AGLA?A AND LEONTINE;
OR MANOEUVRING.
Agla?a resided in a provincial town, with her grandmother, MadameLacour, the widow of a respectable notary. As Madame Lacour was ineasy circumstances, and, moreover, exact and economical, she wasenabled to live very agreeably, associating only with persons ofher own class, without seeking those who were distinguished by amore elevated rank, or greater wealth. She received company everyThursday, and spent the other evenings in visiting her friends attheir own houses. Agla?a, who always went with her, met on theseoccasions young people of her own age, and these in like manneraccompanied their parents on the Thursdays to Madame Lacour's_soir?es_. In the summer they made up parties for the country,and spent the day in the gardens belonging to one or other of thesociety. These gardens not being very distant, the young peoplewalked there, while the elder ones rode upon donkeys. They amusedthemselves in the fields, and returned home in the evening verytired, but very happy, and a few days afterwards commenced again.
Agla?a, who was mild and amiable, was very much beloved by hercompanions; but her greatest friends were Hortense Guimont, and herbrother Gustave, the children of the physician of the town. Hortensewas fourteen years of age, Agla?a a year younger, while Gustavewas sixteen. Though Agla?a was less familiar with him than withHortense, she was still very fond of him. She even felt for him acertain degree of deference, for Gustave was much advanced for hisage, highly esteemed in the town for his diligence and success inhis studies, and looked upon as one destined to obtain honourabledistinction in his future career. Even those who had known him fromhis childhood, no longer called him _little Guimont_, but _youngGuimont_. Some even said _M. Guimont_. Parents held him up as a modelto their sons, and his companions were proud of him, and alwaystreated him with respect.
His sister, Hortense, was also very amiable and sensible. M. Guimont,their father, brought them up very judiciously. Although his societywas much courted by the most distinguished families of the town, notonly on account of his talents as a physician, but also on accountof his amiability and conversational powers, he would never takehis children into the high circles which he occasionally frequentedhimself. "I wish my daughter," he said, "to remain among those withwhom she is destined to pass her life; and as to my son, if histalents procure him hereafter the means of being well received in theworld, I shall be delighted; but I will not inspire him with a tastefor elevated society, until I am quite sure that he will be able tomaintain his position there with honour."
It was sometimes said to him, "With your extensive connection, youmight easily advance your son." He replied, "If my son has merit,he will advance himself; and if he has not, I would not wish toplace him in a position in which he would only discover his ownincapacity;" and he added, "Gustave is in a much better position thanI was when I began, for there are many persons, I believe, who willbe disposed to take an interest in him on my account; he must do therest for himself, and he will be able to do it much better than Icould do it for him, for I cannot make people take an interest inhim on his own account." Nevertheless, M. Guimont could not entirelyresist the importunities of some friends, who were particularlyattached to him, and who pressed him very much to bring his son tovisit them. However, Gustave, who was proud, felt ill at ease inthe society of persons with whom he was not on an equality, and whothought they were conferring an honour on him, in receiving him intotheir circle; and he was equally ill at ease with the young peopleof this class, since he could not treat them as companions. He wasafraid of being too cold, and did not wish to be too polite, becausean excess of politeness might have been regarded as adulation;neither did he wish to be too attentive, because he felt that hisattentions could not be flattering to any one. He therefore entreatedhis father not to take him again into such company, and resolved todevote his energies to the acquirement of personal merit, that hemight hope one day to be sought for on his own account, to confer,in his turn, honour on those who received him, and see them attachimportance to his attentions.
He always felt happy at Madame Lacour's, who was a woman of goodsense, and an intimate friend of his father. He was very fond ofAgla?a, who had been brought up by her grandmother, as well as anyyoung lady could be in a country town, and who showed a dispositionto improve her mind. Madame Lacour had begged him to revise herexercises, and he was a severe master; indeed, Agla?a was moreafraid of his disapprobation than of that of her grandmother.Whenever he was dissatisfied with her, it was always Hortense whorestored peace between them, and being older and more advanced thanAgla?a, she generally looked over her exercises before they wereshown to Gustave, so much was she afraid of his finding fault withher. Notwithstanding all this, however, they agreed very well, and,next to his sister, Agla?a was the person in whom he reposed mostconfidence. She was very proud of this, for all the young people withwhom she was acquainted, attached great value to Gustave's friendship.
The nobility and people of wealth seldom spent more than the winterin the town. In summer all went to their country seats. The town,however, was not on this account any the less gay for Agla?a, or thereunions of Madame Lacour; but as it was more quiet, every unusualoccurrence created a proportionate sensation. People were thereforevery much taken up with M. d'Armilly, and his daughter Leontine,who had just arrived there. M. d'Armilly had recently purchased ach?teau in the environs, which being uninhabitable, he was havingrebuilt; and in order to be able to superintend the operations, hehad established himself in the town: but he was very seldom at home,and usually slept at a neighbouring farm, that he might be nearerhis workmen. He left his daughter under the care of a confidentialperson, who acted as her governess, and who could have educatedher very well, as she was herself well educated, had she not, forthe sake of pleasing M. d'Armilly, who quite spoiled his daughter,allowed her to have her own way in everything.
Leontine was as foolish as a spoiled child, and excessively proud.She was fifteen years old, just the age when ridiculous ideas aremost apt to enter the head of a young girl. Having some relations ofhigh rank, she had lived in Paris in the most fashionable society,and had assumed some of the airs of a woman, while adding to them allthe follies of a child. Her father and herself having been received,on their arrival, with all the respect with which an innkeeper isusually inspired by the sight of one of the greatest landowners ofhis neighbourhood, she thought she must maintain her dignity bycorresponding manners. She asked if at that time there was any one inthe town whom she could visit; they named Madame Lacour, M. Guimont,M. Andr?, a linen-manufacturer, M. Dufour, a wholesale wine-merchant,&c. She inquired about some persons of higher rank, whom she knewwere resident there, but all were then out of town; and Leontine,satisfied with having indicated by her questions the kind of societyto which she had been accustomed, did not dare, however much she mayhave felt inclined to be impertinent, to display more than half theridiculous airs which she had prepared to mark her contempt for themore humble names.
Reduced to the society of her governess, and to a few excursionsmade with her father to the ch?teau which was in course of erection,Leontine's only amusement was to select from her wardrobe whateverwas most novel, and best calculated to produce an extraordinarysensation in a provincial town, and then to go daily and display herhaughty airs on the public promenade. Every one looked at her, butthis was what she wished; every one ridiculed her without her beingaware of it, but in secret all the young girls began to imitate her.It was soon observed that they carried their heads much higher, andthat an innovation was made in the manner of fastening their sashes.Agla?a had already turned and returned her bonnet in two or threedifferent ways, in the hope of imparting to it something of the stylewhich Leontine's displayed, and she had also tried two or three modesof arranging the folds of her shawl.
Gustave had remarked this, and laughed at her, and though she wouldnot admit the charge, she still felt very much annoyed with him,because he would not appreciate the beauty of a bow, which she hadsucceeded in placing in precisely the same manner in which Leon
tine'shad been arranged on the previous evening.
The excitement became general: even Hortense, accustomed as she wasto defer to her brother's opinion, had already twice disputed withhim, maintaining that it did not follow, that because a fashion hadbeen introduced by Leontine, it was not pretty; and that if it waspretty, it was quite rational to adopt it. Gustave, almost as mucha child, in his own way, as Agla?a in hers, would not allow thatLeontine should be imitated in anything, so much was he annoyed atthe importance attached to everything she did. In fact, she couldnot take a step, but it was known; people were informed of what herfather's cook had bought for dinner, and various intrigues wereresorted to in order to discover what she ate for breakfast. It wasknown whether she heard mass attentively or not, and this at leastproved that the observers had been inattentive; in a word, she couldnot pass down the street without every one rushing to the window tosee her.
One may judge of the excitement at Madame Lacour's, when one morning,Leontine, accompanied by her governess, Mademoiselle Champr?, calledthere to pay a visit. Madame Lacour's husband, who for many yearshad been a notary in another province, had rendered M. d'Armillyimportant services in his affairs. This gentleman, having discoveredthat his widow resided in the town, desired his daughter to callupon her, as he was too much occupied at the moment to go himself;and Leontine, who began to get very dull, was not sorry to have apretext for laying aside her dignity. Madame Lacour, who had sharedbut little in the extreme interest taken in all her actions, was butmoderately excited by her visit, but Agla?a blushed a dozen timesbefore Leontine had spoken to her, and a dozen times more whileanswering her.
It is not so easy as may be imagined to assume airs with persons whoare not accustomed to them, and whose simplicity interferes withthem at every moment; when not sustained by a suitable concurrenceof circumstances, and by the example of others, a person relapsesinto his natural manners in spite of himself, and the studied tonesof impertinence only return at intervals, and as it were by an effortof the memory. Leontine was much less ridiculous than could have beensupposed. Madame Lacour, with her customary indulgence, was pleasedwith her, and Agla?a thought her charming.
It was Thursday: in the evening at Madame Lacour's _soir?e_, nothingwas talked of but the morning's visit. "She has then, at last, madeup her mind," said some of the ladies; "I suppose she will do us alsothe honour of paying us a visit;" and they were not a little shockedthat Leontine had commenced with Madame Lacour. Others took refugein their dignity, and professed to care nothing at all about her.Others, again, less reserved, asked what she had said, calculatedthe day she would call upon Madame Dufour or Madame Andr?, andwhispered among themselves that she would probably not visit MadameSimon, whom they considered as somewhat inferior to themselves, andthey agreed that it was quite natural that she should not call onher. The young ladies in their circle repeated very much the samethings as their mothers, and with still greater volubility. As forAgla?a, she narrated, explained, and repeated her story, in themost imposing and animated tones; but while in the midst of herexcitement, she perceived that Gustave was watching her from his partof the room, and shrugging his shoulders with an ironical smile. Thisdisconcerted her exceedingly; but seeing Hortense listening to herwith more attention than her brother, she resumed the conversation,and would willingly have continued it throughout the entire evening.It was with pain that she heard any other subject introduced, andshe contrived to revert to her favourite topic every moment. "Thatis precisely," she would say, "what Mademoiselle Leontine d'Armillywas telling me this morning." If any particular place in theneighbourhood was alluded to, "Mademoiselle Leontine d'Armilly hasnot yet seen it," said Agla?a. Some one spoke of the excessive heatof the day, "Mademoiselle Leontine d'Armilly was surprised to findgrandmamma's room so cool," observed Agla?a.
At this moment she was balancing herself on her chair, the two frontlegs slipped backwards, and both Agla?a and the chair fell. Every onehastened to help her up, and Gustave amongst the rest; but seeingthat she was unhurt, he said, "I suppose Mademoiselle Leontined'Armilly did that too." Every one laughed: Agla?a, very muchashamed, and very angry, did not again pronounce Leontine's name,neither did she speak to Gustave the whole evening. Though she wasafraid of vexing him too much, still it is certain that she began towithdraw her confidence from him, for she could not speak to him onthe subject that chiefly occupied her thoughts. She was also a littleafraid of Hortense, and thus she was ill at ease with those whom shemost loved, because they did not share in the ridiculous pleasures ofher vanity.
The others, while ridiculing the importance she attached toLeontine's visit, were not the less anxiously looking forward to asimilar visit for themselves. For two or three days, at the hourat which Leontine had called on Madame Lacour, all the young ladieskept themselves fully prepared, and constantly on the look-out; shedid not, however, make her appearance; but they learned that shehad invited Agla?a to breakfast with her; and in the evening, atthe assembly, Agla?a hardly dared to speak of the breakfast in thepresence of Gustave, and she merely said that Leontine was to fetchher on the following day for a walk. Her companions drew themselvesup with an expression of mortification. All the annoyance producedby this preference was quite evident: one of them, named Laurette,less proud and more thoughtless than the rest, said to Agla?a, "Verywell, I shall ask mamma to let me call on you at that hour, and Ishall be included in the party." Agla?a, very much embarrassed,stammered out some excuses; she said that Leontine was not acquaintedwith Laurette, and that she did not know whether such a thing wouldbe agreeable to her. Laurette said that it was all the same to her,that she should find others to walk with her, and immediately madea proposal to that effect to two or three other girls, who acceptedit, saying, "Oh! as for us, it does not become us to be so proud."One of the mothers overheard this conversation; fortunately it wasnot Laurette's, for she would have made a scene. However, the ladyin question did make some observations on the imprudence of exposingoneself to insults, together with other remarks full of bitterness,which were repeated by the young people. The evening passed inthe most disagreeable manner. Madame Lacour being indisposed, hadremained at home, and at night M. Guimont, having called for hisown children, also accompanied Agla?a home. She kept close to him,in order to avoid speaking to Hortense or Gustave, whose displeasureshe had noticed, though they had said nothing; and though Hortense,with her accustomed kindness, had several times tried to interruptthe conversation, when she thought it likely to be disagreeableto Agla?a. Had the latter reflected, she would have felt that thepleasure of being preferred to bear Leontine company was but a poorequivalent for the embarrassment she suffered in the society of thoseshe loved; but vanity blinded her, and she did not see how much shelowered herself, in looking upon such distinction as an honour.
