"You, M. de Morin," continued the Baroness, addressing the one who was seated nearest to her, "you are one of our most notable draughtsmen. I know the greater part of your works, and I appreciate them, both from an artistic point of view, and as a woman who has a certain object in view. But the moment has not come to unfold that object, so you must perforce exercise your patience a little longer. You are, moreover, daring to a degree; that is to say, no adventure, however perilous, would cause you to recoil. You have an intuitive genius, and are formed for attack; a shrewd commander would appoint you to the Zouaves. I shall post you—but we will discuss that later on. Take your place in the ranks, Mr. Zouave, and I will pass on to No 2."
The young aspirant, who was seated next to M. de Morin, at once made ready for the inspection, for he stood up, saluted his hostess after the military fashion, and sat down again.
Madame de Guéran smilingly continued—
"You, M. Périères, are to be congratulated on the articles which have appeared in the Revue de France. Your ideas are good, your reflections often profound, and you put your thoughts into language both elegant and concise. In the field you would be admirably adapted for writing despatches, without, however, precluding you from taking your part in the campaign as a combatant. You would scarcely advance without an order, but once committed to the fray you would bear yourself as bravely as would M. de Morin. You are gazetted to an infantry regiment, and so I dispose of your case."
The third aspirant, with whom alone Madame de Guéran had now to deal, was a man of about thirty, fair, of medium height, with a rather sad expression, and whose clothes, of a serious cut, made him look somewhat older than he really was.
"My dear M. Desrioux," said the Baroness to him, "in my eyes you possess a rare merit, very rare, indeed, amongst men of your means; that of having adopted the medical profession, a profession which binds you down to a course of severe study, and condemns you to a continuous slavery. Accept my sincere congratulations, and if I do not, as I have done in the case of these other gentlemen, post you to any particular branch of the service, it is not that I doubt your courage, but that a military surgeon, a rôle for which you are admirably adapted, cannot be considered as belonging to any special arm, or, I might almost say, to any nationality, for he hastens to the succour of all who call upon him, be they friends or foes, wheresoever they may be. You may, therefore, resume your own position, my dear doctor, and consider your case disposed of."
Then turning once more to all three, she continued with all the charm of manner which was so natural to her—
"You cannot accuse me of having been too hard upon you or ill-treated you in any way. Indeed, I have dwelt upon your merits alone, and any one hearing me might place you all in the calendar as minor saints. But I will be quite open with you. I have spoken well of you because I have nothing to say against you. It is not by accident that you meet here to-night in my house, or that, during the past six months you have been admitted by degrees to intimacy with me—it is solely because I so willed it. In view of certain projects, of which I am about to apprise you, I have chosen you out of all my acquaintances, and, as I believe, I have chosen well."
Her hearers bowed in silence, and she resumed—
"Alas! It is your very good qualities which puzzle me. They are varied, but each one of you has an equal share. How then, without being inexcusably unjust, can I choose between you? In a state of embarrassment, similar to that of the shepherd, Paris, of old, I know not on whom to bestow the apple. If one of you had only made himself famous by some conspicuous action, my mind would be more at ease, but, situated as you are in this civilized Paris of ours, and so long as the country is at peace, what test can I impose upon you, or what proof can you offer me? As matters stand, you are simply men of the world, whose first duty is to be as little conspicuous as possible. I, therefore, have nothing to expect, nothing which could put an end to my hesitation. You see, do you not, that I am approaching—no, not yet? Well, at last I am coming to the root of the matter, without further circumlocution or beating about the bush. The daughter, the wife, the friend of the famous explorers of our age comes once more upon the scene.