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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/1678-0.txt b/1678-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..85788be --- /dev/null +++ b/1678-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,8745 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of An Historical Mystery, by Honore de Balzac + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: An Historical Mystery + +Author: Honore de Balzac + +Translator: Katharine Prescott Wormeley + +Release Date: March, 1998 [Etext #1678] +Posting Date: February 28, 2010 +Last Updated: November 22, 2016 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AN HISTORICAL MYSTERY *** + + + + +Produced by John Bickers, Dagny, and Bonnie Sala + + + + + +AN HISTORICAL MYSTERY + +(The Gondreville Mystery) + + +By Honore De Balzac + + + +Translated by Katharine Prescott Wormeley + + + + + DEDICATION + + To Monsieur de Margone. + + In grateful remembrance, from his guest at the Chateau de Sache. + + De Balzac. + + + + + +AN HISTORICAL MYSTERY + + + + +PART I + + + + +CHAPTER I. JUDAS + +The autumn of the year 1803 was one of the finest in the early part of +that period of the present century which we now call “Empire.” Rain had +refreshed the earth during the month of October, so that the trees were +still green and leafy in November. The French people were beginning to +put faith in a secret understanding between the skies and Bonaparte, +then declared Consul for life,--a belief in which that man owes part of +his prestige; strange to say, on the day the sun failed him, in 1812, +his luck ceased! + +About four in the afternoon on the fifteenth of November, 1803, the sun +was casting what looked like scarlet dust upon the venerable tops of +four rows of elms in a long baronial avenue, and sparkling on the sand +and grassy places of an immense _rond-point_, such as we often see in +the country where land is cheap enough to be sacrificed to ornament. The +air was so pure, the atmosphere so tempered that a family was sitting +out of doors as if it were summer. A man dressed in a hunting-jacket of +green drilling with green buttons, and breeches of the same stuff, and +wearing shoes with thin soles and gaiters to the knee, was cleaning a +gun with the minute care a skilful huntsman gives to the work in his +leisure hours. This man had neither game nor game-bag, nor any of the +accoutrements which denote either departure for a hunt or the return +from it; and two women sitting near were looking at him as though beset +by a terror they could ill-conceal. Any one observing the scene taking +place in this leafy nook would have shuddered, as the old mother-in-law +and the wife of the man we speak of were now shuddering. A huntsman does +not take such minute precautions with his weapon to kill small game, +neither does he use, in the department of the Aube, a heavy rifled +carbine. + +“Shall you kill a roe-buck, Michu?” said his handsome young wife, trying +to assume a laughing air. + +Before replying, Michu looked at his dog, which had been lying in the +sun, its paws stretched out and its nose on its paws, in the charming +attitude of a trained hunter. The animal had just raised its head and +was snuffing the air, first down the avenue nearly a mile long which +stretched before them, and then up the cross road where it entered the +_rond-point_ to the left. + +“No,” answered Michu, “but a brute I do not wish to miss, a lynx.” + +The dog, a magnificent spaniel, white with brown spots, growled. + +“Hah!” said Michu, talking to himself, “spies! the country swarms with +them.” + +Madame Michu looked appealingly to heaven. A beautiful fair woman +with blue eyes, composed and thoughtful in expression and made like an +antique statue, she seemed to be a prey to some dark and bitter grief. +The husband’s appearance may explain to a certain extent the evident +fear of the two women. The laws of physiognomy are precise, not only in +their application to character, but also in relation to the destinies +of life. There is such a thing as prophetic physiognomy. If it were +possible (and such a vital statistic would be of value to society) to +obtain exact likenesses of those who perish on the scaffold, the science +of Lavatar and also that of Gall would prove unmistakably that the heads +of all such persons, even those who are innocent, show prophetic signs. +Yes, fate sets its mark on the faces of those who are doomed to die a +violent death of any kind. Now, this sign, this seal, visible to the eye +of an observer, was imprinted on the expressive face of the man with the +rifled carbine. Short and stout, abrupt and active in his motions as a +monkey, though calm in temperament, Michu had a white face injected +with blood, and features set close together like those of a Tartar,--a +likeness to which his crinkled red hair conveyed a sinister expression. +His eyes, clear and yellow as those of a tiger, showed depths behind +them in which the glance of whoever examined the man might lose itself +and never find either warmth or motion. Fixed, luminous, and rigid, +those eyes terrified whoever gazed into them. The singular contrast +between the immobility of the eyes and the activity of the body +increased the chilling impression conveyed by a first sight of Michu. +Action, always prompt in this man, was the outcome of a single thought; +just as the life of animals is, without reflection, the outcome of +instinct. Since 1793 he had trimmed his red beard to the shape of a fan. +Even if he had not been (as he was during the Terror) president of a +club of Jacobins, this peculiarity of his head would in itself have +made him terrible to behold. His Socratic face with its blunt nose was +surmounted by a fine forehead, so projecting, however, that it overhung +the rest of the features. The ears, well detached from the head, had the +sort of mobility which we find in those of wild animals, which are ever +on the qui-vive. The mouth, half-open, as the custom usually is among +country-people, showed teeth that were strong and white as almonds, but +irregular. Gleaming red whiskers framed this face, which was white and +yet mottled in spots. The hair, cropped close in front and allowed to +grow long at the sides and on the back of the head, brought into relief, +by its savage redness, all the strange and fateful peculiarities of this +singular face. The neck which was short and thick, seemed to tempt the +axe. + +At this moment the sunbeams, falling in long lines athwart the group, +lighted up the three heads at which the dog from time to time glanced +up. The spot on which this scene took place was magnificently fine. The +_rond-point_ is at the entrance of the park of Gondreville, one of the +finest estates in France, and by far the finest in the departments of +the Aube; it boasts of long avenues of elms, a castle built from designs +by Mansart, a park of fifteen hundred acres enclosed by a stone wall, +nine large farms, a forest, mills, and meadows. This almost regal +property belonged before the Revolution to the family of Simeuse. +Ximeuse was a feudal estate in Lorraine; the name was pronounced +Simeuse, and in course of time it came to be written as pronounced. + +The great fortune of the Simeuse family, adherents of the House of +Burgundy, dates from the time when the Guises were in conflict with +the Valois. Richelieu first, and afterwards Louis XIV. remembered their +devotion to the factious house of Lorraine, and rebuffed them. Then +the Marquis de Simeuse, an old Burgundian, old Guiser, old leaguer, old +_frondeur_ (he inherited the four great rancors of the nobility against +royalty), came to live at Cinq-Cygne. The former courtier, rejected at +the Louvre, married the widow of the Comte de Cinq-Cygne, younger branch +of the famous family of Chargeboeuf, one of the most illustrious names +in Champagne, and now as celebrated and opulent as the elder. The +marquis, among the richest men of his day, instead of wasting his +substance at court, built the chateau of Gondreville, enlarged the +estate by the purchase of others, and united the several domains, solely +for the purposes of a hunting-ground. He also built the Simeuse mansion +at Troyes, not far from that of the Cinq-Cygnes. These two old houses +and the bishop’s palace were long the only stone mansions at Troyes. The +marquis sold Simeuse to the Duc de Lorraine. His son wasted the father’s +savings and some part of his great fortune under the reign of Louis +XV., but he subsequently entered the navy, became a vice-admiral, and +redeemed the follies of his youth by brilliant services. The Marquis +de Simeuse, son of this naval worthy, perished with his wife on the +scaffold at Troyes, leaving twin sons, who emigrated and were, at the +time our history opens, still in foreign parts following the fortunes of +the house of Conde. + +The _rond-point_ was the scene of the meet in the time of the +“Grand Marquis”--a name given in the family to the Simeuse who built +Gondreville. Since 1789 Michu lived in the hunting lodge at the entrance +to the park, built in the reign of Louis XIV., and called the pavilion +of Cinq-Cygne. The village of Cinq-Cygne is at the end of the forest of +Nodesme (a corruption of Notre-Dame) which was reached through the fine +avenue of four rows of elms where Michu’s dog was now suspecting spies. +After the death of the Grand Marquis this pavilion fell into disuse. The +vice-admiral preferred the court and the sea to Champagne, and his son +gave the dilapidated building to Michu for a dwelling. + +This noble structure is of brick, with vermiculated stone-work at the +angles and on the casings of the doors and windows. On either side is +a gateway of finely wrought iron, eaten with rust and connected by a +railing, beyond which is a wide and deep ha-ha, full of vigorous trees, +its parapets bristling with iron arabesques, the innumerable sharp +points of which are a warning to evil-doers. + +The park walls begin on each side of the circumference of the +_rond-point_; on the one hand the fine semi-circle is defined by slopes +planted with elms; on the other, within the park, a corresponding +half-circle is formed by groups of rare trees. The pavilion, therefore, +stands at the centre of this round open space, which extends before it +and behind it in the shape of two horseshoes. Michu had turned the rooms +on the lower floor into a stable, a kitchen, and a wood-shed. The only +trace remaining of their ancient splendor was an antechamber paved with +marble in squares of black and white, which was entered on the park side +through a door with small leaded panes, such as might still be seen at +Versailles before Louis-Philippe turned that Chateau into an asylum +for the glories of France. The pavilion is divided inside by an old +staircase of worm-eaten wood, full of character, which leads to the +first story. Above that is an immense garret. This venerable edifice +is covered by one of those vast roofs with four sides, a ridgepole +decorated with leaden ornaments, and a round projecting window on each +side, such as Mansart very justly delighted in; for in France, the +Italian attics and flat roofs are a folly against which our climate +protests. Michu kept his fodder in this garret. That portion of the park +which surrounds the old pavilion is English in style. A hundred feet +from the house a former lake, now a mere pond well stocked with fish, +makes known its vicinity as much by a thin mist rising above the +tree-tops as by the croaking of a thousand frogs, toads, and other +amphibious gossips who discourse at sunset. The time-worn look of +everything, the deep silence of the woods, the long perspective of the +avenue, the forest in the distance, the rusty iron-work, the masses of +stone draped with velvet mosses, all made poetry of this old structure, +which still exists. + +At the moment when our history begins Michu was leaning against a +mossy parapet on which he had laid his powder-horn, cap, handkerchief, +screw-driver, and rags,--in fact, all the utensils needed for his +suspicious occupation. His wife’s chair was against the wall beside the +outer door of the house, above which could still be seen the arms of the +Simeuse family, richly carved, with their noble motto, “Cy meurs.” The +old mother, in peasant dress, had moved her chair in front of Madame +Michu, so that the latter might put her feet upon the rungs and keep +them from dampness. + +“Where’s the boy?” said Michu to his wife. + +“Round the pond; he is crazy about the frogs and the insects,” answered +the mother. + +Michu whistled in a way that made his hearers tremble. The rapidity with +which his son ran up to him proved plainly enough the despotic power of +the bailiff of Gondreville. Since 1789, but more especially since 1793, +Michu had been well-nigh master of the property. The terror he inspired +in his wife, his mother-in-law, a servant-lad named Gaucher, and the +cook named Marianne, was shared throughout a neighborhood of twenty +miles in circumference. It may be well to give, without further delay, +the reasons for this fear,--all the more because an account of them will +complete the moral portrait of the man. + +The old Marquis de Simeuse transferred the greater part of his property +in 1790; but, overtaken by circumstances, he had not been able to put +the estate of Gondreville into sure hands. Accused of corresponding with +the Duke of Brunswick and the Prince of Cobourg, the marquis and his +wife were thrust into prison and condemned to death by the revolutionary +tribunal of Troyes, of which Madame Michu’s father was then president. +The fine domain of Gondreville was sold as national property. The +head-keeper, to the horror of many, was present at the execution of +the marquis and his wife in his capacity as president of the club of +Jacobins at Arcis. Michu, the orphan son of a peasant, showered with +benefactions by the marquise, who brought him up in her own home and +gave him his place as keeper, was regarded as a Brutus by excited +demagogues; but the people of the neighborhood ceased to recognize him +after this act of base ingratitude. The purchaser of the estate was a +man from Arcis named Marion, grandson of a former bailiff in the Simeuse +family. This man, a lawyer before and after the Revolution, was afraid +of the keeper; he made him his bailiff with a salary of three thousand +francs, and gave him an interest in the sales of timber; Michu, who was +thought to have some ten thousand francs of his own laid by, married +the daughter of a tanner at Troyes, an apostle of the Revolution in that +town, where he was president of the revolutionary tribunal. This tanner, +a man of profound convictions, who resembled Saint-Just as to character, +was afterwards mixed up in Baboeuf’s conspiracy and killed himself to +escape execution. Marthe was the handsomest girl in Troyes. In spite of +her shrinking modesty she had been forced by her formidable father to +play the part of Goddess of Liberty in some republican ceremony. + +The new proprietor came only three times to Gondreville in the course +of seven years. His grandfather had been bailiff of the estate under the +Simeuse family, and all Arcis took for granted that the citizen Marion +was the secret representative of the present Marquis and his twin +brother. As long as the Terror lasted, Michu, still bailiff of +Gondreville, a devoted patriot, son-in-law of the president of the +revolutionary tribunal of Troyes and flattered by Malin, representative +from the department of the Aube, was the object of a certain sort +of respect. But when the Mountain was overthrown and after his +father-in-law committed suicide, he found himself a scape-goat; +everybody hastened to accuse him, in common with his father-in-law, of +acts to which, so far as he was concerned, he was a total stranger. The +bailiff resented the injustice of the community; he stiffened his back +and took an attitude of hostility. He talked boldly. But after the +18th Brumaire he maintained an unbroken silence, the philosophy of the +strong; he struggled no longer against public opinion, and contented +himself with attending to his own affairs,--wise conduct, which led his +neighbors to pronounce him sly, for he owned, it was said, a fortune of +not less than a hundred thousand francs in landed property. In the first +place, he spent nothing; next, this property was legitimately acquired, +partly from the inheritance of his father-in-law’s estate, and partly +from the savings of six-thousand francs a year, the salary he derived +from his place with its profits and emoluments. He had been bailiff of +Gondreville for the last twelve years and every one had estimated the +probable amount of his savings, so that when, after the Consulate was +proclaimed, he bought a farm for fifty thousand francs, the suspicions +attaching to his former opinions lessened, and the community of Arcis +gave him credit for intending to recover himself in public estimation. +Unfortunately, at the very moment when public opinion was condoning +his past a foolish affair, envenomed by the gossip of the country-side, +revived the latent and very general belief in the ferocity of his +character. + +One evening, coming away from Troyes in company with several peasants, +among whom was the farmer at Cinq-Cygne, he let fall a paper on the main +road; the farmer, who was walking behind him, stooped and picked it up. +Michu turned round, saw the paper in the man’s hands, pulled a pistol +from his belt and threatened the farmer (who knew how to read) to blow +his brains out if he opened the paper. Michu’s action was so sudden and +violent, the tone of his voice so alarming, his eyes blazed so savagely, +that the men about him turned cold with fear. The farmer of Cinq-Cygne +was already his enemy. Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne, the man’s employer, +was a cousin of the Simeuse brothers; she had only one farm left for her +maintenance and was now residing at her chateau of Cinq-Cygne. She lived +for her cousins the twins, with whom she had played in childhood at +Troyes and at Gondreville. Her only brother, Jules de Cinq-Cygne, who +emigrated before the twins, died at Mayence, but by a privilege which +was somewhat rare and will be mentioned later, the name of Cinq-Cygne +was not to perish through lack of male heirs. + +This affair between Michu and the farmer made a great noise in the +arrondissement and darkened the already mysterious shadows which seemed +to veil him. Nor was it the only circumstance which made him feared. +A few months after this scene the citizen Marion, present owner of the +Gondreville estate, came to inspect it with the citizen Malin. Rumor +said that Marion was about to sell the property to his companion, who +had profited by political events and had just been appointed on the +Council of State by the First Consul, in return for his services on +the 18th Brumaire. The shrewd heads of the little town of Arcis now +perceived that Marion had been the agent of Malin in the purchase of the +property, and not of the brothers Simeuse, as was first supposed. The +all-powerful Councillor of State was the most important personage in +Arcis. He had obtained for one of his political friends the prefecture +of Troyes, and for a farmer at Gondreville the exemption of his son from +the draft; in fact, he had done services to many. Consequently, the sale +met with no opposition in the neighborhood where Malin then reigned, and +where he still reigns supreme. + +The Empire was just dawning. Those who in these days read the histories +of the French Revolution can form no conception of the vast spaces which +public thought traversed between events which now seem to have been so +near together. The strong need of peace and tranquillity which every +one felt after the violent tumults of the Revolution brought about a +complete forgetfulness of important anterior facts. History matured +rapidly under the advance of new and eager interests. No one, therefore, +except Michu, looked into the past of this affair, which the community +accepted as a simple matter. Marion, who had bought Gondreville for six +hundred thousand francs in assignats, sold it for the value of a couple +of million in coin; but the only payments actually made by Malin were +for the costs of registration. Grevin, a seminary comrade of Malin, +assisted the transaction, and the Councillor rewarded his help with +the office of notary at Arcis. When the news of the sale reached the +pavilion, brought there by a farmer whose farm, at Grouage, was situated +between the forest and the park on the left of the noble avenue, Michu +turned pale and left the house. He lay in wait for Marion, and finally +met him alone in one of the shrubberies of the park. + +“Is monsieur about to sell Gondreville?” asked the bailiff. + +“Yes, Michu, yes. You will have a man of powerful influence for your +master. He is the friend of the First Consul, and very intimate with all +the ministers; he will protect you.” + +“Then you were holding the estate for him?” + +“I don’t say that,” replied Marion. “At the time I bought it I was +looking for a place to put my money, and I invested in national property +as the best security. But it doesn’t suit me to keep an estate once +belonging to a family in which my father was--” + +“--a servant,” said Michu, violently. “But you shall not sell it! I want +it; and I can pay for it.” + +“You?” + +“Yes, I; seriously, in good gold,--eight hundred thousand francs.” + +“Eight hundred thousand francs!” exclaimed Marion. “Where did you get +them?” + +“That’s none of your business,” replied Michu; then, softening his +tone, he added in a low voice: “My father-in-law saved the lives of many +persons.” + +“You are too late, Michu; the sale is made.” + +“You must put it off, monsieur!” cried the bailiff, seizing his master +by the hand which he held as in a vice. “I am hated, but I choose to be +rich and powerful, and I must have Gondreville. Listen to me; I don’t +cling to life; sell me that place or I’ll blow your brains out!--” + +“But do give me time to get off my bargain with Malin; he’s troublesome +to deal with.” + +“I’ll give you twenty-four hours. If you say a word about this matter +I’ll chop your head off as I would chop a turnip.” + +Marion and Malin left the chateau in the course of the night. Marion was +frightened; he told Malin of the meeting and begged him to keep an eye +on the bailiff. It was impossible for Marion to avoid delivering the +property to the man who had been the real purchaser, and Michu did not +seem likely to admit any such reason. Moreover, this service done by +Marion to Malin was to be, and in fact ended by being, the origin of the +former’s political fortune, and also that of his brother. In 1806 Malin +had him appointed chief justice of an imperial court, and after +the creation of tax-collectors his brother obtained the post of +receiver-general for the department of the Aube. The State Councillor +told Marion to stay in Paris, and he warned the minister of police, who +gave orders that Michu should be secretly watched. Not wishing to push +the man to extremes, Malin kept him on as bailiff, under the iron rule +of Grevin the notary of Arcis. + +From that moment Michu became more absorbed and taciturn than ever, and +obtained the reputation of a man who was capable of committing a crime. +Malin, the Councillor of State (a function which the First Consul raised +to the level of a ministry), and a maker of the Code, played a great +part in Paris, where he bought one of the finest mansions in the +Faubuorg Saint-Germain after marrying the only daughter of a rich +contractor named Sibuelle. He never came to Gondreville; leaving all +matters concerning the property to the management of Grevin, the Arcis +notary. After all, what had he to fear?--he, a former representative of +the Aube, and president of a club of Jacobins. And yet, the unfavorable +opinion of Michu held by the lower classes was shared by the +bourgeoisie, and Marion, Grevin, and Malin, without giving any reason or +compromising themselves on the subject, showed that they regarded him as +an extremely dangerous man. The authorities, who were under instructions +from the minister of police to watch the bailiff, did not of course +lessen this belief. The neighborhood wondered that he kept his place, +but supposed it was in consequence of the terror he inspired. It is easy +now, after these explanations, to understand the anxiety and sadness +expressed in the face of Michu’s wife. + +In the first place, Marthe had been piously brought up by her mother. +Both, being good Catholics, had suffered much from the opinions and +behavior of the tanner. Marthe could never think without a blush of +having marched through the street of Troyes in the garb of a goddess. +Her father had forced her to marry Michu, whose bad reputation was +then increasing, and she feared him too much to be able to judge him. +Nevertheless, she knew that he loved her, and at the bottom of her heart +lay the truest affection for this awe-inspiring man; she had never known +him to do anything that was not just; never did he say a brutal word, +to her at least; in fact, he endeavored to forestall her every wish. The +poor pariah, believing himself disagreeable to his wife, spent most +of his time out of doors. Marthe and Michu, distrustful of each other, +lived in what is called in these days an “armed peace.” Marthe, who +saw no one, suffered keenly from the ostracism which for the last seven +years had surrounded her as the daughter of a revolutionary butcher, and +the wife of a so-called traitor. More than once she had overheard the +laborers of the adjoining farm (held by a man named Beauvisage, greatly +attached to the Simeuse family) say as they passed the pavilion, “That’s +where Judas lives!” The singular resemblance between the bailiff’s head +and that of the thirteenth apostle, which his conduct appeared to carry +out, won him that odious nickname throughout the neighborhood. It was +this distress of mind, added to vague but constant fears for the future, +which gave Marthe her thoughtful and subdued air. Nothing saddens so +deeply as unmerited degradation from which there seems no escape. A +painter could have made a fine picture of this family of pariahs in +the bosom of their pretty nook in Champagne, where the landscape is +generally sad. + +“Francois!” called the bailiff, to hasten his son. + +Francois Michu, a child of ten, played in the park and forest, and +levied his little tithes like a master; he ate the fruits; he chased +the game; he at least had neither cares nor troubles. Of all the family, +Francois alone was happy in a home thus isolated from the neighborhood +by its position between the park and the forest, and by the still +greater moral solitude of universal repulsion. + +“Pick up these things,” said his father, pointing to the parapet, “and +put them away. Look at me! You love your father and your mother, don’t +you?” The child flung himself on his father as if to kiss him, but Michu +made a movement to shift the gun and pushed him back. “Very good. You +have sometimes chattered about things that are done here,” continued the +father, fixing his eyes, dangerous as those of a wild-cat, on the boy. +“Now remember this; if you tell the least little thing that happens here +to Gaucher, or to the Grouage and Bellache people, or even to Marianne +who loves us, you will kill your father. Never tattle again, and I will +forgive what you said yesterday.” The child began to cry. “Don’t cry; +but when any one questions you, say, as the peasants do, ‘I don’t know.’ +There are persons roaming about whom I distrust. Run along! As for you +two,” he added, turning to the women, “you have heard what I said. Keep +a close mouth, both of you.” + +“Husband, what are you going to do?” + +Michu, who was carefully measuring a charge of powder, poured it into +the barrel of his gun, rested the weapon against the parapet and said to +Marthe:-- + +“No one knows I own that gun. Stand in front of it.” + +Couraut, who had sprung to his feet, was barking furiously. + +“Good, intelligent fellow!” cried Michu. “I am certain there are spies +about--” + +Man and beast feel a spy. Couraut and Michu, who seemed to have one and +the same soul, lived together as the Arab and his horse in the desert. +The bailiff knew the modulations of the dog’s voice, just as the dog +read his master’s meaning in his eyes, or felt it exhaling in the air +from his body. + +“What do you say to that?” said Michu, in a low voice, calling his +wife’s attention to two strangers who appeared in a by-path making for +the _rond-point_. + +“What can it mean?” cried the old mother. “They are Parisians.” + +“Here they come!” said Michu. “Hide my gun,” he whispered to his wife. + +The two men who now crossed the wide open space of the _rond-point_ were +typical enough for a painter. One, who appeared to be the subaltern, +wore top-boots, turned down rather low, showing well-made calves, and +colored silk stockings of doubtful cleanliness. The breeches, of ribbed +cloth, apricot color with metal buttons, were too large; they were baggy +about the body, and the lines of their creases seemed to indicate a +sedentary man. A marseilles waistcoat, overloaded with embroidery, open, +and held together by one button only just above the stomach, gave to the +wearer a dissipated look,--all the more so, because his jet black hair, +in corkscrew curls, hid his forehead and hung down his cheeks. Two steel +watch-chains were festooned upon his breeches. The shirt was adorned +with a cameo in white and blue. The coat, cinnamon-colored, was a +treasure to caricaturists by reason of its long tails, which, when seen +from behind, bore so perfect a resemblance to a cod that the name of +that fish was given to them. The fashion of codfish tails lasted ten +years; almost the whole period of the empire of Napoleon. The cravat, +loosely fastened, and with numerous small folds, allowed the wearer +to bury his face in it up to the nostrils. His pimpled skin, his long, +thick, brick-dust colored nose, his high cheek-bones, his mouth, lacking +half its teeth but greedy for all that and menacing, his ears adorned +with huge gold rings, his low forehead,--all these personal details, +which might have seemed grotesque in many men, were rendered terrible in +him by two small eyes set in his head like those of a pig, expressive +of insatiable covetousness, and of insolent, half-jovial cruelty. These +ferreting and perspicacious blue eyes, glassy and glacial, might be +taken for the model of that famous Eye, the formidable emblem of the +police, invented during the Revolution. Black silk gloves were on his +hands and he carried a switch. He was certainly some official personage, +for he showed in his bearing, in his way of taking snuff and ramming it +into his nose, the bureaucratic importance of an office subordinate, +one who signs for his superiors and acquires a passing sovereignty by +enforcing their orders. + +The other man, whose dress was in the same style, but elegant and +elegantly put on and careful in its smallest detail, wore boots _a la_ +Suwaroff which came high upon the leg above a pair of tight trousers, +and creaked as he walked. Above his coat he wore a spencer, an +aristocratic garment adopted by the Clichiens and the young bloods of +Paris, which survived both the Clichiens and the fashionable youths. In +those days fashions sometimes lasted longer than parties,--a symptom of +anarchy which the year of our Lord 1830 has again presented to us. This +accomplished dandy seemed to be thirty years of age. His manners were +those of good society; he wore jewels of value; the collar of his shirt +came to the tops of his ears. His conceited and even impertinent air +betrayed a consciousness of hidden superiority. His pallid face seemed +bloodless, his thin flat nose had the sardonic expression which we see +in a death’s head, and his green eyes were inscrutable; their glance was +discreet in meaning just as the thin closed mouth was discreet in words. +The first man seemed on the whole a good fellow compared with this +younger man, who was slashing the air with a cane, the top of which, +made of gold, glittered in the sunshine. The first man might have cut +off a head with his own hand, but the second was capable of entangling +innocence, virtue, and beauty in the nets of calumny and intrigue, and +then poisoning them or drowning them. The rubicund stranger would have +comforted his victim with a jest; the other was incapable of a smile. +The first was forty-five years old, and he loved, undoubtedly, both +women and good cheer. Such men have passions which keep them slaves +to their calling. But the young man was plainly without passions and +without vices. If he was a spy he belonged to diplomacy, and did such +work from a pure love of art. He conceived, the other executed; he was +the idea, the other was the form. + +“This must be Gondreville, is it not, my good woman?” said the young +man. + +“We don’t say ‘my good woman’ here,” said Michu. “We are still simple +enough to say ‘citizen’ and ‘citizeness’ in these parts.” + +“Ah!” exclaimed the young man, in a natural way, and without seeming at +all annoyed. + +Players of ecarte often have a sense of inward disaster when some +unknown person sits down at the same table with them, whose manners, +look, voice, and method of shuffling the cards, all, to their fancy, +foretell defeat. The instant Michu looked at the young man he felt an +inward and prophetic collapse. He was struck by a fatal presentiment; he +had a sudden confused foreboding of the scaffold. A voice told him that +that dandy would destroy him, although there was nothing whatever in +common between them. For this reason his answer was rude; he was and he +wished to be forbidding. + +“Don’t you belong to the Councillor of State, Malin?” said the younger +man. + +“I am my own master,” answered Malin. + +“Mesdames,” said the young man, assuming a most polite air, “are we not +at Gondreville? We are expected there by Monsieur Malin.” + +“There’s the park,” said Michu, pointing to the open gate. + +“Why are you hiding that gun, my fine girl?” said the elder, catching +sight of the carbine as he passed through the gate. + +“You never let a chance escape you, even in the country!” cried his +companion. + +They both turned back with a sense of distrust which the bailiff +understood at once in spite of their impassible faces. Marthe let them +look at the gun, to the tune of Couraut’s bark; she was so convinced +that her husband was meditating some evil deed that she was thankful for +the curiosity of the strangers. + +Michu flung a look at his wife which made her tremble; he took the +gun and began to load it, accepting quietly the fatal ill-luck of this +encounter and the discovery of the weapon. He seemed no longer to care +for life, and his wife fathomed his inward feeling. + +“So you have wolves in these parts?” said the young man, watching him. + +“There are always wolves where there are sheep. You are in Champagne, +and there’s a forest; we have wild-boars, large and small game both, a +little of everything,” replied Michu, in a truculent manner. + +“I’ll bet, Corentin,” said the elder of the two men, after exchanging a +glance with his companion, “that this is my friend Michu--” + +“We never kept pigs together that I know of,” said the bailiff. + +“No, but we both presided over Jacobins, citizen,” replied the old +cynic,--“you at Arcis, I elsewhere. I see you’ve kept your Carmagnole +civility, but it’s no longer in fashion, my good fellow.” + +“The park strikes me as rather large; we might lose our way. If you are +really the bailiff show us the path to the chateau,” said Corentin, in a +peremptory tone. + +Michu whistled to his son and continued to load his gun. Corentin looked +at Marthe with indifference, while his companion seemed charmed by +her; but the young man noticed the signs of her inward distress, which +escaped the old libertine, who had, however, noticed and feared the gun. +The natures of the two men were disclosed in this trifling yet important +circumstance. + +“I’ve an appointment the other side of the forest,” said the bailiff. “I +can’t go with you, but my son here will take you to the chateau. How did +you get to Gondreville? did you come by Cinq-Cygne?” + +“We had, like yourself, business in the forest,” said Corentin, without +apparent sarcasm. + +“Francois,” cried Michu, “take these gentlemen to the chateau by the +wood path, so that no one sees them; they don’t follow the beaten +tracks. Come here,” he added, as the strangers turned to walk away, +talking together as they did so in a low voice. Michu caught the boy +in his arms, and kissed him almost solemnly with an expression which +confirmed his wife’s fears; cold chills ran down her back; she glanced +at her mother with haggard eyes, for she could not weep. + +“Go,” said Michu; and he watched the boy until he was entirely out +of sight. Couraut was barking on the other side of the road in the +direction of Grouage. “Oh, that’s Violette,” remarked Michu. “This is +the third time that old fellow has passed here to-day. What’s in the +wind? Hush, Couraut!” + +A few moments later the trot of a pony was heard approaching. + + + + +CHAPTER II. A CRIME RELINQUISHED + +Violette, mounted on one of those little nags which the farmers in the +neighborhood of Paris use so much, soon appeared, wearing a round hat +with a broad brim, beneath which his wood-colored face, deeply wrinkled, +appeared in shadow. His gray eyes, mischievous and lively, concealed +in a measure the treachery of his nature. His skinny legs, covered with +gaiters of white linen which came to the knee, hung rather than rested +in the stirrups, seemingly held in place by the weight of his hob-nailed +shoes. Above his jacket of blue cloth he wore a cloak of some coarse +woollen stuff woven in black and white stripes. His gray hair fell in +curls behind his ears. This dress, the gray horse with its short legs, +the manner in which Violette sat him, stomach projecting and shoulders +thrown back, the big chapped hands which held the shabby bridle, all +depicted him plainly as the grasping, ambitious peasant who desires +to own land and buys it at any price. His mouth, with its bluish lips +parted as if a surgeon had pried them open with a scalpel, and the +innumerable wrinkles of his face and forehead hindered the play of +features which were expressive only in their outlines. Those hard, fixed +lines seemed menacing, in spite of the humility which country-folks +assume and beneath which they conceal their emotions and schemes, as +savages and Easterns hide theirs behind an imperturbable gravity. First +a mere laborer, then the farmer of Grouage through a long course of +persistent ill-doing, he continued his evil practices after conquering a +position which surpassed his early hopes. He wished harm to all men +and wished it vehemently. When he could assist in doing harm he did it +eagerly. He was openly envious; but, no matter how malignant he might +be, he kept within the limits of the law,--neither beyond it nor behind +it, like a parliamentary opposition. He believed his prosperity depended +on the ruin of others, and that whoever was above him was an enemy +against whom all weapons were good. A character like this is very common +among the peasantry. + +Violette’s present business was to obtain from Malin an extension of the +lease of his farm, which had only six years longer to run. Jealous of +the bailiff’s means, he watched him narrowly. The neighbors reproached +him for his intimacy with “Judas”; but the sly old farmer, wishing +to obtain a twelve years’ lease, was really lying in wait for an +opportunity to serve either the government or Malin, who distrusted +Michu. Violette, by the help of the game-keeper of Gondreville and +others belonging to the estate, kept Malin informed of all Michu’s +actions. Malin had endeavored, fruitlessly, to win over Marianne, the +Michus’ servant-woman; but Violette and his satellites heard everything +from Gaucher,--a lad on whose fidelity Michu relied, but who betrayed +him for cast-off clothing, waistcoats, buckles, cotton socks and +sugar-plums. The boy had no suspicion of the importance of his gossip. +Violette in his reports blackened all Michu’s actions and gave them +a criminal aspect by absurd suggestions,--unknown, of course, to the +bailiff, who was aware, however, of the base part played by the farmer, +and took delight in mystifying him. + +“You must have a deal of business at Bellache to be here again,” said +Michu. + +“Again! is that meant as a reproach, Monsieur Michu?