Free Memoirs of a Physician by Alexandre Dumas Page A

remained open, and once or twice the young girl had approached it as if to breathe the fresh air. She was pale and weak ; but it seemed to Gilbert as if he would wish for nothing more than that Andre should always inhabit that pavilion, that he should always have his attic, and that, once or twice every day, Andre should come to the window as he had seen her that day.
    The long, looked-for Sunday at last arrived. Rousseau had already made his preparations the day before ; his shoes were carefully blackened, and his gray coat, at once light and warm, was taken from the chest, to the great annoyance of Therese, who thought a blouse or a linen frock quite good enough for such a purpose. But Rousseau had completed his toilet without replying. Not only his own clothes, but Gilbert’s also, had been passed in re-view with the greatest care, and the latter’s had even been augmented by a pair of irreproachable stockings and new shoes, which Rousseau had presented him with as an agreeable surprise.
    The herbal was also put in the nicest trim. Rousseau had not forgotten his collection of mosses which was to play a part in the proceedings of the da’y. Impatient as a child, he hastened more than twenty times to the window to see if the carriage that was passing was not M. de Jussieu’s. At last he perceived a highly varnished char-56 MEMOIRS OF A PHYSICIAN.
    lot, a pair of splendid horses with rich harness, and an immense powdered footman standing at his door. He ran instantly to There’se, exclaiming :
    ” Here it is ! here it is ! “
    And crying to Gilbert :
    ” Quick, quick, the carriage is waiting.”
    ” Well,” said Therese, sharply, ” if you are so fond of riding in a coach, why did you not work in order to have one of yonr own, like Monsieur de Voltaire ? “
    ” Be quiet ! ” grumbled Kousseau.
    ” Daine ! you always say you have as much talent as he.”
    ” I do not say so, hark you ! ” cried Eousseau, in a rage ; ” I say I say nothing ! “
    And all his joy fled, as it invariably did at the mention of that hated name. Luckily, M. de Jussieu entered.
    He was pomatumed, powdered, fresh as the spring. His dress consisted of a splendid coat of ribbed Indian satin, of a light gray color, a vest of pale lilac silk, white silk stockings of extraordinary fineness, and bright gold buckles.
    On entering Rousseau’s apartment he filled the room with a delightful perfume, which Therese inhaled without concealing her admiration.
    ” How handsome you are ! ” said Eousseau, looking askance at Therese, and comparing his modest dress and clumsy equipment with the elegant toilet of M. de Jussieu.
    ” Oh, I am afraid of the heat,” said the elegant botanist.
    ” But the wood is damp ! If we botanize in the marshes, your silken stockings “
    ” Oh, we can choose the driest places.”
    ” And the aquatic mosses ? Must we give them up for to-day?”
    ” Do not be uneasy about that, my dear colleague.”
    ” One would think you were going to a ball, or to pay your respects to ladies.”
    ” Why should we not honor Dame Nature with a pair of silk stockings ? ” replied M. de Jussieu, rather embar
     
    MEMOIRS OF A PHYSICIAN. 57
    rassed ; “does she not deserve that we should dress ourselves for her ? “
    Kousseau said no more from the moment that M. de Jussieu invoked nature, lie agreed with him, that it was impossible to honor her too highly.
    As for Gilbert, notwithstanding his stoicism, he gazed at M. de Jussieu with envious eyes. Since he had observed so many young exquisites enhance their natural advantages with dress, he had seen the utility, in a frivo-lous point of view, of elegance, and whispered to himself that this silk, this lace, this linen, would add a charm to his youth ; and that if Andre saw him dressed like M. Jussieu instead of as he was, she would then deign to look at him.
    The carriage rolled off at the utmost speed of two fine Danish horses, and an hour after their departure the botanists