"Arthur," said Aurelie, "Maxime is right. Don't you see, old fellow, that generous actions are like Couture's investments?--you should make them in the nick of time."At that moment Couture, followed by Finot, came in; and, soon after, all the guests were assembled in the beautiful blue and gold salon of the hotel Schontz, a title which the various artists had given to their inn after Rochefide purchased it for his Ninon II. When Maxime saw La Palferine, the last to arrive, enter, he walked up to his lieutenant, and taking him aside into the recess of a window, gave him notes for twenty thousand francs.
"Remember, my boy, you needn't economize them," he said, with the particular grace of a true scamp.
"There's none but you who can double the value of what you seem to give," replied La Palferine.
"Have you decided?"
"Surely, inasmuch as I take the money," said the count, with a mixture of haughtiness and jest.
"Well, then, Nathan, who is here to-night, will present you two days hence at the house of Madame la Marquise de Rochefide."La Palferine started when he heard the name.
"You are to be madly in love with her, and, not to rouse suspicion, drink heavily, wines, liqueurs! I'll tell Aurelie to place you beside Nathan at dinner. One thing more, my boy: you and I must meet every night, on the boulevard de la Madeleine at one in the morning,--you to give me an account of progress, I to give you instructions.""I shall be there, my master," said the young count, bowing.
"Why do you make us dine with that queer fellow dressed like the head-waiter of a restaurant?" whispered Maxime to Madame Schontz, with a sign toward Fabien du Ronceret.
"Have you never met the Heir? Du Ronceret of Alencon.""Monsieur," said Maxime to Fabien, "I think you must know my friend d'Esgrignon?""Victurnien has ceased to know me for some time," replied Fabien, "but we used to be very intimate in our youth."The dinner was one of those which are given nowhere but in Paris by these great female spendthrifts, for the choiceness of their preparations often surprise the most fastidious of guests. It was at just such a supper, at the house of a courtesan as handsome and rich as Madame Schontz, that Paganini declared he had never eaten such fare at the table of any sovereign, nor drunk such wines with any prince, nor heard such witty conversation, nor seen the glitter of such coquettish luxury.
Maxime and Madame Schontz were the first to re-enter the salon, about ten o'clock, leaving the other guests, who had ceased to tell anecdotes and were now boasting of their various good qualities, with their viscous lips glued to the glasses which they could not drain.
"Well, my dear," said Maxime, "you are not mistaken; yes, I have come for your /beaux yeux/ and for help in a great affair. You must leave Arthur; but I pledge myself to make him give you two hundred thousand francs.""Why should I leave the poor fellow?"
"To marry that idiot, who seems to have been sent from Alencon expressly for the purpose. He has been a judge, and I'll have him made chief-justice in place of Emile Blondet's father, who is getting to be eighty years old. Now, if you know how to sail your boat, your husband can be elected deputy. You will both be personages, and you can then look down on Madame la Comtesse du Bruel.""Never!" said Madame Schontz; "she's a countess.""Hasn't he condition enough to be made a count?""By the bye, he bears arms," cried Aurelie, hunting for a letter in an elegant bag hanging at the corner of the fireplace, and giving it to Maxime. "What do they mean? Here are combs.""He bears: per fesse argent and azure; on the first, three combs gules, two and one, crossed by three bunches grapes purpure, leaved vert, one and two; on the second, four feathers or, placed fretwise, with /Servir/ for motto, and a squire's helmet. It is not much; it seems they were ennobled under Louis XIV.; some mercer was doubtless their grandfather, and the maternal line must have made its money in wines; the du Ronceret whom the king ennobled was probably an usher.
But if you get rid of Arthur and marry du Ronceret, I promise you he shall be a baron at the very least. But you see, my dear, you'll have to soak yourself for five or six years in the provinces if you want to bury La Schontz in a baroness. That queer creature has been casting looks at you, the meaning of which is perfectly clear. You've got him.""No," replied Aurelie, "when my hand was offered to him he remained, like the brandies I read of to-day in the market reports, /dull/.""I will undertake to decide him--if he is drunk. Go and see where they all are.""It is not worth while to go; I hear no one but Bixiou, who is making jokes to which nobody listens. But I know my Arthur; he feels bound to be polite, and he is probably looking at Bixiou with his eyes shut.""Let us go back, then."
"/Ah ca!/" said Madame Schontz, suddenly stopping short, "in whose interest shall I be working?""In that of Madame de Rochefide," replied Maxime, promptly. "It is impossible to reconcile her with Rochefide as long as you hold him.
Her object is to recover her place as head of his household and the enjoyment of four hundred thousand francs a year.""And she offers me only two hundred thousand! I want three hundred thousand, since the affair concerns her. What! haven't I taken care of her brat and her husband? I have filled her place in every way--and does she think to bargain with me? With that, my dear Maxime, I shall have a million; and if you'll promise me the chief-justiceship at Alencon, I can hold my own as Madame du Ronceret.""That's settled," said Maxime.
