Sir Jasper Carew Part 43

"You will come back again, I suppose?"

"Certainly, if you want me," said I.

He nodded, and I pa.s.sed out.

"I am glad it is over," said Margot, pressing my hand; "that dinner was a tiresome affair!"

"So it was," said I; "and I am well pleased that it is finished. I 'll go down now and look after this caleche they promised me they should have ready for us by this time;" and with this excuse I quitted her, and hastened downstairs again.

I was just making for the door of the _salle-a-manger_ when the hostess overtook me.

"A word with you, monsieur,--one word!" cried she.

"At another moment, madam," said I, trying to pa.s.s on; "I am greatly pressed for time just now."

"It is exactly for that reason I must speak with you," said she, firmly; and at the same instant she seized my arm and drew me into a room, of which she closed the door at once. "I suspect the object you have in view, young man," said she, boldly, to me. "You are eager for a quarrel.

The waiters have told me all that has occurred at table; and I can guess what is likely to follow. But surely it is not for one in _her_ position that you will risk your life, or rather sell it; for Carrier would surely kill you!"

"In _her_ position!" said I. "What do you mean? You cannot dare to throw an imputation on one who is little more than a child!"

"True; but a child of shame and infamy," said she, sternly.

"It is a falsehood,--a d.a.m.nable falsehood!" cried I. "I knew both her parents: her father died almost in my arms."

"It is as likely that you never saw her father in your life," rejoined she, calmly. "I see that you know little of her history; but she comes from the village of Linange, and we Auvergnats are well acquainted with her."

"Yes, Linange is her native village,--that is true," cried I, in a vague terror of some dreadful tidings. "Tell me, I beseech you, whatever you know of her story."

"It is soon told, though the tale be sad enough," said she, after a pause. "Her mother was a Mademoiselle Nipernois. She called herself De Nipernois, and not without reason; for the family had been of rank, and were Grand Seigneurs once on a time. Her father had, however, fallen into poverty, and for a livelihood was obliged to become a _pharmacien_ in the little village of Linange, every house of which had once belonged to his family. They said he was a great chemist, which he had become for his own amus.e.m.e.nt in his prosperous days; and fortunately he could now practise the art for his support. At all events, the Blues wrecked his chateau, burned his books, melted down his plate, and left him penniless; so that he was fain to seek shelter amidst what once he would have styled his own 'vilains,' but who were now, thanks to the glorious fruits of the Revolution, his equals. That was not to be his only humiliation, however. A young n.o.ble that was betrothed to his eldest daughter, Hortense, and was to have married her just before 'the troubles,' joined the mildest party of the anarchists, and actually a.s.sisted at the sack of the chateau. Some said that he had had a dreadful altercation and quarrel with the father; some averred that he had met a contemptuous refusal from the daughter: either, or both, may have been the truth. What is certain is, that he exacted a vengeance far heavier than any injury he could have received. On the pretence of seeking for some concealed royalist, a party of the Blues, headed by the count, in disguise, broke into the old man's house in the village, and carried off his eldest daughter,--indeed, the only child that remained to him; for his second girl was an admitted nun of the Chaise Dieu, which had hitherto escaped pillage and destruction. From that hour no trace of her could ever be obtained; but on the same day twelvemonths, as morning broke, she was found on the steps of her father's door, with a baby in her arms. I have heard, for I have often spoken with those who discovered her, that her reason was shattered, and her memory so completely lost that she did not know her own name. An unbroken apathy settled down on her from that time.

"She cared for nothing, not even her child; and though Margot was very beautiful, and so engaging that all the neighbors loved and caressed her, her mother saw her without the slightest touch of interest or affection! After the lapse of thirteen, or almost fourteen years, a young man of the village named Bernois, who had just returned from studying at Paris, proposed to marry her. Some are of opinion that he had never heard her real history, nor knew of the relations.h.i.+p between her and Margot; others think differently, and say that he was aware of all, and acquitted her of everything save the misfortune that had befallen her. By what persuasion she was induced to accept him I never knew, but she did so, and accompanied him to Paris; for, strangely enough, they who had hitherto treated her with all the respect due to undeserved calamity, no sooner beheld her as a married woman, and lifted into a position of equality with them, than they vented a hundred calumnies upon her, and affected to think her beneath their condition.

This persecution it was which drove Bernois to seek his fortune in Paris, where he has now met his death! The _conducteur_ who arrived here last night told who had accompanied him from Paris, and the officers, who are all familiar with her mother's story, were curious to see the girl. They induced me to advise you to dine at the public table, and unhappily I yielded to their solicitations, not suspecting what might ensue. The only reparation in my power now is to tell you this whole story; for of course, having heard it, you will perceive how fruitless and vain it would be for you to oppose yourself to the entire force of public opinion.

