Something sweet entered into his heart with this hope, something warm and good seemed to melt within him, rendering him light of heart and healthier in feeling. He smiled, still without speaking.
Cachelin, intoxicated with joy, transported at the thought of his fine prospects, continued:
“Who knows, we may gain some political influence. Perhaps you will be deputy. At all events, we can see the society of the neighbourhood, and enjoy some luxuries. And you shall have a little pony to convey you every morning to the station.” These images of luxury, of elegance and prosperity aroused the drooping spirits of Lesable. The thought that he could be driven in his own carriage, like the rich people he had so often envied, filled him with satisfaction, and he could not refrain from exclaiming: “Ah, that will be delightful indeed.”
Cora, seeing him won over, smiled tenderly and gratefully, and Cachelin, who saw no obstacles now in the way of indulgence, declared: “We will dine at the restaurant, to celebrate the happy event.”
When they reached home, the two men were a little tipsy, and Lesable, who saw double and whose ideas were all topsy-turvy, could not find his bedroom. He made his way by mistake, or forgetfulness, into the long vacant bed of his wife. And all night long it seemed to him that the bed oscillated like a boat, rolling and pitching as though it would upset. He was even a little seasick.
He was surprised on awaking to find Cora in his arms. She opened her eyes with a smile and kissed him with a sudden effusion of gratitude and affection. Then she said to him, in that caressing voice which women employ in their cajoleries: “If you wish to be very nice, you will not go to your office today. There is no need to be so punctual now that we are going to be rich, and we will make a little visit to the country, all by ourselves.”
Lesable was content to remain quiet, with the feeling for self-indulgence which follows an evening of excess, and the warmth of the bed was grateful. He felt the drowsy wish to lie a long time, to do nothing more but to live in tranquil idleness. An unusual sloth paralyzed his soul and subdued his body, and one vague, happy, and continuous thought never left him—“He was going to be rich, independent.”
But suddenly a fear seized him, and he whispered softly, as if he thought the walls might hear him: “Are you very sure you are pregnant, after all?”
She reassured him at once. “Oh, yes! I am certain of it. I could not be mistaken.”
And, as if still doubting, he traced the outline of her figure with his hand, and feeling convinced declared: “Yes, it is true—but you will not be brought to bed before the date. They will contest our right on that account, perhaps.”
At this supposition she grew angry.
“Oh, no indeed, they are not going to trick us now after so much misery, so much trouble, and so many efforts. Oh, no, indeed!” She was overwhelmed with indignation. “Let us go at once to the notary,” she said.
But his advice was to get a physician’s certificate first, and they presented themselves again to Dr. Lefilleul.
He recognized them immediately, and exclaimed: “Ah well, have you succeeded?”
They both blushed up to their ears, and Cora a little shamefacedly stammered: “I believe we have, doctor.”
The doctor rubbed his hands, crying: “I expected it, I expected it. The means I recommended to you never fail; at least, only from some radical incapacity of one of the parties.”
When he had made an examination of the young wife, he declared: “It is true, bravo!” and he wrote on a sheet of paper:
“I, the undersigned, doctor of medicine, of the Faculty of Paris, certify that Madame Léopold Lesable, née Cachelin, presents all the symptoms of pregnancy, dating from over three months.”
Then, turning toward Lesable: “And you,” he said, “how is that chest and that heart?” and having made an auscultation, he declared that the patient was entirely cured. They set out happy and joyous, arm in arm, with elastic steps. But on the route Léopold had an idea. “We had better go home before we see the lawyer, and rearrange your dress; you’ll put two or three towels under your belt, it will draw attention to it and that will be better; he will not believe then that we are trying to gain time.”
They returned home, and he himself undressed his wife in order to adjust the deception. Ten consecutive times Lesable changed the position of the towels, and stepped back some paces to get the proper effect, wishing to obtain an absolutely perfect resemblance. Satisfied with the result at last, they set out again, and walked proudly through the streets, Lesable carrying himself with the air of one whose virility was established and patent to all the world.
The notary received them kindly. Then he listened to their explanation, ran his eye over the certificate, and, as Lesable insisted, “For the rest, Monsieur, it is only necessary to glance for a second,” he threw a convinced look on the telltale figure of the young woman.
There was a moment of anxious suspense, when the man of law declared: “Assuredly, whether the infant is born or to be born, it exists, it lives; so we will suspend the execution of the testament till the confinement of Madame.”
After leaving the office of the notary, they embraced each other on the stairway, so exuberant was their joy.
VII
From the moment of this happy discovery, the three relatives lived in the most perfect accord. They were good-humoured, reasonable, and kind. Cachelin had recovered all his old gaiety, and Cora loaded her husband with attentions. Lesable also seemed like another man, and more gay than he had ever been in his life. Maze came less often,
