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Above all, Mademoiselle Cormon sacrificed on the altar of her hopes three bottles of the famous liqueurs of Madame Amphoux, the most illustrious of all the distillers of the tropics, a name very dear to gourmets. Thanks to the devotion of her lieutenants, mademoiselle was soon ready for the conflict.
But these criticisms fall before the fact that the noble catholic, apostolic, and Roman religion is still erect in Brittany and in the ancient duchy of Alencon. Faith and piety admit of no subtleties. Mademoiselle Cormon trod the path of salvation, preferring the sorrows of her virginity so cruelly prolonged to the evils of trickery and the sin of a snare.
One month passed away in the strangest uncertainties respecting the marriage of Mademoiselle Cormon. A party of unbelievers denied the marriage altogether; the believers, on the other hand, affirmed it.
"Ah! taxes are high, are they?" said the viscount, preoccupied with his own ideas. "I don't know," replied the abbe. "My niece manages the property of each of us." "Taxes are not of much importance to the rich," said Mademoiselle Cormon, not wishing to be thought miserly.
That animal, accustomed to this proceeding, turned in of herself, and circled round the courtyard in a manner to avoid injuring the flower-bed. Jacquelin then took her bridle, and led the carriage to the portico. "Mariette!" cried Mademoiselle Cormon. "Mademoiselle!" exclaimed Mariette, who was occupied in closing the gate. "Has the gentleman arrived?" "No, mademoiselle." "Where's my uncle?"
Such efforts at conversation won her the appellation of "that good Mademoiselle Cormon," which, from the lips of the beaux esprits of society, means that she was as ignorant as a carp, and rather a poor fool; but many persons of her own calibre took the remark in its literal sense, and answered: "Yes; oh yes! Mademoiselle Cormon is an excellent woman."
A word dropped by mademoiselle as they entered Alencon had put Josette on the scent of the affair; and a discussion having started between them, it was settled that the expected de Troisville must be between forty and forty-two years of age, a bachelor, and neither rich nor poor. Mademoiselle Cormon beheld herself speedily Vicomtesse de Troisville.
All the persons who had a right to call upon Mademoiselle Cormon determined to do so that very evening. During this transurban excitement, which made that of Suzanne almost a forgotten affair, Mademoiselle was not less agitated; she was filled with a variety of novel emotions. Looking about her salon, dining-room, and boudoir, cruel apprehensions took possession of her.
Presently, a look cast by the young man on Mademoiselle Cormon carried to the soul of the chevalier a sudden gleam. That momentary flash of lightning enabled him to read the past. "Ha! the devil!" he said to himself; "what a checkmate I'm exposed to!" Monsieur de Valois now approached Mademoiselle Cormon, and offered his arm.
These two salons communicated by means of certain mixed individuals with the house of Cormon, and vice-versa; but the Cormon establishment sat severely in judgment on the two other camps. The luxury of their dinners was criticised; the ices at their balls were pondered; the behavior of the women, the dresses, and "novelties" there produced were discussed and disapproved.