The refreshments, the bonbons, the flowers, were all obtained on credit. Twice a week Hermann and Grossmann demanded the money for the Pleyel grand piano, but in vain. The shabbiness of the furniture was concealed by new covers, the broken places in the frames of the pictures and mirrors were twined with ivy.

With all these frauds and ruses the little house, seen by the light of innumerable wax candles, took on an air of freshness and elegance. The studied disorder of objects thrown carelessly on the table was the result of long thought. Here, a French romance was displayed, to show acquaintance with current literature; there, pieces of cla.s.sical music, to show the degree of perfection arrived at by the fair performer. On one side lay a photograph alb.u.m containing portraits of celebrated men, implying a personal acquaintance with them.

Jacob arrived a little late. The company was too numerous for the _salon_, and the room was crowded. The guests occupied the couches and chairs, and some remained standing against the wall. There was heat and noise, and to move about demanded much skill.

Madame Wtorkowska received Jacob with studied politeness. Muse advanced toward him with a smile which she had practised before the gla.s.s. She led him to a little group where Mathilde was seated. Madame Segel wore a white robe, and on her breast was a large bunch of camellias of the same colour. She was pale; on the approach of Jacob she lifted her head, and greeted him with a slight blush and a melancholy smile.

After that the poor woman relapsed into a glacial torpor. Henri stood behind the chair of Mademoiselle Muse, whose toilet was so _decollete_ that all admirers of certain feminine charms could feast their eyes to their hearts' content. Her thick and glossy braids were twined around her head in cla.s.sic style, and served admirably to bring out the splendour of her eyes and complexion. She had the lively and brilliant expression of a lioness seeking whom she might devour. Her crimson velvet dress, covered with costly lace, bought on credit, became her admirably, and gave her a queenly air. On her lovely arm sparkled a large bracelet set with rubies.

Mathilde resembled an aerial spirit descended in a cloud of moonlit rays; Muse, a _bacchante_, full of sensuous vitality.

Henri whispered in Jacob's ear:--

"If I were free like you, I would not hesitate an instant; I would propose to this siren."

"And if I were in your place, and had such a wife as you have, I would not even look at her," said Jacob coldly.

Segel smiled ironically, pushed back his black hair from his forehead, and drew near Muse.

"Can you guess, mademoiselle," asked he in a low voice, "what advice I have just been giving Jacob?"

The charmer replied sweetly in an indifferent tone, although she perfectly understood what had pa.s.sed between the two men.

"How can I guess, monsieur?"

"I advised him to fall in love with you."

"What bad advice!"

"Why?"

"Because I can never love any one."

"No one?" asked Henri tenderly.

"You have said it. I consider love as a dangerous malady, against which one should be on guard."

"A malady rarely fatal," said Henri smiling.

"No matter; I am afraid of it."

"A bad sign. It is said that there is much more danger of taking typhus or cholera when one fears it. It is a bad omen! Jacob"--

"Why, monsieur, why do you speak to me of this philosopher, this savant?"

"Hardly a philosopher: a mystic, a fanatic."

"Who flies from me," said Muse. "Help me, then, to tame him a little. I would like to talk with this savage."

"What would I not do for you, mademoiselle? I will bring him to your feet, be sure of that."

"You wish to marry him," thought Henri. "I will a.s.sist you, but I will claim my reward."

The treaty was concluded without further discussion, without protocol, between these two congenial spirits. Segel, wishing to hasten the execution, went to Jacob. He took his arm and said:--

"Come, then, to the divine Muse, who wishes to talk with you about Italy, with which her imagination is full."

"I fear I am not capable of doing justice to the subject," said Jacob.

"No matter. Come and try." So saying, he led him towards her, almost by force.

"This Jacob," said he to Muse, "is the most conscientious of tourists; he has travelled over Italy on foot while I went by the railway. He can tell you about it a hundred times better than I. He can speak to you of that land of art of which you have dreamed."

Muse, all smiles, turned to Jacob and said:--

"At last, monsieur, I have caught you, whether you will or not; you must tell me of that Italy where I am always begging mamma to take me."

"I regret very much not to be enough master of my subject to give you a just idea of that beautiful land. It is not sufficient merely to have visited it, one must have lived there to fully appreciate its beauties."

"Pardon me, but I do not agree with you. Travellers often know more of a country than its inhabitants."

"Superficially, yes; but the spirit, the soul of a country, only reveals itself after long study."

"Italy is delightful, is it not?"

This question was not a skilful one. But it was necessary to get Jacob started on some subject, so that she could exercise all the feminine seductions of a determined woman, resolved to succeed, and employ all the resources of her consummate art, aided by her natural charms. What an actress she was! An actress in every glance, every movement, even in the inflexions of her voice! She spoke feelingly without the least inner emotion; she spoke of feelings of which she only knew from hearsay. Judging all men more or less vain, she sought by delicate flattery to fascinate and subjugate them. By turns lively or melancholy, sensible or careless, she was charming under all circ.u.mstances.

However, she made no impression on Jacob, who remained cold and impa.s.sible. As if to alleviate his enforced captivity, he at times glanced at the chaste and pure woman who was seated not far from him absorbed in melancholy, and who seemed to him like an ideal queen covered with a saintly aureola.

Muse was exasperated by Jacob's invulnerable indifference, but desired more than ever to bring him to her feet. She let her evident efforts to enslave him be seen. Her mother surveyed the man[oe]uvres of her daughter, which she found too bold, although she could not help admiring the audacity with which the attack was made.

Jacob was obliged, at the request of Muse, to conduct her to the piano.

She took off her gloves slowly, and, coquettishly, radiant, continued her conversation in a low voice, so as to give the idea that a sort of intimacy was established between them.

"My dear," remarked Madame N. to Madame X., "Emusia is conducting herself in a scandalous manner."

"Bah! Young ladies of her stamp always succeed in their matrimonial pursuits."

Just then the mistress of the house came to them, and Madame X. said:--

"We have just been speaking of your charming daughter. She is really enchanting this evening. Madame N. and I cannot take our eyes off her.

She turns the head of every one,--even the old."

"My Emusia," replied Madame Wtorkowska, "is all simplicity, all candour, although sometimes her very simplicity and frankness look like coquetry."

At this reply from the mother, her two guests exchanged glances behind her back.

"Why, she has taken Jacob by storm," cried his former guardian to Mann.

"This Muse outdoes herself on his account. She did not trouble herself to amuse him before he got his fortune. It was not worth while to notice the poor beggar for whose education I paid."