s* 
 
 0v9s 73 
 M 3 
 
 CORNELL 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
Cornell University Library 
 PQ 2273.M3 1890 
 
 3 1924 027 285 497 
 
'K 
 
 Cornell University 
 Library 
 
 The original of this book is in 
 the Cornell University Library. 
 
 There are no known copyright restrictions in 
 the United States on the use of the text. 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924027285497 
 
LUDOVIC HALEVY 
 
 OF THE ACADEMIE FRANCAISE, AUTHOR OF " THE ABBE CONST ANTIN," &c. 
 
 A MARRIAGE FOR LOVE 
 
 TRANSLATED BY 
 
 FRANK HUNTER POTTER 
 
 ILLUSTRATED BY 
 
 WILSON DE MEZA 
 
 i 
 
 NEW-YORK 
 
 DODD, MEAD & COMPANY 
 
 1890 
 
P'i 
 
 COPYRIGHT, 1890, BY DODD, MEAD & COMPANY. 
 
 3)35 V*& 
 x 
 
A MARRIAGE FOR LOVE 
 
ii. " While he was reading she would lean her head lovingly against 
 his knees." 
 
 12. " Her voice is charming. And her face ! " 
 
 13. "I took Louise back to the train." 
 
 14. "I trotted Jupiter and galloped him." 
 
 15. "1 talked to Picot all the way home." 
 
 16. " The door opened. It was he ! " 
 
 17. " ' I beg your pardon, monsieur, but what is the horse's name ? ' " 
 
 18. " There, upon a bench, grandmamma questioned me." 
 
 19. "Grandmamma was writing a letter which began v/ith these 
 
 words : ' My dear General.'" 
 
 20. " The colonel is an excellent man, but horribly gossiping." 
 
 21. "I replied : — ' Oh ! yes, papa. ' " 
 
 22. "She was no longer upon the little stool ; she was on his knees." 
 
 23. " Good Evening." 
 
W; 
 
 H S 
 
 >.(_}■ 
 
 >_. 
 
A MARRIAGE FOR LOVE. 
 
 HE, simply and in a telegraphic style, used to write 
 every morning and evening in a diary a little programme 
 and a brief account of his day. He had begun it at twenty, 
 on the 3d of October, 1869, and this was the little note 
 inscribed under that date : 
 
 / am appointed sub-lieutenant in the 21st chasseurs. 
 
When the 31st of December came he would place 
 in a drawer the diary of the dying year, and pass on to 
 the diary of that which followed. 
 She, with more care and at greater length, in pretty 
 volumes bound in blue morocco and securely locked, used to 
 keep, when she was a young girl, a detailed journal of her 
 life. She had begun it at sixteen, and her first entry, dated 
 the 17th of May, 1876, was thus expressed: 
 To-day I put on my first long gown. 
 She was married on the 17th of August, 1879, and 
 then she stopped the record. She wrote nothing more in the 
 little blue morocco books; but she had preserved and hidden 
 
f. 
 
 m ' 
 
 ■ 
 
mysteriously in the bottom of a secret drawer the vol- 
 umes which related her life between the month of May, 
 1876, and the month of August, 1879; between her 
 first long gown and her marriage. 
 
 He also had been married on the 17th of August, 1879, 
 but he had not discontinued his daily entries, so that in 
 his desk were thirteen little diaries in which his life was noted 
 day by day, and very exactly, in spite of the dryness of 
 the form. From time to time he would amuse himself by 
 taking one of these diaries at random. He would open it 
 and read fifteen or twenty pages, thus living again in the 
 past and placing "formerly" face to face with "to-day." 
 
Now on the 19th of June, 1881, the young sub-lieu- 
 tenant of 1869, become a captain and recommended for 
 chef-d'escadron, was alone about ten o'clock in the 
 evening, in his study, before his desk ; and, with his head 
 in his hands, was wondering whether it was in the spring 
 of 1878 or that of 1879 that he had published in the "Bul- 
 letin of the Officers' Union" an article on the new organi- 
 zation of the transportation system in Austria-Hungary. It 
 occurred to him that he would probably find in his diaries 
 the date of the publication of the article. 
 
 He opened the drawer containing the diaries, and chance 
 caused him to lay his hand upon the year 1879. He began 
 
to look through the little volume. He turned and 
 turned the pages, but suddenly he stopped and read 
 with a certain attention a passage which caused him to 
 smile. He rose, moved away from his desk, went and sat 
 down in a great arm-chair, and there continued to read. 
 He was no longer thinking in the least of the organization 
 of the transportation system of Austria-Hungary. Old mem- 
 ories, evidently, were awaking in his heart and calling faint 
 smiles to his lips and a shade of tenderness to his eyes. 
 Three or four times this cavalry captain was obliged to stop 
 with the end of his finger a slight, a very slight beginning 
 of a tear. 
 
He was absorbed in this reading when one of the por- 
 tieres of his study opened gently, and a delicious blonde 
 head appeared in the framework of old tapestry. 
 What was he doing there in that great easy-chair? 
 Could he be asleep? He had pitilessly sent her away a 
 half-hour before because he wished to work, and because 
 when she was there she disturbed him, troubled him, and 
 put into his head ideas which were not at all ideas of work. 
 Then, with infinite precautions, the little blonde, slender 
 and lissome in the long folds of her white muslin morning- 
 gown, slipped into the room, took three or four steps upon 
 tip-toe, and bent to one side. He was not asleep ; he was 
 
reading, and very attentively, for he had heard nothing, 
 and had not moved. He was within his right. To 
 read is to work. 
 
 Holding her breath, she continued her way towards 
 the arm-chair, slowly, very slowly — and as she went she 
 asked herself a question. She was still somewhat a child — one- 
 and-twenty, and very much in love. This said in her excuse, 
 here is the question which she was asking herself: 
 
 "Where shall I kiss him? On the brow, on the cheek, 
 or anywhere, at a venture?" 
 
 She drew nearer. Already, with the ends of her fingers, 
 she was almost touching the captain's hair, and was about to 
 
decide resolutely upon "anywhere, at a venture," when 
 suddenly she became horribly pale. On the two open 
 pages of the diary she had just read : 
 
 June 1 6th. 
 I love her ! 
 
 June 17th. 
 I love her! 
 
 A single exclamation mark after the first "I love her!" 
 two after the second. It had increased between the 16th and 
 the 17th. 
 
She uttered a little cry, and said, all a-tremble: 
 
 "What is that? What is it?" 
 
 She began to faint. He rose and supported her in 
 his arms ; but she, bursting into tears and giving loose to 
 a flood of words broken by sobs, cried : 
 
 "June 1 6th, I love her! June 17th, I love her!! and 
 to-day is the 19th of June ! You love another woman! Oh, 
 it is frightful ! it is frightful ! " 
 
 Then he, wiping away her tears with two kisses, said : 
 
 " Look, you little goose ; look, 1 say ! " 
 
 He opened the diary at the first page, which bore in great 
 printed figures, "1879." 
 
"Ah!" she cried, joyfully, amid a little remnant of 
 sobs, " it was I ! It was I ! " 
 
 Then she added, innocently, imprudently : 
 " So you kept a journal, too?" 
 "How, 1 too? Then it seems that you — ?" 
 She was obliged to own that if he had written "I love 
 her" in little black morocco diaries, she had written the like 
 in blue morocco journals. And as she said to her husband : 
 ' ' Show me the diary, show it to me, that I may see 
 whether there are three exclamation marks on the 1 8th and 
 four on the 19th." 
 
 "We will have a fair exchange," he replied. "Go fetch 
 
your books and we will compare. We will see which ob 
 us has the more exclamation marks." 
 
 The temptation was too strong. She went for the 
 year 1879, an ^ returned with three books of very respect- 
 able size. 
 
 " Three volumes ! " he cried. 
 
 "Yes, one for each three of the first nine months; and 
 you have, for the whole year, only a horrid little note book 
 of no size at all." 
 
 ' ' One can say a great many things in a few words. You 
 will see. Come and sit here beside me ; there is room for 
 two on this great chair." 
 
" Yes, by sitting in your lap. But that is impossible." 
 "Why?" 
 
