Fromont and Risler -- Volume 2

hair by the window, take a deep interest in the people who pass, just as the

of vision, sometimes every day at the same hour, do not suspect that they serve as the mainspring of other lives,

n; her daughter's large armchair was a little farther away. She announced the approach of their daily passers- by. It was a diversion, a subject of conversation; and the long hours of toil seemed shorter, marked off by the regular appearance of

he little cripple's ears like a harsh echo of her own mournful thoughts. All these street friends

inundated the sidewalks or the December snow covered them with its white mantle and its patches of black mud, the appearance

were busily at work with needles and fingers, exhausting the daylight to its last ray, before lighting the lamp. They could hear the shouts of children playing in the yards

ening to all these noises of a great toiling city, taking delight in walking through the streets w

be seven o'clock. Who can that man be with the old cashier?-What a funny thing!-One would say-Why, yes!-One would say it was Monsieur Frantz. But that is

red mechanically by her mother, because of a chance resemblance, represented to her a whole lifetime of illusions, of fervent hopes, ephemeral as the flush that rose to her cheeks when, on returning home at night, he used to come and chat with her a moment. How far away that was already! To think that he used to li

eyes when he thought of her, fascinated Desiree in spite of everything, so that when he went away in despair, he left behind him a love even greater than that he carried with him-a lo

ness of that balmy evening. The blissful gleam from the past dies away as the last glimmer of dayli

. Who can it be? The Delobelles never receive calls. The mother, who has turned he

e to your place, Monsieu

belle has tak

eatures can be distinguished. He is a tall, solidly built fellow with a bronz

n't know me, M

ur Frantz," said Desiree, very

vens! it's Mo

uns to the lamp, lights i

she says it, the little rascal! "I knew you at once."

uth. She is very pale, and her hand as

her superb, as always, with a melancholy, weary expression in the de

bsence, risking his place and his future prospects; and, hurrying from steamships to railways, he had not stopped until he reached Paris. Reason enough for being weary, especially when one has tra

efore entering into that marriage, Risler had written to him to ask his permission to be happy, and had written in such touching, affectionate terms that the violence of the blow was somewhat diminished; and then, in due time, life in a strange country, hard

honor of the Rislers. He comes not as a lover, but

ain, relying upon the surprise, the unexpectedness, of his a

garden had been closed for two weeks. Pere Achille informed him that the ladies w

old Sigismond. But it was Saturday, the regular pay-day, and he must needs wait until the long line

ing himself once more in the midst of the animated scenes peculiar to that time and place. Upon all those faces, honest or vicious, was an expression of satisfacti

wait the coming of the blessed Sunday like a puff of refreshing air, essential to their health and their life. What an overflow of spirits, therefore, what a pressing nee

sappointments, mutterings, remonstrances, hours missed, money drawn in advance; and above the tinkling of coins, Sigismon

and the true. He knew that one man's wages were expended for his famil

hadows passing to and fro in front of the factory gateway-he knew what they were waiting for-that they

in old shawls, the shabby women, whose tear-stained fa

d in the depths of dark alleys, the dirty windows of the wine-shops where the

misery; but never had they seemed to him so

the state of affairs. He described Sidonie's conduct, her mad extravagance, the total wreck of the family honor. The Rislers had bought a country house at Asnieres, formerly the property of an actress, and had set up a sumptuous establishment there. They ha

he unhappy cashier, shaking h

his voice

all with his eyes in the air, his hands in his pockets, his mind on his famous invention, which unfortuna

living in a horrible dream. The rapid journey, the sudden change of scene and climate, the ceaseless flow of Sigismond's words, the new ide

plea of fatigue, and when he was left alone in the Marais, at that dismal and uncertain hour when the daylight

ng a placard: Bache

ecognized the map fastened to the wall by four pins, the window on the la

d only to push it a little

plexity it was like the harbor with its smooth, deep water, the sunny, peaceful quay, where the women work while awaiting their husbands and fathers, though the wind howls and the sea rages. More than

fferent things with him. As objects dipped in phosphorus shine with equal splendor, so the most trivial words she

eat animation while Mamma De

Frantz? Father has gone to take back the w

ely come ho

said it with

o many meals on credit at his restaurant that he dared not go there again. By way of compensation, he never failed, on Saturday, to bring home with him two or three unexpected, famished guests-"old comrades"-"

from the footlights, looked like an old street-arab; the fin

tic voice, clutching the air convulsively with his hands. After a

icart, of the

ezon, of the th

Risler,

hat word "engineer" as

n snapped his fingers at the thought. He had enough to do to unload his pockets. First of all, he produced a superb pie "for the ladies," he sai

sture forgotten by Parisians for ten years, Desiree thought with dismay of the enormous hole that impromptu banquet would make in the p

elle, who talked over with them old memories of their days of strolling. Fancy a collect

able triumphs; for all three of them, according to their own stories, had bee

s at a pasteboard supper, alternating words and mouthfuls, seeking to produce an effect by their manner of putting down a glass or moving a chair, and expre

rty years without becoming somewhat ac

and Desiree talked together in undertones, hearing naught of what was said around them. Things that happened in their childhood, anecdotes of the neighborhood, a whole il

ide, and Delobelle's terrible

ame. Such toilettes, my dear fellow, and such chic! I assure you. They have a genuine chateau at Asnieres. The Chebes are there also. Ah! my old friend, they have all left u

u know very well that we are too fond

e table a violent

to be offended with people who see

to furnish funds for his theatrical pro

er for a paltry sum to assure my future and himself a handsome profit. He flatly refused. Parbleu! Madame requires too much. She rides, goes to the races in her carriage, and drives her hus

and for a moment the three exchanged glances, conventional grimaces, 'ha-has!' and

ty assailed him on all sides. Sigismond had spoken in accordan

ee actors left the table and betook themselves to the brew

outflow of gratitude to Sidonie. She said to herself that, after all, it was to her generosity that

