CHAPTER XIV. M. FINGRET.

 Madame de la Motte, looking at all this, began to perceive how much she wanted. She wanted a drawing-room to hold sofas and lounging-chairs; a dining-room for tables and sideboards; and a boudoir for Persian curtains, screens, and knick-knacks; above all, she wanted the money to buy all these things. But in Paris, whatever you cannot afford to buy, you can hire; and Madame de la Motte set her heart on a set of furniture covered in yellow silk, with gilt¹ nails, which she thought would be very becoming to her dark complexion². But this furniture she felt sure would never go into her rooms on the fifth story; it would be necessary to hire the third, which was composed of an ante-chamber, a dining-room, small drawing-room, and bedroom, so that she might, she thought, receive on this third story the visits of the cardinal³, and on the fifth those of ladies of charity—that is to say, receive in luxury those who give from ostentation⁴, and in poverty those who only desire to give when it is needed.

 

The countess, having made all these reflections, turned to where M. Fingret himself stood, with his hat in his hand, waiting for her commands.

 

“Madame?” said he in a tone of interrogation, advancing towards her.

 

“Madame la Comtesse de la Motte Valois,” said Jeanne.

 

At this high-sounding name M. Fingret bowed low, and said: “But there is nothing in this room worthy⁵ Madame la Comtesse’s inspection⁶. If madame will take the trouble to step into the next one, she will see what is new and beautiful.”

 

Jeanne colored. All this had seemed so splendid to her, too splendid even to hope to possess it; and this high opinion of M. Fingret’s concerning her perplexed⁷ her not a little. She regretted that she had not announced herself as a simple bourgeoise; but it was necessary to speak, so she said, “I do not wish for new furniture.”

 

“Madame has doubtless some friend’s apartments to furnish?”

 

“Just so,” she replied.

 

“Will madame, then, choose?” said M. Fingret, who did not care whether he sold new or old, as he gained equally by both.

 

“This set,” said Jeanne, pointing to the yellow silk one.

 

“That is such a small set, madame.”

 

“Oh, the rooms are small.”

 

“It is nearly new, as madame may see.”

 

“But the price?”

 

“Eight hundred francs.”

 

The price made the countess tremble; and how was she to confess that a countess was content with second-hand⁸ things, and then could not afford to pay eight hundred francs for them? She therefore thought the best thing was to appear angry, and said: “Who thinks of buying, sir? Who do you think would buy such old things? I only want to hire.”

 

Fingret made a grimace⁹; his customer began gradually to lose her value in his eyes. She did not want to buy new things, only to hire old ones, “You wish it for a year?” he asked.

 

“No, only for a month. It is for some one coming from the country.”

 

“It will be one hundred francs a month.”

 

“You jest, surely, monsieur; why, in eight months I should have paid the full price of it.”

 

“Granted, Madame la Comtesse.”

 

“Well, is not that too bad?”

 

“I shall have the expense of doing it up again when you return it.”

 

Madame de la Motte reflected. “One hundred francs a month is very dear, certainly; but either I can return it at the end of that time and say it is too dear, or I shall then perhaps be in a situation to buy.”

 

“I will take it,” she said, “with curtains to match.”

 

“Yes, madame.”

 

“And carpets.”

 

“Here they are.”

 

“What can you give me for another room?”

 

“These oak chairs, this table with twisted legs, and green damask curtains.”

 

“And for a bedroom?”

 

“A large and handsome bed, a counterpane of velvet¹⁰ embroidered¹¹ in rose-color and silver, an excellent couch, and blue curtains.”

 

“And for my dressing-room?”

 

“A toilet-table hung with Mechlin lace; chest of drawers with marqueterie; sofa and chairs of tapestry¹². The whole came from the bedroom of Madame de Pompadour at Choisy.”

 

“All this for what price?”

 

“For a month?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Four hundred francs.”

 

“Come, Monsieur Fingret, do not take me for a grisette who is dazzled by your fine descriptions. Please to reflect that you are asking at the rate of four thousand eight hundred francs a year, and for that I can take a whole furnished house. You disgust me with the Place Royale.”

