CHAPTER XIII.
MADAME DE MARELLE
Autumn had come. The Du Roys had spent the entire summer in Paris,leading a vigorous campaign in "La Vie Francaise," in favor of the newcabinet. Although it was only the early part of October, the chamberwas about to resume its sessions, for affairs in Morocco were becomingmenacing. The celebrated speech made by Count de Lambert Sarrazin hadfurnished Du Roy with material for ten articles on the Algerian colony."La Vie Francaise" had gained considerable prestige by its connectionwith the power; it was the first to give political news, and everynewspaper in Paris and the provinces sought information from it. It wasquoted, feared, and began to be respected: it was no longer the organof a group of political intriguers, but the avowed mouthpiece of thecabinet. Laroche-Mathieu was the soul of the journal and Du Roy hisspeaking-trumpet. M. Walter retired discreetly into the background.Madeleine's salon became an influential center in which several membersof the cabinet met every week. The president of the council had evendined there twice; the minister of foreign affairs was quite at home atthe Du Roys; he came at any hour, bringing dispatches or information,which he dictated either to the husband or wife as if they were hissecretaries. After the minister had departed, when Du Roy was alonewith Madeleine, he uttered threats and insinuations against the"parvenu," as he called him. His wife simply shrugged her shouldersscornfully, repeating: "Become a minister and you can do the same;until then, be silent."
His reply was: "No one knows of what I am capable; perhaps they willfind out some day."
She answered philosophically: "He who lives will see."
The morning of the reopening of the Chamber, Du Roy lunched withLaroche-Mathieu in order to receive instructions from him, before thesession, for a political article the following day in "La VieFrancaise," which was to be a sort of official declaration of the plansof the cabinet. After listening to Laroche-Mathieu's eloquence for sometime with jealousy in his heart, Du Roy sauntered slowly toward theoffice to commence his work, for he had nothing to do until fouro'clock, at which hour he was to meet Mme. de Marelle at Rue deConstantinople. They met there regularly twice a week, Mondays andWednesdays.
On entering the office, he was handed a sealed dispatch; it was fromMme. Walter, and read thus:
"It is absolutely necessary that I should see you to-day. It is important. Expect me at two o'clock at Rue de Constantinople. I can render you a great service; your friend until death,"
"VIRGINIE."
He exclaimed: "Heavens! what a bore!" and left the office at once, toomuch annoyed to work.
For six weeks he had ineffectually tried to break with Mme. Walter. Atthree successive meetings she had been a prey to remorse, and hadoverwhelmed her lover with reproaches. Angered by those scenes andalready weary of the dramatic woman, he had simply avoided her, hopingthat the affair would end in that way.
But she persecuted him with her affection, summoned him at all times bytelegrams to meet her at street corners, in shops, or public gardens.She was very different from what he had fancied she would be, trying toattract him by actions ridiculous in one of her age. It disgusted himto hear her call him: "My rat--my dog--my treasure--my jewel--myblue-bird"--and to see her assume a kind of childish modesty when heapproached. It seemed to him that being the mother of a family, a womanof the world, she should have been more sedate, and have yielded Withtears if she chose, but with the tears of a Dido and not of a Juliette.He never heard her call him "Little one" or "Baby," without wishing toreply "Old woman," to take his hat with an oath and leave the room.
At first they had often met at Rue de Constantinople, but Du Roy, whofeared an encounter with Mme. de Marelle, invented a thousand and onepretexts in order to avoid that rendezvous. He was therefore obliged toeither lunch or dine at her house daily, when she would clasp his handunder cover of the table or offer him her lips behind the doors. Aboveall, Georges enjoyed being thrown so much in contact with Suzanne; shemade sport of everything and everybody with cutting appropriateness. Atlength, however, he began to feel an unconquerable repugnance to thelove lavished upon him by the mother; he could no longer see her, hearher, nor think of her without anger. He ceased calling upon her,replying to her letters, and yielding to her appeals. She finallydivined that he no longer loved her, and the discovery caused herunutterable anguish; but she watched him, followed him in a cab withdrawn blinds to the office, to his house, in the hope of seeing himpass by. He would have liked to strangle her, but he controlled himselfon account of his position on "La Vie Francaise" and he endeavored bymeans of coldness, and even at times harsh words, to make hercomprehend that all was at an end between them.
Then, too, she persisted in devising ruses for summoning him to Rue deConstantinople, and he was in constant fear that the two women wouldsome day meet face to face at the door.