 ' ' Because there may be things in my books which 
 you cannot see." 
 
 She held up her blue books, and he, holding up his 
 diary, said : 
 
 "And in this too, perhaps. You are right. Let us sit 
 just apart, opposite one another. We will read only what 
 we wish to read." 
 "And we can skip." 
 "Certainly," said he; "begin." 
 "No, do you begin, to give me courage." 
 
"Very well; but where shall I begin?" 
 "Well," she replied, "where I begin." 
 "No, I must begin somewhat before you; I must 
 begin where Jupiter begins." 
 
 "You are quite right; see where Jupiter begins, then." 
 "Wait a moment — it must be during the first half of 
 May. Yes, here it is — 'Thursday, May 15th. Went to Cheri's 
 to see Jupiter, dark bay horse seven years old. Remarks in 
 catalogue : Excellent saddle horse, high action, leaps well, has 
 been ridden by a lady. Is to be sold May 21st. Highly 
 recommended by d'Estilly.' And two pages further on: 
 'Saturday, May 17th. Saw Jupiter. The horse seems very 
 

 good. Will go as high as 2500 francs.' And finally, 
 four pages further, 'Wednesday, May 21st." 
 
 " The day we met in the train. I recollect the date." 
 
 "Yes, you are right. 'Wednesday, May 21st. To the 
 
 War Office. To my sister's. Bought Jupiter, 1900 francs. 
 
 On the way home, in the train, enchanting young girl 
 
 seated opposite me.'" 
 
 ' ' Is that there ? You are not making up a little for 
 politeness' sake ? ' ' 
 
 "1 am not making up at all." 
 " Let me see." 
 "Here, look." 
 
"Yes, I see. Enchanting — it is there; enchanting." 
 "Now for yours. You must have something on that 
 day." 
 
 "I should hope not! Do you suppose that I wrote, 'On 
 the way home in the train enchanting young man seated 
 opposite me'?" 
 
 "No, not 'enchanting young man,' but look all the same." 
 "It is only to ease my conscience. Let me see. 'Wed- 
 nesday, May 21st. To the Louvre — to my aunt's — to the 
 Salon.' There is nothing, I tell you. Ah, yes; I see 
 something ! " 
 
 " I was very sure of it. You had noticed me." 
 
' ' Here is what there is : 'On the way home, in the 
 train, a young man was seated opposite me. He looked 
 at me all the way, all the whole way. Whenever I 
 raised my eyes he would lower his; but when I lowered 
 mine he would raise his again ; and after Chatou I did not 
 dare to look up at all, 1 was so conscious that he was look- 
 ing at me. I had an English novel in my bag; I took it 
 and began to read, but in the evening I was obliged to go 
 all over again what 1 thought I had read in the cars.'" 
 "That is not all. I think there is something else.'" 
 "Yes, but without the slightest interest." 
 "Never mind, read it. I read everything." 
 
"Oh, you — you — I see how it will be! With you, 
 it will always be little notes, short and dry; while 
 with me there will be details and amplification. 1 will 
 explain to you why. When Mile, Guizard, my governess, 
 left me, she said to me: 'My dear child, you do not write 
 at all badly, but you must continue to work ; scales are neces- 
 sary for style just as for the piano. Make it a habit to 
 write three or four pages every evening, on any subject you 
 choose — about your day, about the visits you have received 
 or returned, and the like.' And then I did what Mile. Guizard 
 recommended." 
 
 "Very good." 
 
"No, I wish to explain myself distinctly upon this 
 point because, I repeat, I know what will happen. In 
 a few moments you will fancy that you see warmth of 
 sentiment and outbursts of passion where there are nothing 
 but exercises in French composition. I do not wish you to 
 be mistaken." 
 
 "I shall not be mistaken; but what is there after, 'He 
 looked at me all the time'?" 
 
 "Nothing at all about you. Here, listen: 'Can what 
 grandmamma said the day before yesterday be true? — "It is 
 extraordinary! This little Jeanne has suddenly become very 
 pretty." And then a long conversation between mamma and 
 
grandmamma; mamma reproached grandmamma for say- 
 ing such things to me, for making me vain. There is 
 nothing of interest, I tell you. Go on." 
 
 "I have nothing on the 22d." 
 
 "Nor I either." 
 
 '"May 23d. Jupiter came. Tried the horse on the terrace 
 and in the forest. I think him excellent.'" 
 
 "And about me?" 
 
 "Nothing." 
 
 "Ah! that is rather humiliating, for I have something 
 about you on the 23d. 'The young man who looked at 
 me on the train the day before yesterday is a soldier. He 
 

 # 
 
 passed a little while ago on horseback in uniform. He had 
 three silver stripes upon his sleeve. I say that he passed, 
 but he did more than that. What I am going to write is 
 absurd, but still, since it is for myself alone that I am writ- 
 ing — can he really have noticed me in the train? Can he 
 have inquired about me? Can he have learned that I live 
 here? Can he have wished to display his horsemanship 
 before me? He remained at least an hour there on the 
 terrace, between the Pavilion of Henry IV. and the gate, 
 putting his horse through his paces, making him pirouette, 
 change foot, volte, and all the rest of it. It would be a very 
 vulgar thing to attempt to fascinate me by such means.'" 
 
"What an injustice! You see it there in my diary, 
 'Tried Jupiter.' I was trying Jupiter, and I discovered 
 that he had received a very brilliant education. But no 
 matter; go on." 
 
 '"That evening after dinner I said to Georges, who, in 
 spite of his twelve years, still spends his time in playing with 
 lead soldiers, and who is very expert in military matters, — 
 ' ' Georges, what officer is it that has three silver stripes upon 
 his sleeve?" "It is a captain." "Is it a fine thing to be a 
 captain?" "That depends. It is a fine thing at five-and- 
 twenty, but a poor one at fifty." 
 
 " ' Five-and-twenty ; he may be a little more than that, but 
 
j> not much. Grandmamma, who has sharp ears, had heard 
 my conversation with Georges, and remarked: — "Do you 
 know what is going on ? Jeanne is asking Georges for infor- 
 mation about the army." I became red as a peony. From 
 this came a long discussion. Grandmamma declared that she 
 had a liking for the army, and mamma cried that she could 
 never make up her mind to give me to a gentleman who 
 would drag me about from garrison to garrison. I wonder 
 why I write all this nonsense in this book. Oh, yes, to obey 
 Mile. Guizard!' There, you see, it is written. It is your turn; 
 I have finished." 
 
 "On the 24th, two lines. 'Met in the forest the young 
 
girl whom I saw last Wednesday. She is certainly very 
 pretty, and she does not ride badly.'" 
 
 "Is that all? How concise it is! It needs a short com- 
 mentary." 
 
 "Here is the commentary, my love. You are right; my 
 notes are frightfully dry, but if I were not afraid of appearing 
 to wish to say pretty things to you — " 
 
 " Do not be afraid of that- there is no one here." 
 
 "I would tell you that all that is not written in the note- 
 book is written here in my heart. That May morning, that 
 meeting in the forest — to-day, after the lapse of two years, I 
 recollect it all, and in its smallest details. We had manoeuvred 
 
from five to seven o'clock on the plain of Loges in a 
 horrible dust. I marched my squadron back to the 
 quarters, changed my horse, and set out again on Jupiter." 
 "Dear Jupiter! " 
 
 "A quarter of an hour later I was galloping up a long, 
 gentle slope near Le Val. 1 saw a little troop coming, you on 
 Jenny, Georges on his roan pony, and old Louis behind on a 
 tall grey horse. You see I recollect even the color of the 
 horses. Suddenly, at fifty yards from you, I was fairly 
 dazzled. I recognized you. Sharply, roughly, I brought poor 
 Jupiter to a walk. The little troop passed near me. I can see 
 you now with your grey habit, your black hat, and the blond 
 
locks curling beneath your veil. And as you passed, I 
 said to myself: — 'No, really, there is nothing in the 
 world more charming than this young girl.' And what 
 did you say to yourself?" 
 
 "What did I say? I do not recollect, but this is what 
 I wrote." 
 
 And in a voice which trembled somewhat, for she had 
 been greatly touched by the short commentary, Jeanne read 
 as follows : 
 
 " ' I met him this morning near Le Val. He was coming 
 on at a gallop, and suddenly, when he recognized me, he 
 stopped his horse. Yes, when he recognized me. I saw the 
 
movement distinctly. I know what it is to stop a horse 
 going at a gallop. One warns him. Well, he stopped 
 his horse without preparation, brutally, all at once, almost 
 instantly. He passed quite close to me. I did not dare to 
 look at him, but 1 was conscious that he was looking at 
 me. He was not ten paces from us when that stupid little 
 Georges said to me, "Oh, Jeanne, did you see him? How 
 funny he was with all that dust ! He looked like a pierrot. 
 He is a captain in the 21st. The number 21 was on the 
 collar of his uniform." 
 
 " ' I was furious at Georges. If only he did not hear ! ' " 
 "I did hear. I recollect now." 
 
"Come, read on. It is your turn." y&fe 
 
 " ' Sunday, May 25th. Saw my unknown again ; she 
 lives in one of the houses on the terrace. I was driving 
 past; she was at the window; she saw me, and it seemed 
 to me that it was because she saw me that she left the win- 
 dow suddenly, very suddenly. Good heavens, how charming 
 she is ! ' " 
 
 "Come, that is a shade less dry than it was a while ago. 
 There is an improvement. You put in verbs. You are 
 beginning to write." 
 
 "That is perhaps because I was beginning to be in love. 
 It is your turn." 
 
" ' May 25th. I was at the window ; I saw coming a 
 pretty little English cart, all glittering in the sunlight, and 
 drawn by a love of a pony, as black as ink; on the seat 
 was a tiny groom in irreproachable livery, and beside the groom 
 was he, the captain. I ought to have remained quietly at the 
 window, but I could not. [ said to myself, " I shall look at 
 him, and he will perceive that I am looking at him." I was 
 frightened ; I fled to the other end of the room. Grandmamma 
 said, "What is the matter with you, Jeanne?" "Nothing at 
 all, grandmamma." Georges, who was with me at the win- 
 dow, cried out, — "Oh, Jeanne, I think that the captain who 
 has just passed is the pierrot of yesterday morning!" 
 
" I was the pierrot?" 
 
 ' ' You were the pierrot. On the 26th of May I have 
 nothing, absolutely nothing. Oh, you can read ! There is 
 nothing about you. 'Tried on my pink gown. It fitted well, 
 but there were not enough little tucks. I had some added;' 
 and so on. 1 was thinking of nothing but my new gown. 
 You see that 1 was not so much absorbed." 
 
 "Well, the 26th was a great day for me; it was the day 
 when Picot distinguished himself. I have only two lines here, 
 but they are eloquent. ' Gave twenty francs to Picot. He is 
 a profound diplomatist.' " 
 
 "This is the place, if ever, for a new commentary." 
 
"Willingly. That morning at breakfast at mess I had 
 said to Dubrisay, who is always wandering on horseback 
 in the forest, 'Do you not know a young girl who rides 
 with a little fellow of twelve and an old servant ? ' ' Wait a 
 moment; the young girl rides a black mare.' 'And the old 
 servant, a grey horse,' said another of these gentlemen. 'And 
 the boy, a roan pony,' added a third. Thereupon there was 
 a great discussion over the merits of the horses. The roan pony 
 appeared excellent and the black mare somewhat worn out." 
 " It was true, happily !" 
 
 "Oh, yes, happily! Then I replied, 'I am not talking 
 about the horses, but about the young girl.' And all three 
 
replied that they never looked at anything but the horses. 
 Much progress I had made ! I returned to my quarters. 
 About three o'clock I saw Picot, my orderly, lounging 
 in the court. I called him from the window. Picot is a 
 Parisian, and very sharp. I said to him, 'Picot, try to find 
 out adroitly who are the people who live in such and such 
 an house upon the terrace. The entrance is in the Rue des 
 Arcades.' 'Very good, captain.' 'But adroitly, you under- 
 stand.' ' Yes, captain.' ' If you find out anything, you can 
 tell it to me to-morrow morning at quarters.' " 
 
 " You were not very impatient. You might have told him 
 to come back at once." 
 
That is precisely what he did. An hour afterwards 
 he returned triumphant. And then Picot delivered so 
 extraordinary a discourse that I amused myself by tran- 
 scribing it as exactly as possible in the little diary." 
 
 " ' I amused myself ' ! What a cowardly evasion ! Tell the 
 truth ! Confess that it was not disagreeable to you to write 
 things in which 1 was in question, and then perhaps I will 
 confess myself that it was not disagreeable to me to write 
 things in which you — " 
 "Well, I confess it." 
 "And I too. Now read on." 
 " ' Picot returned and said to me, " Captain, I know every- 
 
thing. Only, I beg of you, when once I have begun, do- 
 not interrupt me with questions, because that confuses 
 me. I have been repeating my lesson all the way back 
 that 1 might not forget it. The house was rented three weeks 
 ago by Parisians. The head of the family is a M. Labliniere, 
 a manufacturer ; he makes steam-engines, telegraphs, and 
 the like. He is there with his mother-in-law, his wife, and 
 his two children : a young girl (nineteen years old) and a boy 
 (twelve years old). Wait a moment : I know the names of the 
 children — Jeanne and Georges. They are rich, very rich. Five 
 horses in the stable, three carriages, four men servants, a 
 cook, three maids: Julie, Adelai — but I don't suppose that 
 
'fy you care for the names of the maids, captain. Their 
 address in Paris is 28 Boulevard Haussmann. How did 
 I learn all that? By talking to the porter. No, no! do 
 not interrupt me ; it would upset me. I see what disturbs 
 you, captain. You think that I have been stupid, that I told 
 him I was sent by you. Not at all. You are asking your- 
 self, ' How did that imbecile Picot manage to begin the conver- 
 sation?' Ah ! that was not very difficult, captain. There was 
 no great merit in it. The porter was before his door. I 
 came up to him slowly, with the air of a soldier who is 
 lounging about aimlessly, and when I was just opposite him 
 I went like this : ' Whew ! how hot it is ! ' He replied : 
 
'Oh! yes, it is hot.' I continued; 'Not quite so hot- 
 as yesterday, however.' He replied: 'No, because there 
 is a little breeze.' 
 
 " ' " That started it ; the ice was broken ; we began to chat. 
 Just as I was beginning to manoeuvre to come to the great 
 question, I saw coming down the steps at the end of the 
 courtyard a devilish pretty young lady — I beg pardon, captain — 
 with a great bit of bread in her hand. I said to the porter, 
 ' Is that your mistress ? ' He replied ; ' No ; it is the daugh- 
 ter of the tenant, a gentleman from Paris.' 
 
 " ' " Then he told me all that I have just detailed to you. 
 There was no merit in it, I repeat, captain. He went on of 
 
j? his own accord, did this porter. He was still going on 
 when I saw the young lady crossing the courtyard with- 
 out her bit of bread. The porter said to me : ' There 
 she is again, the daughter of the gentleman from Paris. 
 Every day she goes and gives bread to her horse in the 
 stable.' 
 
 " ' "Meanwhile the young lady was going back up the steps, 
 but very slowly and looking at me. She seemed astonished 
 at seeing me there ; she appeared to be saying to herself : 
 ' What in the world is that chasseur doing here ' ? She went 
 back into the house. During this time the porter was prais- 
 ing this young lady — oh, how he praised her! — because she 
 
'*"% 
 
 was so sweet, so good, and not only to the horses butw 
 to people. For instance, when they arrived three weeks 
 ago the porter's little girl was ill. Well, would you 
 believe it, this young lady — but, 1 beg your pardon, cap- 
 tain ; perhaps all these details do not interest you. They 
 do interest you? Very good, then I will go on. I was 
 saying to you that she came to see this porter's little girl 
 every day, and sent her soup and good things to eat; she 
 brought her with her own hands playthings and bon-bons; 
 she would sometimes stay a quarter of an hour at a time 
 in the lodge telling this child stories ! 
 
