But the notary appeared; he looked at Edouard and his wife, and recognized them as the purchasers of Monsieur Renare's house; and instead of looking at the fowl which Bonneau thrust under his nose, he saluted Murville and his companion most humbly.

"What! do you know monsieur and madame?" asked the mayor in amazement.

"I have that honor; monsieur has bought my neighbor Renare's estate, and pays cash for it. The deeds are being made in my office."

The notary's words changed the whole aspect of the affair. The mayor became extremely polite to Edouard and his wife; he begged them to come into his salon a moment and rest; and then, turning with a stern expression toward Master Bonneau, who did not know which way to turn, he cried angrily:

"You are a scoundrel! You are a knave! You dare to demand payment for a dinner which was not eaten! You serve dried-up fowls, rotten eggs, and ask forty francs for them."

"But, monsieur le maire----"

"Hold your tongue, or I will make you pay a fine; I know that you mix drugs with your wine, and that you steal all the cats to make rabbit stew; but take care, Master Bonneau,--you will be held responsible for the first plump cat that disappears."

The inn-keeper retired, covered with confusion, and storming under his breath at the arrival of the notary, who had made the mayor turn about like a weatherc.o.c.k. He drove Fanfan before him, returned to the inn with the wretched fowl in his hand, and in order that everyone might share his ill-humor, he announced that they would have the capon for supper.

The mayor, learning that Edouard and his wife had not dined, absolutely insisted that they should dine with him; he, himself, offered to fetch Madame Germeuil, who had remained in the cabriolet; but the young people declined, declaring that they were expected in Paris early and that they could not delay their departure any longer.

So they separated, the mayor protesting that he should have great pleasure in becoming better acquainted with his const.i.tuents, and our young people thanking him for the zeal he had shown in their behalf after the notary's arrival.

The peasants were still in front of the mayor's house when Edouard and Adeline came out; they stood aside to let them pa.s.s; some even ran to the carriage to tell Madame Germeuil; and one and all bowed most humbly when they drove away. And yet they were the very same persons upon whom the clowns had heaped insolent epithets, and at whom they had been poking fun a moment before; but they did not know then that the mayor would treat them courteously. Men are the same everywhere.

VII

IN WHICH WE SEE THE MAN WITH MOUSTACHES ONCE MORE

They reached Paris famished, as you may imagine. They ordered dinner at once. The servants made all possible haste, jostled one another in order to move faster, and by jostling and colliding with one another, took one thing instead of something else, overturned the sauces, let one dish burn, and served another cold; in a word, they did everything wrong, which often happens when people try to make too much haste.

The servants had ceased to expect their masters to dinner; old Raymond could not understand why they returned hungry; it gave him a very bad impression of the place where they had been, and the cook was very sorry that she had not divined their condition. But our travellers found everything delicious; Master Bonneau's cooking was still foremost in their thoughts.

On the day following this memorable excursion, Adeline was too tired to accompany Edouard to Villeneuve-Saint-Georges, and as they had given their word to Monsieur Renare, the young wife was obliged to consent to let her husband go alone.

Murville promised to be absent only a short time; he intended to return to dinner.

"Take care," said Madame Germeuil, "and don't have any unpleasant experiences."

"I will wager, mamma, that you are still thinking of that face with the moustaches that we saw at the end of the garden."

"Yes, I don't deny it; indeed I will confess, my children, that I dreamed of it all night."

"That is not surprising; when something has excited us intensely during the day, our imagination sees the same thing in a dream. But that does not mean that we should conceive dismal presentiments from the fact."

"Really, mamma, you will make me unhappy," said Adeline; "I begin to wish already that Edouard were home again."

"And yet one must be very childish to be afraid without any reason!

Come, off with you, my dear, and return quickly; above all things, do not dine at the Epee Couronnee!"

Edouard kissed Madame Germeuil's hand; he embraced his wife, as people embrace on the day after their wedding, when they have found the first night all that they hoped, or when they think that they have found it so, which is the same thing, and which happens to many people who know nothing about it, and who consider themselves very shrewd.

He arrived in Villeneuve-Saint-Georges, and alighted from the carriage in front of the house which was soon to belong to him.

"Is Monsieur Renare in?" he asked the concierge.

"He is already at the notary's, monsieur."

"The deuce! what prompt.i.tude! I must not keep him waiting."

Murville left the cabriolet in the courtyard, and walked to the notary's. The deeds were ready, and Monsieur Renare was impatiently awaiting the arrival of the purchaser; for, having learned the night before of the episode at the Epee Couronnee, he had begun to feel some anxiety concerning the bargain; but Edouard's presence, and especially the sight of a wallet stuffed with good bank notes, restored all his tranquillity.

The deeds were signed, the price paid, and Monsieur Renare smilingly presented the keys of the house to Edouard.

"You are the owner now, monsieur; from this moment you can do as you please with your house and everything that it contains, as I have sold it to you furnished."

"I thank you, monsieur, but you may take all the time that you please to make your preparations for departure. I do not wish to embarra.s.s you in any way."

"Oh! my preparations will very soon be made, monsieur. I simply have a little bundle to pack, and I can carry it under my arm."

"Then you already have another house in view?"

"Why," said the notary, "Monsieur Renare has six houses in Paris, and three more in the suburbs; so he is not likely to be at a loss."

"Six houses in Paris," thought Edouard, "and he wears a patched coat and a broken hat! And he is a bachelor, too! and he has no heirs! Does the man think that he is never going to die?"

Our young man bowed to the old miser and left the notary's office. He returned to his newly-acquired property. The concierge was waiting in the courtyard, and seemed to have some question to ask him. Edouard guessed the cause of his embarra.s.sment.

"This house is now mine," he said to the peasant; "here is the deed stating that I am the owner of it. However, Monsieur Renare will soon inform you of it himself."

"Oh, I don't doubt it, monsieur."

"Are you attached to Monsieur Renare?"

"No, monsieur, I ain't attached to anything but the house, and if monsieur doesn't keep me, I shall be out of work."

"Very well, I will keep you! I do not mean to discharge anybody; from this moment you are in my employ."

"Very good, monsieur, I will try to satisfy you."

Edouard was not greatly pleased with the peasant. He seemed brusque and rough, and had lived so long with Renare that he had acquired an air of distrust, that made itself manifest in all his acts. But Edouard did not desire, on returning to occupy the home of his parents, to create a bad impression on the people in the village.

As it was still early, and Edouard had finished his business at the notary's sooner than he expected, he could not resist the temptation to inspect his property; he ordered the concierge to give him the key of the gate at the end of the garden, and left him beside his cabriolet.

When we know that an estate belongs to us, we are likely to scrutinize every part of it closely. Edouard noticed that Monsieur Renare had planted cabbages and lettuces in all the beds intended for flowers; he had cut down the beautiful acacias, which, to be sure, produced nothing but shade, and had replaced them by fruit trees. Instead of box as a border for the paths, he had planted parsley and nasturtiums; and as he entered a clump of shrubbery, which formerly was bright with lilacs and roses, Edouard smelled nothing but the odor of chevril and onion.

"We shall have to make many changes," said Edouard to himself, laughing at the former owner's parsimony; "but in a week everything will be as it was, with the exception of the acacias, on which I used to have a swing; but I have pa.s.sed the age when I could enjoy it so much."

He was then at the end of the garden; he approached the gate, saying to himself: