"At last it has been given to my eyes to contemplate him, and to my arms to press him against my heart!"
It was in these terms that the old Italian master, all vibrating with enthusiasm, and with his most terrible accent, announced to Mlle. Gilberte that he had just seen that famous pupil from whom he expected both glory and fortune.
"But how weak he is still!" he added, "and suffering from his wounds.
I hardly recognized him, he has grown so pale and so thin."
But the girl was listening to him no more. A flood of life filled her heart. This moment made her forget all her troubles and all her anguish.
"And I too," thought she, "shall see him again to-day."
And, with the unerring instinct of the woman who loves, she calculated the moment when Marius would appear in Rue St. Gilles.
It would probably be about nightfall, like the first time, before leaving; that is, about eight o'clock, for the days just then were about the longest in the year. Now it so happened, that, on that very day and hour, Mlle. Gilberte expected to be alone at home.
It was understood that her mother would, after dinner, call on Mme. Desclavettes, who was in bed, half dead of the fright she had had during the last convulsions of the Commune. She would therefore be free and would not need to invent a pretext to go out for a few moments. She could not help, however, but feel that this was a bold and most venturesome step for her to take; and, when her mother went out, she had not yet fully decided what to do. But her bonnet was within reach, and Marius' letter was in her pocket. She went to sit at the window. The street was solitary and silent as of old. Night was coming; and heavy black clouds floated over Paris.
The heat was overpowering: there was not a breath of air.
One by one, as the hour was approaching when she expected to see Marius, the hesitations of the young girl vanished like smoke. She feared but one thing, - that he would not come, or that he may already have come and left, without succeeding in seeing her.
Already did the objects become less distinct; and the gas was being lit in the back-shops, when she recognized him on the other side of the street. He looked up as he went by; and, without stopping, he addressed her a rapid gesture, which she alone could understand, and which meant, "Come, I beseech you!"
Her heart beating loud enough to be heard, Mlle. Gilberte ran down the stairs. But it was only When she found herself in the street that she could appreciate the magnitude of the risk she was running.
Concierges and shopkeepers were all sitting in front of their doors, taking the fresh air. All knew her. Would they not be surprised to see her out alone at such an hour? Twenty steps in front of her she could see Marius. But he had understood the danger; for, instead of turning the corner of the Rue des Minimes, he followed the Rue St. Gilles straight, and only stopped on the other side of the Boulevard.
Then only did Mlle. Gilberte join him; and she could not withhold an exclamation, when she saw that he was as pale as death, and scarcely able to stand and to walk.
"How imprudent of you to have returned so soon!" she said.
A little blood came to M. de Tregars' cheeks. His face brightened up, and, in a voice quivering with suppressed passion, "It would have been more imprudent still to stay away," he uttered.
"Far from you, I felt myself dying."
They were both leaning against the door of a closed shop; and they were as alone in the midst of the throng that circulated on the Boulevards, busy looking at the fearful wrecks of the Commune.
"And besides," added Marius, "have I, then, a minute to lose? I asked you for three years. Fifteen months have gone, and I am no better off than on the first day. When this accursed war broke out, all my arrangements were made. I was certain to rapidly accumulate a sufficient fortune to enable me to ask for your hand without being refused. Whereas now"
"Well?"
"Now every thing is changed. The future is so uncertain, that no one wishes to venture their capital. Marcolet himself, who certainly does not lack boldness, and who believes firmly in the success of our enterprise, was telling me yesterday, 'There is nothing to be done just now: we must wait.'"
There was in his voice such an intensity of grief, that the girl felt the tears coming to her eyes.
"We will wait then," she said, attempting to smile.
But M. de Tregars shook his head.
"Is it possible?" he said. "Do you, then, think that I do not know what a life you lead?"
Mlle. Gilberte looked up.
"Have I ever complained?" she asked proudly?
"No. Your mother and yourself, you have always religiously kept the secret of your tortures; and it was only a providential accident that revealed them to me. But I learned every thing at last. I know that she whom I love exclusively and with all the power of my soul is subjected to the most odious despotism, insulted, and condemned to the most humiliating privations. And I, who would give my life for her a thousand times over, - I can do nothing for her. Money raises between us such an insuperable obstacle, that my love is actually an offence. To hear from her, I am driven to accept accomplices. If I obtain from her a few moments of conversation, I run the risk of compromising her maidenly reputation."
Deeply affected by his emotion:
"At least," said Mlle. Gilberte, "you succeeded in delivering me from M. Costeclar."
"Yes, I was fortunately able to find weapons against that scoundrel.
But can I find some against all others that may offer? Your father is very rich; and the men are numerous for whom marriage is but a speculation like any other."
"Would you doubt me?"
"Ah, rather would I doubt myself! But I know what cruel trials your refusal to marry M. Costeclar imposed upon you: I know what a merciless struggle you had to sustain. Another pretender may come, and then - No, no, you see that we cannot wait."
"What would you do?"