Chapter 4 Part 2 - Nana, by Zola

A slight intoxication coloured Lucy Stewart's cheeks with a consumptive-looking flush, whilst Rose Mignon, her eyes moist with a desire to cry, had become quite tender-hearted. Tatan Nene, dizzy with having eaten too much, laughed vaguely at her own stupidity. The others, Blanche, Caroline, Simone, Maria, were all talking together, telling each other their private affairs a dispute with a coachman, a contemplated trip into the country, and some complicated stories of lovers stolen and returned; but a young man near George, having tried to kiss Lea de Horn, received a slap with an, "I say, you! just leave me alone!'* full of the most virtuous indignation; and George, who was very drunk and excited by the sight of Nana, hesitated before putting into execution an idea he had been nursing, which was to crawl under the table, and curl himself up at her feet like a little dog. No one would have seen him, and he would have kept very quiet. Then, Daguenet having, at Lea's desire, told the young man to behave himself, George, all of a sudden, felt quite sad, as though he had just been scolded himself; it was stupid, it was dull, there was nothing left worth living for. Daguenet, however, joked with him, and made him drink a tumblerful of water, asking him at the same time what he would do if he found himself alone with a woman, as three glasses of champagne were too much for him. " For instance," resumed Foucarmont, "in Havana they make a spirit out of some wild berry ; it's just like swallowing fire. Well ! one night I drank nearly two pints of it, and it had no effect on me whatever. But I can tell you more than that; another time, when on the coast of Coromandel, some savages brought us a mixture that tasted like pepper and vitriol, and it had no effect on me. I can't get drunk." For some little time past he had taken an aversion to La Faloise who was sitting in front of him. He kept sneering and saying most unpleasant things. La Faloise, who was becoming rather light- headed, moved about a good deal, keeping at the same time as close as possible to Gaga. But a great anxiety increased his rest- lessness some one had taken his handkerchief; he kept asking for it in a drunken obstinate mood, questioning his neighbours, and stooping down to look under their chairs and amongst their feet. Then, as Gaga tried to quiet him: "It's absurd," he mur- mured, "there are my initials and my crest in the corner. It may compromise me.”

"I say, M. Falamoise, Lamafoise, Mafaloise!" cried Foucar- mont, who thought it very witty to thus disfigure the young man's name. But La Faloise got angry. He stutteringly spoke of his ancestors. He threatened to pitch a decanter at Foucarmont's head. Count de Vandeuvres had to interfere and assure him that Foucarmont was very funny. Indeed, every one laughed. That upset the bewildered young man's determination, so he quietly sat down; and he went on eating as obediently as a child, when his cousin told him to do so in an angry tone of voice. Gaga kept him close to her again; only, every now and then, he glanced furtively and anxiously at the others, in search of his handkerchief. Then, Foucarmont, in his witty mood, attacked Labordette, right across the table. Louise Violaine tried to make him keep quiet, because, said she, whenever he got quarrelsome like that with others, it always ended badly for her. He thought it very funny to call Labordette "madame;" it seemed to amuse him immensely, for he kept on doing so, whilst Labordette coolly shrugged his shoulders, saying each time, "Keep quiet, my boy; don't be a fool." But as Foucarmont continued, and even became insulting, with- out any one knowing why, Labordette left off answering him, and addressed himself to the Count de Vandeuvres. "Have the good- ness to make your friend keep quiet, sir. I do not wish to lose my temper." He had fought in two duels he was admitted and welcomed everywhere; so there was a general rising against Foucarmont. Every one was amused, thinking him very funny; but that was no reason for upsetting the harmony of the evening. Vandeuvres, whose fine face wore a dark look, insisted on his restoring Labor- dette his sex. The other men, Mignon, Steiner, Bordenave, all very far gone, interfered also, shouting so as to drown his voice; and the old gentleman, who was quite forgotten in his seat beside Nana, alone preserved his distinguished look, his quiet, weary smile, as he watched with his pale eyes the tumult around him. "My little duck, suppose we have our coffee here." said Borde- nave. "We are all very comfortable." Nana did not answer at once. Ever since the commencement of the supper, she had not seemed to be in her own home. She felt quite lost among all these people, who almost stunned her with their loud talk and their