthendrivenrapidlyaway。LaPeyradehadtimetoobserveonhisbreastaperfectstringofdecorations。This，combinedwiththepowderedhair，wascertainevidenceofadiplomaticindividual。

LaPeyradehadpickeduphisbookoncemore，whenabellfromtheinnerroomsounded，quicklyfollowedbytheappearanceofthemaid，whoinvitedhimtofollowher。TheProvencaltookcareNOTtoreplacethevolumewherehefoundit，andaninstantlaterheenteredthepresenceofthecountess。

Apainedexpressionwasvisibleonthehandsomefaceoftheforeigncountess，who，however，lostnothingofhercharminthelanguorthatseemedtoovercomeher。Onthesofabesideherwasamanuscriptwrittenongilt—edgedpaper，inthatlargeandopulenthandwritingwhichindicatesanofficialcommunicationfromsomeministerialofficeorchancery。Sheheldinherhandacrystalbottlewithagoldstopper，fromwhichshefrequentlyinhaledthecontents，andastrongodorofEnglishvinegarpervadedthesalon。

"Ifearyouareill，madame，"saidlaPeyrade，withinterest。

"Oh！itisnothing，"repliedthecountess；"onlyaheadache，towhichIamverysubject。Butyou，monsieur，whathasbecomeofyou？Iwasbeginningtoloseallhopeofeverseeingyouagain。Haveyoucometoannouncetomesomegreatnews？TheperiodofyourmarriagewithMademoiselleCollevilleisprobablysonearthatIthinkyoucanspeakofit。"

ThisopeningdisconcertedlaPeyrade。

"But，madame，"heanswered，inatonethatwasalmosttart，"you，itseemstome，mustknowtoowelleverythingthatgoesonintheThuillierhouseholdnottobeawarethattheeventyouspeakofisnotapproaching，and，Imayadd，not

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