The jolly Parisiennes; and other novelettes

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I r

The Jolly Parisiennes; ,

AND OTHER NOVELETTES.

Contents

Page.

THE JOLLY PARISIENNES.

II. SALON AND THEATRE 31

Chapter I. Two Charmers

T his is a deliciously exciting period of my life, for I am about to try tbat most fascinating and hazardous of all experiences, a search for adventure in Paris. What I shall encounter I know not, and this very uncertainty is in itself a mighty charm I

Of course, I shall meet Parisian ladies — delightful ladies I am sure, though I actually feel afraid of them, such dreadful tales have I heard concerning their coquetry and artfulness, not to say wickedness, and I am only a country youth, with neither the wit nor the

TWO CHARMERS.

courage to defend myself against beautiful sorceresses so powerfully armed!

Well, I wish to see all that can be seen and enjoy all that can be enjoyed, and if I by chance should fall a victim to the wiles and witchery of any designing siren — why, all I can say is — Heaven help me!

Eight days ago my father, M. de Vaugelade, permitted me to quit Le Boquet, the melancholy old chateau in Lower Normandy where I was born. My father has strange ideas concerning the present time, he is a good half century behind the age. At last I live in Paris, my slight knowledge of which was derived from having passed through it twice. Fortunately, I am not too awkward. Felix Budin, my old classmate at the Caen Lyceum, claimed, on again seeing me here, that I was superb* and that the fair Parisiennes will fall passionately in love with me. That made me laugh. But, when Felix had gone, I surprised myself in front of a mirror, gazing at my five feet, six inches and smiling with my white teeth and black eyes. Then, I shrugged my shoulders, for I am not a coxcomb.

Yesterday, for the first time, I passed the evening in a Parisian salon. The Countess de P — — , who is my aunt, had invited me to dinner. It was her last Saturday. She wished to present me to M. Neigeon, a deputy of our arrondissement of Gommerville, who has just been appointed Under-Secretary of State, and who is, the rumor runs, in a fair way to become Minister. My aunt, who is much more tolerant than my father, plumply declared to me that a young man of my age could not turn up his nose at his country, even if it

TWO CHAEMEKS.

was a republic. She desires to get me a position somewhere.

“I will take it on myself to catechise that old pigheaded Vaiigelade,” said she to me. “ Leave everything to me, my dear George.’*

At precisely seven o’clock, I was at the Countess’. But it seems that they dine late in Paris; the guests arrived one by one, and at half-past seven all were not there. The Countess informed me with an air of despair that she had been unable to secure M. Neigeon ; he was detained at Versailles by I know not what Parliamentary complication. Nevertheless, she still hoped that he would appear for a moment during the evening. Wishing to fill the gap, she had invited another deputy of our department, the enormous Gaucheraud, as we style him down there, and whom I knew from having once hunted with him. This Gaucheraud is a shorty jovial man, who has recently let his side- whiskers grow in order to have a grave air. lie was born in Paris and was the son of a pettifogging lawyer without fortune ; but he has, down with us, a wealthy and very influential uncle, whom he persuaded, I know not how, to give him a candidacy. I was, besides, ignorant of the fact that he was married. My aunt placed me, at table, beside a blonde young lady, with a cunning and pretty air, whom the enormous Gaucheraud, in a very loud tone, called Berthe.

All the guests at last appeared. It was still daylight in the salon, which was exposed to the setting sun, and suddenly we entered an apartment with curtains drawn, lighted by a chandelier and lamps. The effect was sin-

TWO CHARMERS.

gular. Hence, as we took our places, the guests chatted about these final dinners of the winter season, which are saddened by the twilight. My aunt detested this. And the conversation was prolonged upon the subject, upon the melancholy of Paris, traversed at the close of day, when one rides along in a carriage in response to an invitation. I was silent, but I had experienced nothing of that sensation in my fiacre, which had, however, roughly jolted me for half an hour. Paris, in the first glimmer of the gas, had filled me with a desire for all the er‘joyments with which it was about to flame.

