The Whites and the Blues (37 page)

"Obtain the restoration of kings, madame," said he, "and I will hail the beautiful Aurelie de Saint-Amour as queen."

"So you know me, too, citizen?" said the young wo man, laughing.

"Who does not know our modern Aspasia ? This is the first time, though, that I have had the honor of seeing you so near at hand, madame, and—"

"And—you were saying?"

"That Paris has no need to envy Athens, nor yet Barras to envy Pericles.''

"Come, come! that blow on the head was not as danger ous after all as 1 thought."

"What do you mean?"

"Because it has not impaired your wit."

"No," replied Coster de Saint-Victor, kissing her beau tiful hand, "but it may have taken away my reason."

Just then the bell rang in a peculiar fashion, and the

hand which Coster was holding trembled. Aurelie's wait ing-maid rose and looked uneasily at her mistress.

"Madame," said she, "that is the citizen-general.'*

"Yes," replied the latter, "I recognized his ring."

"What will he say ?" asked the maid.

"Nothing."

"What do you mean?"

"I shall not open the door." The courtesan shook her head rebelliously.

"You will not admit citizen-general Barras?" asked the terrified maid.

"What ?" cried Coster de Saint-Victor, "was that citizen Barras who rang?" •.

"Yes," replied Mademoiselle Aurelie de Saint-Amour with a laugh, "and you see he is quite as impatient as ordinary mortals."

"But, madame—" persisted the maid.

"I am mistress in my own house," said the capricious courtesan, "and it pleases me to receive the citizen Coster de Saint-Victor, and it does not please me to receive citizen Barras. I open my door to the first, and I close it to the second, or rather I do not open it to the second."

"Pardon me, my generous hostess," cried Coster de Saint-Victor; "but I cannot permit you to make such a sacrifice. Allow your maid to admit the general, I beg of you, and while he is in your salon I will withdraw. 11

'' And if I admit him only on condition that you do not withdraw ?''

"Oh! then I will remain," said Coster, "and very will ingly, too, I assure you.''

The bell rang for the third time.

u Gro and open the door, Suzette," said Aurelie.

Suzette ran out. Aurelie bolted the door of the boudoir behind her, extinguished the two candles which were burn ing on the dressing-table, and seeking Coster de Saint-Victor in the darkness, pressed her lips to his forehead, and went out m urmuring : *' Wait for me. ''

Then she went into the salon from the boudoir just as citizen-general Barras appeared in the door of the dining-room. "And what is this I hear, my beauty," said Barras, "have they been cutting throats under your window ?"

"Yes, my dear general, and my foolish Suzette did not dare to open the door for you. I had to tell her three times, before she would obey me, she was so fearful lest one of the combatants had come to demand shelter. In vain I told her that it was your ring. I thought I should be obliged to open the door for you myself. But to what do I owe the pleasure of your visit this evening ?"

"A first representation at the Feydeau this evening; and I will take you if you will go with me.''

"No, thank you; all this firing and shouting has upset my nerves. I am not well and I prefer to remain at home.''

4 ' Yery well; but as soon as the piece is over I shall come and ask you for some supper."

"Ah! you did not let me know in time, and I have noth ing to offer you.''

"Do not worry about that, pretty one; I will pass Grarchi's on my way to the theatre and will leave an order for them to send a bisque, a bechamel, a cold pheasant, some shrimps, some ice-cream and fruit—a mere trifle, you perceive."

*' My dear friend, you had much better let me go to bed. I warn you that I shall be very cross.''

"I will not prevent your going to bed. You can take supper in bed and be cross as comfortably as possible."

"You insist?"

"No, I implore. You know, madame, that you are sole mistress here, and that you have but to order, and that I, as the first of your servants, will obey."

'' Oh! can I refuse a man who speaks like that ? Go to the theatre, my lord, and your humble servant will await your return.''

"My dear Aurelie, you are simply adorable, and I do not see why I have not had bars put at your windows like those of Kosine."

"What would be the good! You are the Count of Alrnaviva.''

"There is no Cherubino hidden in your boudoir?"

"I will not say 'Here is the key,' but 'It is in the door/ '

"Well, see how magnanimous I am; if he is there I am going to give him time to escape. Au revoir, my beautiful goddess of love; expect me in an hour."

