"Excuse me, if I ride ahead," he called to Dubourg; "but I have some orders to give."
"Oh! no ceremony for us, I beg you, Monsieur de Chambertin!" was the reply.
But the host was already far away; when he heard himself called De Chambertin again, he took the bit in his teeth.
Dubourg took the reins and drove, which did not prevent him from making many very gallant speeches to Madame Chambertin en route, or from motioning to Ménard to wipe his face. Lunel ran behind the cabriolet, consigning to the devil the strangers who were responsible for his master's taking his nag.
In due time they arrived at Allevard, a pretty village, through which flowed a mountain stream of considerable size that furnished power for a large number of windmills, iron foundries, and factories. Monsieur Chambertin's estate was on the right, just at the entrance to the village; it was a beautiful house, built according to modern ideas, and, as Madame Chambertin said, almost a château.
As they drove into a spacious courtyard shaded by tall lindens, Dubourg secretly felicitated himself on the chance meeting, and began to think that Madame Chambertin still possessed a very attractive figure and very bright eyes. As for Ménard, he had visions of a well-furnished kitchen, and he concluded that a man who owned such a charming estate deserved some consideration, although he was neither baron nor palatine.
Madame Chambertin escorted the strangers into a pretty salon on the ground floor, which looked on a beautiful garden behind the house. Everything indicated wealth, profusion, and absence of taste. There were two clocks on the mantel, another on a console, a fourth on a desk. The furniture was costly, the floor covered with rich rugs, the walls overloaded with pictures, and three chandeliers hung from the ceiling.
"This is my small summer salon," said Madame Chambertin, modestly. "If I had known that I was to have the honor of entertaining monsieur le baron, I would have had my large winter salon thrown open, where three sets can dance a quadrille without interfering with one another."
"We have more room than we need, madame; and I should be very sorry to cause you any inconvenience; this salon is perfectly charming; everything here shows the touch of the goddess of this blest abode."
"Ah! monsieur le baron—to be sure, I did arrange it. My husband wanted to put another clock in this corner, but he can do without it."