La Constantin | Page 6

said the youth; exchanging with de jars a
singularly significant look; "and you had better treat her well, uncle, or
I shall play you some trick."
"Ah! ah!" cried Jeannin. "You poor fellow! I very much fear that you
are warming a little serpent in your bosom. Have an eye to this dandy
with the beardless chin! But joking apart, my boy, are you really on
good terms with the fair lady?"
"Certainly I am."

"And you are not uneasy, commander?"
" Not the least little bit."
"He is quite right. I answer for her as for my self, you know; as long as
he loves her she will love him; as long as he is faithful she will be
faithful. Do you imagine that a woman who insists on her lover
carrying her off can so easily turn away from the man of her choice? I
know her well; I have had long talks with her, she and I alone: she is
feather-brained, given to pleasure, entirely without prejudices and those
stupid scruples which spoil the lives of other women; but a good sort
on the whole; devoted to my uncle, with no deception about her; but at
the same time extremely jealous, and has no notion of letting herself be
sacrificed to a rival. If ever she finds herself deceived, good-bye to
prudence and reserve, and then--"
A look and a touch of the commander's knee cut this panegyric short, to
which the treasurer was listening with open-eyed astonishment.
"What enthusiasm!" he exclaimed. "Well, and then----"
"Why, then," went on the young man, with a laugh, "if my uncle
behaves badly, I, his nephew, will try to make up for his wrong-doing:
he can't blame me then. But until then he may be quite easy, as he well
knows."
"Oh yes, and in proof of that I am going to take Moranges with me
to-night. He is young and inexperienced, and it will be a good lesson
for him to see how a gallant whose amorous intrigues did not begin
yesterday sets about getting even with a coquette. He can turn it to
account later on.
"On my word," said Jeannin, "my notion is that he is in no great need
of a teacher; however, that's your business, not mine. Let us return to
what we were talking about just now. Are we agreed; and shall we
amuse ourselves by paying out the lady in, her own coin?"
"If you like."

"Which of us is to begin?"
De Jars struck the table with the handle of his dagger.
"More wine, gentlemen?" said the drawer, running up.
"No, dice; and be quick about it."
"Three casts each and the highest wins," said Jeannin. "You begin."
"I throw for myself and nephew." The dice rolled on the table.
"Ace and three."
"It's my turn now. Six and five."
"Pass it over. Five and two."
"We're equal. Four and two."
"Now let me. Ace and blank."
"Double six."
"You have won."
"And I'm off at once, said Jeannin, rising, and muffling himself in his
mantle, "It's now half-past seven. We shall see each other again at eight,
so I won't say good-bye."
"Good luck to you!"
Leaving the tavern and turning into the rue Pavee, he took the direction
of the river.

CHAPTER II
In 1658, at the corner of the streets Git-le-Coeur and Le Hurepoix (the
site of the latter being now occupied by the Quai des Augustins as far
as Pont Saint-Michel), stood the great mansion which Francis I had
bought and fitted up for the Duchesse d'Etampes. It was at this period if
not in ruins at least beginning to show the ravages of time. Its rich
interior decorations had lost their splendour and become antiquated.
Fashion had taken up its abode in the Marais, near the Place Royale,
and it was thither that profligate women and celebrated beauties now
enticed the humming swarm of old rakes and young libertines. Not one
of them all would have thought of residing in the mansion, or even in
the quarter, wherein the king's mistress had once dwelt. It would have
been a step downward in the social scale, and equivalent to a
confession that their charms were falling in the public estimation. Still,
the old palace was not empty; it had, on the contrary, several tenants.
Like the provinces of Alexander's empire, its vast suites of rooms had
been subdivided; and so neglected was it by the gay world that people
of the commonest description strutted about with impunity where once
the proudest nobles had been glad to gain admittance. There in
semi-isolation and despoiled of her greatness lived Angelique-Louise
de Guerchi, formerly companion to Mademoiselle de Pons and then
maid of honour to Anne of Austria. Her love intrigues and the scandals