Later he collected from the sitting room the magnum of champagne of which they had drunk only a quarter at supper. Over the wine they talked, laughed and caressed one another for two hours that seemed to pass like twenty minutes. They then made love again, put out the candles and curled up together in dreamy bliss. But there was no dawn party for, in his excitement, Roger had forgotten that it was December so the sun would not rise until late; and he did not want Pauline's maid to catch him in bed with her mistress.
At about four o'clock, finding that Pauline had fallen into a heavy sleep, he gently disengaged himself from her, slipped on his robe and tiptoed from the room.
When his man woke him at seven, although he had slept for only a few hours, he felt like a giant refreshed and, looking back on the past night, decided that he was the luckiest fellow in the whole world.
He had just finished a hearty breakfast when Pauline's maid, Aimée, came to tell him that her mistress had passed a very bad night, so she did not feel like setting out for Paris that day, and wished him to cancel the arrangements for her departure.
Knowing very well how Pauline had passed the night, Roger was not at all surprised and was delighted at the thought that this meant for him another night with his ravishing new mistress in their present comfortable quarters; but he gravely asked Aimée to convey his respects and sympathy to 'Madame'.
The maid was a pretty young person with dark hair and a fresh complexion bronzed by the tropical sun. After a moment she said, 'I have been with Madame since her marriage to the General and his loss was a great blow to her. Despite her bad night I found her more cheerful this morning than I have seen her for a long time and Monsieur le Colonel will perhaps permit me to remark that I attribute that to his having entertained her so charmingly at supper. Such company is excellent for her and if I can be of any service in encouraging her to spend longer in the company of Monsieur le Colonel, I should be happy to do so.'
To Roger a wink was as good as a nod and he guessed at once that Aimée was aware that he had spent the night with her mistress. With a smile he replied, 'As Madame will be spending most of the day in bed, no doubt she will allow you a few hours off to do some shopping, and there must be quite a number of things you would like to buy after your years in the Indies.' Then he fished out of his waistcoat pocket four gold twenty-five franc pieces and slipped them into her hand.
Bobbing him a curtsey she returned his smile. 'Monsieur le Colonel is most kind, and anyone can sec that he is not one of those jumped-up officers but a real gentleman. I feel sure that Madame will be sufficiently recovered to get up this afternoon, and I will suggest to her that she should dine with you.'
Well pleased by this happy understanding with Aimée, which would lessen the necessity for subterfuge in his affaire with Pauline, Roger went out into the town to buy her a mass of flowers.
Before escorting Pauline to the inn, Roger had seen her son, Dermid, but had not spoken to him. That afternoon he found the boy with her. He was a pretty, fair-haired child and would be five in April, but he was far from strong. She had borne him when she was only seventeen, and such an early pregnancy had harmed the health of them both. Roger had, that morning, thought of the boy; so was able to produce for him both sweets and toys, which soon made them good friends. When his nurse had taken him away, Pauline threw off her black weeds and the lovers eagerly embraced to exchange passionate kisses.
Over dinner Pauline was as gay as a lark, but towards the end of the meal, when Roger broached the subject of their journey, her face clouded over and she said, 'I have been thinking about us this morning. In Paris I no longer have a house so, for sonic weeks at least, I'll have to live with my mother, or my brother Joseph, which will make our being together difficult. Besides, I'd have to continue to wear mourning, and I've always hated black. It does not suit me. Why should we not go incognito to some place where we can live for a while openly as husband and wife?'
Roger considered for a moment. Her idea held out to him a temptation to spend several weeks in Paradise; but it could prove extremely dangerous, and he said, 'My love, it would be heaven; you must remember, though, that you are now a person of great importance—a member of an almost Royal family. If we disappeared 'tis certain that your brother would set his police to search for us, and when they ran us to earth the fat would be in the fire with a vengeance.'
She pouted, 'But I do not want to go to Paris. My poor little Leclerc was weak and ill for a long time before he died, so I have been starved of love for an age. When one is only twenty-two that is a terrible state to be in. Somehow we must arrange matters so that you can continue to sleep with me.'
Smiling at her, Roger replied, 'I think it could be done if you will write to the First Consul. Tell him that you dread having to sec again in Paris scores of people who will condole with you and constantly remind you of your loss; that you must have more time to get over it before facing such an ordeal, so you wish to make a tour incognito through some parts’ of France that you have not yet seen. Happily he charged me with the care of you and to do my best to alleviate your sorrow; and I'd be failing in my duty did I not act as your escort.'
Pauline's brown eyes with their golden glints lit up as she returned his smile. 'You are clever, cher Colonel, as well as strong. I will do that. Now, whither shall we go?'
‘I have a small chateau at St. Maxime that I occupy occasionally. There is no society in the neighbourhood, nor anyone likely to recognize you. To get there we should have to pass through several towns of interest, about which you could later tell your brother, and give him the impression that you had stayed longer in each of them than would actually be the case. How does that idea appeal to you?'
Clapping her hands, she cried with delight, 'Bravo! What a man I have found! You have everything. Even a chateau in the southern sunshine by the sea where we can enjoy together a pastoral life. We'll set out tomorrow.'
'What of young Dermid and his nurse?' Roger asked.
She shrugged, 'Oh, I'll send them on to Paris. My mother will take good care of the child.'
'Then they can go in the coach I brought for you, escorted by my sergeant and his troop. In any case we'd have to rid ourselves of the men; otherwise in every place we lay for the night it would be all round the town in no time that you were the First Consul's sister. I'll hire another coach privately, and we must choose a name for ourselves.'
For some minutes they discussed possibilities, then Pauline said, 'I have it! Spring is in my heart again. Let us be known as Monsieur and Madame Printemps.'
'Excellent,' he laughed. 'Now. what of Aimée? I take it you would not wish to go without her, but if she comes there'll be no preventing her knowing that we are lovers.'
'She knows it already. Even if she slept like the dead and failed to hear our gambols through the partition wall, the state of my room when she entered it this morning would have told her everything. 'Twas considerate of you to creep away without waking me, but you left half the sheets and one pillow on the floor, and the empty champagne magnum on my bedside table.'
With a contrite grimace, Roger said, 'For that I greatly blame myself. But it was still pitch dark when I tiptoed away and I was so drunk with happiness that my mind was quite bemused.'