"de Musset, Alfred - Frederic and Bernerette" - читать интересную книгу автора (Musset Alfred De)

fire was burning. Here Bernerette, leaning on her lover's knees her checks aglow
with pleasure, told him who she was. She had played in comedy in the provinces.
Her real name was Louise Durand and Bernerette was but an assumed one. She had
been living for two years with a young man whom she no longer loved. At all
costs, she wished to get rid of him and change her mode of life, either by
returning to the stage if she found some one to protect her, or by learning a
trade. Apart from this, she said nothing about her family or the past. She
simply announced her determination to break the bonds that held her and which
were insupportable. Frederic did not wish to deceive her and told her exactly
his position. Not being rich, and acquainted with few people, he could help her
but little.
"As I can not support you," he added, "I did not wish, under any pretext, to
cause a rupture. But, as I could not endure the thought of sharing you with
another, I shall leave you, much to my regret, and cherish in my heart the
memory of a happy day."
At this unexpected declaration, Bernerette burst into tears. "Why go?" said she.
"If I break with my lover, it is not you who will have been the cause, since I
have made up my mind for some time. If I go and serve my apprenticeship in a
laundry, will you no longer love me? It is a pity you are not rich, but what of
it? We will do the best we can."
Frederic was about to reply, but a kiss checked him.
"Let us think no more about it, nor mention it," said Bernerette. "When you want
me, signal to me from your window and do not bother about the rest, which in any
case does not concern you."
During about six weeks, Frederic hardly worked at all. His theme lay on his
table, hardly commenced, and, he added a line, from time to time. He knew that
if a desire for enjoyment came to him, he had but to open the window. Bernerette
was always ready and when he asked her how she managed to have so much liberty,
she always answered that it was no business of his. He had a few savings in his
drawer which he rapidly spent. At the end of two weeks, he was obliged to have
recourse to a friend to enable him to take his mistress out to supper.
When this friend, who was named Gerard, learned of Frederic's new mode of life
he said to him: "Be careful, you are in love. Your grisette has nothing and you
have not much more. In your position, I would be shy of an actress from the
provinces. These passions lead to more than one would think."
Frederic laughingly replied that it was not a question of passion, but of a
passing love. He told Gerard how he had come to know Bernerette, thanks to the
window. "She is a girl who thinks of nothing but laughter," said he to his
friend. "There is nothing less dangerous than she, and nothing less serious than
our liaison."
Gerard yielded to this reasoning, but still urged Frederic to work. The latter
assured him that his theme would soon be finished, and to prove it, in fact, he
worked hard for a few hours; but, that very evening, Bernerette was awaiting
him. They went together to La Chaumiиre and work was neglected.
La Chaumiиre is the Tivoli of the Latin quarter and the rendezvous of the
students and grisettes. It follows, that it is a place for good company and a
resort of pleasure. Drinking and dancing are indulged in: a frank gaiety,
somewhat noisy, animates the assembly. The Elegantes are there in their round
bonnets and the Fashionables in velvet waistcoats. One smokes, touches glasses
in sign of friendship and makes love openly. If the police should forbid the