On the other hand, his affection for Mme. de Marelle had increasedduring the summer. They were both Bohemians by nature; they tookexcursions together to Argenteuil, Bougival, Maisons, and Poissy, andwhen he was forced to return and dine at Mme. Walter's, he detested hismature mistress more thoroughly, as he recalled the youthful one he hadjust left. He was congratulating himself upon having freed himselfalmost entirely from the former's clutches, when he received thetelegram above mentioned.
He re-read it as he walked along. He thought: "What does that old owlwant with me? I am certain she has nothing to tell me except that sheadores me. However, I will see, perhaps there is some truth in it.Clotilde is coming at four, I must get rid of the other one at three orsoon after, provided they do not meet. What jades women are!"
As he uttered those words he was reminded of his wife, who was the onlyone who did not torment him; she lived by his side and seemed to lovehim very much at the proper time, for she never permitted anything tointerfere with her ordinary occupations of life. He strolled toward theappointed place of meeting, mentally cursing Mme. Walter.
"Ah, I will receive her in such a manner that she will not tell meanything. First of all, I will give her to understand that I shallnever cross her threshold again."
He entered to await her. She soon arrived and, seeing him, exclaimed:"Ah, you received my dispatch! How fortunate!"
"Yes, I received it at the office just as I was setting out for theChamber. What do you want?" he asked ungraciously.
She had raised her veil in order to kiss him, and approached himtimidly and humbly with the air of a beaten dog.
"How unkind you are to me; how harshly you speak! What have I done toyou? You do not know what I have suffered for you!"
He muttered: "Are you going to begin that again?"
She stood near him awaiting a smile, a word of encouragement, to castherself into his arms, and whispered: "You need not have won me totreat me thus; you might have left me virtuous and happy. Do youremember what you said to me in the church and how you forced me toenter this house? And now this is the way you speak to me, receive me!My God, my God, how you maltreat me!"
He stamped his foot and said violently: "Enough, be silent! I can neversee you a moment without hearing that refrain. You were mature when yougave yourself to me. I am much obliged to you; I am infinitelygrateful, but I need not be tied to your apron-strings until I die! Youhave a husband and I a wife. Neither of us is free; it was all acaprice, and now it is at an end!"
She said: "How brutal you are, how coarse and villainous! No, I was nolonger a young girl, but I had never loved, never wavered in mydignity."
He interrupted her: "I know it, you have told me that twenty times; butyou have had two children."
She drew back as if she had been struck: "Oh, Georges!" And pressingher hands to her heart, she burst into tears.
When she began to weep, he took his hat: "Ah, you are crying again!Good evening! Is it for this that you sent for me?"
She took a step forward in order to bar the way, and drawing ahandkerchief from her pocket she wiped her eyes. Her voice grewsteadier: "No, I came to--to give you--political news--to giv
e you themeans of earning fifty thousand francs--or even more if you wish to."
Suddenly softened he asked: "How?"
"By chance last evening I heard a conversation between my husband andLaroche. Walter advised the minister not to let you into the secret foryou would expose it."
Du Roy placed his hat upon a chair and listened attentively.
"They are going to take possession of Morocco!"
"Why, I lunched with Laroche this morning, and he told me the cabinet'splans!"
"No, my dear, they have deceived you, because they feared their secretwould be made known."
"Sit down," said Georges.
He sank into an armchair, while she drew up a stool and took her seatat his feet. She continued:
"As I think of you continually, I pay attention to what is talked ofaround me," and she proceeded to tell him what she had heard relativeto the expedition to Tangiers which had been decided upon the day thatLaroche assumed his office; she told him how they had little by littlebought up, through agents who aroused no suspicions, the Moroccan loan,which had fallen to sixty-four or sixty-five francs; how when theexpedition was entered upon the French government would guarantee thedebt, and their friends would make fifty or sixty millions.
He cried: "Are you sure of that?"
She replied: "Yes, I am sure."
He continued: "That is indeed fine! As for that rascal of a Laroche,let him beware! I will get his ministerial carcass between my fingersyet!"
Then, after a moment's reflection, he muttered: "One might profit bythat!"
"You too can buy some stock," said she; "it is only seventy-two francs."
He replied: "But I have no ready money."
She raised her eyes to his--eyes full of supplication.
"I have thought of that, my darling, and if you love me a little, youwill let me lend it to you."
He replied abruptly, almost harshly: "No, indeed."