, I am very sure that Sidonie is incapable of all the evil she is accused of. I am sure that her heart has remained the same; and that she is still fond o

uched by the warmth she had displayed in defending Sidonie, by all the charming feminine excuses she put forward for her friend's silence and neglect, Frantz Risler reflected, with a feeling of selfish and ingenuous

wind which follow long sea voyages, he dreamed of his youthful days, of little Chebe and Desiree Delobelle, of their games, thei

realization of the duty that lay before him and to the anxieties of the day, he dreamed that it was time to

azybones

ral, too real for a dream, made h

otion; that it was Risler himself was evident from the fact that, in his joy at seeing his broth

raque, and he had hastened thither in joyful surprise, a little vexed that he had not been forewarned, and especially that Frantz had defrauded him of the first evening. His regret on that account came to the surface every moment in his spasmodic attempts at conversation, in

give myself leave of absence today. All thought of work is out of the question now that you have come, you

l of the Ecole Centrale had had a fine physique when he went away, but his features had acquired greater firmness, his shoulders were broader, and it was a far

rutinizing his brother, and, finding him the same as always, as ing

le-he has not ceased

woman, who deceived her husband so impudently and with such absolute impunity that she succeeded in causing him to be co

stand what I say-I forbid y

rancs each the last year; but it would be a different matter when the Press was at work. "A rotary press, my little Frantz, rotary and dodecagonal, capable of printing a pattern in twelve to fifteen colors at a single turn of the wheel-red on pink, dark green on light green, witho

, "have you invented this Press of your

the factory, up in the garret, and have my first machine made there secretly, under my own eyes. In three months the patents must be taken out and the Press must be at work. You'll see, my little Frant

nto society, very select society. The little one sang like a nightingale, thanks to Madame Dobson's expressive method. By the way, this Madame Dobson was another most excellent cr

the idea that any one could have suspected the open-heartedness, the loyalty, that were displayed before him in all t

anciful little turreted affair, glistening with a new blue slate roof. It seemed to him to ha

curtains could be seen from the railway, shining resplendent at the

pier and rocking to the slightest motion of the water. From her windows Sidonie could see the restaurants on the beach, silent through the week, but filled to overflowing on Sunday with a motley, noisy crowd, whose shouts of laughter, min

re. All the peddlers, handorgans, harpists; travelling jugglers, stopped there as at a quarantine station. The quay was crowded with them, and as they approached, the windows in the little houses near by were always thrown open, discl

th a great show of rickety carriages and borrowed postilions. All these things gave pleasure to that fanatical Parisian, Sidonie; and then, too, in her childhood, she had heard a great deal about Asnieres from the

little Chebe, Sidoni

the billiard-room, the gardener's lodge, a little greenhouse, made their appearance, like the pieces of one of the Swiss chalets we give to children to play with; all very

n with its long blinds raised. An American easy-chair, folding-chairs, a small table from which the coffee had not been re

king softly on the gravel; "she doesn't expect me until tonight

, he cried from the threshold

hom I've

her end of the grand salon Georges and Sidonie rose hastily behind the exotic plants that re

d me!" said Sidonie, r

, rolled in billows over the carpet, and, having already recovered from her embarrassment, she stood very straight, with an

rning, b

r, and went up to Fromont Jeune, whom

here? I supposed y

came-I thought you sta

k to you on a ma

e had disappeared after exchanging a few unmeaning words with the impassive Frantz. Madame Dobson co

is partner for not being at home, and insisted upon showing Frantz the house. They went from the salon to the stable, from the stable t

th a certain pride, "i

floor, the improved system of bells, the garden seats, the English billiard- table, the hydropathic arrangements, and accompanied his ex

Fromont shrank visibly, ashamed and embarrass

t was lackin

f Frantz, a former lover furious at finding his place filled, and the anxiety of Georges, due to the appearance of a rival; and she encouraged one with a glance, consoled the other with a smile, admired Sidonie's tranquil demeanor, and re

that his dear Madame Chorche would pass her Sunday all alone; and so, without an opportunity to say a word to his mistress, the lover we

ing that she was in the way, she returned to the salon, and as before, while Georges was there, began to play and sing softly and with

es with her hand as she watched the people passing on the quay. Frantz likewise looked out, but in another direction; and both of the

to you," he said, just

gravely; "but come in here;

r a little summer-house

ITOR'S B

ne day's rest a

ives and fo

ise allow their real

horizon of the neigh

forehead os