CHAPTER XXXI.
GASTON'S DILEMMA.
Yes, Sabine might yet be his, but between the lovers stood the forms ofCroisenois and his associates. But now he felt strong enough to contendwith them all.
"To work!" said he, "to work!"
Just then, however, he heard a sound of ringing laughter outside hisdoor. He could distinguish a woman's voice, and also a man's, speakingin high, shrill tones. All at once his door burst open, and a hurricaneof silks, velvets, feathers, and lace whirled in. With extreme surprise,the young artist recognized the beautiful features of Rose, _alias_ Zorade Chantemille. Gaston de Gandelu followed her, and at once began,--
"Here we are," said he, "all right again. Did you expect to see us?"
"Not in the least."
"Ah! well, it is a little surprise of the governor's. On my word, Ireally will be a dutiful son for the future. To-day, the good old boycame into my room, and said, 'This morning I took the necessary steps torelease the person in whom you are interested. Go and meet her.' What doyou think of that? So off I ran to find Zora, and here we are."
Andre did not pay much attention to Gaston, but was engaged in watchingZora, who was looking round the studio. She went up to Sabine'sportrait, and was about to draw the curtain, when Andre exclaimed,--
"Excuse me," said he; "I must put this picture to dry." And as theportrait stood on a moveable easel, he wheeled it into the adjoiningroom.
"And now," said Gaston, "I want you to come and breakfast with us tocelebrate Zora's happy release."
"I am much obliged to you, but it is impossible. I must get on with mywork."
"Yes, yes; work is an excellent thing, but just now you must go anddress."
"I assure you that it is quite out of the question. I cannot leave thestudio yet."
Gaston paused for a moment in deep thought.
"I have it," said he triumphantly. "You will not come to breakfast; thenbreakfast shall come to you. I am off to order it."
Andre ran after him, but Gaston was too quick, and he returned to thestudio in anything but an amiable temper. Zora noticed his evidentannoyance.
"He always goes on in this absurd way," said she, with a shrug of herpretty shoulders, "and thinks himself so clever and witty, bah!"
Her tone disclosed such contempt for Gaston that Andre looked at her inperplexed surprise.
"What do you look so astonished at? It is easy to see you do not knowmuch of him. All his friends are just like him; if you listen to themfor half an hour at a stretch, you get regularly sick. When I think ofthe terrible evenings that I have spent in their company, I feel readyto die with yawning;" and as she spoke, she suited the action to theword. "Ah! if he really loved me!" added she.
"Love you! Why, he adores you."
Zora made a little gesture of contempt which Toto Chupin might haveenvied.
"Do you think so?" said she. "Do you know what it is he loves in me?When people pass me they cry out, 'Isn't she good style?' and then theidiot is as pleased as Punch; but if I had on a cotton gown, he wouldthink nothing of me."
Rose had evidently learned a good ideal, as her beauty had never been soradiant. She was one glow of health and strength.
"Then my name was not good enough for him," she went on. "Hisaristocratic lips could not bring themselves to utter such a common nameas Rose, so he christened me Zora, a regular puppy dog's name. He hasplenty of money, but money is not everything after all. Paul had nomoney, and yet I loved him a thousand times better. On my word, I havealmost forgotten how to laugh, and yet I used to be as merry as the daywas long."
"Why did you leave Paul then?"
"Well, you see, I wanted to experience what a woman feels when she hasa Cashmere shawl on, so one fine morning I took wing. But there, whoknows? Paul would very likely have left me one day. There was someone who was doing his best to separate us, an old blackguard calledTantaine, who lived in the same house."
"Ah!" answered he cautiously. "What interest could he have had inseparating you?"
"I don't know," answered the girl, assuming a serious air; "but I amsure he was trying it on. A fellow doesn't hand over banknotes fornothing, and I saw him give one for five hundred francs to Paul; andmore than that, he promised him that he should make a great fortunethrough a friend of his called Mascarin."
Andre started. He remembered the visit that Paul had made him, on thepretext of restoring the twenty francs he had borrowed, and at whichhe had boasted that he had an income of a thousand francs a month, andmight make more, though he had not said how this was to be done. "Ithink that Paul has forgotten me. I saw him once at Van Klopen's, and henever attempted to say a word to me. He was certainly with that Mascarinat the time."