The following day, Agla?a, dressed in her gayest attire, accompaniedLeontine to the promenade. Her manner sufficiently betrayed the prideshe felt, at being thus an object of attention, while at the sametime it showed her embarrassment with Leontine, with whom she was notat her ease, being constantly afraid of saying something which mightappear unbecoming. What was most extraordinary in all this was, thatwhilst it gave her no uneasiness to make herself ridiculous in theeyes of a great number of persons with whom she was destined to passher life, the bare idea of appearing ridiculous to a single personwhom she scarcely knew, and with whom she would only associate for acouple of months, at the utmost, would have caused her inexpressiblevexation. Every one was on the promenade. The mothers passed close toAgla?a, with lofty and displeased looks, making ill-natured remarks,which she dreaded might reach the ear of Leontine. Some of the youngladies too, assumed all their dignity. The young men all bowed toher; but on that day she thought some of them so common-looking, andso deficient in style, that they were extremely annoyed at the mannerin which she returned their salutation, watching, as it were, for themoment when she could do so without being observed by Leontine. Thelatter had already asked her the names and professions of several;and Agla?a
had answered her with some degree of pain, as they hadnot very brilliant titles for presentation. When she perceived anygrounds for criticising either their persons or their dress, sheeagerly seized upon it, fearing that Leontine might suppose she hadnot observed it. Never before had she discovered so many defectsin her friends and acquaintances. At length she perceived at adistance Hortense and her brother. "Oh!" said she, "those two arevery amiable." She was dying to introduce them to Leontine, for shefancied they would be as pleased to be acquainted with her as sheherself was, for, notwithstanding their disagreements, she reallyloved them. Besides, she was proud of Gustave, proud of his talents,and of his reputation, and she was delighted to be able to boast ofthem to Leontine; she began, therefore, to praise him with greatwarmth, assuring her that he composed most charming verses, and thatevery one considered him destined to shine in the _very best societyof Paris_.
"To do that, my dear," replied Leontine, with the air of one whounderstood all these sort of things, "to do that, he must acquirea little more style, for at present he looks very much like aschoolboy;" saying this she glanced carelessly at Hortense andGustave, and began to speak of something else.
Agla?a blushed, partly for Gustave and partly on her own account,for she felt that she had compromised herself. By this time her twofriends were close to her; she would willingly have stopped andspoken to them, and she slackened her pace for that purpose, butLeontine, whose head was turned in another direction, continued towalk on, and Agla?a followed her, casting towards Hortense, for shedared not look at Gustave, a glance of mingled shame and sadness,which seemed to say, "See, I know not what to do." Gustave shruggedhis shoulders at beholding his weak-minded little friend reduced tosuch slavery.
The following day nothing was talked of in the town but theimpertinences of Agla?a. One said that she had pretended not to seeher; a third, that she had not bowed to her; another, that she hadlooked at her with a laugh, while joining Leontine in ridiculingher. The young men were divided in their opinion, some being for,others against her. Gustave was the only one who said nothing, but heappeared sad, and Hortense endeavoured to palliate her faults.
