Jéricourt paid no heed to the girl’s entreaties; he attempted to pursue his enterprise, but he met with a resistance which he was far from expecting; Violette’s hands were active and strong; she put one of them to her persecutor’s face and dug her nails in so far that the blood flowed freely, and the pain forced the young man to relax his hold. He went to the mirror to look at himself, and exclaimed angrily:
“That’s an abominable thing for you to do, mademoiselle—to scratch my face and mutilate me! only tigresses do that; it’s only among the canaille that such things are indulged in.”
“Indeed, monsieur! So I am of the canaille because I defend myself, because I don’t allow monsieur to take liberties with me. Why do you pay any attention to me then? why do you degrade yourself with a dealer in flowers?”
“As if I could suspect anything of the kind! To attack a man’s face—that’s the worst possible form!”
“You’ve got no more than you deserve, monsieur; I gave you fair warning; and if you should try again to keep me, I promise you that you wouldn’t get off so cheap.”
“Oh! I won’t keep you any longer, mademoiselle, I have had enough. You are free, but I have some scratches on my face that I shall not forget! You will be sorry that you treated me so!”
“Oh! I am not afraid of you, monsieur, and I have proved it. When a man acts as you have done, he shouldn’t threaten other people—he should try to be more decent in order to obtain forgiveness for what he has done.—Adieu, monsieur.”
Violette opened the door of the salon, passed through another small room, and opened another door; but in her haste she made a mistake; it was not the door leading to the landing, but she had almost entered the bedroom. Discovering her error, she retraced her steps, and at last found the outer door.
Meanwhile Jéricourt had followed and overtaken her, and he tried again to detain her by seizing her dress; but she roughly shook him off, and with a glance that banished any desire to stop her again, she rushed out on the landing and down the stairs, without turning her head; nor did she see a young man who was then standing at his open door, directly opposite Jéricourt’s.
This young man, who was no other than little Astianax, uttered a cry of surprise on recognizing the girl, who passed very near him. Having followed her with his eyes as she descended the stairs, he turned toward Jéricourt, who was standing in his doorway, and said: