Chapter 9 Chapter nine

"Good evening, my dear Gaston," said Marguerite to my companion, "it is a pleasure to see you. Why don't you come to my box at the Variety Theater?" "I'm afraid it's a little presumptuous." "As a friend, it is never presumptuous." Marguerite said the word friend emphatically, as if she wanted to let everyone present understand that despite her affectionate reception of Gaston, Gaston Stone was and is just a friend. "And will you allow me to introduce you to M. Armand Duval?" "I have promised Prudence to introduce me."

"However, ma'am," I said, stooping, and managed to say something barely intelligible, "I have had the honor of being introduced to you already." Marguerite seemed to be remembering in her charming eyes, but she couldn't remember at all, or, it seemed, she couldn't. "Ma'am," I added, "I am grateful that you have forgotten the first introduction, because I must have offended you by being ridiculous. It was two years ago, at the Opera Comique, with me With Ernest de..." "Oh! I remember!" said Marguerite, smiling. "It wasn't you who was funny then, but I was a joker, just as I am now, but I'm better now. You've forgiven me." ,gentlemen?"

She gave me her hand and I kissed it. "That's true," she went on, "you can imagine how bad-tempered I am, and I'm always fond of teasing and embarrassing people I'm meeting for the first time, which is really stupid. My doctor told me, It's because I'm a little nervous and always feel uncomfortable, please believe my doctor's words." "But it looks like you're in good health right now." "Ah! I have been very ill." "I know that." "Who told you that?" "Everyone knows that you are sick. I often come to inquire about your condition, and I am very happy to know that you are well."

"I never got your card." "I never leave a business card." "It is said that when I was sick, a young man came to inquire about my condition every day, but he refused to leave his name. Could this young man be you?" "it is me." "Then you are not only generous, but also kind." She glanced at me.When women feel that words are not enough to express their evaluation of a man, they often use this kind of vision to supplement.Then she turned to Earl N and said, "Count, if it were you, you wouldn't be doing this." "I have known you only two months," protested the count.

"And this gentleman has only known me for five minutes. You're talking nonsense." Women are callous to people they don't like. The Count blushed and bit his lip. I felt sorry for him, for he seemed to be in love with her as much as I was, and Marguerite's undisguised bluntness must have embarrassed him, especially in the presence of two strangers. "You were playing the piano when we came in," I said, trying to cut the conversation aside, "will you please treat me like an old friend and keep playing?" "Ah!" she said, throwing herself down on the couch, gesturing to us to sit down, "Gaston knows what I play. If I played only with the count, I would be all right, but I don't." I am willing to let you two suffer this crime."

"You are so partial to me?" Earl N said with a mocking smile. "You're blaming me; that's all I mean." The poor young man was doomed to remain silent, and he looked at the girl almost imploringly. "Then, Prudence," she went on, "have you done what I entrusted to you?" "done." "Well, tell me later. We have something to talk about. Don't go until I talk to you." "We may not have come at the right time," I said, "and now we, or rather I, have been introduced a second time, so that the first can be forgotten. We, Gaston and I, spare gone."

"That's not the case at all; it's not for you, on the contrary, I'd like you to stay." The count took out a very delicate watch and looked at the time. "It's time for me to go to the club," he said. Marguerite said nothing. Then the count left the fireplace, went up to her, and said: "Goodbye, ma'am." Margaret stood up. "Good-bye, my dear count, are you going now?" "Yes, I am afraid I have annoyed you." "You don't annoy me any more today than usual. When shall I see you again?" "When you want."

"Then see you later!" You have to admit, she's really good at this move! Fortunately, the Earl was well-educated and self-cultivated.He just took Marguerite's hand that was casually extended to him, kissed it, saluted us and left. As he was about to step out of the room, he looked at Prudence. Prudence shrugged her shoulders with an air which seemed to say: "What do you want me to do, I have done everything I can." "Nanine!" cried Marguerite, "shine the Count." We heard doors opening and closing. "Going away at last!" cried Marguerite, returning. "This young man has made me miserable."