 " ' "The porter was telling me all this when there came a 
 
j? maid — a pretty woman enough, captain, by your leave. 
 She said to the porter : Ms there not a letter for made- 
 moiselle?' 'Oh, no; you know very well that I send 
 up the letters for mademoiselle at once.' But I said to my- 
 self: 'Perhaps one might learn something from the maid.' 
 Then I began again; 'It is warm, mademoiselle.' 'Oh, 
 yes.' I continued; 'Not quite so warm as yesterday.' 
 
 " ' " It succeeded just as well as with the porter, and the 
 conversation began all over again. The maid asked me if I 
 did not know a certain Camus, a brigadier in the ioth hus- 
 sars. We were chatting away when suddenly she cried : 
 'Oh, I must go! mademoiselle is waiting for me.' 'And 
 
will your mistress be angry . will she scold you?' 'My 
 mistress be angry, scold me ? No, indeed ! There is 
 nobody in the world better than mademoiselle.'" 
 
 "That is all?" 
 
 "Yes, it is all." 
 
 "So you set spies upon me." 
 
 "Precisely; but your story of the 26th?" 
 
 "Here it is. 'Tuesday, May 27th. Yesterday, in the 
 afternoon, I went to take some bread to Nelly. As I went 
 down the steps I saw a soldier talking to the porter. I 
 remained in the stable five minutes; when I came out I 
 looked ; the soldier was still there. I returned to my room 
 
y_ and found Julie there. Oh, when curiosity takes posses- 
 sion of one, it is horrible! I said to Julie, "I expect a 
 letter from Paris ; go and see if it is not at the porter's 
 lodge. She went. I waited. Julie did not return. I went 
 into my dressing-room, which opens on the court. I saw 
 Julie; she was talking to this soldier. At last she returned. 
 " There was no letter, mademoiselle." "You were gone very 
 long." ".Oh, no, mademoiselle." "Yes, I saw you; you 
 were talking to a hussar." "A hussar! oh, no, made- 
 moiselle." "But I saw you." " I was not talking to a hus- 
 sar, mademoiselle — it was a chasseur- there is a difference 
 in the uniform. Hussars have white braid and chasseurs 
 
black; hussars have a collar like the dolman and chas->j|f 
 seurs have a red collar." *' How do you know all that, 
 Julie?" "I have a cousin in the hussars, mademoiselle; 
 here at Saint Germain there are no hussars, there are only 
 chasseurs, two regiments, the 21st and 22d, which are 
 brigaded together. The soldier who was there was a chasseur 
 of the 2 1 st." 
 
 " ' The twenty-first ! His regiment ! My military conversa- 
 tion with Julie was destined to have deplorable results. About 
 six o'clock we went with mamma to take a turn on foot upon 
 the terrace. We met two officers of chasseurs. Mamma said 
 to me, "Those hussars have pretty horses." 
 
$J? "'I replied thoughtlessly, "Those are not hus- 
 sars, mamma, they are chasseurs ; hussars have white 
 braid and chasseurs black ; hussars have a collar like 
 the dol— " 
 
 "'I did not finish. I looked at mamma; she was 
 stupefied. "How do you know all that?" "Good heavens! 
 mamma, from Julie. She has a cousin in the hussars. So 
 one day when she was dressing my hair — " 
 
 " ' " Singular subject of conversation," said mamma. 
 
 " 'We said nothing more. But all was not over. Papa 
 returned from Paris ; we went to dinner, and papa told us 
 that he had met an officer in the train. Suppose it was he ! 
 
A colonel — it was not he! Papa spent a month with* 
 this colonel at Cauterets last year. They played whist 
 together. They renewed their acquaintance in the 
 train. Papa has invited him to dinner next week, for 
 Wednesday, June 4th. I said to papa: "Is this colonel's 
 regiment at Saint Germain?" "Yes, his regiment is here." 
 "Is it the 21st or the 22d?" "Are there two regi- 
 ments here?" "Yes, papa, the 21st and the 22d ; they 
 are brigaded together." 
 
 "'And there was papa still more amazed than mamma. 
 "But who told you all that?" "Good heavens ! it was Julie; 
 she has a cousin in the hussars." "I cannot understand it at 
 
all," said mamma; "for some time Jeanne has talked of 
 nothing but chasseurs and hussars." "Oh!" said grand- 
 mamma, "perhaps she has remarked some handsome 
 officer. " 
 
 " ' I became scarlet. I replied impatiently, almost crossly. 
 I am beginning to be seriously angry with this gentleman 
 whom I do not know, whom I never shall know. Yes, I am 
 angry with him for having broken in upon my life. Why 
 did he look at me in the train ? Why did he come to do 
 the haute ecole under my windows? Why did he bring 
 his horse to a walk the other day when he saw me? If I 
 meet him, as soon as I recognize him I will set off at a 
 
gallop, at full gallop. Alas ! a full gallop does not suit my^gjf 
 poor Nelly very well now; she is growing old. And so 
 papa is going to give me another horse for my birthday. 
 
 " 'I should like to know whether it is his colonel who is 
 to dine here on Wednesday, June 4th.'" 
 
 This was the last phrase in the entry under May 27th. 
 Then she turned over a dozen pages of her journal. 
 
 "From May 28th to June 3d there is absolutely nothing 
 about you." 
 
 "Nor anything about you in this," he replied. "That is 
 because we had the unhappiness not to see one another dur- 
 ing that week. I was not at Saint Germain. We had gone 
 
off, some twenty officers of the two regiments with the 
 general and the colonels, for the manoeuvres between Ver- 
 non and Rouen. I had taken Jupiter, and my little notes 
 during this week away from home are full of very complimentary 
 remarks about my new horse : ' Jupiter irreproachable ; strong, 
 spirited, and gentle.' ' Yesterday the colonel rode Jupiter and 
 thought him perfect,' etc., etc. On June 3d, at eight o'clock 
 in the evening, we returned to Saint Germain, and on the 
 4th I had not forgotten you ; see ! look ! There : ' Shall I see 
 the little blonde of the terrace again?'" 
 
 " And here is my fourth of June : ' I know his name. We 
 had the colonel at dinner this evening. He came at seven 
 
o'clock. My eyes went straight to the collar of his uniform 
 and 1 saw the number 21. So it was really his colonel. 
 During dinner the conversation was perfectly uninteresting, 
 but afterwards, as 1 was pouring the coffee, papa said ; 
 "Colonel, you can do me a service, perhaps. I want to give 
 a horse to this young person, and if you know of a good 
 animal, very gentle — " 
 
 "'I began to protest. "Not too gentle, colonel ; I ride very 
 well." (And it is true, I do ride very well). " I will see," 
 replied the colonel; "I will inquire. Ah! one of the officers 
 of my regiment has a horse which would suit you admirably, 
 mademoiselle; I rode him the other day. He is perfect." "If 
 
he would let me have him," said papa, "with a good 
 profit." "Oh ! this officer would be altogether indifferent 
 to a good profit; he is rich, very rich. It is a captain, 
 M. de Leonelle." "A captain and rich?" cried Georges; 
 "perhaps it is the officer whom we saw the other day in 
 an English cart with a black pony." "That is he, precisely." 
 " Oh ! my sister and I know him well ; we have met him 
 several times — " 
 
 "'This time I felt my cheeks in a flame, literally in a 
 flame. The colonel looked at me. I must have been crimson. 
 He surely perceived it. He left us at ten o'clock, and as he 
 went he said to me : "I will speak to M. de Leonelle to- 
 
morrow morning, but I greatly fear that I shall not sue-' 
 ceed. He adores his horse." 
 
 "'That is how matters stand. Am I going to buy 
 his horse ? Papa has given me a credit of three thou- 
 sand francs.' 
 
 "Now we come to the decisive day, the scene in the 
 photographer's, at the fete." 
 
 "And your first visit. Begin." 
 
 The distance between them had diminished. She had 
 come and sat down, not upon his knee, but upon a little 
 stool at his feet; and while he was reading she would lean 
 her head lovingly against his knees, so that, profiting by the 
 
jf advantages of the ground, — he controlled the situation, — 
 the captain began to kiss Jeanne with a certain vivacity. 
 She disengaged herself, but not at once. 
 ''Come, stop," said she; "stop and begin." 
 He began. 
 
