A rich and pa.s.sionate young man like Edouard was a windfall to Madame de Geran, who, whatever Dufresne might say, was not so cruel as she chose to appear. If Edouard had taken the trouble to make inquiries concerning the young widow, he would have learned that his divinity had a more than equivocal reputation; that she had had intimate liaisons with a great Russian n.o.ble, a stout baronet, a contractor and a dealer in cashmere shawls; that her house was the rendezvous of young rakes, schemers and gamblers; and lastly, that no one had ever found at the Ministry of War the name of the general whose widow she claimed to be.

Edouard knew nothing of all this. He believed that he possessed a woman who gave herself to him by virtue of the bond of sympathy that drew them together; he was as proud as a peac.o.c.k over a triumph which twenty other men had won before him; and he went into ecstasies over charms which he considered far superior to his wife's; for a mistress always has a softer skin, a firmer breast and a smaller foot than a wife; which is not true three-fourths of the time; but the wives take their revenge by allowing connoisseurs to admire them.

So Edouard pa.s.sed the day caressing the soft skin, the firm breast and the tiny foot of Madame de Geran, who allowed him to do as he chose because she could not resist the force of her love and the voice of her heart; at all events, that is what she told him as she received his caresses. Time pa.s.ses very swiftly in such pleasant occupation. Edouard entirely forgot his house and his business. He knew that night had arrived only by the appearance of a dozen or more persons, habitues of the fascinating widow's house, who came there every evening to play cards.

Edouard would have taken his leave, but Madame de Geran objected; she desired to keep him all the evening; moreover she owed him his revenge at ecarte. Edouard remained and took his seat at a card table opposite his beloved, who played ecarte with bewitching grace, as he had good reason to know.

Dufresne appeared at Madame de Geran's during the evening; he seemed surprised to find his friend there. Edouard was then playing with a man whom he did not know. His dear widow had abandoned the game because she played with extraordinary good luck, and did not choose, she said, to take advantage of Murville's unlucky vein. He was no more fortunate however with the little man who had taken her seat; he lost constantly, but would not stop playing, because he hoped to recoup.

Dufresne stood facing Edouard and scrutinized him in silence. A secret satisfaction was reflected on his features; he detected in his friend all the symptoms of a pa.s.sion which, when once fully aroused, would know no bounds. At sight of Murville's discomposed face, his swollen veins, his heavy breathing, it was easy to judge of the effect that the game produced on him. But, recalling the fact that the imprudent young man was the bearer of a considerable sum, and as he did not propose that it should pa.s.s into the hands of another, Dufresne went to Edouard and advised him in an undertone not to play any more. But his advice was not heeded; Murville was already experiencing the ascendancy of the fatal pa.s.sion to which he had yielded; moreover, obstinacy and vanity prevented him from leaving the field.

"At all events," said Dufresne, "if you insist on continuing to play, give me your wallet and what it still contains; you have enough money in front of you, especially as you are playing in hard luck; do not take the risk of losing such a large amount in one evening."

From anybody else the counsel would not have been listened to; but Dufresne had acquired such empire over Murville that he unhesitatingly handed him his wallet, from which he had already taken several bank notes.

"Here," he said in a broken voice, trying to conceal the keen emotion caused by the loss of his money, "take it. And here is the key to my apartment; go there and wait for me."

Dufresne did not wait to have this suggestion repeated. He went to Murville's during the evening; but the servants were so accustomed to seeing him that they paid no attention to him. He waited for Edouard far into the night, alone in his room; and at last, when he found that he did not return, he conceived the audacious scheme of stealing into Adeline's bedroom when she was asleep. It was easy for him to do, as he had noticed where the key was kept; and we have seen how he carried out his undertaking.

As for Edouard, luck was not favorable to him. He lost all the money that he had retained, and three thousand francs more on credit. To console him, Madame de Geran kept him alone to supper. She a.s.sured him that Chevalier Desfleurets, who had won his money, was a most honorable man who would give him his revenge whenever he wished and that, as luck must turn in the end, he might expect to recover his losses sooner or later. Such convincing arguments caused Edouard to forget the petty loss he had sustained. He pa.s.sed the night with his fair enslaver, who intoxicated him with love and pleasure; and it was very late when he fell asleep in her arms. He woke the next morning, poorer by ten thousand francs; that was rather a high price to pay for the favors he had obtained; but love does not calculate.

XXI

THE ROULETTE TABLE

Adeline remained for a long time crushed beneath the burden of her suffering; and several hours after Dufresne's departure, she was still sitting, half naked, in a corner of her room, having to cover her only the clothes which she had hurriedly seized, and which she still held pressed against her breast.

It was broad daylight; the servants were going and coming in the house.

Adeline arose at last and dressed herself mechanically; then sank back on the chair she had left; she no longer had any plans, desires, or hopes; she suffered, but she had ceased to think.

