Part 36 (1/2)
With the taste for music, Eugenie also contracted a taste for b.a.l.l.s, receptions, the theatre--in a word, for the world. We began to see a great many people; almost every day we had invitations to dinners or other festivities; and then we were bound to return the courtesies we had received; so that we had not a day to ourselves. That was not the placid existence which we had planned in the early days of our married life. For my own part, I confess that that constant rush made me dizzy; but it pleased my wife and it was one way of obtaining peace.
I earned enough money to meet the expenses of the life we led. Eugenie now spent on her dress a large part of her income. She had become very coquettish of late; however, she was not yet twenty-five, and she was as pretty as ever.
What distressed me was that amid all this dissipation my wife paid little attention to her daughter; our Henriette never lacked anything and she was well taken care of, but it seemed to me that her mother did not pet her enough. Eugenie loved her daughter dearly; I could not doubt that; perhaps it was because I spoiled her a little that she was more stern with her. I dared not reprove her; indeed at that moment I carefully avoided everything that could excite her; once more she was expecting to become a mother and I had received the news with the most intense delight; I felt that I should be so happy to have a son! To be sure I could not love him any more dearly than I loved my daughter, but I should love him as much, and from the delight that one child afforded me, I felt that with two my happiness would be twice as great. So I was most a.s.siduous in my attentions to my wife; but I did not see that she was any more amiable to me.
I went very seldom to see Ernest, but I knew that they were happy. They had two children now, whom they adored, and Marguerite liked better to remain by their cradles than to go to b.a.l.l.s or parties. I confessed to myself that I would have been glad if Eugenie had had such quiet tastes.
Marguerite always was kind enough to inquire for my wife; as for Ernest, he had never entered our house again, and I approved his course.
I had not met Belan for a long while, when he entered my study one morning, flushed, panting, and in a profuse perspiration. He sat down beside me and did not give me time to question him.
”I am, my friend, I certainly am! I am sure of it now. It is a most frightful, most abominable thing!”
”What is it that you are, then?” I asked, watching Belan mop his forehead.
”Parbleu! do you need to ask? I am a cuckold!”
Belan said this in such an absurd tone that I could not resist the desire to laugh. While I indulged it, Belan sprang to his feet and muttered in a feeling tone:
”I did not think that an old friend, a married man, would laugh like this at my misfortune.”
”I beg pardon, my dear Belan,” I said, forcing him to resume his seat; ”I beg pardon. You certainly cannot suppose that I intended to hurt you.
But the fact is that you said that so suddenly that I thought it was a joke.”
”No, I swear to you that there is no joke about it. Mon Dieu! that wicked Armide! Such a well-bred woman, and n.o.bly born! A woman who wouldn't let me take off my s.h.i.+rt in her presence! I cannot stand it any longer, and I have come to consult you as to what I had best do. You are a lawyer and you will advise me.--Shameless creature!”
”Come, come! First of all, calm yourself, Belan, and then, if you desire my advice, tell me what makes you think that your wife is deceiving you.”
”I have told you, my friend, of a certain marquis who used to pay court to my wife, and who afterward came in the kindest way to visit us. Oh!
as to that, I must admit that he overwhelmed me with attentions. He came often----”
”It was you yourself who urged him to, so you told me.”
”Yes, that is true, because the Girauds had presumed to make remarks.
Besides, could I ever have imagined? Perfidious Armide!--A woman who pinched and bit and scratched me on our wedding night, when I--you understand?”
”Well, my dear Belan?”
”Well, the marquis finally almost lived at our house. He escorted my wife to the theatre, brought her home from parties and sang duets with her; he has a very fine voice, I admit. All that was agreeable to me, it was all right. Moreover, I said to myself: 'My mother-in-law is with them.' But, the day before yesterday, having returned home when I was not expected, I thought I would go to my wife's room; she was locked into her boudoir with the marquis. What for? There is no piano in her boudoir. My friend, I remembered my bachelor adventures, all the husbands I have wronged; it was as if someone had struck me with a hammer. I ran to the boudoir and knocked like a deaf man; my wife admitted me and made a scene. The marquis seemed offended by my air of suspicion, and I concluded that I was mistaken. But it seems that when those infernal ideas once get into your head, they don't leave it again very soon. I dreamed all night of Moliere's _George Dandin_, and _Le Cocu Imaginaire_. Ah! my dear Blemont, jealousy is a terrible thing! You know nothing about it and you are very lucky! And to think that it struck me like a pistol shot!”
”My wife has taught me all the suffering that jealousy can cause, my dear Belan, but go on.”
”Well, yesterday I was to dine out, and my wife was to dine with one of her aunts. I left the house. On the way I remembered my adventure with Madame Montdidier--you remember, before we were married?”
”Yes, I remember.”
”She also had said that she was going to dine with one of her aunts, and I was the aunt. Ah! my friend, I believe that it brings bad luck to have injured others so much. In short, it occurred to me to go home and watch my wife. I hurried back and went into a pa.s.sageway opposite our door.
That also reminded me of my bachelor days. After five minutes I saw Armide come out and get into a cab in a very alluring neglige. My mother-in-law was not with her, although she had told me that they were going together. I followed the cab, at the risk of breaking a blood-vessel. It took my wife to the new boulevards, which were in the opposite direction from her aunt's house. It stopped before a restaurant celebrated for its fried fish and gudgeons. Armide went in; a few seconds later I did the same; I put five francs in the waiter's hand and ordered him to tell me with whom that lady was dining. He drew the portrait so accurately of the gentleman who was waiting for her that I could not help recognizing the marquis. He pointed out to me the room where they were, at the end of the corridor, and I ran there like a madman. I found the key on the outside, I rushed in like a lunatic, and I found myself in the presence of an artilleryman, who was toying with a grisette from the twelfth arrondiss.e.m.e.nt.
”The artilleryman was enraged at being disturbed; I could not find excuses enough; he blackguarded me, and while the damsel was readjusting her neckerchief, he rushed at me, seized me by the shoulder and pushed me out of the room, saying that he would see me again after dessert. You will understand that I had no desire to wait for the artilleryman.