Chapter 17 Chapter Seventeen

The next day, Marguerite sent me away very early. She told me that the Duke would come early in the morning, and promised me to write to me as soon as the Duke left to inform me of the time and date of the meeting like every night. Place. Sure enough, I got the letter during the day. I have gone to Bougival with the duke; at eight o'clock in the evening meet me at Prudence's. Marguerite came back punctually, and met me at Madame Duvernoy's. "All right, everything is arranged," she said when she came in. "Has the house been rented?" asked Prudence. "It's rented, and he agreed as soon as he said it."

I don't know the Duke, but shame on me for cheating on him like I did. "But it's not over yet!" Marguerite continued. "What else is there?" "I am thinking of Armand's lodgings." "Isn't it living with you?" asked Prudence, laughing. "No, he lives at the Aurora Hotel, where I had lunch with the Duke. While the Duke was admiring the view, I asked Madame Arnoux, isn't she called Madame Arnoux? I asked her if she had any suitable rooms for rent, She happens to have a set, including drawing-room, drawing-room, and bedroom. I think it will have everything, sixty francs a month, and the furnishings in the room would cheer even a melancholic man. I Did I do a good job renting this room?"

I hug Margaret tightly. "That's very nice," she went on, "you have the key to the little gate, and I promise to give the duke the key to the gate, but he won't take it, because he will only come during the day if he comes. Yes, I think he was very pleased with the idea of ​​my sudden absence from Paris for a while, so that there would be less gossip in his family. But he asked me why I loved Paris so much that I had decided to retire to the country. I told him that I was going away to the country for my health, and he didn't seem to believe me. The poor old man has often heard gossip, so we must be careful, my dear Armand. Because he Someone will be there to watch me, and I will not only ask him to rent a house for me, but I will also ask him to pay my debts, because, unfortunately, I still have some debts. Do you think this arrangement is suitable for you?"

"It's fine," I replied, I've always had a bad taste for such a living arrangement, but I couldn't say it. "We have taken a close look at the house, and it will be very pleasant for us to live there. The duke has thought of everything. Ah! my dear," she said, embracing me like mad with joy, "you really Luckily, there is a millionaire making your bed." "And when will you move there?" asked Prudence. "The sooner the better." "Are you taking your chariot and horses with you?" "I moved all the things in the house, and you will look after the house for me when I'm not at home."

A week later, Margaret moved into the house in the country, and I lived in the Aurora Hotel. Thus began a life that I can hardly describe to you. When she first settled in Bougival, Marguerite couldn’t completely lose her old habits. Every day at her house was like a festival, and all her girlfriends came to see her. During the whole month, there were always about ten people staying in Marguerite every day. Grete dined at home, and Prudence brought all her acquaintances, and invited them to see the house as if it were her own. As you can imagine, the Duke paid for all the expenses, but Prudence asked me for a thousand-franc note from time to time in Marguerite's name.You know I won a little at the game, and I hastily handed over the money Marguerite entrusted her to ask me, and fearing that I would not have enough money for her needs, I went to Paris to borrow a sum of money. It is the same as I have borrowed in the past, and of course I have paid back the money in time in the past.

I had about ten thousand francs with me, not counting my allowance. Marguerite was a little less interested in entertaining her friends, as such entertainment was expensive, especially since I had to beg for money from time to time.The Duke rented this house for Marguerite to recuperate, but he no longer showed himself here, always afraid of meeting the large group of laughing guests here, and he did not want to be seen by them.Especially since one day, when he came to dine with Marguerite for two, he met fourteen or fifteen people having lunch at Margaret's house, which had not been eaten when he thought he could have dinner Finish.When he opened the door of the dining room, a burst of laughter came to him, which he never expected, and he had to retreat immediately amidst the unbridled laughter of these girls.

Marguerite left the table and went to the prince in the next room, and tried to comfort him, trying to make him forget the unpleasant scene, but the old man's pride was wounded, and he was very angry.He told the poor girl grimly that he would not spend any more money on a woman who could not afford him the respect he deserved even in her own house.He stormed off in a huff. From this day on, we hear no more from him.Although Margaret had thanked the guests and changed her original habits, the Duke still hadn't heard from her.And so it was done for me, my mistress was completely mine, my dream came true at last.Marguerite couldn't leave me any longer, she declared our relationship openly, regardless of the consequences, and I stayed at her house.The servants addressed me as sir, formally treating me as their master.

For this new life, Prudence had tried to warn Margaret, but Margaret replied that she loved me, she could not live without me, and she would never give up being with me no matter what happened. The happiness of getting along day and night, and said that if anyone can't get used to it, they can stop coming here. These words were heard one day when Prudence told Marguerite that she had something important to tell her, and they were shut in the room, whispering, and I listened outside the door. After some time Prudence came again. I was in the garden when she came in and she didn't see me.Seeing Marguerite approaching her, I suspected that a conversation of the same nature as the one I heard last time was about to start again, and I wanted to eavesdrop on it like last time.

