“Oh! I beg your pardon, but I insist upon a promise. It would be horrid of you to fail us. We have invited only a small number of people for the morning, but most select. Two of my wife’s uncles, three cousins, and five aunts, all of whom are women of my mother-in-law’s type. Great heaven! my mother-in-law has done nothing but weep since our wedding day was fixed; she drenches at least four handkerchiefs a day, and she doesn’t let her daughter out of her sight. That embarrasses me a little in my effusions of sentiment, but my time will come. However, you must attend all the festivities. I address my entreaties to you, madame; Henri will not refuse you.”
Eugénie had not the heart to refuse; she glanced at me and we promised. Bélan thanked my wife and kissed her hand, then he asked me for two minutes in my office.
“Have you any lawsuit on hand?” I asked him when we were alone.
“No, but I want to consult you. Having just married a woman whom you adored, you will be able to tell me——”
“Tell you what?”
“I don’t know just how to put it. You know that I have been, like you, a lady’s man, never embarrassed in a tête-à-tête. I was like a flash of powder.”
“Well?”
“Well, it is very strange, but with Mademoiselle de Beausire, although I adore her, the effect is entirely different. It seems to me that I dare not squeeze the end of her finger. In short, I do not feel the slightest inclination to be enterprising. I confess that that worries me and makes me anxious; I don’t sleep at night; and the nearer my wedding day approaches, the more apprehensive I feel.”
“Ha! ha! Poor Bélan! nonsense! don’t be afraid! Real love, love that is too ardent, sometimes produces the effect which you complain of; but it does not last. And besides, what have you to fear with your wife? You are sure that she won’t escape you. She isn’t like a mistress, who often refuses to give you a second assignation when she is not pleased with the first. With one’s wife, what doesn’t happen the first night, will happen the second.”
“True; it might not happen till the eighth even. You make me feel a little easier in my mind. You see, Mademoiselle de Beausire—such a well-bred young woman as she is—isn’t like a grisette. Oh! with a grisette, it goes all alone.—And then the mother-in-law is always there!”