There was a fire in the fireplace. On the Japanese-style table, two teacups sit across from each other, and the teapot is steaming next to it, facing the sugar jar next to the rum flask.
The Duke of Sharoul threw his hat, gloves, and leather coat into his chair, and the Duchess took off her ball dress and straightened her hair in the mirror, smiling sweetly at herself, gently patting her sideburns with her slender fingertips and sparkling rings. Then she turned to her husband, and he looked at her for a few seconds, as if some inconvenient thought was annoying him, and he hesitated.
Finally he said:
"You've had enough of it tonight. "
She looked at him with her eyes, and with a flame of triumphant challenge in her eyes, she replied:
"I hope so. "
Then she sat down in her seat. He sat down across from her, tore open a butter bun, and continued:
"It's kind of ridiculous...... Here's how I feel. "
She asked:
"Is this a play? Are you going to repent me?" "No, my dear friend, I just said that Mr. Pellet was almost rude around you, if ...... If...... If I had the right to ...... I'll get angry. "My dear friend, be frank. Your thoughts today are no longer what you thought last year, that's all. I know that when you have a mistress, a mistress you love, you hardly care if people are courting me or not. I told you about my sorrows, I said, just like you did tonight, but for more reason. My friend, you got Mrs. Selvie, you made my heart ache, you made me laughing. Alas, you have made it clear to me that I am free, and that marriage is only a union of interests, a social bond, and not a moral relationship. Is that true? You have made me know that your mistress is infinitely stronger, more attractive, more feminine than I am. You have said, 'Be more feminine!' all of this was undoubtedly expressed by a well-bred and highly praised man, in a manner of gentleness for whom I respect the utmost, under the restraint of careful and discreet manners. I know this thoroughly.
"It was agreed that we would live together from now on, but completely apart. We have a child who forms the first line of connection between us. "It is almost your intention to make me see through that all you want is face, so if I am happy, I can find a mistress, as long as the relationship remains secret. You have spoken at length about the subtleties of women, the ingenuity with which they maintain manners, and so on, and you have done so well.
"I see, friend, I get it completely. You were in love, and you loved Mrs. Cellvi very much, and the tenderness, the legal tenderness, annoyed you. Most likely, I stole some of your methods. We lived separately from then on. We went to the social arena together, and then we went back to our rooms.
"What does it mean, however, that for a month or two you have taken the gesture of a jealous husband?"
"My dear friend, I am not jealous at all, but I am afraid to see you endanger myself. You're young, lively, adventurous......" "I'm sorry, but when it comes to adventure, I ask to weigh it between us. "Look, no kidding, I beg of you. I speak to you as a friend, as a friend. As for what you just said, that's an exaggeration. "Not at all. You confessed, you confessed your relationship to me! This gives me the right to imitate you. I haven't done it yet......" "Please allow me to ......" "Please let me continue. I'm not there yet. I don't have a lover yet, I don't have a ...... yet Until now. I'm waiting...... I'm in my ...... I didn't find it. This man should be a good ...... Better than you. This is a compliment I said to you, and it seems that you did not notice. "My dear, all these jokes are completely inappropriate. "But I'm not kidding at all. You told me that in the 18th century, you made me realize that you were a 'regent'. I haven't forgotten at all. One day when I have a relationship with someone and I am no longer what I am now, you will look good, you will hear clearly, you will be, and you will not even suspect it...... Made a turtle like everyone else. "
"Ah...... How can you say such words......?" But when Mrs. Gill said that Mr. Cellvie looked like a turtle and was looking for him as a cuckold, you laughed madly. "
"What seems funny in Mrs. Gil's mouth is not appropriate in your mouth. "That's not the case. Rather, you find it very interesting when the word turtle is used for Mr. Sellvie, and when it is used for you, you judge it to be unpleasant. It's all about opinions. Besides, I don't insist on using the word, I just say it to see if you're mature. "
"Mature...... As what?"
"Just as a person. When a person gets angry when he hears this being said, that's him...... It burned. In two months' time, if I talk about ...... A hat and you'll be the first to laugh. It is...... Yes...... If a man is in his place, he will not be strange. "
"You've been so rude tonight. I've never seen you like this. "
"Ahh......h I've changed...... It's gone bad. It's your fault. "
"Look, dear, talk seriously. I beg you, I beg you not to do anything more as you did tonight, and let Mr. Pelie pursue you as rudely as you did. "
"You're jealous. I'm right. "
"That's not, it's not. I just hope there are no jokes. I don't want to be a joke. And if I see this gentleman and you again...... Within the shoulders...... Or to talk in the pit of the chest......"
"He's looking for a sound horn. "
"I ...... I'll pull his ears. "
"Could you be my lover by accident?"
"I can be worthy of a not-so-beautiful woman. "
"Look, aren't you like that! I am no longer the woman you love!"
The duke stood up. He circled the small table, and as he passed behind his wife, he gave her a quick kiss on the back of the neck. She stood up at once, and looked into the depths of his eyes:
"Stop making jokes like that, between us, please be careful. We live separately. That's the end of it. "
"Look, don't be angry. I've found you fascinating quite a few times. "
"Alright...... All right...... This is my win. You ...... too. You found me...... Matured. "
"I find you charming, my dear, your arms, your face, your shoulders, ......"
"To make Mr. Pelie like ......"
"You're amazing. But that ...... It's true...... I don't know a woman as charming as you. "
"Do you have an empty belly?"