calls for the waiters, and who were all thoroughly at their ease, as though in a restaurant. She, too, began to forget her duties as mistress of the house, occupying her- self solely with stout old Steiner, who was almost bursting with apoplexy beside her. She listened to him, shaking her head the while, and laughing in the provoking way of a plump blonde. The champagne she had drunk had heightened her colour and mois- tened her lips, and given an extra sparkle to her eyes; and the banker offered more at every cajoling movement of her shoulders, at each slight though voluptuous heaving of her neck when she turned her head. He noticed, near her ear, a dainty little spot, a velvety skin which almost drove him mad. Now and then Nana recollected her guests, and tried to do the amiable, to show that she knew how to entertain. Towards the end of the supper she became quite tipsy. That vexed her very much. Champagne always got into her head at once. Then an idea seized upon her that thoroughly exasperated her. It was a dirty trick the other women were playing her, by behaving badly in her rooms. Oh! she saw through it well enough ! Lucy winked her eye to stimulate Foucarmont against Labordette; whilst Rose, Caroline, and the others excited the gentlemen. Now, the row they kicked up was so great that it was impossible to hear oneself speak just to show that they could all do as they liked when supping at Nana's. Well! they would see. Though she was tipsy, she was still the best looking and the best behaved of the lot. "My little duck," repeated Bordenave, "tell them to serve the coffee in here. I should prefer it, on account of my leg." But Nana roughly jumped up from her seat, murmuring to Steiner and the old gentleman, who were lost in astonishment, " It serves me right; it will teach me not to invite such a low set another time." Then, pointing to the dining-room door, she added aloud, "You know, if you want any coffee, there's some in there." Every one rose from the table, and hurried towards the dining- room, without noticing Nana's anger. And soon no one was left in the drawing-room but Bordenave, who was holding on to the walls and advancing cautiously, swearing all the time against those confounded women, who didn't care a damn for papa, now that their bellies were full. Behind him, the waiters were already removing the cloth, under the directions of their chief, who shouted out his orders. They hurried themselves, shoving up against one another, making the table disappear like the scenery of a fairy play on the signal of the head scene-shifter. The ladies and gentle- men were to return to the drawing-room after taking their coffee. "Thank goodness! it isn't so warm in here," said Gaga, with a slight shiver, as she entered the dining-room. The window had been left open. Two lamps lighted up the table, on which the coffee was served with some liqueurs. There were no chairs, so they all took their coffee standing; whilst the noise caused by the waiters in the next room increased. Nana had disappeared; but no one was troubled about her absence. They got on very well without her, helping themselves, searching in the sideboard drawers for the spoons they wanted. Several groups were formed those who had been separated during the supper rejoining one another, and exchanging looks, significant smiles, or a few words which summed up the situation. "I say, Augustus," said Rose Mignon, "ought not M. Fauchery to come and lunch with us one of these days?" Mignon, who was playing with his watch chain, looked at the journalist severely for a second. Rose, he thought, was mad. As a good manager, he would put a stop to all such waste. For an article, well and good; but after that no admittance. However, as he knew that his wife would sometimes have her own way, and that he made a rule of paternally allowing her to commit a folly whenever he could not prevent it, he replied in his most amiable manner, "Certainly, I shall be delighted. Why not come to- morrow, then, M. Fauchery?" Lucy Stewart, who was conversing with Steiner and Blanche, overheard the invitation. She raised her voice, and said to the banker, " Is it a mania they've all got? One of them has even stolen my puppy. Really, now, is it my fault if you've discarded her? " Rose turned her head. Her face was very pale as she looked fixedly at Steiner, slowly sipping her coffee the while, and all the repressed anger she felt at her abandonment gleamed in her eyes like a flame of fire. She understood the matter better than Mignon. It was absurd to try and repeat the Jonquier experiment. That sort of things did not come off twice. Well, so much the worse! she would have Fauchery. She had felt a hankering for him ever since the supper, and if Mignon didn't like it, it would teach him to act differently another time.

