第44章

THE next day，Marguerite sent me away punctually，saying that the Duke was expected early that morning，and promising to write the moment he left to let me know where we should meet in the evening.

Accordingly，during the day，I received this note：

'Am going to Bougival with the Duke.Be at Prudence's this evening at eight.'

At the appointed time，Marguerite was back and she came to meet me at Madame Duvernoy's.

'Well，it's all arranged，'she said as she came in.

'The house is taken？'asked Prudence.

'Yes.He agreed at once.'

I did not know the Duke，but I was ashamed to be deceiving him like this.

'But that's not all，'Marguerite went on.

'There's more？'

'I was worried about where Armand could stay.'

'Not in the same house？'asked Prudence with a laugh.

'No，at the Point du Jour，where the Duke and I had lunch.While he was looking at the view，I asked Madame Arnould-she is called Madame Arnould，isn't she？-I asked her if she had any suitable apartments.And she has one，with a drawing-room，a reception room and a bedroom.That's all we need，I'd say.Sixty francs a month.The whole place furnished in a manner that would take a hypochondriac's mind off his ailments.I took it.Did I do well？'

I flung my arms around Marguerite's neck.

'It'll be lovely，'she went on.'You'll have a key to the side door，and I promised the Duke that he shall have a key to the main gate which he won't take since he'll only ever come during the day when he comes at all.Between ourselves，I think he's delighted by this whim of mine，for it'll get me out of Paris for a while and help to shut his family up.Even so，he did ask how it was that I，who love Paris so much，could make up my mind to bury myself in the country.I told him I wasn't well and this way I could rest.He didn't seem to believe me altogether.The poor old thing always seems to have his back against a wall.So we will be very careful，dear Armand，because he'll have me watched there.And he's not done with just renting a house for me：he's also going to have to pay my debts and，unfortunately，I've a few of those.Is all this all right with you？'

'Yes，'I replied，trying to silence the scruples which this kind of life a wakened from time to time.

'We went over the house from top to bottom，and it will be just perfect for us.The Duke fussed over everything.Ah，my dear，'she added，kissing me like a mad thing，'you can't complain，you've got a millionaire to make you bed for you.'

'And when are you thinking of moving down there？'asked Prudence.

'As soon as possible.'

'Will you be taking your carriage and the horses？'

'I shall be taking everything.You can look after the apartment while I'm away.'

A week later，Marguerite had taken possession of the house in the country and I was installed at the Point du Jour.

And so began a life which I could hardly attempt to describe to you.

In the early days of her stay at Bougival，Marguerite was unable to make a complete break with her old ways and，since the house was always in a party mood，all her girlfriends came down to see her.A month went by without a single day when Marguerite did not have eight or ten people sitting round her table.For her part，Prudence invited along everybody she knew and did all the honours of the house，as though the place belonged to her.

The Duke's money paid for it all，as you will have gathered，yet even so Prudence was apt to ask me，from time to time，for the odd thousand-franc note，saying that it was for Marguerite.As you know，I had won some money at the gaming table.So I promptly handed over to Prudence what Marguerite，through her，had asked me for，and，fearing that she might need more than I had，I travelled up to Paris where I borrowed the equivalent of the sum of money which I had borrowed before and had repaid in full.

I thus found myself rich once more to the tune of ten thousand francs or so，in addition to my allowance.

However，the pleasure Marguerite derived from playing host to her women friends slackened off somewhat in view of the expense it involved，and especially in view of the fact that she was on occasion forced to ask me for money.The Duke，who had leased the house so that Marguerite could rest，stopped coming altogether，fearing as always that he would run into a large and high-spirited gathering of people by whom he had no wish to be seen.The reason largely for this was that，turning up one day for a private dinner with Marguerite，he had wandered into the middle of a luncheon party for fifteen which was still going on at a time when he had imagined he would be sitting down to his dinner.When，all unsuspecting，he had opened the dining-room door，his entrance had been greeted by a burst of laughter，and he had been obliged to withdraw hurriedly in the face of the withering glee of the girls who were there.

Marguerite had left the table，caught up with the Duke in the next room and had done everything she could to make him overlook the incident.But the old man's pride had been wounded，and he had taken umbrage：he had told the poor girl quite cruelly that he was tired of footing the bill for the follies of a woman who could not even ensure that he was respected under her roof，and he had left very angry.

From that day on，we heard nothing more of him.Marguerite sent her guests away and changed her ways，but it did no good：the Duke did not contact her thereafter.I had gained thereby，for my mistress now belonged to me more completely，and my dream was at last coming true.Marguerite could no longer live without me.Without worrying her head about the consequence，she flaunted our affair publicly，and I reached the point where I never left her house.The servants called me'sir'and regarded me officially as their master.

Of course，Prudence had lectured Marguerite about her new life very sternly，but Marguerite had replied that she loved me，could not live without me and，however it all turned out，would not forgo the joy of having me constantly at her side.And she added that anyone who did not like it was perfectly free to stay away.