Two days afterwards, Agla?a took Leontine for a walk into MadameLacour's garden. As she did not know what refreshment to give her,she had persuaded the servant to bring her some milk and cakes, butshe dared not say a word to her grandmamma on the subject, for fearshe should tell her to invite her other friends also. Agla?a wouldindeed have found this much more pleasant than her _t?te-?-t?te_ withLeontine; but then she did not know whether such a thing would beagreeable to her visitor, and she was so childish, that she felt moretimid with her than with a grownup person. Whilst they were in thegarden, Laurette happened to pass by the gate, and seeing it open,went in. She was returning with the servant from her father's garden,where she had been gathering some fruit and salad. She had her basketon her arm, and wore her every-day dress, which was not over clean,as she was rather careless. The servant had the manners and coarsevoice of a peasant, and was carrying in a cloth a ham, which a fewdays before she had buried in the ground, in order to render itmore tender, and which she had now been to fetch. Judge of Agla?a'sembarrassment at such a visit. Had she been a sensible girl, hadshe possessed any real dignity, she would, in an unaffected manner,have accustomed Leontine from their very first acquaintance to seein her the simple habits suitable to a small fortune, and thus haveprepared her for similar habits in the persons of her acquaintances.To do this, there would have been no need of discoursing abouthousehold duties, a subject of conversation by no means amusing; itwas simply required that she should not carefully shun all allusionto them as something humiliating. Thus, for instance, she need nothave resorted to a thousand evasions to conceal from Leontine, thatit was herself and her grandmother who made all their preserves, andprepared for the winter their pickled cucumbers, their vegetables,and their dried fruits. Leontine, had she known this, might perhapshave considered it more pleasant not to be obliged to take all thistrouble, but she certainly would never have ventured to make it asubject of contempt; for that which is reasonable, if performed inan unaffected manner, without either shame or ostentation, alwayscarries with it something which is imposing, even in the estimationof those who are not reasonable. Had Agla?a acted in this manner, shewould have felt no embarrassment at this apparition of Laurette, withher salad, and of her servant with the ham; but as it was, all thefine-lady airs which she had assumed, were completely upset, and shetherefore gave Laurette a very bad reception. Indeed, had it not beenfor Mademoiselle Champr?, who made room for her on the grass wherethey were seated, she would have left her standing. Laurette, who wasvery ill-bred, made many absurd remarks, and the servant also joinedseveral times in the conversation. Agla?a was in torture. At lastLaurette went away, for the servant, annoyed at being kept waiting,detailed all that had to be done in the house, in order to hastenher departure. In the evening, at Madame Dufour's _soir?e_, to whichLaurette accompanied her mother, it was whispered that Agla?a hadgiven a luncheon to Leontine, in her grandmother's garden, to whichno one had been invited; that Laurette had gone there by chance, andthat she had not even been asked to take anything. This caused agreat deal of excitement, and it was resolved that, as Madame Lacourallowed her granddaughter to be guilty of such rudeness, they wouldnot go to her _soir?e_ on the following Thursday.
Madame Lacour knew nothing of all this; she had been ill for a week,and had seen no one but M. Guimont, who took no interest in suchabsurdities. She received company on the Thursday for the firsttime, and was astonished to find that nobody came. She supposed theystill considered her ill, and finding it getting late, sent herservant to the houses of two or three of her neighbours, to tell themshe was waiting for them. They replied, that they could not come.This answer was given in the presence of an old lady, who, having nodaughter, did not consider herself bound to share in the resentmentoccasioned by Agla?a's conduct; besides, being fond of news andgossip, she was glad to have an opportunity of ascertaining what wasgoing on at Madame Lacour's; whether the agreement which had beenmade would be adhered to; what Madame Lacour would think of it, andwhat Agla?a would say. When, therefore, Madame Lacour expressed herastonishment at being thus abandoned, "It is not at all surprising,"said the old lady, "after what has happened."
"What has happened then?" asked Madame Lacour.
Hereupon the old lady detailed, with all the exaggerations usual insuch cases, the misconduct of Agla?a, and the consequent indignationof her friends. During this recital, Agla?a was in the most painfulsituation; she made excuses, endeavoured to justify herself, deniedsome things, and explained away others; but all this did not preventMadame Lacour from being excessively angry with her. She told herthat she felt disposed to send her that very moment to apologizeto all those ladies, but that, at all events, she should have toapologize. M. Guimont and his children entering at this moment, foundher in tears. "I hope, at least," added Madame Lacour, "that yourrudeness has not extended to the children of my friend M. Guimont;for this is a thing I would never forgive."
Hortense blushed a little, and ran to embrace Agla?a; Gustave wassilent, but Madame Lacour having asked him, whether it was becausehe was displeased with Agla?a, that he had not come to correct herexercises for several days past, he assured her that he had beenvery much occupied, a statement which his father confirmed, and heproposed to look over them at once. Agla?a, trembling, went andbrought her papers, and gave them to him, not daring, however, toraise her eyes; he corrected them, but without talking to her, as hewas accustomed to do, and when he had finished, he went over to seethe game which M. Guimont was playing with Madame Lacour and the oldlady. Agla?a's heart was very heavy. Hortense consoled herself aswell as she could, and said to her, "We shall have plenty of otherthings to chat about now; a German lady, the Princess de Schwamberg,arrived about an hour ago; she will be obliged to remain here forsome days, because her governess, of whom she is very fond, and whomshe treats like a friend, has been taken ill. It turns out that thegovern
ess, who is a French-woman, is a relative of MademoiselleChampr?. It was my father who informed them that she was here, withMademoiselle d'Armilly, and the princess intends, with M. d'Armilly'spermission, to send her daughters to spend a portion of their timewith Mademoiselle Leontine."
