第12章

Nanon took one of the candles and went to open the door, followed by her master.

"Grandet! Grandet!" cried his wife, moved by a sudden impulse of fear, and running to the door of the room.

All the players looked at each other.

"Suppose we all go?" said Monsieur des Grassins; "that knock strikes me as evil-intentioned."Hardly was Monsieur des Grassins allowed to see the figure of a young man, accompanied by a porter from the coach-office carrying two large trunks and dragging a carpet-bag after him, than Monsieur Grandet turned roughly on his wife and said,--"Madame Grandet, go back to your loto; leave me to speak with monsieur."Then he pulled the door quickly to, and the excited players returned to their seats, but did not continue the game.

"Is it any one belonging to Saumur, Monsieur des Grassins?" asked his wife.

"No, it is a traveller."

"He must have come from Paris."

"Just so," said the notary, pulling out his watch, which was two inches thick and looked like a Dutch man-of-war; "it's nine o'clock;the diligence of the Grand Bureau is never late.""Is the gentleman young?" inquired the Abbe Cruchot.

"Yes," answered Monsieur des Grassins, "and he has brought luggage which must weigh nearly three tons.""Nanon does not come back," said Eugenie.

"It must be one of your relations," remarked the president.

"Let us go on with our game," said Madame Grandet gently. "I know from Monsieur Grandet's tone of voice that he is annoyed; perhaps he would not like to find us talking of his affairs.""Mademoiselle," said Adolphe to his neighbor, "it is no doubt your cousin Grandet,--a very good-looking young man; I met him at the ball of Monsieur de Nucingen." Adolphe did not go on, for his mother trod on his toes; and then, asking him aloud for two sous to put on her stake, she whispered: "Will you hold your tongue, you great goose!"At this moment Grandet returned, without la Grande Nanon, whose steps, together with those of the porter, echoed up the staircase; and he was followed by the traveller who had excited such curiosity and so filled the lively imaginations of those present that his arrival at this dwelling, and his sudden fall into the midst of this assembly, can only be likened to that of a snail into a beehive, or the introduction of a peacock into some village poultry-yard.

"Sit down near the fire," said Grandet.

Before seating himself, the young stranger saluted the assembled company very gracefully. The men rose to answer by a courteous inclination, and the women made a ceremonious bow.

"You are cold, no doubt, monsieur," said Madame Grandet; "you have, perhaps, travelled from--""Just like all women!" said the old wine-grower, looking up from a letter he was reading. "Do let monsieur rest himself!""But, father, perhaps monsieur would like to take something," said Eugenie.

"He has got a tongue," said the old man sternly.

The stranger was the only person surprised by this scene; all the others were well-used to the despotic ways of the master. However, after the two questions and the two replies had been exchanged, the newcomer rose, turned his back towards the fire, lifted one foot so as to warm the sole of its boot, and said to Eugenie,--"Thank you, my cousin, but I dined at Tours. And," he added, looking at Grandet, "I need nothing; I am not even tired.""Monsieur has come from the capital?" asked Madame des Grassins.

Monsieur Charles,--such was the name of the son of Monsieur Grandet of Paris,--hearing himself addressed, took a little eye-glass, suspended by a chain from his neck, applied it to his right eye to examine what was on the table, and also the persons sitting round it. He ogled Madame des Grassins with much impertinence, and said to her, after he had observed all he wished,--"Yes, madame. You are playing at loto, aunt," he added. "Do not let me interrupt you, I beg; go on with your game: it is too amusing to leave.""I was certain it was the cousin," thought Madame des Grassins, casting repeated glances at him.

"Forty-seven!" cried the old abbe. "Mark it down, Madame des Grassins.

Isn't that your number?"

Monsieur des Grassins put a counter on his wife's card, who sat watching first the cousin from Paris and then Eugenie, without thinking of her loto, a prey to mournful presentiments. From time to time the young the heiress glanced furtively at her cousin, and the banker's wife easily detected a /crescendo/ of surprise and curiosity in her mind.

Monsieur Charles Grandet, a handsome young man of twenty-two, presented at this moment a singular contrast to the worthy provincials, who, considerably disgusted by his aristocratic manners, were all studying him with sarcastic intent. This needs an explanation. At twenty-two, young people are still so near childhood that they often conduct themselves childishly. In all probability, out of every hundred of them fully ninety-nine would have behaved precisely as Monsieur Charles Grandet was now behaving.