Diard and Juana,the spectators of this little scene,were differently affected by it.The glance,moist with joy,which his wife cast upon her eldest child was a fatal revelation to the husband of the secrets of a heart hitherto impenetrable.That eldest child was all Juana;Juana comprehended him;she was sure of his heart,his future;she adored him,but her ardent love was a secret between herself,her child,and God.Juan instinctively enjoyed the seeming indifference of his mother in presence of his father and brother,for she pressed him to her heart when alone.Francisque was Diard,and Juana's incessant care and watchfulness betrayed her desire to correct in the son the vices of the father and to encourage his better qualities.Juana,unaware that her glance had said too much and that her husband had rightly interpreted it,took Francisque in her lap and gave him,in a gentle voice still trembling with the pleasure that Juan's answer had brought her,a lesson upon honor,simplified to his childish intelligence.
"That boy's character requires care,"said Diard.
"Yes,"she replied simply.
"How about Juan?"
Madame Diard,struck by the tone in which the words were uttered,looked at her husband.
"Juan was born perfect,"he added.
Then he sat down gloomily,and reflected.Presently,as his wife continued silent,he added:--"You love one of YOUR children better than the other.""You know that,"she said.
"No,"said Diard,"I did not know until now which of them you preferred.""But neither of them have ever given me a moment's uneasiness,"she answered quickly.
"But one of them gives you greater joys,"he said,more quickly still.
"I never counted them,"she said.
"How false you women are!"cried Diard."Will you dare to say that Juan is not the child of your heart?""If that were so,"she said,with dignity,"do you think it a misfortune?""You have never loved me.If you had chosen,I would have conquered worlds for your sake.You know all that I have struggled to do in life,supported by the hope of pleasing you.Ah!if you had only loved me!""A woman who loves,"said Juana,"likes to live in solitude,far from the world,and that is what we are doing.""I know,Juana,that YOU are never in the wrong."The words were said bitterly,and cast,for the rest of their lives together,a coldness between them.
On the morrow of that fatal day Diard went back to his old companions and found distractions for his mind in play.Unfortunately,he won much money,and continued playing.Little by little,he returned to the dissipated life he had formerly lived.Soon he ceased even to dine in his own home.
Some months went by in the enjoyment of this new independence;he was determined to preserve it,and in order to do so he separated himself from his wife,giving her the large apartments and lodging himself in the entresol.By the end of the year Diard and Juana only saw each other in the morning at breakfast.
Like all gamblers,he had his alternations of loss and gain.Not wishing to cut into the capital of his fortune,he felt the necessity of withdrawing from his wife the management of their income;and the day came when he took from her all she had hitherto freely disposed of for the household benefit,giving her instead a monthly stipend.The conversation they had on this subject was the last of their married intercourse.The silence that fell between them was a true divorce;Juana comprehended that from henceforth she was only a mother,and she was glad,not seeking for the causes of this evil.For such an event is a great evil.Children are conjointly one with husband and wife in the home,and the life of her husband could not be a source of grief and injury to Juana only.
As for Diard,now emancipated,he speedily grew accustomed to win and lose enormous sums.A fine player and a heavy player,he soon became celebrated for his style of playing.The social consideration he had been unable to win under the Empire,he acquired under the Restoration by the rolling of his gold on the green cloth and by his talent for all games that were in vogue.Ambassadors,bankers,persons with newly-acquired large fortunes,and all those men who,having sucked life to the dregs,turn to gambling for its feverish joys,admired Diard at their clubs,--seldom in their own houses,--and they all gambled with him.He became the fashion.Two or three times during the winter he gave a fete as a matter of social pride in return for the civilities he received.At such times Juana once more caught a glimpse of the world of balls,festivities,luxury,and lights;but for her it was a sort of tax imposed upon the comfort of her solitude.She,the queen of these solemnities,appeared like a being fallen from some other planet.Her simplicity,which nothing had corrupted,her beautiful virginity of soul,which her peaceful life restored to her,her beauty and her true modesty,won her sincere homage.But observing how few women ever entered her salons,she came to understand that though her husband was following,without communicating its nature to her,a new line of conduct,he had gained nothing actually in the world's esteem.