--Hey! I did not +know you had that gun. You are not going to whistle for the sparrows on +that pipe, I suppose--” + +“It grew in a field of mine which bears guns,” replied Michu. “Look! +this is how I sow them.” + +The bailiff took aim at a viper thirty feet away and cut it in two. + +“Have you got that bandit’s weapon to protect your master?” said +Violette. “Perhaps he gave it to you.” + +“He came from Paris expressly to bring it to me,” replied Michu. + +“People are talking all round the neighborhood of this journey of his; +some say he is in disgrace and has to retire from office; others that he +wants to see things for himself down here. But anyway, why does he +come, like the First Consul, without giving warning? Did you know he was +coming?” + +“I am not on such terms with him as to be in his confidence.” + +“Then you have not seen him?” + +“I did not know he was here till I got back from my rounds in the +forest,” said Michu, reloading his gun. + +“He has sent to Arcis for Monsieur Grevin,” said Violette; “they are +scheming something.” + +“If you are going round by Cinq-Cygne, take me up behind you,” said the +bailiff. “I’m going there.” + +Violette was too timid to have a man of Michu’s strength on his crupper, +and he spurred his beast. Judas slung his gun over his shoulder and +walked rapidly up the avenue. + +“Who can it be that Michu is angry with?” said Marthe to her mother. + +“Ever since he heard of Monsieur Malin’s arrival he has been gloomy,” + replied the old woman. “But it is getting damp here, let us go in.” + +After the two women had settled themselves in the chimney corner they +heard Couraut’s bark. + +“There’s my husband returning!” cried Marthe. + +Michu passed up the stairs; his wife, uneasy, followed him to their +bedroom. + +“See if any one is about,” he said to her, in a voice of some emotion. + +“No one,” she replied. “Marianne is in the field with the cow, and +Gaucher--” + +“Where is Gaucher?” he asked. + +“I don’t know.” + +“I distrust that little scamp. Go up in the garret, look in the +hay-loft, look everywhere for him.” + +Marthe left the room to obey the order. When she returned she found +Michu on his knees, praying. + +“What is the matter?” she said, frightened. + +The bailiff took his wife round the waist and drew her to him, saying in +a voice of deep feeling: “If we never see each other again remember, my +poor wife, that I loved you well. Follow minutely the instructions which +you will find in a letter buried at the foot of the larch in that copse. +It is enclosed in a tin tube. Do not touch it until after my death. +And remember, Marthe, whatever happens to me, that in spite of man’s +injustice, my arm has been the instrument of the justice of God.” + +Marthe, who turned pale by degrees, became white as her own linen; she +looked at her husband with fixed eyes widened by fear; she tried to +speak, but her throat was dry. Michu disappeared like a shadow, having +tied Couraut to the foot of his bed where the dog, after the manner of +all dogs, howled in despair. + +Michu’s anger against Monsieur Marion had serious grounds, but it was +now concentrated on another man, far more criminal in his eyes,--on +Malin, whose secrets were known to the bailiff, he being in a better +position than others to understand the conduct of the State Councillor. +Michu’s father-in-law had had, politically speaking, the confidence of +the former representative to the Convention, through Grevin. + +Perhaps it would be well here to relate the circumstances which +brought the Simeuse and the Cinq-Cygne families into connection with +Malin,--circumstances which weighed heavily on the fate of Mademoiselle +de Cinq-Cygne’s twin cousins, but still more heavily on that of Marthe +and Michu. + +The Cinq-Cygne mansion at Troyes stands opposite to that of Simeuse. +When the populace, incited by minds that were as shrewd as they were +cautious, pillaged the hotel Simeuse, discovered the marquis and +marchioness, who were accused of corresponding with the nation’s +enemies, and delivered them to the national guards who took them to +prison, the crowd shouted, “Now for the Cinq-Cygnes!” To their minds the +Cinq-Cygnes were as guilty as other aristocrats. The brave and worthy +Monsieur de Simeuse in the endeavor to save his two sons, then eighteen +years of age, whose courage was likely to compromise them, had confided +them, a few hours before the storm broke, to their aunt, the Comtesse de +Cinq-Cygne. Two servants attached to the Simeuse family accompanied the +young men to her house. The old marquis, who was anxious that his name +should not die out, requested that what was happening might be concealed +from his sons, even in the event of dire disaster. Laurence, the only +daughter of the Comtesse de Cinq-Cygne, was then twelve years of age; +her cousins both loved her and she loved them equally. Like other twins +the Simeuse brothers were so alike that for a long while their mother +dressed them in different colors to know them apart. The first comer, +the eldest, was named Paul-Marie, the other Marie-Paul. Laurence de +Cinq-Cygne, to whom their danger was revealed, played her woman’s part +well though still a mere child. She coaxed and petted her cousins and +kept them occupied until the very moment when the populace surrounded +the Cinq-Cygne mansion. The two brothers then knew their danger for the +first time, and looked at each other. Their resolution was instantly +taken; they armed their own servants and those of the Comtesse de +Cinq-Cygne, barricaded the doors, and stood guard at the windows, after +closing the wooden blinds, with the five men-servants and the Abbe +d’Hauteserre, a relative of the Cinq-Cygnes. These eight courageous +champions poured a deadly fire into the crowd. Every shot killed or +wounded an assailant. Laurence, instead of wringing her hands, loaded +the guns with extraordinary coolness, and passed the balls and powder to +those who needed them. The Comtesse de Cinq-Cygne was on her knees. + +“What are you doing, mother?” said Laurence. + +“I am praying,” she answered, “for them and for you.” + +Sublime words,--said also by the mother of Godoy, prince of the Peace, +in Spain, under similar circumstances. + +In a moment eleven persons were killed and lying on the ground among a +number of wounded. Such results either cool or excite a populace; either +it grows savage at the work or discontinues it. On the present occasion +those in advance recoiled; but the crowd behind them were there to kill +and rob, and when they saw their own dead, they cried out: “Murder! +Murder! Revenge!” The wiser heads went in search of the representative +to the Convention, Malin. The twins, by this time aware of the +disastrous events of the day, suspected Malin of desiring the ruin +of their family, and of causing the arrest of their parents, and the +suspicion soon became a certainty. They posted themselves beneath the +porte-cochere, gun in hand, intending to kill Malin as soon as he made +his appearance; but the countess lost her head; she imagined her house +in ashes and her daughter assassinated, and she blamed the young men for +their heroic defence and compelled them to desist. It was Laurence who +opened the door slightly when Malin summoned the household to admit +him. Seeing her, the representative relied upon the awe he expected to +inspire in a mere child, and he entered the house. To his first words +of inquiry as to why the family were making such a resistance, the girl +replied: “If you really desire to give liberty to France how is it that +you do not protect us in our homes? They are trying to tear down this +house, monsieur, to murder us, and you say we have no right to oppose +force to force!” + +Malin stood rooted to the ground. + +“You, the son of a mason employed by the Grand Marquis to build his +castle!” exclaimed Marie-Paul, “you have let them drag our father to +prison--you have believed calumnies!” + +“He shall be released at once,” said Malin, who thought himself lost +when he saw each youth clutch his weapon convulsively. + +“You owe your life to that promise,” said Marie-Paul, solemnly. “If it +is not fulfilled to-night we shall find you again.” + +“As to that howling populace,” said Laurence, “If you do not send them +away, the next blood will be yours. Now, Monsieur Malin, leave this +house!” + +The Conventionalist did leave it, and he harangued the crowd, dwelling +on the sacred rights of the domestic hearth, the habeas corpus and +the English “home.” He told them that the law and the people were +sovereigns, that the law _was_ the people, and that the people could +only act through the law, and that power was vested in the law. The +particular law of personal necessity made him eloquent, and he managed +to disperse the crowd. But he never forgot the contemptuous expression +of the two brothers, nor the “Leave this house!” of Mademoiselle de +Cinq-Cygne. Therefore, when it was a question of selling the estates of +the Comte de Cinq-Cygne, Laurence’s brother, as national property, the +sale was rigorously made. The agents left nothing for Laurence but the +chateau, the park and gardens, and one farm called that of Cinq-Cygne. +Malin instructed the appraisers that Laurence had no rights beyond her +legal share,--the nation taking possession of all that belonged to her +brother, who had emigrated and, above all, had borne arms against the +Republic. + +The evening after this terrible tumult, Laurence so entreated her +cousins to leave the country, fearing treachery on the part of Malin, +or some trap into which they might fall, that they took horse that night +and gained the Prussian outposts. They had scarcely reached the forest +of Gondreville before the hotel Cinq-Cygne was surrounded; Malin came +himself to arrest the heirs of the house of Simeuse. He dared not lay +hands on the Comtesse de Cinq-Cygne, who was in bed with a nervous +fever, nor on Laurence, a child of twelve. The servants, fearing the +severity of the Republic, had disappeared. The next day the news of the +resistance of the brothers and their flight to Prussia was known to the +neighborhood. A crowd of three thousand persons assembled before the +hotel de Cinq-Cygne, which was demolished with incredible rapidity. +Madame de Cinq-Cygne, carried to the hotel Simeuse, died there from the +effects of the fever aggravated by terror. + +Michu did not appear in the political arena until after these events, +for the marquis and his wife remained in prison over five months. During +this time Malin was away on a mission. But when Monsieur Marion sold +Gondreville to the Councillor of State, Michu understood the latter’s +game,--or rather, he thought he did; for Malin was, like Fouche, one of +those personages who are of such depth in all their different aspects +that they are impenetrable when they play a part, and are never +understood until long after their drama is ended. + +In all the chief circumstances of Malin’s life he had never failed to +consult his faithful friend Grevin, the notary of Arcis, whose judgment +on men and things was, at a distance, clear-cut and precise. This +faculty is the wisdom and makes the strength of second-rate men. Now, in +November, 1803, a combination of events (already related in the “Depute +d’Arcis”) made matters so serious for the Councillor of State that a +letter might have compromised the two friends. Malin, who hoped to be +appointed senator, was afraid to offer his explanations in Paris. He +came to Gondreville, giving the First Consul only one of the reasons +that made him wish to be there; that reason gave him an appearance of +zeal in the eyes of Bonaparte; whereas his journey, far from concerning +the interests of the State, related to his own interests only. On this +particular day, as Michu was watching the park and expecting, after +the manner of a red Indian, a propitious moment for his vengeance, +the astute Malin, accustomed to turn all events to his own profit, was +leading his friend Grevin to a little field in the English garden, +a lonely spot in the park, favorable for a secret conference. There, +standing in the centre of the grass plot and speaking low, the friends +were at too great a distance to be overheard if any one were lurking +near enough to listen to them; they were also sure of time to change the +conversation if others unwarily approached. + +“Why couldn’t we have stayed in a room in the chateau?” asked Grevin. + +“Didn’t you take notice of those two men whom the prefect of police has +sent here to me?” + +Though Fouche made himself in the matter of the Pichegru, Georges, +Moreau, and Polignac conspiracy the soul of the Consular cabinet, he +did not at this time control the ministry of police, but was merely a +councillor of State like Malin. + +“Those men,” continued Malin, “are Fouche’s two arms. One, that dandy +Corentin, whose face is like a glass of lemonade, vinegar on his lips +and verjuice in his eyes, put an end to the insurrection at the West +in the year VII. in less than fifteen days. The other is a disciple of +Lenoir; he is the only one who preserves the great traditions of the +police. I had asked for an agent of no great account, backed by some +official personage, and they send me those past-masters of the business! +Ah, Grevin, Fouche wants to pry into my game. That’s why I left those +fellows dining at the chateau; they may look into everything for all I +care; they won’t find Louis XVIII. nor any sign of him.” + +“But see here, my dear fellow, what game are you playing?” cried Grevin. + +“Ha, my friend, a double game is a dangerous one, but this, taking +Fouche into account, is a triple one. He may have nosed the fact that I +am in the secrets of the house of Bourbon.” + +“You?” + +“I,” replied Malin. + +“Have you forgotten Favras?” + +The words made an impression on the councillor. + +“Since when?” asked Grevin, after a pause. + +“Since the Consulate for life.” + +“I hope there’s no proof of it?” + +“Not that!” said Malin, clicking his thumb-nail against his teeth. + +In few words the Councillor of State gave a clear and succinct account +of the critical position in which Bonaparte was about to hold England, +by threatening her with invasion from the camp at Boulogne; he explained +to Grevin the bearings of that project, which was unobserved by France +and Europe but suspected by Pitt; also the critical position in which +England was about to put Bonaparte. A powerful coalition, Prussia, +Austria, and Russia, paid by English gold, was pledged to furnish +seven hundred thousand men under arms. At the same time a formidable +conspiracy was throwing a network over the whole of France, including +among its members montagnards, chouans, royalists, and their princes. + +“Louis XVIII. held that as long as there were three Consuls anarchy was +certain, and that he could at some opportune moment take his revenge +for the 13th Vendemiaire and the 18th Fructidor,” said Malin, “but the +Consulate for life has unmasked Bonaparte’s intentions--he will soon be +emperor. The late sub-lieutenant means to create a dynasty! This time +his life is in actual danger; and the plot is far better laid than that +of the Rue Saint-Nicaise. Pichegru, Georges, Moreau, the Duc d’Enghien, +Polignac and Riviere, the two friends of the Comte d’Artois are in it.” + +“What an amalgamation!” cried Grevin. + +“France is being silently invaded; no stone is left unturned; the thing +will be carried with a rush. A hundred picked men, commanded by Georges, +are to attack the Consular guard and the Consul hand to hand.” + +“Well then, denounce them.” + +“For the last two months the Consul, his minister of police, the prefect +and Fouche, hold some of the clues of this vast conspiracy; but they +don’t know its full extent, and at this particular moment they are +leaving nearly all the conspirators free, so as to discover more about +it.” + +“As to rights,” said the notary, “the Bourbons have much more right to +conceive, plan, and execute a scheme against Bonaparte, than Bonaparte +had on the 18th Brumaire against the Republic, whose product he was. He +murdered his mother on that occasion, but these royalists only seek to +recover what was theirs. I can understand that the princes and +their adherents, seeing the lists of the _emigres_ closed, mortgages +suppressed, the Catholic faith restored, anti-revolutionary decrees +accumulating, should begin to see that their return is becoming +difficult, not to say impossible. Bonaparte being the sole obstacle now +in their way, they want to get rid of him--nothing simpler. Conspirators +if defeated are brigands, if successful, heroes; and your perplexity +seems to me very natural.” + +“The matter now is,” said Malin, “to make Bonaparte fling the head of +the Duc d’Enghien at the Bourbons, just as the Convention flung the head +of Louis XVI. at the kings, so as to commit him as fully as we are to +the Revolution; _or else_, we must upset the idol of the French people +and their future emperor, and seat the true throne upon his ruins. I am +at the mercy of some event, some fortunate pistol-shot, some infernal +machine which does its work. Even I don’t know the whole conspiracy; +they don’t tell me all; but they have asked me to call the Council +of State at the critical moment and direct its action towards the +restoration of the Bourbons.” + +“Wait,” said the notary. + +“Impossible! I am compelled to make my decision at once.” + +“Why?” + +“Well, the Simeuse brothers are in the conspiracy; they are here in +the neighborhood; I must either have them watched, let them compromise +themselves, and so be rid of them, or else I must privately protect +them. I asked the prefect for underlings and he has sent me lynxes, who +came through Troyes and have got the gendarmerie to support them.” + +“Gondreville is your real object,” said Grevin, “and this conspiracy +your best chance of keeping it. Fouche, Talleyrand, and those two +fellows have nothing to do with that. Therefore play fair with +them. What nonsense! those who cut Louis XVI.’s head off are in the +government; France is full of men who have bought national property, +and yet you talk of bringing back those who would require you to give up +Gondreville! If the Bourbons were not imbeciles they would pass a sponge +over all we have done. Warn Bonaparte, that’s my advice.” + +“A man of my rank can’t denounce,” said Malin, quickly. + +“Your rank!” exclaimed Grevin, smiling. + +“They have offered to make me Keeper of the Seals.” + +“Ah! Now I understand your bewilderment, and it is for me to see clear +in this political darkness and find a way out for you. Now, it is quite +impossible to foresee what events may happen to bring back the Bourbons +when a General Bonaparte is in possession of eighty line of battle +ships and four hundred thousand men. The most difficult thing of all in +expectant politics is to know when a power that totters will fall; but, +my old man, Bonaparte’s power is not tottering, it is in the ascendant. +Don’t you think that Fouche may be sounding you so as to get to the +bottom of your mind, and then get rid of you?” + +“No; I am sure of my go-between. Besides, Fouche would never, under +those circumstances, send me such fellows as these; he would know they +would make me suspicious.” + +“They alarm me,” said Grevin. “If Fouche does not distrust you, and is +not seeking to probe you, why does he send them? Fouche doesn’t play +such a trick as that without a motive; what is it?” + +“What decides me,” said Malin, “is that I should never be easy with +those two Simeuse brothers in France. Perhaps Fouche, who knows how I am +placed towards them, wants to make sure they don’t escape him, and hopes +through them to reach the Condes.” + +“That’s right, old fellow; it is not under Bonaparte that the present +possessor of Gondreville can be ousted.” + +Just then Malin, happening to look up, saw the muzzle of a gun through +the foliage of a tall linden. + +“I was not mistaken, I thought I heard the click of a trigger,” he said +to Grevin, after getting behind the trunk of a large tree, where the +notary, uneasy at his friend’s sudden movement, followed him. + +“It is Michu,” said Grevin; “I see his red beard.” + +“Don’t let us seem afraid,” said Malin, who walked slowly away, saying +at intervals: “Why is that man so bitter against the owners of this +property? It was not you he was covering. If he overheard us he had +better ask the prayers of the congregation! Who the devil would have +thought of looking up into the trees!” + +“There’s always something to learn,” said the notary. “But he was a good +distance off, and we spoke low.” + +“I shall tell Corentin about it,” replied Malin. + + + + +CHAPTER III. THE MASK THROWN OFF + +A few moments later Michu returned home, his face pale, his features +contracted. + +“What is the matter?” said his wife, frightened. + +“Nothing,” he replied, seeing Violette whose presence silenced him. + +Michu took a chair and sat down quietly before the fire, into which +he threw a letter which he drew from a tin tube such as are given to +soldiers to hold their papers. This act, which enabled Marthe to draw +a long breath like one relieved of a great burden, greatly puzzled +Violette. The bailiff laid his gun on the mantel-shelf with admirable +composure. Marianne the servant, and Marthe’s mother were spinning by +the light of a lamp. + +“Come, Francois,” said the father, presently, “it is time to go to bed.” + +He lifted the boy roughly by the middle of his body and carried him off. + +“Run down to the cellar,” he whispered, when they reached the stairs. +“Empty one third out of two bottles of the Macon wine, and fill them up +with the Cognac brandy which is on the shelf. Then mix a bottle of white +wine with one half brandy. Do it neatly, and put the three bottles on +the empty cask which stands by the cellar door. When you hear me open +the window in the kitchen come out of the cellar, run to the +stable, saddle my horse, mount it, and go and wait for me at +Poteaudes-Gueux--That little scamp hates to go to bed,” said Michu, +returning; “he likes to do as grown people do, see all, hear all, and +know all. You spoil my people, pere Violette.” + +“Goodness!” cried Violette, “what has loosened your tongue? I never +heard you say as much before.” + +“Do you suppose I let myself be spied upon without taking notice of it? +You are on the wrong side, pere Violette. If, instead of serving those +who hate me, you were on my side I could do better for you than renew +that lease of yours.” + +“How?” said the peasant, opening wide his avaricious eyes. + +“I’ll sell you my property cheap.” + +“Nothing is cheap when we have to pay,” said Violette, sententiously. + +“I want to leave the neighborhood, and I’ll let you have my farm of +Mousseau, the buildings, granary, and cattle for fifty thousand francs.” + +“Really?” + +“Does that suit you?” + +“Hang it! I must think--” + +“We’ll talk about it--I shall want earnest money.” + +“I have no money.” + +“Well, a note.” + +“Can’t give it.” + +“Tell me who sent you here to-day.” + +“I am on my way back from where I spent this afternoon, and I only +stopped in to say good-evening.” + +“Back without your horse? What a fool you must take me for! You are +lying, and you shall not have my farm.” + +“Well, to tell you the truth, it was monsieur Grevin who sent me. He +said ‘Violette, we want Michu; do you go and get him; if he isn’t at +home, wait for him.’ I saw I should have to stay here all this evening.” + +“Are those sharks from Paris still at the chateau?” + +“Ah! that I don’t know; but there were people in the salon.” + +“You shall have my farm; we’ll settle the terms now. Wife, go and get +some wine to wash down the contract. Take the best Roussillon, the wine +of the ex-marquis,--we are not babes. You’ll find a couple of bottles on +the empty cask near the door, and a bottle of white wine.” + +“Very good,” said Violette, who never got drunk. “Let us drink.” + +“You have fifty thousand francs beneath the floor of your bedroom under +your bed, pere Violette; you will give them to me two weeks after we +sign the deed of sale before Grevin--” Violette stared at Michu and grew +livid. “Ah! you came here to spy upon a Jacobin who had the honor to be +president of the club at Arcis, and you imagine he will let you get the +better of him! I have eyes, I saw where your tiles have been freshly +cemented, and I concluded that you did not pry them up to plant wheat +there. Come, drink.” + +Violette, much troubled, drank a large glass of wine without noticing +the quality; terror had put a hot iron in his stomach, the brandy was +not hotter than his cupidity. He would have given many things to be +safely home and able to change the hiding-place of his treasure. The +three women smiled. + +“Do you like that wine?” said Michu, refilling his glass. + +“Yes, I do.” + +After a good half-hour’s decision on the time when the buyer might take +possession, and on the various punctilios which the peasantry bring +forward when concluding a bargain,--in the midst of assertions and +counter-assertions, the filling and emptying of glasses, the giving of +promises and denials, Violette suddenly fell forward with his head on +the table, not tipsy, but dead-drunk. The instant that Michu saw his +eyes blur he opened the window. + +“Where’s that scamp, Gaucher?” he said to his wife. + +“In bed.” + +“You, Marianne,” said the bailiff to his faithful servant, “stand in +front of his door and watch him. You, mother, stay down here, and keep +an eye on this spy; keep your eyes and ears open and don’t unfasten the +door to any one but Francois. It is a question of life or death,” he +added, in a deep voice. “Every creature beneath my roof must remember +that I have not quitted it this night; all of you must assert that--even +though your heads were on the block. Come,” he said to Marthe, +“come, wife, put on your shoes, take your coat, and let us be off! No +questions--I go with you.” + +For the last three quarters of an hour the man’s demeanor and glance +were of despotic authority, all-powerful, irresistible, drawn from the +same mysterious source from which great generals on fields of battle who +inflame an army, great orators inspiring vast audiences, and (it must be +said) great criminals perpetrating bold crimes derive their inspiration. +At such times invincible influence seems to exhale from the head and +issue from the tongue; the gesture even can inject the will of the one +man into others. The three women knew that some dreadful crisis was at +hand; without warning of its nature they felt it in the rapid actions of +the man, whose countenance shone, whose forehead spoke, whose brilliant +eyes glittered like stars; they saw it in the sweat that covered his +brow to the roots of his hair, while more than once his voice vibrated +with impatience and fury. Marthe obeyed passively. Armed to the teeth +and with his gun over his shoulder Michu dashed into the avenue, +followed by his wife. They soon reached the cross-roads where Francois +was in waiting hidden among the bushes. + +“The boy is intelligent,” said Michu, when he caught sight of him. + +These were his first words. His wife had rushed after him, unable to +speak. + +“Go back to the house, hide in a thick tree, and watch the country +and the park,” he said to his son. “We have all gone to bed, no one is +stirring. Your grandmother will not open the door until you ask her to +let you in. Remember every word I say to you. The life of your father +and mother depends on it. No one must know we did not sleep at home.” + +After whispering these words to the boy, who instantly disappeared in +the forest like an eel in the mud, Michu turned to his wife. + +“Mount behind me,” he said, “and pray that God be with us. Sit firm, +the beast may die of it.” So saying he kicked the horse with both heels, +pressing him with his powerful knees, and the animal sprang forward with +the rapidity of a hunter, seeming to understand what his master wanted +of him, and crossed the forest in fifteen minutes. Then Michu, who had +not swerved from the shortest way, pulled up, found a spot at the +edge of the woods from which he could see the roofs of the chateau of +Cinq-Cygne lighted by the moon, tied his horse to a tree, and followed +by his wife, gained a little eminence which overlooked the valley. + +The chateau, which Marthe and Michu looked at together for a moment, +makes a charming effect in the landscape. Though it has little extent +and is of no importance whatever as architecture, yet archaeologically +it is not without a certain interest. This old edifice of the fifteenth +century, placed on an eminence, surrounded on all sides by a moat, +or rather by deep, wide ditches always full of water, is built in +cobble-stones buried in cement, the walls being seven feet thick. +Its simplicity recalls the rough and warlike life of feudal days. The +chateau, plain and unadorned, has two large reddish towers at either +end, connected by a long main building with casement windows, the +stone mullions of which, being roughly carved, bear some resemblance to +vine-shoots. The stairway is outside the house, at the middle, in a sort +of pentagonal tower entered through a small arched door. The interior +of the ground-floor together with the rooms on the first storey +were modernized in the time of Louis XIV., and the whole building is +surmounted by an immense roof broken by casement windows with carved +triangular pediments. Before the castle lies a vast green sward the +trees of which had recently been cut down. On either side of the +entrance bridge are two small dwellings where the gardeners live, +connected across the road by a paltry iron railing without character, +evidently modern. To right and left of the lawn, which is divided in +two by a paved road-way, are the stables, cow-sheds, barns, wood-house, +bakery, poultry-yard, and the offices, placed in what were doubtless +the remains of two wings of the old building similar to those that were +still standing. The two large towers, with their pepper-pot roofs which +had not been rased, and the belfry of the middle tower, gave an air of +distinction to the village. The church, also very old, showed near by +its pointed steeple, which harmonized well with the solid masses of the +castle. The moon brought out in full relief the various roofs and towers +on which it played and sparkled. + +Michu gazed at this baronial structure in a manner that upset all his +wife’s ideas about him; his face, now calm, wore a look of hope and also +a sort of pride. His eyes scanned the horizon with a glance of defiance; +he listened for sounds in the air. It was now nine o’clock; the moon +was beginning to cast its light upon the margin of the forest and to +illumine the little bluff on which they stood. The position struck him +as dangerous and he left it, fearful of being seen. But no suspicious +noise troubled the peace of the beautiful valley encircled on this side +by the forest of Nodesme. Marthe, exhausted and trembling, was awaiting +some explanation of their hurried ride. What was she engaged in? Was she +to aid in a good deed or an evil one? At that instant Michu bent to his +wife’s ear and whispered:-- + +“Go the house and ask to speak to the Comtesse de Cinq-Cygne; when you +see her beg her to speak to you alone. If no one can overhear you, say +to her: ‘Mademoiselle, the lives of your two cousins are in danger, and +he who can explain the how and why is waiting to speak to you.’ If +she seems afraid, if she distrusts you, add these words: ‘They are +conspiring against the First Consul and the conspiracy is discovered.’ +Don’t give your name; they distrust us too much.” + +Marthe raised her face towards her husband and said:-- + +“Can it be that you serve them?” + +“What if I do?” he said, frowning, taking her words as a reproach. + +“You don’t understand me,” cried Marthe, seizing his large hand and +falling on her knees beside him as she kissed it and covered it with her +tears. + +“Go, go, you shall cry later,” he said, kissing her vehemently. + +When he no longer heard her step his eyes filled with tears. He had +distrusted Marthe on account of her father’s opinions; he had hidden the +secrets of his life from her; but the beauty of her simple nature had +suddenly appeared to him, just as the grandeur of his had, as suddenly, +revealed itself to her. Marthe had passed in a moment from the deep +humiliation caused by the degradation of the man whose name she bore, +to the exaltation given by a sense of his nobleness. The change was +instantaneous, without transition; it was enough to make her tremble. +She told him later that she went, as it were, through blood from the +pavilion to the edge of the forest, and there was lifted to heaven, in +a moment, among the angels. Michu, who had known he was not appreciated, +and who mistook his wife’s grieved and melancholy manner for lack of +affection, and had left her to herself, living chiefly out of doors +and reserving all his tenderness for his boy, instantly understood the +meaning of her tears. She had cursed the part which her beauty and her +father’s will had forced her to take; but now happiness, in the midst of +this great storm, played, with a beautiful flame like a vivid lightning +about them. And it was lightning! Each thought of the last ten years of +misconception, and they blamed themselves only. Michu stood motionless, +his elbow on his gun, his chin on his hand, lost in deep reverie. Such +a moment in a man’s life makes him willing to accept the saddest moments +of a painful past. + +Marthe, agitated by the same thoughts as those of her husband, was also +troubled in heart by the danger of the Simeuse brothers; for she now +understood all, even the faces of the two Parisians, though she still +could not explain to herself her husband’s gun. She darted forward like +a doe, and soon reached the road to the chateau. There she was surprised +by the steps of a man following behind her; she turned, with a cry, and +her husband’s large hand closed her mouth. + +“From the hill up there I saw the silver lace of the gendarmes’ hats. +Go in by the breach in the moat between Mademoiselle’s tower and the +stables. The dogs won’t bark at you. Go through the garden and call the +countess by the window; order them to saddle her horse, and ask her to +come out through the breach. I’ll be there, after discovering what the +Parisians are planning, and how to escape them.” + +Danger, which seemed to be rolling like an avalanche upon them, gave +wings to Marthe’s feet. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. LAURENCE DE CINQ-CYGNE + +The old Frank name of the Cinq-Cygnes and the Chargeboeufs was Duineff. +Cinq-Cygne became that of the younger branch of the Chargeboeufs after +the defence of a castle made, during their father’s absence, by five +daughters of that race, all remarkably fair, and of whom no one expected +such heroism. One of the first Comtes de Champagne wished, by bestowing +this pretty name, to perpetuate the memory of their deed as long as the +family existed. Laurence, the last of her race, was, contrary to Salic +law, heiress of the name, the arms, and the manor. She was therefore +Comtesse de Cinq-Cygne in her own right; her husband would have to take +both her name and her blazon, which bore for device the glorious answer +made by the elder of the five sisters when summoned to surrender the +castle, “We die singing.” Worthy descendant of these noble heroines, +Laurence was fair and lily-white as though nature had made her for a +wager. The lines of her blue veins could be seen through the delicate +close texture of her skin. Her beautiful golden hair harmonized +delightfully with eyes of the deepest blue. Everything about her +belonged to the type of delicacy. Within that fragile though active +body, and in defiance as it were of its pearly whiteness, lived a +soul like that of a man of noble nature; but no one, not even a close +observer, would have suspected it from the gentle countenance and +rounded features which, when seen in profile, bore some slight +resemblance to those of a lamb. This extreme gentleness, though noble, +had something of the stupidity of the little animal. “I look like a +dreamy sheep,” she would say, smiling. Laurence, who talked little, +seemed not so much dreamy as dormant. But, did any important +circumstance arise, the hidden Judith was revealed, sublime; and +circumstances had, unfortunately, not been wanting. + +At thirteen years of age, Laurence, after the events already related, +was an orphan living in a house opposite to the empty space where +so recently had stood one of the most curious specimens in France +of sixteenth-century architecture, the hotel Cinq-Cygne. Monsieur +d’Hauteserre, her relation, now her guardian, took the young heiress to +live in the country at her chateau of Cinq-Cygne. That brave provincial +gentleman, alarmed at the death of his brother, the Abbe d’Hauteserre, +who was shot in the open square as he was about to escape in the dress +of a peasant, was not in a position to defend the interests of his +ward. He had two sons in the army of the princes, and every day, at the +slightest unusual sound, he believed that the municipals of Arcis were +coming to arrest him. Laurence, proud of having sustained a siege and of +possessing the historic whiteness of her swan-like ancestors, despised +the prudent cowardice of the old man who bent to the storm, and dreamed +only of distinguishing herself. So, she boldly hung the portrait of +Charlotte Corday on the walls of her poor salon at Cinq-Cygne, and +crowned it with oak-leaves. She corresponded by messenger with her +twin cousins, in defiance of the law, which punished the act, when +discovered, with death. The messenger, who risked his life, brought back +the answers. Laurence lived only, after the catastrophes at Troyes, +for the triumph of the royal cause. After soberly judging Monsieur and +Madame d’Hauteserre (who lived with her at the chateau de Cinq-Cygne), +and recognizing their honest, but stolid natures, she put them outside +the lines of her own life. She had, moreover, too good a mind and too +sound a judgment to complain of their natures; always kind, amiable, +and affectionate towards them, she nevertheless told them none of her +secrets. Nothing forms a character so much as the practice of constant +concealment in the bosom of a family. + +After she attained her majority Laurence allowed Monsieur d’Hauteserre +to manage her affairs as in the past. So long as her favorite mare was +well-groomed, her maid Catherine dressed to please her, and Gothard +the little page was suitably clothed, she cared for nothing else. Her +thoughts were aimed too high to come down to occupations and interests +which in other times than these would doubtless have pleased her. Dress +was a small matter to her mind; moreover her cousins were not there to +see her. She wore a dark-green habit when she rode, and a gown of some +common woollen stuff with a cape trimmed with braid when she walked; +in the house she was always seen in a silk wrapper. Gothard, the little +groom, a brave and clever lad of fifteen, attended her wherever she +went, and she was nearly always out of doors, riding or hunting over the +farms of Gondreville, without objection being made by either Michu or +the farmers. She rode admirably well, and her cleverness in hunting was +thought miraculous. In the country she was never called anything but +“Mademoiselle” even during the Revolution. + +Whoever has read the fine romance of “Rob Roy” will remember that +rare woman for whose making Walter Scott’s imagination abandoned its +customary coldness,--Diana Vernon. The recollection will serve to make +Laurence understood if, to the noble qualities of the Scottish huntress +you add the restrained exaltation of Charlotte Corday, surpassing, +however, the charming vivacity which rendered Diana so attractive. The +young countess had seen her mother die, the Abbe d’Hauteserre shot down, +the Marquis de Simeuse and his wife executed; her only brother had died +of his wounds; her two cousins serving in Conde’s army might be killed +at any moment; and, finally, the fortunes of the Simeuse and the +Cinq-Cygne families had been seized and wasted by the Republic without +being of any benefit to the nation. Her grave demeanor, now lapsing into +apparent stolidity, can be readily understood. + +Monsieur d’Hauteserre proved an upright and most careful guardian. Under +his administration Cinq-Cygne became a sort of farm. The good man, who +was far more of a close manager than a knight of the old nobility, had +turned the park and gardens to profit, and used their two hundred acres +of grass and woodland as pasturage for horses and fuel for the family. +Thanks to his severe economy the countess, on coming of age, had +recovered by his investments in the State funds a competent fortune. +In 1798 she possessed about twenty thousand francs a year from those +sources, on which, in fact, some dividends were still due, and twelve +thousand francs a year from the rentals at Cinq-Cygne, which had lately +been renewed at a notable increase. Monsieur and Madame d’Hauteserre +had provided for their old age by the purchase of an annuity of three +thousand francs in the Tontines Lafarge. That fragment of their former +means did not enable them to live elsewhere than at Cinq-Cygne, and +Laurence’s first act on coming to her majority was to give them the use +for life of the wing of the chateau which they occupied. + +The Hauteserres, as niggardly for their ward as they were for +themselves, laid up every year nearly the whole of their annuity for the +benefit of their sons, and kept the young heiress on miserable fare. +The whole cost of the Cinq-Cygne household never exceeded five thousand +francs a year. But Laurence, who condescended to no details, was +satisfied. Her guardian and his wife, unconsciously ruled by the +imperceptible influence of her strong character, which was felt even in +little things, had ended by admiring her whom they had known and treated +as a child,--a sufficiently rare feeling. But in her manner, her deep +voice, her commanding eye, Laurence held that inexplicable power which +rules all men,--even when its strength is mere appearance. To vulgar +minds real depth is incomprehensible; it is perhaps for that reason that +the populace is so prone to admire what it cannot understand. Monsieur +and Madame d’Hauteserre, impressed by the habitual silence and erratic +habits of the young girl, were constantly expecting some extraordinary +thing of her. + +Laurence, who did good intelligently and never allowed herself to be +deceived, was held in the utmost respect by the peasantry although +she was an aristocrat. Her sex, name, and great misfortunes, also the +originality of her present life, contributed to give her authority over +the inhabitants of the valley of Cinq-Cygne. She was sometimes absent +for two days, attended by Gothard, but neither Monsieur nor Madame +d’Hauteserre questioned her, on her return, as to the reasons of +her absence. Please observe, however, that there was nothing odd or +eccentric about Laurence. What she was and what she did was masked, as +it were, by a feminine and even fragile appearance. Her heart was full +of extreme sensibility, though her head contained a stoical firmness +and the virile gift of resolution. Her clear-seeing eyes knew not how to +weep; but no one would have imagined that the delicate white wrist with +its tracery of blue veins could defy that of the boldest horseman. Her +hand, so noble, so flexible, could handle gun or pistol with the ease of +a practised marksman. She always wore when out of doors the coquettish +little cap with visor and green veil which women wear on horseback. Her +delicate fair face, thus protected, and her white throat tied with a +black cravat, were never injured by her long rides in all weathers. + +Under the Directory and at the beginning of the Consulate, Laurence had +been able to escape the observation of others; but since the government +had become a more settled thing, the new authorities, the prefect of the +Aube, Malin’s friends, and Malin himself had endeavored to undermine +her in the community. Her preoccupying thought was the overthrow of +Bonaparte, whose ambition and its triumphs excited the anger of her +soul,--a cold, deliberate anger. The obscure and hidden enemy of a man +at the pinnacle of glory, she kept her gaze upon him from the depths +of her valley and her forests, with relentless fixity; there were +times when she thought of killing him in the roads about Malmaison or +Saint-Cloud. Plans for the execution of this idea may have been the +cause of many of her past actions, but having been initiated, after the +peace of Amiens, into the conspiracy of the men who expected to make +the 18th Brumaire recoil upon the First Consul, she had thenceforth +subordinated her faculties and her hatred to their vast and well +laid scheme, which was to strike at Bonaparte externally by the vast +coalition of Russia, Austria, and Prussia (vanquished at Austerlitz) and +internally by the coalition of men politically opposed to each other, +but united by their common hatred of a man whose death some of them +were meditating, like Laurence herself, without shrinking from the word +assassination. This young girl, so fragile to the eye, so powerful to +those who knew her well, was at the present moment the faithful guide +and assistant of the exiled gentlemen who came from England to take part +in this deadly enterprise. + +Fouche relied on the co-operation of the _emigres_ everywhere beyond +the Rhine to lure the Duc d’Enghien into the plot. The presence of that +prince in the Baden territory, not far from Strasburg, gave much weight +later to the accusation. The great question of whether the prince really +knew of the enterprise, and was waiting on the frontier to enter France +on its success, is one of those secrets about which, as about several +others, the house of Bourbon has maintained an unbroken silence. As the +history of that period recedes into the past, impartial historians +will declare the imprudence, to say the least, of the Duc d’Enghien in +placing himself close to the frontier at a time when a vast conspiracy +was about to break forth, the secret of which was undoubtedly known to +every member of the Bourbon family. + +The caution which Malin displayed in talking with Grevin in the open +air, Laurence applied to her every action. She met the emissaries and +conferred with them either at various points in the Nodesme forest, or +beyond the valley of the Cinq-Cygne, between the villages of Sezanne +and Brienne. Often she rode forty miles on a stretch with Gothard, +and returned to Cinq-Cygne without the least sign of weariness or +pre-occupation on her fair young face. + +Some years earlier, Laurence had seen in the eyes of a little cow-boy, +then nine years old, the artless admiration which children feel for +everything that is out of the common way. She made him her page, and +taught him to groom a horse with the nicety and care of an Englishman. +She saw in the lad a desire to do well, a bright intelligence, and a +total absence of sly motives; she tested his devotion and found he had +not only mind but nobility of character; he never dreamed of reward. The +young girl trained this soul that was still so young; she was good to +him, good with dignity; she attached him to her by attaching herself +to him, and by herself polishing a nature that was half wild, without +destroying its freshness or its simplicity. When she had sufficiently +tested the almost canine fidelity she had nurtured, Gothard became her +intelligent and ingenuous accomplice. The little peasant, whom no one +could suspect, went from Cinq-Cygne to Nancy, and often returned before +any one had missed him from the neighborhood. He knew how to practise +all the tricks of a spy. The extreme distrust and caution his mistress +had taught him did not change his natural self. Gothard, who possessed +all the craft of a woman, the candor of a child, and the ceaseless +observation of a conspirator, hid every one of these admirable qualities +beneath the torpor and dull ignorance of a country lad. The little +fellow had a silly, weak, and clumsy appearance; but once at work he was +active as a fish; he escaped like an eel; he understood, as the dogs do, +the merest glance; he nosed a thought. His good fat face, both round and +red, his sleepy brown eyes, his hair, cut in the peasant fashion, his +clothes, and his slow growth gave him the appearance of a child of ten. + +The two young d’Hauteserres and the twin brothers Simeuse, under the +guidance of their cousin Laurence, who had been watching over their +safety and that of the other _emigres_ who accompanied them from +Strasburg to Bar-sur-Aube, had just passed through Alsace and Lorraine, +and were now in Champagne while other conspirators, not less bold, +were entering France by the cliffs of Normandy. Dressed as workmen the +d’Hauteserres and the Simeuse twins had walked from forest to forest, +guided on their way by relays of persons, chosen by Laurence during +the last three months from among the least suspected of the Bourbon +adherents living in each neighborhood. The _emigres_ slept by day and +travelled by night. Each brought with him two faithful soldiers; one +of whom went before to warn of danger, the other behind to protect a +retreat. Thanks to these military precautions, this valuable detachment +had at last reached, without accident, the forest of Nodesme, which +was chosen as the rendezvous. Twenty-seven other gentlemen had entered +France from Switzerland and crossed Burgundy, guided towards Paris with +the same caution. + +Monsieur de Riviere counted on collecting five hundred men, one hundred +of whom were young nobles, the officers of this sacred legion. Monsieur +de Polignac and Monsieur de Riviere, whose conduct as chiefs of this +advance was most remarkable, afterwards preserved an impenetrable +secrecy as to the names of those of their accomplices who were not +discovered. It may be said, therefore, now that the Restoration has made +matters clearer, that Bonaparte never knew the extent of the danger he +then ran, any more than England knew the peril she had escaped from +the camp at Boulogne; and yet the police of France was never more +intelligently or ably managed. + +At the period when this history begins, a coward--for cowards are always +to be found in conspiracies which are not confined to a small number +of equally strong men--a sworn confederate, brought face to face with +death, gave certain information, happily insufficient to cover the +extent of the conspiracy, but precise enough to show the object of the +enterprise. The police had therefore, as Malin told Grevin, left the +conspirators at liberty, though all the while watching them, hoping to +discover the ramifications of the plot. Nevertheless, the government +found its hand to a certain extent forced by Georges Cadoudal, a man +of action who took counsel of himself only, and who was hiding in +Paris with twenty-five _chouans_ for the purpose of attacking the First +Consul. + +Laurence combined both hatred and love within her breast. To destroy +Bonaparte and bring back the Bourbons was to recover Gondreville and +make the fortune of her cousins. The two sentiments, one the counterpart +of the other, were sufficient, more especially at twenty-three years of +age, to excite all the faculties of her soul and all the powers of her +being. So, for the last two months, she had seemed to the inhabitants +of Cinq-Cygne more beautiful than at any other period of her life. +Her cheeks became rosy; hope gave pride to her brow; but when old +d’Hauteserre read the Gazette at night and discussed the conservative +course of the First Consul she lowered her eyes to conceal her +passionate hopes of the coming fall of that enemy of the Bourbons. + +No one at the chateau had the faintest idea that the young countess had +met her cousins the night before. The two sons of Monsieur and Madame +d’Hauteserre had passed the preceding night in Laurence’s own room, +under the same roof with their father and mother; and Laurence, after +knowing them safely in bed had gone between one and two o’clock in the +morning to a rendezvous with her cousins in the forest, where she hid +them in the deserted hut of a wood-dealer’s agent. The following day, +certain of seeing them again, she showed no signs of her joy; nothing +about her betrayed emotion; she was able to efface all traces of +pleasure at having met them again; in fact, she was impassible. +Catherine, her pretty maid, daughter of her former nurse, and Gothard, +both in the secret, modelled their behavior upon hers. Catherine was +nineteen years old. At that age a girl is a fanatic and would let +her throat be cut before betraying a thought of one she loves. As for +Gothard, merely to inhale the perfume which the countess used in her +hair and among her clothes he would have born the rack without a word. + + + + +CHAPTER V. ROYALIST HOMES AND PORTRAITS UNDER THE CONSULATE + +At the moment when Marthe, driven by the imminence of the peril, was +gliding with the rapidity of a shadow towards the breach of which +Michu had told her, the salon of the chateau of Cinq-Cygne presented a +peaceful sight. Its occupants were so far from suspecting the storm that +was about to burst upon them that their quiet aspect would have roused +the compassion of any one who knew their situation. In the large +fireplace, the mantel of which was adorned with a mirror with +shepherdesses in paniers painted on its frame, burned a fire such as +can be seen only in chateaus bordering on forests. At the corner of +this fireplace, on a large square sofa of gilded wood with a magnificent +brocaded cover, the young countess lay as it were extended, in an +attitude of utter weariness. Returning at six o’clock from the confines +of Brie, having played the part of scout to the four gentlemen whom she +guided safely to their last halting-place before they entered Paris, she +had found Monsieur and Madame d’Hauteserre just finishing their dinner. +Pressed by hunger she sat down to table without changing either her +muddy habit or her boots. Instead of doing so at once after dinner, +she was suddenly overcome with fatigue and allowed her head with its +beautiful fair curls to drop on the back of the sofa, her feet being +supported in front of her by a stool. The warmth of the fire had dried +the mud on her habit and on her boots. Her doeskin gloves and the little +peaked cap with its green veil and a whip lay on the table where she had +flung them. She looked sometimes at the old Boule clock which stood on +the mantelshelf between the candelabra, perhaps to judge if her four +conspirators were asleep, and sometimes at the card-table in front of +the fire where Monsieur and Madame d’Hauteserre, the cure of Cinq-Cygne, +and his sister were playing a game of boston. + +Even if these personages were not embedded in this drama, their +portraits would have the merit of representing one of the aspects of +the aristocracy after its overthrow in 1793. From this point of view, +a sketch of the salon at Cinq-Cygne has the raciness of history seen in +dishabille. + +Monsieur d’Hauteserre, then fifty-two years of age, tall, spare, +high-colored, and robust in health, would have seemed the embodiment of +vigor if it were not for a pair of porcelain blue eyes, the glance of +which denoted the most absolute simplicity. In his face, which ended +in a long pointed chin, there was, judging by the rules of design, +an unnatural distance between his nose and mouth which gave him a +submissive air, wholly in keeping with his character, which harmonized, +in fact, with other details of his appearance. His gray hair, flattened +by his hat, which he wore nearly all day, looked much like a skull-cap +on his head, and defined its pear-shaped outline. His forehead, much +wrinkled by life in the open air and by constant anxieties, was flat and +expressionless. His aquiline nose redeemed the face somewhat; but the +sole indication of any strength of character lay in the bushy eyebrows +which retained their blackness, and in the brilliant coloring of his +skin. These signs were in some respects not misleading, for the worthy +gentlemen, though simple and very gentle, was Catholic and monarchical +in faith, and no consideration on earth could make him change his views. +Nevertheless he would have let himself be arrested without an effort +at defence, and would have gone to the scaffold quietly. His annuity of +three thousand francs kept him from emigrating. He therefore obeyed the +government _de facto_ without ceasing to love the royal family and to +pray for their return, though he would firmly have refused to compromise +himself by any effort in their favor. He belonged to that class of +royalists who ceaselessly remembered that they were beaten and robbed; +and who remained thenceforth dumb, economical, rancorous, without +energy; incapable of abjuring the past, but equally incapable of +sacrifice; waiting to greet triumphant royalty; true to religion and +true to the priesthood, but firmly resolved to bear in silence +the shocks of fate. Such an attitude cannot be considered that of +maintaining opinions, it becomes sheer obstinacy. Action is the essence +of party. Without intelligence, but loyal, miserly as a peasant yet +noble in demeanor, bold in his wishes but discreet in word and +action, turning all things to profit, willing even to be made mayor of +Cinq-Cygne, Monsieur d’Hauteserre was an admirable representative of +those honorable gentlemen on whose brow God Himself has written the +word _mites_,--Frenchmen who burrowed in their country homes and let the +storms of the Revolution pass above their heads; who came once more to +the surface under the Restoration, rich with their hidden savings, +proud of their discreet attachment to the monarchy, and who, after 1830, +recovered their estates. + +Monsieur d’Hauteserre’s costume, expressive envelope of his distinctive +character, described to the eye both the man and his period. He always +wore one of those nut-colored great-coats with small collars which the +Duc d’Orleans made the fashion after his return from England, and which +were, during the Revolution, a sort of compromise between the hideous +popular garments and the elegant surtouts of the aristocracy. His velvet +waistcoat with flowered stripes, the style of which recalled those of +Robespierre and Saint-Just, showed the upper part of a shirt-frill in +fine plaits. He still wore breeches; but his were of coarse blue cloth, +with burnished steel buckles. His stockings of black spun-silk defined +his deer-like legs, the feet of which were shod in thick shoes, held +in place by gaiters of black cloth. He retained the former fashion of +a muslin cravat in innumerable folds fastened by a gold buckle at the +throat. The worthy man had not intended an act of political eclecticism +in adopting this costume, which combined the styles of peasant, +revolutionist, and aristocrat; he simply and innocently obeyed the +dictates of circumstances. + +Madame d’Hauteserre, forty years of age and wasted by emotions, had a +faded face which seemed to be always posing for its portrait. A lace +cap, trimmed with bows of white satin, contributed singularly to give +her a solemn air. She still wore powder, in spite of a white kerchief, +and a gown of puce-colored silk with tight sleeves and full skirt, the +sad last garments of Marie-Antoinette. Her nose was pinched, her chin +sharp, the whole face nearly triangular, the eyes worn-out with weeping; +but she now wore a touch of rouge which brightened their grayness. She +took snuff, and each time that she did so she employed all the pretty +precautions of the fashionable women of her early days; the details of +this snuff-taking constituted a ceremony which could be explained by one +fact--she had very pretty hands. + +For the last two years the former tutor of the Simeuse twins, a friend +of the late Abbe d’Hauteserre, named Goujet, Abbe des Minimes, had +taken charge of the parish of Cinq-Cygne out of friendship for the +d’Hauteserres and the young countess. His sister, Mademoiselle Goujet, +who possessed a little income of seven hundred francs, added that sum to +the meagre salary of her brother and kept his house. Neither church nor +parsonage had been sold during the Revolution on account of their small +value. The abbe and his sister lived close to the chateau, for the wall +of the parsonage garden and that of the park were the same in places. +Twice a week the pair dined at the chateau, but they came every evening +to play boston with the d’Hauteserres; for Laurence, unable to play a +game, did not even know one card from another. + +The Abbe Goujet, an old man with white hair and a face as white as that +of an old woman, endowed with a kindly smile and a gentle and persuasive +voice, redeemed the insipidity of his rather mincing face by a fine +intellectual brow and a pair of keen eyes. Of medium height, and +very well made, he still wore the old-fashioned black coat, silver +shoe-buckles, breeches, black silk stockings, and a black waistcoat +on which lay his clerical bands, giving him a distinguished air which +detracted nothing from his dignity. This abbe, who became bishop of +Troyes after the Restoration, had long made a study of young people +and fully understood the noble character of the young countess; he +appreciated her at her full value, and had shown her, from the first, +a respectful deference which contributed much to her independence at +Cinq-Cygne, for it led the austere old lady and the kind old gentleman +to yield to the young girl, who by rights should have yielded to them. +For the last six months the abbe had watched Laurence with the intuition +peculiar to priests, the most sagacious of men; and although he did +not know that this girl of twenty-three was thinking of overturning +Bonaparte as she lay there twisting with slender fingers the frogged +lacing of her riding-habit, he was well aware that she was agitated by +some great project. + +Mademoiselle Goujet was one of those unmarried women whose portrait can +be drawn in one word which will enable the least imaginative mind to +picture her; she was ungainly. She knew her own ugliness and was the +first to laugh at it, showing her long teeth, yellow as her complexion +and her bony hands. She was gay and hearty. She wore the famous short +gown of former days, a very full skirt with pockets full of keys, a cap +with ribbons and a false front. She was forty years of age very early, +but had, so she said, caught up with herself by keeping at that age for +twenty years. She revered the nobility; and knew well how to preserve +her own dignity by giving to persons of noble birth the respect and +deference that were due to them. + +This little company was a god-send to Madame d’Hauteserre, who had not, +like her husband, rural occupations, nor, like Laurence, the tonic of +hatred, to enable her to bear the dulness of a retired life. Many things +had happened to ameliorate that life within the last six years. The +restoration of Catholic worship allowed the faithful to fulfil their +religious duties, which play more of a part in country life than +elsewhere. Protected by the conservative edicts of the First Consul, +Monsieur and Madame d’Hauteserre had been able to correspond with their +sons, and no longer in dread of what might happen to them could even +hope for the erasure of their names from the lists of the proscribed and +their consequent return to France. The Treasury had lately made up +the arrearages and now paid its dividends promptly; so that the +d’Hauteserres received, over and above their annuity, about eight +thousand francs a year. The old man congratulated himself on the +sagacity of his foresight in having put all his savings, amounting to +twenty thousand francs, together with those of his ward, in the public +Funds before the 18th Brumaire, which, as we all know, sent those stocks +up from twelve to eighteen francs. + +The chateau of Cinq-Cygne had long been empty and denuded of furniture. +The prudent guardian was careful not to alter its aspect during the +revolutionary troubles; but after the peace of Amiens he made a journey +to Troyes and brought back various relics of the pillaged mansions which +he obtained from the dealers in second-hand furniture. The salon was +furnished for the first time since their occupation of the house. +Handsome curtains of white brocade with green flowers, from the hotel de +Simeuse, draped the six windows of the salon, in which the family were +now assembled. The walls of this vast room were entirely of wood, with +panels encased in beaded mouldings with masks at the angles; the whole +painted in two shades of gray. The spaces over the four doors were +filled with those designs, painted in cameo of two colors, which were +so much in vogue under Louis XV. Monsieur d’Hauteserre had picked up +at Troyes certain gilded pier-tables, a sofa in green damask, a crystal +chandelier, a card-table of marquetry, among other things that served +him to restore the chateau. In 1792 all the furniture of the house had +been taken or destroyed, for the pillage of the mansions in town was +imitated in the valley. Each time that the old man went to Troyes he +returned with some relic of the former splendor, sometimes a fine carpet +for the floor of the salon, at other times part of a dinner service, or +a bit of rare old porcelain of either Sevres or Dresden. During the last +six months he had ventured to dig up the family silver, which the cook +had buried in the cellar of a little house belonging to him at the end +of one of the long faubourgs in Troyes. + +That faithful servant, named Durieu, and his wife had followed the +fortunes of their young mistress. Durieu was the factotum of the +chateau, and his wife was the housekeeper. He was helped in the cooking +by the sister of Catherine, Laurence’s maid, to whom he was teaching his +art and who gave promise of becoming an excellent cook. An old gardener, +his wife, a son paid by the day, and a daughter who served as a +dairy-woman, made up the household. Madame Durieu had lately and +secretly had the Cinq-Cygne liveries made for the gardener’s son and for +Gothard. Though blamed for this imprudence by Monsieur d’Hauteserre, +the housekeeper took great pleasure in seeing the dinner served on the +festival of Saint-Laurence, the countess’s fete-day, with almost as much +style as in former times. + +This slow and difficult restoration of departed things was the delight +of Monsieur and Madame d’Hauteserre and the Durieus. Laurence smiled +at what she thought nonsense. But the worthy old d’Hauteserre did not +forget the more solid matters; he repaired the buildings, put up the +walls, planted trees wherever there was a chance to make them grow, and +did not leave an inch of unproductive land. The whole valley regarded +him as an oracle in the matter of agriculture. He had managed to recover +a hundred acres of contested land, not sold as national property, being +in some way confounded with that of the township. This land he had +turned into fields which afforded good pasturage for his horses and +cattle, and he planted them round with poplars, which now, at the end +of six years, were making a fine growth. He intended to buy back some of +the lost estate, and to utilize all the out-buildings of the chateau by +making a second farm and managing it himself. + +Life at the chateau had thus become during the last two years prosperous +and almost happy. Monsieur d’Hauteserre was off at daybreaks to overlook +his laborers, for he employed them in all weathers. He came home to +breakfast, mounted his farm pony as soon as the meal was over, and +made his rounds of the estate like a bailiff,--getting home in time for +dinner, and finishing the day with a game of boston. All the inhabitants +of the chateau had their stated occupations; life was as closely +regulated there as in a convent. Laurence alone disturbed its even +tenor by her sudden journeys, her uncertain returns, and by what Madame +d’Hauteserre called her pranks. But with all this peacefulness there +existed at Cinq-Cygne conflicting interests and certain causes of +dissension. In the first place Durieu and his wife were jealous of +Catherine and Gothard, who lived in greater intimacy with their young +mistress, the idol of the household, than they did. Then the two +d’Hauteserres, encouraged by Mademoiselle Goujet and the abbe, wanted +their sons as well as the Simeuse brothers to take the oath and return +to this quiet life, instead of living miserably in foreign countries. +Laurence scouted the odious compromise and stood firmly for the +monarchy, militant and implacable. The four old people, anxious that +their present peaceful existence should not be risked, nor their spot +of refuge, saved from the furious waters of the revolutionary torrent, +lost, did their best to convert Laurence to their cautious views, +believing that her influence counted for much in the unwillingness of +their sons and the Simeuse twins to return to France. The superb disdain +with which she met the project frightened these poor people, who were +not mistaken in their fears that she was meditating what they called +knight-errantry. This jarring of opinion came to the surface after the +explosion of the infernal machine in the rue Saint-Nicaise, the first +royalist attempt against the conqueror of Marengo after his refusal +to treat with the house of Bourbon. The d’Hauteserres considered +it fortunate that Bonaparte escaped that danger, believing that the +republicans had instigated it. But Laurence wept with rage when she +heard he was safe. Her despair overcame her usual reticence, and she +vehemently complained that God had deserted the sons of Saint-Louis. + +“I,” she exclaimed, “I could have succeeded! Have we no right,” she +added, seeing the stupefaction her words produced on the faces about +her, and addressing the abbe, “no right to attack the usurper by every +means in our power?” + +“My child,” replied the abbe, “the Church has been greatly blamed by +philosophers for declaring in former times that the same weapons might +be employed against usurpers which the usurpers themselves had employed +to succeed; but in these days the Church owes far too much to the First +Consul not to protect him against that maxim,--which, by the by, was due +to the Jesuits.” + +“So the Church abandons us!” she answered, gloomily. + +From that day forth whenever the four old people talked of submitting +to the decrees of Providence, Laurence left the room. Of late, the abbe, +shrewder than Monsieur d’Hauteserre, instead of discussing principles, +drew pictures of the material advantages of the consular rule, less to +convert the countess than to detect in her eyes some expression +which might enlighten him as to her projects. Gothard’s frequent +disappearances, the long rides of his mistress, and her evident +preoccupation, which, for the last few days, had appeared in her face, +together with other little signs not to be hidden in the silence and +tranquillity of such a life, had roused the fears of these submissive +royalists. Still, as no event happened, and perfect quiet appeared to +reign in the political atmosphere, the minds of the little household +were soothed into peace, and the countess’s long rides were one more +attributed to her passion for hunting. + +It is easy to imagine the deep silence which reigned at nine o’clock in +the evening in the park, courtyards, and gardens of Cinq-Cygne, where at +that particular moment the persons we have described were harmoniously +grouped, where perfect peace pervaded all things, where comfort and +abundance were again enjoyed, and where the worthy and judicious old +gentleman was still hoping to convert his late ward to his system of +obedience to the ruling powers by the argument of what we may call the +continuity of prosperous results. + +These royalists continued to play their boston, a game which spread +ideas of independence under a frivolous form over the whole of France; +for it was first invented in honor of the American insurgents, its very +terms applying to the struggle which Louis XVI. encouraged. While making +their “independences” and “poverties,” the players kept an eye on the +countess, who had fallen asleep, overcome by fatigue, with a singular +smile on her lips, her last waking thought having been of the terror two +words could inspire in the minds of the peaceful company by informing +the d’Hauteserres