 " ' Thursday, June 5th. This morning after the manoeuvres 
 we were returning at a walk along the Avenue de Loges. 
 The adjutant came to call me to the colonel. I joined him at 
 the head of the column. "Captain," said he, "you do not 
 happen to wish to sell your new horse?" "Certainly not, 
 colonel . " " Not even with a good profit ?" " Not even with a 
 good profit." " It was for a very pretty person, and one who 
 
knows you." "Who knows me, colonel?" "Yes; she- 
 has met you several times, and she has seen you on the 
 terrace; at any rate she appeared to know you, and I 
 even thought I observed that when I pronounced your name 
 yesterday she blushed ; blushed in a very perceptible manner." 
 "And who is it, colonel?" "It is the daughter of an 
 engineer, a M. Labliniere." "A blonde, colonel?" "Yes, a 
 blonde." "Who lives in a house upon the terrace?" "Pre- 
 cisely; you see that you know her." "Only by sight, 
 colonel." " Well, see whether you are willing to give up 
 your horse to this pretty blonde. Au revoir, captain." 
 
 ' ' ' Sell Jupiter ? To any one else, never ! To her ? 1 
 
hesitate. She is so pretty ! So she blushed when she 
 heard my name? The colonel must have dreamed. 
 Why should she have blushed? Why? 
 "'My sister Louise arrived at eleven o'clock. She came 
 to invite herself to breakfast with her children. It was the 
 day of the fete at Saint Germain, and after breakfast the chil- 
 dren asked to go and see the booths. " Uncle, if there is a 
 photographer you will have our pictures taken." I agreed to 
 this. 
 
 " ' Sure enough, there was a photographer. We went into 
 his little house. She was there with her brother, her 
 mother, and a great black poodle. The brother was on his 
 
knees upon the ground beside the black poodle, trying to 
 persuade him to remain quiet. "Come, Bob, do not 
 move, we want to have your picture taken." 
 
 ' ' ' But Bob paid no attention to the prayers of the little 
 boy who, losing courage, said: "Speak to him, Jeanne; speak 
 to him ; nobody but you can make him mind. And speak to 
 him in English ; he understands English a great deal better 
 than French." "No, Georges, you are absurd." "Jeanne, 
 dear Jeanne." 
 
 " ' She yielded ; and, looking at Monsieur Bob very severely, 
 said: "Now Bob, Master Bob, be obedient! Look at me, 
 so ! Now be still ! Hush ! Still ! " 
 
Jjj "'She certainly can make the black poodle mind. 
 He remained motionless. Her voice is charming. And 
 her face ! I gazed at it there at my ease in the full 
 light. She is a marvel of grace and youth.' " 
 "Wait a moment, let me see." 
 "Why?" 
 
 " I still believe in the little embellishments." 
 " You are wrong ; look ! " 
 
 "Yes, 1 see; it is there; 'marvel of grace and youth.' 
 Very well ; go on." 
 
 ' ' ' She shall have Jupiter ! As she left she said to my 
 sister (it seemed to me that there was a trace of emotion in 
 
her voice), "I beg your pardon, madame, for having 
 made you wait." I ought to have found something to 
 say ; but no, I could think of nothing. I was absurd. I 
 bowed. She made me a slight inclination of the head. She 
 went out of the photographer's house. "What an enchant- 
 ing girl," said my sister. "Ah, yes! indeed." 
 
 ' ' ' And then I was off. I told my sister her name and 
 where she lives. Her father is an engineer of the highest 
 merit, etc., etc. I felt an imperative need of talking about 
 her. My sister was amazed. "But you are in love!" "In 
 love! no." "Yes, you are in love. I must inquire about 
 them. She will make me a very pretty sister-in-law." 
 
I took Louise back to the train. No, I was not in 
 love. But she should have Jupiter ! Only, one thing 
 made me anxious. Yes, Cheri's catalogue certainly said — 
 Has been ridden by- a lady. But it would not do to trust to 
 the statements in a catalogue. Poor, dear child I Suppose 
 an accident were to happen to her ! 1 had a side-saddle 
 at my quarters. My sister sometimes came to ride with me. 
 1 said to Picot ; ' ' Put the side - saddle on Jupiter and take 
 him to the riding school. Take along a sheet." 
 
 " ' A quarter of an hour afterwards 1 was making Picot 
 ride Jupiter on a side-saddle ; I had wrapped his legs in the 
 sheet to represent the skirt of the habit. Jupiter set off at a 
 
W v***-*^* 
 
 \ 
 
 If 
 
 / 
 
 I 
 
 i 
 
gallop. " Ah, captain, he understands it perfectly,"' 
 cried Picot ; "he has been ridden by a lady." 
 
 " ' I wished to try it myself. I mounted Jupiter in my 
 turn like a lady, with my knees wound in the sheet. I 
 trotted Jupiter and galloped him, and while 1 was trotting 
 and galloping, I said to myself: When I think that if 1 am 
 here in this ridiculous position and bedizenment it is because 
 I met in a train two weeks ago a little blonde who was read- 
 ing an English novel ! 
 
 *' ' Well, evidently, Jupiter could be ridden by a lady. She 
 should have Jupiter ! Yes, but how should I give him to 
 her ? It would have been the correct thing to place the horse 
 
at the disposal of my colonel. No, I resolved to go at 
 once to her house myself. 1 set out. Picot followed me, 
 leading Jupiter. We arrived ; we entered the court-yard. 
 I looked at Picot ; he had an amused look ; he was saying 
 to himself: "Ah, ha! that is why the captain sent me to 
 make inquiries." 
 
 "'I rang. "Monsieur Labliniere?" "He is at Paris." 
 "Madame Labliniere?" "She is here." "Send up my 
 card. Say that I have come about a horse." 
 
 " ' The servant went to announce me. Suppose she were 
 not to be there ! 1 went in. She was there ! with her 
 mother, her grandmother, her little brother, and her black 
 
^S0> 
 
poodle. I do not know what happened after that. I must 
 have been absurd. I recollect indistinctly that something 
 was said about a pelham and a sliding martingale. I 
 believe I told her that the horse was named Jupiter ; and I 
 left, begging her to keep Jupiter and to try him for a week or 
 a fortnight. Of course it was also necessary to speak of the 
 price. At this the words burned my lips. And yet I could 
 not make her a present of Jupiter. I shall have to take her 
 money. We went down into the court, and there, standing 
 beside Jupiter, we had another conversation, as absurd, as 
 silly, as the conversation in the drawing-room. I was dying 
 to say to this charming creature : ' ' You are an angel and I 
 
|_7 adore you." And I did say to her, "The horse must have 
 jr twelve quarts of oats," etc., etc. I perpetrated the most 
 astonishing platitudes. I said to her, I recollect now, 
 that the horse was built for a light weight and that he would 
 be happier with her than with me. I must have made a 
 disastrous impression upon her with such remarks. Finally 
 I left with Picot ; and my head was turned so topsy-turvy 
 that I talked to Picot all the way home for the sake of speak- 
 ing about her. And it stirred my heart pleasantly when Picot 
 said to me : " The pretty blonde had a curious way of look- 
 ing at me. I think that she recognized me. She took a 
 good look at me the day when I went to pump the porter. 
 

It was the pretty blonde, captain, who was so good to- 
 the little sick girl." ' " 
 
 ' ' Good Picot ! He really had something to do with 
 bringing about our marriage." 
 
 "Yes, that is true; he was the first to give me a very 
 good account of you." 
 
 "And 1 had no account of you at all, yet I was beginning 
 to love you without any account. Listen, you shall judge." 
 
 "'Thursday, June 5th. Events are crowding upon each 
 other fast good heavens ! how will it all end ? 1 have his 
 horse. He is named Jupiter. He is there in the stable, 
 between Nelly and Georges' pony. Let me try to put a little 
 
Jjj order into my poor head. How many things have hap- 
 pened to-day ! After breakfast Georges said to me : 
 " Little sister, you know that we are to go to-day to the 
 photographer's at the fete to have Bob's picture taken." 
 " But you can go with mamma without me." "No; if you 
 are not there Bob will not keep quiet." 
 
 " ' I yielded ; we set out and we came to the photog- 
 rapher's. Just as Bob was beginning to pose, I saw enter — 
 whom ? Him ! and not alone, but with a lady, quite young 
 and charming. Who is this lady? But here are two chil- 
 dren. They call him uncle. It is his sister ! Georges could 
 not make Bob behave ; then I was obliged to play a ridiculous 
 
scene there before his eyes. I must have seemed to him' 
 a little idiot. 1 talked to Bob in English. I looked as 
 though 1 was exhibiting a trained dog. I hurried away, 
 all red with shame and confusion. 1 returned to the house, 
 heart-broken, furious. I shut myself up in my room. Still, 
 at five o'clock, I had to go down for tea. 
 
 " ' I went down. I had hardly come in when Pierre 
 brought up a card. " What is it?" said mamma. " Madame, 
 it is an officer, a captain of chasseurs." "A captain of chas- 
 seurs ! 1 do not know any captain of chasseurs ! 1 come to 
 the country to be quiet, and the house is overrun with sol- 
 diers ! A colonel yesterday, a captain to-day ! To-morrow 
 
X we shall have the whole regiment ! What does this cap- 
 tain want?" " Madame, he told me that he had come 
 about a horse." " Look at the card, Jeanne; but what 
 is the matter with you ? How red you are ! You must have 
 a rush of blood to the head." "No, mamma." "Well, 
 look and read." I took the card and read, "Count Roger 
 de Leonelle, captain in the 21st chasseurs." Count! he is a 
 count! That is all he needed! "Leonelle," cried Georges, 
 "why, that is the officer about Jeanne's horse." "True," 
 said mamma, ' ' the colonel did mention that name yester- 
 day. And your father is not here ! Well ; we must receive 
 the gentleman. Show him up, Pierre. Only, Jeanne, you 
 
\ * V 
 
 
will have to talk to him, for you know I do not under-- 
 stand anything about horses." 
 
 The door opened. It was he ! He entered, he 
 bowed, and mamma, after a phrase which was sufficiently 
 amiable, but which might have been more so, said to me : 
 "Jeanne, it is about your horse, so ask the count — " 
 
 " ' So there we were left to begin the conversation. All 
 the weight of it fell upon me. He was charming in his 
 grace, tact, and simplicity. And I was stupid, positively 
 stupid. 1 felt dull, crushed, imbecile. I will try to recollect 
 the terms of this conversation which must have given him so 
 deplorable an idea of me. We were there, seated a couple of 
 
ff paces apart, I, happily, with my back to the light. " My 
 colonel spoke to me this morning, mademoiselle, and told 
 me that you were looking for a horse." "Ah, yes, 
 monsieur ; papa is giving me one for my birthday." 
 
 ' ' ' How stupid that was ! What need had I to tell him 
 that? But words would not come to me; and then, in my 
 embarrassment, I said anything that occurred to my mind. 
 He went on. " I can place at your disposal a horse which 
 will, I think, suit you perfectly." "I thank you, monsieur, 
 but your colonel said yesterday that you were very fond of 
 your horse, and 1 should not like — " "Oh! really, made- 
 moiselle, he is an excellent horse, and if that were not so I 
 
should not allow myself to offer him to you ; but he is- 
 somewhat slender for me ; a light weight will suit him 
 better." 
 
 " ' He was not telling the truth, for the colonel has rid- 
 den the horse and thought him excellent. And the colonel 
 is not a light weight ! He is enormous ! ! ! 
 
 " ' "A light weight will suit him better"! What a pretty 
 thing, and said in such a well-bred and elegant fashion ! One 
 must carefully examine the hidden sense of this phrase. It 
 means . You are delicate and light. You are a feather, you 
 are a bird! He added: "Our work is sometimes very hard, 
 and the horse will be happier with you." 
 
fyV-^ 
 
 J? " ' Happier with you ! ! ! He pronounced this phrase 
 with a kind of softness, almost tenderness. It was a 
 roundabout way of saying to me : " One cannot help being 
 happy with you. Every one must be happy with you, even a 
 horse ! " 
 
 "'Can anything be imagined more ingenious, more deli- 
 cate ! " ' 
 
 And Jeanne, suddenly breaking off, said : ' ' Then you were 
 not conscious of the pretty things you said to me?" 
 "No." 
 
 "Did you think them, at least?" 
 "Yes." 
 
"That is the essential point. I will go on. 
 
 " 'And I, to thank him, replied coldly: "Well, mon- 
 sieur, I accept; when can I try the horse?" "Oh! I have 
 brought him ; he is here, mademoiselle. I will leave him 
 with you. You can keep him to try a week, two weeks, as 
 long as you like; one can never try a horse too thoroughly." 
 
 "Oh! you are too kind, monsieur; I will ride the horse 
 to-morrow and papa will take you the answer at once." " No, 
 mademoiselle, I beg of you. Keep the horse at least two 
 or three days before you decide. I shall not need him 
 in the least." "Very well, as you please, monsieur; I am 
 very grateful to you." 
 
" ' He rose, bowed, and was about to go out, when 
 suddenly mamma said : ' ' But Jeanne, you are forgetting 
 a very important thing, the price of the horse." 
 " ' Oh ! I love mamma, I love her dearly; I love her with all 
 my heart ; but really, then, for a quarter of a second, not longer, 
 I detested her ! And yet mamma was right ! Perhaps the 
 horse was worth four or five thousand francs, and then my 
 credit would not have permitted me. But to have to discuss 
 directly with him this wretched, this vile question of money ! 
 It filled me with disgust. 
 
 "'I began to say: "It is true, monsieur. There is the 
 question of price." 
 
"'He happily came to my assistance. — "Oh! made- 
 moiselle, the horse is not costly." — "You see, papa gives 
 me only three thousand francs." — "Three thousand francs, 
 mademoiselle ! The horse is not worth three thousand francs. 
 I only paid nineteen hundred francs for him, and when one 
 gets rid of a horse one is always prepared to lose something 
 on it." 
 
 " ' Ah ! it was then that I said to myself : ' ' But he loves 
 me ! he loves me ! ! He wishes to sell me at a loss this 
 horse which he adores for the mere pleasure of selling it 
 to me." 
 
 " * And I replied in my embarrassment : "Oh ! really; you 
 
j? must have some little profit." — "I shall have a very 
 great one, mademoiselle, if I have the happiness to 
 oblige you. If the horse only suits you, I assure you 
 that your father and I will easily agree about the price." 
 
 " 'With this, a circular bow to grandmamma, mamma, me, 
 Georges, Bob, everybody. He was about to leave, but he 
 stopped on the threshold. He evidently found it hard to go.' " 
 
 " Yes, that is true." 
 
 " ' He said to me that he would like to give some 
 explanation to our coachman as to the manner of bridling 
 the horse and the bit which suited him best. Then grand- 
 mamma — grandmamma behaved charmingly ! But then grand- 
 
mamma is not like mamma, she does not detest soldiers. 
 So grandmamma was charming. She said : "Let us go 
 down with the count, Jeanne; we will see the horse. 
 Louis must be in the courtyard. " 
 
 " 'We went down, grandmamma, Georges, Bob, he, and 
 I. The horse was there, held by a chasseur; and on the back 
 of the horse I saw a side-saddle. The captain perceived my 
 astonishment. — "I have a side-saddle," he said, "for my sister, 
 who sometimes comes to ride at Saint Germain, and just now, 
 as I would not for anything in the world have exposed you 
 to an accident, I had the horse taken to the riding-school, 
 and I had my orderly ride him woman fashion." 
 
" ' I looked at the orderly ; it was the chasseur I saw 
 the other day, the chasseur who was talking to the 
 porter. He knew me and I knew him. I became scarlet 
 and the captain also blushed a little. I think he must have 
 understood that the soldier and I recognized one another. 
 
 " ' But this was nothing. The orderly spoke up and said : — 
 "But my captain also rode the horse on the side-saddle, with 
 the sheet arranged like the skirt of a habit. He wished to 
 make sure for himself." 
 
 ' ' ' Then the captain became so red and I so pale that the 
 orderly stopped, being afraid of having said something stupid. 
 Moved almost to tears, I stammered : — "Ah ! how good you 
 
are, monsieur, how good you are!" He for his part 
 repeated: — "It was very natural, mademoiselle, it was 
 very natural." 
 
