"But if it should be----"

Adolphine had not time to finish her sentence. The door of her chamber was hastily thrown open, and her sister entered.

XXIX

A WOMAN OF FASHION

f.a.n.n.y was resplendent in costume, jewels, and style; and it must be said that, like all women with whom personal adornment is a special study, she carried her splendor well, and that it added materially to the attractions she had received from nature.

The young woman was nowise perturbed at sight of Gustave Darlemont; she honored him with an affable smile, and her vanity seemed flattered that he whose hand she had refused should see her now in all the glory of her good-fortune and her magnificent toilet. Adolphine, on the contrary, was pale and trembling. As for Gustave, he could not conceal the emotion he felt on seeing f.a.n.n.y again, and especially in such seductive guise.

"Bonjour, little sister!" said f.a.n.n.y, kissing Adolphine.--"But, I cannot be mistaken--this is Monsieur Gustave. I am delighted to see you, monsieur."

Gustave barely managed to stammer:

"Madame--I confess that I did not expect--to meet you here."

"Why, it seems to me quite natural that I should come to my father's house. To be sure, it doesn't happen very often: I have so little time to myself! When one goes much into society, one must make and receive so many calls, dress, give orders when one entertains. And, by the way, we give a large party in six days, to inaugurate our winter evenings.--I came to tell you, Adolphine, so that you may have time to prepare a bewitching costume, do you hear? I will advise you, of course, for you don't keep very well abreast of the fashions.--But I thought that you were abroad, Monsieur Gustave?"

"I have just come from Spain, mademoiselle--I beg your pardon--madame. I have been away about five months."

"Indeed! then that is why you look so brown; but that doesn't do you any harm--far from it. Did you enjoy yourself?"

"Enjoy myself? not exactly that, madame; but that wasn't what I went for."

"They say that the women are very pretty in Spain; that their eyes, especially, are dazzlingly bright. Is it true, Monsieur Gustave? Did you see any eyes in that country that excel those of us Frenchwomen?"

"I saw none, madame, which could be compared to----"

The young man checked himself, and added:

"I saw none which made me forget those of the Parisian women."

"Good! that is very polite! And you are settled in Paris now?"

"I do not know, madame; that will depend on--my uncle."

"Well, monsieur, while you are here, if it will afford you any pleasure to come to our evenings at home, Monsieur Monleard, I am sure, will be delighted to see you. At all events, he allows me to invite whom I choose--and he does the same. I greet his friends courteously, he does as much for mine; in that way, we always agree. Stay! next Thursday, as I was saying to my sister, we give a large party; there will be everything: music, dancing, cards, and supper; it will last all night, and we shall have lots of fun. You must come. We shall have all Paris--that is to say, all the best artists, all the celebrities. Will you come?"

Gustave was struck dumb by this invitation, and especially by the light, careless tone in which it was offered; he was more distressed than gratified, and answered, with a low bow:

"No, madame; I shall not have the honor of accepting your invitation."

"Indeed! And why not, may I ask, monsieur?"

"Why, because--at this party--in your husband's house--it seems to me, madame, that I should be out of place; and I am sure beforehand that I should take no pleasure in it. Pray receive, madame, my thanks and my adieux."

Thereupon Gustave went up to Adolphine, who had listened without a word, and pressed her hand, saying in an undertone:

"Adieu, my only friend! Ah! your father is right: it is much better that I should not come here again."

Gustave left the room. Adolphine had difficulty in concealing her grief.

f.a.n.n.y, meanwhile, looked at herself in a mirror, saying:

"What is the matter with Monsieur Gustave, I wonder? He had a very tragic air as he left us. It wasn't polite of him to refuse my invitation. And I fancied that it would give him the greatest pleasure!

There are so many young men who would be overjoyed to have the opportunity to come to my evenings!"

"In your eyes, Monsieur Gustave ought not to be like other young men.

And I cannot conceive how you could have dreamed of urging him to come to see you," rejoined Adolphine, in a trembling voice.

"Why not, I should like to know? You seem to be surprised at everything!"

"But after all that happened between you before you were married----"

"All what? Monsieur Gustave was in love with me. Ah! there are many others who are in love with me to-day--yes, and who pay court to me, too. But that won't keep them from coming to dance at our ball--quite the contrary; and they have engaged me beforehand for I don't know how many contra-dances. But I shall take only those whom I like. I would have done as much for Gustave; or, rather, I would have given him the preference--I would have let him have more dances."

"But don't you see that Gustave still loves you? that he can't accustom himself to seeing you as another man's wife, and that it would be impossible for him to meet your husband?"

"Do you think that that young man still loves me so much as that?"

"To be sure; he was just telling me so himself when you came."

"Ah! the poor boy! I am sorry for him, but I thought he had grown reasonable! A constant lover! Why, the fellow is a perfect phoenix!"

"A phoenix that you would have none of!"

"I don't repent. My husband is not a phoenix in love, I admit. At first, he adored me; then, it suddenly pa.s.sed away. But I wasn't silly enough to groan over it. He has continued to lavish on me all the pleasures and amus.e.m.e.nts that wealth can procure. What more could I ask?

I consider myself the luckiest woman in Paris. Whereas with that poor Gustave--that phoenix of constancy!--I should have vegetated; I should have gone to the play on Sunday, as a treat!"

"Monsieur Gustave is already in a much better position. His uncle is so well satisfied with him that he gives him ten thousand francs a year now."

"Ten thousand francs! Well, yes, that is something. One can manage to live with that. But how far he is still from Auguste's position!"

"And then, too, f.a.n.n.y, when you invite Monsieur Gustave to your house, you seem to forget that duel. Your husband knows that it was he who was in such despair on account of your marriage, and that that was the cause----"

"Oh! for heaven's sake, let me alone, Adolphine! My husband has forgotten all about that. He has much more important things in his head.

When a man is intent on making millions, do you suppose he wastes any time on trifles of that sort? Oh! mon Dieu! chattering here with you, I forgot that I have to call on my broker."

"You have a broker, f.a.n.n.y?"

"To be sure. I speculate on the Bourse, too--just to amuse myself a little, you know. But I do not intrust my affairs to my husband, because he would ridicule me. Adieu, little sister! Make your preparations for our grand party on Thursday. Oh! we shall have much sport. I am going to have a ravishing gown."

Madame Monleard took her leave; whereupon Adolphine sank into a chair, saying to herself: