The beginning of the repast was lively, but free from anything offensive to the proprieties; the young women, upon whom Darena had enjoined the most rigidly correct behavior, gave their whole attention to doing justice to the dinner, and maintained an irreproachable demeanor, although they bestowed an amiable smile on Cherubin from time to time.

Malvina alone let slip an occasional remark or jest of a somewhat obscene flavor; but Darena always made haste to cover it by beginning to talk. His conversation, which was always piquant or rambling, Monfreville's, who was in an unusually cheerful mood, and the quotations of Monsieur Gerondif, who, while eating for four, found time to display all that he knew, did not leave Cherubin a moment for reflection.

Surprised to find himself the hero of that impromptu fete, he was dazzled, fascinated, taken captive; the glances that were darted at him, the witty remarks that he heard on all sides, the flattering things that were said to him, and the delicious, dainty, toothsome dinner, which gratified his sense of smell and of taste alike, prevented him from giving a thought to the village; for when his face became grave and indicated the arrival of a memory, his companions redoubled their attentions, their gayety and their pranks, to banish the cloud that had dimmed his eyes.

"I say," suddenly exclaimed Malvina, who, as she turned her head, happened to see Monsieur Poterne taking away a plate that Darena pa.s.sed him, "so your man of business waits on you at table, does he? Is he your servant too?"

"He serves me in every capacity," said Darena; "I tell you he is an invaluable man; I make whatever I choose of him!"

"Then you'd better make a good-looking man of him!"

"Socrates, Horace, Cicero and Pelisson were hideously ugly," said Gerondif, filling the little Swiss maiden's gla.s.s; "a man may be very plain and still have a brilliant intellect."

"Ah! you fox, you have your reasons for saying so," retorted Malvina, tossing off her champagne.

The tutor, who did not expect that reply, scratched his nose and called for truffles.

The crash of a breaking plate interrupted the conversation; Jasmin, while trying to remove his young master's plate, had dropped it on the floor; it was the fourth which had met that fate at his hands, together with two bottles and a carafe.

"I say, is that old fellow Jocrisse?" cried Malvina, with a roar of laughter.

"Such a valet de chambre must be very expensive!" said Monfreville, with a smile.

"Excuse me, my dear master," said Jasmin, who turned scarlet at each new mishap caused by his awkwardness. "You see, it is a long while since I have waited at table; but I shall soon get used to it--it is simply a matter of renewing an old habit."

"The devil!" said Darena, "if he means to go on until he gets used to it, it will be very fine!"

"But why do you stand behind me, my good Jasmin? It is altogether too fatiguing for a man of your years. Sit in the corner yonder; I will call you if I should need you!"

"The idea of it!" said Jasmin, trying to stand erect. "Does monsieur think that I do not know my duty? I will not quit my post, monsieur; I will die first!"

"In other words, all the landlord's crockery will die!" said Darena, laughingly.--"Honor to unlucky pluck!" he added aloud, raising his gla.s.s.

"This old servant's attachment is greatly to his credit and to his master's," said Monfreville, "I propose a toast to fidelity; it is so rare that we cannot do it too much honor, in whatever guise it appears."

The toast was drunk with enthusiasm by the company. Monsieur d'Hurbain proposed a toast to the late Monsieur de Grandvilain, and Darena to the ballet dancers at the Opera. Monsieur Gerondif rose and exclaimed with great earnestness:

"To the progress of the culinary art in France! The old Romans may have had more dishes than we on their tables, but probably they were less satisfying."

Mademoiselle Malvina, determined to propose a toast of her own, raised her gla.s.s and cried:

"I _toast_ for very long ballets and very short skirts, in the interest of the dancers and of everybody who likes a high kick."

None of the ladies chose to lag behind; Clina drank to her squirrel's health, Rosina to her cat's, and Fdora to her cousin's, who was in the Cha.s.seurs d'Afrique. Monsieur Poterne drank to n.o.body's health, but he kept his back turned to the table, and swallowed an appalling quant.i.ty of champagne. A terrible crash interrupted the toasts: Jasmin had dropped a pile of plates that time, and the floor was strewn with debris of crockery.

"This will be rather an expensive dinner," said Darena; "one must needs be very rich to indulge in such servants as this old Jasmin."

Meanwhile the frequent toasts had excited the guests to some extent.

Malvina, who could not keep still, began to dance a very p.r.o.nounced cancan; Clina and Rosina attempted the Cracovienne; Fdora waltzed with Darena, and Monsieur Gerondif, finding that everything about him was in a whirl, although he did not leave his chair, called loudly upon Malvina for a second performance of the Mozambique dance, with all its accessories.