 "'And grandmamma, who is very acute, looked at me 
 with her little eyes, which are at the same time very gentle 
 and very piercing. 
 
 "'Louis came up, fortunately. He had not been in the 
 courtyard. Georges had gone to find him. Then, before 
 Louis, we had another little scrap of conversation. I do not 
 know very well what was said then. He explained to us that 
 the horse needed a very easy bit. I interrupted to say: — "A 
 pelham?" He replied : — "No, not a pelham, a very light bit." 
 

 j? He advised a simple or a sliding martingale, I do not 
 recollect which. Finally, he carried his kindness to the 
 point of giving suggestions as to the feed of the horse, 
 so much of oats, of straw, of hay. After which he bowed 
 to us and was about to go. I took a step toward him. 
 He stopped. I wished to say something amiable and pleasant 
 to him, but my emotion choked me and the words would not 
 come. He waited and repeated: — "Mademoiselle, mademoi- 
 selle." It was an intolerable situation. I had to speak at any 
 cost. I could think of nothing but this: " I beg your pardon, 
 monsieur, but what is the horse's name?" — "Jupiter, made- 
 moiselle." — "Thank you, monsieur." — "Mademoiselle." 
 
" 'And he went off with the chasseur, who carried- 
 the side-saddle upon his shoulders. This soldier is 
 named Picot. Georges went into the stable with Louis. 
 I remained alone with grandmamma, who said to me: — 
 "Jeannette, come and take a little turn in the garden." 
 
 " 'There, upon a bench, grandmamma questioned me. 1 
 told her everything — everything, that is to say nothing, for 
 there is nothing, and yet that nothing is something. Grand- 
 mamma said to me: — "Little goose! little goose! do not go 
 and take it into your head." — "I am not taking anything into 
 my head, grandmamma ; 1 know very well that it is all 
 chance, yes, chance. But, I beg you, not a word to mamma; 
 
_| she would laugh at me, and then mamma is not like 
 you; she is not fond of soldiers." — "What? So I?" — 
 " Yes, grandmamma, you do like them, and I have 
 several times said to myself : ' I do not know ; but it seems 
 to me that it would not be disagreeable to grandmamma if I 
 were to happen to marry a soldier.' " 
 
 " ' We went in again. — "Here you are at last, "said mamma. 
 "But explain to me what is going on. It appears that the 
 courtyard was full of soldiers." — "Not at all, mamma, there was 
 only this gentleman and his orderly." — "His orderly ! Now you 
 have come to speak the language of barracks." — "Mamma, it is 
 a word which I just heard." — "Well, this gentleman appears 
 

 
perfectly well-bred, and besides, you did not perhaps 
 notice when you read his card — see, he is a count." — "A 
 count?" — "Yes, look." — "No, I had not observed it." 
 
 ' ' ' Could any one fib more brazenly ? Mamma was very 
 much milder. My poor dear mother is excellent, but she has 
 one little weakness. If I were to become a marquise or a 
 countess she would be enchanted. 1 do not attach great im- 
 portance to these things. Certainly it would not make me 
 love some one whom I did not love. But, after all, it would 
 not prevent my loving some one whom 1 might love.' " 
 
 "You have finished?" 
 
 "Yes, and it is enough, I think. It is your turn now." 
 

 
 # 
 
 " ' Friday, June 6th. I must show discretion. I will 
 not go into the forest or upon the terrace. I will wait. 
 " ' Friday, June 6th. I rode Jupiter this morning, and 1 
 think that I did not ride him at all badly. He is a marvel 
 of marvels ! Grandmamma was still asleep when 1 started ; 
 when I returned I went to her room to say good-morning to 
 her. She was writing. She had not heard me open the door. 
 Then, wishing to surprise her, I crept up behind her." 
 " It is a habit of yours, it appears." 
 " ' Grandmamma was writing a letter which began with 
 these words: "My dear General." I saw only that. Grand- 
 mamma immediately hid her letter. 1 recollect that grand- 
 
rZ^Z^^kM. : ig%^&i-5^'y^!&*^f -'-J-'' '- " •'- ■ :---..-_^f.'e-iv ,;;■-: :..-:,::: ggj 
 
 [^K^PF*!* 
 
 
mamma knows a general who occupies a fine position in 
 the War Office. Why did grandmamma write to him 
 this morning? And, above all, why did she hide her 
 letter? After dinner, the affair of the horse was spoken of; 
 papa would not leave to-morrow until the noon train. During 
 the morning he would go to see M. de Leonelle. 
 
 '•'The door opened. It was the colonel, and naturally 
 they spoke of the horse and the visit set for the next morn- 
 ing; papa said that it discommoded him somewhat not to 
 leave until noon, on account of his business. — "Do not trouble 
 yourself," said the colonel ; "I will see M. Leonelle and arrange 
 the matter. As for the price, it will be nineteen hundred 
 
j? francs. You can very well comprehend that M. de Leonelle 
 did not wish to make a speculation. He saw that I knew 
 you ; he was glad to manifest his respect ; he eagerly 
 seized an opportunity to be agreeable to his colonel. Now 
 you can very well show him a politeness in the course of a 
 fortnight and ask him to dinner. He will probably refuse ; 
 he is a savage, a wolf. He shuts himself up every evening 
 to work, outside of his duty, for his own account, from 
 pleasure." 
 
 " ' Matters were arranged in this way. Will he refuse? I 
 do not think so. And was it only to be agreeable to his 
 colonel? 1 do not think this either.'" 
 
" 'Saturday, June 7th. We were dismounting at half 
 past eight o'clock in the courtyard of the quarters. The 
 colonel came to me and thanked me for obliging him ; 
 he thinks that it was for his sake that 1 consented to — The 
 question of price was settled in two sentences, and the colonel 
 added: — "I think that they will probably invite you to dinner 
 in the course of a fortnight, but do not be afraid ; you can 
 refuse. I said that you were a wolf, a savage." — "But, col- 
 onel — " — "Is it not true? You refuse all invitations." — "Per- 
 haps I shall not refuse this one, colonel." — "Hillo! did 1 not 
 understand? You give at cost price a horse which is worth at 
 least three thousand francs and which you at first declared 
 
^ that you did not wish to sell. Ho! ho! the little 
 blonde has pretty eyes."— "Well, yes, colonel ; 1 confess 
 that I think her charming ! " 
 " ' It escaped from me ! The pleasure of speaking of her — 
 and it was a little hard to have no confidant but Picot. 
 
 " 'They came to call the colonel for the Saturday report. 
 While the chef d'escadrons for the week was recounting the 
 great events of the day before : Such a mare was kicked, such 
 a man missed evening roll-call, such a horse was bitten, etc., 
 etc., during this time the colonel looked at me with an amused 
 expression as he twisted his heavy grey moustache. After the 
 report he went off, and as he passed near me, he said : "Just 
 
--.. 
 
 X 
 
 V 
 
see this young savage who is becoming civilized, and- 
 who sells his horses for love!" 
 
 "'The colonel is an excellent man, but horribly 
 gossiping. My secret will soon be mine no longer.' 
 
 " ' Saturday, June 7th. It is frightful ! Last night I saw 
 him in a dream. Yes, that is the point to which 1 have 
 come. If M. Gambetta is mixed up with this dream, it is 
 because they talked about him all through dinner the evening 
 before. Well, he was general-in-chief. Not M. Gambetta ; 
 no, M. de Leonelle. He commanded the whole French army ; 
 he won a great victory. M. Gambetta came to him and 
 said: — "You have been Bonaparte, — be Napoleon." 
 
JmJ? " ' M. Gambetta wished to place a crown upon his 
 v%jf head ; but he replied with admirable modesty : — "No, no, 
 
 vuJv 
 
 ^JJT Bonaparte is enough for me ; I do not care to be Napoleon." 
 " ' And M. Gambetta replied : — "That suits me quite as well; 
 I shall remain in power." 
 
 ' ' ' How silly dreams are, and how silly it is to write such 
 things ! 
 
