A Start in Life [49]
top of the mountain."
"I don't know what to make of it!"
"After all," thought Georges, "though I did blague him, I didn't say
anything insulting."
"Why have you come here?" asked the steward.
"I have brought the deed of sale for the farm at Moulineaux, all ready
for signature."
"Good heavens!" exclaimed the steward, "I don't understand one word of
all this!"
Moreau felt his heart beat painfully when, after giving two raps on
his master's door, he heard the words:--
"Is that you, MONSIEUR Moreau?"
"Yes, monseigneur."
"Come in."
The count was now wearing a pair of white trousers and thin boots, a
white waistcoat and a black coat on which shone the grand cross of the
Legion upon the right breast, and fastened to a buttonhole on the left
was the order of the Golden Fleece hanging by a short gold chain. He
had arranged his hair himself, and had, no doubt, put himself in full
dress to do the honors of Presles to Monsieur Margueron; and,
possibly, to impress the good man's mind with a prestige of grandeur.
"Well, monsieur," said the count, who remained seated, leaving Moreau
to stand before him. "We have not concluded that purchase from
Margueron."
"He asks too much for the farm at the present moment."
"But why is he not coming to dinner as I requested?"
"Monseigneur, he is ill."
"Are you sure?"
"I have just come from there."
"Monsieur," said the count, with a stern air which was really
terrible, "what would you do with a man whom you trusted, if, after
seeing you dress wounds which you desired to keep secret from all the
world, he should reveal your misfortunes and laugh at your malady with
a strumpet?"
"I would thrash him for it."
"And if you discovered that he was also betraying your confidence and
robbing you?"
"I should endeavor to detect him, and send him to the galleys."
"Monsieur Moreau, listen to me. You have undoubtedly spoken of my
infirmities to Madame Clapart; you have laughed at her house, and with
her, over my attachment to the Comtesse de Serizy; for her son, little
Husson, told a number of circumstances relating to my medical
treatment, to travellers by a public conveyance in my presence, and
Heaven knows in what language! He dared to calumniate my wife. Besides
this, I learned from the lips of Pere Leger himself, who was in the
coach, of the plan laid by the notary at Beaumont and by you and by
himself in relation to Les Moulineaux. If you have been, as you say,
to Monsieur Margueron, it was to tell him to feign illness. He is so
little ill that he is coming here to dinner this evening. Now,
monsieur, I could pardon you having made two hundred and fifty
thousand francs out of your situation in seventeen years,--I can
understand that. You might each time have asked me for what you took,
and I would have given it to you; but let that pass. You have been,
notwithstanding this disloyalty, better than others, as I believe. But
that you, who knew my toil for our country, for France, you have seen
me giving night after night to the Emperor's service, and working
eighteen hours of each twenty-four for months together, you who knew
my love for Madame de Serizy,--that you should have gossiped about me
before a boy! holding up my secrets and my affections to the ridicule
of a Madame Husson!--"
"Monseigneur!"
"It is unpardonable. To injure a man's interest, why, that is nothing;
but to stab his heart!--Oh! you do not know what you have done!"
The count put his head in his hands and was silent for some moments.
"I leave you what you have gained," he said after a time, "and I shall
forget you. For my sake, for my dignity, and for your honor, we will
part decently; for I cannot but remember even now what your father did
for mine. You will explain the duties of the stewardship in a proper
manner to Monsieur de Reybert, who succeeds
"I don't know what to make of it!"
"After all," thought Georges, "though I did blague him, I didn't say
anything insulting."
"Why have you come here?" asked the steward.
"I have brought the deed of sale for the farm at Moulineaux, all ready
for signature."
"Good heavens!" exclaimed the steward, "I don't understand one word of
all this!"
Moreau felt his heart beat painfully when, after giving two raps on
his master's door, he heard the words:--
"Is that you, MONSIEUR Moreau?"
"Yes, monseigneur."
"Come in."
The count was now wearing a pair of white trousers and thin boots, a
white waistcoat and a black coat on which shone the grand cross of the
Legion upon the right breast, and fastened to a buttonhole on the left
was the order of the Golden Fleece hanging by a short gold chain. He
had arranged his hair himself, and had, no doubt, put himself in full
dress to do the honors of Presles to Monsieur Margueron; and,
possibly, to impress the good man's mind with a prestige of grandeur.
"Well, monsieur," said the count, who remained seated, leaving Moreau
to stand before him. "We have not concluded that purchase from
Margueron."
"He asks too much for the farm at the present moment."
"But why is he not coming to dinner as I requested?"
"Monseigneur, he is ill."
"Are you sure?"
"I have just come from there."
"Monsieur," said the count, with a stern air which was really
terrible, "what would you do with a man whom you trusted, if, after
seeing you dress wounds which you desired to keep secret from all the
world, he should reveal your misfortunes and laugh at your malady with
a strumpet?"
"I would thrash him for it."
"And if you discovered that he was also betraying your confidence and
robbing you?"
"I should endeavor to detect him, and send him to the galleys."
"Monsieur Moreau, listen to me. You have undoubtedly spoken of my
infirmities to Madame Clapart; you have laughed at her house, and with
her, over my attachment to the Comtesse de Serizy; for her son, little
Husson, told a number of circumstances relating to my medical
treatment, to travellers by a public conveyance in my presence, and
Heaven knows in what language! He dared to calumniate my wife. Besides
this, I learned from the lips of Pere Leger himself, who was in the
coach, of the plan laid by the notary at Beaumont and by you and by
himself in relation to Les Moulineaux. If you have been, as you say,
to Monsieur Margueron, it was to tell him to feign illness. He is so
little ill that he is coming here to dinner this evening. Now,
monsieur, I could pardon you having made two hundred and fifty
thousand francs out of your situation in seventeen years,--I can
understand that. You might each time have asked me for what you took,
and I would have given it to you; but let that pass. You have been,
notwithstanding this disloyalty, better than others, as I believe. But
that you, who knew my toil for our country, for France, you have seen
me giving night after night to the Emperor's service, and working
eighteen hours of each twenty-four for months together, you who knew
my love for Madame de Serizy,--that you should have gossiped about me
before a boy! holding up my secrets and my affections to the ridicule
of a Madame Husson!--"
"Monseigneur!"
"It is unpardonable. To injure a man's interest, why, that is nothing;
but to stab his heart!--Oh! you do not know what you have done!"
The count put his head in his hands and was silent for some moments.
"I leave you what you have gained," he said after a time, "and I shall
forget you. For my sake, for my dignity, and for your honor, we will
part decently; for I cannot but remember even now what your father did
for mine. You will explain the duties of the stewardship in a proper
manner to Monsieur de Reybert, who succeeds