"It is very certain," said Vautrin, "that our beloved sovereign, Charles XIV.--"The announcement of dinner by a majordomo, who threw open the double doors of the salon, put an end to this remark.Jacqueline took Vautrin's arm, saying in a whisper as they walked along,--"Have I done things all right?"
"Yes," replied Vautrin, "it is all in good style, except that devil of a turban of yours, which makes you look like a poll-parrot.""Why, no," said Jacqueline, "not at all; with my Javanese face" (she was born on the island of Java), "oriental things set me off."Madame de Saint-Esteve placed Sir Francis Drake upon her right, and Desroches on her left; Vautrin sat opposite, flanked on either side by Emile Blondet, of the "Debats," and the Signoria Luigia; the rest of the company placed themselves as they pleased.The dinner, on the whole, was dull; Bixiou, at Madame de Saint-Esteve's request, had warned the party to risk nothing that might offend the chaste ears of the pious Italian.Forced to mind their morals, as a celebrated critic once observed, these men of wit and audacity lost their spirit; and, taking refuge in the menu, which was excellent, they either talked together in a low voice, or let the conversation drag itself along in bourgeois commonplaces.They ate and they drank, but they did not dine.Bixiou, incapable of bearing this state of things during a whole dinner, determined to create a reaction.The appearance of this Swedish magnate, evidently on intimate terms with the Saint-Esteve, puzzled him.He noticed a certain insufficiency in Vautrin, and thought to himself that if he were really a great nobleman, he would be more equal to the occasion, and give a tone to the feast.He determined, therefore, to test him, and thus provide amusement, at any rate, for himself.So, at the end of the second course, he suddenly said from his end of the table,--"Monsieur le comte, you are too young, of course, to have known Gustavus III., whom Scribe and Auber have set in opera, while the rest of us glorify him in a galop.""I beg your pardon," replied Vautrin, jumping at the chance thus given him, "I am nearly sixty years of age, which makes me thirteen in 1792, when our beloved sovereign was killed by the assassin Ankarstroem, so that I can well remember that period."Thus, by means of a little volume entitled "Characters and Anecdotes of the Court of Sweden," printed in 1808, and bought on the quays in the interests of his Swedish incarnation, the chief of the detective police evaded the trap.He did better.The faucet being open, he poured forth such an abundance of erudition and detailed circumstances, he related so many curious and secret anecdotes, especially relating to the coup d'etat by which, in 1772, Gustavus III.had freed his crown,--in short, he was so precise and so interesting that as they left the table Emile Blondet said to Bixiou,--"I thought, as you did, that a foreign count in the hands of a marriage agent was a very suspicious character; but he knows the court of Sweden in a way that it was quite impossible to get out of books.
He is evidently a man well born; one might make some interesting articles out of the stories he has just told.""Yes," said Bixiou, "and I mean to cultivate his acquaintance; I could make a good deal out of him in the Charivari.""You have better find out first," said Desroches, "whether he has enough French humor to like being caricatured."Presently the first notes of the piano gave notice that the Signora Luigia was about to mount the breach.She first sang the romance in "Saul" with a depth of expression which moved the whole company, even though that areopagus of judges were digesting a good dinner, as to which they had not restrained themselves.Emile Blondet, who was more of a political thinker than a man of imagination, was completely carried away by his enthusiasm.As the song ended, Felicien Vernou and Lousteau went up to Sir Francis Drake and reproached him for wishing to take such a treasure from France, at the same time flattering him for his cleverness as an impresario.
La Luigia then sang an air from the "Nina" of Paesiello; and in that--the part being very dramatic--she showed a talent for comedy second only to her vocal gift.It was received with truly genuine applause;but what assured and completed her success with these trained judges was her modesty and the sort of ignorance in which she still remained of her amazing talent,--in the midst, too, of praises which might have turned her head.Accustomed to frenzied self-love and the insolent pretensions of the veriest sparrow of the opera, these journalists were amazed and touched by the humility, the simplicity of this empress, who seemed quite astonished at the effect she produced.
The success of the trial passed all expectation.There was but one voice as to the desirability of immediately engaging her; and Sir Francis Drake, Vautrin, and Desroches presently passed into an adjoining room to draw up the terms of the contract.As soon as that was done, Vautrin returned to the salon for la diva, requesting her to hear the contract read and to affix her signature.Her departure for London without further delay was fixed for the following day in company with Sir Francis Drake.
A few days later the packet-boat from Boulogne conveyed to England another personage of this history.Jacques Bricheteau, having obtained Sallenauve's present address from Madame de l'Estorade, and considering the danger which threatened the new deputy extremely urgent, decided not to write, but to go himself to England and confer with him in person.When he reached London, he was surprised to learn that Hanwell was the most celebrated insane asylum in Great Britain.
