Frederique Volume II Part 67

"No, monsieur, I am not romancing; I am simply stating what is seen, what happens every day! And you yourself, monsieur, who claim that I am inventing chimeras, be frank, if such a thing is possible, and tell me if you never seduced and then abandoned a girl in the situation I have just sketched? Think over your life, your love affairs, your numerous conquests, and tell me, monsieur, if you are quite sure that such a thing never happened to you?"

Monsieur de Mardeille changed color; he rose, with a sullen expression on his face, and paced the floor, muttering:

"Mon Dieu! mademoiselle, my numerous conquests, my adventures, aren't in question here. I can't go over everything that has happened to me; it would take too long. Besides, I don't remember."

"Say, rather, that you don't choose to remember."

"In heaven's name, let us drop this and return to you. According to what you have said, if I understand you, you will not yield to anyone----"

"Until he has placed me in such a position that I need have no fear of poverty, and that I can support and educate my child--if I should have one. Yes, monsieur, that is my firm and irrevocable resolution, and I promise you that I shall not change."

The dandified neighbor made a horrible grimace, and continued to pace the floor, mumbling:

"The devil! the devil! you look ahead, mademoiselle; you take your precautions."

"Is that forbidden, monsieur?"

"No; but it's very uncommon--luckily. For you, love, sentiment, a man's attractions--everything that ordinarily captivates a young girl glides over your heart without stirring it. Sensibility is not your strong point."

"Do you think so? And are you yourself so very sensitive, monsieur?"

"I am--to your charms, most a.s.suredly. But my love does not touch you; you are very cruel to me."

"I am less stupid than other women, that's all!"

"However, mademoiselle, if one must settle a fortune on you in order to obtain your favors, you must understand that everybody can't afford to indulge in such a pa.s.sion."

"A fortune! Oh! no, monsieur, I am not so ambitious as all that; a fortune is not what I ask, but simply the means to bring up the child that is so often the result of a woman's fault."

"Ah! you have in mind only the result! But suppose there isn't any result?"

"Why, then it will be for the poor girl herself, who will at least be secure against want."

"Ah! it will be for the girl, if it isn't needed for the child! Very good! You think of everything! You would make an excellent cas.h.i.+er for a broker!"

"Why, I should not object to that. As a general rule, men earn more with the pen than women do with the needle."

"That is why women don't look to their needle to satisfy their coquetry."

"They have no choice, since they are forced to it."

"n.o.body forces them to be coquettes."

"But you would be very sorry if they were not!"

Monsieur de Mardeille continued to pace the floor, humming between his teeth:

"'When one knows how to love and please, what other boon can one desire?'

No, no! that song isn't appropriate!--

'A bandage covers the eyes of the G.o.d that makes men love!'

That is nearer the truth.--

'Come, lady fair, I await thee, I await thee, I await thee!"

Georgette went on with her work, as if he were not there. When he was tired of singing, he went to the s.h.i.+rtmaker's side and said to her abruptly:

"What ought it to cost for a child's porridge?"

Georgette replied, with a smile:

"Seek and ye shall find."

"Ah! now you are quoting the Gospel at me! But Saint Peter was scoffing at us when he said that; for there's one thing that I have constantly sought and have never found. I won't tell you what it is, out of respect for your s.e.x, but any man will guess my meaning. But I return to what I asked you just now. It seems to me that with two or three thousand francs one ought to be able to provide porridge in large quant.i.ties and for a long time!"

"Do you expect a child to live on nothing but porridge?"

"That or something like it. A child eats so little!"

"But food isn't the only thing it needs. When it grows up, its education must be attended to, mustn't it? and then, it must be apprenticed and taught a trade. It must know how to earn its living, so that it can help its mother when the time comes."

"Oh! tra la la! there's no reason why you shouldn't go on! Why don't you ask me at once to buy a subst.i.tute for him if it's a boy, or to give her a dowry if it's a girl?"

"Why, that would be no more than right!"

"Didn't I tell you, mademoiselle, that you demanded a fortune?"

"No, monsieur, you exaggerate. For it seems to me--yes, let us suppose that there's a boy to be brought up--I am inclined to think that with twelve thousand francs it might be done."

"Twelve thousand francs!"--And Monsieur de Mardeille jumped so high that his head nearly struck the ceiling.--"Twelve thousand francs!" he repeated. "Do you think that that is nothing, mademoiselle?"

"I think that it is no more than is necessary to make a child into a man. Why, by putting that sum in the savings bank at once, one would have a little income, which would keep increasing. Oh! you may be sure, monsieur, that the mother would keep nothing for herself; but she would at least be at ease with respect to her child's future."

"And as she would use none of that little income for herself, she would still have to be supported, I suppose?"

"Oh! no, monsieur! That sum, once given, would be the whole; she would accept nothing more."

The elderly beau began once more to stride back and forth, e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.i.n.g. from time to time:

"The world is getting to be a curious place; it's a good school; one learns something every day!--But women are becoming sharper and sharper!

We're nothing but children beside them! Twelve thousand francs! Why, not long ago, a man might have had more than a hundred mistresses with that money! I am not speaking for myself, for G.o.d knows I never ruined myself for women! I always triumphed without untying my purse strings. I prefer that way; at all events, I was sure that I was loved on my own account.

They didn't offer to break the bargain!"

"Do you know, monsieur, that these reflections of yours are not very polite!" said Georgette, annoyed by his soliloquies.

"Why, mademoiselle, it seems to me that I might at least be permitted to complain!"