8Paul had not been the only watcher; for at the sound of the carriagewheels the ancient portress took up her position in the doorway, withher eyes fixed on the face of the young lady. When the two women hadascended the stairs, a sudden inspiration seized her, and she went outand spoke to the cabman.
"Nasty night," remarked she; "I don't envy you in such weather asthis.""You may well say that," replied the driver; "my feet are like lumpsof ice.""Have you come far?""Rather; I picked them up in the Champs Elysees, near the Avenue deMatignon.""That is a distance.""Yes; and only five sous for drink money. Hang your respectablewomen!""Oh! they are respectable, are they?""I'll answer for that. The other lot are far more open-handed. I knowboth of them."And with these words and a knowing wink, he touched up his horse anddrove away; and the portress, only half satisfied, went back to herlodge.
"Why that is the quarter where all the swells live," murmured she.
"I'll tip the maid next time, and she'll let out everything."After Paul's departure, Andre could not remain quiet; for it appearedto him as if each second was a century. He had thrown open the door ofhis studio, and ran to the head of the stairs at every sound.
At last their footsteps really sounded on the steps. The sweetestmusic in the world is the rustle of the beloved one's dress. Leaningover the banisters, he gazed fondly down. Soon she appeared, and in ashort time had gained the open door of the studio.
"You see, Andre," said she, extending her hand, "you see that I amtrue to my time."Pale, and trembling with emotion, Andre pressed the little hand to hislips.
"Ah! Mademoiselle Sabine, how kind you are! Thanks, a thousandthanks."Yes, it was indeed Sabine, the scion of the lordly house of Mussidan,who had come to visit the poor foundling of the Hotel de Vendome inhis studio, and who thus risked all that was most precious to her inthe world, her honor and her reputation. Yes, regardless of theconventionalities among which she had been reared, dared to cross thatsocial abyss which separates the Avenue de Matignon from the Rue de laTour d'Auvergne. Cold reason finds no excuse for such a step, but theheart can easily solve this seeming riddle. Sabine and Andre had beenlovers for more than two years. Their first acquaintance had commencedat the Chateau de Mussidan. At the end of the summer of 1865, Andre,whose constant application to work had told upon his health,determined to take a change, when his master, Jean Lanier, called him,and said,--"If you wish for a change, and at the same time to earn three or fourhundred francs, now is your time. An architect has written to me,asking me for a skilled stone carver, to do some work in the countryat a magnificent mansion in the midst of the most superb scenery.
Would you care about undertaking this?"The proposal was a most acceptable one to Andre, and in a week's timehe was on his way to his work with a prospect of living for a month inpure country air. Upon his arrival at the Chateau, he made a thoroughexamination of the work with which he had been entrusted. He saw thathe could finish it with perfect ease, for it was only to restore thecarved work on a balcony, which would not take more than a fortnight.
He did not, however, press on the work, for the beautiful sceneryenchanted him.
He made many exquisite sketches, and his health began to return tohim. But there was another reason why he was in no haste to completehis task, one which he hardly ventured even to confess to himself: hehad caught a glimpse of a young girl in the park of the Chateau whohad caused a new feeling to spring up in his heart. It was Sabine deMussidan. The Count, as the season came on, had gone to Germany, theCountess had flitted away to Luzon, and the daughter was sent to thedull old country mansion in charge of her old aunt. It was the old,old story; two young hearts loving with all the truth and energy oftheir natures. They had exchanged a few words on their first meeting,and on the next Sabine went on to the balcony and watched the rapidplay of Andre's chisel with childish delight. For a long time theyconversed, and Sabine was surprised at the education and refinement ofthe young workman. Utterly fresh, and without experience, Sabine couldnot understand her new sensations. Andre held, one night, a longconverse with himself, and was at last obliged to confess that heloved her fondly. He ran the extent of his folly and madness, andrecognized the barrier of birth and wealth that stood between them,and was overwhelmed with consternation.
The Chateau of Mussidan stands in a very lonely spot, and one of theroads leading to it passes through a dense forest, and therefore ithad been arranged that Andre was to take his meals in the house. Aftera time Sabine began to feel that this isolation was a needlesshumiliation.
"Why can't M. Andre take his meals with us?" asked she of her aunt.
"He is certainly more gentlemanlike than many of those who visit us,and I think that his conversation would entertain you."The old lady was easily persuaded to adopt this suggestion, though atfirst it seemed an odd kind of thing to admit a mere working man toher table; but she was so bored with the loneliness of the place thatshe hailed with delight anything that would break its monotony. Andreat once accepted the proposal, and the old lady would hardly believeher eyes when her guest entered the room with the dress and manners ofa highbred gentleman. "It is hardly to be believed," said she, as shewas preparing to go to bed, "that a mere carver of stone should be solike a gentleman. It seems to me that all distinctions of social rankhave vanished. It is time for me to die, or we are rapidly approachinga state of anarchy."In spite of her prejudices, however, Andre contrived to win the oldlady's heart, and won a complete victory by painting her portrait infull gala costume. From that moment he was treated as one of thefamily, and, having no fear of a rebuff, was witty and sprightly inhis manner. Once he told the old lady the true story of his life.
Sabine was deeply interested, and marvelled at his energy andendurance, which had won for him a place on the ladder that leads tofuture eminence. She saw in him the realization of all her girlishdreams, and finally confessed to herself that she loved him. Both herfather and mother had their own pleasures and pursuits, and Sabine wasas much alone in the world as Andre.
The days now fled rapidly by. Buried in this secluded country house,they were as free as the breeze that played through the trees of theforest, for the old lady rarely disturbed them. After the morningmeal, she would beg Andre to read the newspaper to her, and fell intoa doze before he had been five minutes at the task. Then the youngpeople would slip quietly away, as merry as truants from school. Theywandered beneath the shade of th............