The functionaries at the box office grew serious again as Lucien followed Mme.de Bargeton.On their way up the great staircase the lady introduced M.de Rubempre to her cousin.The box belonging to the First Gentleman of the Bedchamber is situated in one of the angles at the back of the house,so that its occupants see and are seen all over the theatre.Lucien took his seat on a chair behind Mme.de Bargeton,thankful to be in the shadow.
"M.de Rubempre,"said the Marquise with flattering graciousness,"this is your first visit to the Opera,is it not?You must have a view of the house;take this seat,sit in front of the box;we give you permission."Lucien obeyed as the first act came to an end.
"You have made good use of your time,"Louise said in his ear,in her first surprise at the change in his appearance.
Louise was still the same.The near presence of the Marquise d'Espard,a Parisian Mme.de Bargeton,was so damaging to her;the brilliancy of the Parisienne brought out all the defects in her country cousin so clearly by contrast;that Lucien,looking out over the fashionable audience in the superb building,and then at the great lady,was twice enlightened,and saw poor Anais de Negrepelisse as she really was,as Parisians saw her--a tall,lean,withered woman,with a pimpled face and faded complexion;angular,stiff,affected in her manner;pompous and provincial in her speech;and,and above all these things,dowdily dressed.As a matter of fact,the creases in an old dress from Paris still bear witness to good taste,you can tell what the gown was meant for;but an old dress made in the country is inexplicable,it is a thing to provoke laughter.There was neither charm nor freshness about the dress or its wearer;the velvet,like the complexion had seen wear.Lucien felt ashamed to have fallen in love with this cuttle-fish bone,and vowed that he would profit by Louise's next fit of virtue to leave her for good.Having an excellent view of the house,he could see the opera-glasses pointed at the aristocratic box par excellence.
The best-dressed women must certainly be scrutinizing Mme.de Bargeton,for they smiled and talked among themselves.
If Mme.d'Espard knew the object of their sarcasms from those feminine smiles and gestures,she was perfectly insensible to them.In the first place,anybody must see that her companion was a poor relation from the country,an affliction with which any Parisian family may be visited.And,in the second,when her cousin had spoken to her of her dress with manifest misgivings,she had reassured Anais,seeing that,when once properly dressed,her relative would very easily acquire the tone of Parisian society.If Mme.de Bargeton needed polish,on the other hand she possessed the native haughtiness of good birth,and that indescribable something which may be called "pedigree."So,on Monday her turn would come.And,moreover,the Marquise knew that as soon as people learned that the stranger was her cousin,they would suspend their banter and look twice before they condemned her.
Lucien did not foresee the change in Louise's appearance shortly to be worked by a scarf about her throat,a pretty dress,an elegant coiffure,and Mme.d'Espard's advice.As they came up the staircase even now,the Marquise told her cousin not to hold her handkerchief unfolded in her hand.Good or bad taste turns upon hundreds of such almost imperceptible shades,which a quick-witted woman discerns at once,while others will never grasp them.Mme.de Bargeton,plentifully apt,was more than clever enough to discover her shortcomings.Mme.d'Espard,sure that her pupil would do her credit,did not decline to form her.In short,the compact between the two women had been confirmed by self-interest on either side.
Mme.de Bargeton,enthralled,dazzled,and fascinated by her cousin's manner,wit,and acquaintances,had suddenly declared herself a votary of the idol of the day.She had discerned the signs of the occult power exerted by the ambitious great lady,and told herself that she could gain her end as the satellite of this star,so she had been outspoken in her admiration.The Marquise was not insensible to the artlessly admitted conquest.She took an interest in her cousin,seeing that she was weak and poor;she was,besides,not indisposed to take a pupil with whom to found a school,and asked nothing better than to have a sort of lady-in-waiting in Mme.de Bargeton,a dependent who would sing her praises,a treasure even more scarce among Parisian women than a staunch and loyal critic among the literary tribe.The flutter of curiosity in the house was too marked to be ignored,however,and Mme.d'Espard politely endeavored to turn her cousin's mind from the truth.
"If any one comes to our box,"she said,"perhaps we may discover the cause to which we owe the honor of the interest that these ladies are taking----""I have a strong suspicion that it is my old velvet gown and Angoumoisin air which Parisian ladies find amusing,"Mme.de Bargeton answered,laughing.
"No,it is not you;it is something that I cannot explain,"she added,turning to the poet,and,as she looked at him for the first time,it seemed to strike her that he was singularly dressed.
"There is M.du Chatelet,"exclaimed Lucien at that moment,and he pointed a finger towards Mme.de Serizy's box,which the renovated beau had just entered.
Mme.de Bargeton bit her lips with chagrin as she saw that gesture,and saw besides the Marquise's ill-suppressed smile of contemptuous astonishment."Where does the young man come from?"her look said,and Louise felt humbled through her love,one of the sharpest of all pangs for a Frenchwoman,a mortification for which she cannot forgive her lover.