that their sons had passed the preceding night under +that roof. What young girl of twenty-three would not have been, as +Laurence was, proud to play the part of Destiny? and who would not have +felt, as she did, a sense of compassion for those whom she felt to be so +far below her in loyalty? + +“She sleeps,” said the abbe. “I have never seen her so wearied.” + +“Durieu tells me her mare is almost foundered,” remarked Madame +d’Hauteserre. “Her gun has not been fired; the breech is clean; she has +evidently not hunted.” + +“Oh! that’s neither here nor there,” said the abbe. + +“Bah?” cried Mademoiselle Goujet; “when I was twenty-three and saw I +should be an old maid all my life, I rushed about and fatigued myself +in a dozen ways. I understand how the countess can scour the country for +hours without thinking of the game. It is nearly twelve years now since +she has seen her cousins, and you know she loves them. Well, if I +were she, if I were as young and pretty, I’d make a straight line for +Germany! Poor darling, perhaps she is thinking of the frontier, and that +may be the reason why she rides so far towards it.” + +“You are rather giddy, Mademoiselle Goujet,” said the abbe, smiling. + +“Not at all,” she replied. “I see you all uneasy about the goings on of +a young girl, and I am explaining them to you.” + +“Her cousins will submit and return soon; they will all be rich, and she +will end by calming down,” said old d’Hauteserre. + +“God grant it!” said his wife, taking out a gold snuff-box which had +again seen the light under the Consulate. + +“There is something stirring in the neighborhood,” remarked Monsieur +d’Hauteserre to the abbe. “Malin has been two days at Gondreville.” + +“Malin!” cried Laurence, roused by the name, though her sleep was sound. + +“Yes,” replied the abbe, “but he leaves to-night; everybody is +conjecturing the motive of this hasty visit.” + +“That man,” said Laurence, “is the evil genius of our two houses.” + +The countess had been dreaming of her cousins and the young Hauteserres; +she saw them in peril. Her beautiful eyes grew fixed and glassy as her +mind thus warned dwelled on the dangers they were about to incur in +Paris. She rose suddenly and went to her bedroom without speaking. Her +bedroom was the best in the house; next came a dressing-room and an +oratory, in the tower which faced towards the forest. Soon after she +had left the salon the dogs barked, the bell of the small gate rang, +and Durieu rushed into the salon with a frightened face. “Here is the +mayor!” he said. “Something is the matter.” + + + + +CHAPTER VI. A DOMICILIARY VISIT + +The mayor, a former huntsman of the house of Simeuse, came occasionally +to the chateau, where the d’Hauteserres showed him out of policy, a +deference to which he attached great value. His name was Goulard; he had +married a rich woman of Troyes, whose property, which was in the commune +of Cinq-Cygne, he had further increased by the purchase of a fine abbey +and its lands, in which he invested all his savings. The vast abbey of +Val-des-Preux, standing about a mile from the chateau, he had turned +into a dwelling that was almost as splendid as Gondreville; in it his +wife and he were now living like rats in a cathedral. “Ah! Goulard, you +have been greedy,” Mademoiselle had said to him with a laugh the first +time she received him at Cinq-Cygne. Though greatly attached to the +Revolution and coldly received by the countess, the mayor always felt +himself bound by ties of respect to the Cinq-Cygne and Simeuse families. +He therefore shut his eyes to what went on at the chateau. He called +shutting his eyes not seeing the portraits of Louis XVI., Marie +Antoinette, and the royal children, and those of Monsieur, the Comte +d’Artois, Cazales and Charlotte Corday, which filled the various panels +of the salon; not resenting either the wishes freely expressed in his +presence for the ruin of the Republic, or the ridicule flung at the five +directors and all the other governmental combinations of that time. +The position of this man, who, like many parvenus, having once made his +fortune, reverted to his early faith in the old families, and sought to +attach himself to them, was now being made use of by the two members of +the Paris police whose profession had been so quickly guessed by Michu, +and who, before going to Gondreville had reconnoitred the neighborhood. + +The worthy described as the depositary of the best traditions of the old +police, and Corentin phoenix of spies, were in fact employed on a secret +mission. Malin was not mistaken in attributing a double purpose to those +stars of tragic farces. But, before seeing them at work, it is advisable +to show the head of which they were the arms. When Bonaparte became +First Consul he found Fouche at the head of the police. The Revolution +had frankly and with good reason made the management of the police into +a special ministry. But after his return from Marengo, Bonaparte created +the prefecture of police, placed Dubois in charge of it, and called +Fouche to the Council of State, naming as his successor in the ministry +a conventional named Cochon, since known as Comte de Lapparent. Fouche, +who considered the ministry of police as by far the most important in a +government of broad ideas and fixed policy, saw disgrace or at any +rate distrust in the change. After Napoleon became aware of the immense +superiority of this great statesman, as evidenced in the affair of the +infernal machine and in the conspiracy with which we are now concerned, +he returned him to the ministry of police. Later still, becoming alarmed +at the powers Fouche displayed during his absence at the time of the +affair at Walcheren, the Emperor gave that ministry to the Duc de +Rovigo, and sent Fouche (Duc d’Otrante) as governor to the Illyrian +provinces,--an appointment which was in fact an exile. + +The singular genius of this man, Fouche, which had the power of +inspiring Napoleon with a sort of fear, did not reveal itself all at +once. This obscure conventional, one of the most extraordinary men +of our time, and the most misjudged, was moulded, as it were, by the +whirlwind of events. He raised himself under the Directory to the height +from which men of genius could see the future and judge the past, and +then, like certain commonplace actors who suddenly become admirable +through the light of some vivid perception, he gave proofs of his +dexterity during the rapid revolution of the 18th Brumaire. This man +with the pallid face, educated to monastic dissimulation, possessing +the secrets of the _montagnards_ to whom he belonged, and those of the +royalists to whom he ended by belonging, had slowly and silently studied +the men, the events, and the interests on the political stage; he +penetrated Napoleon’s secrets, he gave him useful counsel and precious +information. Satisfied with having proven his capacity and his +usefulness, Fouche was careful not to disclose himself completely. He +wished to remain at the head of affairs, but the Emperor’s restless +uneasiness about him cost him his place. + +The ingratitude or rather the distrust shown by Napoleon after the +affair at Walcheren, gives the key-note to the character of a man who, +unfortunately for himself, was not a great _seigneur_, and whose conduct +was modelled on that of Talleyrand. At that time neither his former +colleagues nor his present ones had suspected the amplitude of his +genius, which was purely ministerial, essentially governmental, just +in its forecasts and incredibly sagacious. To-day, every impartial +historian perceives that Napoleon’s inordinate self-love was among +the chief causes of his fall, a punishment which cruelly expiated his +wrong-doing. In the mind of that distrustful sovereign lurked a constant +jealousy for his own rising power, which influenced all his actions, and +caused his secret hatred for men of talent, the precious legacy of the +Revolution, with whom he might have made himself a cabinet capable of +being a true repository for his thoughts. Talleyrand and Fouche were not +the only ones who gave him umbrage. The misfortune of usurpers is that +those who have given them a crown are as much their enemies as those +from whom they snatch it. Napoleon’s sovereignty was never convincingly +felt by those who were once his superiors or his equals, nor by those +who still held to the doctrine of rights; none of them regarded their +oath of allegiance to him as binding. + +Malin, an inferior man, incapable of comprehending Fouche’s hidden +genius, or of distrusting his own perceptions, burned himself, like +a moth in a candle, by asking him confidentially to send agents to +Gondreville, where, he said, he hoped to obtain certain clues to the +conspiracy. Fouche, without alarming his friend by any questions, +asked himself why Malin was going to Gondreville, and why he did not +immediately and without loss of time, give the information he already +possessed. The ex-Oratorian, fed from his youth up on trickery, and well +aware of the double part played by a good many of the conventionals, +said to himself: “From whom is Malin likely to obtain information when +we ourselves know little or nothing?” Fouche concluded therefore that +there was some either latent or prospective collusion, and took care to +say nothing about it to the First Consul. He preferred to make Malin +his instrument rather than destroy him. It was Fouche’s habit to keep to +himself a good part of the secrets he detected, and he thus obtained +for his own purposes a power over those concerned which was even greater +than that of Bonaparte. This duplicity was one of the Emperor’s charges +against his minister. + +Fouche knew of the swindling transaction by which Malin became possessed +of Gondreville and which led him to keep his eyes so anxiously on the +Simeuse brothers. These gentlemen were now serving in the army of Conde; +Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne was their cousin; possibly they were in +her neighborhood, and were sharers in the conspiracy; if so, it would +implicate the house of Conde to which they were devoted. Talleyrand +and Fouche were bent on casting light into this dark corner of the +conspiracy of 1803. All these considerations Fouche saw at a glance, +rapidly and with great clearness. But between Malin, Talleyrand, +and himself there were strong ties which forced him to the utmost +circumspection, and made him anxious to know the exact state of things +within the walls of Gondreville. Corentin was unreservedly attached to +Fouche, just as Monsieur de la Besnardiere was to Talleyrand, Gentz to +Monsieur de Metternich, Dundas to Pitt, Duroc to Napoleon, Chavigny to +Cardinal Richelieu. Corentin was not the counsellor of his master, but +his instrument, the Tristan to this Louis XI. of low estate. Fouche had +kept him in the ministry of the police when he himself left it, so as to +still keep an eye and a finger in it. It was said that Corentin belonged +to Fouche by some unavowed relationship, for he rewarded him lavishly +after every service. Corentin had a friend in Peyrade, the old pupil of +the last lieutenant of police; but he kept a good many of his secrets +from him. Fouche gave Corentin an order to explore the chateau of +Gondreville, to get the plan of it into his memory, and to know every +hiding-place within its walls. + +“We may be obliged to return there,” said the ex-minister, precisely +as Napoleon told his lieutenants to explore the field of Austerlitz on +which he intended to fall back. + +Corentin was also to study Malin’s conduct, discover what influence +he had in the neighborhood, and observe the men he employed. Fouche +regarded it as certain that the Simeuse brothers were in that part of +the country. By cautiously watching the two officers, who were closely +allied with the Prince de Conde, Peyrade and Corentin could obtain +precious light on the ramifications of the conspiracy beyond the Rhine. +In any case, however, Corentin received the means, the orders, and +the agents, to surround the chateau of Cinq-Cygne and watch the whole +region, from the forest of Nodesme into Paris. Fouche insisted on the +utmost caution, and would only allow a domiciliary visit to Cinq-Cygne +in case Malin gave them positive information which made it necessary. By +way of instructions he explained to Corentin the otherwise inexplicable +personality of Michu, who had been watched by the police for the last +three years. Corentin’s idea was that of his master: “Malin knows all +about the conspiracy--But,” he added to himself, “perhaps Fouche does, +too; who knows?” + +Corentin, having started for Troyes before Malin, had made arrangements +with the commandant of the gendarmerie in that town, who picked out a +number of his most intelligent men and placed them under orders of an +able captain. Corentin chose Gondreville as the place of rendezvous, +and directed the captain to send some of his men at night in four +detachments to different points of the valley of Cinq-Cygne at +sufficient distance from each other to cause no alarm. These four +pickets were to form a square and close in around the chateau of +Cinq-Cygne. By leaving Corentin alone at Gondreville during his +consultation in the fields with Grevin, Malin had enabled him to fulfil +part of Fouche’s orders and explore the house. When the Councillor of +State returned home he told Corentin so positively that the d’Hauteserre +and Simeuse brothers were in the neighborhood and probably at Cinq-Cygne +that the two agents despatched the captain with the rest of his company, +who, fortunately for the four gentlemen, crossed the forest on their +way to the chateau during the time when Michu was making Violette drunk. +Malin had told Corentin and Peyrade of the escape he had from lying in +wait for him. The two agents related the incident of the gun they +had seen the bailiff load, and Grevin had sent Violette to obtain +information as to what was going on at Michu’s house. Corentin advised +the notary to take Malin to his own house in the little town of Arcis, +and let him sleep there as a measure of precaution. At the moment when +Michu and his wife were rushing through the forest on their way to +Cinq-Cygne, Peyrade and Corentin were starting from Gondreville for +Cinq-Cygne in a shabby wicker carriage, drawn by one post-horse driven +by the corporal of Arcis, one of the shrewdest men in the Legion, whom +the commandant at Troyes advised them to employ. + +“The surest way to seize them all is to warn them,” said Peyrade to +Corentin. “At the moment when they are well frightened and are trying to +save their papers or to escape we’ll fall upon them like a thunderbolt. +The gendarmes surround the chateau now and are as good as a net. We +sha’n’t lose one of them!” + +“You had better send the mayor to warn them,” said the corporal. “He +is friendly to them and wouldn’t like to see them harmed; they won’t +distrust him.” + +Just as Goulard was preparing to go to bed, Corentin, who stopped +the vehicle in a little wood, went to his house and told him, +confidentially, that in a few moments an emissary from the government +would require him to enter the chateau of Cinq-Cygne and arrest +the brothers d’Hauteserre and Simeuse; and in case they had already +disappeared he would have to ascertain if they had slept there the +night before, search Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne’s papers, and, possibly, +arrest both the masters and servants of the household. + +“Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne,” said Corentin, “is undoubtedly protected +by some great personages, for I have received private orders to warn +her of this visit, and to do all I can to save her without compromising +myself. Once on the ground, I shall no longer be able to do so, for I am +not alone; go to the chateau yourself and warn them.” + +The mayor’s visit at that time of night was all the more bewildering to +the card-players when they saw the agitation of his face. + +“Where is the countess?” were his first words. + +“She has gone to bed,” said Madame d’Hauteserre. + +The mayor, incredulous, listened to noises that were heard on the upper +floor. + +“What is the matter with you, Goulard?” said Monsieur d’Hauteserre. + +Goulard was dumb with surprise as he noted the tranquil ease of the +faces about him. Observing the peaceful and innocent game of cards which +he had thus interrupted, he was unable to imagine what the Parisian +police meant by their suspicions. + +At that moment Laurence, kneeling in her oratory, was praying fervently +for the success of the conspiracy. She prayed to God to send help and +succor to the murderers of Bonaparte. She implored Him ardently to +destroy that fatal being. The fanaticism of Harmodius, Judith, Jacques +Clement, Ankarstroem, of Charlotte Corday and Limoelan, inspired this +pure and virgin spirit. Catherine was preparing the bed, Gothard was +closing the blinds, when Marthe Michu coming under the windows flung a +pebble on the glass and was seen at once. + +“Mademoiselle, here’s some one,” said Gothard, seeing a woman. + +“Hush!” said Marthe, in a low voice. “Come down and speak to me.” + +Gothard was in the garden in less time than a bird would have taken to +fly down from a tree. + +“In a minute the chateau will be surrounded by the gendarmerie. Saddle +mademoiselle’s horse without making any noise and take it down through +the breach in the moat between the stables and this tower.” + +Marthe quivered when she saw Laurence, who had followed Gothard, +standing beside her. + +“What is it?” asked Laurence, quietly. + +“The conspiracy against the First Consul is discovered,” replied Marthe, +in a whisper. “My husband, who seeks to save your two cousins, sends me +to ask you to come and speak to him.” + +Laurence drew back and looked at Marthe. “Who are you?” she said. + +“Marthe Michu.” + +“I do not know what you want of me,” replied the countess, coldly. + +“Take care, you will kill them. Come with me, I implore you in the +Simeuse name,” said Marthe, clasping her hands and stretching them +towards Laurence. “Have you papers here which may compromise you? If so, +destroy them. From the heights over there my husband has just seen the +silver-laced hats and the muskets of the gendarmerie.” + +Gothard had already clambered to the hay-loft and seen the same sight; +he heard in the stillness of the evening the sound of their horses’ +hoofs. Down he slipped into the stable and saddled his mistress’s mare, +whose feet Catherine, at a word from the lad, muffled in linen. + +“Where am I to go?” said Laurence to Marthe, whose look and language +bore the unmistakable signs of sincerity. + +“Through the breach,” she replied; “my noble husband is there. You shall +learn the value of a ‘Judas’!” + +Catherine went quickly into the salon, picked up the hat, veil, whip, +and gloves of her mistress, and disappeared. This sudden apparition and +action were so striking a commentary on the mayor’s inquiry that +Madame d’Hauteserre and the abbe exchanged glances which contained the +melancholy thought: “Farewell to all our peace! Laurence is conspiring; +she will be the death of her cousins.” + +“But what do you really mean?” said Monsieur d’Hauteserre to the mayor. + +“The chateau is surrounded. You are about to receive a domiciliary +visit. If your sons are here tell them to escape, and the Simeuse +brothers too, if they are with them.” + +“My sons!” exclaimed Madame d’Hauteserre, stupefied. + +“We have seen no one,” said Monsieur d’Hauteserre. + +“So much the better,” said Goulard; “but I care too much for the +Cinq-Cygne and Simeuse families to let any harm come to them. Listen to +me. If you have any compromising papers--” + +“Papers!” repeated the old gentleman. + +“Yes, if you have any, burn them at once,” said the mayor. “I’ll go and +amuse the police agents.” + +Goulard, whose object was to run with the royalist hare and hold with +the republican hounds, left the room; at that moment the dogs barked +violently. + +“There is no longer time,” said the abbe, “here they come! But who is to +warn the countess? Where is she?” + +“Catherine didn’t come for her hat and whip to make relics of them,” + remarked Mademoiselle Goujet. + +Goulard tried to detain the two agents for a few moments, assuring them +of the perfect ignorance of the family at Cinq-Cygne. + +“You don’t know these people!” said Peyrade, laughing at him. + +The two agents, insinuatingly dangerous, entered the house at once, +followed by the corporal from Arcis and one gendarme. The sight of them +paralyzed the peaceful card-players, who kept their seats at the table, +terrified by such a display of force. The noise produced by a dozen +gendarmes whose horses were stamping on the terrace, was heard without. + +“I do not see Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne,” said Corentin. + +“She is probably asleep in her bedroom,” said Monsieur d’Hauteserre. + +“Come with me, ladies,” said Corentin, turning to pass through the +ante-chamber and up the staircase, followed by Mademoiselle Goujet and +Madame d’Hauteserre. “Rely upon me,” he whispered to the old lady. “I am +in your interests. I sent the mayor to warn you. Distrust my colleague +and look to me. I can save every one of you.” + +“But what is it all about?” said Mademoiselle Goujet. + +“A matter of life and death; you must know that,” replied Corentin. + +Madame d’Hauteserre fainted. To Mademoiselle Goujet’s great astonishment +and Corentin’s disappointment, Laurence’s room was empty. Certain that +no one could have escaped from the park or the chateau, for all the +issues were guarded, Corentin stationed a gendarme in every room and +ordered others to search the farm buildings, stables, and sheds. Then he +returned to the salon, where Durieu and his wife and the other servants +had rushed in the wildest excitement. Peyrade was studying their faces +with his little blue eye, cold and calm in the midst of the uproar. Just +as Corentin reappeared alone (Mademoiselle Goujet remaining behind to +take care of Madame d’Hauteserre) the tramp of horses was heard, and +presently the sound of a child’s weeping. The horses entered by the +small gate; and the general suspense was put an end to by a corporal +appearing at the door of the salon pushing Gothard, whose hands were +tied, and Catherine whom he led to the agents. + +“Here are some prisoners,” he said; “that little scamp was escaping on +horseback.” + +“Fool!” said Corentin, in his ear, “why didn’t you let him alone? You +could have found out something by following him.” + +Gothard had chosen to burst into tears and behave like an idiot. +Catherine took an attitude of artless innocence which made the old agent +reflective. The pupil of Lenoir, after considering the two prisoners +carefully, and noting the vacant air of the old gentleman whom he took +to be sly, the intelligent eye of the abbe who was still fingering the +cards, and the utter stupefaction of the servants and Durieu, approached +Corentin and whispered in his ear, “We are not dealing with ninnies.” + +Corentin answered with a look at the card-table; then he added, “They +were playing at boston! Mademoiselle’s bed was just being made for the +night; she escaped in a hurry; it is a regular surprise; we shall catch +them.” + + + + +CHAPTER VII. A FOREST NOOK + +A breach has always a cause and a purpose. Here is the explanation of +how the one which led from the tower called that of Mademoiselle and the +stables came to be made. After his installation as Laurence’s guardian +at Cinq-Cygne old d’Hauteserre converted a long ravine, through which +the water of the forest flowed into the moat, into a roadway between two +tracts of uncultivated land belonging to the chateau, by merely planting +out in it about a hundred walnut trees which he found ready in the +nursery. In eleven years these trees had grown and branched so as to +nearly cover the road, hidden already by steep banks, which ran into a +little wood of thirty acres recently purchased. When the chateau had its +full complement of inhabitants they all preferred to take this covered +way through the breach to the main road which skirted the park walls and +led to the farm, rather than go round by the entrance. By dint of thus +using it the breach in the sides of the moat had gradually been widened +on both sides, with all the less scruple because in this nineteenth +century of ours moats are no longer of the slightest use, and Laurence’s +guardian had often talked of putting this one to some other purpose. The +constant crumbling away of the earth and stones and gravel had ended by +filling up the ditch, so that only after heavy rains was the causeway +thus constructed covered. But the bank was still so steep that it was +difficult to make a horse descend it, and even more difficult to get him +up upon the main road. Horses, however, seem in times of peril to share +their masters’ thought. + +While the young countess was hesitating to follow Marthe, and asking +explanations, Michu, from his vantage-ground watched the closing in of +the gendarmes and understood their plan. He grew desperate as time +went by and the countess did not come to him. A squad of gendarmes were +marching along the park wall and stationing themselves as sentinels, +each man being near enough to communicate with those on either side of +them, by voice and eye. Michu, lying flat on his stomach, his ear to +earth, gauged, like a red Indian, by the strength of the sounds the time +that remained to him. + +“I came too late!” he said to himself. “Violette shall pay dear for +this! what a time it took to make him drunk! What can be done?” + +He heard the detachment that was coming through the forest reach the +iron gates and turn into the main road, where before long it would meet +the squad coming up from the other direction. + +“Still five or six minutes!” he said. + +At that instant the countess appeared. Michu took her with a firm hand +and pushed her into the covered way. + +“Keep straight before you! Lead her to where my horse is,” he said to +his wife, “and remember that gendarmes have ears.” + +Seeing Catherine, who carried the hat and whip, and Gothard leading the +mare, the man, keen-witted in presence of danger, bethought himself of +playing the gendarmes a trick as useful as the one he had just played +Violette. Gothard had forced the mare to mount the bank. + +“Her feet muffled! I thank thee, boy,” exclaimed the bailiff. + +Michu let the mare follow her mistress and took the hat, gloves, and +whip from Catherine. + +“You have sense, boy, you’ll understand me,” he said. “Force your own +horse up here, jump on him, and draw the gendarmes after you across the +fields towards the farm; get the whole squad to follow you--And you,” + he added to Catherine, “there are other gendarmes coming up on the road +from Cinq-Cygne to Gondreville; run in the opposite direction to the one +Gothard takes, and draw them towards the forest. Manage so that we shall +not be interfered with in the covered way.” + +Catherine and the boy, who were destined to give in this affair such +remarkable proofs of intelligence, executed the manoeuvre in a way to +make both detachments of gendarmes believe that they held the game. The +dim light of the moon prevented the pursuers from distinguishing the +figure, clothing, sex, or number of those they followed. The pursuit was +based on the maxim, “Always arrest those who are escaping,”--the folly +of which saying was, as we have seen, energetically declared by Corentin +to the corporal in command. Michu, counting on this instinct of +the gendarmes, was able to reach the forest a few moments after the +countess, whom Marthe had guided to the appointed place. + +“Go home now,” he said to Marthe. “The forest is watched and it is +dangerous to remain here. We need all our freedom.” + +Michu unfastened his horse and asked the countess to follow him. + +“I shall not go a step further,” said Laurence, “unless you give me some +proof of the interest you seem to have in us--for, after all, you are +Michu.” + +“Mademoiselle,” he answered, in a gentle voice; “the part I am playing +can be explained to you in two words. I am, unknown to the Marquis de +Simeuse and his brother, the guardian of their property. On this subject +I received the last instructions of their late father and their dear +mother, my protectress. I have played the part of a virulent Jacobin to +serve my dear young masters. Unhappily, I began this course too late; +I could not save their parents.” Here, Michu’s voice broke down. “Since +the young men emigrated I have sent them regularly the sums they needed +to live upon.” + +“Through the house of Breintmayer of Strasburg?” asked the countess. + +“Yes, mademoiselle; the correspondents of Monsieur Girel of Troyes, a +royalist who, like me, made himself for good reasons, a Jacobin. The +paper which your farmer picked up one evening and which I forced him +to surrender, related to the affair and would have compromised your +cousins. My life no longer belongs to me, but to them, you understand. I +could not buy in Gondreville. In my position, I should have lost my head +had the authorities known I had the money. I preferred to wait and +buy it later. But that scoundrel of a Marion was the slave of another +scoundrel, Malin. All the same, Gondreville shall once more belong +to its rightful masters. That’s my affair. Four hours ago I had Malin +sighted by my gun; ha! he was almost gone then! Were he dead, the +property would be sold and you could have bought it. In case of my death +my wife would have brought you a letter which would have given you the +means of buying it. But I overheard that villain telling his accomplice +Grevin--another scoundrel like himself--that the Marquis and his brother +were conspiring against the First Consul, that they were here in the +neighborhood, and that he meant to give them up and get rid of them so +as to keep Gondreville in peace. I myself saw the police spies; I laid +aside my gun, and I have lost no time in coming here, thinking that you +must be the one to know best how to warn the young men. That’s the whole +of it.” + +“You are worthy to be a noble,” said Laurence, offering her hand to +Michu, who tried to kneel and kiss it. She saw his motion and prevented +it, saying: “Stand up!” in a tone of voice and with a look which made +him amends for all the scorn of the last twelve years. + +“You reward me as though I had done all that remains for me to do,” he +said. “But don’t you hear them, those huzzars of the guillotine? Let us +go elsewhere.” + +He took the mare’s bridle, and led her a little distance. + +“Think only of sitting firm,” he said, “and of saving your head from the +branches of the trees which might strike you in the face.” + +Then he mounted his own horse and guided the young girl for half an +hour at full gallop; making turns and half turns, and striking into +wood-paths, so as to confuse their traces, until they reached a spot +where he pulled up. + +“I don’t know where I am,” said the countess looking about her,--“I, who +know the forest as well as you do.” + +“We are in the heart of it,” he replied. “Two gendarmes are after us, +but we are quite safe.” + +The picturesque spot to which the bailiff had guided Laurence was +destined to be so fatal to the principal personages of this drama, and +to Michu himself, that it becomes our duty, as an historian, to describe +it. The scene became, as we shall see hereafter, one of noted interest +in the judiciary annals of the Empire. + +The forest of Nodesme belonged to the monastery of Notre-Dame. That +monastery, seized, sacked, and demolished, had disappeared entirely, +monks and property. The forest, an object of much cupidity, was taken +into the domain of the Comtes de Champagne, who mortgaged it later and +allowed it to be sold. In the course of six centuries nature covered +its ruins with her rich and vigorous green mantle, and effaced them +so thoroughly that the existence of one of the finest convents was no +longer even indicated except by a slight eminence shaded by noble trees +and circled by thick, impenetrable shrubbery, which, since 1794, Michu +had taken great pains to make still more impenetrable by planting the +thorny acacia in all the slight openings between the bushes. A pond was +at the foot of the eminence and showed the existence of a hidden stream +which no doubt determined in former days the site of the monastery. +The late owner of the title to the forest of Nodesme was the first +to recognize the etymology of the name, which dated back for eight +centuries, and to discover that at one time a monastery had existed in +the heart of the forest. When the first rumblings of the thunder of the +Revolution were heard, the Marquis de Simeuse, who had been forced to +look into his title by a lawsuit and so learned the above facts as +it were by chance, began, with a secret intention not difficult to +conceive, to search for some remains of the former monastery. The +keeper, Michu, to whom the forest was well known, helped his master +in the search, and it was his sagacity as a forester which led to the +discovery of the site. Observing the trend of the five chief roads of +the forest, some of which were now effaced, he saw that they all ended +either at the little eminence or by the pond at the foot of it, to which +points travellers from Troyes, from the valley of Arcis and that of +Cinq-Cygne, and from Bar-sur-Aube doubtless came. The marquis wished +to excavate the hillock but he dared not employ the people of the +neighborhood. Pressed by circumstances, he abandoned the intention, +leaving in Michu’s mind a strong conviction that the eminence had either +the treasure or the foundations of the former abbey. He continued, +all alone, this archaeological enterprise; he sounded the earth and +discovered a hollowness on the level of the pond between two trees, at +the foot of the only craggy part of the hillock. + +One fine night he came to the place armed with a pickaxe, and by the +sweat of his brow uncovered a succession of cellars, which were entered +by a flight of stone steps. The pond, which was three feet deep in the +middle, formed a sort of dipper, the handle of which seemed to come from +the little eminence, and went far to prove that a spring had once issued +from the crags, and was now lost by infiltration through the forest. The +marshy shores of the pond, covered with aquatic trees, alders, willow, +and ash, were the terminus of all the wood-paths, the remains of former +roads and forest by-ways, now abandoned. The water, flowing from a +spring, though apparently stagnant, was covered with large-leaved +plants and cresses, which gave it a perfectly green surface almost +indistinguishable from the shores, which were covered with fine close +herbage. The place is too far from human habitations for any animal, +unless a wild one, to come there. Convinced that no game was in the +marsh and repelled by the craggy sides of the hills, keepers and hunters +had never explored or visited this nook, which belonged to a part of the +forest where the timber had not been cut for many years and which Michu +meant to keep in its full growth when the time came round to fell it. + +At the further end of the first cellar was a vaulted chamber, clean +and dry, built with hewn stone, a sort of convent dungeon, such as they +called in monastic days the _in pace_. The salubrity of the chamber and +the preservation of this part of the staircase and of the vaults were +explained by the presence of the spring, which had been enclosed at some +time by a wall of extraordinary thickness built in brick and cement +like those of the Romans, and received all the waters. Michu closed the +entrance to this retreat with large stones; then, to keep the secret of +it to himself and make it impenetrable to others, he made a rule never +to enter it except from the wooded height above, by clambering down the +crag instead of approaching it from the pond. + +Just as the fugitives arrived, the moon was casting her beautiful +silvery light on the aged tree-tops above the crag, and flickering on +the splendid foliage at the corners of the several paths, all of which +ended here, some with one tree, some with a group of trees. On all +sides the eye was irresistibly led along their vanishing perspectives, +following the curve of a wood-path or the solemn stretch of a forest +glade flanked by a wall of verdure that was nearly black. The moonlight, +filtering through the branches of the crossways, made the lonely, +tranquil waters, where they peeped between the crosses and the +lily-pads, sparkle like diamonds. The croaking of the frogs broke the +deep silence of this beautiful forest-nook, the wild odors of which +incited the soul to thoughts of liberty. + +“Are we safe?” said the countess to Michu. + +“Yes, mademoiselle. But we have each some work to do. Do you go and +fasten our horses to the trees at the top of the little hill; tie a +handkerchief round the mouth of each of them,” he said, giving her his +cravat; “your beast and mine are both intelligent, they will understand +they are not to neigh. When you have done that, come down the crag +directly above the pond; but don’t let your habit catch anywhere. You +will find me below.” + +While the countess hid the horses and tied and gagged them, Michu +removed the stones and opened the entrance to the caverns. The countess, +who thought she knew the forest by heart, was amazed when she descended +into the vaulted chambers. Michu replaced the stones above them with the +dexterity of a mason. As he finished, the sound of horses’ feet and the +voices of the gendarmes echoed in the darkness; but he quietly struck +a match, lighted a resinous bit of wood and led the countess to the _in +pace_, where there was still a piece of the candle with which he had +first explored the caves. An iron door of some thickness, eaten in +several places by rust, had been put in good order by the bailiff, and +could be fastened securely by bars slipping into holes in the wall on +either side of it. The countess, half dead with fatigue, sat down on a +stone bench, above which there still remained an iron ring, the staple +of which was embedded in the masonry. + +“We have a salon to converse in,” said Michu. “The gendarmes may prowl +as much as they like; the worst they could do would be to take our +horses.” + +“If they do that,” said Laurence, “it would be the death of my cousins +and the Messieurs d’Hauteserre. Tell me now, what do you know?” + +Michu related what he had overheard Malin say to Grevin. + +“They are already on the road to Paris; they were to enter it to-morrow +morning,” said the countess when he had finished. + +“Lost!” exclaimed Michu. “All persons entering or leaving the barriers +are examined. Malin has strong reasons to let my masters compromise +themselves; he is seeking to get them killed out of his way.” + +“And I, who don’t know anything of the general plan of the affair,” + cried Laurence, “how can I warn Georges, Riviere, and Moreau? Where are +they?