"Your charming neighbor"(Mme.d'Espard glanced at Mme.de Montcornet)"was a Troisville;there are two peers of France in the family and two deputies.She made a wealthy marriage with her name;she sees a great deal of society at her house;she has influence,she will move the political world for young M.Blondet.Where will a Coralie take you?
In a few years'time you will be hopelessly in debt and weary of pleasure.You have chosen badly in love,and you are arranging your life ill.The woman whom you delight to wound was at the Opera the other night,and this was how she spoke of you.She deplored the way in which you were throwing away your talent and the prime of youth;she was thinking of you,and not of herself,all the while.""Ah!if you were only telling me the truth,madame!"cried Lucien.
"What object should I have in telling lies?"returned the Marquise,with a glance of cold disdain which annihilated him.He was so dashed by it,that the conversation dropped,for the Marquise was offended,and said no more.
Lucien was nettled by her silence,but he felt that it was due to his own clumsiness,and promised himself that he would repair his error.
He turned to Mme.de Montcornet and talked to her of Blondet,extolling that young writer for her benefit.The Countess was gracious to him,and asked him (at a sign from Mme.d'Espard)to spend an evening at her house.It was to be a small and quiet gathering to which only friends were invited--Mme.de Bargeton would be there in spite of her mourning;Lucien would be pleased,she was sure,to meet Mme.de Bargeton.
"Mme.la Marquise says that all the wrong is on my side,"said Lucien;"so surely it rests with her cousin,does it not,to decide whether she will meet me?""Put an end to those ridiculous attacks,which only couple her name with the name of a man for whom she does not care at all,and you will soon sign a treaty of peace.You thought that she had used you ill,Iam told,but I myself have seen her in sadness because you had forsaken her.Is it true that she left the provinces on your account?"Lucien smiled;he did not venture to make any other reply.
"Oh!how could you doubt the woman who made such sacrifices for you?
Beautiful and intellectual as she is,she deserves besides to be loved for her own sake;and Mme.de Bargeton cared less for you than for your talents.Believe me,women value intellect more than good looks,"added the Countess,stealing a glance at Emile Blondet.
In the Minister's hotel Lucien could see the differences between the great world and that other world beyond the pale in which he had lately been living.There was no sort of resemblance between the two kinds of splendor,no single point in common.The loftiness and disposition of the rooms in one of the handsomest houses in the Faubourg Saint-Germain,the ancient gilding,the breadth of decorative style,the subdued richness of the accessories,all this was strange and new to him;but Lucien had learned very quickly to take luxury for granted,and he showed no surprise.His behavior was as far removed from assurance or fatuity on the one hand as from complacency and servility upon the other.His manner was good;he found favor in the eyes of all who were not prepared to be hostile,like the younger men,who resented his sudden intrusion into the great world,and felt jealous of his good looks and his success.
When they rose from table,he offered his arm to Mme.d'Espard,and was not refused.Rastignac,watching him,saw that the Marquise was gracious to Lucien,and came in the character of a fellow-countryman to remind the poet that they had met once before at Mme.du Val-Noble's.The young patrician seemed anxious to find an ally in the great man from his own province,asked Lucien to breakfast with him some morning,and offered to introduce him to some young men of fashion.Lucien was nothing loath.
"The dear Blondet is coming,"said Rastignac.
The two were standing near the Marquis de Ronquerolles,the Duc de Rhetore,de Marsay,and General Montriveau.The Minister came across to join the group.
"Well,"said he,addressing Lucien with a bluff German heartiness that concealed his dangerous subtlety;"well,so you have made your peace with Mme.d'Espard;she is delighted with you,and we all know,"he added,looking round the group,"how difficult it is to please her.""Yes,but she adores intellect,"said Rastignac,"and my illustrious fellow-countryman has wit enough to sell.""He will soon find out that he is not doing well for himself,"Blondet put in briskly."He will come over;he will soon be one of us."Those who stood about Lucien rang the changes on this theme;the older and responsible men laid down the law with one or two profound remarks;the younger ones made merry at the expense of the Liberals.
"He simply tossed up head or tails for Right or Left,I am sure,"remarked Blondet,"but now he will choose for himself."Lucien burst out laughing;he thought of his talk with Lousteau that evening in the Luxembourg Gardens.
"He has taken on a bear-leader,"continued Blondet,"one Etienne Lousteau,a newspaper hack who sees a five-franc piece in a column.
Lousteau's politics consist in a belief that Napoleon will return,and (and this seems to me to be still more simple)in a confidence in the gratitude and patriotism of their worships the gentlemen of the Left.
As a Rubempre,Lucien's sympathies should lean towards the aristocracy;as a journalist,he ought to be for authority,or he will never be either Rubempre or a secretary-general."The Minister now asked Lucien to take a hand at whist;but,to the great astonishment of those present,he declared that he did not know the game.
