Jeanne of the Marshes

by E. Phillips Oppenheim

  CHAPTER IX

  The Count de Brensault called in Berkeley Square at three o'clockprecisely that afternoon, but it was the Princess who received him, andthe Princess was alone.

  "Well?" he asked, a little eagerly. "Mademoiselle Jeanne is morereasonable, eh? You have good news?"

  The Princess motioned him to a seat.

  "I think," she said, "we had forgotten how young Jeanne really is. Theidea of getting married to any one seems to terrify her. After all, whyshould we wonder at it? The school where she was brought up was a very,very strict one, and this plunge into life has been a little sudden."

  "You think, then," De Brensault asked eagerly, "that it is not Ipersonally whom she objects to so much?"

  "Certainly not," the Princess answered. "It is simply you as the manwhom it is proposed that she should marry that she dislikes. I havebeen talking to her for a long time this afternoon. Frankly, I do notknow which would be best--to give up the idea of anything of the sortfor some time, or to--to--"

  "To what?" De Brensault demanded, as the Princess hesitated.

  "To take extreme measures," the Princess answered slowly. "Mind, Iwould not consider such a thing for a moment, if I were not fullyconvinced that Jeanne, when she is a little older, would be perfectlysatisfied with what we have done. On the other hand, one hesitatesnaturally to worry the child."

  "She will not see me?" De Brensault asked. "It is possible that I mightbe able to persuade her."

  "You would do more harm than good," the Princess answered decidedly."She is terrified just now at the idea. She is in her room shaking likea schoolgirl who is going to be punished. Really, I don't know why Ishould have been plagued with such a charge. There are so many things Iwant to do, and I have to stay here to look after Jeanne, because sheis too foolish to be trusted with any one else. I want to go toAmerica, and a very dear friend of mine has invited me to go with herand some delightful people on a yachting cruise around the world."

  "Then why not use those measures you spoke of?" De Brensault saideagerly. "I shall make Jeanne a very good husband, I assure you. Ishall promise you that in a fortnight's time she will be only toodelighted with her lot."

  The Princess looked at him thoughtfully.

  "I wonder," she said, "whether I could trust you."

  "Trust me, of course you could, dear Princess!" De Brensault exclaimedeagerly. "I will be kind to her, I promise you. Be sensible. She wouldfeel this way with any one. You yourself have said so. There can be nomore suitable marriage for her than with me. Let us call it arranged.Tell me what it is that you propose. Perhaps I may be able to help."

  "Jeanne is, of course, not of age," the Princess said thoughtfully,"and she is entirely under my control. In England people are ratherfoolish about these things, but abroad they understand the situationbetter."

  "Why not in Belgium?" De Brensault exclaimed. "We might go to a littletown I know of very near to my estates. Everything could be arrangedthere very easily. I am quite well-known, and no questions would beasked."

  The Princess nodded thoughtfully.

  "That might do," she admitted.

  "Why not start at once?" De Brensault suggested. "There is nothing tobe gained by waiting. We might even leave to-morrow."

  The Princess shook her head.

  "You are too impetuous, my dear Count," she said.

  "But what is there to wait for?" he demanded.

  "I must see my lawyers first," she answered slowly, "and before I leaveLondon I must pay some bills."

  The Count drew a cheque book from his pocket.

  "I will keep my word," he said. "I will pay you on account the amountwe spoke of."

  The Princess opened her escritoire briskly.

  "There is a pen and ink there," she said, "and blotting paper. Reallyyour cheque will be a god-send to me. I seem to have had nothing butexpenses lately, and Jeanne's guardians are as mean as they can be.They grumble even at allowing me five thousand a year."

  De Brensault twirled his moustache as he seated himself at the table.

  "Five thousand a year," he muttered. "It is not a bad allowance for ayoung girl who is not yet of age."

  The Princess shrugged her shoulders.

  "My dear Count," she said, "you do not know what our expenses are.Jeanne is extravagant, so am I extravagant. It is all very well forher, but for me it is another matter. I shall be a poor woman when Ihave resigned my charge."

  De Brensault handed the cheque across.

  "You will not find me," he said, "ungrateful. And now, my dear lady,let us talk about Jeanne. Do you think that you could persuade her toleave London so suddenly?"

  "I am going up-stairs now," the Princess said, "to have a little talkwith her. Dine with me here to-night quite quietly, and I will tell youwhat fortune I have had."

  De Brensault went away, on the whole fairly content with his visit. ThePrincess endorsed his cheque, and with a sigh of relief enclosed it inan envelope, rang for a maid and ordered her carriage. Then she wentup-stairs to Jeanne, whom she found busy writing at her desk. Shehesitated for a moment, and then went and stood with her hand restingupon the girl's shoulder.

  "Jeanne," she said, "I think that we have both been a little hasty."

