therese, after quitting dechartre, took breakfast with her friend and madame marmet at the house of an old florentine lady whom victor emmanuel had loved when he was duke of savoy. for thirty years she had not once gone out of her palace on the arno, where, she painted, and wearing a wig, she played the guitar in her spacious white salon. she received the best society of florence, and miss bell often called on her. at table this recluse, eighty-seven years of age, questioned the countess martin on the fashionable world of paris, whose movement was familiar to her through the journals. solitary, she retained respect and a sort of devotion for the world of pleasure.
as they came out of the palazzo, in order to avoid the wind which was blowing on the river, miss bell led her friends into the old streets with black stone houses and a view of the distant horizon, where, in the pure air, stands a hill with three slender trees. they walked; and vivian showed to her friend, on facades where red rags were hanging, some marble masterpiece — a virgin, a lily, a st. catherine. they walked through these alleys of the antique city to the church of or san michele, where it had been agreed that dechartre should meet them. therese was thinking of him now with deepest interest. madame marmet was thinking of buying a veil; she hoped to find one on the corso. this affair recalled to her m. lagrange, who, at his regular lecture one day, took from his pocket a veil with gold dots and wiped his forehead with it, thinking it was his handkerchief. the audience was astonished, and whispered to one another. it was a veil that had been confided to him the day before by his niece, mademoiselle jeanne michot, whom he had accompanied to the theatre, and madame marmet explained how, finding it in the pocket of his overcoat, he had taken it to return it to his niece.
at lagrange’s name, therese recalled the flaming comet announced by the savant, and said to herself, with mocking sadness, that it was time for that comet to put an end to the world and take her out of her trouble. but above the walls of the old church she saw the sky, which, cleared of clouds by the wind from the sea, shone pale blue and cold. miss bell showed to her one of the bronze statues which, in their chiselled niches, ornament the facade of the church.
“see, darling, how young and proud is saint george. saint george was formerly the cavalier about whom young girls dreamed.”
but “darling” said that he looked precise, tiresome, and stubborn. at this moment she recalled suddenly the letter that was still in her pocket.
“ah! here comes monsieur dechartre,” said the good madame marmet.
he had looked for them in the church, before the tabernacle. he should have recalled the irresistible attraction which donatello’s st. george held for miss bell. he too admired that famous figure. but he retained a particular friendship for st. mark, rustic and frank, whom they could see in his niche at the left.
when therese approached the statue which he was pointing out to her, she saw a post-box against the wall of the narrow street opposite the saint. dechartre, placed at the most convenient point of view, talked of his st. mark with abundant friendship.
“it is to him i make my first visit when i come to florence. i failed to do this only once. he will forgive me; he is an excellent man. he is not appreciated by the crowd, and does not attract attention. i take pleasure in his society, however. he is vivid. i understand that donatello, after giving a soul to him, exclaimed: ‘mark, why do you not speak?’”
madame marmet, tired of admiring st. mark, and feeling on her face the burning wind, dragged miss bell toward calzaioli street in search of a veil.
therese and dechartre remained.
“i like him,” continued the sculptor; “i like saint mark because i feel in him, much more than in the saint george, the hand and mind of donatello, who was a good workman. i like him even more to-day, because he recalls to me, in his venerable and touching candor, the old cobbler to whom you were speaking so kindly this morning.”
“ah,” she said, “i have forgotten his name. when we talk with monsieur choulette we call him quentin matsys, because he resembles the old men of that painter.”
as they were turning the corner of the church to see the facade, she found herself before the post-box, which was so dusty and rusty that it seemed as if the postman never came near it. she put her letter in it under the ingenuous gaze of st. mark.
dechartre saw her, and felt as if a heavy blow had been struck at his heart. he tried to speak, to smile; but the gloved hand which had dropped the letter remained before his eyes. he recalled having seen in the morning therese’s letters on the hall tray. why had she not put that one with the others? the reason was not hard to guess. he remained immovable, dreamy, and gazed without seeing. he tried to be reassured; perhaps it was an insignificant letter which she was trying to hide from the tiresome curiosity of madame marmet.
“monsieur dechartre, it is time to rejoin our friends at the dressmaker’s .”
perhaps it was a letter to madame schmoll, who was not a friend of madame marmet, but immediately he realized that this idea was foolish.
all was clear. she had a lover. she was writing to him. perhaps she was saying to him: “i saw dechartre to-day; the poor fellow is deeply in love with me.” but whether she wrote that or something else, she had a lover. he had not thought of that. to know that she belonged to another made him suffer profoundly. and that hand, that little hand dropping the letter, remained in his eyes and made them burn.
she did not know why he had become suddenly dumb and sombre. when she saw him throw an anxious glance back at the post-box, she guessed the reason. she thought it odd that he should be jealous without having the right to be jealous; but this did not displease her.
when they reached the corso, they saw miss bell and madame marmet coming out of the dressmaker’s shop.
dechartre said to therese, in an imperious and supplicating voice:
“i must speak to you. i must see you alone tomorrow; meet me at six o’clock at the lungarno acciaoli.”
she made no reply.
