“I said to Emma two or three times:
“ ‘Above all things, don’t make any noise on the stairs,’ to which she replied, laughing:
“ ‘Are you afraid of being heard?’
“ ‘No,’ I said, ‘but I am afraid of waking the man who sleeps in the room next to me, who is not at all well.’
“When I got near the house I felt as frightened as a man does who is going to the dentist’s. All the windows were dark, so no doubt everybody was asleep, and I breathed again. I opened the door as carefully as a thief, let my fair companion in, shut it behind me, and went upstairs on tiptoe, holding my breath, and striking wax-matches lest the girl should make a false step.
“As we passed the landlady’s door I felt my heart beating very quickly. But we reached the second floor, then the third, and at last the fifth, and got into my room. Victory!
“However, I only dared to speak in a whisper, and took off my boots so as not to make any noise. The tea, which I made over a spirit-lamp, was soon drunk, and then I became pressing, till little by little, as if in play, I, one by one, took off my companion’s garments. She yielded while resisting, blushing, confused.
“She had absolutely nothing on except a short white petticoat when my door suddenly opened, and Mme. Kergaran appeared with a candle in her hand, in exactly the same costume as Emma.
“I jumped away from her and remained standing, looking at the two women, who were looking at each other. What was going to happen?
“My landlady said, in a lofty tone of voice which I had never heard from her before:
“ ‘Monsieur Kervelen, I will not have prostitutes in my house.’
“ ‘But, Madame Kergaran,’ I stammered, ‘the young lady is a friend of mine. She just came in to have a cup of tea.’
“ ‘People don’t take tea in their chemises. You will please make this person go directly.’
“Emma, in a natural state of consternation, began to cry, and hid her face in her petticoat, and I lost my head, not knowing what to do or say. My landlady added, with irresistible authority:
“ ‘Help her to dress, and take her out at once.’
“It was certainly the only thing I could do, so I picked up her dress from the floor where it had collapsed in a heap like a deflated balloon, put it over her head, and began to fasten it as best I could. She helped me, crying all the time, hurrying and making all sorts of mistakes and unable to find either buttonholes or laces, while Mme. Kergaran stood by motionless, with the candle in her hand, looking at us with the severity of a judge.
“Emma now began to hurry feverishly, throwing her things on at random, tying, pinning, lacing and fastening in a frenzy, goaded on by the irresistible desire for flight, and without even stopping to button her boots, she rushed past the landlady and ran downstairs. I followed her in my slippers and half undressed, and kept repeating: ‘Mademoiselle! Mademoiselle!’
“I felt that I ought to say something to her, but I could not find anything. I overtook her just by the street-door, and tried to take her into my arms, but she pushed me violently away, saying in a low, nervous voice:
“ ‘Leave me alone, leave me alone!’ and so ran out into the street, closing the door behind her.
“When I went upstairs again I found that Mme. Kergaran was waiting on the first landing. I went up slowly, expecting, and ready for, anything.
“Her door was open, and she called me in, saying in severe voice:
“ ‘I want to speak to you, M. Kervelen.’
“I went in, with my head bent. She put her candle on the mantlepiece, and then, folding her arms over her expansive bosom, which a fine white dressing-jacket hardly covered, she said:
“ ‘So, Monsieur Kervelen, you think my house is a house of ill-fame?’
“I was not at all proud. I murmured:
“ ‘Oh dear, no! But, Mme. Kergaran, you must not be angry; you know what young men are.’
“ ‘I know,’ was her answer, ‘that I will not have such creatures here, so you will understand that. I expect to have my house respected, and I will not have it lose its reputation, you understand me? I know—’
“She went on thus for at least twenty minutes, overwhelming me with the good name of her house, with reasons for her indignation, and loading me with severe reproofs.
“Men are curious creatures. Instead of listening to her, I was looking at her, and did not hear a word, not a word she said. She had a superb bosom, firm, white and plump, perhaps a little too plump, but tempting enough to send shivers down one’s spine. I should never have dreamed that anything so charming was concealed beneath the woollen dress of my landlady. She looked ten years younger when undressed. I began to feel queer … shall I say … moved? I suddenly found myself picking up with her the threads of the situation she had disturbed fifteen minutes previously in my bedroom.
“Behind her, in the alcove, I could see her bed, with the sheets rolled down, tossed, showing a hollow place where her body had pressed. And I thought it must be very nice, very warm there, much warmer than in any other bed, no doubt because of the opulent charms that rested there.
“What could be more charming, more disturbing, than an unmade bed? This one, even from a distance, intoxicated me, and made my flesh tingle.
“She was still talking, but
