Madame Celival looked at him; she compressed her lips angrily, and cried:

"Oh! what an extraordinary face you are making! Such a thing was never seen before--by me, at all events. Come, monsieur, speak, explain yourself; something is the matter, certainly."

And the fair widow, still impelled by the tender sentiment which spoke in Cherubin's favor, walked toward him and would have taken his hand; but he hastily drew back, faltering in a stifled voice:

"Oh! don't touch me, madame, I implore you!"

"What does that mean, monsieur? I beg you to believe that I have not the slightest desire to touch you," retorted Madame Celival, offended by the alarm depicted on the young man's face. "But, monsieur, I am justified in being surprised by the ill humor that has suddenly taken possession of you; I did not expect that I should--er--frighten you by showing you what pleasure it gave me to entertain you.--Ha! ha! it is most amusing, on my word!"

Instead of replying to what she said, Cherubin abruptly sprang to his feet, muttering:

"Excuse me, madame, excuse me--but an appointment I had forgotten--I absolutely must go."

"What, monsieur! you made an appointment when you knew that you were to breakfast with me! That is extremely courteous of you! You cannot make me believe that it is so urgent that you must go at once."

"Oh! yes, madame, yes! it is horribly urgent; I cannot postpone it any longer. Adieu, madame, adieu!"

And Cherubin, after running madly about the boudoir three times, in search of his hat, spied it at last, seized it, rushed at the door, threw it open with such force that he nearly broke it, and fled through all the rooms of the suite, as if he were afraid of being pursued, leaving Madame Celival aghast at his manner of taking leave of her.

Cherubin reached home at last cursing the plums and the ill-fortune which seemed to pursue him in his love-affairs.

Toward evening Monfreville called upon his friend; he was curious to know if he acquitted himself more creditably at his last a.s.signation than at the first. When he saw the young marquis, still pale and exhausted, he smiled and said:

"I see that your good fortune was complete this time, and that you won a grand victory."

Cherubin looked at his friend with such a piteous expression that he did not know what to think. After carefully closing the door of his apartment, Cherubin told Monfreville what had happened in his second amorous tete-a-tete. Monfreville could not keep a sober face as he listened to the story; and although Cherubin did not share his merriment, it was a long time before he could restrain it.

"So you consider it very amusing, do you?" said Cherubin, with a sigh.

"Faith, my dear fellow, it is very hard not to laugh at the plight in which you found yourself."

"Agree that I am very unlucky."

"It is your own fault. When you breakfast tete-a-tete with a lady, you should not stuff yourself with plums, especially after you have already eaten heartily, as you seem to have done."

"I did it to give myself courage, nerve!"

"What you did give yourself was very agreeable."

"Well, no such accident will happen in my next tete-a-tete with Madame Celival; I shall have better luck next time."

"Oh! don't flatter yourself that you will obtain a second a.s.signation from the fair widow. You are ruined in her esteem, as well as in the little countess's. That makes another conquest that you must abandon."

"Do you think so? How unfair! Does a woman cease to love us because we are suddenly taken ill?"

"Not for that reason, but because you behaved so clumsily."

"What would you have done in my place?"

"I would have said frankly that my breakfast was disturbing me, that I was feeling very sick; then she would have understood and excused my departure."

"Oh! I would have died of shame rather than say that!"

"That is very poor reasoning, my dear fellow; remember that a woman will forgive everything except contempt or indifference to her charms."

Cherubin was very much cast down during the rest of the day; it seemed to him that there was a sort of fatality about his love-affairs, and he was afraid that it would continue to pursue him. But that same evening Darena came to his house, to apprise him of the results of his negotiations with the charming woman he had seen at the Cirque.

"Victory!" cried Darena, bringing his hand down on the young marquis's shoulder; "it's going on finely, my friend; your business is in good shape."

"Well, have you obtained an appointment for me?" inquired Cherubin, with an almost frightened expression.

"Deuce take it! not yet; such things don't go so fast as you think; the young Polish countess is closely watched, surrounded by duennas and Cerberuses."

"Is she a Polish countess?"

"Yes, the Comtesse de Globeska, wife of the Comte de Globeski, a man of high social position who had to flee from his country because he was accused of high treason. He's as jealous as a tiger! he's the kind of fellow that talks of nothing but stabbing his wife if she should give so much as one hair to a man!"

"This is terrible!"

"It's of no consequence at all! Women haven't the slightest fear of daggers; on the contrary, they love to defy danger. I succeeded in getting your letter to the fair Globeska. It was a hard task; I had to scatter gold lavishly, and I did so; in fact, I borrowed some, as I had not enough. I know that you will make it up to me, and I thought that you would not blame me for being zealous in the service of your love."

"Oh! far from it, my dear Darena; I thank you. But did the pretty Pole write me a word in reply?"

"No, she didn't write you; perhaps she doesn't write French very well--that is excusable in a foreigner; but women abound in self-esteem; they are afraid of being laughed at if they make a mistake in grammar; in fact, the enchanting Globeska replied by word of mouth, and what she said is worth all the billets-doux that ever were written."

"What did she say?"

"She said to her maid, whom I had seduced--I mean that I bribed her with money: 'Say to this young Frenchman who has written me, that I share his pa.s.sion. Since I saw him, I dream of him all the time, even when I am not asleep.'"

"Did she say that? Oh! what joy!"

"Let us finish: 'I am bound to a tyrant whom I detest. Let this Frenchman devise some way to carry me off, and I am ready to go with him--I will throw myself into his arms.'--Well, what do you say to that, my lucky Lovelace? I should say that you had turned her head!"

"Yes, my friend, I am very glad; for I feel that I like that young woman better than all the rest. With her it seems to me that I shall be more at my ease than with the women in fashionable society, who always intimidate me."

"You will be very much at your ease, I promise you; the Poles are very unceremonious."

"But she talks about my carrying her off. Can that be done? Is it allowable to carry off a man's wife?"

"Oh! what a child! In the first place, you don't ask leave; and secondly, you see that she herself wants it done. Never fear, I will look after the abduction; I make that my business."

"My dear Darena, how much I am indebted to you!"

"But the main point is to know where I shall take your charmer. You will understand that it would be neither proper nor prudent to bring her to this house, where your servants will see her, and----"

"Oh! certainly not. But where can we take her then?"

"Nothing can be simpler. All that we have to do is to hire a little house near Paris, in the suburbs, in some lonely and quiet spot. Do you wish me to attend to that too?"