The Doll - Bolesaw Prus [352]
Within twenty-four hours of sending this letter, Rzecki appeared at the Baron’s house, stating that he wished to see him. The Baron received him very cordially, although he did not conceal his surprise on seeing that the former second of his opponent was very irritated.
‘I am visiting you because I have a claim to make,’ the old clerk began. ‘The day before yesterday I ventured to send you a bill…’
‘Yes, of course…I owe you gentlemen something…How much is it?’
‘Two hundred and thirty-six roubles, thirty kopeks.’
‘I will endeavour to satisfy you tomorrow.’
‘That is not all,’ Rzecki interrupted, ‘for yesterday I received this letter from your worthy spouse.’
The Baron read the piece of paper Rzecki handed him, pondered and replied: ‘I am very sorry the Baroness used such uncivil language, but…as for that mare, she’s right. Mr Wokulski (though I don’t hold it against him) let me have the mare for six hundred, but took a receipt for eight hundred.’
Rzecki went livid with rage: ‘Baron, I regret this incident, but…One of us has been the victim of a trick…A nasty trick, sir! And here’s the proof.’
He produced two sheets of paper from his pocket and gave one to Krzeszowski. The Baron glanced at it, and exclaimed: ‘So it was that scoundrel Maruszewicz! Upon my word, he gave me only six hundred roubles, and talked about the business-like attitude of Wokulski into the bargain…’
‘And this?’ asked Rzecki, handing him another sheet.
The Baron looked over the document from top to bottom. His lips whitened. ‘Now I understand it all,’ he said, ‘this receipt is forged, forged by Maruszewicz. I never borrowed any money from Wokulski.’
‘Yet the Baroness has called us swindlers.’
The Baron rose. ‘Forgive me, sir,’ he said, ‘in my wife’s name I solemnly beg your pardon, and apart from any satisfaction you gentlemen may require, I will do all I can to redress the wrong done to Mr Wokulski…Yes, sir. I will pay visits to all my friends and tell them that Mr Wokulski is a gentleman, that he paid eight hundred for the mare, and that we have both been the victims of the intrigues of that scoundrel Maruszewicz. The Krzeszowskis, sir…Mr—?’
‘Rzecki.’
‘My dear Mr Rzecki, the Krzeszowskis never blackened anyone’s reputation. They may have erred, but in good faith, Mr—?’
‘Rzecki.’
‘My dear Mr Rzecki…’
On this, the conversation ended; for the old clerk, despite the Baron’s insistence, did not want and indeed refused to listen to any excuses, or even to see the Baroness. After showing Rzecki to the door, the Baron, unable to restrain himself, exclaimed to Leon: ‘Those tradesmen are honest folk, all the same…’
‘They have the cash, Your Excellency, and the credit,’ Leon replied.
‘You fool!…Don’t we have honour, because we’ve no credit?’
‘We do, Your Excellency, but of a different sort.’
‘Not a tradesman’s sort, I hope.’
And he ordered his going-out clothes.
Rzecki went straight to Wokulski from the Baron and told him of Maruszewicz’s machinations, of the Baron’s contrition and finally handed him the forged papers, advising him to start a lawsuit. Wokulski listened gravely, even nodded his head, but was looking goodness knows where and thinking goodness knows what. The old clerk, noticing there was nothing to detain him, said goodbye to his Staś and remarked as he left: ‘I see you are infernally busy, so you’ll do best if you put the matter in the hands of your lawyer at once.’
‘Very well…very well…’ Wokulski replied, not realising what Ignacy had said. At this precise moment, he was thinking of the castle ruins at Zasław, where he had seen tears in Izabela’s eyes for the first time: ‘How noble she is!…What delicacy of feeling! It will be long before I can get to know all the treasures of that beautiful soul.