V
"Come, Jeannot," said the Citizenness, "you shall look at my house!"
But Hector, revolted by what he had seen, paused. In the household of this woman who tolerated gross familiarities from her servants he felt that he and the old gardener were the only represebtatives of the normal order of things. From his sadly shrunken bundle of assignats he slipped a note and crushed it in the guardener's hand.
"Volia pour toi, mon ami!" he said loudly. "And I hope you will show me the garden afterwards!"
Then began for Hector an extraordinary existence. In that topsy-turvy household he often wondered whether he was standing on his head or his heels. There was neither discipline nor order nor privacy in the Villa Mille Fleurs. Meals were served in any room at any time, and as often as not Marthe, the serving woman, sat at table with them.
The extravagance was sheerly wanton. There was wine in abundance and a goblet of choice Burgundy was invariably at the elbow of Marthe's husband, the cook, as he sat in the white-and-gold boudoir of a morning breakfasting off bread and garlic. He and Marthe were always astir betimes, but Zouzou lay abed till noon, or if she rose before would wander though the handsome rooms or out the cool loggia in the flimsiest of night-robes which barely concealed her abundant charms.
Like the rest of the visitors, Dr. Largier paid assiduous court to Zouzou. "A remarkable woman," he told Hector. "Bon sang de dieu, Citizen, if I were twenty years younger I wouldn't mind trying to cut you out myself. But that would be none too easy, he, he? You're cock of the walk here, pas vrai?
With odious familiarity he ogled him and prodded him in the ribs again.
The allusion revolted Hector. He had not been twenty-four hours in the villa before he was fully aware of the ambiguousness of his position. Zouzou had said nothing to reveal her motives in claiming him, a perfect stranger, as an old friend. But in the way she looked at him, in the way she followed him with her eyes about the room, he was uneasily conscious - though he was loth to admit it even to himself - that the doctor's horrible innuendo was not entirely unjustified.
It's a long way to Tipperary.
I am missing two posts that disappeared during the "transition." I have called that one guy on the internet and he said they won't even "open a case" until the posts have been missing for 48 hours. In the meantime, I urge anyone who sees two posts, one of 2 lines and the other a 4 liner to contact me immediately. I miss them and I don't want to find them in some shallow grave in some crappy Asian Golden Shower chatroom.
Looks like he's contemplating the ineffable mysteries.
VI
Her face was very close to his now, and he saw a shimmer of colour stain the wan cheeks.
"That... that other woman with whom you were driving that day," she murmured. "Did you say these things to her, too?"
He stared at her in astonishment. He had entirely forgotten about the fond and blonde Zouzou.
"My dear," he cried. "that woman was brought to brand me as an imposter. She was the friend of the man whom I am impersonating. But instead of repudiating me, faith, through a womanly caprice, she claimed me as her lover and carried me off to the country for a week! I was in her power and could not free myself at once, for she could have denounced me. She's a good wench, but she's nothing to me. You don't think I am in love with her, do you?"
One little hand stole out and toyed with his neckcloth. The tears welled up in her eyes.
"J'ai ete bien malheureuse, allez!" she whispered. He drew her to him. Slowly her arms went about his neck.
"Loison!" he murmured.
I don't understand this game, but then what did I expect? :wink:
