"Did you relate this incident to Antoinette?"
"What would have been the use? With women it does not suffice to be a great man; you must have the look of one too." And Camille Langis cried out, clinching his hands: "Ah! madame, I entreat you, do you know where I can procure a Polish head, a Polish mustache, a Polish smile? Pray, where are these articles to be had, and what is their market price? I will not haggle! O women! what a set you are--plague on you!"
"And are aunts the same?" gravely asked Mme. de Lorcy.
He answered more calmly: "No, madame, you are a woman without an equal, and I name you every day in my prayers. You are my only resource, my consolation, my counsel. Do not refuse me your precious instructions! What ought I to do?"
Mme. de Lorcy gazed up at the ceiling for an instant, and then said: "Love elsewhere, my dear; abandon this foolish girl to her fate and her Pole."
He started and replied: "You demand what is impossible. I am no longer my own master; she has taken possession of me--she holds me. Love elsewhere? Can you think of it? I detest her--I curse her--but I adore her!"
She rejoined: "You should not use hyperbole any more than metaphors. Both are unsolid food. When you decide not to love, you will love no more."
"That supposes that I have several hearts to choose from. I never had but one, and that no longer belongs to me. So you refuse me your advice?"
"What advice would you have me give you before having seen M. Larinski--before having taken the measure of this hero?"
"I am waiting for him to call, and I am sorry he keeps me waiting."
"I am lost, if you feel the need of hearing before condemning him. Our most sacred duty is to be resolutely unjust towards the enemies of our friends."
"Nonsense! I shall not be indulgent towards him."
"I shall seek some groundless quarrel with this contraband, this poacher, and I will blow his brains out."
"A fine scheme, my dear Camille! And afterward, when you have killed him, you will have gained a great deal. Have you confidence in me? I have already begun to work for you. The Abbe Miollens, as you know, is well acquainted in the society of Polish emigrants; I have sent to him for information. I have also written to Vienna for intelligence concerning him. Antoinette is foolish in forming such an acquaintance, it must be admitted; but, in matters of honour, she is as delicate as an ermine in tending the whiteness of her robe; if there be in M. Larinski's past a stain no larger than a ten-sou piece, she will forever discard him. Let me act; be wise, do not blow out any one's brains. _Grand Dieu!_ what would become of us, if the only way to get rid of people was by killing them?"