The Doll - Bolesaw Prus [326]
‘Oh, damnation!’ I exclaimed, ‘why ever did they talk to her about Wokulski? That’s asking for trouble.’
‘Come, what are you saying?’ Wirski reproached me, ‘she’s repentant, she regrets her sins and will certainly improve.’
‘It was already midnight, so he left, I didn’t stop him as he’d already vexed me somewhat with his belief in the Baroness’s repentance. Still, who knows, maybe she really has repented?
Postscript. I was certain MacMahon would succeed in carrying out a coup d’état on behalf of young Napoleon. But today I’ve learned that MacMahon has fallen, and that Citizen Grévy has become President of the Republic, while young Napoleon has gone off to war in some Natal or other, in Africa. No help for it — let the lad learn how to fight battles. In six months or so he’ll return, covered in glory, so that the French themselves will want him back and we, meanwhile, will marry Staś to Mrs Stawska. For when I set about anything, I have Metternich’s ways, and understand the natural course of events. So — long live France under the Napoleons, and Wokulski with Mrs Stawska!
XXXI
Ladies and Women
FORTUNE looked with a kindly eye for the third or fourth time on the house of Mr Łęcki during Carnival and Lent. His drawing-room was full of visitors, and visiting cards fell into his-vestibule like snow. Once again Tomasz found himself in the fortunate position of having visitors to receive, and even of being able to choose between them. ‘I shall certainly die soon,’ he sometimes told his daughter, ‘but at least I’ve had the gratification of people knowing my true worth beforehand.’
Izabela heard this with a smile. She did not want to dispel her father’s illusions, but was certain that the swarms of guests were paying tribute to her — not to her father.
After all, Mr Niwiński, the most elegant go-between, danced most frequently with her, not her father. Mr Malborg, the paragon of elegance and arbiter of fashion, talked to her, not to her father, while Mr Szatalski, a friend of both the aforesaid, felt unhappy and inconsolable on her account, not her father’s. Mr Szatalski made this clear to her, and even though he was neither as elegant a dancer as Mr Niwiński, nor an arbiter of fashion like Mr Malborg, nonetheless he was the friend of both. He lived near them, ate with them, ordered English or French suits when they did, and ladies of mature judgement, unable to see any other virtues in him, called him — poetical.
Then a tiny incident occurred, a single phrase, which forced Izabela to seek the secret of her triumphs elsewhere. During a call, she said to Miss Pantarkiewicz: ‘I’ve never enjoyed myself in Warsaw as I have this year.’
‘That is because you are quite charming,’ Miss Pantarkiewicz replied briefly, covering her face with a fan as though to conceal an involuntary yawn.
‘Unmarried girls of a certain age know how to be quite charming,’ said Mrs de Gins Upadalska loudly to Mrs de Fertalski Wywrotnicka.
The movement of Miss Pantarkiewicz’s fan and the phrase of Mrs de Gins Upadalska gave Izabela food for thought. She had too much good sense not to understand the situation, especially one so clearly stated. ‘What is that “certain age”?’ she wondered. ‘Twenty-five isn’t a certain age … What are they talking about?’
She glanced aside, and caught Wokulski’s eyes upon her. As she had to choose between attributing her triumphs to ‘a certain age’ and Wokulski — she began to reflect upon the latter. Who knew but that he was the involuntary creator of the flattery which surrounded her on all sides?
She began recalling things. First, Mr Niwiński’s father had money invested in Wokulski’s firm (even Miss Izabela knew this), which brought him in great profits. Then Mr Malborg, who had once graduated from some technical school or other (though he never betrayed the fact) had, through Wokulski’s good offices (which he kept very secret) tried to obtain a position on the railways. In fact, he succeeded, though it had the great