The two women were locked in a small living room, and I listened outside the door. "How is it?" Margaret asked. "How? I saw the Duke." "What did he say to you?" "He forgives you the first thing, but he already knows that you have lived openly with M. I give her what she wants, as in the old days; otherwise she should never ask me for anything.'” "How did you answer?" "I said I would tell you his decision, and I promised to make you understand. My dear boy, consider the position you have lost, which Armand could never give you. Armand devoted himself to Love you, but he doesn't have enough money to meet your needs. He will leave you one day, and then it will be too late. The Duke will do nothing for you anymore. Would you like me to go to Al Mang said?"

Marguerite seemed to be thinking, for she made no answer, and I waited for her answer, my heart beating wildly. "No," she went on, "I will never leave Armand, and I will no longer hide my cohabitation with him. It may be foolish to do so, but I love him! What can I do? And he has nothing to worry about now." It has become a habit to love me deeply, and it would be very painful for him to be away from me even for an hour a day. Besides, I don't live long, and I don't want to ask for trouble anymore, and obey the will of an old man; as long as I see him , I think I will grow old too. Let him keep the money, I don't want it."

"But what will you do next?" "I have no idea." Prudence probably wanted to say something more, but suddenly I rushed in and threw myself at Marguerite's feet, wetting her hands with tears from my joy at hearing that she loved me so much. flowed out. "My life is yours, Marguerite, you don't need the old prince anymore, am I not here? Shall I abandon you? Can I repay the happiness you gave me? No more We are bound, my Marguerite, we love each other! What do we care about the rest?" "Ah! yes, I love you, my Armand!" she said softly, throwing her arms around my neck, "I love you more than I can believe myself. We shall be happy." Yes, we'll live in peace, and I'll say good-bye to the life that makes me blush now. You won't blame me for the past, will you?" I couldn't speak from crying, and I could only hold Marguerite tightly in my arms. "Go," she said tremblingly, turning to Prudence, "tell the Duke of this scene, and tell him that we have no need of him." From that day on, the Duke was out of the question, and Marguerite was no longer the girl I used to know.She avoided anything that reminded me of the life she had led when I met her.The love she gave me was unmatched by any wife, and the care she gave me was unmatched by any sister.She is sickly and easily emotional.She cut off her friends, changed her old habits, changed her speech, and stopped spending as much money as she used to.People saw us coming out of the house and going for a river cruise in the exquisite boat I bought. No one would have thought that we were wearing a long white dress, a big straw hat, and an ordinary old dress on our arm. The woman in the silk coat against the cold on the river is Marguerite Gautier.It was she, who had made a name for her extravagance four months ago. God!We are busy enjoying ourselves, as if we already expected that our good days will not last. We didn't even go to Paris for two months.Nobody came to see us, either, except Prudence and that Julie Duprat whom I have mentioned to you.The heartrending journals that are here with me were the ones that Marguerite later gave to Julius. I cuddle up to my mistress all day long.We opened the window facing the garden, looking at the summer landscape in full bloom, and we enjoyed this real life side by side under the shade of the trees, which neither Marguerite nor I had ever tasted. This woman has a childlike curiosity about even the smallest things.Some days she runs like a ten-year-old girl in the garden chasing a butterfly or a dragonfly.This whore, she used to spend more on flowers than enough to keep a family happy.Sometimes she would just sit on the lawn, even for a whole hour, gazing at a common flower she took for her name. ① "Marguerite" in French means daisy flower. In those days, she often read "Manon Lescaut".I caught her marking the book several times, and she kept telling me that a woman never behaves like Manon when she is in love. The duke wrote her two or three letters, which she recognized in his handwriting, and handed them to me without even reading them. On several occasions the wording of the letter brought tears to my eyes. The duke had thought that cutting off Marguerite's means would bring her back to him.But when he saw that this method was useless, he couldn't hold on any longer, and he wrote letters repeatedly, asking her to agree to his return like last time, and he could agree to any conditions. After I read all these begging letters, I tore them up, without telling Marguerite what they contained, or persuading her to see the old man again.In spite of my pity for the poor man's distress, I am afraid that if I persuade Marguerite to continue to receive the Duke as before, she will think that I hope that the Duke will pay for the house again, regardless of her. I will be responsible for her life no matter what consequences love will bring to me. What I am most afraid of is that she thinks that I may evade this responsibility. In the end the duke stopped writing because he couldn't get a reply.Margaret and I went on living together, without thinking about what would happen next.