"My dear boy," said Prudence, "you have been very cruel to him, and how kind and considerate he has been to you. Look at the watch he gave you on the mantelpiece, I am sure of it." The watch cost him at least three thousand francs." Madame Duvernoy approached the fireplace, took up the piece of jewellery, which she had just mentioned, and gazing at it greedily. "Darling," said Marguerite, sitting down at the piano, "I put what he gave me on one side of the scale and what he said to me on the other, so that I feel that I accept him It's still too cheap to visit him."

"The poor young man loves you." "If I had to listen to all the people who love me, I might not even have time to eat." Then she played casually for a while, then turned to us and said: "Would you like something to eat? Me, I'd love a little punch." ①Punch wine: a British drink made of shochu or fruit wine mixed with sugar, black tea, lemon, etc. "And I, I'd love to have some chicken," said Prudence, "shall we have a supper?" "Okay, let's go out for supper," Gaston said. "No, we'll just eat here."

She rang the bell, and Nanine entered. "Order to prepare supper!" "What to eat?" "As you like, but quickly, right away." Nanine went out. "Well," said Marguerite, dancing like a child, "we're going to supper. That foolish Count is a nuisance!" The more I look at this woman, the more fascinated I am.She is intoxicatingly beautiful.Even her thinness became a charm. I fell into a reverie. What is the matter with me?I can't even explain it to myself, but I feel sympathy for her life and admiration for her beauty.Her reluctance to accept a handsome, wealthy young man who was ready to ruin her fortune made me forgive her all past sins. There was something simple about this woman. It can be seen that although she lived a dissolute life, her heart was still pure.She has a steady demeanor and a graceful figure. Her rose-colored nose flaps slightly and her big eyes are surrounded by light blue circles, indicating that she is a naturally enthusiastic person. Around such people, there is always a sense of humor. The fragrance of human lust; like some oriental perfume bottles, no matter how tightly the lid is closed, the smell of the perfume inside will still leak out. I don't know whether it's because of her temperament or because of the symptoms of her disease, there is a light of hope in this woman's eyes from time to time, and this phenomenon may be tantamount to a kind of apocalypse for those she once loved.But those who loved Marguerite are countless, and those who were loved by her have not yet been counted. In short, the girl seemed to be a virgin who had stumbled into a whore, and a whore who could easily have been the most sensual and purest chastity.There was still some pride and independence in Marguerite: these two feelings, when bruised, may have played the same role as shame.I didn't say a word, my soul seemed to go into my heart, and my heart seemed to go into my eyes. "So," she went on abruptly, "you were the one who often inquired about my illness when I was ill?" "yes." "You know how beautiful it is, how can I thank you?" "Allow me to visit you often." "Come whenever you like, from five to six in the afternoon, from eleven to twelve in the middle of the night. Well, Gaston, please play me "Invitation to Dance." "why?" "Partly to please me, and partly because I can never play the piece by myself." "Which passage are you having trouble with?" "The third section, a section with high semitones." Gaston stood up, sat down in front of the piano, and began to play this famous piece by Weber, with the score spread out on the music stand. Margaret held the piano with one hand, her eyes moved with each note on the score, and she sang in a low voice.When Gaston reached the verse she had spoken, she sang in a low voice, tapping her fingers on the back of the piano: "re, mi, re, do, re, fa, mi, re, this is where I can't play, please play it again." Gaston played it again, and when it was over Marguerite said to him: "Now let me try." ① Weber (1786-1826): German composer. She sat down and began to play, but when her unruly fingers reached the notes, she missed another note. "It's unbelievable," she said in an almost childish tone, "I just can't play this part! Believe it or not, I've played it like this a few times until past two o'clock in the night! I hate it when I think that this stupid count can play it so well without music." He, I guess I hate him for that." She started to play again, but still couldn't play well. "To hell with Weber and the music and the piano!" she said, throwing the sheet music across the room. "Why don't I play eight high semitones in a row?" She looked at us with her arms folded, stomping her feet. Her face was flushed, and a slight cough made her open her mouth slightly. "You see, you see," said Prudence, who had taken off her hat and was brushing her temple hair in front of the looking-glass, "you're angry again, and it's going to make you