Duroy moved his effects to the apartments in Rue de Constantinople. Two or three times a week, Mme. de- Marelle paid him visits. Duroy, to counterbalance them, dined at her house every Thursday, and delighted her husband by talking agriculture to him.
It was almost the end of February. Duroy was free from care. One night, when he returned home, he found a letter under his door. He examined the postmark; it was from Cannes. Having opened it, he read:
'Cannes, Villa Jolie.'
'Dear sir and friend: You told me, did you not, that I could count upon you at any time? Very well. I have a favor to ask of you; it is to come and help me--not to leave me alone during Charles's last moments. He may not live through the week, although he is not confined to his bed, but the doctor has warned me. I have not the strength nor the courage to see that agony day and night, and I think with terror of the approaching end I can only ask such a thing of you, for my husband has no relatives. You were his comrade; he helped you to your position; come, I beg of you; I have no one else to ask.'
'Your friend,'
'Madeleine Forestier.'
Georges murmured: 'Certainly I will go. Poor Charles!'
The manager, to whom he communicated the contents of that letter, grumblingly gave his consent. He repeated: 'But return speedily, you are indispensable to us.'
Georges Duroy left for Cannes the next day by the seven o'clock express, after having warned Mme. de Marelle by telegram. He arrived the following day at four o'clock in the afternoon. A commissionnaire conducted him to Villa Jolie. The house was small and low, and of the Italian style of architecture.
A servant opened the door and cried: 'Oh, sir, Madame is awaiting you patiently.'
Duroy asked: 'How is your master?'
'Not very well, sir. He will not be here long.'
The floor of the drawing-room which the young man entered was covered with a Persian rug; the large windows looked upon the village and the sea.
Duroy murmured: 'How cozy it is here! Where the deuce do they get the money from?'
The rustling of a gown caused him to turn. Mme. Forestier extended both her hands, saying:
'How kind of you to come.'
She was a trifle paler and thinner, but still as bright as ever, and perhaps prettier for being more delicate. She whispered: 'It is terrible--he knows he cannot be saved and he tyrannizes over me. I have told him of your arrival. But where is your trunk?'
Duroy replied: 'I left it at the station, not knowing which hotel you would advise me to stop at, in order to be near you.'
She hesitated, then said: 'You must stop here, at the villa. Your chamber is ready. He might die any moment, and if it should come in the night, I would be alone. I will send for your luggage.'
He bowed. 'As you will.'
'Now, let us go upstairs,' said she; he followed her. She opened a door on the first floor, and Duroy saw a form near a window, seated in an easy-chair, and wrapped in coverlets. He divined that it was his friend, though he scarcely recognized him. Forestier raised his hand slowly and with difficulty, saying:
'You are here; you have come to see me die. I am much obliged.'
Duroy forced a smile. 'To see you die? That would not be a very pleasant sight, and I would not choose that occasion on which to visit Cannes. I came here to rest.'
'Sit down,' said Forestier, and he bowed his head as if deep in hopeless meditation. Seeing that he did not speak, his wife approached the window and pointing to the horizon, said, 'Look at that? Is it not beautiful?'
In spite of himself Duroy felt the grandeur of the closing day and exclaimed: 'Yes, indeed, it is magnificent'
Forestier raised his head and said to his wife: 'Give me more air.'
She replied: 'You must be careful; it is late, the sun is setting; you will catch more cold and that would be a serious thing in your condition.'
He made a feeble gesture of anger with his right hand, and said: 'I tell you I am suffocating! What difference does it make if I die a day sooner or later, since I must die?'
She opened the window wide. The air was soft and balmy. Forestier inhaled it in feverish gasps. He grasped the arms of his chair and said in a low voice: 'Shut the window. I would rather die in a cellar.'
His wife slowly closed the window, then leaned her brow against the pane and looked out. Duroy, ill at ease, wished to converse with the invalid to reassure him, but he could think of no words of comfort. He stammered: 'Have you not been better since you are here?'
His friend shrugged his shoulders impatiently: 'You will see very soon.' And he bowed his head again.
Duroy continued: 'At home it is still wintry. It snows, hails, rains, and is so dark that they have to light the lamps at three o'clock in the afternoon.'
Forestier asked: 'Is there anything new at the office?'
'Nothing. They have taken little Lacrin of the 'Voltaire' to fill your place, but he is incapable. It is time you came back.'
The invalid muttered: 'I? I will soon be writing under six feet of sod.' A long silence ensued.
Mme. Forestier did not stir; she stood with her back to the room, her face toward the window. At length Forestier broke the silence in a gasping voice, heartrending to listen to: 'How many more sunsets shall I see-- eight--ten--fifteen--twenty--or perhaps thirty--no more. You have more time, you two--as for me--all is at an end. And everything will go on when I am gone as if I were here.' He paused a few moments, then continued: 'Everything that I see reminds me that I shall not see them long. It is horrible. I shall no longer see the smallest objects--the glasses--the dishes--the beds on which we rest--the carriages. It is fine to drive in the evening. How I loved all that.'
Again Norbert de Varenne's words occurred to Duroy. The room grew dark. Forestier asked irritably:
'Are we to have no lamp to-night? That is what is called caring for an invalid!'
The form outlined against the window disappeared and an electric bell was heard to ring. A servant soon entered and placed a lamp upon the mantel-piece. Mme. Forestier asked her husband: 'Do you wish to retire, or will you go downstairs to dinner?'
'I will go down to dinner.'
The meal seemed to Duroy interminable, for there was no conversation, only the ticking of a clock broke the silence. When they had finished, Duroy, pleading fatigue, retired to his room and tried in vain to invent some pretext for returning home as quickly as possible. He consoled himself by saying: 'Perhaps it will not be for long.'
The next morning Georges rose early and strolled down to the beach. When he returned the servant said to him: 'Monsieur has asked for you two or three times. Will you go upstairs?'
He ascended the stairs. Forestier appeared to be in a chair; his wife, reclining upon a couch, was reading. The invalid raised his head. Duroy asked:
'Well, how are you? You look better this morning.'
Forestier murmured: 'Yes, I am better and stronger. Lunch as hastily as you can with Madeleine, because we are going to take a drive.'
When Mme. Forestier was alone with Duroy, she said to him: 'You see, to-day he thinks he is better! He is making plans for to-morrow. We are now going to Gulf Juan to buy pottery for our rooms in Paris. He is determined to go, but he cannot stand the jolting on the road.'
The carriage arrived, Forestier descended the stairs, step by step, supported by his servant. When he saw the closed landau, he wanted it uncovered. His wife opposed him: 'It is sheer madness! You will take cold.'
He persisted: 'No, I am going to be better, I know it.'
They first drove along a shady road and then took the road by the sea. Forestier explained the different points of interest. Finally they arrived at a pavilion over which were these words: 'Gulf Juan Art Pottery,' and the carriage drew up at the door. Forestier wanted to buy a vase to put on his bookcase. As he could not leave the carriage, they brought the pieces to him one by one. It took him a long time to choose, consulting his wife and Duroy: 'You know it is for my study. From my easy-chair I can see it constantly. I prefer the ancient form--the Greek.'
At length he made his choice. 'I shall return to Paris in a few days,' said he.
On their way home along the gulf a cool breeze suddenly sprang up, and the invalid began to cough. At first it
