XII

GUSTAVE'S LOVE AFFAIR

"I was saying, Monsieur Arthur, that, as I had received permission to go to Monsieur Gerbault's house, you will divine that I took advantage of it."

"Yes, indeed.--This fish is perfect; you make a great mistake not to eat it."

"Monsieur Gerbault, formerly a clerk in one of the government offices, has only a modest fortune; he is a widower with two daughters, to both of whom he has given an excellent education. f.a.n.n.y is talented; she is a good musician, and knows English and Italian."

"And her sister?"

"Adolphine plays the piano, too, and sings quite well. She is very sweet and of a very amiable disposition; but, you see, I didn't pay any attention to the sister; I had eyes for f.a.n.n.y alone. Her grace, her wit, her lovely eyes, all combined to turn my head. She saw it plainly enough, and, far from repelling me, she seemed to try to redouble her charms, in order to make me more in love with her than ever."

"The devil! she's a shrewd coquette!"

"Oh! no, monsieur! but it's her nature always to make herself attractive; she can't help it."

"Here's the capon _au gros sel._--Now's the time for the champagne frappe. Corbleu! you'll drink some of this."

"But, monsieur----"

"It will give you strength, nerve. n.o.body knows what may happen to-night; a man should always be ready for action."

"A year pa.s.sed; I had the good fortune to make some lucky turns for f.a.n.n.y; she had made nearly three thousand francs in railroad shares; she was overjoyed, and was already dreaming of an immense fortune. I had told her that I loved her, and she had replied, with a smile, that she suspected as much. Thereupon, I asked her if she would marry me, and she replied: 'My father can give only twenty thousand francs to each of his daughters, and you know what I have besides. That doesn't make much of an income.'

"'What does it matter?' said I; 'I love you with all my heart; if you had no marriage portion at all, I should none the less consider myself the happiest of men if I could obtain your hand.--I have twelve hundred francs a year,' I added, 'and my uncle pays me eighteen hundred; you see that we shall have enough to live comfortably.'

"f.a.n.n.y listened to me, and seemed to reflect; but I had taken her hand and squeezed it, and she did not take it away.

"'Are you willing,' I said, 'that I should prefer my suit to your father to-morrow?'

"'That's not necessary,' she replied; 'we have time enough; and then, you need have no fear in that respect; father has told me a hundred times that he would not interfere with my choice; that he was sure that I would not marry anyone who would not make me happy.'

"For my part, I wanted to be married at once, but f.a.n.n.y desired to add a little more to her capital before marrying, so that she might have a more substantial dowry to offer me. It was of no use for me to say that I cared nothing about that; I could not make her listen to reason."

"If you took that for love, my dear Gustave, you can hardly claim to be a connoisseur.--Here's your very good health!"

"Ah! monsieur; f.a.n.n.y was always so amiable! her eyes always had such a sweet look in them when they met mine! she had such pretty, caressing little ways with me!"

"Yes, yes, I know. The whole battery of the petticoat file!"

"Six months more pa.s.sed, and I implored f.a.n.n.y to fix a date for our wedding. Unluckily, her operations in railroads no longer showed a profit; the shares she had bought had gone down; it was necessary to wait; and f.a.n.n.y was angry at the way things were going on the Bourse.--It was about that time---- Ah! it was then that my misfortunes began."

"Courage, dear Gustave!--and another gla.s.s of Moet! Do take a wing of this capon--just a bit of white meat. What! nothing? Well, then, sapristi! I will sacrifice myself and eat the whole bird. Never mind what the result may be; but I will drink, too, for I must wash it down.--Your health!"

"As I was saying, it was about this time that Monsieur Auguste Monleard made the acquaintance of the Gerbault family--at a ball, I believe; he asked and obtained from the father permission to come occasionally and play and sing with the young ladies. I did not know that until later, for I did not happen to meet him for some time. The very first time that I saw him, I had a presentiment that his presence in Monsieur Gerbault's house would be fatal to my love. This Monleard made a great parade; he had a cabriolet and a negro footman; indeed, he had, so it was said, forty thousand francs a year. All that would have been a matter of indifference to me, if I had not noticed that he was very attentive, very gallant, to f.a.n.n.y. However, she continued to smile on me in the most charming way; but when I said to her: 'Fix a day for our wedding, I beg you, and let me speak to your father,' she replied: 'Oh! not yet; we have plenty of time; I must increase my capital first.'

"One morning, I had escaped from my duties at my uncle's, who scolded me sometimes because love led me to neglect business."

"Did your uncle approve your matrimonial plans?"

"Not very warmly; he had said to me several times: 'You're too young to marry; wait awhile.'

"But when he saw how dearly I loved f.a.n.n.y, he finally said: 'Do as you please; but if I were in your place, I'd have nothing to do with a young woman who speculates in railroad stocks.'"

"I am much of your uncle's opinion."

"And he added: 'You know that I will not give you a sou to be married on, don't you?'

"I replied: 'And you know that I ask you for nothing but your affection.'"

"A n.o.ble reply! and one that binds you to nothing.--Have a gla.s.s of champagne."

"I have already had one."

"So much the more reason for taking another. I say, my boy, order us a Perigord macaroni, and a _parfait a la vanille."_

"Yes, monsieur."

"Waiter, how is the wedding party getting along?"

"They're at the second course, monsieur."

"They have not got beyond that!"

"What a delightful fellow this dear Gustave is! because he doesn't eat, he fancies that n.o.body else has any appet.i.te."

"Is the bride eating, waiter?"

"Yes, monsieur; she's eating everything, I may say."

"Everything!"

Gustave angrily resumed his seat at the table, and held out his plate, saying to his companion:

"Very good! then I will eat, too! Give me some capon, Arthur; give me a lot of it!"

"Ah! good, good! spoken like a man! Now you're a man again! There's nothing left of the capon but one drumstick and the carca.s.s, but they're the most delicate parts."

"Give them to me, give them to me! Oh! what a fool, what an idiot, I have been! To give way to despair for a woman who makes sport of me, who eats everything, when she knows that I am consumed by grief!"

"You acted like a fool, and that's just what I've been killing myself telling you."

"Give me some wine!"