"Huh?"
"I said, you've got an empty belly. "How?"
"When the belly is empty, man is hungry, and when he is hungry, he is determined to eat what he would never want to eat at another time, and I am the dish...... It's been ignored until the time when you don't get mad at eating it...... Tonight. "Oh, Margaret, where did you learn to speak that?" "You!lo and see, since you broke off your relationship with Mrs. Selve, as far as I know you have had four mistresses, a few prodigals, artists in their trade. So, how do you want me to use it...... There is no other way to explain it than an empty stomach for a while...... What about your whim tonight?"
"I'm going to be neat and unruly. I've regained my love for you. To tell the truth, very strongly. That's it. "
"Look, look, so you want to ...... Start over?"
"Yes, ma'am. "
"Tonight. "
"Ahh
"Good. You're still holding your breath. My dear, let's discuss it. We're nothing to whom, right? I'm your wife, it's true, but it's a free wife. You wish to be taken care of by me, and I will obtain a contract for this as the other party. I will satisfy you...... At the peer-to-peer price. "
"I don't understand. "
"I'll explain. Am I as good as those sluts of yours? "
"A thousand times better. "
"Better than the best?"
"A thousand times better. "
"Okay, so how much did you spend on the best one in three months?"
"I don't go there anymore. "
"I say: How much did your most touching mistress spend on you in three months, including money, jewelry, lunch, dinner, theater, and all the other hospitality, in total?"
"How do I know, me?"
"You should know. Look, an average, thrifty. Wu Qian Yue: This should be about the same. "
"Well, yes...... Almost. "
"Okay. My friend, give me five thousand francs at once, and I will be yours in a month, starting tonight. "Are you crazy?"
"Good night, you see? "
The duchess went out and went back to her bedroom.
The bed was halfway spread, and a faint fragrance floated in the air and seeped into the tapestry.
The Duke appeared at the door. He said:
"It smells good here. "
"Really, but nothing has changed here. I always use Spanish bark powder. "
"Look, it's different...... It smells good. "It's possible, but you, please give me a light and go away, because I'm going to sleep." "
"Margaret!"
"You go away!"
He simply walked in and sat down on a chair.
Duchess: "Oh! Well, you deserve it. "
She slowly took off her dancing blouse, revealing her bare arms in white skin. She raised her hand to unfurl her ornament in front of the mirror, revealing something pink beneath the black silk corset under a touch of lace.
The duke quickly stood up and walked over to her.
Duchess: "Don't come near me, or I'll be angry......"
He grabbed her entire arm and tried to reach her lips. So she quickly bent over, grabbed a glass of mouthwash perfume from her dresser, and poured it over her shoulder to her husband's face.
He stood up, his face dripping with water, angry, and muttered:
"It's a really low-level thing. "
"Probably...... But you know my conditions: five thousand francs. "
"But it's nonsense......"
"Why ......"
"What, why? Husband pays to sleep with his wife......"
"Ah...... What a shameful word you use!"
"Probably. I repeat, pay his wife, to his legal wife, that's idiot!"
"But it's so much dumber to pay a slut when you have a legal wife!"
"Maybe, but I don't want to be a laughing stock!"
The duchess sat on a bench, and she slowly flipped her sock down like a snake shedding its skin. Her pink legs came out of the lilac silk sleeve, and her petite cute feet rested on the carpet.
The Duke leaned over a little and asked softly:
"That weird idea you got there?"
"What thoughts?"
"Ask me for five thousand francs. "
"It couldn't be more natural. We're outsiders to each other, aren't we? Now you want me. You can't marry me, because we're all married, so you come and buy me, probably for a little less than any other woman. "
"Well, think about it. The money was not handed over to another scoundrel for something I don't know, but it remained in your house, in your property. Moreover, isn't it more interesting and creative for an educated man to pay his regular wife? You, as the one in love, gave us the ...... when you paid Legitimate love, a new value, a taste of debauchery, a ...... A...... Isn't that a stimulant for profligate action?"
She stood up and walked almost naked to the bathroom.
"Now, sir, please go away, or I'll ring the maid." "
The duke stood up in a conflicted mood and looked at her unhappily, so he suddenly threw her his wallet.
"Look, naughty man, here's six thousand...... But you know what?......"
The duchess picked up the money, counted it, and said slowly:
"What?"
"Don't get used to it. "
She laughed and walked towards him:
"Five thousand a month, sir, or I'll send you back to the slut, the same...... What if you are satisfied...... I ask you to increase the price. "
About the writer
Guy de Maupassant (1850.08.05—1893.07.06), an outstanding French critical realist writer in the second half of the 19th century, is known as the "king of the world's short stories" in modern literature, and is known as the "world's three great short story masters" along with Chekhov of Russia and O. Henry of the United States. During his lifetime, he wrote six novels, 359 short stories and three travelogues, making him the author of the largest number of short stories and the most accomplished writer in the history of French literature. Representative works include "Necklace", "Beautiful Friend", "Sheep Fat Ball", "My Uncle Hule" and so on.
Maupassant was born in 1850 into a declining aristocratic family in the Haute-Norman-Maritime Seine-Maritimes. Having participated in the Franco-Prussian War, this experience became an important theme in his later novels. Maupassant suffered from neuralgia and intense migraines, and the intensity of his exertion made him progressively ill. By 1891, he could no longer write. After suffering from the cruelty of illness, Maupassant died on July 6, 1893, at the age of 43.