Page:Man Who Laughs (Estes and Lauriat 1869) v1.djvu/289

Rh, was kind to him, and sometimes even spoke to him. Barkilphedro knew neither hunger nor cold again. Josiana addressed him in the second person; it was the fashion for great ladies to do so to men of letters, who allowed it. The Marquise de Mailly received Roy, whom she had never seen before, in bed, and said to him: "C'est toi qui as fait l'Année galante! Bonjour." Later on, the men of letters returned the custom. The day came when Fabre d 'Eglantine said to the Duchesse de Rohan: "N'est-tu pas la Chabot?"

For Barkilphedro to be "thee'd" and "thou'd" was a triumph; he was overjoyed by it. He had aspired to this contemptuous familiarity. "Lady Josiana thees-and-thous me," he would say to himself; and he would rub his hands. He profited by this theeing-and-thouing to make further progress. He became a constant attendant in Josiana's private rooms,—in no way troublesome, unnoticed; in fact, the duchess would almost have changed her shift before him. All this, however, was precarious. Barkilphedro was aiming at an assured position. A duchess is only a half-way house; an underground passage which did not lead to the queen was not worth boring.

One day Barkilphedro said to Josiana: "Would your Grace like to make my fortune?"

"What dost thou want?"

"An appointment."

"An appointment,—for thee?"

"Yes, madam."

"What an idea!—thou to ask for an appointment! thou, who art good for nothing."

"That's just the reason."

Josiana burst out laughing. "Among the offices to which thou art unsuited, which dost thou desire?"

"That of cork-drawer of the bottles of the ocean."