"Very well. And when you come back you must tell me about the play. I shall like that better than if I had seen it myself.''

"Certainly, only I do not promise to sing it to you."

"When I want to hear singing, my good friend, I will send for Garat.''

"And let it be said in passing, my dear Aurelie, that I think you send for him rather too often." ;

"Oh! do not be uneasy about that. He is protected by Madame Krudener. She keeps as close to him as his shadow.''

"They are putting up a pretty romance between them."

"Yes, in action."

*' Are you not a little malicious ?''

"Faith, no; I do not care enough. I leave that sort of thing to the great ladies who are virtuous and ugly."

"Once more, won't you come with me to the Feydeau?"

"No."

"Then au revoir."

"Au revoir."

Aurelie accompanied the general to the door of the salon, and Suzette followed him to the outer door of the apartment, which she closed and trebly locked after him. When the beautiful courtesan turned round, Coster de Saint-Victor was waiting for her on the threshold of the boudoir. She sighed, for he was marvellously handsome.

CHAPTER X

TWO PORTRAITS

COSTEE DE SAINT-VICTOR had not resumed the use of powder; he wore his hair in long, flowing curls, without comb or queue. It was jet-black like his eyelashes, which shaded eyes of a deep sapphire blue, which, according to the expression he chose to give them, were at times gentle and again full of commanding power. His complexion, which was now rather pale owing to his recent loss of blood, was of a rich creamy white; his nose straight, clear-cut and irreproachable; his firm, red lips disclosed magnificent teeth; and the rest of the body, which, thanks to the fashion then in vogue, was clad to display it to the best advantage, was modelled on the lines of Antinous.

The two young people looked at each other for a moment in silence.

"You heard?" asked Aurelie.

"Alas! yes," replied Coster.

"He will sup with me, and it is your fault."

"How so?"

"You made me open the door."

"And you are vexed because he is to sup with you?"

"Of course!"

"Really?"

"I swear it. I am not in a humor to-night to be amiable to people I do not love."

"But to him whom you love ?"

"Ah! for him I would be charming," replied Aurelie.

"And suppose," said Coster, "that I could find a way to prevent his supping with you ?"

"And?"

"Who would sup with you in his place ?' J

"What a question. The man who kept him away."

"And then you would not be cross?"

"Oh, no!" "

4 'Give me a pledge."

The beautiful courtesan held up her cheek to him, and he pressed a kiss upon it. Just then the bell rang again.

44 Ahl this time I warn you that if it is he who has taken it into his stupid head to return, I shall go away," said Cos ter de Saint-Victor.

Suzette appeared.

"Shall I open the door, madame?" she asked timidly.

'' Certainly, open it.''

Suzette opened it. A man carrying a large flat basket on his head came in, saying: ' * Supper for citizen Barras.''

"You hear?" asked Aurelie.

"Yes," replied the incroyable; "but, on the word of Cos ter de Saint-Victor, he shall not eat it."

"Shall I set the table just the same ?" asked Suzette.

"Yes," said the young man, darting from the room; "for if he does not eat it, some one else will.''

Aurelie followed him with her eyes as far as the door, then, when it had closed behind him, she cried: "My toilet, Suzette, and make me look more beautiful than you ever did before."

"And for which of the two does madame wish to look beautiful?"

"I do not know myself; but, in the meantime, make me as beautiful as possible for myself.' *

"We have already described the costume of the fashion able ladies of the day, and Aurelie was one of them. A member of a good family of Provence, and playing the part which we have outlined, we have thought it best to leave her the name by which she was known at the time of which we write, and which appears in the police records. Her story was like that of nearly all the women of her class, for whom the Thermidorean reaction was a triumph. A young girl without fortune, she was led astray by a young nobleman, who induced her to leave her home, and who

took her to Paris, then emigrated, enlisted in Condd's army, and was killed. She remained alone without other means of support than her beauty and her youth. Picked up by one of the farmers of the public revenues, she soon regained more luxury than she had lost. But the time came when the office of farmer of the revenue was suppressed. The beautiful Aurelie's protector was one of twenty-seven per sons who were executed with Lavoisier on the 8th of May, * 1794. At his death he left her a large sum of money, of which she had hitherto used only the interest; so that, without being wealthy, the beautiful Aurelie was beyond the reach of want.