"You are not going to fight, I hope?" Vandeuvres came and said to Lucy Stewart. "Oh, no! never you fear. Only she had better keep quiet, or I'll give her a piece of my mind"; and, calling to Fauchery in a haughty tone of voice, Lucy added, "Young 'un, I've got your slippers at home. I'll have 'em left to-morrow with your concierge." He tried to jest about it, but she moved away from him with the air of a queen. Clarisse, who was leaning against the wall so as the more conveniently to drink a glass of kirsch, shrugged her shoulders. What a fuss to make about a man! Wasn't it the custom, whenever two women found themselves together with their lovers, for each to try and get hold of the other's? It was quite a settled thing. If she had chosen, she might have scratched out Gaga's eyes, all on account of Hector. But, pooh ! she didn't care a button. Then, as La Faloise passed near her she contented herself with saying to him, "Listen! you seem to like them very far advanced. You are not satisfied with their being ripe, you want them rotten!" La Faloise appeared very much put out. He continued uneasy. Seeing Clarisse scoffing at him he suspected her. "No humbug," he murmured, "you have taken my handkerchief. Give me my handkerchief." "What a nuisance he is with his handkerchief!" she cried. "Look here, you idiot; what should I have taken it for?" "Why," said he, mistrustfully, "to send it to my relations, so as to compromise me." All this while Foucarmont was going in strongly for the liqueurs. He continued to sneer as he watched Labordette, who was drink- ing his coffee surrounded by the women, and he kept uttering a number of unconnected phrases, much in this style: "The son of a horse-dealer, others said the bastard offspring of a countess - no means, and yet always twenty-five louis in his pocket the servant of all the girls of easy virtue a fellow who never went to bed." "No, never! never!" he repeated, growing angry. "I can't help it; I must really slap his face." He tossed off a glass of chartreuse. Chartreuse never upset him; not that much, said he, and he clacked his thumb-nail between his teeth. But all of a sudden, just as he was advancing towards Labordette, he turned ghastly pale, and fell all in a heap in front of the sideboard. He was dead drunk. Louise Violaine was in an awful way. She had said that it would end badly; now she would be the rest of the night nursing him. But Gaga reassured her. She examined the officer with the eye of an experienced woman, and declared that there was no cause for alarm. The gentleman would sleep like that for twelve or fifteen hours without the least accident; so they removed Foucarmont. "Hallo! wherever has Nana got to?" asked Vandeuvres. Yes, as a matter of fact, she had disappeared on leaving the supper table. They now began to think of her; every one made inquiries. Steiner suddenly became most anxious, questioned Vandeuvres with respect to the old gentleman, who had also dis- appeared; but the count calmed his fears. He had just seen the old gentleman off. He was a distinguished foreigner, whose name it was unnecessary to mention. He was very rich, and was satisfied with paying for the suppers. Then, every one again forgetting Nana, Vandeuvres noticed Daguenet's head at the door, signalling to him to come; and in the bedroom, he found the mistress of the house seated quite rigid, with her lips all white, whilst Daguenet and George were standing watching her with looks of conster- nation. "What's the matter with you?" he asked, surprised. She did not reply, nor did she even turn her head. He repeated his question. "I don't intend to be made a fool of in my own place!" she at length exclaimed. "That's what's the matter." Then she uttered everything that came readily to her tongue. Yes, yes, she wasn't an idiot; she could see what it all meant. They had all made a fool of her during supper. They had said the most beastly things, just to show that they didn't care a curse for her. A parcel of strumpets, who were not fit to clean her boots. She wouldn't worry herself for them another time, just to be treated in that scurvy way afterwards! She didn't know what it was kept her from kicking the whole dirty lot out of the place; and, her rage choking her, she sobbed aloud. "Come, my girl, you're drunk," said Vandeuvres in a most affectionate manner. "You must be reasonable." No, she refused beforehand; she would remain there. "I may be drunk, it's very possible; but I intend to be respected.”