There came a light tap at her door; she roused herself from her depression, recalled what had happened, and awoke once more to the consciousness of her misery. She started to open the door, but paused near the threshold, detained by a sudden thought: suppose it were her husband! She felt that she could not endure his glance! she thought that he would read her shame upon her brow! Poor Adeline! you were not guilty and yet you trembled. What a contrast to what we see every day in society!

She heard a voice; it was her maid's, asking her mistress if she might come in. Adeline took courage and opened the door.

"I beg pardon, madame," said the servant, "but I was anxious about your health; it is very late, but you have not rung for me and you did not come down to breakfast."

"Is it late, Marie? Has Monsieur Murville come in?"

"Yes, madame, monsieur came in a little while ago; he went to his room for a moment, then went right away again."

"He has gone out, you say?"

"Yes, madame."

Adeline breathed more freely; she felt less agitated; for now she dreaded the presence of the man for whom she had waited impatiently a few hours before.

Marie glanced at her mistress; she saw that she was pale and changed, and she sighed and pitied her; she thought that her husband's conduct was the cause of Madame Murville's grief. Servants are the first to criticise their masters' conduct; they see everything, nothing escapes them; no man is a hero to his valet, and very few husbands are faithful in their servants' eyes.

"Was madame sick in the night?" asked Marie at last in an undertone.

"No, no, I haven't been sick," replied Adeline, blushing; then she hid her face in her handkerchief and tried to restrain her sobs.

"Pardi!" rejoined the kind-hearted Marie, "madame does very wrong to grieve like this. Mon Dieu! husbands all act the same way; they seem to have a sort of rage for doing the town! You can't keep them from it. But they get over it; and madame is so good that----"

"Leave me."

The domestic was about to go away, but Adeline recalled her.

"Marie, did anybody come to the house last night?"

"Did anybody come--last night!" and the maid looked at her mistress in amazement, for she could not understand her question.

"Yes, did you hear anyone knock? Was there any noise?"

"If anybody knocked at night, it couldn't be anybody but monsieur, but he did not come in; we were not disturbed, thank G.o.d! And everybody slept soundly; that isn't surprising after the hurly-burly of the night before last; we were tired out."

Adeline dismissed her maid, feeling a little more tranquil; she was certain at all events that her dishonor was a secret; she went to her little Ermance; she took her in her arms, and sought consolation with her; a voice within told her that she was not to blame; she felt that it was true, and recovered a little courage. Intent alone const.i.tutes the crime, and Adeline felt the most violent hatred for Dufresne; she nourished that sentiment with delight; it seemed to her that the more horror she felt for him, the less guilty she was in her own eyes.

But a crushing thought came to her mind; she remembered Dufresne's last words: Edouard loved another woman. It was in the arms of a woman that he had pa.s.sed that wretched night; he had come home and had not thought of seeking her; it was all over; he had forgotten her, he was unfaithful. That certainty filled the cup of poor Adeline's despair; it took away her last hope of happiness.

Still bewildered by the day and night that he had pa.s.sed, Edouard had left Madame de Geran's house to return home; but a sense of shame, a secret feeling of remorse prevented him from going to his wife. In vain does a man make excuses for himself, unless he has long been addicted to all forms of excess, and accustomed to defy public opinion--he does not commit a culpable act without feeling an inward dissatisfaction, without hearing the reproofs of his conscience. Edouard was still too unused to the paths of vice not to feel the remorse which follows a first sin. A night pa.s.sed away from home, his wife neglected, a large sum of money lost at play in two days! What fruitful subjects for reflections!

Edouard did as most men do who have just committed some foolish act; instead of determining to be more prudent and more orderly in the future, he sought to forget himself, and abandoned himself more ardently than ever to his pa.s.sions; like those poor wretches who drown themselves for fear the world's end is at hand.

With Dufresne, Edouard was sure of finding distraction. So it was to his lodgings that he betook himself. Dufresne was alone, absorbed in deep thought. For the first time Murville began to use the familiar form of address; he felt more at his ease with him since he had ceased to be happy in his own family. He shared Dufresne's principles and his way of looking at things to the full, so that all ceremony was naturally banished between two friends so closely united. Edouard threw himself into a chair and looked at Dufresne, who waited for him to speak first.

"Here I am, my dear fellow; I expected to find you at my house."

"I went there last evening; but as you didn't return and I was tired of waiting, I came away."

"Faith! it is quite as well that you did. You would have waited in vain.

I pa.s.sed the night at Madame de Geran's. You understand me?"

"Yes, perfectly. I congratulate you; you could not be more fortunate.

That woman adores you!"

"Oh! she is mad over me!--that's the word; she didn't want me to leave her this morning; I had difficulty in tearing myself from her arms."

"Be careful; Madame de Geran has intense pa.s.sions, a fiery brain, an exalted imagination! She is capable of d.o.g.g.i.ng your steps all the time."

"You enchant me! I like such women!"

"But suppose your wife should discover it?"

"Bah! she is such an indolent creature! Her way of loving doesn't resemble Madame de Geran's in the least."