Cherubin did not see Darena for a week; he fretted and fumed with impatience, fearing that his intrigue with the pretty Pole had fallen through altogether; and, as is always the case, he became immeasurably more enamored of the object of his pa.s.sion as his fear of not possessing her increased. It was for the purpose of giving him time to reach that climax of pa.s.sion, that Darena, who was thoroughly acquainted with the human heart, had allowed several days to elapse without going to see him.

At last Darena appeared at the hotel de Grandvilain one morning, hurried and breathless, like a man who had galloped twelve leagues without a halt. He pushed old Jasmin aside and almost knocked him down, when that worthy retainer attempted to tell him that he did not know whether he could see his master, who had not yet risen.

"I don't care whether he's up or in bed, he is always visible to me,"

replied Darena imperiously. "Learn, you old donkey of a valet, to know the persons whom your master is always delighted to receive."

As he spoke, Darena rushed into the young marquis's bedroom, leaving Jasmin propped against the wall, muttering in a voice that trembled with wrath:

"Old donkey! he called me an old donkey! He's an impertinent knave. The Grandvilains, father or son, never called me that. He's not a donkey, but I have an idea that he's a much more dangerous animal!"

Darena reached Cherubin's bedside and pulled the curtains aside, crying:

"Up, Joconde! up, Lovelace, Richelieu, Rochester! The moment of triumph has arrived at last!--Sapristi! I can fairly say, my dear fellow, that I have made myself ill for you! Ouf! I can do no more!"

And Darena threw himself on a couch, and mopped his face with his handkerchief.

"But what has become of you during these eight long days that I have not once seen you, and have not known what to think of your silence?" asked Cherubin, looking closely at his friend. "I thought that you had forgotten me."

"Ah! that is just like a man--a young man! Because things are not done on the instant, you think that you are forgotten. Do I ever forget my friends? Am I not absolutely devoted to you? If you have not heard from me for a week, it is because I had nothing to tell you; but I have been on the lookout, watching and waiting for the moment to act. It has come at last; I have acted, and the fair Globeska is in our power."

"Is it possible? Oh! do tell me how you did it, my dear Darena?"

"Parbleu! by my ordinary method: I scattered money about. I know no other way, especially as it always succeeds. Dress, and meanwhile I will tell you how it all came about; but don't call your valet; you will understand that I can't talk about it before a witness. I have already compromised myself enough--but d.a.m.n the odds!"

Cherubin rose and began to dress, saying:

"Go on, I am listening; I shall not lose a word."

"You know that the pretty Pole lived with her husband in furnished lodgings in the Marais; I succeeded in effecting the delivery of your billet-doux by bribing a lady's maid and two concierges. The Comtesse de Globeska replied that she was mad over you and asked nothing better than to leave her tyrant. That was all very well, but how were we to abduct the young woman from a man who left her no more than her shadow? It was very difficult. Seven days pa.s.sed thus; Monsieur de Globeski did not leave his wife for an instant. At last, yesterday, I learned from a concierge, by a further use of money, that the Polish count had decided to leave Paris, and that he was going to take his wife to Norway; of course, if we had had to pursue our conquest to Norway, it would have taken us too far. I instantly formed my resolution, saying to myself: 'He shall not take her!'

"I learned--still by the lavish use of money--that the post-chaise was to call for our Poles at eight in the evening. I arrived just before the hour; the carriage came and stopped in front of the house, and I went boldly up to the postilion and led him aside.

"'I adore the woman who is going with you,' I said. 'I am going to follow with two friends to a lonely place on the road, one or two leagues from Paris; we shall pretend to attack you, and fire a few shots with pistols loaded with powder only. You will stop; we will open the carriage door and seize the young woman; then you will start off at full speed with the old gentleman, and if he shouts to you to stop, you will pay no attention until you have galloped at least two solid hours.'

"You will understand, my dear Cherubin, that I should not dare to make such a proposition as that to a postilion, without supporting it by convincing arguments. I handed him a thousand-franc note, and he turned his back, saying:

"'What do you take me for?'

"I added five hundred francs. He remarked that it was a very ticklish business! I added another five hundred. He agreed to everything. That's the way things are done in Paris. I went off to choose two rascals on whom I could rely, in consideration of five hundred francs, which I gave to each. I also hired a post-chaise. When the Comte de Globeski started off with his wife, we followed; and, about two leagues from here, between Sevres and Chaville, in a place where nothing grows but melons, we discharged our pistols. The bribed postilion stopped. It was dark, and everything went off as I had arranged. We kidnapped the young woman.

