“Let it. We will economise.” She pressed her eyes on his with a force under which he moved fretfully, and added: “For the sake of your family—most of all, for Raoul’s sake—it is impossible to ignore the slander.”
“Very well, very well!” he spoke with petulance; “you don’t understand, but you shall have your way. Only don’t blame me if things go wrong.”
“Do I ever blame you?” she said, tenderly. “And they will not go wrong; how should they? Show a firm front, and you will see how the absurd attempt at extortion will melt away. I wrote to my father this morning, as you advised, in case rumours reached Tours, and I am sure we shall have a letter advising you to be very determined. How angry he will be! I believe he thinks more of the De Beaudrillarts and Poissy than you do.”
Léon began to laugh.
“Perhaps he will go off to Poissy.”
“And we not there to keep the peace! Oh, Léon!”—her face was tragic—“I ought to have thought of that, and to have warned him.”
Léon’s good-humour had come back; he teased his wife, compared her with the other women they met, and told her ridiculous tales. They laughed and chatted so gayly that, more than once, people with sad stories in their lives looked at them enviously, and wished for a little of the same happiness. Then they drove to a restaurant, dined, and afterwards went to the play. Seemingly, the young baron’s anxieties had slipped from his shoulders. Even the next morning, when he sent off a special messenger to request Monsieur Rodoin to come to the hotel, it was done with a jest, and Nathalie looked at him with delight. To her the whole affair had seemed so trivial and impossible that only its strange effect on her husband had given her uneasiness. Now that had passed, and she made no doubt that threat of strong action would oblige M. Lemaire to offer ample reparation.
M. Rodoin arrived with speed—a grave, hatchet-faced man, with hair already slightly grizzled, although his fortieth birthday had only lately been passed. He bowed formally to Mme. Léon, whom he had not yet seen, and whose appearance, after what he had heard of her family, surprised him, and to the baron. Without waiting for him to speak, Léon said, abruptly:
“Well, Monsieur Rodoin, you find me decided. Threaten this Lemaire with as many penalties as you will.”
The lawyer repeated the word—“Threaten.”