uncomfortable again, and we'd better go Let's eat supper, I'm starving to death." Marguerite rang the bell again, and then she sat down at the piano and played again, humming a frivolous song.When she played and sang this song, she didn't go wrong at all. Gaston would sing the song too, so they had a duet. "Stop singing these bawdy songs," I said kindly to Marguerite, in a tone of entreaty. "Oh, how serious you are!" she said to me, smiling, and offering me her hand. "It's not for me, it's for you." Marguerite made a gesture, which means: Oh, I have long been cut off from chastity. Then Nanine entered. "Is supper ready?" Margaret asked. "Ma'am, it will be all right in a while." "Besides," said Prudence to me, "you have not seen this house yet; come, I will show you." As you already know, the living room is brilliantly furnished. Marguerite stayed with us for a while, then she asked Gaston to go with her into the dining room to see if supper was ready. "Look," exclaimed Prudence, looking at a tiered shelf from which she had taken down a Saxon figurine, "I didn't know you had such a little thing." "which one?" "A little shepherd boy with a birdcage in his hand, and a bird in the cage." "If you like it, you can take it." "Ah! But I'm afraid of depriving you of your good things." "I find the statue ugly, and I would have given it to my maid; if you like it, take it." Prudence only valued the gift itself, not the way it was given.She put the statue aside, led me to the dressing room, pointed to the two miniature portraits hanging there and said to me, "This is Earl G, who used to love Marguerite very much, and he brought her out." .do you know him?" "I don't know. What about this one?" I asked, pointing to another portrait. "This is little Viscount L, he had to leave her." "why?" "Because he's almost broke. Here's another man who loved Marguerite!" "Then she must love him very much, too." "This girl has a weird temper, and others will never know what she is thinking. On the night when little Viscount L was leaving, she went to the theater to watch a play as usual, but when he left, she cried." At this moment Nanine came and informed us that supper was ready. When we entered the dining room, Marguerite was leaning against the wall, and Gaston was holding her hand and talking to her softly. "You are mad," replied Marguerite, "you know very well that I will not agree with you, and how can a woman like me, whom you have known for two years, think of being my mistress now?" .We are the ones who either commit now or never. Come, gentlemen, take a seat." Marguerite withdrew her hand from Gaston and asked him to sit on her right and me on the left, and she said to Nanine: "You go and take care of the people in the kitchen first. If someone rings the bell, don't open the door, and then you come and sit down." It was one o'clock in the middle of the night when she gave this order. During supper, everyone laughed and played, drinking and chewing.Before long, the merriment was at its height, and here and there some foul language, which in a certain circle was considered amusing, could be heard, and Nanina, Prudence, and Marguerite listened. All cheer for it.Gaston was a good-natured young man, but his mind was a little muddled.At one time, I really wanted to go with the flow, not to be alone, and simply participate in this joy like a delicacy.But slowly I separated from the commotion. I stopped drinking and watched this beautiful twenty-year-old woman drinking, talking and laughing as rudely as a porter. The harder I laughed, the more melancholy I became. But this merrymaking, this manner of talking and drinking, might have seemed to the other guests the result of debauchery, bad habits, or exuberance; Forget about practical needs, an impulse, a nervous excitement.With each glass of champagne a fever flushed her cheeks.At the beginning of the supper, her cough was still very mild, and gradually her cough became more and more severe, and she had to lean her head back on the back of the chair. Whenever the cough broke out, she pressed her hands hard to her chest. Her body is weak, and she has to live such a debauched life every day to torture herself. I really feel sorry for her. Then, what I was worried about finally happened. At the end of the supper, Margaret had a violent cough. This was the worst cough she had ever had since I came to her house. I felt like her lungs were in her chest. shredded.The poor girl blushed, closed her eyes in pain, wiped her lips with a napkin, which was immediately stained with a drop of blood, and then she got up and ran into the dressing room. "What's the matter with Marguerite?" Gaston asked. "She's laughing so hard she's coughing up blood," said Prudence. "Oh, it's all right, she's like that every day. She's coming back. Just leave her there alone, she likes it. " As for me, I couldn't help it, and in spite of the astonishment of Prudence and Nanine who tried to stop me, I got up and went straight to Marguerite.