The old Pole defended her like a genuine demon; indeed, he inflicted a slight dagger wound on one of our men in the scuffle, which forced me to disburse three hundred francs more. However, we captured the divine Globeska, and I took her to the house I have hired, where she pa.s.sed the night and is now awaiting you."

"Oh! what a series of events, my dear Darena! But great heaven! this stealing a woman from her husband, and by force! Suppose it should be known? Isn't it a crime?"

"Bah! are you going to have scruples now?--At all events, there was no other way, and then, if worse comes to worst, I am the only one compromised; but my friendship is of the sort that defies danger."

"And the pretty Pole--where have you taken her?"

"To a little house that stands all by itself near Barriere de la Chopinette; I could find nothing better. And then I considered that to go into the country, at a distance from Paris, would incommode you too much. The house I have hired is in a spot where very few people pa.s.s; the outlook is not very cheerful, but what do you care for that? You aren't going to shut yourself up with a woman, to look out of the windows at people pa.s.sing, are you? Isn't one always happy when with the person one loves?"

"Oh, yes! of course; but in what quarter is this Barriere de la Chopinette?"

"In the quarter of La Poudrette, and of lonely promenades, in the direction of Menilmontant. However, we can go there in a cab. Remember, my dear fellow, that your charmer is waiting for you; I told the concierge of the house to order as toothsome a breakfast as he can procure in that quarter, and some superfine wines. Make haste and finish dressing--put on your best clothes, perfume yourself----"

"Perfume myself? Indeed, I shall not; perfumery makes me sick."

"As you please, but put on your armor. Lucky Cherubin! you are about to possess one of the loveliest women I have ever seen; and her Polish accent, too, is most fascinating."

"And she loves me, you say? she has admitted it?"

"Parbleu! how many times must I tell you? In fact, I should say that her conduct was quite sufficient proof of it."

"She didn't weep when she was kidnapped?"

"Weep! She danced--she adores dancing, it seems. By the way, I need not tell you that I have nothing left of the funds you advanced me. The postilion and my men to pay--the hire of the post-chaise and the house--and all the people I bribed. In fact, you owe me fifteen hundred francs."

"Fifteen hundred francs!" exclaimed Cherubin, as he walked to his desk; "it costs a lot to abduct a woman!"

"To whom are you telling that? to me, who have abducted a hundred perhaps, in the course of my life? Indeed it was in that way that I spent a large part of my fortune; but it is a princely pleasure all the same, in which everybody cannot indulge."

Cherubin handed Darena the sum that he required, and said:

"I am ready."

"Very good; send out for a cab; you will understand that we can't go to your _pet.i.te maison_ with your tilbury and your groom. You should never take your servants into the secret of a mysterious intrigue like this; such people are too fond of talking."

"You are right.--Hola! Jasmin!"

The old servant appeared, still with a long face, and cast an angry glance at Darena. Cherubin ordered him to send for a cab.

"Will not monsieur take his cabriolet?" queried Jasmin, with an expression of surprise.

"Evidently not!" cried Darena, laughing at Jasmin's face; "as your master orders a cab, he doesn't propose to take his cabriolet. Off with you, old ruin, and make haste, if you possibly can."

"Old ruin!" muttered Jasmin, as he left the room. "Still another insult--and I must swallow it all! I am very much afraid that this ne'er-do-well will ruin my young master. I should like to know why he makes him take a cab, when he has his own tilbury and cabriolet."

However, Jasmin did his errand; the cab was summoned. Cherubin went downstairs with Darena, and they both entered the vehicle, which Jasmin looked after, with a far from pleased expression, as it drove away.

Darena told the driver where to take them. After quite a long drive they stopped in front of a shabby house outside Barriere de la Chopinette, on the outer boulevards.

"Here we are!" said Darena, jumping out of the cab.

Cherubin looked at the house, which had but one floor above the ground floor, with two windows on the front.

"This isn't a very handsome house!" he exclaimed.

"It is very fine inside," replied Darena. "The princ.i.p.al thing is that it's isolated; the devil himself would be in it if the husband should unearth you here! My dear fellow, when you run off with a woman, you must take the greatest precautions. And after all, what do you care about the house? It's the woman that you come here to see. For my part, I should have been perfectly happy in a shepherd's hut, with the object of my love.--Send the cab away; I am going to ring."

Cherubin made haste to pay the cab-driver, who returned to his box and drove away.