Joseph Balsamo (50 page)

Chon was descending to the court at the same time as himself, with this difference, that she took the grand staircase, he a little back one more resembling a ladder. A carriage was waiting for them. It was a kind of low phaeton, containing seats for four persons, and resembled that historical vehicle in which the great king used to drive out with
Mme.
de Montespan,
Mme.
de Fontanges, and frequently with them the queen.

Chon got in and took the front seat, with a large box and a little dog beside her ; the other seat was for Gilbert, and a kind of steward called M. Grange. Gilbert hastened to take the place behind Chon, in order to keep up his dignity ; the steward, without thinking there was any degradation in the matter, placed himself behind the box, and the dog.

As Mile. Chon, like all who inhabited Versailles, felt joyous on leaving the great palace to inhale the air of the woods,and the meadows, she became communicative, and was scarcely out of the town, when she turned half round and said, ” Well, what do you think of Versailles, Mr. Philosopher ? “

” It is very beautiful, madame ; but we are quitting it already ? “

” Yes ; now we are going to our own home.”

JOSEPH BALSAMO. 37?

” That is to say, to your home, madame,” said Gilbert, with the tone of a half-tamed bear.

” That is what I meant. I shall introduce yon to my sister ; try to please her. All the greatest noblemen in France are only too happy if they can succeed in doing so. By the bye, Grange, you must order a complete suit for this boy.”

Gilbert blushed up to the eyes.

” What kind of a suit, madame ? ” asked the steward. ” The usual livery ? “

Gilbert half started from his seat.

” Livery ! ” cried he, with a fierce look at the steward.

Chon burst into a laugh.

” No,” said she ; “you will order but no matter, I will tell you another time. I have an idea on which I wish for my sister’s opinion. But take care to have the suit ready at the same time as Zamore’s.”

” Very well, madame.”

“Do you know Zamore?” asked Chon, turning to Gilbert, who began to be very much alarmed by the conversation.

“No, madame ; I have not that honor,” replied he.

” He will be a young companion of yours ; he is going to be governor of the chateau of Luciennes. Endeavor to gain his friendship for Zamore is a good creature, in spite of his color.”

Gilbert was about to ask of what color he was ; but recollecting the reproof he had already received on the subject of curiosity, he refrained, for fear of another reprimand.

” I shall try,” he answered, with a dignified smile.

ney reached Luciennes. The philosopher saw everything ; the road, lately planted, the shady slopes, the great aqueduct, which resembled a work of the Romans, the dense wood of chestnut-trees, the varied and the magnificent prospect of plains and woods, stretching away on both sides of the Seine to Maisons.

” This, then,” said he to himself, ” is the country-seat which costs France so much, and of which I have heard the baron often speak.”

378 JOSEPH BALSAMO.

Bounding dogs and eager domestics ran out to welcome Chon, and interrupted Gilbert in the midst of his aristo-cratico-philosophical reflections.

” Has my sister arrived ? ” asked Chon.

” No, madame ; but there are visitors waiting for her.”

” Who are they ? “

” The chancellor, the minister of police, and the Duke d’Aiguillon.”

“Well, run quickly and open my sister’s private cabinet, and tell her when she arrives that I am there ; do you understand ? Oh, Sylvia,” added she, addressing afemme de chambre who had taken from her the box and the little dog, ” give the box and Misapouf to Grange, and take my little philosopher to Zamore.”

Sylvia looked all round, doubtless to find out what sort of animal Chon was speaking of ; but her eyes and those of her mistress, happening to rest on Gilbert at the same moment, Chon made a sign that the young man was the person in question

” Come,” said Sylvia.

Gilbert, still more and more surprised at all that he saw, followed thefemme de chambre, while Chon, light as a bird, disappeared by a side door of the pavilion.

Had it not been for the commanding tone in which Chon addressed her, Gilbert would have taken Mile. Sylvia for a great lady, rather than &femme de chambre, as her dress resembled Andre’s much more than Nicole’s. The young and handsome waiting-woman took him by the hand with a gracious smile ; for her mistress’s words showed that, if not an object of affection, he was chosen at least through some new whim.

” What is your name, sir ? ” said she.

