PAPA BOUCHARD

BY
MOLLY ELLIOT SEAWELL

Illustrated by
WILLIAM GLACKENS

NEW YORK
CHARLES SCRIBNER’S SONS
1901

Copyright 1901,
By Charles Scribner’s Sons
Dramatic and all other rights
reserved
University Press
John Wilson and Son, Cambridge, U.S.A.

Illustrations

Page
She had asked him to button her glove[ Frontispiece]
It was the bird who made the first dashfor liberty[ 5]
Monsieur Bouchard’s back and legs lookedabout seventy-five[ 7]
With an affectation of ease and debonairness,and told about the apartment nearthe Champs Élysées[ 11]
He stood on one leg, and softly whispered,“Houp-là!”[ 20]
Pierre, however, pretty soon solved the situationby putting his finger to the sideof his nose [ 28]
“I like the lively tunes they play at themusic halls across the street”[ 30]
“And the girls are permitted to come out intheir stage costumes to have an ice ora glass of wine”[ 45]
De Meneval pulled from his pocket a glitteringstring of diamonds[ 53]
“Ta, ta!” called out the graceless dog ofa captain[ 59]
She looked like one of those brilliant whitebutterflies whose lives are spent dancingin the sun[ 62]
“Does Captain de Meneval know of thesebills?” he asked significantly[ 72]
They went out like two sulky and disappointedchildren[ 91]
Monsieur Bouchard tried to reassure her—hertimidity was constitutional[ 98]
Monsieur Bouchard sank or rather fellinto a chair[ 100]
As Léontine and her husband sat oppositeeach other—each felt like acriminal[ 111]
Still, they really loved each other, andkissed affectionately[ 121]
And there on the arbor hung a cage witha parrot in it[ 131]
A flock of girls, each escorted by a youngman, generally an officer[ 133]
Monsieur Bouchard entered with an airof affected jauntiness[ 135]
At that very moment Léontine and deMeneval were watching him[ 138]
Papa Bouchard stuck pretty close to thechampagne[ 146]
Madame Vernet had not the slightest objectionto be left in charge of this good-lookingyoung officer[ 158]
He took a seat close to where MadameVernet was standing[ 163]
The police officers seized him and draggedhim out[ 171]
“Go to the devil!”[ 179]
All three of them bolted for the exit to thegarden[ 185]
Élise had that evening found her opportunityto go round to the Rue Bassano[ 198]
And drove rapidly home[ 200]
In the middle of the room was spread atable, with preparation for an elaboratesupper[ 203]
To tiptoe and actually chuck old P. M. P.under the chin[ 208]
Léontine would motion as if to chuck himunder the chin[ 214]
Dragging in an elderly gentleman by mainforce and his coat tails[ 218]
Papa Bouchard, much alarmed, ran fromone to the other[ 220]
“O-o-o-oh!” shrieked the three impishgirls in chorus, “what an outrageousproposition!”[ 224]
His ruddy complexion turned a sicklygreen[ 226]
She sang[ 230]
She even danced[ 231]
“I am your own true, devoted Léontine”[ 234]
The door was burst open and in rushedPierre, pale and breathless[ 242]
With much discretion, ranged themselvesprimly on a sofa[ 244]
“Paul, stop those shocking demonstrations”[ 246]
She clutched a flower pot and a gold-headedstick[ 247]
Major Fallière ceremoniously offered herhis arm[ 251]
Folding his arms and turning up thewhites of his eyes[ 255]
Forcing the cage door open with almosthuman intelligence, flew out[ 257]
“Free! Free! gay dogs are we!”[ 260]

Papa Bouchard

Chapter I

ON a certain day in June, 1901, a cataclysm occurred in the quiet apartment of Mademoiselle Céleste Bouchard, in the Rue Clarisse, the quietest street in the quietest part of Paris. This cataclysm consisted of the simultaneous departure, or rather the levanting, of the entire masculine element in the excellent old lady’s household. And this masculine element had been so admirably trained! Monsieur Paul Bouchard, in particular, ten years his sister’s junior, was reckoned a model man. Mademoiselle could truly say that during Monsieur Bouchard’s fifty-four years of life he had never, until then, given her a moment’s anxiety. All the elderly ladies of the Bouchards’ acquaintance pointed with admiration to Monsieur Paul.