第47章

"Will you lend it to me and let me tear out a page? I have an idea in my mind which I don't want to lose.If I do not see you again after the play to make restitution, I will send it to you to-morrow morning without fail."Returning to his place, Monsieur Dorlange sketched something rapidly, and when the curtain rose and the two gentlemen returned to their seats, he touched the Duc de Rhetore lightly on the shoulder and said, giving him the drawing:--"My card, which I have the honor to present to you."This "card" was a charming sketch of an architectural design placed in a landscape.Beneath it was written "Plan for a mausoleum to be erected to the memory of Madame Marie-Gaston, nee Chaulieu, by her husband; from the designs of Charles Dorlange, sculptor, 42 rue de l'Ouest."It was impossible to let Monsieur de Rhetore know more delicately that he had to do with a suitable adversary; and you will remark, my dear Monsieur Gaston, that Monsieur Dorlange made this drawing the means of enforcing his denial and giving proof of your disinterestedness and the sincerity of your grief.

After the play was over, Monsieur de Rhetore parted from Monsieur de Ronquerolles, and the latter went up to Monsieur Dorlange and endeavored, very courteously, to bring about a reconciliation, remarking to him that, while he was right in the subject-matter, his method of proceeding was unusual and offensive; Monsieur de Rhetore, on the other hand, had shown great moderation, and would now be satisfied with a mere expression of regret; in short, Monsieur de Ronquerolles said all that can be said on such an occasion.

Monsieur Dorlange would not listen to anything which seemed a submission on his part, and the next day he received a visit from Monsieur de Ronquerolles and General Montriveau on behalf of the Duc de Rhetore.Again an effort was made to induce Monsieur Dorlange to give another turn to his words.But your friend would not depart from this ultimatum:--"Will Monsieur de Rhetore withdraw the words I felt bound to notice;if so, I will withdraw mine."

"But that is impossible," they said to him."Monsieur de Rhetore has been personally insulted; you, on the contrary, have not been.Right or wrong, he has the conviction that Monsieur Marie-Gaston has done him an injury.We must always make certain allowances for wounded self-interests; you can never get absolute justice from them.""It comes to this, then," replied Monsieur Dorlange, "that Monsieur de Rhetore may continue to calumniate my friend at his ease; in the first place, because he is in Italy; and secondly, because Marie-Gaston would always feel extreme repugnance to come to certain extremities with the brother of his wife.It is precisely that powerlessness, relatively speaking, to defend himself, which constitutes my right--Iwill say more--my duty to interfere.It was not without a special permission of Providence that I was enabled to catch a few of the malicious words that were said of him, and, as Monsieur de Rhetore declines to modify any of them, we must, if it please you, continue this matter to the end."The duel then became inevitable; the terms were arranged in the course of the day, and the meeting, with pistols, was appointed for the day after.On the ground Monsieur Dorlange was perfectly cool.When the first fire was exchanged without result, the seconds proposed to put an end to the affair.

"No, one more shot!" he said gaily, as if he were shooting in a pistol-gallery.

This time he was shot in the fleshy part of the thigh, not a dangerous wound, but one which caused him to lose a great deal of blood.As they carried him to the carriage which brought him, Monsieur de Rhetore, who hastened to assist them, being close beside him, he said, aloud:--"This does not prevent Marie-Gaston from being a man of honor and a heart of gold."Then he fainted.

This duel, as you can well believe, has made a great commotion;Monsieur Dorlange has been the hero of the hour for the last two days;it is impossible to enter a single salon without finding him the one topic of conversation.I heard more, perhaps, in the salon of Madame de Montcornet than elsewhere.She receives, as you know, many artists and men of letters, and to give you an idea of the manner in which your friend is considered, I need only stenograph a conversation at which I was present in the countess's salon last evening.

The chief talkers were Emile Blondet of the "Debats," and Monsieur Bixiou, the caricaturist, one of the best-informed ferrets of Paris.

They are both, I think, acquaintances of yours, but, at any rate, I am certain of your intimacy with Joseph Bridau, our great painter, who shared in the talk, for I well remember that he and Daniel d'Arthez were the witnesses of your marriage.

"The first appearance of Dorlange in art," Joseph Bridau was saying, when I joined them, "was fine; the makings of a master were already so apparent in the work he did for his examinations that the Academy, under pressure of opinion, decided to crown him--though he laughed a good deal at its programme.""True," said Bixiou, "and that 'Pandora' he exhibited in 1837, after his return from Rome, is also a very remarkable figure.But as she won him, at once, the cross and any number of commissions from the government and the municipality, together with scores of flourishing articles in the newspapers, I don't see how he can rise any higher after all that success.""That," said Blondet, "is a regular Bixiou opinion.""No doubt; and well-founded it is.Do you know the man?""No; he is never seen anywhere."