When the entrees appeared, the voices were raised and they talked politics. I was surprised to hear my aunt formulate opinions. The other ladies also were posted ; they called the well-known men by their last names, judged and decided. Opposite me, Gaucheraud filled a tremendous space, talking loudly, without ceasing either to drink or eat. These matters did not interest me at all, a great deal had escaped me, and I had finished by occupying myself exclusively with my neighbor, Madame Gaucheraud — Berthe, as I already called her, for short. She was, indeed, very pretty. Her ear, especially, seemed charming to me — a little round ear, behind which yellow locks were curling. Berthe had the bewildering nape of the neck of a blonde, covered with straggling hair. At certain movements of the shoulders, her corsage, cut down in a square, gaped slightly at the back, and I followed, from her neck to her waist, the supple undulation of a cat. I had less admiration for her profile, which was a trifle sharp. She talked politics with more eagerness than the rest.

TWO CHARMERS.

“ Madame, will you take some wine ? Shall I pass you the salt, madame? ’’

I was politeness itself, I anticipated her slightest wishes, interpreting her gestures and her glances. She had stared at me fixedly on taking her place at the table, as if to weigh me at a swoop.

“Politics bore you,” she said to me at last. “They stun me. But what can one do? — one must talk, and they talk only politics now in society.”

Then, she leaped to another subject.

“Is Gommerville a pretty place? My husbaand wanted, last summer, to take me to his uncle’s ; but I was afraid, I pretended that I was ill.”

“ The district is very fertile,” I responded. “ It has some fine plains.”

“ Good ! that settles it I ” resumed she, laughing. “ It’s frightful ! A district as flat as a pancake — fields and more fields, with the same row of poplars as far as the eye can reach 1

I strove to protest, but she was already off again — she was discussing a law relative to superior instruction with her neighbor on the right, a serious man with a white beard. At length, they talked about the theatre. When she bent forward to answer a question asked at the end of the table, the feline undulation of the nape of her neck put me all in a flutter. At LeBoquet,in the secret impatience of my solitude, I had dreamed of a blonde charmer; but she was diffident, with a noble visage, and the smiling mien, the little curly locks of Berthe had played sad havoc with my ideal. Then, as the vegetables were being served^ I glided into a mad romance,

TWO CHARMERS.

the details of wliich I arranged as I went along. We were alone — she and I ; I kissed her on the neck frona behind, and she turned with a smile; we fled together to a far distant land. Tliej were passing around the dessert. At that moment she pressed against me and said, in a low voice :

‘‘Give me that plate of bonbons, there, in front of you.”

It seemed to me that her eyes had a caressing softness, and the slight pressure of her bare arm on the sleeve of my coat warmed me deliciously.

“ I adore sweet things, do you ? ” she resumed, biting off a piece of candied fruit.

These simple words thrilled me to such an extent that I believed myself in love with her. As I raised my head, I saw Gaucheraud watching me whisper to his wife: he was as gay as usual and smiled with an encouraging air. The husband’s smile calmed me.

Meanwhile the dinner was drawing to a close. It did not seem to me that Paris dinners were any livelier than those of Caen. Berthe alone surprised me. My aunt complained of the heat, and they returned to the first topic of conversation, discussing the spring receptions and concluding that one ate really Avell only in winter. Then, the company went to take their coffee in the little salon.

Gradually, a great many people arrived. The three salons and the dining-room filled up. I took refuge in a corner, and, as my aunt passed, she said to me, rapidly :

“Don’t go, George. His wife has arrived. He has promised to come for her, and I will present you.”

TWO CHARMERS.

She spoke of M. Neigeon, but I did not listen to her very attentively; I had heard two young men exchange a few rapid words which had startled me. They were standing on tiptoe at a door of the main salon, and when Felix Budin, my old classmate of Caen, entered and bowed to Madame Gaucheraud, the smallest one said to the other :

“Is he still her fancy?’

“Yes,” answered the taller of the twain. “Oh I they’re very thick ! Now, it will last till winter. Never before has she kept a fellow so long!”

This did not cause me great suffering. I simply felt a wound of vanity. Why had she told me in such a tender tone that she adored sweet things? Certainly, I did not mean to dispute her with Felix. Ilowever, I finally persuaded myself that those young men had calumniated Madame Gaucheraud. I knew that my aunt was excessively rigid; she would never tolerate compromised ladies in lier house. Gaucheraud had rushed forward to meet Felix and grasp his hand ; and he was giving him friendly taps on the shoulder and gazing tenderly at him.

“Ah! here you are!” said Felix to me when he had discovered my place of refuge. “I came on your account. Do you want me to pilot you?”

We remained standing in the doorway. I would have liked to question him about Madame Gaucheraud, but did not know how to do so in an off-hand way. While searching for a transition point, I asked him concerning a host of other persons for whom I cared absolutely nothing. And he gave me the names of the peoi)le,

TWO CHABMERS.

with precise information in regard to each one. Born in Paris, he had spent only two years at the Caen Lyceum, while his father was Prefect of Calvados. I found him very free-spoken. A smile puckered bis lower lip when I asked him for details as to certain ladies present.

“ Are you looking at Madame Neigeon? ” he suddenly demanded of me.

The truth was that I was looking at Madame Gaucheraud. Hence I replied, blankly enough :

“ Madame Neigeon I Ah ! where is she ? ”

“ That brunette down there by the mantelpiece, who is chatting with a ddcolletee blonde.”

In fact, beside Madame Gaucheraud, and laughing gayly, was a lady whom I had not before noticed.

“Ah! so that’s Madame Neigeon, so that’s Madame Neigeon I ” said I.

And I examined her. It was exceedingly unfortunate that she was a brunette, for she appeared to me equally as charming, though not quite so tall as Berthe, with a magnificent crown of black hair. She had eyes at once flashing and tender. Her small nose, shapely mouth and dimpled cheeks indicated a nature both turbulent and thoughtful. Such was my first impression. But, as I looked at her, my judgment wavered, and I soon saw her gayer than her friend and laughing more loudly.

“ Are you acquainted with Neigeon? ” F^lix demanded of me.

“ Not in the least. My aunt is going to introduce me to him.”

“ Oh ! he’s nobody, a perfect ninny,” continued Felix. ^ He’s political mediocrity in full bloom, one of those

TWO CHARMERS.

stop-gaps so useful under the Parliamentary regime. As be hasn’t two ideas of his own and as all the cabinet heads can make use of him, he is in the most conflicting combinations.”

And his wife ? ” I asked.

‘‘Ilis wife! — well, you can see for yourself! She is charming ! If you want to get anything out of Neigeon, pay court to her ! ”

Felix affected to wish to say nothing farther. But he gave me to understand that Madame Neigeon had made her husband’s fortune and continued to watch over the prosperity of the family. All Paris credited her with devoted slaves.

“ And the blonde lady? ” I demanded, suddenly.

“ The blonde lady,” responded Felix, without wincing, “ is Madame Gaucheraud.”

“ There is nothing to be said against her, eh ?”

“ Of course, there is nothing to be said against her.”

He had assumed a grave air, which he was unable to maintain ; his smile reappeared ; I even thought that I could detect a trace of boastfulness on his visage, which angered me. The two ladies had, without doubt, observed that we were talking about them, for they laughed more heartily than ever. A lady having led Felix awaj^, I remained alone ; and I passed the evening comparing Madame Neigeon with Madame Gaucheraud, wounded and attracted, not fully comprehending what was taking place around me, experiencing the anxiety of a man who is afraid of committing some stupidity by risking himself in a society with which he is not yet acquainted.

TWO CHARMERS.

“ How vexatious ! — lie has not come ! ” said my aunt to me when she again found me in the same corner of the doorway. “But it’s always the same. It’s midnight and his wife is still waiting for him.”

I went around through the dining-room and planted myself at the other door of the salon. In this manner I found myself behind the two ladies. As I reached the door, I heard Berthe call her friend Louise. Louise is a pretty name ! She wore a high dress, the ruching of which allowed to be seen, beneath her heavy chignon, only the white line of her neck. This discreet whiteness seemed to me, for an instant, much more enticing than Berthe’s entirely bare back. Then, I had no longer any preference; both of them were adorable; a choice appeared impossible to me in the bewildered condition in which I found myself.

" My aunt, meanwhile, was hunting for me everywhere. It was one o’clock.

“So you have changed your door, eh ?” she said to me. “Well, he’s not coming: that Neigeon saves France every evening I But, at any rate, I’ll introduce you to his wife before she goes. And be amiable, it’s important ! ”

Without awaiting my response, the Countess planted me in front of Madame Neigeon, uttering my name and telling her my business in a phrase. I behaved very awkwardly and could scarcely find half a dozen words. Louise awaited, smiling; then, seeing that I had stopped short, she simply bowed. It seemed to me that Madame Gaucheraud was making fun of me. They both arose and withdrew. In the ante-chamber, where the dressing

SALON AND THEATRE.

room was located, tliey had a fit of wild ga 3 ^ety. Their free and easy, hoydenish behavior and their bold grace astonished no one but me. The men separated and bowed to them as they passed, with a mixture of extreme politeness and fashionable familiarity which stupefied me.

Felix had offered me a place in his carriage. But I made my escape, wishing to be alone ; and I did not take a fiacre, delighted to walk amid the silence and solitude of the streets. I was feverish, as at the approach of some grave malady. Was it a passion which was sprouting within me? Like travellers who pay their tribute to new climates, I was about to be tried by the air of Paris 1

CHAPTEE II.

SALON AND THEATRE.

T HIS afternoon I again saw the two ladies at the Art Salon, which opened to-day. I confess -that I knew I would be likely to meet them there and that I would have great difficulty in giving an opinion of the three or four thousand pictures, in front of which I promenaded for four hours. Yesterday Felix offered to call for me towards noon ; we were to breakfast at a restaurant of the Champs- filysees and then go to the Salon.

I have thought a great deal since the Countess’ soiree,

SALON AND THEATRE.

but I admit that that has not brightened up my ideas much. What strange society is this Parisian society, at once so polished and corrupt! I am not a rigid moralist; still, I was none the less shocked at the idea of the enormities which I heard men talking to each other about in Pie corners of my aunt’s salon. According to the scandalous chatter, exchanged in whispers, more than half the ladies there were no better than they should be; and there was, beneath the urbanity of conversation and manners, a brutality of valuation which degraded all of them, the mothers as well as the daughters, soiling the purest quite as much as the most compromised. How was one to discover the truth amid these risky tales, these affirmations of the first who came along, deciding the virtue or the shamelessness of a woman? I thought at first, in spite of what my father had said on the subject, that my aunt received very villainous company. But Fdlix claimed that it was the same way in almost all the Parisian salons. The most severe hostesses themselves were forced to show toleration under penalty of having their salons deserted. The effects of my first shock having passed away, I found myself only desirous of profiting by the easily obtained pleasures, by the enjoyments offered with such bewildering grace.

For four days I have been unable to awake in the morning, in my little apartment on the Eue Laffitte, without thinking of Louise and Berthe, as I familiarly called them. A singular phenomenon had been produced within me — I had finished by mixing them together. I was now certain that F^lix was really Berthe’s slave ; but that did not wound me — quite the contrary ;

SALON AND THEATRE.

I looked upon it as an encouragement, as proof positive that I had a chance. I, therefore, associated them together: since they had accepted the devotion of others, why should they not accept mine? This was the constant subject of a delicious reverie at my hour of rising. I lingered in bed, enjoying the warmth of the covers and turning over twenty times with a delightful laziness of the limbs. And I avoided getting down to anything precise, for it was agreeable to me to remain in doubt as to the denouement, which I incessantly arranged to suit myself. I could thus be nice about the circumstances destined some day to bring about the offer of my homage to Berthe or Louise, I did not even wish to know which. Finally, I arose, with the absolute conviction that I had but to choose in order to make one or the other the idol of my life.

When we entered the first hall of the Exposition of Painting, I was surprised at the enormous crowd which was stifling there. •

“ Liable ! ” muttered Felix, “ we are a little late. We’ll have to elbow our way.’’

It was a very mixed throng, made up of artists, tradespeople and people of society. Amid ill-brushed paletots and dark coats were light-hued toilets, those spring toilets so gay in Paris, with their delicate silks and bright trimmings. And I was particularly delighted with the calm assurance of the ladies, pushing through the thickest of the groups, without bothering themselves about their trains, the floods of lace of which always ultimately got through, too. They went thus from one picture to another at the pace at which they would have 2

SALON AND THEATRE.

traversed their own salons. None but the Parisianladies preserve the serenity of a goddess amid popular throngs, as if the words they hear and the contacts they undergo cannot reach and soil them. For an instant I glanced after a lady, who, Felix told me, was the Duchess of

A ; she was accompanied by her two daughters,

aged from sixteen to eighteen years; and all three looked without wincing at a Leda, while, behind them, a lot of young artists merrily chatted about the picture in very free terms.

Felix made his vray into the halls on the left, a range of huge square rooms, wdiere the crowd was less compact. A white light fell from the skylights of the ceilings, a hard light which canvas curtains sifted ; but the dust raised by the tramping of the people floated like a light smoke above the SAvell of heads. The ladies had to be handsome, indeed, to resist this light, this uniform tone, which the pictures on the four sides of the walls stained violently. -There it was an extraordinary medley of colors, of reds, yellows and blues which jarred — a whole rainbow riot in the glistening gold of the frames. It began to grow veiy warm. Bald gentlemen, with polished craniums, walked about, panting, their hats in their hands. All the visitors were looking upwards. There was a crush in front of certain canvases. Currents were produced ; people pushed ; it was a helterskelter rush of a let loose human flock through a palace. And one heard incessantly the continuous roll of feet upon the floors, which was accompanied by the hollow and prolonged noise of the people, murmuring like the sea.

SALON AND THEATRE.

“ All ! ” said Felix to me, “ there’s the great picture that’s so much talked about.”

Five rows of persons were contemplating the great picture. There were ladies with eye-glasses, artists making wicked comments in low tones, and a tall, thin gentleman taking notes. But I scarcely looked. I had just perceived, in a neighboring hall, leaning on the railing in front of the wainscot, two ladies who were curiously examining a small picture. It was at first but a flash : beneath the rims of hats I saw thick black tresses and a confusion of blonde locks ; then the vision was swept away, a flood of people, of swaying heads, swallowed up the two ladies. But I could have sworn to them. A few paces off, between the incessantly moving heads, I again found now the blonde locks, then the black tresses. I said nothing to Felix ; I contented myself with leading him into the neighboring hall, manoeuvering so that he appeared to be the first torecogr nize the ladies. Had he seen them as well as I? I thought so, for he cast at me a sidelong glance of cutting irony.

“Ah I what a fortunate meeting ! ” he exclaimed, as he bowed to them.

The ladies had turned and were smiling. I awaited the result of this second interview. It was decisive. Madame Neigeon completely upset me with a mere glance of her black eyes, while I seemed to have found a friend in Madame Gaucheraud. This time it was a stroke of lightning. She wore a small yellow hat, covered with a spray of glycina, and her dress was of mauve silk,^ trimmed with straw-colored satin, a toilet

SALON AND THEATRE.

at once very gaudy and very delicate. But I did not dissect her until later; for, at first sight, she appeared to me like a sun — as if she created light about her.

Meanwhile, F^lix was chatting.

“There’s nothing striking here,” said he; “at least, I haven’t seen anything yet.”

“ Mon Dieu!” declared Berthe, “it’s the same as it is every year.” ^

Then, turning towards the wainscot :

“ Take a look at this little picture which Louise has discovered. The dress is a success. Madame de Eochetaille had one exactly like it at the last Llys^e ball.”