She whispered imploringly: "Listen, there is something you can dowithout borrowing money. I intended buying ten thousand francs' worthof the stock; instead, I will take twenty thousand and you can havehalf. There will be nothing to pay at once. If it succeeds, we willmake seventy thousand francs; if not, you will owe me ten thousandwhich you can repay at your pleasure."
He said again: "No, I do not like those combinations."
She tried to persuade him by telling him that she advancednothing--that the payments were made by Walter's bank. She pointed outto him that he had led the political campaign in "La Vie Francaise,"and that he would be very simple not to profit by the results he hadhelped to bring about. As he still hesitated, she added: "It is inreality Walter who will advance the money, and you have done enough forhim to offset that sum."
"Very well," said he, "I will do it. If we lose I will pay you back tenthousand francs."
She was so delighted that she rose, took his head between her hands,and kissed him. At first he did not repulse her, but when she grew morelavish with her caresses, he said:
"Come, that will do."
She gazed at him sadly. "Oh, Georges, I can no longer even embrace you."
"No, not to-day. I have a headache."
She reseated herself with docility at his feet and asked:
"Will you dine with us to-morrow? It would give me such pleasure,"
He hesitated at first, but dared not refuse.
"Yes, certainly."
"Thank you, dearest." She rubbed her cheek against the young man'svest; as she did so, one of her long black hairs caught on a button;she twisted it tightly around, then she twisted another around anotherbutton and so on. When he rose, he would tear them out of her head, andwould carry away with him unwittingly a lock of her hair. It would bean invisible bond between them. Involuntarily he would think, woulddream of her; he would love her a little more the next day.
Suddenly he said: "I must leave you, for I am expected at the Chamberfor the close of the session. I cannot be absent to-day."
She sighed: "Already!" Then adding resignedly: "Go, my darling, but youwill come to dinner tomorrow"; she rose abruptly. For a moment she felta sharp, stinging pain, as if needles had been stuck into her head, butshe was glad to have suffered for him.
"Adieu," said she.
He took her in his arms and kissed her eyes coldly; then she offeredhim her lips which he brushed lightly as he said: "Come, come, let ushurry; it is after three o'clock."
She passed out before him saying: "To-morrow at seven"; he repeated herwords and they separated.
Du Roy returned at four o'clock to await his mistress. She was somewhatlate because her husband had come home for a week. She asked:
"Can you come to dinner to-morrow? He will be delighted to see you."
"No; I dine at the Walters. We have a great many political andfinancial matters to talk over."
She took off her hat. He pointed to a bag on the mantelpiece: "I boughtyou some sweetmeats."
She clapped her hands. "What a darling you are!" She took them, tastedone, and said: "They are delicious. I shall not leave one. Come, sitdown in the armchair, I will sit at your feet and eat my bonbons."
He smiled as he saw her take the seat a short while since occupied byMme. Walter. She too, called him "darling, little one, dearest," andthe words seemed to him sweet and caressing from her lips, while fromMme. Walter's they irritated and nauseated him.
Suddenly he remembered the seventy thousand francs he was going tomake, and bluntly interrupting Mme. de Marelle's chatter, he said:
"Listen, my darling; I am going to intrust you with a message to yourhusband. Tell him from me to buy to-morrow ten thousand francs' worthof Moroccan stock which is at seventy-two, and I predict that beforethree months are passed he will have made eighty thousand francs. Tellhim to maintain absolute silence. Tell him that the expedition toTangiers, is decided upon, and that the French government willguarantee the Moroccan debt. It is a state secret I am confiding toyou, remember!"
She listened to him gravely and murmured:
"Thank you. I will tell my husband this evening. You may rely upon him;he will not speak of it; he can be depended upon; there is no danger."
She had eaten all of her bonbons and began to toy with the buttons onhis vest. Suddenly she drew a long hair out of the buttonhole and beganto laugh.
"See! Here is one of Madeleine's hairs; you are a faithful husband!"Then growing serious, she examined the scarcely perceptible thread moreclosely and said: "It is not Madeleine's, it is dark."
He smiled. "It probably belongs to the housemaid."
But she glanced at the vest with the care of a police-inspector andfound a second hair twisted around a second button; then she saw athird; and turning pale and trembling somewhat, she exclaimed: "Oh,some woman has left hairs around all your buttons."
In surprise, he stammered: "Why you--you are mad."
She continued to unwind the hairs and cast them upon the floor. Withher woman's instinct she had divined their meaning and gasped in heranger, ready to cry:
"She loves you and she wished you to carry away with you something ofhers. Oh, you are a traitor." She uttered a shrill, nervous cry: "Oh,it is an old woman's hair--here is a white one--you have taken a fancyto an old woman now. Then you do not need me--keep the other one." Sherose.