For a quarter of an hour past, Daguenet and George had been vainly entreating her to return to the dining-room; but she was obstinate. Her guests might do what they liked; she had too great a contempt for them to return amongst them. Never, never! They might cut her up into pieces, but she would remain in her room. " I ought to have expected it," she resumed. " It's that strum- pet Rose who organised the plot; and it's no doubt she who pre- vented that respectable lady I invited from coming." She was speaking of Madame Robert. Vandeuvres assured her, on his word of honour, that Madame Robert had of her own free will declined the invitation. He listened and discussed without laughing, used to such scenes, and knowing how to deal with women when they were in that state; but the moment he tried to take hold of Nana's hands, to raise her from her chair and lead her away, she struggled with increased fury. No one would ever make her believe, for instance, that Fauchery had not dissuaded Count Muffat from coming. He was a regular serpent, that Fauchery, a most envious fellow, a man who was capable of stick- ing to a woman until he had destroyed her happiness; for she knew very well the count had taken a fancy to her. She might have had him. "He, my dear never!" exclaimed Vandeuvres, forgetting him- self and laughing. "But why not?" asked she, serious, and slightly sobered. " Because he's mixed up with the priests, and if he only touched you with the tip of his finger, he would go and confess it on the morrow. Now listen to a good piece of advice. Don't let the other one escape." For a moment she reflected in silence. Then she rose, and went and bathed her eyes. Yet, when they again tried to get her into the dining-room, she furiously declined to go. Vandeuvres left the room with a smile, without insisting any more; and directly he was gone, she had a fit of tenderness, throwing herself into Daguenet's arms, and saying, "Ah! my Mimi, there is no one like you. I love you, as you know! I love you so much! It would be too good if we could always live together. Oh ! why are women such unhappy creatures? Then noticing George, who had turned very red on seeing them embrace each other, she kissed him also. Mimi could not be jealous of a baby. She wished Paul and George always to get on well together, because it would be so nice to remain like that, all three knowing that they loved one another so much. But a peculiar noise disturbed them. Some one was snoring in the room. Then, looking about, they discovered Bordenave, who, after drinking his coffee, had apparently made himself comfortable there. He was asleep on two chairs, his head resting on the edge of the bed, and his leg stretched straight out. Nana thought he looked so comic, with his mouth wide open and his nose moving at each snore, that she quite shook with laughter. She left the room, followed by Daguenet and George, and, passing through the din- ing-room, entered the drawing-room, laughing more than ever. "Oh, my dear!" cried she, almost throwing herself into Rose's arms, "you have no idea come and see." All the women were obliged to go with her. She caressingly seized hold of their hands, and dragged them away, in so genuine a transport of gaiety, that they laughed before knowing why. They all disappeared, and then returned after having remained for a minute, with bated breath, around Bordenave, majestically stretched out. And then their laughter burst forth afresh, when one of them called for silence, Bordenave could be plainly heard snoring in the distance. It was nearly four o'clock. In the dining-room a card-table had been placed, around which Vandeuvres, Steiner, Mignon, and Labordette hastened to seat themselves. Lucy and Caroline stood behind them betting; whilst Blanche, feeling very drowsy and dissatisfied with her evening, kept asking Vandeuvres every five minutes if they would not soon be going. In the drawing- room others were trying to dance. Daguenet was kindly assist- ing at the piano, as Nana said she wouldn't have any strumming, and Mimi could play as many waltzes and polkas as any one could wish. But the dancing flagged; many of the women were re- clining on the sofas, chatting among themselves. All on a sudden there was a frightful uproar. Eleven young men, who had just arrived together, were laughing very loudly in the anteroom, and pushing their way towards the drawing-room door. They had just left the ball at the Ministry of the Interior, and were all in evening dress and bedecked with various unknown decorations. Nana, annoyed at the noise they made, called the waiters, who were still in the kitchen, and ordered them to chuck the gentlemen out, swearing that she had never seen them before. Fauchery, Labordette, Daguenet, and the other men hastened forward to insure the respect due to the lady of the house. Angry words were uttered, fists were shaken. Another minute, and there would have been a general punching of heads. However, a little fair-haired fellow, with a most sickly appearance, kept on repeating, "Come now, Nana; the other night, at Peters's, in the big red room. You surely must recollect! You invited us." The other night, at Peters's? She did not remember it at all. First of all, what night? And when the little fair-haired fellow told her the day, Wednesday, she recollected that she had supped at Peters's on the Wednesday, but she had invited no one, of that she was almost certain. " But yet, my girl, if you did invite them," murmured Labordette who began to have doubts on the subject, "you were perhaps a little bit on." Then Nana laughed. It was possible, she couldn't say. How- ever, as the gentlemen were there, they had better come in. And so it was settled.