” Gilbert, mademoiselle,” replied the young man, in a gentle voice.

“Well, sir, I am going to introduce you to my Lord Zamore.”

” To the governor of the chateau of Lucienues ?”

“Yes, to the governor.”

JOSEPH BALSAMO. 379

Gilbert pulled down his sleeves, dusted his coat a little, and wiped his hands with his handkerchief. He was in reality rather intimidated at the idea of appearing before so important a personage ; but he recalled Chon’s remark, ‘ ‘ Zamore is a good creature,” and recovered his courage. He was already the friend of a countess and a viscount ; he was going to be the friend of a governor. ” Well,” thought he, ” surely people calumniate the court ; it is certainly easy enough to find friends in it ; at least, as far as me experience goes, I have found every one kind and hospitable.”

Sylvia threw open the door of an anteroom, which, from its splendor, might rather have been supposed a boudoir. The panels of the walls were of tortoise-shell, inlaid with copper gilt ; and one might have imagined himself in the atrium of Lucullus, but that that ancient Eoman used pure gold to decorate his walls.

There, in an immense armchair, half buried in cushions, sitting cross-legged, and gnawing chocolate cakes, reposed my Lord Zamor, whom we already know, but whom Gilbert till now had never seen. The effect, therefore, which the governor of Luciennes produced on the mind of the philosopher was rather curiously depicted in his face. He stared with all his might at the strange being, for it was the first time he had ever seen a negro.

” Oh, oh ! ” cried he, ” what is that ? “

As for Zamore, he never raised his head, but continued to munch his cakes, rolling his eyes and showing the whites of them in the excess of his enjoyment.

” That,” said Sylvia, “is my Lord Zamore.”

” That person ? ” said Gilbert, almost dumb with amazement.

” Yes, to be sure,” answered Sylvia, laughing in spite of herself at the turn the scene was taking.

” He the governor ? ” continued Gilbert. ” That ape the governor of the chateau of Luciennes ? Oh, mademoiselle, you are certainly jesting with me ! “

At these words, Zaiuore raised his head and showed his white teeth.

380 JOSEPH BALSAMO.

” Me governor,” said he ; ” me not ape.”

Gilbert looked from Zamore to Sylvia, and his glance, at first nneasy, became wrathful, when the young woman, in spite of all her efforts, burst into a fit of laughter. As for Zamore, grave and solemn as an Indian fetish, he plunged his black claw in a satin bag, and took out a handful of his cakes.

At this moment the door opened, and the steward entered, followed by a tailor.

” Here ‘ said he, pointing to Gilbert, “is the person for whom you are to make the suit ; take the measure according to the directions I gave you.”

Gilbert mechanically submitted his arms and shoulders to be measured, while Sylvia and Grange were talking in another part of the room, and at every word of the steward the chambermaid laughed louder and louder.

” Oh, it will be delightful !” she said. ” And will he wear a pointed cap like Sganarello ? “

Gilbert heard no more ; he rudely pushed the tailor aside, and absolutely refused to submit to the rest of the ceremony. He knew nothing about Sganarello ; but the name, and particularly Sylvia’s mirth, plainly declared that he was some preeminently ridiculous personage.

” It is of no consequence,” said the steward to the tailor. ” Don’t hurt him. I suppose you can do very well with the measure you have taken ?’ y

” Certainly,” replied the tailor, ” for width does no harm in such suits. I shall make it very wide.”

Whereupon Sylvia, the steward, and the tailor, walked off, leaving Gilbert with the little negro, who continued to gnaw his cakes and roll his great eyes. What an enigma was all this to the poor country lad ! What fears, what anguish did the philosopher experience, in seemg his dignity as a man evidently more compromised at Luciennes than ever it had been at Taverney !

However, he tried to talk to Zamore. It occurred to him that he might be some Indian prince, such as he had read of in the romances of M. Crebillon the younger. But the Indian prince, instead of replying, made the cir-

JOSEPH BALSAMO. 381

cuit of the apartment from mirror to mirror, admiring his splendid clothes like a bride in her wedding-dress. After that he got astride on a chair with wheels, and impelling it with his feet, he whirled round the antechamber some dozen times with a velocity which showed that he had made a profound study of that ingenious exercise.

