CHAPTER V.

A Strategic Retreat.


The arrival of the duke, aided perhaps by his bearing toward his wife and
toward me, had a somewhat curious effect on me. I will not say that I felt
at liberty to fall in love with the duchess; but I felt the chain of
honor, which had hitherto bound me from taking any advantage of her
indiscretion, growing weaker; and I also perceived the possibility of my
inclinations beginning to strain on the weakened chain. On this account,
among others, I resolved, as I sat in the pantry drinking a glass of wine
with which Suzanne kindly provided me, that my sojourn in the duke's
household should be of the shortest. Moreover, I was not amused; I was not
a real groom; the maids treated me with greater distance and deference
than before; I lost the entertainment of upstairs, and did not gain the
interest of downstairs. The absurd position must be ended. I would hear
what the duchess wanted of me; then I would go, leaving Lafleur to grapple
with his increased labors as best he could. True, I should miss Marie
Delhasse. Well, young men are foolish.

"Perhaps," said I to myself with a sigh, "it's just as well."

I did not wait at table that night; the duchess was shut up in her own
apartment: the duke took nothing but an omelette and a cup of coffee;
these finished, he summoned Suzanne and her assistants to attend him on
the bedroom floor, and I heard him giving directions for the lodging of