--However, let us think only of my cousins and the d’Hauteserres; +you must catch up with them, no matter what it costs.” + +“The telegraph goes faster than the best horse,” said Michu; “and of +all the nobles concerned in this conspiracy your cousins are the closest +watched. If I can find them, they must be hidden here and kept here till +the affair is over. Their poor father may have had a foreboding when he +set me to search for this hiding-place; perhaps he felt that his sons +would be saved here.” + +“My mare is from the stables of the Comte d’Artois,--she is the daughter +of his finest English horse,” said Laurence; “but she has already gone +sixty miles, she would drop dead before you reached them.” + +“Mine is in good condition,” replied Michu; “and if you did sixty miles +I shall have only thirty to do.” + +“Nearer forty,” she said, “they have been walking since dark. You will +overtake them beyond Lagny, at Coupvrai, where they expected to be at +daybreak. They are disguised as sailors, and will enter Paris by the +river on some vessel. This,” she added, taking half of her mother’s +wedding-ring from her finger, “is the only thing which will make them +trust you; they have the other half. The keeper of Couvrai is the father +of one of their soldiers; he has hidden them tonight in a hut in the +forest deserted by charcoal-burners. They are eight in all, Messieurs +d’Hauteserre and four others are with my cousins.” + +“Mademoiselle, no one is looking for the others! let them save +themselves as they can; we must think only of the Messieurs de Simeuse. +It is enough just to warn the rest.” + +“What! abandon the Hauteserres? never!” she said. “They must all perish +or be saved together!” + +“Only petty noblemen!” remarked Michu. + +“They are only chevaliers, I know that,” she replied, “but they are +related to the Cinq-Cygne and Simeuse blood. Save them all, and advise +them how best to regain this forest.” + +“The gendarmes are here,--don’t you hear them? they are holding a +council of war.” + +“Well, you have twice had luck to-night; go! bring my cousins here and +hide them in these vaults; they’ll be safe from all pursuit--Alas! I am +good for nothing!” she cried, with rage; “I should be only a beacon to +light the enemy--but the police will never imagine that my cousins are +in the forest if they see me at my ease. So the question resolves itself +into this: how can we get five good horses to bring them in six hours +from Lagny to the forest,--five horses to be killed and hidden in some +thicket.” + +“And the money?” said Michu, who was thinking deeply as he listened to +the young countess. + +“I gave my cousins a hundred louis this evening,” she replied. + +“I’ll answer for them!” cried Michu. “But once hidden here you must not +attempt to see them. My wife, or the little one, shall bring them +food twice a week. But, as I can’t be sure of what may happen to me, +remember, mademoiselle, in case of trouble, that the main beam in my +hay-loft has been bored with an auger. In the hole, which is plugged +with a bit of wood, you will find a plan showing how to reach this spot. +The trees which you will find marked with a red dot on the plan have a +black mark at their foot close to the earth. Each of these trees is a +sign-post. At the foot of the third old oak which stands to the left +of each sign-post, two feet in front of it and buried seven feet in the +ground, you will find a large metal tube; in each tube are one +hundred thousand francs in gold. These eleven trees--there are only +eleven--contain the whole fortune of the Simeuse brothers, now that +Gondreville has been taken from them.” + +“It will take a hundred years for the nobility to recover from such +blows,” said Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne, slowly. + +“Is there a pass-word?” asked Michu. + +“‘France and Charles’ for the soldiers, ‘Laurence and Louis’ for the +Messieurs d’Hauteserre and Simeuse. Good God! to think that I saw them +yesterday for the first time in eleven years, and that now they are in +danger of death--and what a death! Michu,” she said, with a melancholy +look, “be as prudent during the next fifteen hours as you have been +grand and devoted during the last twelve years. If disaster were to +overtake my cousins now I should die of it--No,” she added, quickly, “I +would live long enough to kill Bonaparte.” + +“There will be two of us to do that when all is lost,” said Michu. + +Laurence took his rough hand and wrung it warmly, as the English do. +Michu looked at his watch; it was midnight. + +“We must leave here at any cost,” he said. “Death to the gendarme who +attempts to stop me! And you, madame la comtesse, without presuming +to dictate, ride back to Cinq-Cygne as fast as you can. The police are +there by this time; fool them! delay them!” + +The hole once opened, Michu flung himself down with his ear to the +earth; then he rose precipitately. “The gendarmes are at the edge of the +forest towards Troyes!” he said. “Ha, I’ll get the better of them yet!” + +He helped the countess to come out, and replaced the stones. When this +was done he heard her soft voice telling him she must see him mounted +before mounting herself. Tears came to the eyes of the stern man as +he exchanged a last look with his young mistress, whose own eyes were +tearless. + +“Fool them! yes, he is right!” she said when she heard him no longer. +Then she darted towards Cinq-Cygne at full gallop. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. TRIALS OF THE POLICE + +Madame d’Hauteserre, roused by the danger of her sons, and not believing +that the Revolution was over, but still fearing its summary justice, +recovered her senses by the violence of the same distress which made +her lose them. Led by an agonizing curiosity she returned to the salon, +which presented a picture worthy of the brush of a genre painter. The +abbe, still seated at the card-table and mechanically playing with the +counters, was covertly observing Corentin and Peyrade, who were standing +together at a corner of the fireplace and speaking in a low voice. +Several times Corentin’s keen eye met the not less keen glance of the +priest; but, like two adversaries who knew themselves equally strong, +and who return to their guard after crossing their weapons, each averted +his eyes the instant they met. The worthy old d’Hauteserre, poised on +his long thin legs like a heron, was standing beside the stout form of +the mayor, in an attitude expressive of utter stupefaction. The mayor, +though dressed as a bourgeois, always looked like a servant. Each gazed +with a bewildered eye at the gendarmes, in whose clutches Gothard was +still sobbing, his hands purple and swollen from the tightness of the +cord that bound them. Catherine maintained her attitude of artless +simplicity, which was quite impenetrable. The corporal, who, according +to Corentin, had committed a great blunder in arresting these smaller +fry, did not know whether to stay where he was or to depart. He stood +pensively in the middle of the salon, his hand on the hilt of his sabre, +his eye on the two Parisians. The Durieus, also stupefied, and the +other servants of the chateau made an admirable group of expressive +uneasiness. If it had not been for Gothard’s convulsive snifflings those +present could have heard the flies fly. + +When Madame d’Hauteserre, pale and terrified, opened the door and +entered the room, almost carried by Mademoiselle Goujet, whose red eyes +had evidently been weeping, all faces turned to her at once. The two +agents hoped as much as the household feared to see Laurence enter. This +spontaneous movement of both masters and servants seemed produced by +the sort of mechanism which makes a number of wooden figures perform the +same gesture or wink the same eye. + +Madame d’Hauteserre advanced by three rapid strides towards Corentin and +said, in a broken voice but violently: “For pity’s sake, monsieur, +tell me what my sons are accused of. Do you really think they have been +here?” + +The abbe, who seemed to be saying to himself when he saw the old lady, +“She will certainly commit some folly,” lowered his eyes. + +“My duty and the mission I am engaged in forbid me to tell you,” + answered Corentin, with a gracious but rather mocking air. + +This refusal, which the detestable politeness of the vulgar fop seemed +to make all the more emphatic, petrified the poor mother, who fell into +a chair beside the Abbe Goujet, clasped her hands and began to pray. + +“Where did you arrest that blubber?” asked Corentin, addressing the +corporal and pointing to Laurence’s little henchman. + +“On the road that leads to the farm along the park walls; the little +scamp had nearly reached the Closeaux woods,” replied the corporal. + +“And that girl?” + +“She? oh, it was Oliver who caught her.” + +“Where was she going?” + +“Towards Gondreville.” + +“They were going in opposite directions?” said Corentin. + +“Yes,” replied the gendarme. + +“Is that boy the groom, and the girl the maid of the citizeness +Cinq-Cygne?” said Corentin to the mayor. + +“Yes,” replied Goulard. + +After Corentin had exchanged a few words with Peyrade in a whisper, the +latter left the room, taking the corporal of gendarmes with him. + +Just then the corporal of Arcis made his appearance. He went up to +Corentin and spoke to him in a low voice: “I know these premises well,” + he said; “I have searched everywhere; unless those young fellows are +buried, they are not here. We have sounded all the floors and walls with +the butt end of our muskets.” + +Peyrade, who presently returned, signed to Corentin to come out, and +then took him to the breach in the moat and showed him the sunken way. + +“We have guessed the trick,” said Peyrade. + +“And I’ll tell you how it was done,” added Corentin. “That little scamp +and the girl decoyed those idiots of gendarmes and thus made time for +the game to escape.” + +“We can’t know the truth till daylight,” said Peyrade. “The road is +damp; I have ordered two gendarmes to barricade it top and bottom. We’ll +examine it after daylight, and find out by the footsteps who went that +way.” + +“I see a hoof-mark,” said Corentin; “let us go to the stables.” + +“How many horses do you keep?” said Peyrade, returning to the salon with +Corentin, and addressing Monsieur d’Hauteserre and Goulard. + +“Come, monsieur le maire, you know, answer,” cried Corentin, seeing that +that functionary hesitated. + +“Why, there’s the countess’s mare, Gothard’s horse, and Monsieur +d’Hauteserre’s.” + +“There is only one in the stable,” said Peyrade. + +“Mademoiselle is out riding,” said Durieu. + +“Does she often ride about at this time of night?” said the libertine +Peyrade, addressing Monsieur d’Hauteserre. + +“Often,” said the good man, simply. “Monsieur le maire can tell you +that.” + +“Everybody knows she has her freaks,” remarked Catherine; “she looked at +the sky before she went to bed, and I think the glitter of your bayonets +in the moonlight puzzled her. She told me she wanted to know if there +was going to be another revolution.” + +“When did she go?” asked Peyrade. + +“When she saw your guns.” + +“Which road did she take?” + +“I don’t know.” + +“There’s another horse missing,” said Corentin. + +“The gendarmes--took it--away from me,” said Gothard. + +“Where were you going?” said one of them. + +“I was--following--my mistress to the farm,” sobbed the boy. + +The gendarme looked towards Corentin as if expecting an order. But +Gothard’s speech was evidently so true and yet so false, so perfectly +innocent and so artful that the two Parisians again looked at each other +as if to echo Peyrade’s former words: “They are not ninnies.” + +Monsieur d’Hauteserre seemed incapable of a word; the mayor was +bewildered; the mother, imbecile from maternal fears, was putting +questions to the police agents that were idiotically innocent; the +servants had been roused from their sleep. Judging by these trifling +signs, and these diverse characters, Corentin came to the conclusion +that his only real adversary was Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne. Shrewd +and dexterous as the police may be, they are always under certain +disadvantages. Not only are they forced to discover all that is known +to a conspirator, but they must also suppose and test a great number +of things before they hit upon the right one. The conspirator is always +thinking of his own safety, whereas the police is only on duty at +certain hours. Were it not for treachery and betrayals, nothing would +be easier than to conspire successfully. The conspirator has more mind +concentrated upon himself than the police can bring to bear with all its +vast facilities of action. Finding themselves stopped short morally, +as they might be physically by a door which they expected to find open +being shut in their faces, Corentin and Peyrade saw they were tricked +and misled, without knowing by whom. + +“I assert,” said the corporal of Arcis, in their ear, “that if the four +young men slept here last night it must have been in the beds of their +father and mother, and Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne, or those of the +servants; or they must have spent the night in the park. There is not a +trace of their presence.” + +“Who could have warned them?” said Corentin, to Peyrade. “No one but the +First Consul, Fouche, the ministers, the prefect of police, and Malin +knew anything about it.” + +“We must set spies in the neighborhood,” whispered Peyrade. + +“And watch the spies,” said the abbe, who smiled as he overheard the +word and guessed all. + +“Good God!” thought Corentin, replying to the abbe’s smile with one of +his own; “there is but one intelligent being here,--he’s the one to come +to an understanding with; I’ll try him.” + +“Gentlemen--” said the mayor, anxious to give some proof of devotion to +the First Consul and addressing the two agents. + +“Say ‘citizens’; the Republic still exists,” interrupted Corentin, +looking at the priest with a quizzical air. + +“Citizens,” resumed the mayor, “just as I entered this salon and before +I had opened my mouth Catherine rushed in and took her mistress’s hat, +gloves, and whip.” + +A low murmur of horror came from the breasts of all the household except +Gothard. All eyes but those of the agent and the gendarmes were turned +threateningly on Goulard, the informer, seeming to dart flames at him. + +“Very good, citizen mayor,” said Peyrade. “We see it all plainly. Some +one” (this with a glance of evident distrust at Corentin) “warned the +citizeness Cinq-Cygne in time.” + +“Corporal, handcuff that boy,” said Corentin, to the gendarme, “and take +him away by himself. And shut up that girl, too,” pointing to Catherine. +“As for you, Peyrade, search for papers,” adding in his ear, “Ransack +everything, spare nothing.--Monsieur l’abbe,” he said, confidentially, +“I have an important communication to make to you”; and he took him into +the garden. + +“Listen to me attentively, monsieur,” he went on; “you seem to have the +mind of a bishop, and (no one can hear us) you will understand me. I +have no longer any hope except through you of saving these families, +who, with the greatest folly, are letting themselves roll down a +precipice where no one can save them. The Messieurs Simeuse and +d’Hauteserre have been betrayed by one of those infamous spies whom +governments introduce into all conspiracies to learn their objects, +means, and members. Don’t confound me, I beg of you, with the wretch who +is with me. He belongs to the police; but I am honorably attached to +the Consular cabinet, I am therefore behind the scenes. The ruin of the +Simeuse brothers is not desired. Though Malin would like to see them +shot, the First Consul, if they are here and have come without evil +intentions, wishes them to be warned out of danger, for he likes +good soldiers. The agent who accompanies me has all the powers, I, +apparently, am nothing. But I see plainly what is hatching. The agent +is pledged to Malin, who has doubtless promised him his influence, an +office, and perhaps money if he finds the Simeuse brothers and delivers +them up. The First Consul, who is a really great man, never favors +selfish schemes--I don’t want to know if those young men are here,” he +added, quickly, observing the abbe’s gesture, “but I wish to tell you +that there is only one way to save them. You know the law of the 6th +Floreal, year X., which amnestied all the _emigres_ who were still in +foreign countries on condition that they returned home before the 1st +Vendemiaire of the year XI., that is to say, in September of last year. +But the Messieurs Simeuse having, like the Messieurs d’Hauteserre, +served in the army of Conde, they come into the category of exceptions +to this law. Their presence in France is therefore criminal, and +suffices, under the circumstances in which we are, to make them +suspected of collusion in a horrible plot. The First Consul saw the +error of this exception which has made enemies for his government, and +he wishes the Messieurs Simeuse to know that no steps will be taken +against them, if they will send him a petition saying that they have +re-entered France intending to submit to the laws, and agreeing to take +oath to the Constitution. You can understand that the document ought to +be in my hands before they are arrested, and be dated some days earlier. +I would then be the bearer of it--I do not ask you where those young men +are,” he said again, seeing another gesture of denial from the priest. +“We are, unfortunately, sure of finding them; the forest is guarded, the +entrances to Paris and the frontiers are all watched. Pray listen to me; +if these gentlemen are between the forest and Paris they must be taken; +if they are in Paris they will be found; if they retreat to the frontier +they will still be arrested. The First Consul likes the _ci-devants_, +and cannot endure the republicans--simple enough; if he wants a throne +he must needs strangle Liberty. Keep the matter a secret between us. +This is what I will do; I will stay here till to-morrow and _be blind_; +but beware of the agent; that cursed Provencal is the devil’s own valet; +he has the ear of Fouche just as I have that of the First Consul.” + +“If the Messieurs Simeuse are here,” said the abbe, “I would give ten +pints of my blood and my right arm to save them; but if Mademoiselle de +Cinq-Cygne is in the secret she has not--and this I swear on my eternal +salvation--betrayed it in any way, neither has she done me the honor to +consult me. I am now very glad of her discretion, if discretion there +be. We played cards last night as usual, at boston, in almost complete +silence, until half-past ten o’clock, and we neither saw nor heard +anything. Not a child can pass through this solitary valley without the +whole community knowing it, and for the last two weeks no one has come +from other places. Now the d’Hauteserre and the Simeuse brothers would +make a party of four. Old d’Hauteserre and his wife have submitted to +the present government, and they have made all imaginable efforts +to persuade their sons to return to France; they wrote to them again +yesterday. I can only say, upon my soul and conscience, that your visit +has alone shaken my firm belief that these young men are living in +Germany. Between ourselves, there is no one here, except the young +countess, who does not do justice to the eminent qualities of the First +Consul.” + +“Fox!” thought Corentin. “Well, if those young men are shot,” he said, +aloud; “it is because their friends have willed it--I wash my hands of +the affair.” + +He had led the abbe to a part of the garden which lay in the moonlight, +and as he said the last words he looked at him suddenly. The priest +was greatly distressed, but his manner was that of a man surprised and +wholly ignorant. + +“Understand this, monsieur l’abbe,” resumed Corentin; “the right of +these young men to the estate of Gondreville will render them doubly +criminal in the eyes of the middle class. I’d like to see them put faith +in God and not in his saints--” + +“Is there really a plot?” asked the abbe, simply. + +“Base, odious, cowardly, and so contrary to the generous spirit of +the nation,” replied Corentin, “that it will meet with universal +opprobrium.” + +“Well! Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne is incapable of baseness,” cried the +abbe. + +“Monsieur l’abbe,” replied Corentin, “let me tell you this; there is for +us (meaning you and me) proof positive of her guilt; but there is not +enough for the law. You see she took flight when we came; I sent the +mayor to warn her.” + +“Yes, but for one who is so anxious to save them, you followed rather +closely on his heels,” said the abbe. + +At those words the two men looked at each other, and all was said. +Each belonged to those profound anatomists of thought to whom a mere +inflexion of the voice, a look, a word suffices to reveal a soul, just +as the Indians track their enemies by signs invisible to European eyes. + +“I expected to draw something out of him, and I have only betrayed +myself,” thought Corentin. + +“Ha! the sly rogue!” thought the priest. + +Midnight rang from the old church clock just as Corentin and the abbe +re-entered the salon. The opening and shutting of doors and closets +could be heard from the bedrooms above. The gendarmes pulled open the +beds; Peyrade, with the quick perception of a spy, handled and sounded +everything. Such desecration excited both fear and indignation among +the faithful servants of the house, who still stood motionless about the +salon. Monsieur d’Hauteserre exchanged looks of commiseration with his +wife and Mademoiselle Goujet. A species of horrible curiosity kept every +one on the qui vive. Peyrade at length came down, holding in his hand a +sandal-wood box which had probably been brought from China by Admiral +de Simeuse. This pretty casket was flat and about the size of a quarto +volume. + +Peyrade made a sign to Corentin and took him into the embrasure of a +window. + +“I’ve an idea!” he said, “that Michu, who was ready to pay Marion eight +hundred thousand francs in gold for Gondreville, and who evidently +meant to shoot Malin yesterday, is the man who is helping the Simeuse +brothers. His motive in threatening Marion and aiming at Malin must +be the same. I thought when I saw him that he was capable of ideas; +evidently he has but one; he discovered what was going on and he must +have come here to warn them.” + +“Probably Malin talked about the conspiracy to his friend the notary, +and Michu from his ambush overheard what was said,” remarked Corentin, +continuing the inductions of his colleague. “No doubt he has only +postponed his shot to prevent an evil he thinks worse than the loss of +Gondreville.” + +“He knew what we were the moment he laid eyes on us,” said Peyrade. “I +thought then that he was amazingly intelligent for a peasant.” + +“That proves that he is always on his guard,” replied Corentin. “But, +mind you, my old man, don’t let us make a mistake. Treachery stinks in +the nostrils, and primitive folks do scent it from afar.” + +“But that’s our strength,” said the Provencal. + +“Call the corporal of Arcis,” cried Corentin to one of the gendarmes. “I +shall send him at once to Michu’s house,” he added to Peyrade. + +“Our ear, Violette, is there,” said Peyrade. + +“We started without getting news from him. Two of us are not enough; +we ought to have had Sabatier with us--Corporal,” he said, when the +gendarme appeared, taking him aside with Peyrade, “don’t let them fool +you as they did the Troyes corporal just now. We think Michu is in this +business. Go to his house, put your eye on everything, and bring word of +the result.” + +“One of my men heard horses in the forest just as they arrested the +little groom; I’ve four fine fellows now on the track of whoever is +hiding there,” replied the gendarme. + +He left the room, and the gallop of his horse which echoed on the paved +courtyard died rapidly away. + +“One thing is certain,” said Corentin to himself, “either they have gone +to Paris or they are retreating to Germany.” + +He sat down, pulled a note-book from the pocket of his spencer, wrote +two orders in pencil, sealed them, and made a sign to one of the +gendarmes to come to him. + +“Be off at full gallop to Troyes, wake up the prefect, and tell him to +start the telegraph as soon as there’s light enough.” + +The gendarme departed. The meaning of this movement and Corentin’s +intentions were so evident that the hearts of the household sank within +them; but this new anxiety was additional to another that was now +martyrizing them; their eyes were fixed on the sandal-wood box! All the +while the two agents were talking together they were each taking note of +those eager looks. A sort of cold anger stirred the unfeeling hearts of +these men who relished the power of inspiring terror. The police man has +the instincts and emotions of a hunter: but where the one employs his +powers of mind and body in killing a hare, a partridge, or a deer, the +other is thinking of saving the State, or a king, and of winning a large +reward. So the hunt for men is superior to the other class of hunting +by all the distance that there is between animals and human beings. +Moreover, a spy is forced to lift the part he plays to the level and +the importance of the interests to which he is bound. Without looking +further into this calling, it is easy to see that the man who follows +it puts as much passionate ardor into his chase as another man does into +the pursuit of game. Therefore the further these men advanced in their +investigations the more eager they became; but the expression of their +faces and their eyes continued calm and cold, just as their ideas, +their suspicions, and their plans remained impenetrable. To any one who +watched the effects of the moral scent, if we may so call it, of these +bloodhounds on the track of hidden facts, and who noted and understood +the movements of canine agility which led them to strike the truth in +their rapid examination of probabilities, there was in it all something +actually horrifying. How and why should men of genius fall so low when +it was in their power to be so high? What imperfection, what vice, what +passion debases them? Does a man become a police-agent as he becomes +a thinker, writer, statesmen, painter, general, on the condition of +knowing nothing but how to spy, as the others speak, write, govern, +paint, and fight? The inhabitants of the chateau had but one wish,--that +the thunderbolts of heaven might fall upon these miscreants; they were +athirst for vengeance; and had it not been for the presence, up to this +time, of the gendarmes there would undoubtedly have been an outbreak. + +“No one, I suppose, has the key of this box?” said the cynical Peyrade, +questioning the family as much by the movement of his huge red nose as +by his words. + +The Provencal noticed, not without fear, that the guards were no longer +present; he and Corentin were alone with the family. The younger man +drew a small dagger from his pocket, and began to force the lock of the +box. Just then the desperate galloping of a horse was heard upon the +road and then upon the pavement by the lawn; but most horrible of all +was the fall and sighing of the animal, which seemed to drop all at +once at the door of the middle tower. A convulsion like that which +a thunderbolt might produce shook the spectators when Laurence, the +trailing of whose riding-habit announced her coming, entered the room. +The servants hastily formed into two lines to let her pass. + +In spite of her rapid ride, the girl had felt the full anguish the +discovery of the conspiracy must needs cause her. All her hopes were +overthrown! she had galloped through ruins as her thoughts turned to the +necessity of submission to the Consular government. Were it not for the +danger which threatened the four gentlemen, and which served as a tonic +to conquer her weariness and her despair, she would have dropped +asleep on the way. The mare was almost killed in her haste to reach the +chateau, and stand between her cousins and death. As all present looked +at the heroic girl, pale, her features drawn, her veil aside, her whip +in her hand, standing on the threshold of the door, whence her burning +glance grasped the whole scene and comprehended it, each knew from the +almost imperceptible motion which crossed the soured and bittered face +of Corentin, that the real adversaries had met. A terrible duel was +about to begin. + +Noticing the box, now in the hands of Corentin, the countess raised her +whip and sprang rapidly towards him. Striking his hands with so violent +a blow that the casket fell to the ground, she seized it, flung it into +the middle of the fire, and stood with her back to the chimney in a +threatening attitude before either of the agents recovered from their +surprise. The scorn which flamed from her eyes, her pale brow, her +disdainful lips, were even more insulting than the haughty action which +treated Corentin as though he were a venomous reptile. Old d’Hauteserre +felt himself once more a cavalier; all his blood rushed to his face, and +he grieved that he had no sword. The servants trembled for an instant +with joy. The vengeance they had called down upon these men had come. +But their joy was driven back within their souls by a terrible fear; the +gendarmes were still heard coming and going in the garrets. + +The _spy_--noun of strength, under which all shades of the police are +confounded, for the public has never chosen to specify in language the +varieties of those who compose this dispensary of social remedies so +essential to all governments--the spy has this curious and magnificent +quality: he never becomes angry; he possesses the Christian humility of +a priest; his eyes are stolid with an indifference which he holds as +a barrier against the world of fools who do not understand him; his +forehead is adamant under insult; he pursues his ends like a reptile +whose carapace is fractured only by a cannonball; but (like that +reptile) he is all the more furious when the blow does reach him, +because he believed his armor invulnerable. The lash of the whip upon +his fingers was to Corentin, pain apart, the cannonball that cracked +the shell. Coming from that magnificent and noble girl, this action, +emblematic of her disgust, humiliated him, not only in the eyes of the +people about him, but in his own. + +Peyrade sprang to the hearth, caught Laurence’s foot, raised it, and +compelled her, out of modesty, to throw herself on the sofa, where she +had lately lain asleep. The scene, like other contrasts in human things, +was burlesque in the midst of terror. Peyrade scorched his hand as he +dashed it into the fire to seize the box; but he got it, threw it on the +floor and sat down upon it. These little actions were done with great +rapidity and without a word being uttered. Corentin, recovering from the +pain of the blow, caught Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne by both hands, and +held her. + +“Do not compel me to use force against you,” he said, with withering +politeness. + +Peyrade’s action had extinguished the fire by the natural process of +suppressing the air. + +“Gendarmes! here!” he cried, still occupying his ridiculous position. + +“Will you promise to behave yourself?” said Corentin, insolently, +addressing Laurence, and picking up his dagger, but not committing the +great fault of threatening her with it. + +“The secrets of that box do not concern the government,” she answered, +with a tinge of melancholy in her tone and manner. “When you have read +the letters it contains you will, in spite of your infamy, feel ashamed +of having read them--that is, if you can still feel shame at anything,” + she added, after a pause. + +The abbe looked at her as if to say, “For God’s sake, be calm!” + +Peyrade rose. The bottom of the box, which had been nearly burned +through, left a mark upon the floor; the lid was scorched and the sides +gave way. The grotesque Scaevola, who had offered to the god of the +Police and Terror the seat of his apricot breeches, opened the two sides +of the box as if it had been a book, and slid three letters and two +locks of hair upon the card-table. He was about to smile at Corentin +when he perceived that the locks were of two shades of gray. Corentin +released Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne’s hands and went up to the table to +read the letter from which the hair had fallen. + +Laurence rose, moved to the table beside the spies, and said:--“Read it +aloud; that shall be your punishment.” + +As the two men continued to read to themselves, she herself read out the +following words:-- + + Dear Laurence,--My husband and I have heard of your noble conduct + on the day of our arrest. We know that you love our dear twins as + much, almost, as we love them ourselves. Therefore it is with you + that we leave a token which will be both precious and sad to them. + The executioner has come to cut our hair, for we are to die in a + few moments; he has promised to put into your hands the only + remembrance we are able to leave to our beloved orphans. Keep + these last remains of us and give them to our sons in happier + days. We have kissed these locks of hair and have laid our + blessing upon them. Our last thought will be of our sons, of you, + and of God. Love them, Laurence. + +Berthe de Cinq-Cygne. Jean de Simeuse. + + +Tears came to the eyes of all the household as they listened to the +letter. + +Laurence looked at the agents with a petrifying glance and said, in a +firm voice:-- + +“You have less pity than the executioner.” + +Corentin quietly folded the hair in the letter, laid the letter aside on +the table, and put a box of counters on the top of it as if to prevent +its blowing away. His coolness in the midst of the general emotion was +horrible. + +Peyrade unfolded the other letters. + +“Oh, as for those,” said Laurence, “they are very much alike. You hear +the will; you can now hear of its fulfilment. In future I shall have no +secrets from any one.” + + + 1794, Andernach. Before the battle. + + My dear Laurence,--I love you for life, and I wish you to know it. + But you ought also to know, in case I die, that my brother, + Paul-Marie, loves you as much as I love you. My only consolation in + dying would be the thought that you might some day make my brother + your husband without being forced to see me die of jealousy--which + must surely happen if, both of us being alive, you preferred him + to me. After all, that preference seems natural, for he is, + perhaps, more worthy of your love than I-- + + Marie-Paul. + + +“Here is the other letter,” she said, with the color in her cheeks. + + + Andernach. Before the battle. + + My kind Laurence,--My heart is sad; but Marie-Paul has a gayer + nature, and will please you more than I am able to do. Some day + you will have to choose between us--well, though I love you + passionately-- + + +“You are corresponding with _emigres_,” said Peyrade, interrupting +Laurence, and holding the letters between himself and the light to +see if they contained between the lines any treasonable writing with +invisible ink. + +“Yes,” replied Laurence, folding the precious letters, the paper of +which was already yellow with time. “But by virtue of what right do you +presume to violate my dwelling and my personal liberty?” + +“Ah, that’s the point!” cried Peyrade. “By what right, indeed!