The Bath Keepers Volume I Part 19

"Such things have been seen, however, niece! And a woman is not always unhappy on that account; it often turns out just the other way."

"Well, aunt, I consider that Miretta has done well not to marry her cousin, as she has no love for him."

"Perhaps you will not always talk so, my dear!"

"Miretta," continued Valentine, turning to the girl, "I take you into my service, that is settled; and I will give you---- How much should I give her, aunt?"

"Whatever you please, niece."

"Very well! two hundred livres a year.--Is that enough, Miretta? does that satisfy you?"

"Oh! that is a great deal, mademoiselle! I probably am not worth so much as that, and I shall always be satisfied with whatever you give me; I do not care for money!"

"You don't care for money, you don't care to marry," murmured Madame de Ravenelle, shaking her head; "nor do you care for your province, since you leave it--Pray, little one, to what do you aspire?"

Miretta was silent a moment, then replied:

"I aspire to be in the service of honorable persons, and to show myself deserving of their kindness."

"Well said!" exclaimed Valentine; "that is an answer that does you honor.--Oh! you will be happy with me, I trust. In the first place, all the dresses I have ceased to wear will belong to you, and I am very fond of changing often. But you must serve me promptly, you must always be at hand when I ring for you, and never step foot outside of the house unless I send you to do some errand."

The girl raised her head quickly and cried:

"What, mademoiselle! never go out of this house? Why, in that case, I shall be a prisoner! I shall not be able to take a free step! Oh, no!

no! I did not come to Paris to be deprived of my liberty; I will serve you faithfully, mademoiselle, I will be submissive to your lightest word, I will work day and night if you desire; but I wish to be able, when I feel the need of it, to fly away as freely as the birds of our fields! I shall return to my cage far happier, when I know that the door is not closed upon me!"

"Well, well, hothead!" said Valentine, with a smile; "never fear; you will not be a prisoner! I will not prevent your flying away sometimes.--Ah! how her eyes sparkle when she hears me say that! She has a little will of her own, I see. So much the better! I do not like people who are incapable of having a will!"

"But," interposed Madame de Ravenelle, "as you have just arrived in Paris, where you know no one; and as your cousin is going away--whom will you go to see when you go out? or will it be simply to take a walk?"

"Pardon me, madame, but there is already one person whom I wish to see, to thank her for the service she rendered my cousin and myself just now.

Ah! madame does not know that we barely escaped a very great danger this morning--before we reached this house."

"A danger! Pray tell us about it, little one."

"Come here," said Valentine, "and sit on this stool, for your journey on horseback must have tired you. There! that is right; and now tell us what happened to you this morning."

Miretta gave them an exact account of what had taken place on Rue Saint-Jacques; she omitted no detail, nor did she add anything. The truth was sufficiently interesting to engross the attention of those who listened to her. Madame de Ravenelle could not help taking an interest in it, and Valentine was much excited--so much so that she exclaimed:

"Why, it was shameful behavior on the part of those gentlemen! To try to compel people who are pa.s.sing to stop and act as their playthings! Did you hear the names of those who insulted you?"

"I heard several, mademoiselle, but I remember only two: the gentleman who took up our defence and fought for us, after offering to be my knight--in jest, doubtless--his name was Pa.s.sedix."

"Pa.s.sedix!--Do you know any gentleman of that name, aunt?"

"No, no one! He must be some _chevalier d'industrie!_"

"Then the man who was so fierce against us, and whose terrible sword beat down all obstacles--him they called the Sire de Jarnonville. Oh!

that man had a terrifying look!"

"The Sire de Jarnonville!" repeated Madame de Ravenelle. "That is a very old name--a n.o.ble family; but it is a long while since the descendant of the Jarnonvilles ceased to appear in society--that is to say, in the society frequented by self-respecting persons."

"And you did not hear any one of those young n.o.bles called Leodgard de Marvejols?"

"No, mademoiselle, I am quite sure that I did not hear that name."

"What are you worrying about now, niece?"

"I am not worrying at all, aunt; but as it was a gathering of scapegraces, it seemed to me quite natural that Monsieur Leodgard should be there.--Miretta, I understand your grat.i.tude for the brave girl who--I do not quite know how--rescued you from your dangerous position.

You will do well to go to thank her, for ingrat.i.tude is the vice of base minds, and it always indicates the presence of other vices. Go to the reception room and ask for Beatrix; she will take you to the room that has been prepared for you; it is not far from mine, and you can hear my bell there.--But, by the way, this Cedrille, your cousin--what have you done with him?"

"Mon Dieu! mademoiselle, he stayed below, in the courtyard, with his horse; I will go and bid him adieu, and he will go away."

"But surely the boy does not mean to start for Bearn at once? He is probably curious to see a little of Paris, is he not?"

"Yes, mademoiselle, but he will find an inn for himself and Bourriquet.

Oh! Cedrille is not hard to please; he is capable of sleeping in a stable, with his horse."

"I do not see why your cousin should go elsewhere in search of lodgings; we have enough unoccupied rooms upstairs, and stables sufficiently extensive to make it unnecessary for him and his horse to go to an inn.--This youth may remain here a few days, aunt, may he not? There is room in the servants' quarters; he may eat with our people, when it suits his pleasure to stay in the house."

"I have no objection, niece; arrange everything as you choose."

"Oh! madame and mademoiselle are too kind; and Cedrille will come himself to thank them."

"It is not worth while!" said the old lady; "I excuse him from all thanks."

"Go, Miretta," said Valentine, "go tell your cousin that we will accommodate him with my servants; then find Beatrix, who will install you."

Miretta made several reverences and left the salon.

"That girl pleases me," said Valentine, after watching her leave the room. "Do not you agree with me, madame, that there is something original about her--a sort of firmness, and an indefinable navete, which is charming?"

"Yes, yes!" replied Madame de Ravenelle, slowly shaking her head; "but I believe that there is something in the girl's heart that she has not told us."

"What can it be, aunt?"

"I have no desire to fatigue my brain trying to guess!"

"Well, I will try, aunt; it will amuse me instead of fatiguing me."

"As you please, niece."

Miretta ran quickly down into the courtyard, and found Cedrille there, doing sentry duty beside his horse. The poor fellow stood close to Bourriquet's side, having given him the last wisps of hay from the bundle attached to his crupper.

The young Bearnais peasant was gazing with respectful admiration at the sculptures and decorations which embellished the mansion; nothing so magnificent had met his eye since he had left his fields; for, on entering Paris, he had been too much occupied in breaking out a path and guiding his horse through the crowd to have any leisure to look about him.

Cedrille smiled sadly when he saw the girl coming toward him.