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Page 7
The ride through the forest lasted some twenty minutes, and I soon beheld
the brilliant fantasia debouching pell-mell from the portal. I feigned
again a profound abstraction; but this time again, one of the riders left
the company and advanced toward me; he was a man of tall stature, who wore
a blue frock-coat, buttoned up to his chin, in military style. He was
marching so straight upon my little establishment, that I could not help
supposing he intended passing right over it for the amusement of the
ladies. I was therefore watching him with a furtive but wide-awake glance,
when I had the satisfaction of seeing him stop within three steps of my
camp-stool, and removing his hat.
"Monsieur," he said, in a full and frank tone of voice, "will you permit
me to look at your drawing?"
I returned his salutation, nodded in token of acquiescence, and went on
with my work. After a moment of silent contemplation, the unknown
equestrian, apparently yielding to the violence of his impressions,
allowed a few laudatory epithets to escape him; then, resuming his direct
allocution:
"Monsieur," he said, "allow me to return thanks to your talent; we shall
be indebted to it, I feel quite sure, for the preservation of these ruins,
which are the ornament of our district."
I abandoned at once my reserve, which could no longer be anything but
childish sulkiness, and I replied, as I thought I should, that he was
appreciating with too much indulgence a mere amateur's sketch; that I
certainly had the greatest desire of saving these beautiful ruins, but
that the most important part of my work threatened to remain quite
insignificant, for want of historical information which I had vainly tried
to find in the archives of the county-seat.
"Parbleu, monsieur," rejoined the horseman, "you please me greatly. I have
in my library a large proportion of the archives of the abbey. Come and
consult them at your leisure. I shall feel grateful to you for doing so."
I thanked him with some embarrassment. I regretted not to have known it
sooner. I feared being recalled to Paris by a letter which I was expecting
this very day. Nevertheless, I had risen to make this answer, the ill
grace of which I strove to attenuate by the courteousness of my attitude.
At the same time, I formed a clearer idea of my interlocutor; he was a
handsome old man, with broad shoulders, who seemed to carry with ease the
weight of some sixty winters, and whose bright blue eyes expressed the
kindliest good feeling.
"Come! come!" he exclaimed, "let us speak frankly. You feel some
repugnance at mingling with that band of hare-brained scamps you see
yonder, and whom I tried in vain yesterday to keep out of a silly affair,
for which I now beg to tender you my sincere apologies. My name is the
Marquis de Malouet, sir. After all, you went off with the honors of the
day. They wished to see you; you did not wish to be seen. You carried your
point. What else can you ask?"
I could not help laughing on hearing such a favorable interpretation of my
unlucky scrape.
"You laugh!" rejoined the old marquis; "bravo! we'll soon come to an
understanding, then. Now, what's to prevent your coming to spend a few
days at my house? My wife has requested me to invite you; she has heard in
detail all your annoyances of yesterday. She has an angel's disposition,
my wife. She is no longer young, always ill; a mere breath; but she is an
angel. I'll locate you in the library--you'll live like a hermit, if you
like. Mon Dieu! I see it all, I tell you; these madcaps of mine frighten
you; you are a serious man; I know all about that sort of disposition!
Well! you'll find congenial company--my wife is full of sense; I am no
fool myself. I am fond of exercise; in fact, it is indispensable to my
health--but you must not take me for a brute! The devil! not at all! I'll
astonish you. You must be fond of whist; we'll have a game together; you
must like to live well--delicately, I mean, as it is proper and suitable
for a man of taste and intelligence. Well! since you appreciate good
living, I am your man; I have an excellent cook. I may even say that I
have two for the present; one coming in and the other going out; it is a
conjunction; the result is, a contest of skill, an academic tourney, of
which you will assist me in adjudging the prize! Come! sir," he added,
laughing ingenuously at his own chattering, "it's settled, isn't it? I'm
going to carry you off."
Happy Paul, thrice happy is the man who can say No! Alone, he is really
master of his time, of his fortune, and of his honor. One should be able
to say No! even to a beggar, even to a woman, even to an amiable old man,
under penalty of surrendering at hazard his charity, his dignity, and his
independence. For want of a manly No, how much misery, how many downfalls,
how many crimes since Adam!
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