"I! I am not afraid of anything."

"Ha! ha! ha! you are very amusing!"

"You think me amusing, monsieur? How lucky for me!"

"I think you provoking, alluring, fascinating!"

And the young man tried to take Georgette in his arms; but she quickly extricated herself and pushed him away, saying in a very decided tone:

"I don't like such manners, monsieur; and they will never succeed with me, I warn you."

"Pardon, mademoiselle, pardon! I forgot that I was dealing with a Lucretia."

"Is this all you have to say to me, monsieur?"

"Why, no; I wanted to order an embroidered cigar case; my servant tells me that you make lovely ones."

"I do my best, at all events. Would you like one?"

"If you will make it for me."

"What color do you want?"

"Oh! I leave all those details to you."

"Very good, monsieur! I charge fifteen francs."

"Whatever you choose! The price is of little consequence to me."

"Very well, monsieur; in three days, you shall have your cigar case."

"All right. Will you be kind enough to bring it yourself?"

"Certainly, monsieur."

"Don't be afraid; I won't receive you in my smoking room."

"So much the better! for, really, that smell of tobacco makes my head ache. I have the honor to salute you, monsieur!"

Georgette executed a bewitching little reverence, and the viscount said to himself as he looked after her:

"Pardieu! that little brunette must be mine, for she is really a most original creature!"

XXI

AN ATTACK

Edward de Sommerston did not believe what Georgette had told him on the subject of lovers; he was sceptical concerning the virtue of a girl who lived alone and worked for a living.

"This girl," he said to himself, "tries to pa.s.s herself off for a model of virtue so as to secure more generous treatment; that's a trick that doesn't fool me. She will submit like the others; for she's a woman, so she must love finery; that's the bait to catch them with."

During the three days that elapsed before she brought him what he had ordered, the young man asked his servant several times if he had happened to meet on the stairs the young woman who lived at the top of the house; but Lepinette had not seen Georgette, which fact seemed to vex him; he flattered himself, perhaps, that he could make a conquest of the girl more easily than his master could.

On the day that Georgette had appointed, Edward, attired in a coquettish morning neglige, awaited the young woman in a pretty little salon which might at need have pa.s.sed for a boudoir. He was smoking cigarettes, but had ordered them made of a very mild tobacco, in which there was a touch of perfume.

About noon, Lepinette announced: "Mademoiselle Georgette!" and the young woman appeared, still in her little morning costume.

"I beg your pardon, monsieur," she said, as she courtesied to the viscount, "for presenting myself in this neglige; but I have none too much time to work, and I never dress when I expect to stay at home."

"The hussy knows perfectly well that she is more alluring in this dress," thought Edward, "and that is why she comes in her short petticoat. If she weren't so well built, she'd be all bundled up in clothes. We know all about that. Mademoiselle Georgette desires me to admire her good points; therefore, she desires to please me."

And the young man, without stirring from his couch, pointed to a chair and said:

"Take a seat, I beg! You are very attractive thus. Besides, one doesn't dress to call on a neighbor. Will it annoy you if I continue to smoke?"

"Oh! I didn't come here to interfere with your pleasures, monsieur."

"This tobacco is very mild, and the odor is not disagreeable, even to people who don't like tobacco."

"That is true; it smells like patchouli."

"Have you been good enough to remember my cigar case?"

"Here it is, monsieur."

And Georgette handed him a lovely little affair, lined with silk.

"Why, this is delicious! it's an admirable piece of work!" cried Edward.

"Do you like it? So much the better!"

"I should be very exacting if I did not like it. The colors of the little diamonds are blended perfectly. You have no less taste than talent. And it took you only three days to make it?"

"That was quite long enough."

"It should be worth fifty francs, at least."

"No, that would be too much; I am content with the price I told you."

"But in that case you earn less than five francs a day, for you have to buy your wool and your silk."

"Oh! if I earned five francs a day, that would be too fine; I should be too rich!"

"So you are not ambitious, eh? You have no desire to change your position?"