Barras, hearing of her beauty and refinement, called upon her, and, after a suitable probation, was accepted as her lover. He was then a handsome man of forty, belong ing to a noble family of Provence—a nobility that has been questioned, although those who remember the old saying, 4 'Old as the rocks of Provence, and noble as the Barras,' 1 will not doubt the justice of the claim.

At the age of eighteen, Barras was a subaltern in the regiment of Languedoc, but left it to rejoin his uncle, who was governor of the "He de France." He was nearly lost in a shipwreck off the coast of Coromandel; but managing by good luck to seize the helm at the right moment, and showing great presence of mind and sound judgment, he reached an island inhabited by savages, where he and his companions remained a month. They were finally rescued and taken to Pondicherry. He returned to Paris in 1788, where a great future awaited him.

At the time when the States-General assembled, Barras, following Mirabeau's example, showed no hesitation; he presented himself as a candidate for the Tiers-Etat, and was accepted. On the 14th of July he was noticed among the crowd that took the Bastille. As a member of the Con vention, he voted the death of the king, and was sent to Toulon, after that city was recaptured from the English. His despatch to the Convention is well known.

He proposed simply to demolish Toulon.

When Barras returned to the Convention, he took an active part on all great occasions when the interests of the Eevolution were at stake, and he was particularly promi nent on the 9th Thermidor. So much so, that, when the new Convention was proposed, he was naturally elected as one of the directors.

We have told his age, and testified as to his personal charm. He was a man about five feet six, with a fine head of hair, which he powdered to conceal his premature gray-ness. He had remarkably fine eyes, a straight nose, and full lips which set off a sympathetic mouth. Without adopting the exaggerated fashions of the jeunesse doree, he followed them to a degree of elegance suited to his years.

As for the beautiful Aurelie de Saint-Amour, she had just completed her twenty-first year, entering at the same time upon her majority, and the true period of a woman's beauty, which is in our opinion from her twenty-first year to her thirty-fifth. Her disposition was at once extremely refined, extremely sensual, and extremely impressionable. She possessed the attributes of flower, fruit, and woman —perfume, savor, and pleasure.

She was tall, which at first sight made her seem slender, but thanks to the style of dress then in vogue, it was not difficult to see that she was slender after the fashion of Jean Groujon's Diana. She was fair with those deep brown tints which are to be seen in the hair of Titian's Magdalen. When she wore her hair in the Greek style, with bands of blue velvet, she was superb; but when, toward the end of a dinner, she loosened her hair, letting it fall over her shoulders and framing her cheeks in an aureole, enhancing their fresh Camilla tints and peachy down-like surface, and contrasting sharply with her black eyebrows, blue eyes, red lips, and pearly teeth, and when a spray of brilliant dia monds hung from each ear—then she was dazzling.

Now this luxuriant beauty had developed only within the last two years. To her first lover, the only man she had

ever loved, she had given the young girl, full of hesitations, who yields, but does not entirely surrender herself. Then all at once she felt the sap of life mounting and growing within her; her eyes opened, her nostrils distended; she exhaled at every pore that love of second youth which suc ceeds adolescence, which turns its gaze upon herself, and which seeks some object upon which to lavish the pent-up wealth of treasure within. It was then that necessity com pelled her to sell rather than to give herself; but even then she looked forward to the time when she should be rich and free to enter upon that liberty of heart and person which is the dignity of every woman.

Two or three times at evening parties at the Hotel Thd-lusson, at the Ope'ra, or at the Come'die Fran§aise, she had noticed Coster de Saint-Victor as he paid his court to the most beautiful and distinguished ladies of the period; and each time her heart seemed to leap in her bosom and fly to him. She felt within herself that some day, if she would make advances, this man would belong to her, or rather she to him. And so thoroughly was she convinced of this, that (thanks to the secret voice which oftentimes gives us hints of what the future will bring forth) she was content to wait without much impatience, certain that one day the object of her dreams would pass near enough to her, or she to him, to join them each to each other by the irresistible law that binds steel to magnet.