 "'During the day I rode Jupiter. He is still the same 
 marvel. He did not appear, out of consideration for me, 1 am 
 sure. In the evening, after dinner, reappearance of the colonel. 
 Mamma, when she heard him announced, made a little face 
 which meant to say : " What ! this soldier again ! ' 
 
" 'The colonel told us that the matter of Jupiter was* 
 arranged at nineteen hundred francs. And then I saw that 
 he turned about and manoeuvred so as to carry off 
 papa to smoke a cigar in the garden. A quarter of an hour 
 passed. Mamma became impatient. — "What in the world 
 can your father be doing with this colonel? He will catch 
 cold ; he is bare-headed. Take him his hat and try to make 
 him come in." — "Yes, mamma." 
 
 "'I went into the garden. 1 heard this phrase pro- 
 nounced by the colonel:— "A pearl, 1 tell you, a pearl." And 
 then :— ' ' Hush, take care. " They changed the conversation. Ah ! 
 this is too much. Can he already have had my hand asked, 
 
hierarchically, by his colonel ? Is this how matters are man- 
 aged in the cavalry? It would be going somewhat fast, 
 IJT after a single interview in which we spoke of nothing but 
 ly, straw, and oats ! 
 
 "'The colonel and papa returned to the drawing-room. 
 le colonel left. Papa appeared thoughtful. At eleven o'clock, 
 hen I kissed him before going up to my room, he took both 
 y hands and said : — "Are you pleased with this gentleman's 
 >rse?" I replied: — "Oh ! yes, papa. If you only knew how I 
 ore my dear Jupiter ! I adore him II" I think that I said this 
 ith too much fire, too much enthusiasm, too much passion, 
 am afraid of betraying myself at every moment. When I 
 
speak of his horse it seems to me that I am speaking of" 
 him! And the pearl, who is the pearl? He or I?"' 
 
 "'Sunday, June 8th. — This morning 1 received this 
 letter from my sister; — "I am completely exhausted. 1 have 
 spent these two days in making forty calls. 1 managed to 
 slip into the conversation this little phrase: 'Do you happen 
 to know a Labliniere family ? ' 1 obtained five or six replies, 
 all admirable. They are people of irreproachable breeding. 
 Plenty of money, which never does any harm, and money quite 
 properly gained. About the young girl there was but a 
 single cry: 'She is an angel!' So forward, captain, if your 
 heart prompts you." 
 
" ' I remained stupefied. So every one can see that I 
 am in love ! My sister perceived it. At six o'clock came 
 a little note from the father inviting me to dinner for 
 next Wednesday, the i ith. The colonel had said to me: "In 
 the course of a fortnight." Must 1 reply at once? No, only 
 to-morrow.'" 
 
 " ' Sunday, June 8th. This morning 1 came down early. The 
 postman had just come. There was a bundle of letters on the 
 salver in the antechamber. Is there one for me? No, but here 
 is one for grandmamma, an official letter with a large red seal, 
 and on the seal I read : "French Republic. War Office." To 
 think that my fate is there, in that letter ! For 1 am very sure 
 
that grandmamma asked for information. A servant came>j|)f 
 by and I fled like a thief. Ten o'clock. Grandmamma 
 must be awake. She must have read her letter. 1 
 went up to her room. — "Ah ! there you are, little one !" 
 
 ' ' ' Grandmamma appeared quite gay ; she kissed me very 
 tenderly, more tenderly than usual. Oh ! how pleased grand- 
 mamma was ! One could see that merely by the way in which 
 she kissed me this morning. This general's letter has given 
 her pleasure. 
 
 '''To-day is Sunday. Papa did not go to Paris. After 
 breakfast grandmamma said to him: "I wish to speak to 
 you."— "Ah, and I to you." 
 
' ' ' They went together into the smoking-room . Why 
 did grandmamma go there? To have papa read this 
 letter? Grandmamma is patriotic. I have often heard 
 her say that there was no nobler profession than that of 
 arms, and that those mothers are to blame who from selfish- 
 ness prevent their daughters from marrying soldiers. Grand- 
 mamma despises those young men whose only merit consists 
 in killing a great many pigeons in the spring and pheasants 
 in the autumn : whereas mamma has a secret weakness for 
 the youths who do nothing with their ten fingers beyond the 
 aforesaid slaughter of pigeons and pheasants. Grandmamma 
 and mamma constantly dispute upon this point. 
 
" ' At last the day was over. In the middle of dinner 
 papa said with a sort of indifference, ' ' That young officer 
 was really very civil ; I have asked him to dinner for next 
 Wednesday. " — ' ' For Wednesday ! " cried mamma. * ' What is 
 the need for so much haste ? If you begin to have all these 
 officers here ! This one is charming, I admit, but he will 
 bring others. Our house will become a barracks, a camp." 
 
 " ' Monday, June 9th. I am becoming stupid. I took an 
 hour this morning to write the eight little lines of my letter to 
 accept this invitation. I began it over again ten times, twenty 
 times, and hardly had it gone when I recollected that I had put 
 the word pleasure twice in these unlucky eight lines." 
 
Monday, June 9th. He has accepted ! We were 
 at breakfast this morning. All the windows of the din- 
 ing-room open upon the courtyard. Suddenly mamma 
 exclaimed: "Come: There is another soldier in the court!" 
 " ' I looked, and this phrase escaped from me : — "It is Picot." 
 ' ' ' Then you should have seen mamma and heard her. — 
 "That caps the climax ! Here is Jeanne, who now knows the 
 names of all these soldiers!" — "Of only one, mamma. It is 
 the one who brought Jupiter the other day." 
 
 " ' Grandmamma burst into a hearty laugh. How gay grand- 
 mamma is ! She was singing on the stairs this morning. Cer- 
 tainly the information given by this general must be good. 
 
" 'After breakfast I got possession of his letter. How 
 elegant it is in its simplicity! Here it is: — "Sir, I have 
 received the invitation which you have done me the honour 
 to send me for Wednesday, June nth. I accept it with the 
 greatest pleasure and the utmost gratitude. I have learned 
 with a great deal of pleasure that mademoiselle your daughter 
 was satisfied with the horse. Accept, sir, the assurance of my 
 respectful sentiments . ' ' 
 
 " ' It was purposely,. I am sure, that he repeated the word 
 pleasure twice. He knew that I would see his letter, and he 
 wished to emphasize that idea.' " 
 
 " ' Tuesday, June ioth. I dine at her house to-morrow.' " 
 
"' Tuesday, June ioth. He dines here to-morrow.' 
 And we come to the great day of the dinner. Do you 
 read the account of the dinner." 
 "Will you take my advice, my Jeannette? Let us stop where 
 we are for to-day. And besides, just see what time it is." 
 " Oh ! two o'clock in the morning." 
 " Yes, two o'clock in the morning. That is one good reason 
 for stopping. It is not the only one. I think that from now on 
 our entries will become terribly monotonous. It will be love, 
 and still love, and always love ! There will be nothing but that 
 in our little notes — in mine at least." 
 " In mine, too." 
 
"And love like everybody's, with liberty to see one 
 another, to talk to one another. As soon as I could 
 look at you closely, much merit I found in having seen you 
 as you were, as you are, that is, the prettiest and best of women ! 
 Much merit in having loved you ! No, don't you know, what 
 was rare and delicious in our romance was its beginning. We 
 loved each other in some sort instinctively, at a distance, at first 
 sight, without needing to speak or to know one another. As for 
 me, I instantly read your soul through your eyes. From the 
 i ith of June, the day of the dinner, to the 17th of August, the 
 day of the wedding, we exchanged a great many words ; we said 
 many sweet and charming things to one another ; but never, my 
 
Jeannette, did we have a more tender, passionate conversa- 
 tion than that absurd dialogue in the courtyard by the 
 stable, in the presence of Jupiter and Picot. I was seized 
 then with such an emotion that I felt that my fate was settled for- 
 ever. I went out of that little courtyard in the Rue des Arcades 
 with the certainty that you would be mine, and that my whole 
 life would be spent in trying to make you happy. That was 
 nearly two years ago. Have I succeeded so far, my love? " 
 "Oh! yes, my darling. Oh! yes!" 
 She was no longer upon the little stool ; she was on his 
 knees. And laying aside the little books, they read no further 
 that evening. 
 
mV