--it +is time to let you know it, beautiful aristocrat,” he added, taking a +warrant from his pocket, which came from the minister of justice and +was countersigned by the minister of the interior. “See, the authorities +have their eye upon you.” + +“We might also ask you,” said Corentin, in her ear, “by what right you +harbor in this house the assassins of the First Consul. You have applied +your whip to my hands in a manner that authorizes me to take my revenge +upon your cousins, whom I came here to save.” + +At the mere movement of her lips and the glance which Laurence cast upon +Corentin, the abbe guessed what that great artist was saying, and he +made her a sign to be distrustful, which no one intercepted but Goulard. +Peyrade struck the cover of the box to see if there were a double top. + +“Don’t break it!” she exclaimed, taking the cover from him. + +She took a pin, pushed the head of one of the carved figures, and the +two halves of the top, joined by a spring, opened. In the hollow half +lay miniatures of the Messieurs de Simeuse, in the uniform of the army +of Conde, two portraits on ivory done in Germany. Corentin, who felt +himself in presence of an adversary worthy of his efforts, called +Peyrade aside into a corner of the room and conferred with him. + +“How could you throw _that_ into the fire?” said the abbe, speaking to +Laurence and pointing to the letter of the marquise which enclosed the +locks of hair. + +For all answer the young girl shrugged her shoulders significantly. The +abbe comprehended then that she had made the sacrifice to mislead the +agents and gain time; he raised his eyes to heaven with a gesture of +admiration. + +“Where did they arrest Gothard, whom I hear crying?” she asked him, loud +enough to be overheard. + +“I don’t know,” said the abbe. + +“Did he reach the farm?” + +“The farm!” whispered Peyrade to Corentin. “Let us send there.” + +“No,” said Corentin; “that girl never trusted her cousins’ safety to a +farmer. She is playing with us. Do as I tell you, so that we mayn’t have +to leave here without detecting something, after committing the great +blunder of coming here at all.” + +Corentin stationed himself before the fire, lifting the long pointed +skirts of his coat to warm himself and assuming the air, manner, and +tone of a gentleman who was paying a visit. + +“Mesdames, you can go to bed, and the servants also. Monsieur le maire, +your services are no longer needed. The sternness of our orders does +not permit us to act otherwise than as we have done; but as soon as the +walls, which seem to me rather thick, have been thoroughly examined, we +shall take our departure.” + +The mayor bowed to the company and retired; but neither the abbe nor +Mademoiselle Goujet stirred. The servants were too uneasy not to watch +the fate of their young mistress. Madame d’Hauteserre, who, from the +moment of Laurence’s entrance, had studied her with the anxiety of a +mother, rose, took her by the arm, led her aside, and said in a low +voice, “Have you seen them?” + +“Do you think I could have let your sons be under this roof without +your knowing it?” replied Laurence. “Durieu,” she added, “see if it is +possible to save my poor Stella; she is still breathing.” + +“She must have gone a great distance,” said Corentin. + +“Forty miles in three hours,” she answered, addressing the abbe, who +watched her with amazement. “I started at half-past nine, and it was +well past one when I returned.” + +She looked at the clock which said half-past two. + +“So you don’t deny that you have ridden forty miles?” said Corentin. + +“No,” she said. “I admit that my cousins, in their perfect innocence, +expected not to be excluded from the amnesty, and were on their way to +Cinq-Cygne. When I found that the Sieur Malin was plotting to injure +them, I went to warn them to return to Germany, where they will be +before the telegraph can have guarded the frontier. If I have done wrong +I shall be punished for it.” + +This answer, which Laurence had carefully considered, was so probable in +all its parts that Corentin’s convictions were shaken. In that decisive +moment, when every soul present hung suspended, as it were, on the faces +of the two adversaries, and all eyes turned from Corentin to Laurence +and from Laurence to Corentin, again the gallop of a horse, coming from +the forest, resounded on the road and from there through the gates to +the paved courtyard. Frightful anxiety was stamped on every face. + +Peyrade entered, his eyes gleaming with joy. He went hastily to Corentin +and said, loud enough for the countess to hear him: “We have caught +Michu.” + +Laurence, to whom the agony, fatigue, and tension of all her +intellectual faculties had given an unusual color, turned white and fell +back almost fainting on a chair. Madame Durieu, Mademoiselle Goujet, +and Madame d’Hauteserre sprang to help her, for she was suffocating. She +signed to cut the frogging of her habit. + +“Duped!” said Corentin to Peyrade. “I am certain now they are on their +way to Paris. Change the orders.” + +They left the room and the house, placing one gendarme on guard at the +door of the salon. The infernal cleverness of the two men had gained +a terrible advantage by taking Laurence in the trap of a not uncommon +trick. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. FOILED + +At six o’clock in the morning, as day was dawning, Corentin and Peyrade +returned. Having explored the covered way they were satisfied that +horses had passed through it to reach the forest. They were now awaiting +the report of the captain of gendarmerie sent to reconnoitre the +neighborhood. Leaving the chateau in charge of a corporal, they went +to the tavern at Cinq-Cygne to get their breakfast, giving orders that +Gothard, who never ceased to reply to all questions with a burst of +tears, should be set at liberty, also Catherine, who still continued +silent and immovable. Catherine and Gothard went to the salon to kiss +the hands of their mistress, who lay exhausted on the sofa; Durieu also +went in to tell her that Stella would recover, but needed great care. + +The mayor, uneasy and inquisitive, met Peyrade and Corentin in the +village. He declared that he could not allow such important officials to +breakfast in a miserable tavern, and he took them to his own house. The +abbey was only three quarters of a mile distant. On the way, Peyrade +remarked that the corporal of Arcis had sent no news of Michu or of +Violette. + +“We are dealing with very able people,” said Corentin; “they are +stronger than we. The priest no doubt has a finger in all this.” + +Just as the mayor’s wife was ushering her guests into a vast dining-room +(without any fire) the lieutenant of gendarmes arrived with an anxious +air. + +“We met the horse of the corporal of Arcis in the forest without his +master,” he said to Peyrade. + +“Lieutenant,” cried Corentin, “go instantly to Michu’s house and find +out what is going on there. They must have murdered the corporal.” + +This news interfered with the mayor’s breakfast. Corentin and Peyrade +swallowed their food with the rapidity of hunters halting for a meal, +and drove back to the chateau in their wicker carriage, so as to be +ready to start at the first call for any point where their presence +might be necessary. When the two men reappeared in the salon into which +they had brought such trouble, terror, grief, and anxiety, they found +Laurence, in a dressing-gown, Monsieur d’Hauteserre and his wife, the +abbe and his sister, sitting round the fire, to all appearance tranquil. + +“If they had caught Michu,” Laurence told herself, “they would have +brought him with them. I have the mortification of knowing that I was +not the mistress of myself, and that I threw some light upon the matter +for those wretches; but the harm can be undone--How long are we to be +your prisoners?” she asked sarcastically, with an easy manner. + +“How can she know anything about Michu? No one from the outside has got +near the chateau; she is laughing at us,” said the two agents to each +other by a look. + +“We shall not inconvenience you long,” replied Corentin. “In three hours +from now we shall offer our regrets for having troubled your solitude.” + +No one replied. This contemptuous silence redoubled Corentin’s inward +rage. Laurence and the abbe (the two minds of their little world) had +talked the man over and drawn their conclusions. Gothard and Catherine +had set the breakfast-table near the fire and the abbe and his sister +were sharing the meal. Neither masters nor servants paid the slightest +attention to the two spies, who walked up and down the garden, the +courtyard or the lawn, returning every now and then to the salon. + +At half-past two the lieutenant reappeared. + +“I found the corporal,” he said to Corentin, “lying in the road which +leads from the pavilion of Cinq-Cygne to the farm at Bellache. He has +no wound, only a bad contusion of the head, caused, apparently, by his +fall. He told me he had been lifted suddenly off his horse and flung +so violently to the ground that he could not discover how the thing was +done. His feet left the stirrups, which was lucky, for he might have +been killed by the horse dragging him. We put him in charge of Michu and +Violette--” + +“Michu! is Michu in his own house?” said Corentin, glancing at Laurence. + +The countess smiled ironically, like a woman obtaining her revenge. + +“He is bargaining with Violette about the sale of some land,” said the +lieutenant. “They seemed to me drunk; and it’s no wonder, for they have +been drinking all night and discussing the matter, and they haven’t come +to terms yet.” + +“Did Violette tell you so?” cried Corentin. + +“Yes,” said the lieutenant. + +“Nothing is right if we don’t attend to it ourselves!” cried Peyrade, +looking at Corentin, who doubted the lieutenant’s news as much as the +other did. + +“At what hour did you get to Michu’s house?” asked Corentin, noticing +that the countess had glanced at the clock. + +“About two,” replied the lieutenant. + +Laurence covered Monsieur and Madame d’Hauteserre and the abbe and his +sister in one comprehensive glance, which made them fancy they were +wrapped in an azure mantle; triumph sparkled in her eyes, she blushed, +and the tears welled up beneath her lids. Strong under all misfortunes, +the girl knew not how to weep except from joy. At this moment she was +all glorious, especially to the priest, who was sometimes distressed +by the virility of her character, and who now caught a glimpse of the +infinite tenderness of her woman’s nature. But such feelings lay in her +soul like a treasure hidden at a great depth beneath a block of granite. + +Just then a gendarme entered the salon to ask if he might bring in +Michu’s son, sent by his father to speak to the gentlemen from Paris. +Corentin gave an affirmative nod. Francois Michu, a sly little chip of +the old block, was in the courtyard, where Gothard, now at liberty, got +a chance to speak to him for an instant under the eyes of a gendarme. +The little fellow managed to slip something into Gothard’s hand without +being detected, and the latter glided into the salon after him till he +reached his mistress, to whom he stealthily conveyed both halves of +the wedding-ring, a sure sign, she knew, that Michu had met the four +gentlemen and put them in safety. + +“My papa wants to know what he’s to do with the corporal, who ain’t +doing well,” said Francois. + +“What’s the matter with him?” asked Peyrade. + +“It’s his head--he pitched down hard on the ground,” replied the boy. +“For a gindarme who knows how to ride it was bad luck--I suppose the +horse stumbled. He’s got a hole--my! as big as your fist--in the back of +his head. Seems as if he must have hit some big stone, poor man! He may +be a gindarme, but he suffers all the same--you’d pity him.” + +The captain of the gendarmerie now arrived and dismounted in the +courtyard. Corentin threw up the window, not to lose time. + +“What has been done?” + +“We are back like the Dutchmen! We found nothing but five dead horses, +their coats stiff with sweat, in the middle of the forest. I have kept +them to find out where they came from and who owns them. The forest is +surrounded; whoever is in it can’t get out.” + +“At what hour do you suppose those horsemen entered the forest?” + +“About half-past twelve.” + +“Don’t let a hare leave that forest without your seeing it,” whispered +Corentin. “I’ll station Peyrade at the village to help you; I am going +to see the corporal myself--Go to the mayor’s house,” he added, still +whispering, to Peyrade. “I’ll send some able man to relieve you. We +shall have to make use of the country-people; examine all faces.” He +turned towards the family and said in a threatening tone, “Au revoir!” + +No one replied, and the two agents left the room. + +“What would Fouche say if he knew we had made a domiciliary visit +without getting any results?” remarked Peyrade as he helped Corentin +into the osier vehicle. + +“It isn’t over yet,” replied the other, “those four young men are in the +forest. Look there!” and he pointed to Laurence who was watching them +from a window. “I once revenged myself on a woman who was worth a dozen +of that one and had stirred my bile a good deal less. If this girl comes +in the way of my hatchet I’ll pay her for the lash of that whip.” + +“The other was a strumpet,” said Peyrade; “this one has rank.” + +“What difference is that to me? All’s fish that swims in the sea,” + replied Corentin, signing to the gendarme who drove him to whip up. + +Ten minutes later the chateau de Cinq-Cygne was completely evacuated. + +“How did they get rid of the corporal?” said Laurence to Francois Michu, +whom she had ordered to sit down and eat some breakfast. + +“My father told me it was a matter of life and death and I mustn’t let +anybody get into our house,” replied the boy. “I knew when I heard the +horses in the forest that I’d got to do with them hounds of gindarmes, +and I meant to keep ‘em from getting in. So I took some big ropes that +were in my garret and fastened one of ‘em to a tree at the corner of +the road. Then I drew the rope high enough to hit the breast of a man +on horseback, and tied it to the tree on the opposite side of the way in +the direction where I heard the horses. That barred the road. It didn’t +miss fire, I can tell you! There was no moon, and the corporal just +pitched!--but he wasn’t killed; they’re tough, them gindarmes! I did +what I could.” + +“You have saved us!” said Laurence, kissing him as she took him to +the gate. When there, she looked about her and seeing no one she said +cautiously, “Have they provisions?” + +“I have just taken them twelve pounds of bread and four bottles of +wine,” said the boy. “They’ll be snug for a week.” + +Returning to the salon, the girl was beset with mute questions in the +eyes of all, each of whom looked at her with as much admiration as +eagerness. + +“But have you really seen them?” cried Madame d’Hauteserre. + +The countess put a finger on her lips and smiled; then she left the room +and went to bed; her triumph sure, utter weariness had overtaken her. + +The shortest road from Cinq-Cygne to Michu’s lodge was that which led +from the village past the farm at Bellache to the _rond-point_ where +the Parisian spies had first seen Michu on the preceding evening. The +gendarme who was driving Corentin took this way, which was the one the +corporal of Arcis had taken. As they drove along, the agent was on the +look-out for signs to show why the corporal had been unhorsed. He blamed +himself for having sent but one man on so important an errand, and he +drew from this mistake an axiom for the police Code, which he afterwards +applied. + +“If they have got rid of the corporal,” he said to himself, “they have +done as much by Violette. Those five horses have evidently brought +the four conspirators and Michu from the neighborhood of Paris to the +forest. Has Michu a horse?” he inquired of the gendarme who was driving +him and who belonged to the squad from Arcis. + +“Yes, and a famous little horse it is,” answered the man, “a hunter +from the stables of the ci-devant Marquis de Simeuse. There’s no better +beast, though it is nearly fifteen years old. Michu can ride him fifty +miles and he won’t turn a hair. He takes mighty good care of him and +wouldn’t sell him at any price.” + +“What does the horse look like?” + +“He’s brown, turning rather to black; white stockings above the hoofs, +thin, all nerves like an Arab.” + +“Did you ever see an Arab?” + +“In Egypt--last year. I’ve ridden the horses of the mamelukes. We have +to serve twelve years in the cavalry, and I was on the Rhine under +General Steingel, after that in Italy, and then I followed the First +Consul to Egypt. I’ll be a corporal soon.” + +“When I get to Michu’s house go to the stable; if you have served twelve +years in the cavalry you know when a horse is blown. Let me know the +condition of Michu’s beast.” + +“See! that’s where our corporal was thrown,” said the man, pointing to a +spot where the road they were following entered the _rond-point_. + +“Tell the captain to come and pick me up at Michu’s, and I’ll go with +him to Troyes.” + +So saying Corentin got down, and stood about for a few minutes examining +the ground. He looked at the two elms which faced each other,--one +against the park wall, the other on the bank of the _rond-point_; then +he saw (what no one had yet noticed) the button of a uniform lying in +the dust, and he picked it up. Entering the lodge he saw Violette and +Michu sitting at the table in the kitchen and talking eagerly. Violette +rose, bowed to Corentin, and offered him some wine. + +“Thank you, no; I came to see the corporal,” said the young man, who saw +with half a glance that Violette had been drunk all night. + +“My wife is nursing him upstairs,” said Michu. + +“Well, corporal, how are you?” said Corentin who had run up the stairs +and found the gendarme with his head bandaged, and lying on Madame +Michu’s bed; his hat, sabre, and shoulder-belt on a chair. + +Marthe, faithful in her womanly instincts, and knowing nothing of her +son’s prowess, was giving all her care to the corporal, assisted by her +mother. + +“We expect Monsieur Varlet the doctor from Arcis,” she said to Corentin; +“our servant-lad has gone to fetch him.” + +“Leave us alone for a moment,” said Corentin, a good deal surprised at +the scene, which amply proved the innocence of the two women. “Where +were you struck?” he asked the man, examining his uniform. + +“On the breast,” replied the corporal. + +“Let’s see your belt,” said Corentin. + +On the yellow band with a white edge, which a recent regulation had +made part of the equipment of the guard now called National, was a metal +plate a good deal like that of the foresters, on which the law required +the inscription of these remarkable words: “Respect to persons and +to properties.” Francois’s rope had struck the belt and defaced it. +Corentin took up the coat and found the place where the button he had +picked up upon the road belonged. + +“What time did they find you?” asked Corentin. + +“About daybreak.” + +“Did they bring you up here at once?” said Corentin, noticing that the +bed had not been slept in. + +“Yes.” + +“Who brought you up?” + +“The women and little Michu, who found me unconscious.” + +“So!” thought Corentin: “evidently they didn’t go to bed. The corporal +was not shot at, nor struck by any weapon, for an assailant must have +been at his own height to strike a blow. Something, some obstacle, was +in his way and that unhorsed him. A piece of wood? not possible! an iron +chain? that would have left marks. What did you feel?” he said aloud. + +“I was knocked over so suddenly--” + +“The skin is rubbed off under your chin,” said Corentin quickly. + +“I think,” said the corporal, “that a rope did go over my face.” + +“I have it!” cried Corentin; “somebody tied a rope from tree to tree to +bar the way.” + +“Like enough,” replied the corporal. + +Corentin went downstairs to the kitchen. + +“Come, you old rascal,” Michu was saying to Violette, “let’s make an end +of this. One hundred thousand francs for the place, and you are master +of my whole property. I shall retire on my income.” + +“I tell you, as there’s a God in heaven, I haven’t more than sixty +thousand.” + +“But don’t I offer you time to pay the rest? You’ve kept me here since +yesterday, arguing it. The land is in prime order.” + +“Yes, the soil is good,” said Violette. + +“Wife, some more wine,” cried Michu. + +“Haven’t you drunk enough?” called down Marthe’s mother. “This is the +fourteenth bottle since nine o’clock yesterday.” + +“You have been here since nine o’clock this morning, haven’t you?” said +Corentin to Violette. + +“No, beg your pardon, since last night I haven’t left the place, and +I’ve gained nothing after all; the more he makes me drink the more he +puts up the price.” + +“In all markets he who raises his elbow raises a price,” said Corentin. + +A dozen empty bottles ranged along the table proved the truth of the old +woman’s words. Just then the gendarme who had driven him made a sign to +Corentin, who went to the door to speak to him. + +“There is no horse in the stable,” said the man. + +“You sent your boy on horseback to the chateau, didn’t you?” said +Corentin, returning to the kitchen. “Will he be back soon?” + +“No, monsieur,” said Michu, “he went on foot.” + +“What have you done with your horse, then?” + +“I have lent him,” said Michu, curtly. + +“Come out here, my good fellow,” said Corentin; “I’ve a word for your +ear.” + +Corentin and Michu left the house. + +“The gun which you were loading yesterday at four o’clock you meant to +use in murdering the Councillor of State; but we can’t take you up for +that--plenty of intention, but no witnesses. You managed, I don’t know +how, to stupefy Violette, and you and your wife and that young rascal +of yours spent the night out of doors to warn Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne +and save her cousins, whom you are hiding here,--though I don’t as +yet know where. Your son or your wife threw the corporal off his horse +cleverly enough. Well, you’ve got the better of us just now; you’re a +devil of a fellow. But the end is not yet, and you won’t have the last +word. Hadn’t you better compromise? your masters would be the better for +it.” + +“Come this way, where we can talk without being overheard,” said Michu, +leading the way through the park to the pond. + +When Corentin saw the water he looked fixedly at Michu, who was no doubt +reckoning on his physical strength to fling the spy into seven feet of +mud below three feet of water. Michu replied with a look that was +not less fixed. The scene was absolutely as if a cold and flabby boa +constrictor had defied one of those tawny, fierce leopards of Brazil. + +“I am not thirsty,” said Corentin, stopping short at the edge of the +field and putting his hand into his pocket to feel for his dagger. + +“We shall never come to terms,” said Michu, coldly. + +“Mind what you’re about, my good fellow; the law has its eye upon you.” + +“If the law can’t see any clearer than you, there’s danger to every +one,” said the bailiff. + +“Do you refuse?” said Corentin, in a significant tone. + +“I’d rather have my head cut off a thousand times, if that could be +done, than come to an agreement with such a villain as you.” + +Corentin got into his vehicle hastily, after one more comprehensive look +at Michu, the lodge, and Couraut, who barked at him. He gave certain +orders in passing through Troyes, and then returned to Paris. All the +brigades of gendarmerie in the neighborhood received secret instructions +and special orders. + +During the months of December, January, and February the search was +active and incessant, even in remote villages. Spies were in all the +taverns. Corentin learned some important facts: a horse like that of +Michu had been found dead in the neighborhood of Lagny; the five horses +burned in the forest of Nodesme had been sold, for five hundred francs +each, by farmers and millers to a man who answered to the description of +Michu. When the decree against the accomplices and harborers of Georges +was put in force Corentin confined his search to the forest of Nodesme. +After Moreau, the royalists, and Pichegru were arrested no strangers +were ever seen about the place. + +Michu lost his situation at that time; the notary of Arcis brought him a +letter in which Malin, now made senator, requested Grevin to settle all +accounts with the bailiff and dismiss him. Michu asked and obtained a +formal discharge and became a free man. To the great astonishment of the +neighborhood he went to live at Cinq-Cygne, where Laurence made him +the farmer of all the reserved land about the chateau. The day of his +installation as farmer coincided with the fatal day of the death of the +Duc d’Enghien, when nearly the whole of France heard at the same time +of the arrest, trial, condemnation, and death of the prince,--terrible +reprisals, which preceded the trial of Polignac, Riviere, and Moreau. + + + + + +PART II. + +CHAPTER X. ONE AND THE SAME, YET A TWO-FOLD LOVE + +While the new farm-house was being built Michu the Judas, so-called, and +his family occupied the rooms over the stables at Cinq-Cygne on the side +of the chateau next to the famous breach. He bought two horses, one +for himself and one for Francois, and they both joined Gothard in +accompanying Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne in her many rides, which had for +their object, as may well be imagined, the feeding of the four gentlemen +and perpetual watching that they were still in safety. Francois and +Gothard, assisted by Couraut and the countess’s dogs, went in front and +beat the woods all around the hiding-place to make sure that there was +no one within sight. Laurence and Michu carried the provisions which +Marthe, her mother, and Catherine prepared, unknown to the other +servants of the household so as to restrict the secret to themselves, +for all were sure that there were spies in the village. These +expeditions were never made oftener than twice a week and on different +days and at different hours, sometimes by day, sometimes by night. + +These precautions lasted until the trial of Riviere, Polignac, and +Moreau ended. When the senatus-consultum, which called the dynasty of +Bonaparte to the throne and nominated Napoleon as Emperor of the French, +was submitted to the French people for acceptance Monsieur d’Hauteserre +signed the paper Goulard brought him. When it was made known that +the Pope would come to France to crown the Emperor, Mademoiselle de +Cinq-Cygne no longer opposed the general desire that her cousins and the +young d’Hauteserres should petition to have their names struck off +the list of _emigres_, and be themselves reinstated in their rights +as citizens. On this, old d’Hauteserre went to Paris and consulted the +ci-devant Marquis de Chargeboeuf who knew Talleyrand. That minister, +then in favor, conveyed the petition to Josephine, and Josephine gave it +to her husband, who was addressed as Emperor, Majesty, Sire, before the +result of the popular vote was known. Monsieur de Chargeboeuf, Monsieur +d’Hauteserre, and the Abbe Goujet, who also went to Paris, obtained an +interview with Talleyrand, who promised them his support. Napoleon had +already pardoned several of the principal actors in the great royalist +conspiracy; and yet, though the four gentlemen were merely suspected of +complicity, the Emperor, after a meeting of the Council of State, called +the senator Malin, Fouche, Talleyrand, Cambaceres, Lebrun, and Dubois, +prefect of police, into his cabinet. + +“Gentlemen,” said the future Emperor, who still wore the dress of +the First Consul, “we have received from the Sieurs de Simeuse and +d’Hauteserre, officers in the army of the Prince de Conde, a request to +be allowed to re-enter France.” + +“They are here now,” said Fouche. + +“Like many others whom I meet in Paris,” remarked Talleyrand. + +“I think you have not met these gentlemen,” said Malin, “for they are +hidden in the forest of Nodesme, where they consider themselves at +home.” + +He was careful not to tell the First Consul and Fouche how he himself +had given them warning, by talking with Grevin within hearing of Michu, +but he made the most of Corentin’s reports and convinced Napoleon that +the four gentlemen were sharers in the plot of Riviere and Polignac, +with Michu for an accomplice. The prefect of police confirmed these +assertions. + +“But how could that bailiff know that the conspiracy was discovered?” + said the prefect, “for the Emperor and the council and I were the only +persons in the secret.” + +No one paid attention to this remark. + +“If they have been hidden in that forest for the last seven months and +you have not been able to find them,” said the Emperor to Fouche, “they +have expiated their misdeeds.” + +“Since they are my enemies as well,” said Malin, frightened by the +Emperor’s clear-sightedness, “I desire to follow the magnanimous example +of your Majesty; I therefore make myself their advocate and ask that +their names be stricken from the list of _emigres_.” + +“They will be less dangerous to you here than if they are exiled; for +they will now have to swear allegiance to the Empire and the laws,” said +Fouche, looking at Malin fixedly. + +“In what way are they dangerous to the senator?” asked Napoleon. + +Talleyrand spoke to the Emperor for some minutes in a low voice. The +reinstatement of the Messieurs de Simeuse and d’Hauteserre appeared to +be granted. + +“Sire,” said Fouche, “rely upon it, you will hear of those men again.” + +Talleyrand, who had been urged by the Duc de Grandlieu, gave the Emperor +pledges in the name of the young men on their honor as gentlemen (a term +which had great fascination for Napoleon), to abstain from all attacks +upon his Majesty and to submit themselves to his government in good +faith. + +“Messieurs d’Hauteserre and de Simeuse are not willing to bear arms +against France, now that events have taken their present course,” he +said, aloud; “they have little sympathy, it is true, with the Imperial +government, but they are just the men that your Majesty ought to +conciliate. They will be satisfied to live on French soil and obey the +laws.” + +Then he laid before the Emperor a letter he had received from the +brothers in which these sentiments were expressed. + +“Anything so frank is likely to be sincere,” said the Emperor, returning +the letter and looking at Lebrun and Cambaceres. “Have you any further +suggestions?” he asked of Fouche. + +“In your Majesty’s interests,” replied the future minister of police, “I +ask to be allowed to inform these gentlemen of their reinstatement--when +it is _really granted_,” he added, in a louder tone. + +“Very well,” said Napoleon, noticing an anxious look on Fouche’s face. + +The matter did not seem positively decided when the Council rose; but it +had the effect of putting into Napoleon’s mind a vague distrust of the +four young men. Monsieur d’Hauteserre, believing that all was gained, +wrote a letter announcing the good news. The family at Cinq-Cygne were +therefore not surprised when, a few days later, Goulard came to inform +the countess and Madame d’Hauteserre that they were to send the four +gentlemen to Troyes, where the prefect would show them the decree +reinstating them in their rights and administer to them the oath of +allegiance to the Empire and the laws. Laurence replied that she would +send the notification to her cousins and the Messieurs d’Hauteserre. + +“Then they are not here?” said Goulard. + +Madame d’Hauteserre looked anxiously after Laurence, who left the room +to consult Michu. Michu saw no reason why the young men should not be +released at once from their hiding-place. Laurence, Michu, his son, and +Gothard therefore started as soon as possible for the forest, taking +an extra horse, for the countess resolved to accompany her cousins to +Troyes and return with them. The whole household, made aware of the +good news, gathered on the lawn to witness the departure of the happy +cavalcade. The four young men issued from their long confinement, +mounted their horses, and took the road to Troyes, accompanied by +Mademoiselle Cinq-Cygne. Michu, with the help of his son and Gothard, +closed the entrance to the cellar, and started to return home on foot. +On the way he recollected that he had left the forks and spoons and a +silver cup, which the young men had been using, in the cave, and he +went back for them alone. When he reached the edge of the pond he +heard voices, and went straight to the entrance of the cave through the +brushwood. + +“Have you come for your silver?” said Peyrade, showing his big red nose +through the branches. + +Without knowing why, for at any rate his young masters were safe, Michu +felt a sharp agony in all his joints, so keen was the sense of vague, +indefinable coming evil which took possession of him; but he went +forward at once, and found Corentin on the stairs with a taper in his +hand. + +“We are not very harsh,” he said to Michu; “we might have seized +your ci-devants any day for the last week; but we knew they were +reinstated--You’re a tough fellow to deal with, and you gave us too +much trouble not to make us anxious to satisfy our curiosity about this +hiding-place of yours.” + +“I’d give something,” cried Michu, “to know how and by whom we have been +sold.” + +“If that puzzles you, old fellow,” said Peyrade, laughing, “look at your +horses’ shoes, and you’ll see that you betrayed yourselves.” + +“Well, there need be no rancor!” said Corentin, whistling for the +captain of gendarmerie and their horses. + +“So that rascally Parisian blacksmith who shoed the horses in the +English fashion and left Cinq-Cygne only the other day was their spy!” + thought Michu. “They must have followed our tracks when the ground was +damp. Well, we’re quits now!” + +Michu consoled himself by thinking that the discovery was of no +consequence, as the young men were now safe, Frenchmen once more, and at +liberty. Yet his first presentiment was a true one. The police, like the +Jesuits, have the one virtue of never abandoning their friends or their +enemies. + +Old d’Hauteserre returned from Paris and was more than surprised not to +be the first to bring the news. Durieu prepared a succulent dinner, +the servants donned their best clothes, and the household impatiently +awaited the exiles, who arrived about four o’clock, happy,--and yet +humiliated, for they found they were to be under police surveillance for +two years, obliged to present themselves at the prefecture every month +and ordered to remain in the commune of Cinq-Cygne during the said two +years. “I’ll send you the papers for signature,” the prefect said to +them. “Then, in the course of a few months, you can ask to be relieved +of these conditions, which are imposed on all of Pichegru’s accomplices. +I will back your request.” + +These restrictions, fairly deserved, rather dispirited the young men, +but Laurence laughed at them. + +“The Emperor of the French,” she said, “was badly brought up; he has not +yet acquired the habit of bestowing favors graciously.” + +The party found all the inhabitants of the chateau at the gates, and a +goodly proportion of the people of the village waiting on the road to +see the young men, whose adventures had made them famous throughout the +department. Madame d’Hauteserre held her sons to her breast for a long +time, her face covered with tears; she was unable to speak and remained +silent, though happy, through a part of the evening. No sooner had the +Simeuse twins dismounted than a cry of surprise arose on all sides, +caused by their amazing resemblance,--the same look, the same voice, +the same actions. They both had the same movement in rising from their +saddles, in throwing their leg over the crupper of their horses when +dismounting, in flinging the reins upon the animal’s neck. Their dress, +precisely the same, contributed to this likeness. They wore boots _a la_ +Suwaroff, made to fit the instep, tight trousers of white leather, green +hunting-jackets with metal buttons, black cravats, and buckskin gloves. +The two young men, just thirty-one years of age, were--to use a term in +vogue in those days--charming cavaliers, of medium height but well set +up, brilliant eyes with long lashes, floating in liquid like those of +children, black hair, noble brows, and olive skin. Their speech, gentle +as that of a woman, fell graciously from their fresh red lips; their +manners, more elegant and polished than those of the provincial +gentlemen, showed that knowledge of men and things had given them that +supplementary education which makes its possessor a man of the world. + +Not lacking money, thanks to Michu, during their emigration, they had +been able to travel and be received at foreign courts. Old d’Hauteserre +and the abbe thought them rather haughty; but in their present position +this may have been the sign of nobility of character. They possessed all +the eminent little marks of a careful education, to which they added a +wonderful dexterity in bodily exercises. Their only dissimilarity was +in the region of ideas. The youngest charmed others by his gaiety, the +eldest by his melancholy; but the contrast, which was purely spiritual, +was not at first observable. + +“Ah, wife,” whispered Michu in Marthe’s ear, “how could one help +devoting one’s self to those young fellows?” + +Marthe, who admired them as a wife and mother, nodded her head prettily +and pressed her husband’s hand. The servants were allowed to kiss their +new masters. + +During their seven months’ seclusion in the forest (which the young +men had brought upon themselves) they had several times committed the +imprudence of taking walks about their hiding-place, carefully guarded +by Michu, his son, and Gothard. During these walks, taken usually on +starlit nights, Laurence, reuniting the thread of their past and present +lives, felt the utter impossibility of choosing between the brothers. A +pure and equal love for each divided her heart. She fancied indeed +that she had two hearts. On their side, the brothers dared not speak to +themselves of their impending rivalry. Perhaps all three were trusting +to time and accident. The condition of her mind on this subject acted +no doubt upon Laurence as they entered the house, for she hesitated a +moment, and then took an arm of each as she entered the salon followed +by Monsieur and Madame d’Hauteserre, who were occupied with their sons. +Just then a cheer burst from the servants, “Long live the Cinq-Cygne +and the Simeuse families!” Laurence turned round, still between the +brothers, and made a charming gesture of acknowledgement. + +When these nine persons came to actually observe each