He attempted to detain her and stammered: "No--Clo--you are absurd--Ido not know whose it is--listen--stay--see--stay--"
But she repeated: "Keep your old woman--keep her--have a chain made ofher hair--of her gray hair--there is enough for that--"
Hastily she donned her hat and veil, and when he attempted to touch hershe struck him in the face, and made her escape while he was stunned bythe blow. When he found that he was alone, he cursed Mme. Walter,bathed his face, and went out vowing vengeance. That time he would notpardon. No, indeed.
He strolled to the boulevard and stopped at a jeweler's to look at achronometer he had wanted for some time and which would cost eighteenhundred francs. He thought with joy: "If I make
my seventy thousandfrancs, I can pay for it"--and he began to dream of all the things hewould do when he got the money. First of all he would become a deputy;then he would buy the chronometer; then he would speculate on 'Change,and then, and then--he did not enter the office, preferring to conferwith Madeleine before seeing Walter again and writing his article; heturned toward home. He reached Rue Drouot when he paused; he hadforgotten to inquire for Count de Vaudrec, who lived on Chausseed'Antin. He retraced his steps with a light heart, thinking of athousand things--of the fortune he would make,--of that rascal of aLaroche, and of old Walter.
He was not at all uneasy as to Clotilde's anger, knowing that she wouldsoon forgive him.
When he asked the janitor of the house in which Count de Vaudrec lived:"How is M. de Vaudrec? I have heard that he has been ailing of late,"the man replied; "The Count is very ill, sir; they think he will notlive through the night; the gout has reached his heart."
Du Roy was so startled he did not know what to do! Vaudrec dying! Hestammered: "Thanks--I will call again"--unconscious of what he wassaying. He jumped into a cab and drove home. His wife had returned. Heentered her room out of breath: "Did you know? Vaudrec is dying!"
She was reading a letter and turning to him asked: "What did you say?"
"I said that Vaudrec is dying of an attack of gout."
Then he added: "What shall you do?"
She rose; her face was livid; she burst into tears and buried her facein her hands. She remained standing, shaken by sobs, torn by anguish.Suddenly she conquered her grief and wiping her eyes, said: "I am goingto him--do not worry about me--I do not know what time I shallreturn--do not expect me."
He replied: "Very well. Go."
They shook hands and she left in such haste that she forgot her gloves.Georges, after dining alone, began to write his article. He wrote itaccording to the minister's instructions, hinting to the readers thatthe expedition to Morocco would not take place. He took it, whencompleted, to the office, conversed several moments with M. Walter, andset out again, smoking, with a light heart, he knew not why.
His wife had not returned. He retired and fell asleep. Toward midnightMadeleine came home. Georges sat up in bed and asked: "Well?"
He had never seen her so pale and agitated. She whispered: "He is dead!"
"Ah--and--he told you nothing?"
"Nothing. He was unconscious when I arrived."
Questions which he dared not ask arose to Georges' lips.
"Lie down and rest," said he.
She disrobed hastily and slipped into bed.
He continued: "Had he any relatives at his death-bed?"
"Only a nephew."
"Ah! Did he often see that nephew?"
"They had not met for ten years."
"Had he other relatives?"
"No, I believe not."
"Will that nephew be his heir?"
"I do not know."
"Was Vaudrec very rich?"
"Yes, very."
"Do you know what he was worth?"
"No, not exactly--one or two millions perhaps."
He said no more. She extinguished the light. He could not sleep. Helooked upon Mme. Walter's promised seventy thousand francs as veryinsignificant. Suddenly he thought he heard Madeleine crying. In orderto insure himself he asked: "Are you asleep?"
"No." Her voice was tearful and unsteady.
He continued: "I forgot to tell you that your minister has deceived us."
"How?"
He gave her a detailed account of the combination prepared by Larocheand Walter. When he concluded she asked: "How did you know that?"
He replied: "Pardon me if I do not tell you! You have your means ofobtaining information into which I do not inquire; I have mine which Idesire to keep. I can vouch at any rate for the truth of my statements."
She muttered: "It may be possible. I suspected that they were doingsomething without our knowledge."
As she spoke Georges drew near her; she paid no heed to his proximity,however, and turning toward the wall, he closed his eyes and fellasleep.
Bel Ami; Or, The History of a Scoundrel: A Novel Page 13