 

“I am very sorry, madame.”

 

“Prove it, then; I will only give half that price.” Jeanne pronounced these words with so much authority that the merchant began again to think she might be worth conciliating.

 

“So be it, then, madame.”

 

“And on one condition, M. Fingret.”

 

“What, madame?”

 

“That everything be arranged in its proper place by three o’clock.”

 

“But consider, madame, it is now ten.”

 

“Can you do it or not?”

 

“Where must they go to?”

 

“Rue St. Claude.”

 

“Close by?”

 

“Precisely.”

 

The upholsterer opened a door, and called, “Sylvain! Landry! Rémy!”

 

Three men answered to the call.

 

“The carts and the trucks instantly. Rémy, you shall take this yellow furniture; Sylvain, you take that for the dining-room; and you, Landry, that for the bedroom. Here is the bill, madame; shall I receipt it?”

 

“Here are six double louis,” she said, “and you can give the change to these men if the order is completed in time;” and, having given her address, she reentered her coach.

 

On her return she engaged the third floor, and in a few hours all was in order.

 

The lodgings¹³ thus transformed, the windows cleaned, and the fires lighted, Jeanne went again to her toilet, which she made as recherché as possible, and then took a last look at all the delights around her. Nothing had been forgotten: there were gilded¹⁴ branches from the walls for wax-lights, and glass lusters¹⁵ on each side of the mirror; Jeanne had also added flowers, to complete the embellishment of the paradise in which she intended to receive his eminence¹⁶. She took care even to leave the door of the bedroom a little open, through which the light of a bright fire gave a glimpse of the luxuries within.

 

All these preparations completed, she seated herself in a chair by the fire, with a book in her hand, listening eagerly to the sound of every carriage that passed; but nine, ten, and eleven o’clock struck, and no one came. Still she did not despair; it was not too late for a gallant¹⁷ prelate, who had probably been first to some supper, and would come to her from there. But at last twelve struck; no one appeared, the lights were burning low, and the old servant, after many lamentations over her new cap, had fallen asleep in her chair.

 

At half-past twelve Jeanne rose furious from her chair, looked out of window for the hundredth time, and, seeing no one near, undressed herself and went to bed, refusing supper, or to answer any of the remarks made to her by Clotilde; and on her sumptuous¹⁸ bed, under her beautiful curtains, she experienced no better rest than she had on the previous night. At last, however, her anger began a little to abate¹⁹, and she commenced framing excuses for the cardinal. He had so much to occupy him, he must have been detained, and, most potent²⁰ of all, he had not yet seen her. She would not have been so easily consoled if he had broken the promise of a second visit.

1 gilt   

adj.镀金的；n.金边证券

参考例句：

• The plates have a gilt edge.这些盘子的边是镀金的。
• The rest of the money is invested in gilt.其余的钱投资于金边证券。

2 complexion   

n.肤色；情况，局面；气质，性格

参考例句：

• Red does not suit with her complexion.红色与她的肤色不协调。
• Her resignation puts a different complexion on things.她一辞职局面就全变了。

3 cardinal   

n.(天主教的)红衣主教；adj.首要的，基本的

参考例句：

• This is a matter of cardinal significance.这是非常重要的事。
• The Cardinal coloured with vexation. 红衣主教感到恼火，脸涨得通红。

4 ostentation   

n.夸耀，卖弄

参考例句：

• Choose a life of action,not one of ostentation.要选择行动的一生，而不是炫耀的一生。
• I don't like the ostentation of their expensive life - style.他们生活奢侈，爱摆阔，我不敢恭维。

5 worthy   

adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的

参考例句：

• I did not esteem him to be worthy of trust.我认为他不值得信赖。
• There occurred nothing that was worthy to be mentioned.没有值得一提的事发生。

