Scenes from a Courtesan's Life [68]
are not worth it, the pair of us."
And Europe set to screaming "Thief" so determinedly, that the banker made for the door in a fright, and Europe, tripping him up, rolled him down the stairs.
"Old wretch!" cried she, "you would tell tales to my mistress! Thief! thief! stop thief!"
The enamored Baron, in despair, succeeded in getting unhurt to his carriage, which he had left on the boulevard; but he was now at his wits' end as to whom to apply to.
"And pray, madame, did you think to get my earnings out of me?" said Europe, coming back like a fury to the lady's room.
"I know nothing of French customs," said the Englishwoman.
"But one word from me to-morrow to monsieur, and you, madame, would find yourself in the streets," retorted Europe insolently.
"Dat dam' maid!" said the Baron to Georges, who naturally asked his master if all had gone well, "hafe do me out of dirty tousant franc-- but it vas my own fault, my own great fault----"
"And so monsieur's dress was all wasted. The deuce is in it, I should advise you, Monsieur le Baron, not to have taken your tonic for nothing----"
"Georches, I shall be dying of despair. I hafe cold--I hafe ice on mein heart--no more of Esther, my good friend."
Georges was always the Baron's friend when matters were serious.
Two days after this scene, which Europe related far more amusingly than it can be written, because she told it with much mimicry, Carlos and Lucien were breakfasting tete-a-tete.
"My dear boy, neither the police nor anybody else must be allowed to poke a nose into our concerns," said Herrera in a low voice, as he lighted his cigar from Lucien's. "It would not agree with us. I have hit on a plan, daring but effectual, to keep our Baron and his agents quiet. You must go to see Madame de Serizy, and make yourself very agreeable to her. Tell her, in the course of conversation, that to oblige Rastignac, who has long been sick of Madame de Nucingen, you have consented to play fence for him to conceal a mistress. Monsieur de Nucingen, desperately in love with this woman Rastignac keeps hidden--that will make her laugh--has taken it into his head to set the police to keep an eye on you--on you, who are innocent of all his tricks, and whose interest with the Grandlieus may be seriously compromised. Then you must beg the Countess to secure her husband's support, for he is a Minister of State, to carry you to the Prefecture of Police.
"When you have got there, face to face with the Prefet, make your complaint, but as a man of political consequence, who will sooner or later be one of the motor powers of the huge machine of government. You will speak of the police as a statesman should, admiring everything, the Prefet included. The very best machines make oil- stains or splutter. Do not be angry till the right moment. You have no sort of grudge against Monsieur le Prefet, but persuade him to keep a sharp lookout on his people, and pity him for having to blow them up. The quieter and more gentlemanly you are, the more terrible will the Prefet be to his men. Then we shall be left in peace, and we may send for Esther back, for she must be belling like the does in the forest."
The Prefet at that time was a retired magistrate. Retired magistrates make far too young Prefets. Partisans of the right, riding the high horse on points of law, they are not light-handed in arbitary action such as critical circumstances often require; cases in which the Prefet should be as prompt as a fireman called to a conflagration. So, face to face with the Vice-President of the Council of State, the Prefet confessed to more faults than the police really has, deplored its abuses, and presently was able to recollect the visit paid to him by the Baron de Nucingen and his inquiries as to Peyrade. The Prefet, while promising to check the rash zeal of his agents, thanked Lucien for having come straight to him, promised secrecy, and affected to understand the intrigue.
A few fine speeches about personal liberty and the sacredness of home life were bandied between the Prefet
And Europe set to screaming "Thief" so determinedly, that the banker made for the door in a fright, and Europe, tripping him up, rolled him down the stairs.
"Old wretch!" cried she, "you would tell tales to my mistress! Thief! thief! stop thief!"
The enamored Baron, in despair, succeeded in getting unhurt to his carriage, which he had left on the boulevard; but he was now at his wits' end as to whom to apply to.
"And pray, madame, did you think to get my earnings out of me?" said Europe, coming back like a fury to the lady's room.
"I know nothing of French customs," said the Englishwoman.
"But one word from me to-morrow to monsieur, and you, madame, would find yourself in the streets," retorted Europe insolently.
"Dat dam' maid!" said the Baron to Georges, who naturally asked his master if all had gone well, "hafe do me out of dirty tousant franc-- but it vas my own fault, my own great fault----"
"And so monsieur's dress was all wasted. The deuce is in it, I should advise you, Monsieur le Baron, not to have taken your tonic for nothing----"
"Georches, I shall be dying of despair. I hafe cold--I hafe ice on mein heart--no more of Esther, my good friend."
Georges was always the Baron's friend when matters were serious.
Two days after this scene, which Europe related far more amusingly than it can be written, because she told it with much mimicry, Carlos and Lucien were breakfasting tete-a-tete.
"My dear boy, neither the police nor anybody else must be allowed to poke a nose into our concerns," said Herrera in a low voice, as he lighted his cigar from Lucien's. "It would not agree with us. I have hit on a plan, daring but effectual, to keep our Baron and his agents quiet. You must go to see Madame de Serizy, and make yourself very agreeable to her. Tell her, in the course of conversation, that to oblige Rastignac, who has long been sick of Madame de Nucingen, you have consented to play fence for him to conceal a mistress. Monsieur de Nucingen, desperately in love with this woman Rastignac keeps hidden--that will make her laugh--has taken it into his head to set the police to keep an eye on you--on you, who are innocent of all his tricks, and whose interest with the Grandlieus may be seriously compromised. Then you must beg the Countess to secure her husband's support, for he is a Minister of State, to carry you to the Prefecture of Police.
"When you have got there, face to face with the Prefet, make your complaint, but as a man of political consequence, who will sooner or later be one of the motor powers of the huge machine of government. You will speak of the police as a statesman should, admiring everything, the Prefet included. The very best machines make oil- stains or splutter. Do not be angry till the right moment. You have no sort of grudge against Monsieur le Prefet, but persuade him to keep a sharp lookout on his people, and pity him for having to blow them up. The quieter and more gentlemanly you are, the more terrible will the Prefet be to his men. Then we shall be left in peace, and we may send for Esther back, for she must be belling like the does in the forest."
The Prefet at that time was a retired magistrate. Retired magistrates make far too young Prefets. Partisans of the right, riding the high horse on points of law, they are not light-handed in arbitary action such as critical circumstances often require; cases in which the Prefet should be as prompt as a fireman called to a conflagration. So, face to face with the Vice-President of the Council of State, the Prefet confessed to more faults than the police really has, deplored its abuses, and presently was able to recollect the visit paid to him by the Baron de Nucingen and his inquiries as to Peyrade. The Prefet, while promising to check the rash zeal of his agents, thanked Lucien for having come straight to him, promised secrecy, and affected to understand the intrigue.
A few fine speeches about personal liberty and the sacredness of home life were bandied between the Prefet