Suddenly a bell rang. Zamore jumped up from his chair, and hurried through one of the doors in the direction of the sound. This promptness in obeying the silvery tinkling convinced Gilbert that Zamore was not a prince.

For a moment he entertained the idea of following him ; but on reaching the end of the passage which led into a saloon, he saw so many blue ribbons and red ribbons, guarded by lackeys so bold, impudent, and noisy, that he felt a chill run through his veins, and, with a* cold perspiration on his forehead, he returned to his anteroom.

An hour passed. Zamore did not return ; Sylvia was seen no more. Any human face would have seemed then to Gilbert better than none, were it even that of the dreaded tailor who was to complete the mystification with which he was threatened.

Just at that moment the door by which he had entered the room opened, and a footman appeared and said, “Come!”

CHAPTER XLI.

THE PHYSICIAN AGAINST HIS WILL.

GILBERT felt it rather disagreeable to be obliged to obey a footman ; nevertheless, he lost no time in following him, for he thought that now there was some prospect of a change in his condition, and it seemed to him that any change must be for the better.

Chon, now completely her own mistress, after having initiated her sister into the whole affair of the Countess de Beam, was breakfasting very much at her ease in a

332 JOSEPH BALSAMO.

charming morning-dress, beside a window shaded with acacias and chestnut-trees.

She was eating with an excellent appetite, and Gilbert remarked that a pheasant and truffles justified the relish with which she enjoyed her breakfast.

The philosopher, having entered the apartment, looked around to discover his place at the table, but there was no plate for him, and he was not even asked to sit down.

Chon merely cast a glance on him; then, after swallowing a little glass of wine, as clear and yellow as a topaz :

” Well, my dear doctor,” said she, ” how have you got on with Zamore ? “

” How have I got on with him ? “

” Yes ; I hope you have become acquainted with him?”

” How could one make acquaintance with an animal like that “who never speaks, and who, when one speaks to him, only rolls his eyes ? “

” Keally you frighten me ! ” said Chon, without stopping one moment in her repast, and without her countenance showing any expression at all corresponding to her words. ” Your friendship is difficult to gain, then?”

“Friendship presupposes equality, madame.”

” A noble maxim ‘ said Chon. ” Then you don’t think yourself the equal of Zamore ? “

“That is to say, that I do not think him my equal ‘ replied Gilbert.

” In truth,” said Chon, as if talking to herself, ” he is charming.”

Then, turning to Gilbert, she remarked his stately air.

” So, my dear doctor,” said she, ” you do not easily bestow your affections ? “

” No, madame, not easily.”

” Then I was mistaken when I thought you held me as your friend, and as a good friend, too ? “

” Madame,” said Gilbert, very stiffly, ” I feel for you naturally a liking “

“Oh, a thousand thanks for your condescension! You

JOSEPH BALSAMO. 383

really overwhelm me ! And how long do you think, my scornful young gentleman, it would require to gain your affection ? “

” A long time, madame ; and there are even persons who, whatever they did, could never obtain it.”

” Oh! then that explains the reason why, after having been eighteen years in the Baron de Taverney’s house, you left it all at once. The Taverneys were not so fortunate as to obtain your affections that was it, was it not ?”

Gilbert blushed.

“Well, you don’t answer,” continued Chon.

” I have nothing to reply, madame, but that friendship and confidence must be merited ‘

“Oh! it appears, then, that your friends at Taverney did not merit your friendship and confidence ? “

“Not all of them, madame.”

” Ah ! and what had those done who were so unfortunate as not to please you ? “

” I did not complain of them, madame,” answered he, proudly.

“Well, well ! I perceive, Mr. Gilbert, that I am also one of the unfortunates excluded from your confidence ; yet, believe me, it is not from any want of a desire to obtain it, but from my not knowing the right means of doing so.”

Gilbert bit his lip.

” But to shorten the matter,” added she, with aninquis-itiveness which he felt must be for some object, ” the Taverneys did not behave quite satisfactorily to you. Tell me, if you please, what was your occupation in their establishment ? “

This was rather an embarrassing question, as Gilbert certainly could not say that he held any particular office at Taveruey.

” Madame,” said he, ” I was I was their confidential adviser.”