“Yes,” murmured Louise; “only it had a square neck.”

She again studied the little canvas, which represented a lady in a boudoir, standing before a mantlepiece and reading a letter. The painting seemed to me very mediocre, but I felt myself fully in sympathy with the painter.

“ Where is he now ? ” suddenly demanded Berthe, searching around her. “lie loses us every ten steps.”

She spoke of her husband.

“ Gaucheraud is down there,” tranquilly replied F^lix, who saw everybod3^ “ He is looking at that big sugar Christ nailed to a gingerbread cross.”

In fact, the husband, with a peaceful and disinterested air, was making the tour of the halls on his own account, his hands behind his back. When he saw us, he came to shake hands with us; and he said, with his gay air:

“ Have you noticed ? — there is a Christ down there of a truly remarkable religious feeling.”

SALON AND THEATRE.

The ladies had resumed walking. We followed them with Gaucheraud. The husband’s presence authorized us to accompany them. M. Neigeon was mentioned : he would come without doubt, if he got away soon enough from a Commission, in which he was to make known the opinion of the Government on a question of special importance. Gaucheraud took possession of me and overwhelmed me with friendly attentions. This bored me, for I was compelled to reply. Felix smiled, giving me a slight push on the elbow; but I was unable to understand. And he profited by my occupation of the big man to walk on ahead with the ladies. I caught fragments of the conversation.

“ Then you are going this evening to the Varidtes? ”

“Yes, I have secured a baignoire. They say the play is comical. I shall take you along, Louise. Oh I I wish it I ”

And further on :

“ Well, the season’s over. This opening of the Salon is the final Parisian solemnity.”

“ You forget the races.”

“So I do! I want to attend the Maisons-Lafntte races. I’ve been told that they’re very nice.”

During this time Gaucheraud was talking to me of Le Boquet. A superb property, he said, the value of which my father had doubled. I realized that he was full of flattery. But I did not listen to him much, stirred to the depths of my being every time that Louise, on stopping suddenly in front of a picture, touched me with her long train. Her white neck, under her black hair, was as delicate as that of a baby. But she kept up her

SALON AND THEATRE.

hoydenish beliavior, wbicli jarred upon me a little. She was much bowed to, and she laughed, attracting people’s attention by her outbursts of gayety and the swift movements of lier skirts. Two or three times she turned around and gazed at me fixedly. I walked as if in a dream ; I cannot say how many hours I followed her in this manner, stunned by Gaucheraud’s talk, blinded by the leagues of pictures which spread out to the right and the left. I only realized that, towards the close, the dust of the halls got into my mouth and that I felt horribly fatigued, while the ladies remained fresh and smiling.

At six o’clock F^lix took me off to dine. When we were at the dessert, he suddenly said to me :

‘‘ I’m very much obliged to you ! ”

“ What for? ” I demanded, greatly surprised.

“ Why for your delicacy in not paying court to Madame Gaucheraud. So you prefer brunettes, eh ? ’’

I could not prevent blushing. He hastened to add :

“ I don’t want any of your confidances. On the contrary, you must have noticed that I refrained from interfering. In my opinion one ought to go through his apprenticeship to life alone.”

He did not laugh now ; he was serious and friendly.

“ Then you think it’s possible for her to have some regard for me? ” I said, without daring to name Louise.

“I!” he replied. ‘*1 don’t know a thing about it. Do whatever you like and see how matters pan out.”

I regarded that as an encouragement. Felix had resumed his ironical tone; and, gayly, in his joking way, he claimed that Gaucheraud would have preferred to see me offer my homage to his better half.

SALON AND THEATRE.

“ Oh ! you don’t know the worth}?' man ! You didn’t understand why he lavished so much attention on you. His uncle’s influence is declining in your arrondissement, and, if he were obliged to present himself again before his electors, he would be delighted to bo able to count on your father. Dame ! I’m afraid of the moment when you can be useful to him, as you will readily understand! As for me, he has now used me up!”