At that moment the curtain fell.
“The devil!” I muttered to myself; “what a shame! I came too late. Mademoiselle Caroline is responsible for it. But what am I saying? If it had not been for her, I should still be on Boulevard Montmartre, gazing at the stars; it was because I followed her that I came in here to see the last act; and by running after a grisette I have fallen in with a petite-maîtresse who perhaps is inferior to the grisette! How one thing leads to another! It was because something was thrown on my coat that this lady complained of the unpleasant odor, and that I offered her my smelling bottle and squeezed her hand. After this, who will tell me that there is no such thing as fate? If I should make this gentleman a cuckold, it would certainly be the fault of Mademoiselle Caroline, who refused to listen to me.”
We left the box. I assisted my neighbor to climb over the benches, which were stationary for the convenience of the public. But the husband took her arm, and I was obliged to fall behind.
“Shall I follow, or shall I not follow?”—Such was the question I asked myself as I descended the staircase. After what had happened to me so short a time before, I ought to have kept quiet the rest of the evening; but I was twenty-four years old, I loved the fair sex passionately; moreover, my last mistress had just proved unfaithful to me,—indeed, it was that fact which was responsible for my melancholy meditations,—and a young man who has a strong flavor of sentiment in his makeup cannot exist without a passion. Unquestionably I was——
We were no sooner on the boulevard than they crossed the sidewalk to the curbstone.
“Aha!” I said to myself; “they are going to take a carriage; I’ll just listen to what they tell the driver, and in that way I can learn the address without putting myself to any trouble.”
But it was decreed that I should be disappointed again in my plans. They walked to a dainty vis-à-vis and called André; a footman ran to them, opened the door, and assisted monsieur and madame to enter.
My self-esteem received a still sharper prick; a woman who had a carriage of her own! Here was a conquest that merited the expenditure of some little time and trouble. I determined to follow madame’s carriage—not on foot; that would be too fatiguing! it might do if she were in a cab; but with private horses—why, I should have inflammation of the lungs! I spied a cabriolet, which was just what I wanted. The other carriage was driving away, so I lost no time.
“Hi, cocher!”
“Get in, monsieur.”