  Jeanne looked up in surprise. Her stepmother's tone was altered. It wasno longer cold and dictatorial. There was in it even a note of appeal.Jeanne wondered to find herself so unmoved.

  "I am sorry," she said, "if I have said anything unbecoming. You see,"she continued, after a moment's pause, "the subject which we weretalking about did not seem to me to leave much room for discussion."

  "There is no harm in discussing anything," the Princess said, throwingherself into a wicker chair by the side of Jeanne's table. "I am afraidthat all that I said must have sounded very cruel and abrupt. You see Ihave had this thing on my mind for so long. It has been a trouble tome, Jeanne."

  Jeanne raised her large eyes and looked steadily at her stepmother. Shefelt almost ashamed of her coldness and lack of sympathy. The Princesswas certainly looking worn and worried.

  "I am sorry," Jeanne said stiffly. "I cannot imagine how you could havesupported life for a day under such conditions."

  Her stepmother sighed.

  "That," she said, "is because you have had so little experience oflife, and you do not understand its practical necessities. Childrenlike you seem to think that the commonplace necessaries of life dropinto our laps as a matter of course, or that they are a sort of giftfrom Heaven to the deserving. As a matter of fact," the Princesscontinued, "nothing of the sort happens. Life is often a very cruel anda very difficult thing. We are given tastes, and no means to gratifythem. How could I, for instance, face life as a lodging-house keeper,or at best as a sort of companion to some ill-tempered old harridan,who would probably only employ me to have some one to bully? Youyourself, Jeanne, are fond of luxuries."

  It was a new reflection to Jeanne. She became suddenly thoughtful.

  "I have noticed your tastes," the Princess continued. "You would bemiserable in anything but silk stockings, wouldn't you? And your ideasof lingerie are quite in accord with the ideas of the modern youngwoman of wealth. You fill your rooms with flowers. You buy expensivebooks," she added, taking up for a moment a volume of De Ronsard, boundin green vellum, with uncut edges. "Your tastes in eating and drinking,too," she continued, "are a little on the sybaritic side. Have yourealized what it will mean to give all these things up--to wear coarseclothes, to eat coarse food, to get your books from a cheap library,and look at other people's flowers?"

  Jeanne frowned. The idea was certainly not pleasing.

  "It will be bad for you," the Princess continued, "and it will be verymuch worse for me, because I have been used to these things all mylife. You may think me very brutal at having tried to help you towardthe only means of escape for either of us, but I think, dear, youscarcely realize the alternative. It is not only what you condemnyourself to. Remember that you inflict the same punishment on me."

&nb
sp; "It is not I who do anything," Jeanne said. "It is you who have broughtthis upon both of us. All this money that has been spent upon luxuries,it was absurd. If I was not rich I did not need them. I think that itwas more than absurd. It was cruel."

  The Princess produced a few inches of lace-bordered cambric. A glanceat Jeanne's face showed her that the child had developed a new side toher character. There was something pitiless about the straightenedmouth, and the cold questioning eyes.

  "Jeanne," the Princess said, "you are a fool. Some day you willunderstand how great a one. I only trust that it may not be too late.The Count de Brensault may not be everything that is to be desired in ahusband, but the world is full of more attractive people who would beglad to become your slaves. You will live mostly abroad, and let meassure you that marriage there is the road to liberty. You have it inyour power to save yourself and me from poverty. Make a littlesacrifice, Jeanne, if indeed it is a sacrifice. Later on you will beglad of it. If you persist in this unreasonable attitude, I really donot know what will become of us."

  Jeanne turned her head, but she did not respond in the least to thePrincess' softened tone. There was a note of finality about her words,too. She spoke as one who had weighed this matter and made up her mind.

  "If there was no other man in the world," she said, "or no other way ofavoiding starvation, I would not marry the Count de Brensault."

  The Princess rose slowly to her feet.

  "Very well," she said, "that ends the matter, of course. I hope youwill always remember that it is you who are responsible for anythingthat may happen now. You had better," she continued, "leave off writingletters which will certainly never be posted, and get your clothestogether. We shall go abroad at the latest to-morrow afternoon."

  "Abroad?" Jeanne repeated.

  "Yes!" the Princess answered. "I suppose you have sense enough to seethat we cannot stay on here for you to make your interestingconfessions. I should probably have some of these tradespeople tryingto put me in prison."

  "I will tell Saunders at once," Jeanne said. "I am quite ready to doanything you think best."

  The Princess laughed hardly.

  "You will have to manage without Saunders," she answered. "Paupers likeus can't afford maids. I am going to discharge every one thisafternoon. Have your boxes packed, please, to-night. Your dinner willbe sent up to you."

  The Princess left the room, and Jeanne heard the key turn in the lock.