Baron Trigaults Vengeance | Page 8

of silk, velvet, satin, and muslin,
have been put on this woman's back!"
"The dresses of the present day require a great deal of material.
Monsieur le Baron will understand that flounces, puffs, and ruches----"
"Naturally! Total, twenty-seven thousand francs!"
"Excuse me! Twenty-seven thousand nine hundred and thirty-three
francs, ninety centimes."
"Call it twenty-eight thousand francs then. Ah, well, M. Van Klopen, if
you are ever paid for this rubbish it won't be by me."
If Van Klopen was expecting this denouement, Pascal wasn't; in fact,
he was so startled, that an exclamation escaped him which would have
betrayed his presence under almost any other circumstances. What
amazed him most was the baron's perfect calmness, following, as it did,
such a fit of furious passion, violent enough even to be heard in the
vestibule. "Either he has extraordinary control over himself or this
scene conceals some mystery," thought Pascal.
Meanwhile, the man-milliner continued to urge his claims--but the
baron, instead of replying, only whistled; and wounded by this breach
of good manners, Van Klopen at last exclaimed: "I have had dealings
with all the distinguished men in Europe, and never before did one of
them refuse to pay me for his wife's toilettes."
"Very well--I don't pay for them--there's the difference. Do you
suppose that I, Baron Trigault, that I've worked like a negro for twenty
years merely for the purpose of aiding your charming and useful branch
of industry? Gather up your papers, Mr. Ladies' Tailor. There may be
husbands who believe themselves responsible for their wives'
follies--it's quite possible there are--but I'm not made of that kind of
stuff. I allow Madame Trigault eight thousand francs a month for her
toilette--that is sufficient--and it is a matter for you and her to arrange
together. What did I tell you last year when I paid a bill of forty
thousand francs? That I would not be responsible for any more of my
wife's debts. And I not only said it, I formally notified you through my
private secretary."
"I remember, indeed----"

"Then why do you come to me with your bill? It is with my wife that
you have opened an account. Apply to her, and leave me in peace."
"Madame promised me----"
"Teach her to keep her promises."
"It costs a great deal to retain one's position as a leader of fashion; and
many of the most distinguished ladies are obliged to run into debt,"
urged Van Klopen.
"That's their business. But my wife is not a fine lady. She is simply
Madame Trigault, a baroness, thanks to her husband's gold and the
condescension of a worthy German prince, who was in want of money.
SHE is not a person of consequence--she has no rank to keep up."
The baroness must have attached immense importance to the satisfying
of Van Klopen's demands, for concealing the anger this humiliating
scene undoubtedly caused her, she condescended to try and explain,
and even to entreat. "I have been a little extravagant, perhaps," she said;
"but I will be more prudent in future. Pay, monsieur--pay just once
more."
"No!"
"If not for my sake, for your own."
"Not a farthing."
By the baron's tone, Pascal realized that his wife would never shake his
fixed determination. Such must also have been the opinion of the
illustrious ruler of fashion, for he returned to the charge with an
argument he had held in reserve. "If this is the case, I shall, to my great
regret, be obliged to fail in the respect I owe to Monsieur le Baron, and
to place this bill in the hands of a solicitor."
"Send him along--send him along."
"I cannot believe that monsieur wishes a law-suit."
"In that you are greatly mistaken. Nothing would please me better. It
would at last give me an opportunity to say what I think about your
dealings. Do you think that wives are to turn their husbands into
machines for supplying money? You draw the bow-string too tightly,
my dear fellow--it will break. I'll proclaim on the house-top what others
dare not say, and we'll see if I don't succeed in organizing a little
crusade against you." And animated by the sound of his own words, his
anger came back to him, and in a louder and ever louder voice he
continued: "Ah! you prate of the scandal that would be created by my

resistance to your demands. That's your system; but, with me, it won't
succeed. You threaten me with a law-suit; very good. I'll take it upon
myself to enlighten Paris, for I know your secrets, Mr. Dressmaker. I
know the goings on in your establishment. It isn't always to talk about
dress that ladies stop at your place on returning from the Bois. You sell
silks and satins no doubt; but