6 inspection   

n.检查，审查，检阅

参考例句：

• On random inspection the meat was found to be bad.经抽查，发现肉变质了。
• The soldiers lined up for their daily inspection by their officers.士兵们列队接受军官的日常检阅。

7 perplexed   

adj.不知所措的

参考例句：

• The farmer felt the cow,went away,returned,sorely perplexed,always afraid of being cheated.那农民摸摸那头牛，走了又回来，犹豫不决，总怕上当受骗。
• The child was perplexed by the intricate plot of the story.这孩子被那头绪纷繁的故事弄得迷惑不解。

8 second-hand   

adj.用过的，旧的，二手的

参考例句：

• I got this book by chance at a second-hand bookshop.我赶巧在一家旧书店里买到这本书。
• They will put all these second-hand goods up for sale.他们将把这些旧货全部公开出售。

9 grimace   

v.做鬼脸，面部歪扭

参考例句：

• The boy stole a look at his father with grimace.那男孩扮着鬼脸偷看了他父亲一眼。
• Thomas made a grimace after he had tasted the wine.托马斯尝了那葡萄酒后做了个鬼脸。

10 velvet   

n.丝绒，天鹅绒；adj.丝绒制的，柔软的

参考例句：

• This material feels like velvet.这料子摸起来像丝绒。
• The new settlers wore the finest silk and velvet clothing.新来的移民穿着最华丽的丝绸和天鹅绒衣服。

11 embroidered   

adj．绣花的

参考例句：

• She embroidered flowers on the cushion covers. 她在这些靠垫套上绣了花。
• She embroidered flowers on the front of the dress. 她在连衣裙的正面绣花。

12 tapestry   

n.挂毯，丰富多采的画面

参考例句：

• How about this artistic tapestry and this cloisonne vase?这件艺术挂毯和这个景泰蓝花瓶怎么样？
• The wall of my living room was hung with a tapestry.我的起居室的墙上挂着一块壁毯。

13 lodgings   

n. 出租的房舍, 寄宿舍

参考例句：

• When he reached his lodgings the sun had set. 他到达公寓房间时，太阳已下山了。
• I'm on the hunt for lodgings. 我正在寻找住所。

14 gilded   

a.镀金的，富有的

参考例句：

• The golden light gilded the sea. 金色的阳光使大海如金子般闪闪发光。
• "Friends, they are only gilded disks of lead!" "朋友们，这只不过是些镀金的铅饼！ 来自英汉文学 - 败坏赫德莱堡

15 lusters   

n.光泽( luster的名词复数 )；光辉；光彩；荣耀

参考例句：

• Manna in cobweb lusters with lightness. 蛛网上的甘露光彩轻盈。 来自互联网

16 eminence   

n.卓越，显赫；高地，高处；名家

参考例句：

• He is a statesman of great eminence.他是个声名显赫的政治家。
• Many of the pilots were to achieve eminence in the aeronautical world.这些飞行员中很多人将会在航空界声名显赫。

17 gallant   

adj.英勇的，豪侠的；(向女人)献殷勤的

参考例句：

• Huang Jiguang's gallant deed is known by all men. 黄继光的英勇事迹尽人皆知。
• These gallant soldiers will protect our country.这些勇敢的士兵会保卫我们的国家的。

18 sumptuous   

adj.豪华的，奢侈的，华丽的

参考例句：

• The guests turned up dressed in sumptuous evening gowns.客人们身着华丽的夜礼服出现了。
• We were ushered into a sumptuous dining hall.我们被领进一个豪华的餐厅。

19 abate   

vi.(风势，疼痛等)减弱，减轻，减退

参考例句：

• We must abate the noise pollution in our city.我们必须消除我们城里的噪音污染。
• The doctor gave him some medicine to abate the powerful pain.医生给了他一些药，以减弱那剧烈的疼痛。

20 potent   

adj.强有力的，有权势的；有效力的

参考例句：

• The medicine had a potent effect on your disease.这药物对你的病疗效很大。
• We must account of his potent influence.我们必须考虑他的强有力的影响。