The English | Page 6

In such ways I learnt much concerning the manner and customs of this
proud nation, at once so great and so little.
The noble lord came to dinner, and I treated him in a manner to make
him wish to come again. Although there were only the two of us, the
meal lasted a long time, as I was anxious for additional information on
what I had heard in the morning, especially on the Betting Club. The
worthy Pembroke advised me not to have anything to do with it, unless
I made up my mind to keep perfect silence for four or five weeks.
"But supposing they ask me a question?"

"Evade it."
"Certainly, if I am not in a position to give my opinion; but if I have an
opinion, the powers of Satan could not shut my mouth."
"All the worse for you."
"Are the members knaves?"
"Certainly not. They are noblemen, philosophers, and epicures; but they
are pitiless where a bet is concerned."
"Is the club treasury rich?"
"Far from it; they are all ashamed to pay a fine, and prefer to bet. Who
will introduce you?"
"Martinelli."
"Quite so; through Lord Spencer, who is a member. I would not
become one."
"Why not?"
"Because I don't like argument."
"My taste runs the other way, so I shall try to get in."
"By the way, M. de Seingalt, do you know that you are a very
extraordinary man?"
"For what reason, my lord?"
"You shut yourself up for a whole month with a woman who spent
fourteen months in London without anybody making her acquaintance
or even discovering her nationality. All the amateurs have taken a
lively interest in the affair."
"How did you find out that she spent fourteen months in London?"

"Because several persons saw her in the house of a worthy widow
where she spent the first month. She would never have anything to say
to any advances, but the bill in your window worked wonders."
"Yes, and all the worse for me, for I feel as if I could never love
another woman."
"Oh, that's childish indeed! You will love another woman in a week-
nay, perhaps to-morrow, if you will come and dine with me at my
country house. A perfect French beauty has asked me to dine with her. I
have told some of my friends who are fond of gaming."
"Does the charming Frenchwoman like gaming?"
"No, but her husband does."
"What's his name?"
"He calls himself Count de Castelbajac."
"Ah! Castelbajac?"
"Yes."
"He is a Gascon?"
"Yes."
"Tall, thin, and dark, and marked with the smallpox?
"Exactly! I am delighted to find you know him. You will agree with me
that his wife is very pretty?"
"I really can't say. I knew Castelbajac, as he calls himself, six years ago,
and I never heard he was married. I shall be delighted to join you,
however. I must warn you not to say anything if he seems not to know
me; he may possibly have good reasons for acting in that manner.
Before long I will tell you a story which does not represent him in a
very advantageous manner. I did not know he played. I shall take care

to be on my guard at the Betting Club, and I advise you, my lord, to be
on your guard in the society of Castelbajac."
"I will not forget the warning."
When Pembroke had left me I went to see Madame Cornelis, who had
written a week before to tell me my daughter was ill, and explained that
she had been turned from my doors on two occasions though she felt
certain I was in. To this I replied that I was in love, and so happy within
my own house that I had excluded all strangers, and with that she had
to be contented, but the state in which I found little Sophie frightened
me. She was lying in bed with high fever, she had grown much thinner,
and her eyes seemed to say that she was dying of grief. Her mother was
in despair, for she was passionately fond of the child, and I thought she
would have torn my eyes out when I told her that if Sophie died she
would only have herself to reproach. Sophie, who was very
good-hearted, cried out, "No, no! papa dear;" and quieted her mother
by her caresses.
Nevertheless, I took the mother aside, and told her that the disease was
solely caused by Sophie's dread of her severity.
"In spite of your affection," said I, "you treat her with insufferable
tyranny. Send her to a boardingschool for a couple of years, and let her
associate with girls of good family. Tell her this evening that she is to
go to school, and see