"Charming!"

"And my pond?"

"Superb!"

"The waterfall is mine, I invented it. Formerly the water used to fall straight down. That was too commonplace! I had rocks arranged zigzag--that's very much prettier."

"Yes, it does you credit."

"You are very kind. Now I am going to take you into my woods, thence into my fields, where I have some thoroughbred merino sheep. Another invention of mine. Then we will go into my desert; you shall see my deer--ah! they are superb creatures, my deer! almost like stags."

"Have you no stags?"

"No; I wanted one, but Madame de la Thoma.s.siniere declared that it was unnecessary, that we had enough tame beasts. I will take you to my summer-house too; we have enough fine things to see to take up two or three hours."

The marquis, who was beginning to be weary of the tete-a-tete, announced that he was fatigued, and as they were then near the grotto where Auguste was seated, they took seats beside him, La Thoma.s.siniere having said that he was tired as soon as Monsieur de Cligneval spoke of resting.

"I have an estate of this sort," said the marquis, reclining on a mossy bank, "in Bourgogne, a very fertile province. I have another in Berry, where my grandfather owned a very handsome chateau."

"I have three farms in the department of Seine-et-Oise," said La Thoma.s.siniere quickly, smoothing his chin; "I own two houses in Paris, and I am on the point of buying a third."

"My grandparents were enormously rich!" said the marquis. "I haven't a very clear idea how much I have left! I worry very little about it. When a person has credit and is in favor at court--Why, if I wanted half a dozen offices, I should only have to say the word!"

"My credit is unlimited! My paper is eagerly sought after at the Bourse!

I am swamped with business. I receive the very best society at my house, and my guests play for infernally high stakes!"

"Pardieu! that reminds me that I lost three thousand francs at ecarte the day before yesterday," said the marquis carelessly.

"I won four thousand two days ago, at the house of a banker, who's a friend of mine," replied La Thoma.s.siniere instantly.

"Oh! that's a mere trifle! When I play, I do it for the sake of doing something!" said the marquis.

"To be sure," said La Thoma.s.siniere; "I am not sure that I didn't forget to take the four thousand francs from the table, I pay so little attention to money!"

"But a month ago," said the marquis, "I was in a really serious game--the stakes were no less than eighty thousand francs."

"I staked a house last winter," rejoined La Thoma.s.siniere; "it was not built, to be sure, and unluckily the contractor failed the next day, for the third time."

Auguste listened in silence to his two neighbors, as they tossed the ball back and forth. But at last La Thoma.s.siniere, fearing that he might be unable to think of anything with which to cap the marquis's next boast, changed the subject.

"What do you think of this view?" he asked.

"Very pretty," the marquis replied; "but why not have embellished it with some picturesque ruins--_fabriques_--here and there?"

"Oh! I didn't want any factories--_fabriques_--on my property! The idea!

Workmen are noisy, always singing, and I don't choose to have anything to do with that sort of people."

The marquis glanced at Auguste with a smile, and they left the grotto for the billiard-room, where Monsieur de la Thoma.s.siniere missed every shot, and exclaimed after every stroke that he misplayed:

"The trouble is that I've got a crooked cue; I can't see straight to-day; it's the fault of the table; my head aches; something's the matter with me; I'm not in the mood for playing; but if I were, you would be nowhere."

Little Tony had arrived long before and had handed his master the fresh supply of funds. When the marquis saw that Dalville had a cabriolet, he manifested great friendliness for him, and declared that there was sympathy between Auguste's tastes and his--a sympathy which Auguste had not observed, although that fact did not prevent his responding to Monsieur de Cligneval's advances.

The dinner-hour arrived, and they went to the table, where Athalie did the honors with much grace. Not to depart from his custom, La Thoma.s.siniere did not appear in the dining-room until the soup had been removed; but he was delighted to say before the marquis that he had ten important letters to write.

The dinner was even more agreeable than the morning repast, because they knew one another better, and delicious wines heated their brains and urged them on to folly. Athalie had the knack of keeping the party in good humor by her sallies. The marquis thought her divine, entrancing, and confounded himself in compliments. The pet.i.te-maitresse was not ambitious to fascinate a man of fifty, but she was very glad to earn the praise of a marquis; and the young men were not jealous of the marquis; so that there was nothing to mar the general jollity. They allowed La Thoma.s.siniere to talk endlessly of his farms, his wealth, his speculations; but they applauded him when he extolled his wines and his cook.

They left the table as merry as well-bred people can be. Athalie went to see if her harp was in tune. The men went into the garden for a breath of fresh air. It was not dark as yet, but the light was fading.

The marquis had sauntered away, and Auguste was left alone with La Thoma.s.siniere, who also claimed to be congenial to him, when, as they strolled along a shaded path which was quite dark, and which skirted the orchard, they heard the report of a hearty kiss. Auguste halted, curious to know what was going on. La Thoma.s.siniere followed suit, with an air of amazement.

"Did you hear?" he asked Auguste.

"Yes," was the reply, "I heard very distinctly."

"What was it?"

"If you didn't recognize the sound, it is useless for me to tell you what it was."

"Why, it seemed to me--but in the dark one may be mistaken."

"Indeed! do you think that one doesn't hear as well by night as by day?"

"The fact is that I can't believe that anybody on my premises would venture----"

The sound of the second kiss interrupted him. The two gentlemen walked toward a clump of shrubbery near by, and saw Mademoiselle Tapotte in the marquis's arms, defending herself very feebly, as her custom was; while the marquis, with flushed face, gleaming eye and thick voice, said to her:

"On my honor, you are a rose-bud, and I will have an a.s.signation."

But the rustling of the foliage caused the marquis to release his hold; Tapotte ran away, and Monsieur de Cligneval returned to the house, while Auguste said laughingly to La Thoma.s.siniere:

"It seems that your champagne changes the aspect of things: that ma.s.s of flesh has become a rose-bud."

"Oh! that is court language. The marquis was joking, no doubt. However, I should have been terribly sorry to have him see us! A marquis, you know! I ought not to have seen anything! Monsieur Dalville, I urge you to maintain absolute secrecy about this matter; it is very important."

"Never fear!"

"I ask you to promise me."

Having quieted his host's fears, Auguste returned to the house with him.

Athalie took her place at the harp; the gentlemen seated themselves at a card-table, and, while listening to the harmonious strains that the young woman extracted from the instrument, they did their best to win their opponents' money. Tea was served, then punch. The marquis won from everybody; but he was so courteous, his manners were so amiable, that one was almost tempted to thank him for condescending to take one's money. Athalie, fatigued by the ball of the preceding night, retired early; and ere long all the guests withdrew to their rooms.

The weather was superb and the soft moonlight seemed to invite one to enjoy the cool evening air. Auguste stole quietly downstairs, dressed in an ample robe de chambre which he had found in his room, and walked through the garden toward the orchard. I am not sure whether he went there solely in search of coolness, but when he reached the grove of fruit trees, where it was very dark, he vanished among the plums and cherries. At last, after wandering about for some time, he found himself before the building which the gardener had pointed out to him.

He drew near; he heard voices and recognized La Thoma.s.siniere's. The young man concluded that he had arrived too late; however, he listened to what his host had to say to Mademoiselle Tapotte.

"Monsieur le marquis kissed you, my dear girl."

"Me, monsieur! oh, nenni! n.o.body didn't kiss me."