Agla?a, notwithstanding her grief, thought with a certain degreeof satisfaction, that she should see these German princesses; hervanity rejoiced extremely at the idea of being admitted into suchdistinguished society. She put many questions to Hortense, to whichthe latter was unable to reply, as her father never conversed withher about such frivolities; besides, the game was over, and Gustaveapproached them; Agla?a therefore became silent.
The following day, Madame Lacour was still too angry for Agla?a tothink of asking permission to visit Leontine, but she hoped thatperhaps Leontine might send and invite her. However, she heardnothing of her, either on that day or the next. It had been agreedthat, on the following Sunday, Leontine was to take her for a drivein her father's carriage. Madame Lacour, when apprized of thisarrangement, was extremely unwilling to give her consent, but asit was made, she did not like to interfere with it. She, however,again severely reprimanded Agla?a for her misconduct, and orderedher to show the greatest politeness to all her acquaintances whomshe might chance to meet. At the hour appointed, Agla?a went toLeontine's house. She was told that she was on the parade with theMesdemoiselles Schwamberg, where the carriage was to take them up.She went there, and seeing the carriage in the distance, hurried on,and arrived, quite out of breath, expressing her fear that she hadkept them waiting. "Oh! not at all," said Leontine, "we were notwaiting for you, for there is no room."
"What!" exclaimed Agla?a, with astonishment, "did you not tellme...." "You see clearly, my dear," replied Leontine, in a tone ofimpatience, "that there is no room: Mesdemoiselles de Schwamberg,Mademoiselle Champr?, and myself make up four."
Mademoiselle Champr? was going to speak, and one of the princessesproposed to make room for her. "No! no!" said Leontine, "we should bestifled; it must be for another time."
At this moment the coachman mounted his box; Leontine gave Agla?aa patronising bow, and the carriage drove off. Agla?a remainedstupified. All who were on the promenade had been drawing near duringthe debate, and had witnessed her humiliation. She heard theirtitterings and whisperings, and on raising her eyes, beheld severalof her acquaintances looking at her with an air of derision, whileothers turned away, shrugging their shoulders. She made her escape,her heart swelling with shame and anger. Some ill-bred young menfollowed her, ridiculed her, and made a thousand offensive remarks,which reached her ears. One of them, leaving his companions, passedbefore her, and taking off his hat, said, "This is what MademoiselleLeontine d'Armilly does." The servant who accompanied Agla?a, becameangry with them, and said that their parents should be informed oftheir conduct. This, however, only increased their laughter andmockery. Agla?a walked as fast as she could, in order to escapefrom them, and reached home heated and weeping. Interrogated by hergrandmother, she was obliged to relate what had happened, and she hadthe additional mortification of being told that it was quite right,and that she had only received what she deserved. Nevertheless,Madame Lacour determined, without communicating her intentions to hergranddaughter, to give a lesson to those ill-bred young men, throughM. Guimont, who possessed great authority in all the circles of thetown.
Agla?a spent two days very unhappily; she would not have venturedout at all, had not her grandmother absolutely ordered her to do so,so much did she dread to meet any of those persons who had ridiculedher. Twice she had met Leontine, who, laughing and talking withMesdemoiselles de Schwamberg, had scarcely noticed her. No one hadvisited her, not even Hortense. She knew that on the Wednesday therewas to be a _r?union_ at Madame Dufour's garden, and she had not beeninvited. She was grieving at seeing herself thus abandoned by everyone, when on the Wednesday Hortense came to see her. She was verymuch astonished, for she thought that she was at the garden with theothers. Hortense told her that her father had permitted her and herbrother to refuse the invitation. Agla?a timidly asked why.
"Because I preferred spending the day with you."
"And Gustave?" said Agla?a, still more timidly.
"Gustave," replied Hortense, somewhat embarrassed, "would not go,because you had not been invited, and gave this as his reason,because he did not wish it to be supposed that he had quarrelledwith you, but he said that he should come to the house as littleas possible, 'because,' he observed, 'I can no longer rely uponAgla?a, who can abandon her old friends to accommodate herself to thecaprices of Mademoiselle d'Armilly.'"