"And is it the custom of the world to insult those situated as she is?" asked I, in a voice that plainly showed I put the question in all sincerity and ignorance.

"It is a.s.suredly the habit of young men, and more especially soldiers, to treat them with less deference than the daughters of honest women; and you must have seen but little of life, or you had not asked the question."

I sat silent for some seconds, revolving in my mind the sad history I had just listened to, and comparing the events with what I had myself witnessed of her who had been their victim. The hostess cut short my musing by saying,--

"There, I see the caleche has just driven into the _cour_: lose no time in getting away at once. The officers are now at coffee in the garden, and you can escape un.o.bserved."

So engrossed was I by thoughts of Margot, and the necessity of s.h.i.+elding her from insult, that I forgot totally all about myself, and what bore reference to my own feelings exclusively. I therefore hastened from the room to make the preparations for our departure. While I was thus engaged, and occupied with seeing our luggage tied on, a young officer, touching his cap in salute, asked if I was not the stranger who dined that day at the table-d'hote, in company with a young lady; and on my replying, "Yes," added,--

"Are you not aware, sir, that we have been expecting the pleasure of your society in the garden for some time back?"

I answered that I was totally ignorant of their polite intentions respecting me; that I was anxious to reach my destination, still twelve leagues away, and unable to accept of their hospitality.

He gave a faint smile as I said this, and then rejoined:

"But you can surely spare a few moments to make your apologies to our colonel?"

"They must be, then, of the very briefest," said I. "Will you kindly guide me to where he is?"

With a slight bow he walked on, and, crossing the courtyard, entered a garden; on traversing a considerable portion of which, we came out upon a kind of terrace, where a large party of officers were seated around a table, smoking, and drinking coffee. Some, too, were engaged playing at chess or dominoes, some reading, and some apparently asleep; but, however occupied, no sooner had I made my appearance than all, forgetting everything but my presence, turned their eyes upon me.

"The citizen," cried out my guide, as we came up, "the citizen tells me that he was quite unconscious of our polite intentions in his behalf; and I can fully believe him, for he was on the eve of departure when I caught him!"

"What does he think a French soldier is made of?" shouted out the colonel, with a blow of his closed fist on the table. "He dares to make use of an expression insulting to every officer of my regiment, and then says he is unaware of any claim we have upon him!"

A new light broke upon me at these words, and, for a moment, the sense of shame at my mistake nearly overcame me. I rallied, however, enough to say,--

"It is quite as you say, Monsieur le Colonel; I was really unaware that you or your officers had any claim upon me! I had been the subject of a rudeness to-day, at the table-d'hote, which, in my little knowledge of the world, I attributed to the underbred habits of a coa.r.s.e school of manners. I now perceive that I was too lenient in my judgment."

"Are we to listen to any more of this, messieurs?" said the colonel, rising; "or is it from me that chastis.e.m.e.nt is to come?"

"No; I have the right, I claim the place, I am the youngest subaltern, I am the 'cadet of the corps,'" cried half-a-dozen in a breath; but Carrier's voice overbore the others, saying,--

"Comrades, you seem to forget that this is my quarrel; I will not yield my right to any one!"

"Yes, yes," exclaimed several voices together; "Carrier says truly.

The affair is his. We fight with the sabre, citizen, in the Cha.s.seurs-a-Cheval. Is the weapon to your liking?"

"One arm is the same to me as another," replied I; and unfortunately this was too literally the case, since I was equally inexpert in all!

"You can claim the pistol, if you wish it," whispered an old captain, with a snow-white moustache. "The challenged chooses his weapons."

"The sabre be it, then," exclaimed Carrier, catching me up at once.

"Not if the citizen prefer the pistol," interposed the captain.

"He has already made his choice: he said all weapons were alike to him."

"Quite true," said I; "I did say so!"

"The greater fool you, then!" murmured the captain, between his teeth.

"You might just as well have given yourself your chance. Carrier won't be so generous to you!"

"Will you be my second?" asked I of him.

"_Ma foi!_ if you wish it," said he, with a shrug of the shoulders and a glance of such tender pity that could not be mistaken. "Let us follow them!"

And so saying, we strolled leisurely on after the others, who, now pa.s.sing through a small wicket, entered a little wood that adjoined the garden. A few minutes more brought us to an open s.p.a.ce, which I rightly guessed had been often before the scene of similar affairs.

I had never witnessed a duel in my life. I knew nothing of the formalities which were observed in its arrangement; and the questions which I asked the captain so palpably betrayed my ignorance that he stared at me with mute astonishment.

"Have you any friends, boy," asked he, after a pause, "to whom I can write for you?"

"Not one," said I.