Andre could only draw one conclusion from this, either that Paul wasprotected by the band of conspirators, or else that he formed one of it.In that case he was useful to them; while Rose, who was in their way,was persecuted by them. Andre's mind came to this conclusion inan instant. It seemed to him that if Catenac had been desirous ofimprisoning Rose, it was because she was in the way, and her presencedisturbed certain combinations. Before, however, he could work out hisline of deduction, Gaston's shrill voice was heard upon the stairs, andin another moment he made his appearance.
"Place for the banquet," said he; "make way for the lordly feast."
Two waiters followed him, bearing a number of covered dishes on trays.At another time Andre would have been very angry at this invasion, andat the prospect of a breakfast that would last two or three hours andutterly change everything; but now he was inclined to bless Gaston forhis happy idea, and, with the assistance of Rose, he speedily cleared alarge table for the reception of the viands.
Gaston did nothing, but talked continually.
"And now I must tell you the joke of the day. Henri de Croisenois, oneof my dearest friends, has absolutely launched a Company."
Andre nearly let fall a bottle, which he was about to place upon thetable.
"Who told you this?" asked he quickly.
"Who told me? Why, a great big flaming poster. Tafila Copper Mines;capital, four millions. And my esteemed friend, Henri, has not afive-franc piece to keep the devil out of his pocket."
The face of the young artist expressed such blank surprise that Gastonburst into a loud laugh.
"You look just as I did when I read it. Henri de Croisenois, thechairman of a Company! Why, if you had been elected Pope, I should nothave been more surprised. Tafila Copper Mines! What a joke! The sharesare five hundred francs."
The waiters had now retired, and Gaston urged his friends to take theirplaces at the table, and all seemed merry as a marriage bell; but many agay commencement has a stormy ending.
Gaston, whose shallow brain could not stand the copious draughts of winewith which he washed down his repast, began all at once to overwhelmZora with bitter reproaches at her not being able to comprehend how aman like him, who was destined to play a serious part in society, couldhave been led away, as he had been, by a person like her.
Gaston had a tongue which was never at a loss either to praise or blame,and Zora was equally ready to retort, and defended herself with suchacrimony that the lad, knowing himself to be in fault, entirely lost thesmall remnant of temper which he still possessed, and dashed out of theroom, declaring that he never wished to set eyes upon Zora again, andthat she might keep all the presents that he had lavished upon her forall he cared.
His departure was hailed with delight by Andre, who, now that he wasleft alone with Zora, hoped to derive some further information from her,and especially a distinct description of Paul, whom he felt that hemust now reckon among his adversaries. But his hopes were destined tobe frustrated, for Zora was so filled with anger and excitement that sherefused to listen to another word; and putting on her hat and mantle,with scarcely a glance at the mirror, rushed out of the studio withthe utmost speed, declaring that she would seek out Paul, and make himrevenge the insults that Gaston had put on her.
All thi
s passed so rapidly that the young painter felt as if a tornadohad passed through his humble dwelling; but as peace and calm returned,he began to see that Providence had directly interposed in his favor,and had sent Rose and Gaston to his place to furnish him with fresh andimportant facts. All that Rose had said, incomplete as her statementwas, had thrown a ray of light upon an intrigue which, up till now, hadbeen shaded in the thickest gloom. The relations of Paul with Mascarinexplained why Catenac had been so anxious to have Rose imprisoned, andalso seemed to hint vaguely at the reason for the extraction of theforged signatures from the simple Gaston. What could be the meaningof the Company started by De Croisenois at the very moment when he wasabout to celebrate his union with Sabine?
Andre desired to see the advertisement of the Company for himself; andwithout stopping to change his blouse, ran downstairs to the cornerof the street, where Gaston had told him that the announcement of theCompany was placarded up. He found it there, in a most conspicuousposition, with all its advantages most temptingly set forth. Nothingwas wanting; and there was even a woodcut of Tafila, in Algiers, whichrepresented the copper mines in full working operation; while at thetop, the name of the chairman, the Marquis de Croisenois, stood out inletters some six inches in height.
Andre stood gazing at this wonderful production for fully five minutes,when all at once a gleam of prudence flashed across his mind.
"I am a fool," said he to himself. "How do I know how many watchful eyesare now fixed on me, reading on my countenance my designs regarding thismatter and its leading spirit?"
Upon his return to his room, he sat for more than an hour, turning overthe whole affair in his mind, and at length he flattered himself thathe had hit upon an expedient. Behind the house in which he lodged was alarge garden, belonging to some public institution, the front of whichwas in the Rue Laval. A wall of about seven feet in height divided thesegrounds from the premises in the Rue de la Tour d'Auvergne. Why shouldhe not go out by the way of these ornamental grounds and so elude thevigilance of the spies who might be in waiting at the front of thehouse?