Agla?a wept bitterly, Hortense endeavoured to console her, but shecould not venture to hold out any decided hopes that her brotherwould relent, for he appeared to be very decided, and Agla?afelt more than ever that the friendship of Gustave was much morehonourable than the momentary partiality of Mademoiselle d'Armilly.While Hortense and she were sitting together very sorrowfully,Gustave came in. He still looked somewhat serious, but he was lesscold. They both blushed with surprise and pleasure at seeing him."Agla?a," he said, "must come to the parade with us; I have askedmy father to take us, and he is now dressing to come. I have justlearned," he continued very warmly, "that there is a report thatAgla?a is afraid to show herself on the parade after what hasrecently occurred; we must prove that this is not the case; every onewill be there on their way home from Madame Dufour's garden, and wemust show them that she has still her ... former friends to supporther."
He had hesitated, not knowing what to say. Agla?a, greatly affected,threw herself into the arms of Hortense, as if to thank Gustave,but she was grieved that he had hesitated, that he had only spokenof _former friends_. "Are you not still my friends?" she exclaimed,leaning her head on Hortense's shoulder. Hortense embraced her, andendeavoured to console her. Gustave said nothing, but when for aninstant she raised her eyes towards him, she perceived that his facewore a softer and less serious expression. Madame Lacour was not inthe room at this moment, as he had availed himself of her absenceto relate what he had heard, for, as she was still an invalid, theywished to say as little as possible to her about these broils, whichwere beginning to annoy her, and might end in making her seriouslyangry with those acquaintances with whom M. Guimont was anxious toreconcile her. They therefore simply asked her to allow Agla?a towalk out with M. Guimont and his children. To this she willinglyconsented, being delighted to have her granddaughter in such goodcompany. M. Guimont arrived. Hortense took her father's arm, andGustave offered his to Agla?a. She trembled a little, and did notdare to say a word. At length a stone caught her foot in such a waythat she must have fallen, had he not supported her: he inquired withsuch eagerness and kindness whether she were hurt, that she began togain courage. She spoke of her exercises, told him what she had done,and asked his advice. At length she summoned up courage to say, "Willyou always be angry with me?"
Gustave did not reply. Tears started to Agla?a's eyes; she held downher head, but Gustave nevertheless perceived that he had grieved her."We are not angry," he said, with some degree of emotion; "but whatgrieves us is, that you could so readily forget your old friends fora mere stranger."
Agla?a's tears now flowed fast. "I did not forget you," she murmured,"for all my anxiety was to make you acquainted with Leontine."
Gustave crimsoned, and replied with warmth, "We would not have formedacquaintance with Mademoiselle d'Armilly. Her society does not suitus. We wish to associate with those only who treat us as theirequals."
Agla?a understood by this reply how much he must have felt humiliatedon her account, in consequence of the slavish deference she hadmanifested in Leontine's presence; she had reflected much on thissubject during the last two days, and at this moment Gustave's pridemade her blush for it still more. "Very well," she said, after amoment's silence, "how must I act towards Leontine? for perhaps shemay wish to see me again; perhaps even I may now meet her on theparade."
"Ask my father," said Gustave; for he was too sensible to tr
ustaltogether to his own judgment in such a case. They approached M.Guimont, and Gustave repeated to him her question.
"My dear child," said M. Guimont, "how would you act if it wereLaurette, or Mademoiselle Dufour, who had treated you as Mademoiselled'Armilly has done? You would not quarrel with her on this account,for that would be to attach too much importance to such things;but as it would have been evident that she cared little about yoursociety, since she neglected to show you those attentions whichalone could render hers agreeable to you, you would treat her withgreat reserve, and carefully avoid everything that could lead her tosuppose that you wish to retain her acquaintance. You ought to act inthe same manner with Mademoiselle d'Armilly. According to the usagesof society, you are not her equal, since she is richer and of higherbirth than you are; these usages have their reasons, whether goodor bad, and we must conform to them. Therefore, you ought to regardit as a matter of course, that those who occupy a more elevatedstation than yours, should not seek your society; and you oughtto endure good humouredly the petty distinctions which they thinkthemselves entitled to claim. But no one is obliged to associate withthose who do not treat him in a manner congenial to his feelings;therefore, you ought not to think of associating with a person ofsuperior station to your own, except when she altogether forgets thisinequality, and treats you as she does her other acquaintances."Gustave listened with great pleasure to these observations of hisfather, in whose judgment he had full confidence, and who sometimeshad to check his rather exaggerated notions of self-respect. Agla?athanked M. Guimont, and promised to act towards Leontine with properreserve.
