“Certainly.”
“I was obliged to have my head dressed three times, and see how straight it is now.”
“In such a case I myself use gum mixed with powder.”
“Really!... I am much obliged for the recipe.”
Daniel thought he must have come across a hairdresser, and he hurried off so as not to intrude on such tender, confidential talk.
Then he drew near two tall young men who were conversing apart. He thought that these, having no woman to amuse, must be talking sensibly like men. As a matter of fact they were talking like grooms. Daniel only partly understood their language. Drawing - room jargon was a new tongue to him, and at first he thought they must be foreigners. Then he recognised a few French words, and he guessed they were talking of women and horses, without very well knowing which expressions they were applying to the women and which to the horses, for they spoke of them both with the same affection and the same vulgarity.
Then Daniel looked boldly round the room. He began to understand that he had been the dupe of outward form. He now saw all the platitudes and frivolous speeches he had heard, in their clear, naked aspect, like those rags of dialogue which drag so miserably in pantomimes, in the midst of the splendid scenery. He grasped at once that there was nothing before him but the light playing on the jewels and costly dresses. These heads, young and old, were empty, and had become empty from politeness and would-be gentility. All these men were comedians in whom one could neither distinguish heart nor brain; all these women were so many dolls exposing their shoulders, set on chairs like porcelain statuettes set on mantel boards. And Daniel experienced an intense pride, for at this moment he was proud even of his awkwardness and his ignorance of the world. He no longer feared being seen. Holding his head erect he marched into the centre of the room. Unpolished as he was, he considered himself so superior to these people that their laughter had no effect on him. He had, as it were, a reawakening of pride, and he quietly took up again the place that was his by right, in the full blaze of light
He had not yet dared to approach the group in the midst of which Jeanne was enthroned as a queen. Now he marched straight up to this group, and, keeping at the back of the others, waited for a favourable moment to pass to the front row.
Jeanne seemed absent-minded. She scarcely attended to the men around who were paying her court. She knew by heart all their set phrases, and their frivolity wearied her tonight. She was nervously pulling out the petals of a rose; her bare shoulders had an imperceptible movement of contempt. Daniel was ill at ease when he saw his dear girl so décolleté, and he felt a kind of strange warmth coursing from his heart all through his veins.
He found the young girl most deliciously beautiful. Never had he had such a good view of her. She was very much like her mother, and he remembered the pale, thin face of Madame de Rionne reclining on the pillow.
In this case the cheeks were rosy, the eyes were bright with the quick fire of life, and the light breath of the mouth delicately opened the lips.
In front of Jeanne there was a young man who every now and then bent over her, partly hiding her from view. Daniel was irritated with this young man, whose face he could not see; he felt, in fact, that he hated him. Why did this unknown man approach the young girl so closely? What did he want of her? By what right did he put himself between her and him? Then the young man turned round and Daniel recognised Lorin, who, on his side, having observed Daniel, advanced with outstretched hand and a smile on his lips.
Lorin was an habitué of the house. Whilst he was making his fortune he had entrusted various sums to Monsieur Tellier, and the merchant having invested these sums had made them yield enormous profits for both. Hence their friendship. There were mischievous tongues that said the young man had other motives in going to the house, and that for a long time he had come to talk of business with the husband and of love with the wife. Whatever the case may have been, since Jeanne’s arrival Lorin neglected Madame Tellier very markedly.
He now took Daniel’s arm and crossed the room thus, talking to him confidentially.
“What!” said he, “you here? How pleased I am to meet you again!”
“I am extremely obliged, I am sure,” drily answered Daniel, annoyed at this meeting.
“How is Raymond?”
“First-rate.”
“So you allowed yourself to be drawn out of your cell and go astray in this world’s paradise?”
“Oh, I shall get back there. I know my way all right.”
“You come, perhaps, after that young lady out there, whom you are devouring with such greedy eyes?”
“Me!” exclaimed Daniel, in a strange voice.
And he looked Lorin in the face, trembling at the idea of having allowed this man to see into his heart.
“Well, is there anything that can be wondered at in that?” added Lorin. “We all love her. She has magnificent eyes and red, tempting lips. Then she is full of fun, and one could not possibly be dull with her.”
This praise of Jeanne from such a mouth angered Daniel extremely; yet he concealed his wrath, and tried to assume an air of indifference.
“But no money, my dear fellow,” went on Lorin; “not a fraction! Madame Tellier, who is well disposed towards me, had the kindness to warn me. The little girl is as beautiful as an angel, but she is one of those angels who is not satisfied with the clothing her wings give her, but goes to a frightful expense in silks and satins. She would make a charming wife; the worst of it is, she would cost abominably dear.”
After that he was silent a moment or two and seemed to be reflecting. Then suddenly he said:
“Raimboult, would you marry a woman who had not a sou?”
“I do not know,” answered Daniel, astonished at this abrupt question; “I have never considered the matter. I believe I should marry the woman I loved.”
“Perhaps you would be right,” slowly answered Lorin. “As far as I am concerned, I should think I was committing an act of egregious folly.” Then, hesitating, he stopped.
“Pooh!” exclaimed he at last. “Follies are committed every day.” And he changed the subject. He boasted of his fortune. Then he noticed Madame Tellier coming in, being quickly surrounded by a circle of admirers.
“Would you like,” he asked Daniel, “to be introduced to the queen of these regions?”
“There is no need to introduce me,” answered the other; “she is already acquainted with me.”
“But I have never seen you here.”
“It is the first time I have come downstairs. I live in the house. I have been Monsieur Tellier’s secretary the last fortnight.”
Those three short, dry sentences had a most disagreeable effect on Lorin.
“You have?” said he.
And this “you have” in his mouth meant distinctly, “Why the devil did you not inform me of this sooner? I would not have strolled about with you so long.”
He gently dropped Daniel’s arm, and went and joined the group round Madame Tellier. The moment he found out his old comrade was only a secretary, a paid servant, he considered it compromising to be seen with him.
Daniel smiled contemptuously, and regretted not having spoken out sooner, so as to have been the quicker rid of his obnoxious presence. He also, in turn, approached Madame Tellier, keeping, however, a few steps off.
The lady was most elaborately and carefully rejuvenated, having aimed at a youthful appearance, although her face already bore traces of wrinkles. From time to time she cast a furtive look towards Jeanne, and was overjoyed at noticing that she herself was still surrounded by the largest circle, and was still the most courted. The young girl merely represented an object of comparison