"I can," thought he, "alter my appearance so much that I shall notbe recognized. I need not return here to sleep. I can ask a bed fromVignol, who will help me in every possible way."
This Vignol was the friend to whom, at Andre's request, M. Gandelu hadgiven the superintendence of the works at his new house in the ChampsElysees.
"I shall," continued he, "by this means escape entirely from DeCroisenois and his emissaries, and can watch their game without theirhaving any suspicion of my doing so. For the time being, of course, Imust give up seeing those who have been helping me,--De Breulh, Gandelu,Madame de Bois Arden, and M. de Mussidan; that, however, cannot beavoided. I can use the post, and by it will inform them all of the stepthat I have taken."
It was dark before he had finished his letters, and, of course, it wastoo late to try anything that day; consequently he went out, posted hisletters, and dined at the nearest restaurant.
On his return home, he proceeded to arrange his disguise. He had itready, among his clothes: a blue blouse, a pair of check trousers,well-worn shoes, and a shabby cap, were all that he required, and hethen applied himself to the task of altering his face. He first shavedoff his beard. Then he twisted down two locks of hair, which he managedto make rest on his forehead. Then he commenced applying some coloringto his face with a paint-brush; but this he found to be an extremelydifficult business, and it was not for a long while that he wassatisfied with the results that he had produced. He then knotted an oldhandkerchief round his neck, and clapped his cap on one side, with thepeak slanting over one eye. Then he took a last glance in the glass,and felt that he had rendered himself absolutely unrecognizable. He wasabout to impart a few finishing touches, when a knock came at his door.He was not expecting any one at such an hour, nine o'clock; for thewaiters from the restaurant had already removed the remains of thefeast.
"Who is there?" cried he.
"It is I," replied a weak voice; "I, Gaston de Gandelu."
Andre decided that he had no cause to distrust the lad, and so he openedhis door.
"Has M. Andre gone out?" asked the poor boy faintly. "I though I heardhis voice."
Gaston had not penetrated his disguise, and this was Andre's firsttriumph; but he saw now that he must alter his voice, as well as hisface.
"Don't you know me?" asked he.
It was evident that young Gaston had received some terrible shock; forit could not have been the quarrel in the morning that had reduced himto this abject state of prostration.
"What has gone wrong with you?" asked Andre kindly.
"I have come to bid you farewell; I am going to shoot myself in half anhour."
"Have you gone mad?"
"Not in the least," answered Gaston, passing his hand across hisforehead in a distracted manner; "but those infernal bills have turnedup. I was just leaving the dining-room, after having treated thegovernor to my company, when the butler whispered in my ear thatthere was a man outside who wanted to see me. I went out and found adirty-looking old scamp, with his coat collar turned up round the napeof his neck."
"Did he say that his name was Tantaine?" exclaimed Andre.
"Ah! was that his name? Well, it doesn't matter. He told me in the mostfriendly manner that the holder of my bills had determined to place themin the hands of the police to-morrow at twelve o'clock, but that therewas still a way for me to escape."
"And this was to take Rose out of France with you," said Andre quickly.
Gaston was overwhelmed with surprise.
"Who the deuce told you that?" asked he.
"No one; I guessed it; for it was only the conclusion of the planwhich they had initiated when you were induced to forge Martin Rigal'ssignature. Well, what did you say?"
"That the idea was a ridiculous one, and that I would not stir a yard.They shall find out that I can be obstinate, too; besides, I can seetheir little game. As soon as I am out of the way they will go to thegovernor and bleed him."
But Andre was not listening to him. What was best to be done? To adviseGaston to go and take Rose with him was to deprive himself of a greatelement of success; and to permit him to kill himself was, of course,out of the question.
"Just attend to me," said he at last; "I have an idea which I will tellyou as soon as we are out of this house; but for reasons which are toolong to go into at present it is necessary for me to get into the streetwithout going through the door. You will, therefore, go away, and as theclock strikes twelve you will ring at the gateway of 29, Rue de Laval.When it is opened, ask some trivial question of the porter; and whenyou leave, take care that you do not close the gate. I shall be in thegarden of the house and will slip out and join you."
The plan succeeded admirably, and in ten minutes Gaston and Andre werewalking along the boulevards.