The Clique of Gold | Page 6

sure. Just think! My room
belonged to M. Maxime, for I had his money in my pocket. I asked him
politely where he lived, and if there was any furniture to come. I caught
it nicely. He laughed me in the face, and did not even let me finish my
question. 'Do I look,' he said, 'like a man who lives in a place like this?'
And when he saw I was puzzled, he went on to tell me that he took the
room for a young person from the country, in whom he took an interest,
and that the contract and the receipts for rent must all be made out in
the name of Miss Henrietta. That was clear enough, wasn't it? Still it
was my duty to know who Miss Henrietta was; so I asked him civilly.
But he got angry, and told me that was none of my business, and that
some furniture would be sent presently."
He stopped, waiting for his host to express his approbation by a word
or a sign; but, as nothing came, he went on,--
"In fine, I did not dare to insist, and all was done as he wanted it done.
That very day a dealer in second-hand furniture brought the pieces you
have seen up stairs; and the day after, about eleven o'clock, Miss
Henrietta herself appeared. She had not much baggage, I tell you; she
brought every thing she owned in a little carpet-bag in her hand."
The old merchant was stooping over the fire as if his whole attention
was given to the teakettle, in which the water was beginning to boil.
"It seems to me, my good friend," he said, "that you did not act very
wisely. Still, if that is really all, I don't think they are likely to trouble
you."
"What else could there be?"
"How do I know? But if that young damsel had been carried off by M.
Maxime, if you were lending a hand in an elopement, I think you
would be in a bad box. The law is pretty strict about it, in the case of a
minor."
The concierge protested with a solemn air.
"I have told you the whole truth," he declared.
But Papa Ravinet did not by any means seem so sure of that.
"That is your lookout," he said, shrugging his shoulders. "Still, you

may be sure they will ask you how it could happen that one of your
tenants should fall into such a state of abject poverty without your
giving notice to anybody."
"Why, in the first place, I do not wait upon my lodgers. They are free to
do what they choose in their rooms."
"Quite right, Master Chevassat! quite right! So you did not know that
M. Maxime no longer came to see Miss Henrietta?"
"He still came to see her."
In the most natural manner in the world, Papa Ravinet raised his arms
to heaven, and exclaimed as if horror-struck,--
"What! is it possible? That handsome young man knew how the poor
girl suffered? he knew that she was dying of hunger?"
Master Chevassat became more and more troubled. He began to see
what the old merchant meant by his questions, and how unsatisfactory
his answers were.
"Ah! you ask too many questions," he said at last. "It was not my duty
to watch over M. Maxime. As for Miss Henrietta, as soon as she is able
to move, the serpent! I tell you I'll send her off pretty quickly!"
The old merchant shook his head, and said in his softest voice,--
"My dear sir, you won't do that, because from today I'll pay the rent for
her room. And, more than that, if you wish to oblige me, you will be
very kind to the poor girl, you hear, and even respectful, if you please."
There was no misunderstanding the meaning of the word "oblige," from
the manner in which he pronounced it; and yet he was about to enforce
the recommendation, when a fretting voice exclaimed on the stairs,--
"Chevassat! where are you, Chevassat?"
"It's my wife," said the concierge.
And, delighted to get away, he said to Papa Ravinet--
"I understand; she shall be treated as politely as if she were the
daughter of the owner of the house. But excuse me, I must attend to the
door; they call me, and I must go down stairs."
He slipped out without waiting for an answer, and utterly unable to
guess why the old merchant should take such a sudden interest in the
lodger on the fifth floor.
"The rascal!" said Papa Ravinet to himself,--"the rascal!"
But he had found out what he wanted to know. He was alone, and he
knew he had no time to lose.

Quickly he drew the