"Oh! if he has apologized to you, that makes a difference."

"What! my dear madame, have you seen the bear of the Tower?" Madame Droguet asked Thelenie.

"Yes, I met him and spoke to him."

"It seems that the man is becoming less uncivilized; probably since he has been in love with that Dalmont woman."

"What do you say?"

"I say that this Monsieur Paul pa.s.ses every evening now with that creature; everybody knows it, it is getting to be a public scandal.

Isn't that so, Monsieur Luminot?"

Luminot, who was sitting between the two ladies and was the only person who had heard this little _aside_, was busily stuffing himself with truffles, and contented himself with mumbling:

"It's perfectly scandalous.--They're from Perigord! what a perfume!"

"Hush! hush!" said Thelenie; "we will return to this subject this evening. My husband has something else to tell me."

Chamoureau was in fact waiting until his wife should be ready to listen to him.

"Now, my dear love, as the dog is out of the way, we will go on to the case of the small boy.--You must know, ladies and gentlemen, that there is a small boy, a little vagabond, a very bad boy, so it seems, who had the audacity to throw stones at my wife."

"I'll bet that it was the lost child!" said Doctor Antoine.

"Just so, doctor; it was the lost child. But I did not know it; madame had instructed me to find out whom the little rascal belonged to--he is about eight years old--in order to warn his parents to look after him a little better. I succeeded at last in finding out whom the rascal belonged to--that is to say, whom he lives with,--for n.o.body knows whom he belongs to, and that is why he is called the lost child.--It's rather an interesting story; the nurse told me everything--for I have seen the nurse. I will tell it to you; it would be a good subject for a melodrama."

As this promised to be more interesting than the age of trees, everybody listened attentively to Chamoureau; even Thelenie herself was secretly impatient to hear what he had to say.

XX

THE NURSE.--THE QUARREL

"First of all, ladies and gentlemen, you must know that this nurse does not belong to this part of the country; she used to live with her husband at Morfontaine, a charming village near Ermenonville."

"Morfontaine!" cried Thelenie, turning pale.

"Yes, my dear love, she lived at Morfontaine; her husband was a laboring man--I forgot to ask her in what trade; but they weren't rich, so that the woman, having become a mother, conceived the idea of going to Paris to get a nursling. Her husband approved of the idea, so Jacqueline Treillard--that is the woman's name--arrived in Paris one fine morning."

"The woman's name is Jacqueline, you say?"

"Yes, my dear love, Jacqueline Treillard; but you will see how dramatic and romantic the story grows."

Thelenie's brow grew dark, when she acquired the certainty that it was her own story that was to be told; but she strove to conceal her emotion and swallowed a gla.s.s of champagne frappe, saying:

"Well, monsieur, go on; your story has a romantic beginning."

"It bears much resemblance to a romance.--Well, there was Jacqueline in Paris; she had no sooner left the stage than she met a woman, who said to her: 'You are looking for a child to nurse; I have just what you want--the child of a baroness, who will pay you handsomely.' Jacqueline was delighted and accepted the proposal; the woman took her to a house where she found a lady--a very beautiful lady, it seems,--and a cradle with a new-born child in it. They agreed on a price--thirty francs a month. This Baronne de Mortagne--I forgot to tell you that this lady called herself the Baronne de Mortagne. Does anyone here know a baroness of that name?"

Everyone answered negatively, and Freluchon said:

"That baroness probably was a joke, after the manner of certain barons, whom we frequently meet in society.--Go on, Silvestre de Belleville."

"The Baronne de Mortagne paid the nurse for five months in advance, also the cost of her journey, and ordered her to go straight back to Morfontaine with little Emile--I forgot to tell you that the child's name was Emile. She told Jacqueline not to bring him to Paris, adding that she would go to see him when she had time. The nurse, however, took pains to ask the lady for her address; as she didn't know Paris at all, she had no idea where she had been taken. They gave her a written address, packed her into the stage, and sent her back to Morfontaine with her foster-child, delighted with her day's work!

"But two months pa.s.sed and three months, and Jacqueline did not hear a word from little Emile's mother. She said to herself, that when the five months had pa.s.sed, the lady would undoubtedly come to see her son and bring her more money. But no! the five months pa.s.sed, and no one came.

Meanwhile the poor nurse had become a widow and had lost her own child.

As she needed money, she decided to go to Paris. She got somebody to read to her the address the baroness had given her--I forgot to tell you that Jacqueline didn't know how to read; that is an unimportant detail.

What was written on the paper was: 'La Baronne de Mortagne, at her hotel on Rue de Grenelle, Faubourg Saint-Germain.'--On her arrival in Paris, Jacqueline inquired the way to Rue de Grenelle. I forgot to tell you that she didn't know Paris."

"Yes! yes! you did tell us; go on, Silvestre."

"Well! arrived in Paris, and on Rue de Grenelle, the nurse couldn't find the house from which she had taken her nursling. She inquired, she asked on both sides of the street for Madame la Baronne de Mortagne; no one knew that lady--it was a false address!"

"And a false baroness; we guessed that at the very beginning of your story."

"Finding that all her inquiries were useless, Jacqueline returned to Morfontaine with the child; she was ent.i.tled to turn him over to the magistrate and not keep him any longer, but, poor as she was, the good woman would not abandon her foster-child."

"Ah! that was very well done!"

"There was a nurse with more heart than a mother!"

"But how does it happen," asked Thelenie in a hesitating tone, "that this nurse who lived at Morfontaine is now at Ch.e.l.les?"

"Because she has a sister who lives here, the widow Tourniquoi. This sister, being in comfortable circ.u.mstances, learned that Jacqueline was almost dest.i.tute since her husband's death, so she proposed to her to come here to live with her. Jacqueline asked nothing better; she came with the little boy, who unfortunately has grown up to be a very tough subject!"

"He probably takes after his mother," said Freluchon.

"I learned all these details by talking with Jacqueline, when I went there to complain of the boy. The poor woman still loves him, she begged me with tears in her eyes to forgive him, and she said:

"'Oh! if you knew how lovely his mother was, monsieur! I never saw her but once, and that was eight years ago, but if I should see her I should know her in a minute, her beauty made such an impression on me!'"

Thelenie could not control a nervous tremor; but she struggled to overcome it, saying:

"It seems to me that we have had quite enough of this nurse."

"I beg pardon," said Freluchon; "I propose that, before we leave the subject, we take up a collection for this excellent woman, who, although poor, would not abandon the child that was placed in her care."

"Yes! yes! a collection for the nurse!"

"An excellent idea!"

"Do you agree with me, Baron Schtapelmerg?"

"Count me in; count me generous! Here's the nurse's health!"