"Oh, if you see her again," said Gustave, "she will resume herinfluence over you, and we shall have the same thing over again."Agla?a assured him that he was mistaken; but Gustave seemed scepticalon the subject.
"Agla?a would be in no danger," said M. Guimont, "if she were alwaysaccompanied by a sensible person; but her excellent grandmamma cannotalways be with her."
"Very well," said Agla?a, taking the arm of Hortense, while she stillheld that of Gustave, "in order that I may always have some one tosupport me, if M. Guimont will consent, and my grandmamma permit, Iwill never go anywhere when she is not with me, unless I can haveHortense and Gustave by my side."
"That might perhaps be inconvenient to you sometimes," said Gustave,who nevertheless was greatly pleased with her declaration.
"No, no," she exclaimed; for she felt at that moment that nothingcould confer on her such happiness or honour, as to be alwayssurrounded by those good and worthy friends. They reached the parade:it was already crowded. Agla?a held the arm of Hortense, and Gustavewalked by her side with a proud and satisfied bearing. The youngmen who had ridiculed her, now bowed with a disconcerted air, forM. Guimont, who had already reprimanded them, gave them a look ofseverity, which made them cast down their eyes. Agla?a blushed alittle, but she felt protected, and rejoiced in her position. Madameand Mademoiselle Dufour passed by. M. Guimont, with a smile, tooktheir arms, and obliged them, after some little manoeuvring, to walkwith them. The friends who were with Madame Dufour, followed, andthus Agla?a saw herself in the midst of that society which had beenso dissatisfied with her conduct. At first no one spoke to her, andeven some disagreeable allusions were allowed to escape; but thepresence of M. Guimont restrained them, especially as he had alreadyspoken to several of these persons about the absurdity of theirbickerings.
Still Agla?a felt very uncomfortable, but at each unkind word,Hortense tenderly pressed her hand, and Gustave approached her,to show her some mark of attention, or to offer a kind word; andthis friendliness was very consoling to her. At length they ceasedto torment her, but she trembled at beholding Leontine comingtowards them, accompanied by Mesdemoiselles de Schwamberg. Leontineapproached her, and said something expressive of her regret at nothaving been able to take her in the carriage two days previously.Mademoiselle Champr? had at last taken upon herself to make her feelhow ridiculous her behaviour had been: and as the young princesses,who were very polite, had been extremely grieved at the annoyancewhich Agla?a had experienced on their account, Leontine, therefore,in order to retain their good opinion, endeavoured in some degree torepair an error, which she assured them had been committed throughmere thoughtlessness. She made her excuses with an awkward air, whichshe meant to be easy. Agla?a was silent, and this silence, togetherwith the number of people who surrounded her, embarrassed Leontineextremely, and she said to her, with some degree of brusquerie, "Willyou take a turn with us?"
"No," said Agla?a, indicating by her looks the persons by whom shewas surrounded, "I am with these ladies." Leontine blushed, bowed,and went away, with an air of considerable annoyance. Agla?a'srefusal had a very good effect; nothing was now thought of butLeontine. She was examined at every turn of the walk, with a degreeof attention which ended in embarrassing her very much, though sheaffected an air of _hauteur_ which disconcerted no one. The nextThursday, Madame Lacour was again surrounded by most of her friends.There were some few complaints and expostulations, but the loversof peace interfered, and put a stop to them as quickly as possible,and at last everything went on as formerly. When the princesseswere gone, Leontine wished to renew her intimacy with Agla?a, butthe latter sent word that she could not go out; though with hergrandmamma's permission, she invited her to their party. Leontine,to while away her time, twice accepted the invitation, but shefelt no enjoyment. Surrounded by persons who were entire strangersto the manners to which she was accustomed, she knew not how toact towards them, and was continually doing something amiss. Afortnight previously, Agla?a would have proclaimed silence, in orderthat she might be heard, but now she had discovered that it was nother good opinion which it was of consequence to obtain. Leontine,dissatisfied, ceased to seek her society, and ended by being socompletely wearied, that she obtained her father's permission topass the remainder of the summer with one of her aunts. Agla?a'scompanions still kept up, for some time, a little of their resentmentagainst her, but she was sustained by the friendship of Hortense andGustave, to whom she attached herself more and more, and at last shefelt at a loss to conceive how she could for a moment have preferred,to the happiness she found in their society, the discomfort andconstraint to which she had submitted in the company of Leontine.
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