Monsieur d'Hurbain, who had retained his presence of mind, thought that it was time to take Cherubin away; he took the young marquis's arm, motioned to Monfreville, and to the tutor, who left the table with regret, and, picking out a path through the broken crockery, they left the restaurant and entered a carriage which took them to the hotel de Grandvilain, not observing that Jasmin, who had followed them, had succeeded in climbing up behind, with the a.s.sistance of a messenger.

"Aren't we going back to Gagny?" inquired Cherubin, when he found himself in the carriage.

"It is impossible to-night, my dear friend, it is much too late," said Monsieur d'Hurbain. "To-morrow, or a few days hence, you will think about it. Since you are in Paris, you should at least get acquainted with the city."

"Yes," mumbled Monsieur Gerondif, whose tongue was very thick, "_Cras_, to-morrow; _cras mane_, to-morrow morning; _perendinus dies_, day after to-morrow--no matter when!"

"And with your permission," said Monfreville, "I will undertake to be your guide, and to show you all that a young man of your rank should know."

Cherubin made no reply; he would have liked to return to Gagny; but the delicious repast of which he had just partaken had aroused a new train of ideas in his mind, and he had heard so much of the pleasures that awaited him in Paris, of which he had already had such a pleasant specimen, that he finally said to himself:

"After all, as long as I am in the city, I may as well see at once all the wonderful things I have heard so much about; and when I go back to Louise I shall have lots of things to tell her, at all events."

The cab arrived at the mansion in Faubourg Saint-Germain; the porte cochere was thrown open. The equipage had no sooner entered the courtyard than the ears of the young marquis and his companions were a.s.sailed by some most extraordinary music. They heard the strains of several barrel-organs, several violins and two or three clarinets, playing at the same time, but playing different tunes. Male and female voices too, shrill and false, roared ancient airs, laments, or vaudeville choruses. The general result was a horrible medley of sounds.

The occupants of the carriage were asking one another what it could mean, when they heard a dull thud on the pavement, as if caused by the fall of a heavy body. They recognized Jasmin, who, when he attempted to climb down from behind the cab, had fallen in the middle of the courtyard. But the dauntless retainer was already on his feet, crying:

"It's nothing; I just slipped.--Monsieur le marquis, I ordered this concert--musicians and singers--in honor of your return to your paternal mansion. Long life to the new Marquis de Grandvilain!"

Cherubin thanked Jasmin for his kind intentions, but begged him instantly to dismiss those people, who were making such a horrible din.

Monsieur d'Hurbain and Monfreville bade the young man good-night, commending him in whispers to the care of his tutor, who was not in a condition to understand what they said; then they left him to enjoy the repose which he was likely to need.

When the strangers had gone, Jasmin asked Cherubin if he wished to pa.s.s his servants in review; and Mademoiselle Turlurette, who was overjoyed to see her young master, proposed that he inspect the linen closets and the servants' quarters, so that he might become acquainted with his establishment and see how things had been managed since his father's death. But Cherubin had no desire to take all that trouble; pleasure is fatiguing when one is not accustomed to it, and the young marquis wanted nothing except to go to bed.

When he saw the immense room which was to be his bedroom, where there was an old-fashioned bed, reached by a set of steps, and surrounded by enormous curtains of crimson velvet, Cherubin made a wry face and exclaimed:

"Oh! how ugly it is here! I liked my little room at my nurse's much better; it was more cheerful! I am going back there to-morrow, for it seems to me that I can't sleep well here."

But at sixteen years and a half, after a tiresome day, one sleeps well anywhere; and that is what happened to Cherubin.

As for Monsieur Gerondif, after bestowing an affable smile on Mademoiselle Turlurette, whom he called "mesdames," because, his eyesight being a little blurred, he took her for two persons, he was escorted to his apartment, and was radiant with delight when he saw the fine room that had been prepared for him. He stretched himself out luxuriously in a soft bed, and gently laid his head on a pile of pillows, saying:

"I never slept in such a bed as this! I sink in, I drown! It is enchanting! I would like to pa.s.s my life in bed, and dream of the Mozambique dance!"

XIII

TO-MORROW

Cherubin woke late; he gazed about him in amazement and tried to collect his thoughts. He asked himself why he had left Gagny, his dear Nicole, and Louise, whom he loved so dearly. Then he thought of the magnificent dinner of the day before and of those four young women, who were so pretty and gay and amusing, and who danced so gracefully, casting soft glances at him the while. It was all well calculated to engross so inexperienced a head and heart.

Suddenly the crash of breaking furniture made Cherubin start; he turned his head and saw Jasmin standing in dismay beside a washstand that he had overturned.

"What is all this?" cried the young man, who could not help laughing at the grimace made by his old valet.

"It's I, monsieur--it was because I didn't want to make a noise and wake you."