rested upon his arm. She asked:
'Would you like a glass of champagne? We will go to the buffet; we shall find papa there.'
Slowly they traversed the crowded rooms. Suddenly Georges heard a voice say: 'That is Laroche and Mme. du Roy.'
He turned and saw his wife passing upon the minister's arm. They were talking in low tones and smiling into each other's eyes. He fancied he saw some people whisper, as they gazed at them, and he felt a desire to fall upon those two beings and smite them to the earth. His wife was making a laughing-stock of him. Who was she? A shrewd little parvenue, that was all. He could never make his way with a wife who compromised him. She would be a stumbling-block in his path. Ah, if he had foreseen, if he had known. He would have played for higher stakes. What a brilliant match he might have made with little Suzanne! How could he have been so blind?
They reached the dining-room with its marble columns and walls hung with old Gobelins tapestry. Walter spied his editor, and hastened to shake hands. He was beside himself with joy. 'Have you seen everything? Say, Suzanne, have you shown him everything? What a lot of people, eh? Have you seen Prince de Guerche? he just drank a glass of punch.' Then he pounced upon Senator Rissolin and his wife.
A gentleman greeted Suzanne--a tall, slender man with fair whiskers and a worldly air. Georges heard her call him Marquis de Cazolles, and he was suddenly inspired with jealousy. How long had she known him? Since she had become wealthy no doubt. He saw in him a possible suitor. Some one seized his arm. It was Norbert de Varenne. The old poet said: 'This is what they call amusing themselves. After a while they will dance, then they will retire, and the young girls will be satisfied. Take some champagne; it is excellent.'
Georges scarcely heard his words. He was looking for Suzanne, who had gone off with the Marquis de Cazolles; he left Norbert de Varenne abruptly and went in pursuit of the young girl. The thirsty crowd stopped him; when he had made his way through it, he found himself face to face with M. and Mme. de Marelle. He had often met the wife, but he had not met the husband for some time; the latter grasped both of his hands and thanked him for the message he had sent him by Clotilde relative to the stocks.
Du Roy replied: 'In exchange for that service I shall take your wife, or rather offer her my arm. Husband and wife should always be separated.'
M. de Marelle bowed. 'Very well. If I lose you we can meet here again in an hour.'
The two young people disappeared in the crowd, followed by the husband. Mme. de Marelle said: 'There are two girls who will have twenty or thirty millions each, and Suzanne is pretty in the bargain.'
He made no reply; his own thought coming from the lips of another irritated him. He took Clotilde to see the painting. As they crossed the conservatory he saw his wife seated near Laroche-Mathieu, both of them almost hidden behind a group of plants. They seemed to say: 'We are having a meeting in public, for we do not care for the world's opinion.'
Mme. de Marelle admired Karl Marcovitch's painting, and they turned to repair to the other rooms. They were separated from M. de Marelle. He asked: 'Is Laurine still vexed with me?'
'Yes. She refuses to see you and goes away when you are mentioned.'
He did not reply. The child's sudden enmity grieved and annoyed him.
Suzanne met them at a door and cried: 'Oh, here you are! Now, Bel- Ami, you are going to be left alone, for I shall take Clotilde to see my room.' And the two women glided through the throng. At that moment a voice at his side murmured: 'Georges!'
It was Mme. Walter. She continued in a low voice: 'How cruel you are! How needlessly you inflict suffering upon me. I bade Suzanne take that woman away that I might have a word with you. Listen: I must speak to you this evening--or--or--you do not know what I shall do. Go into the conservatory. You will find a door to the left through which you can reach the garden. Follow the walk directly in front of you. At the end of it you will see an arbor. Expect me in ten minutes. If you do not meet me, I swear I will cause a scandal here at once!'
He replied haughtily: 'Very well, I shall be at the place you named in ten minutes.'
But Jacques Rival detained him. When he reached the alley, he saw Mme. Walter in front of him; she cried: 'Ah, here you are! Do you wish to kill me?'
He replied calmly: 'I beseech you, none of that, or I shall leave you at once.'
Throwing her arms around his neck, she exclaimed: 'What have I done to you that you should treat me so?'
He tried to push her away: 'You twisted your hair around my coat buttons the last time we met, and it caused trouble between my wife and myself.'
She shook her head: 'Ah, your wife would not care. It was one of your mistresses who made a scene.'
'I have none.'
'Indeed! Why do you never come to see me? Why do you refuse to dine with me even once a week? I have no other thoughts than of you. I suffer terribly. You cannot understand that your image, always present, closes my throat, stifles me, and leaves me scarcely strength enough to move my limbs in order to walk. So I remain all day in my chair thinking of you.'
He looked at her in astonishment. These were the words of a desperate woman, capable of anything. He, however, cherished a vague project and replied: 'My dear, love is not eternal. One loves and one ceases to love. When it lasts it becomes a drawback. I want none of it! However, if you will be reasonable, and will receive and treat me as a friend, I will come to see you as formerly. Can you do that?'
She murmured: 'I can do anything in order to see you.'
'Then it is agreed that we are to be friends, nothing more.'
She gasped: 'It is agreed'; offering him her lips she cried in her despair: 'One more kiss--one last kiss!'
He gently drew back. 'No, we must adhere to our rules.'
She turned her head and wiped away two tears, then drawing from her bosom a package of notes tied with pink ribbon, she held it toward Du Roy: 'Here is your share of the profits in that Moroccan affair. I was so glad to make it for you. Here, take it.'
He refused: 'No, I cannot accept that money.'
She became excited: 'Oh, you will not refuse it now! It is yours, yours alone. If you do not take it, I will throw it in the sewer. You will not refuse it, Georges!'
He took the package and slipped it into his pocket 'We must return to the house; you will take cold.'
'So much the better; if I could but die!'
She seized his hand, kissed it passionately, and fled toward the house. He returned more leisurely, and entered the conservatory with head erect and smiling lips. His wife and Laroche were no longer there. The crowd had grown thinner. Suzanne, leaning on her sister's arm, advanced toward him. In a few moments, Rose, whom they teased about a certain Count, turned upon her heel and left them.
Du Roy, finding himself alone with Suzanne, said in a caressing voice: 'Listen, my dear little one; do you really consider me a friend?'
'Why, yes, Bel-Ami.'
'You have faith in me?'
'Perfect faith.'
'Do you remember what I said to you a while since?'
'About what?'
'About your, marriage, or rather the man you would marry.'
'Yes.'
'Well, will you promise me one thing?'
'Yes; what is it?'
'To consult me when you receive a proposal and to accept no one without asking my advice.'
'Yes, I will gladly.'
'And it is to be a secret between us--not a word to your father or mother.'
'Not a word.'
Rival approached them saying: 'Mademoiselle, your father wants you in the ballroom.'
She said: 'Come, Bel-Ami,' but he refused, for he had decided to leave at once, wishing to be alone with his thoughts. He went in search of his wife, and found her drinking chocolate at the buffet with two strange men. She introduced her husband without naming them.
In a short while, he asked: 'Shall we go?'