other,--for in +all meetings, even in the bosom of families, there comes a moment when +friends observe those from whom they have been long parted,--the first +glance which Adrien d’Hauteserre cast upon Laurence seemed to his +mother and to the abbe to betray love. Adrien, the youngest of the +d’Hauteserres, had a sweet and tender soul; his heart had remained +adolescent in spite of the catastrophes which had nerved the man. Like +many young heroes, kept virgin in spirit by perpetual peril, he was +daunted by the timidities of youth. In this he was very different +from his brother, a man of rough manners, a great hunter, an intrepid +soldier, full of resolution, but coarse in fibre and without activity +of mind or delicacy in matters of the heart. One was all soul, the other +all action; and yet they both possessed in the same degree that sense of +honor which is the vital essence of a gentleman. Dark, short, slim +and wiry, Adrien d’Hauteserre gave an impression of strength; whereas +Robert, who was tall, pale and fair, seemed weakly. Adrien, nervous in +temperament, was stronger in soul; while his brother though +lymphatic, was fonder of bodily exercise. Families often present these +singularities of contrast, the causes of which it might be interesting +to examine; but they are mentioned here merely to explain how it was +that Adrien was not likely to find a rival in his brother. Robert’s +affection for Laurence was that of a relation, the respect of a +noble for a girl of his own caste. In matters of sentiment the elder +d’Hauteserre belonged to the class of men who consider woman as +an appendage to man, limiting her sphere to the physical duties of +maternity; demanding perfection in that respect, but regarding her +mentally as of no account. To such men the admittance of woman as an +actual sharer in society, in the body politic, in the family, meant the +subversion of the social system. In these days we are so far removed +from this theory of primitive people that almost all women, even those +who do not desire the fatal emancipation offered by the new sects, will +be shocked in merely hearing of it; but it must be owned that Robert +d’Hauteserre had the misfortune to think in that way. Robert was a man +of the middle-ages, Adrien a man of to-day. These differences instead of +hindering their affection had drawn its bonds the closer. On the first +evening after the return of the young men these shades of character +were caught and understood by the abbe, Mademoiselle Goujet, and Madame +d’Hauteserre, who, while playing their boston, were secretly foreseeing +the difficulties of the future. + +At twenty-three years of age, having passed through the many reflections +of a long solitude and the anguish of a defeated enterprise, Laurence +had become a woman, and felt within her an absorbing desire for +affection. She now put forth all her graces of her mind and was +charming; she revealed the hidden beauties of her tender heart with the +simple candor of a child. For the last thirteen years she had been a +woman only through suffering; she longed to obtain amends for it, and +she showed herself as loving and winning as she had been, up to this +time, strong and great. + +The four elders, who were the last to leave the salon that night, +admitted to each other that they felt uneasy at the new position of this +charming girl. What power might not passion have on a young woman of +her character and with her nobility of soul? The twin brothers loved her +with one and the same love and a blind devotion; which of the two would +Laurence choose? To choose one was to kill the other. Countess in her +own right, she could bring her husband a title and certain prerogatives, +together with a long lineage. Perhaps in thinking of these advantages +the elder of the twins, the Marquis de Simeuse, would sacrifice himself +to give Laurence to his brother, who, according to the old laws, was +poor and without a title. But would the younger brother deprive the +elder of the happiness of having Laurence for a wife? At a distance, +this strife of love and generosity might do no harm,--in fact, so long +as the brothers were facing danger the chances of war might end +the difficulty; but what would be the result of this reunion? When +Marie-Paul and Paul-Marie reached the age when passions rise to their +greatest height could they share, as now, the looks and words and +attentions of their cousin? must there not inevitably arise a jealousy +between them the consequences of which might be horrible? What would +then become of the unity of those beautiful lives, one in heart though +twain in body? To these questionings, passed from one to another as they +finished their game, Madame d’Hauteserre replied that in her opinion +Laurence would not marry either of her cousins. The poor lady had +experienced that evening one of those inexplicable presentiments which +are secrets between the mother’s heart and God. + +Laurence, in her inward consciousness, was not less alarmed at finding +herself tete-a-tete with her cousins. To the active drama of conspiracy, +to the dangers which the brothers had incurred, to the pain and +penalties of their exile, was now succeeding another sort of drama, of +which she had never thought. This noble girl could not resort to the +violent means of refusing to marry either of the twins; and she was too +honest a woman to marry one and keep an irresistible passion for the +other in her heart. To remain unmarried, to weary her cousins’ love by +no decision, and then to take the one who was faithful to her in spite +of her caprices, was a solution of the difficulty not so much sought +for by her as vaguely admitted. As she fell asleep that night she told +herself the wisest course to follow was to let things take their chance. +Chance is, in love, the providence of women. + +The next morning Michu went to Paris, whence he returned a few days +later with four fine horses for his new masters. In six weeks’ time the +hunting would begin, and the young countess sagely reflected that +the violent excitements of that exercise would be a help against the +tete-a-tetes of the chateau. At first, however, an unexpected result +surprised the spectators of these strange loves and roused their +admiration. Without any premeditated agreement the brothers rivalled +each other in attentions to Laurence, with a sense of pleasure in so +doing which appeared to suffice them. The relation between themselves +and Laurence was just as fraternal as that between themselves. What +could be more natural? After so long an absence they felt the necessity +of studying her, of knowing her well and letting her know them, leaving +to her the right of choice. They were sustained in this first trial by +the mutual affection which made their double life one and the same life. + +Love, like their own mother, was unable to distinguish between the +brothers. Laurence was obliged (in order to know them apart and make no +mistakes) to give them different cravats--to the elder a white one, to +the younger black. Without this perfect resemblance, this identity of +life, which misled all about them, such a situation would be justly +thought impossible. It can, indeed, be explained only by the fact +itself, which is one of those which men do not believe in unless they +see them; and then the mind is more bewildered by having to explain them +than by the actual sight which caused belief. If Laurence spoke, her +voice echoed in two hearts equally faithful and loving with one tone. +Did she give utterance to an intelligent, or witty, or noble thought, +her glance encountered the delight expressed in two glances which +followed her every movement, interpreted her slightest wish, and +beamed upon her ever with a new expression, gaiety in the one, tender +melancholy in the other. In any matter that concerned their mistress +the brothers showed an admirable quick-wittedness of heart coupled with +instant action which (to use the abbe’s own expression) approached the +sublime. Often, if something had to be fetched, if it was a question of +some little attention which men delight to pay to a beloved woman, the +elder would leave that pleasure to the younger with a look at Laurence +that was proud and tender. The younger, on the other hand, put all his +own pride into paying such debts. This rivalry of noble natures in a +feeling which leads men often to the jealous ferocity of the beasts +amazed the old people who were watching it, and bewildered their ideas. + +Such little details often drew tears to the eyes of the countess. +A single sensation, which is perhaps all-powerful in some rare +organizations, will give an idea of Laurence’s emotions; it may be +perceived by recalling the perfect unison of two fine voices (like those +of Malibran and Sontag) in some harmonious _duo_, or the blending of +two instruments touched by the hand of genius, their melodious tones +entering the soul like the passionate sighing of one heart. Sometimes, +seeing the Marquis de Simeuse buried in an arm-chair and glancing from +time to time with deepest melancholy at his brother and Laurence who +were talking and laughing, the abbe believed him capable of making the +great sacrifice; presently, however, the priest would see in the young +man’s eyes the flash of an unconquerable passion. Whenever either of the +brothers found himself alone with Laurence he might reasonably suppose +himself the one preferred. + +“I fancy then that there is but one of them,” explained the countess to +the abbe when he questioned her. That answer showed the priest her total +want of coquetry. Laurence did not conceive that she was loved by two +men. + +“But, my dear child,” said Madame d’Hauteserre one evening (her own son +silently dying of love for Laurence), “you must choose!” + +“Oh, let us be happy,” she replied; “God will save us from ourselves.” + +Adrien d’Hauteserre buried within his breast the jealousy that was +consuming him; he kept the secret of his torture, aware of how little +he could hope. He tried to be content with the happiness of seeing the +charming woman who during the few months this struggle lasted shone in +all her brilliancy. In one sense Laurence had become coquettish, taking +that dainty care of her person which women who are loved delight in. +She followed the fashions, and went more than once to Paris to deck her +beauty with _chiffons_ or some choice novelty. Desirous of giving her +cousins a sense of home and its every enjoyment, from which they had so +long been severed, she made her chateau, in spite of the remonstrances +of her late guardian, the most completely comfortable house in +Champagne. + +Robert d’Hauteserre saw nothing of this hidden drama; he never noticed +his brother’s love for Laurence. As to the girl herself, he liked to +tease her about her coquetry,--for he confounded that odious defect +with the natural desire to please; he was always mistaken in matters +of feeling, taste, and the higher ethics. So, whenever this man of +the middle-ages appeared on the scene, Laurence immediately made him, +unknown to himself, the clown of the play; she amused her cousins by +arguing with Robert, and leading him, step by step, into some bog of +ignorance and stupidity. She excelled in such clever mischief, which, +to be really successful, must leave the victim content with himself. +And yet, though his nature was a coarse one, Robert never, during those +delightful months (the only happy period in the lives of the three +young people) said one virile word which might have brought matters to +a crisis between Laurence and her cousins. He was struck with the +sincerity of the brothers; he saw how the one could be glad at the +happiness of the other and yet suffer anguish in the depths of his +heart, and he did perceive how a woman might shrink from showing +tenderness to one which would grieve the other. This perception on +Robert’s part was a just one; it explains a situation which, in times +of faith, when the sovereign pontiff had power to intervene and cut +the Gordian knot of such phenomena (allied to the deepest and most +impenetrable mysteries), would have found its solution. The Revolution +had deepened the Catholic faith in these young hearts, and religion now +rendered this crisis in their lives the more severe, because nobility of +character is ever heightened by the grandeur of circumstances. A sense +of this truth kept Monsieur and Madame d’Hauteserre and the abbe from +the slightest fear of any unworthy result on the part of the brothers or +of Laurence. + +This private drama, secretly developing within the limits of the family +life where each member watched it silently, ran its course so rapidly +and withal so slowly, it carried with it so many unhoped-for pleasures, +trifling jars, frustrated fancies, hopes reversed, anxious waitings, +delayed explanations and mute avowals that the dwellers at Cinq-Cygne +paid no attention to the public drama of the Emperor’s coronation. At +times these passions made a truce and sought distraction in the violent +enjoyment of hunting, when weariness of body took from the soul all +occasions to wander in the dangerous meadows of reverie. Neither +Laurence nor her cousins had a thought now for public affairs; each day +brought its palpitating and absorbing interests for their hearts. + +“Really,” said Mademoiselle Goujet one evening, “I don’t know which of +all the lovers loves the most.” + +Adrien, who happened to be alone in the salon with the four +card-players, raised his eyes and turned pale. For the last few days +his only hold on life had been the pleasure of seeing Laurence and of +listening to her. + +“I think,” said the abbe, “that the countess, being a woman, loves with +the greater abandonment to love.” + +Laurence, the twins, and Robert entered the room soon after. The +newspapers had just arrived. England, seeing the failure of all +conspiracies attempted within the borders of France, was now arming +all Europe against their common enemy. The disaster at Trafalgar +had overthrown one of the most amazing plans which human genius ever +conceived; by which, if it had succeeded, the Emperor would have paid +the nation for his election by the ruin of the British power. The camp +at Boulogne had just been raised. Napoleon, whose solders were, as +always, inferior in numbers to the enemy, was about to carry the war +into parts of Europe where he had not before waged it. The whole world +was breathless, awaiting the results of the campaign. + +“He’ll surely be defeated this time,” said Robert, laying down the +paper. + +“The armies of Austria and of Russia are before him,” said Marie-Paul. + +“He has never fought in Germany,” added Paul-Marie. + +“Of whom are you speaking?” asked Laurence. + +“The Emperor,” answered the three gentlemen. + +The jealous girl threw a disdainful look at her twin lovers, which +humiliated them while it rejoiced the heart of Adrien, who made a +gesture of admiration and gave her one proud look, which said plainly +that _he_ thought only of her,--of Laurence. + +“I told you,” said the abbe in a low voice, “that love would some day +cause her to forget her animosity.” + +It was the first, last, and only reproach the brothers ever received +from her; but certainly at that moment their love, which could still be +distracted by national events, was inferior to that of Laurence, which, +absorbed her mind so completely that she only knew of the amazing +triumph at Austerlitz by overhearing a discussion between Monsieur +d’Hauteserre and his sons. + +Faithful to his ideas of submission, the old man wished both Robert and +Adrien to re-enter the French army and apply for service; they could, +he thought, be reinstated in their rank and soon find an opening +to military honors. But royalist opinions were now all-powerful at +Cinq-Cygne. The four young men and Laurence laughed at their prudent +elder, who seemed to foresee a coming evil. Possibly, prudence is less +virtue than the exercise of some instinct, or _sense_ of the mind (if it +is allowable to couple those two words). A day will come, no doubt, when +physiologists and philosophers will both admit that the senses are, in +some way, the sheath or vehicle of a keen and penetrative active power +which issues from the mind. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. WISE COUNSEL + +After peace was concluded between France and Austria, towards the end +of the month of February, 1806, a relative, whose influence had been +employed for the reinstatement of the Simeuse brothers, and who was +destined later to give them signal proofs of family attachment, the +ci-devant Marquis de Chargeboeuf, whose estates extended from the +department of the Seine-et-Marne to that of the Aube, arrived one +morning at Cinq-Cygne in a species of caleche which was then named in +derision a _berlingot_. When this shabby carriage was driven past the +windows the inhabitants of the chateau, who were at breakfast, were +convulsed with laughter; but when the bald head of the old man was +seen issuing from behind the leather curtain of the vehicle Monsieur +d’Hauteserre told his name, and all present rose instantly to receive +and do honor to the head of the house of Chargeboeuf. + +“We have done wrong to let him come to us,” said the Marquis de Simeuse +to his brother and the d’Hauteserres; “we ought to have gone to him and +made our acknowledgements.” + +A servant, dressed as a peasant, who drove the horses from a seat on a +level with the body of the carriage, slipped his cartman’s whip into a +coarse leather socket, and got down from the box to assist the marquis +from the carriage; but Adrien and the younger de Simeuse prevented him, +unbuttoned the leather apron, and helped the old man out in spite of his +protestations. This gentleman of the old school chose to consider his +yellow _berlingot_ with its leather curtains a most convenient and +excellent equipage. The servant, assisted by Gothard, unharnessed the +stout horses with shining flanks, accustomed no doubt to do as much duty +at the plough as in a carriage. + +“In spite of this cold weather! Why, you are a knight of the olden +time,” said Laurence, to her visitor, taking his arm and leading him +into the salon. + +“What has he come for?” thought old d’Hauteserre. + +Monsieur de Chargeboeuf, a handsome old gentleman of sixty-six, +in light-colored breeches, his small weak legs encased in colored +stockings, wore powder, pigeon-wings and a queue. His green cloth +hunting-coat with gold buttons was braided and frogged with gold. His +white waistcoat glittered with gold embroidery. This apparel, still in +vogue among old people, became his face, which was not unlike that of +Frederick the Great. He never put on his three-cornered hat lest he +should destroy the effect of the half-moon traced upon his cranium by +a layer of powder. His right hand, resting on a hooked cane, held both +cane and hat in a manner worthy of Louis XIV. The fine old gentleman +took off his wadded silk pelisse and seated himself in an armchair, +holding the three-cornered hat and the cane between his knees in an +attitude the secret of which has never been grasped by any but the roues +of Louis XV.’s court, an attitude which left the hands free to play with +a snuff-box, always a precious trinket. Accordingly the marquis drew +from the pocket of his waistcoat, which was closed by a flap embroidered +in gold arabesques, a sumptuous snuff-box. While fingering his own +pinch and offering the box around him with another charming gesture +accompanied with kindly smiles, he noticed the pleasure which his visit +gave. He seemed then to comprehend why these young _emigres_ had been +remiss in their duty towards him, and to be saying to himself, “When we +are making love we can’t make visits.” + +“You will stay with us some days?” said Laurence. + +“Impossible,” he replied. “If we were not so separated by events (for as +to distance, you go farther than that which lies between us) you would +know, my dear child, that I have daughters, daughters-in-law, and +grand-children. All these dear creatures would be very uneasy if I did +not return to them to-night, and I have forty-five miles to go.” + +“Your horses are in good condition,” said the Marquis de Simeuse. + +“Oh! I am just from Troyes, where I had business yesterday.” + +After the customary polite inquiries for the Marquise de Chargeboeuf and +other matters really uninteresting but about which politeness assumes +that we are keenly interested, it dawned on Monsieur d’Hauteserre +that the old gentleman had come to warn his young relatives against +imprudence. He remarked that times were changed and no one could tell +what the Emperor might now become. + +“Oh!” said Laurence, “he’ll make himself God.” + +The Marquis spoke of the wisdom of concession. When he stated, with more +emphasis and authority than he put into his other remarks, the necessity +of submission, Monsieur d’Hauteserre looked at his sons with an almost +supplicating air. + +“Would you serve that man?” asked the Marquis de Simeuse. + +“Yes, I would, if the interests of my family required it,” replied +Monsieur de Chargeboeuf. + +Gradually the old man made them aware, though vaguely, of some +threatened danger. When Laurence begged him to explain the nature of +it, he advised the four young men to refrain from hunting and to keep +themselves as much in retirement as possible. + +“You treat the domain of Gondreville as if it were your own,” he said to +the Messieurs de Simeuse, “and you are keeping alive a deadly hatred. I +see, by the surprise upon your faces, that you are quite unaware of +the ill-will against you at Troyes, where your late brave conduct is +remembered. They tell of how you foiled the police of the Empire; some +praise you for it, but others regard you as enemies of the Emperor; +partisans declare that Napoleon’s clemency is inexplicable. That, +however, is nothing. The real danger lies here; you foiled men who +thought themselves cleverer than you; and low-bred men never forgive. +Sooner or later justice, which in your department emanates from your +enemy, Senator Malin (who has his henchmen everywhere, even in the +ministerial offices),--_his_ justice will rejoice to see you involved in +some annoying scrape. A peasant, for instance, will quarrel with you +for riding over his field; your guns are in your hands, you are +hot-tempered, and something happens. In your position it is absolutely +essential that you should not put yourselves in the wrong. I do +not speak to you thus without good reason. The police keep this +arrondissement under strict surveillance; they have an agent in that +little hole of Arcis expressly to protect the Imperial senator Malin +against your attacks. He is afraid of you, and says so openly.” + +“It is a calumny!” cried the younger Simeuse. + +“A calumny,--I am sure of it myself, but will the public believe it? +Michu certainly did aim at the senator, who does not forget the danger +he was in; and since your return the countess has taken Michu into her +service. To many persons, in fact to the majority, Malin will seem to +be in the right. You do not understand how delicate the position of an +_emigre_ is towards those who are now in possession of his property. The +prefect, a very intelligent man, dropped a word to me yesterday about +you which has made me uneasy. In short, I sincerely wish you would not +remain here.” + +This speech was received in dumb amazement. Marie-Paul rang the bell. + +“Gothard,” he said, to the little page, “send Michu here.” + +“Michu, my friend,” said the Marquis de Simeuse when the man appeared, +“is it true that you intended to kill Malin?” + +“Yes, Monsieur le marquis; and when he comes here again I shall lie in +wait for him.” + +“Do you know that we are suspected of instigating it, and that our +cousin, by taking you as her farmer is supposed to be furthering your +scheme?” + +“Good God!” cried Michu, “am I accursed? Shall I never be able to rid +you of that villain?” + +“No, my man, no!” said Paul-Marie. “But we will always take care of you, +though you will have to leave our service and the country too. Sell your +property here; we will send you to Trieste to a friend of ours who has +immense business connections, and he’ll employ you until things are +better in this country for all of us.” + +Tears came into Michu’s eyes; he stood rooted to the floor. + +“Were there any witnesses when you aimed at Malin?” asked the Marquis de +Chargeboeuf. + +“Grevin the notary was talking with him, and that prevented my killing +him--very fortunately, as Madame la Comtesse knows,” said Michu, looking +at his mistress. + +“Grevin is not the only one who knows it?” said Monsieur de Chargeboeuf, +who seemed annoyed at what was said, though none but the family were +present. + +“That police spy who came here to trap my masters, he knew it too,” said +Michu. + +Monsieur de Chargeboeuf rose as if to look at the gardens, and said, +“You have made the most of Cinq-Cygne.” Then he left the house, followed +by the two brothers and Laurence, who now saw the meaning of his visit. + +“You are frank and generous, but most imprudent,” said the old man. “It +was natural enough that I should warn you of a rumor which was certain +to be a slander; but what have you done now? you have let such weak +persons as Monsieur and Madame d’Hauteserre and their sons see that +there was truth in it. Oh, young men! young men! You ought to keep Michu +here and go away yourselves. But if you persist in remaining, at least +write a letter to the senator and tell him that having heard the rumors +about Michu you have dismissed him from your employ.” + +“We!” exclaimed the brothers; “what, write to Malin,--to the murderer of +our father and our mother, to the insolent plunderer of our property!” + +“All true; but he is one of the chief personages at the Imperial court, +and the king of your department.” + +“He, who voted for the death of Louis XVI. in case the army of Conde +entered France!” cried Laurence. + +“He, who probably advised the murder of the Duc d’Enghien!” exclaimed +Paul-Marie. + +“Well, well, if you want to recapitulate his titles of nobility,” cried +Monsieur de Chargeboeuf, “say he who pulled Robespierre by the skirts +of his coat to make him fall when he saw that his enemies were stronger +than he; he who would have shot Bonaparte if the 18th Brumaire had +missed fire; he who manoeuvres now to bring back the Bourbons if +Napoleon totters; he whom the strong will ever find on their side to +handle either sword or pistol and put an end to an adversary whom they +fear! But--all that is only reason the more for what I urge upon you.” + +“We have fallen very low,” said Laurence. + +“Children,” said the old marquis, taking them by the hand and going to +the lawn, then covered by a slight fall of snow; “you will be angry at +the prudent advice of an old man, but I am bound to give it, and here +it is: If I were you I would employ as go-between some trustworthy old +fellow--like myself, for instance; I would commission him to ask Malin +for a million of francs for the title-deeds of Gondreville; he would +gladly consent if the matter were kept secret. You will then have +capital in hand, an income of a hundred thousand francs, and you can +buy a fine estate in another part of France. As for Cinq-Cygne, it can +safely be left to the management of Monsieur d’Hauteserre, and you +can draw lots as to which of you shall win the hand of this dear +heiress--But ah! I know the words of an old man in the ears of the young +are like the words of the young in the ears of the old, a sound without +meaning.” + +The old marquis signed to his three relatives that he wished no answer, +and returned to the salon, where, during their absence, the abbe and his +sister had arrived. + +The proposal to draw lots for their cousin’s hand had offended the +brothers, while Laurence revolted in her soul at the bitterness of the +remedy the old marquis counselled. All three were now less gracious to +him, though they did not cease to be polite. The warmth of their feeling +was chilled. Monsieur de Chargeboeuf, who felt the change, cast +frequent looks of kindly compassion on these charming young people. +The conversation became general, but the old marquis still dwelt on +the necessity of submitting to events, and he applauded Monsieur +d’Hauteserre for his persistence in urging his sons to take service +under the Empire. + +“Bonaparte,” he said, “makes dukes. He has created Imperial fiefs, +he will therefore make counts. Malin is determined to be Comte de +Gondreville. That is a fancy,” he added, looking at the Simeuse +brothers, “which might be profitable to you--” + +“Or fatal,” said Laurence. + +As soon as the horses were put-to the marquis took leave, accompanied to +the door by the whole party. When fairly in the carriage he made a sign +to Laurence to come and speak to him, and she sprang upon the foot-board +with the lightness of a swallow. + +“You are not an ordinary woman, and you ought to understand me,” he said +in her ear. “Malin’s conscience will never allow him to leave you in +peace; he will set some trap to injure you. I implore you to be careful +of all your actions, even the most unimportant. Compromise, negotiate; +those are my last words.” + +The brothers stood motionless behind their cousin and watched the +_berlingot_ as it turned through the iron gates and took the road to +Troyes. Laurence repeated the old man’s last words. But sage experience +should not present itself to the eyes of youth in a _berlingot_, colored +stockings, and a queue. These ardent young hearts had no conception +of the change that had passed over France; indignation crisped their +nerves, honor boiled with their noble blood through every vein. + +“He, the head of the house of Chargeboeuf!” said the Marquis de Simeuse. +“A man who bears the motto _Adsit fortior_, the noblest of warcries!” + +“We are no longer in the days of Saint-Louis,” said the younger Simeuse. + +“But ‘We die singing,’” said the countess. “The cry of the five young +girls of my house is mine!” + +“And ours, ‘Cy meurs,’” said the elder Simeuse. “Therefore, no quarter, +I say; for, on reflection, we shall find that our relative had pondered +well what he told us--Gondreville to be the title of a Malin!” + +“And his seat!” said the younger. + +“Mansart designed it for noble stock, and the populace will get their +children in it!” exclaimed the elder. + +“If that were to come to pass, I’d rather see Gondreville in ashes!” + cried Mademoiselle Cinq-Cygne. + +One of the villagers, who had entered the grounds to examine a calf +Monsieur d’Hauteserre was trying to sell him, overheard these words as +he came from the cow-sheds. + +“Let us go in,” said Laurence, laughing; “this is very imprudent; we are +giving the old marquis a right to blame us. My poor Michu,” she added, +as she entered the salon, “I had forgotten your adventure; as we are +not in the odor of sanctity in these parts you must be careful not +to compromise us in future. Have you any other peccadilloes on your +conscience?” + +“I blame myself for not having killed the murderer of my old masters +before I came to the rescue of my present ones--” + +“Michu!” said the abbe in a warning tone. + +“But I’ll not leave the country,” Michu continued, paying no heed to +the abbe’s exclamation, “till I am certain you are safe. I see fellows +roaming about here whom I distrust. The last time we hunted in the +forest, that keeper who took my place at Gondreville came to me and +asked if we supposed we were on our own property. ‘Ho! my lad,’ I said, +‘we can’t get rid in two weeks of ideas we’ve had for centuries.’” + +“You did wrong, Michu,” said the Marquis de Simeuse, smiling with +satisfaction. + +“What answer did he make?” asked Monsieur d’Hauteserre. + +“He said he would inform the senator of our claims,” replied Michu. + +“Comte de Gondreville!” repeated the elder Simeuse; “what a masquerade! +But after all, they say ‘your Majesty’ to Bonaparte!” + +“And to the Grand Duc de Berg, ‘your Highness!’” said the abbe. + +“Who is he?” asked the Marquis de Simeuse. + +“Murat, Napoleon’s brother-in-law,” replied old d’Hauteserre. + +“Delightful!” remarked Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne. “Do they also say +‘your Majesty’ to the widow of Beauharnais?” + +“Yes, mademoiselle,” said the abbe. + +“We ought to go to Paris and see it all,” cried Laurence. + +“Alas, mademoiselle,” said Michu, “I was there to put Francois at +school, and I swear to you there’s no joking with what they call the +Imperial Guard. If the rest of the army are like them, the thing may +last longer than we.” + +“They say many of the noble families are taking service,” said Monsieur +d’Hauteserre. + +“According to the present law,” added the abbe, “you will be compelled +to serve. The conscription makes no distinction of ranks or names.” + +“That man is doing us more harm with his court than the Revolution did +with its axe!” cried Laurence. + +“The Church prays for him,” said the abbe. + +These remarks, made rapidly one after another, were so many commentaries +on the wise counsel of the old Marquis de Chargeboeuf; but the young +people had too much faith, too much honor, to dream of resorting to a +compromise. They told themselves, as all vanquished parties in all times +have declared, that the luck of the conquerors would soon be at an end, +that the Emperor had no support but that of the army, that the power _de +facto_ must sooner or later give way to the Divine Right, etc. So, in +spite of the wise counsel given to them, they fell into the pitfall, +which others, like old d’Hauteserre, more prudent and more amenable +to reason, would have been able to avoid. If men were frank they might +perhaps admit that misfortunes never overtake them until after they have +received either an actual or an occult warning. Many do not perceive the +deep meaning of such visible or invisible signs until after the disaster +is upon them. + +“In any case, Madame la comtesse knows that I cannot leave the country +until I have given up a certain trust,” said Michu in a low voice to +Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne. + +For all answer she made him a sign of acquiescence, and he left the +room. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. THE FACTS OF A MYSTERIOUS AFFAIR + +Michu sold his farm at once to Beauvisage, a farmer at Bellache, but he +was not to receive the money for twenty days. A month after the Marquis +de Chargeboeuf’s visit, Laurence, who had told her cousins of their +buried fortune, proposed to them to take the day of the Mi-careme to +disinter it. The unusual quantity of snow which fell that winter had +hitherto prevented Michu from obtaining the treasure, and it now +gave him pleasure to undertake the operation with his masters. He was +determined to leave the neighborhood as soon as it was over, for he +feared himself. + +“Malin has suddenly arrived at Gondreville, and no one knows why,” + he said to his mistress. “I shall never be able to resist putting the +property into the market by the death of its owner. I feel I am guilty +in not following my inspirations.” + +“Why should he leave Paris at this season?” said the countess. + +“All Arcis is talking about it,” replied Michu; “he has left his family +in Paris, and no one is with him but his valet. Monsieur Grevin, the +notary of Arcis, Madame Marion, the wife of the receiver-general, and +her sister-in-law are staying at Gondreville.” + +Laurence had chosen the mid-lent day for their purpose because it +enabled her to give her servants a holiday and so get them out of the +way. The usual masquerade drew the peasantry to the town and no one +was at work in the fields. Chance made its calculations with as much +cleverness as Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne made hers. The uneasiness of +Monsieur and Madame d’Hauteserre at the idea of keeping eleven hundred +thousand francs in gold in a lonely chateau on the borders of a forest +was likely to be so great that their sons advised they should know +nothing about it. The secret of the expedition was therefore confined to +Gothard, Michu, Laurence, and the four gentlemen. + +After much consultation it seemed possible to put forty-eight thousand +francs in a long sack on the crupper of each of their horses. Three +trips would therefore bring the whole. It was agreed to send all the +servants, whose curiosity might be troublesome, to Troyes to see the +shows. Catherine, Marthe, and Durieu, who could be relied on, stayed +at home in charge of the house. The other servants were glad of their +holiday and started by daybreak. Gothard, assisted by Michu, saddled the +horses as soon as they were gone, and the party started by way of the +gardens to reach the forest. Just as they were mounting--for the park +gate was so low on the garden side that they led their horses until they +were through it--old Beauvisage, the farmer at Bellache, happened to +pass. + +“There!” cried Gothard, “I hear some one.” + +“Oh, it is only I,” said the worthy man, coming toward them. “Your +servant, gentleman; are you off hunting, in spite of the new decrees? +_I_ don’t complain of you; but do take care! though you have friends you +have also enemies.” + +“Oh, as for that,” said the elder Hauteserre, smiling, “God grant that +our hunt may be lucky to-day,--if so, you will get your masters back +again.” + +These words, to which events were destined to give a totally different +meaning, earned a severe look from Laurence. The elder Simeuse was +confident that Malin would restore Gondreville for an indemnity. These +rash youths were determined to do exactly the contrary of what the +Marquis de Chargeboeuf had advised. Robert, who shared these hopes, was +thinking of them when he gave utterance to the fatal words. + +“Not a word of this, old friend,” said Michu to Beauvisage, waiting +behind the others to lock the gate. + +It was one of those fine mornings in March when the air is dry, the +earth pure, the sky clear, and the atmosphere a contradiction to the +leafless trees; the season was so mild that the eye caught glimpses here +and there of verdure. + +“We are seeking treasure when all the while you are the real treasure of +our house, cousin,” said the elder Simeuse, gaily. + +Laurence was in front, with a cousin on each side of her. The +d’Hauteserres were behind, followed by Michu. Gothard had gone forward +to clear the way. + +“Now that our fortune is restored, you must marry my brother,” said the +younger in a low voice. “He adores you; together you will be as rich as +nobles ought to be in these days.” + +“No, give the whole fortune to him and I will marry you,” said Laurence; +“I am rich enough for two.” + +“So be it,” cried the Marquis; “I will leave you, and find a wife worthy +to be your sister.” + +“So you really love me less than I thought you did?” said Laurence +looking at him with a sort of jealousy. + +“No; I love you better than either of you love me,” replied the marquis. + +“And therefore you would sacrifice yourself?” asked Laurence with a +glance full of momentary preference. + +The marquis was silent. + +“Well, then, I shall think only of you, and that will be intolerable to +my husband,” exclaimed Laurence, impatient at his silence. + +“How could I live without you?” said the younger twin to his brother. + +“But, after all, you can’t marry us both,” said the marquis, replying to +Laurence; “and the time has come,” he continued, in the brusque tone of +a man who is struck to the heart, “to make your decision.” + +He urged his horse in advance so that the d’Hauteserres might not +overhear them. His brother’s horse and Laurence’s followed him. When +they had put some distance between themselves and the rest of the party +Laurence attempted to speak, but tears were at first her only language. + +“I will enter a cloister,” she said at last. + +“And let the race of Cinq-Cygne end?” said the younger brother. “Instead +of one unhappy man, would you make two? No, whichever of us must be your +brother only, will resign himself to that fate. It is the knowledge +that we are no longer poor that has brought us to explain ourselves,” + he added, glancing at the marquis. “If I am the one preferred, all this +money is my brother’s. If I am rejected, he will give it to me with +the title of de Simeuse, for he must then take the name and title of +Cinq-Cygne. Whichever way it ends, the loser will have a chance of +recovery--but if he feels he must die of grief, he can enter the army +and die in battle, not to sadden the happy household.” + +“We are true knights of the olden time, worthy of our fathers,” cried +the elder. “Speak, Laurence; decide between us.” + +“We cannot continue as we are,” said the younger. + +“Do not think, Laurence, that self-denial is without its joys,” said the +elder. + +“My dear loved ones,” said the girl, “I am unable to decide. I love you +both as though you were one being--as your mother loved you. God will +help us. I cannot choose. Let us put it to chance--but I make one +condition.” + +“What is it?” + +“Whichever one of you becomes my brother must stay with me until I +suffer him to leave me. I wish to be sole judge of when to part.” + +“Yes, yes,” said the brothers, without explaining to themselves her +meaning. + +“The first of you to whom Madame d’Hauteserre speaks to-night at table +after the Benedicite, shall be my husband. But neither of you must +practise fraud or induce her to answer a question.” + +“We will play fair,” said the younger, smiling. + +Each kissed her hand. The certainty of some decision which both could +fancy favorable made them gay. + +“Either way, dear Laurence, you create a Comte de Cinq-Cygne--” + +“I believe,” thought Michu, riding behind them, “that mademoiselle will +not long be unmarried. How gay my masters are! If my mistress makes her +choice I shall not leave; I must stay and see that wedding.” + +Just then a magpie flew suddenly before his face. Michu, superstitious +like all primitive beings, fancied he heard the muffled tones of a +death-knell. The day, however, began brightly enough for lovers, who +rarely see magpies when together in the woods. Michu, armed with his +plan, verified the spots; each gentleman had brought a pickaxe, and the +money was soon found. The part of the forest where it was buried was +quite wild, far from all paths or habitations, so that the cavalcade +bearing the gold returned unseen. This proved to be a great misfortune. +On their way from Cinq-Cygne to fetch the last two hundred thousand +francs, the party, emboldened by success, took a more direct way than +on their other trips. The path passed an opening from which the park of +Gondreville could be seen. + +“What is that?” cried Laurence, pointing to a column of blue flame. + +“A bonfire, I think,” replied Michu. + +Laurence, who knew all the by-ways of the forest, left the rest of the +party and galloped towards the pavilion, Michu’s old home. Though the +building was closed and deserted, the iron gates were open, and traces +of the recent passage of several horses struck Laurence instantly. The +column of blue smoke was rising from a field in what was called the +English park, where, as she supposed, they were burning brush. + +“Ah! so you are concerned in it, too, are you, mademoiselle?” cried +Violette, who came out of the park at top speed on his pony, and pulled +up to meet Laurence. “But, of course, it is only a carnival joke? They +surely won’t kill him?” + +“Who?” + +“Your cousins wouldn’t put him to death?” + +“Death! whose death?” + +“The senator’s.” + +“You are crazy, Violette!” + +“Well, what are you doing here, then?” he demanded. + +At the idea of a danger which was threatening her cousins, Laurence +turned her horse and galloped back to them, reaching the ground as the +last sacks were filled. + +“Quick, quick!” she cried. “I don’t know what is going on, but let us +get back to Cinq-Cygne.” + +While the happy party were employed in recovering the fortune saved +by the old marquis, and guarded for so many years by Michu, an +extraordinary scene was taking place in the chateau of Gondreville. + +About two o’clock in the afternoon Malin and his friend Grevin were +playing chess before the fire in the great salon on the ground-floor. +Madame Grevin and Madame Marion were sitting on a sofa and talking +together at a corner of the fireplace. All the servants had gone to see +the masquerade, which had long been announced in the arrondissement. The +family of the bailiff who had replaced Michu had gone too. The senator’s +valet and Violette were the only persons beside the family at the +chateau. The porter, two gardeners, and their wives were on the place, +but their lodge was at the entrance of the courtyards at the farther end +of the avenue to Arcis, and the distance from there to the chateau +is beyond the sound of a pistol-shot. Violette was waiting in the +antechamber until the senator and Grevin could see him on business, to +arrange a matter relating to his lease. At that moment five men, masked +and gloved, who in height, manner, and bearing strongly resembled +the Simeuse and d’Hauteserre brothers and Michu, rushed into the +antechamber, seized and gagged the valet and Violette, and fastened them +to their chairs in a side room. In spite of the rapidity with which this +was done, Violette and the servant had time to utter one cry. It was +heard in the salon. The two ladies thought it a cry of fear. + +“Listen!” said Madame Grevin, “can there be robbers?” + +“No, nonsense!” said Grevin, “only carnival cries; the masqueraders must +be coming to pay us a visit.” + +This discussion gave time for the four strangers to close the doors +towards the courtyards and to lock up Violette and the valet. Madame +Grevin, who was rather obstinate, insisted on knowing what the noise +meant. She rose, left the room, and came face to face with the five +masked men, who treated her as they had treated the farmer and the +valet. Then they rushed into the salon, where the two strongest seized +and gagged Malin, and carried him off into the park, while the three +others remained behind to gag Madame Marion and Grevin and lash them to +their armchairs. The whole affair did not take more than half an hour. +The three unknown men, who were quickly rejoined by the two who had +carried off the senator, then proceeded to ransack the chateau from +cellar to garret. They opened all closets and doors, and sounded the +walls; until five o’clock they were absolute masters of the place. By +that time the valet had managed to loosen with his teeth the rope that +bound Violette. Violette, able then to get the gag from his mouth, +began to shout for help. Hearing the shouts the five men withdrew to +the gardens, where they mounted horses closely resembling those at +Cinq-Cygne and rode away, but not so rapidly that Violette was unable to +catch sight of them. After releasing the valet, the two ladies, and the +notary, Violette mounted his pony and rode after help. When he reached +the pavilion he was amazed to see the gates open and Mademoiselle de +Cinq-Cygne apparently on the watch. + +Directly after the young countess had ridden off, Violette was overtaken +by Grevin and the forester of the township of Gondreville, who had taken +horses from the stables at the chateau. The porter’s wife was on her way +to summon the gendarmerie from Arcis. Violette at once informed Grevin +of his meeting with Laurence and the sudden flight of the daring girl, +whose strong and decided character was known to all of them. + +“She was keeping watch,” said Violette. + +“Is it possible that those Cinq-Cygne people have done this thing?” + cried Grevin. + +“Do you mean to say you didn’t recognize that stout Michu?” exclaimed +Violette. “It was he who attacked me; I knew his fist. Besides, they +rode the Cinq-Cygne horses.” + +Noticing the hoof-marks on the sand of the _rond-point_ and along the +park road the notary stationed the forester at the gateway to see to +the preservation of these precious traces until the justice of peace +of Arcis (for whom he now sent Violette) could take note of them. +He himself returned hastily to the chateau, where the lieutenant +and sub-lieutenant of the Imperial gendarmerie at Arcis had arrived, +accompanied by four men and a corporal. The lieutenant was the same +man whose head Francois Michu had broken two years earlier, and who had +heard from Corentin the name of his mischievous assailant. This man, +whose name was Giguet (his brother was in the army, and became one of +the finest colonels of artillery), was an extremely able officer +of gendarmerie. Later he commanded the squadron of the Aube. The +sub-lieutenant, named Welff, had formerly driven Corentin from +Cinq-Cygne to the pavilion, and from the pavilion to Troyes. On the +way, the spy had fully informed him as to what he called the trickery +of Laurence and Michu. The two officers were therefore well inclined to +show, and did show, great eagerness against the family at Cinq-Cygne. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. THE CODE OF BRUMAIRE, YEAR IV. + +Malin and Grevin had both, the latter working for the former, taken part +in the construction of the Code called that of Brumaire, year IV., the +judicial work of the National Convention, so-called, and promulgated by +the Directory. Grevin knew its provisions thoroughly, and was able to +apply them in this affair with terrible celerity, under a theory, now +converted into a certainty, of the guilt of Michu and the Messieurs +de Simeuse and d’Hauteserre. No one in these days, unless it be some +antiquated magistrates, will remember this system of justice, which +Napoleon was even then overthrowing by the promulgation of his own +Codes, and by the institution of his magistracy under the form in which +it now rules France. + +The Code of Brumaire, year IV., gave to the director of the jury of +the department the duty of discovering, indicting, and prosecuting the +persons guilty of the delinquency committed at Gondreville. Remark, by +the way, that the Convention had eliminated from its judicial vocabulary +the word “crime”; _delinquencies_ and _misdemeanors_ were alone +admitted; and these were punished with fines, imprisonment, and +penalties “afflictive or infamous.” Death was an afflictive punishment. +But the penalty of death was to be done away with after the restoration +of peace, and twenty-four years of hard labor were to take its place. +Thus the Convention estimated twenty-four years of hard labor as +the equivalent of death. What therefore can be said for a code which +inflicts the punishment of hard labor for life? The system then in +process of preparation by the Napoleonic Council of State suppressed the +function of the directors of juries, which united many enormous powers. +In relation to the discovery of delinquencies and their prosecution the +director of the jury was, in fact, agent of police, public prosecutor, +municipal judge, and the court itself. His proceedings and his +indictments were, however, submitted for signature to a commissioner of +the executive power and to the verdict of eight jurymen, before whom +he laid the facts of the case, and who examined the witnesses and the +accused and rendered the preliminary verdict, called the indictment. The +director was, however, in a position to exercise such influence over the +jurymen, who met in his private office, that they could not well avoid +agreeing with him. These jurymen were called the jury of indictment. +There were others who formed the juries of the criminal tribunals +whose duty it was to judge the accused; these were called, in +contradistinction to the jury of indictment, the judgment jury. The +criminal tribunal, to which Napoleon afterwards gave the name of +criminal court, was composed of one President or chief justice, four +judges, the public prosecutor, and a government commissioner. + +Nevertheless, from 1799 to 1806 there were special courts (so-called) +which judged without juries certain misdemeanors in certain departments; +these were composed of judges taken from the civil courts and formed +into a special court. This conflict of special justice and criminal +justice gave rise to questions of competence which came before the +courts of appeal. If the department of the Aube had had a special court, +the verdict on the outrage committed on a senator of the Empire would no +doubt have been referred to it; but this tranquil department had +never needed unusual jurisdiction. Grevin therefore despatched the +sub-lieutenant to Troyes to bring the director of the jury of that town. +The emissary went at full gallop, and soon returned in a post-carriage +with the all-powerful magistrate. + +The director of the Troyes jury was formerly secretary of one of the +committees of the Convention, a friend of Malin, to whom he owed his +present place. This magistrate, named Lechesneau, had helped Malin, as +Grevin had done, in his work on the Code during the Convention. Malin in +return recommended him to Cambaceres, who appointed him attorney-general +for Italy. Unfortunately for him, Lechesneau had a liaison with a +great lady in Turin, and Napoleon removed him to avoid a criminal trial +threatened by the husband. Lechesneau, bound in gratitude to Malin, felt +the importance of this attack upon his patron, and brought with him a +captain of gendarmerie and twelve men. + +Before starting he laid his plans with the prefect, who was unable +at that late hour, it being after dark, to use the telegraph. They +therefore sent a mounted messenger to Paris to notify the minister of +police, the chief justice and the Emperor of this extraordinary crime. +In the salon of Gondreville, Lechesneau found Mesdames Marion and +Grevin, Violette, the senator’s valet, and the justice of peace with his +clerk. The chateau had already been examined; the justice, assisted by +Grevin, had carefully collected the first testimony. The first thing +that struck him was the obvious intention shown in the choice of the +day and hour for the attack. The hour prevented an immediate search for +proofs and traces. At this season it was nearly dark by half-past five, +the hour at which Violette gave the alarm, and darkness often means +impunity to evil-doers. The choice of a holiday, when most persons had +gone to the masquerade at Arcis, and the senator was comparatively alone +in the house, showed an obvious intention to get rid of witnesses. + +“Let us do justice to the intelligence of the prefecture of police,” + said Lechesneau; “they have never ceased to warn us to be on our guard +against the nobles at Cinq-Cygne; they have always declared that sooner +or later those people would play us some dangerous trick.” + +Sure of the active co-operation of the prefect of the Aube, who sent +messengers to all the surrounding prefectures asking them to search +for the five abductors and the senator, Lechesneau began his work by +verifying the first facts. This was soon done by the help of two such +legal heads as those of Grevin and the justice of peace. The latter, +named Pigoult, formerly head-clerk in the office where Malin and Grevin +had first studied law in Paris, was soon after appointed judge of the +municipal court at Arcis. In relation to Michu, Lechesneau knew of the +threats the man had made about the sale of Gondreville to Marion, and +the danger Malin had escaped in his own park from Michu’s gun. These +two facts, one being the consequence of the other, were no doubt +the precursors of the present successful attack, and they pointed so +obviously to the late bailiff as the instigator of the outrage that +Grevin, his wife, Violette, and Madame Marion declared that they had +recognized among the five masked men one who exactly resembled Michu. +The color of the hair and whiskers and the thick-set figure of the man +made the mask he wore useless. Besides, who but Michu could have opened +the iron gates of the park with a key? The present bailiff and his wife, +now returned from the masquerade, deposed to have locked both gates +before leaving the pavilion. The gates when examined showed no sign of +being forced. + +“When we turned him off he must have taken some duplicate keys with +him,” remarked Grevin. “No doubt he has been meditating a desperate +step, for he has lately sold his whole property, and he received the +money for it in my office day before yesterday.” + +“The others have followed his lead!” exclaimed Lechesneau, struck with +the circumstances. “He has been their evil genius.” + +Moreover, who could know as well as the Messieurs de Simeuse the ins and +outs of the chateau. None of the assailants seemed to have blundered in +their search; they had gone through the house in a confident way which +showed that they knew what they wanted to find and where to find it. +The locks of none of the opened closets had been forced; therefore the +delinquents had keys. Strange to say, however, nothing had been taken; +the motive, therefore, was not robbery. More than all, when Violette +had followed the tracks of the horses as far as the _rond-point_, he +had found the countess, evidently on guard, at the pavilion. From such a +combination of facts and depositions arose a presumption as to the guilt +of the Messieurs de Simeuse, d’Hauteserre, and Michu, which would have +been strong to unprejudiced minds, and to the director of the jury had +the force of certainty. What were they likely to do to the future Comte +de Gondreville? Did they mean to force him to make over the estate for +which Michu declared in 1799 he had the money to pay? + +But there was another aspect of the cast to the knowing criminal lawyer. +He asked himself what could be the object of the careful search made of +the chateau. If revenge were at the bottom of the matter, the assailants +would have killed the senator. Perhaps he had been killed and buried. +The abduction, however, seemed to point to imprisonment. But why keep +their victim imprisoned after searching the castle? It was folly to +suppose that the abduction of a dignitary of the Empire could long +remain secret. The publicity of the matter would prevent any benefit +from it. + +To these suggestions Pigoult replied that justice was never able to make +out all the motives of scoundrels. In every criminal case there +were obscurities, he said, between the judge and the guilty person; +conscience had depths into which no human mind could enter unless by the +confession of the criminal. + +Grevin and Lechesneau nodded their assent, without, however, relaxing +their determination to see to the bottom of the present mystery. + +“The Emperor pardoned those young men,” said Pigoult to Grevin. “He +removed their names from the list of _emigres_, though they certainly +took part in that last conspiracy against him.” + +Lechesneau make no delay in sending his whole force of gendarmerie to +the forest and to the valley of Cinq-Cygne; telling Giguet to take with +him the justice of peace, who, according to the terms of the Code, would +then become an auxiliary police-officer. He ordered them to make +all preliminary inquiries in the township of Cinq-Cygne, and to take +testimony if necessary; and to save time, he dictated and signed a +warrant for the arrest of Michu, against whom the charge was evident on +the positive testimony of Violette. After the departure of the gendarmes +Lechesneau returned to the important question of issuing warrants for +the arrest of the Simeuse and d’Hauteserre brothers. According to +the Code these warrants would have to contain the charges against the +delinquents. + +Giguet and the justice of peace rode so rapidly to Cinq-Cygne that +they met Laurence’s servants returning from the festivities at Troyes. +Stopped, and taken before the mayor where they were interrogated, they +all stated, being ignorant of the importance of the answer, that their +mistress had given them permission to spend the whole day at Troyes. +To a question put by the justice of the peace, each replied that +Mademoiselle had offered them the amusement which they had not thought +of asking for. This testimony seemed so important to the justice of the +peace that he sent back a messenger to Gondreville to advise Lechesneau +to proceed himself to Cinq-Cygne and arrest the four gentlemen, while +he went to Michu’s farm, so that the five arrests might be made +simultaneously. + +This new element was so convincing that Lechesneau started at once for +Cinq-Cygne. He knew well what pleasure would be felt in Troyes at such +proceedings against the old nobles, the enemies of the people, now +become the enemies of the Emperor. In such circumstances a magistrate +is very apt to take mere presumptive evidence for actual proof. +Nevertheless, on his way from Gondreville to Cinq-Cygne, in the +senator’s own carriage, it did occur to Lechesneau (who would certainly +have made a fine magistrate had it not been for his love-affair, and the +Emperor’s sudden morality to which he owed his disgrace) to think the +audacity of the young men and Michu a piece of folly which was not in +keeping with what he knew of the judgment and character of Mademoiselle +de Cinq-Cygne. He imagined in his own mind some other motives for the +deed than the restitution of Gondreville. In all things, even in the +magistracy, there is what may be called the conscience of a calling. +Lechesneau’s perplexities came from this conscience, which all men put +into the proper performance of the duties they like--scientific men into +science, artists into art, judges into the rendering of justice. Perhaps +for this reason judges are really greater safeguards for persons accused +of wrong-doing than are juries. A magistrate relies only on reason and +its laws; juries are floated to and fro by the waves of sentiment. The +director of the jury accordingly set several questions before his mind, +resolving to find in their solution satisfactory reasons for making the +arrests. + +Though the news of the abduction was already agitating the town of +Troyes, it was still unknown at Arcis, where the inhabitants were +supping when the messenger arrived to summon the gendarmes. No one, of +course, knew it in the village of Cinq-Cygne, the valley and the chateau +of which were now, for the second time, encircled by gendarmes. + +Laurence had only to tell Marthe, Catherine, and the Durieus not to +leave the chateau, to be strictly obeyed. After each trip to fetch the +gold, the horses were fastened in the covered way opposite to the breach +in the moat, and from there Robert and Michu, the strongest of the +party, carried the sacks through the breach to a cellar under the +staircase in the tower called Mademoiselle’s. Reaching the chateau with +the last load about half-past five o’clock, the four gentlemen and Michu +proceeded to bury the treasure in the floor of the cellar and then to +wall up the entrance. Michu took charge of the matter with Gothard to +help him; the lad was sent to the farm for some sacks of plaster left +over when the new buildings were put up, and Marthe went with him to +show him where they were. Michu, very hungry, made such haste that by +half-past seven o’clock the work was done; and he started for home at +a quick pace to stop Gothard, who had been sent for another sack of +plaster which he thought he might want. The farm was already watched +by the forester of Cinq-Cygne, the justice of peace, his clerk and four +gendarmes who, however, kept out of sight and allowed him to enter the +house without seeing them. + +Michu saw Gothard with the sack on his shoulder and called to him from a +distance: “It is all finished, my lad; take that back and stay and dine +with us.” + +Michu, his face perspiring, his clothes soiled with plaster and covered +with fragments of muddy stone from the breach, reached home joyfully and +entered the kitchen where Marthe and her mother were serving the soup in +expectation of his coming. + +Just as Michu was turning the faucet of the water-pipe intending to wash +his hands, the justice of peace entered the house accompanied by his +clerk and the forester. + +“What have you come for, Monsieur Pigoult?” asked Michu. + +“In the name of the Emperor and the laws, I arrest you,” replied the +justice. + +The three gendarmes entered the kitchen leading Gothard. Seeing the +silver lace on their hats Marthe and her mother looked at each other in +terror. + +“Pooh! why?” asked Michu, who sat down at the table and called to his +wife, “Give me something to eat; I’m famished.” + +“You know why as well as we do,” said the justice, making a sign to his +clerk to begin the _proces-verbal_ and exhibiting the warrant of arrest. + +“Well, well, Gothard, you needn’t stare so,” said Michu. “Do you want +some dinner, yes or no? Let them write down their nonsense.” + +“You admit, of course, the condition of your clothes?” said the justice +of peace; “and you can’t deny the words you said just now to Gothard?” + +Michu, supplied with food by his wife, who was amazed at his coolness, +was eating with the avidity of a hungry man. He made no answer to +the justice, for his mouth was full and his heart innocent. Gothard’s +appetite was destroyed by fear. + +“Look here,” said the forester, going up to Michu and whispering in his +ear: “What have you done with the senator? You had better make a clean +breast of it, for if we are to believe these people it is a matter of +life or death to you.” + +“Good God!” cried Marthe, who overheard the last words and fell into a +chair as if annihilated. + +“Violette must have played us some infamous trick,” cried Michu, +recollecting what Laurence had said in the forest. + +“Ha! so you do know that Violette saw you?” said the justice of peace. + +Michu bit his lips and resolved to say no more. Gothard imitated him. +Seeing the uselessness of all attempts to make them talk, and knowing +what the neighborhood chose to call Michu’s perversity, the justice +ordered the gendarmes to bind his hands and those of Gothard, and take +them both to the chateau, whither he now went himself to rejoin the +director of the jury. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. THE ARRESTS + +The four young men and Laurence were so hungry and the dinner so +acceptable that they would not delay it by changing their dress. They +entered the salon, she in her riding-habit, they in their white leather +breeches, high-top boots and green-cloth jackets, where they found +Monsieur d’Hauteserre and his wife, not a little uneasy at their long +absence. The goodman had noticed their goings and comings, and, above +all, their evident distrust of him, for Laurence had been unable to get +rid of him as she had of her servants. Once when his own sons evidently +avoided making any reply to his questions, he went to his wife and said, +“I am afraid that Laurence may still get us into trouble!” + +“What sort of game did you hunt to-day?” said Madame d’Hauteserre to +Laurence. + +“Ah!” replied the young girl, laughing, “you’ll hear some day what a +strange hunt your sons have joined in to-day.” + +Though said in jest the words made the old lady tremble. Catherine +entered to announce dinner. Laurence took Monsieur d’Hauteserre’s arm, +smiling for a moment at the necessity she thus forced upon her cousins +to offer an arm to Madame d’Hauteserre, who, according to agreement, was +now to be the arbiter of their fate. + +The Marquis de Simeuse took in Madame d’Hauteserre. The situation was so +momentous that after the Benedicite was said Laurence and the young +men trembled from the violent palpitation of their hearts. Madame +d’Hauteserre, who carved, was struck by the anxiety on the faces of +the Simeuse brothers and the great alteration that was noticeable in +Laurence’s lamb-like features. + +“Something extraordinary is going on, I am sure of it!” she exclaimed, +looking at all of them. + +“To whom are you speaking?” asked Laurence. + +“To all of you,” said the old lady. + +“As for me, mother,” said Robert, “I am frightfully hungry, and that is +not extraordinary.” + +Madame d’Hauteserre, still troubled, offered the Marquis de Simeuse a +plate intended for his brother. + +“I am like your mother,” she said. “I don’t know you apart even by your +cravats. I thought I was helping your brother.” + +“You have helped me better than you thought for,” said the youngest, +turning pale; “you have made him Comte de Cinq-Cygne.” + +“What! do you mean to tell me the countess has made her choice?” cried +Madame d’Hauteserre. + +“No,” said Laurence; “we left the decision to fate and you are its +instrument.” + +She told of the agreement made that morning. The elder Simeuse, watching +the increasing pallor of his brother’s face, was momentarily on the +point of crying out, “Marry her; I will go away and die!” Just then, as +the dessert was being served, all present heard raps upon the window of +the dining-room on the garden side. The eldest d’Hauteserre opened it +and gave entrance to the abbe, whose breeches were torn in climbing over +the walls of the park. + +“Fly! they are coming to arrest you,” he cried. + +“Why?” + +“I don’t know yet; but there’s a warrant against you.” + +The words were greeted with general laughter. + +“We are innocent,” said the young men. + +“Innocent or guilty,” said the abbe, “mount your horses and make for +the frontier. There you can prove your innocence. You could overcome +a sentence by default; you will never overcome a sentence rendered +by popular passion and instigated by prejudice. Remember the words of +President de Harlay, ‘If I were accused of carrying off the towers of +Notre-Dame the first thing I should do would be to run away.’” + +“To run away would be to admit we were guilty,” said the Marquis de +Simeuse. + +“Don’t do it!” cried Laurence. + +“Always the same sublime folly!” exclaimed the abbe, in despair. “If I +had the power of God I would carry you away. But if I am found here +in this state they will turn my visit against you, and against me too; +therefore I leave you by the way I came. Consider my advice; you have +still time. The gendarmes have not yet thought of the wall which adjoins +the parsonage; but you are hemmed in on the other sides.” + +The sound of many feet and the jangle of the sabres of the gendarmerie +echoed through the courtyard and reached the dining-room a few moments +after the departure of the poor abbe, whose advice had met the same fate +as that of the Marquis de Chargeboeuf. + +“Our twin existence,” said the younger Simeuse, speaking to Laurence, +“is an anomaly--our love for you is anomalous; it is that very quality +which was won your heart. Possibly, the reason why all twins known to +us in history have been unfortunate is that the laws of nature are +subverted in them. In our case, see how persistently an evil fate +follows us! your decision is now postponed.” + +Laurence was stupefied; the fatal words of the director of the jury +hummed in her ears:--“In the name of the Emperor and the laws, I +arrest the Sieurs Paul-Marie and Marie-Paul Simeuse, Adrien and Robert +d’Hauteserre--These gentlemen,” he added, addressing the men who +accompanied him and pointing to the mud on the clothing of the +prisoners, “cannot deny that they have spent the greater part of this +day on horseback.” + +“Of what are they accused?” asked Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne, haughtily. + +“Don’t you mean to arrest Mademoiselle?” said Giguet. + +“I shall leave her at liberty under bail, until I can carefully examine +the charges against her,” replied the director. + +The mayor offered bail, asking the countess to merely give her word of +honor that she would not escape. Laurence blasted him with a look which +made him a mortal enemy; a tear started from her eyes, one of those +tears of rage which reveal a hell of suffering. The four gentlemen +exchanged a terrible look, but remained motionless. Monsieur and Madame +d’Hauteserre, dreading lest the young people had practised some deceit, +were in a state of indescribable stupefaction. Clinging to their chairs +these unfortunate parents, finding their sons torn from them after +so many fears and their late hopes of safety, sat gazing before them +without seeing, listening without hearing. + +“Must I ask you to bail me, Monsieur d’Hauteserre?” cried Laurence to +her former guardian, who was roused by the cry, clear and agonizing to +his ear as the sound of the last trumpet. + +He tried to wipe the tears which sprang to his eyes; he now understood +what was passing, and said to his young relation in a quivering voice, +“Forgive me, countess; you know that I am yours, body and soul.” + +Lechesneau, who at first was much struck by the evident tranquillity in +which the whole party were dining, now returned to his former opinion +of their guilt as he noticed the stupefaction of the old people and the +evident anxiety of Laurence, who was seeking to discover the nature of +the trap which was set for them. + +“Gentlemen,” he said, politely, “you are too well-bred to make a useless +resistance; follow me to the stables, where I must, in your presence, +have the shoes of your horses taken off; they afford important proof of +either guilt or innocence. Come, too, mademoiselle.” + +The blacksmith of Cinq-Cygne and his assistant had been summoned by +Lechesneau as experts. While the operation at the stable was going on +the justice of peace brought in Gothard and Michu. The work of detaching +the shoes of each horse, putting them together and ticketing them, so as +to compare them with the hoof-prints in the park, took time. Lechesneau, +notified of the arrival of Pigoult, left the prisoners with the +gendarmes and returned to the dining-room to dictate the indictment. +The justice of peace called his attention to the condition of Michu’s +clothes and related the circumstances of his arrest. + +“They must have killed the senator and plastered the body up in some +wall,” said Pigoult. + +“I begin to fear it,” answered Lechesneau. “Where did you carry that +plaster?” he said to Gothard. + +The boy began to cry. + +“The law frightens him,” said Michu, whose eyes were darting flames like +those of a lion in the toils. + +The servants, who had been detained at the village by order of the +mayor, now arrived and filled the antechamber where Catherine and +Gothard were weeping. To all the questions of the director of the jury +and the justice of peace Gothard replied by sobs; and by dint of weeping +he brought on a species of convulsion which alarmed them so much that +they let him alone. The little scamp, perceiving that he was no longer +watched, looked at Michu with a grin, and Michu signified his approval +by a glance. Lechesneau left the justice of peace and returned to the +stables. + +“Monsieur,” said Madame d’Hauteserre, at last, addressing Pigoult; “can +you explain these arrests?” + +“The gentlemen are accused of abducting the senator by armed force and +keeping him a prisoner; for we do not think they have murdered him--in +spite of appearances,” replied Pigoult. + +“What penalties are attached to the crime?” asked Monsieur d’Hauteserre. + +“Well, as the old law continues in force, and they are not amenable +under the Code, the penalty is death,” replied the justice. + +“Death!” cried Madame d’Hauteserre, fainting away. + +The abbe now came in with his sister, who stopped to speak to Catherine +and Madame Durieu. + +“We haven’t even seen your cursed senator!” said Michu. + +“Madame Marion, Madame Grevin, Monsieur Grevin, the senator’s valet, and +Violette all tell another tale,” replied Pigoult, with the sour smile of +magisterial conviction. + +“I don’t understand a thing about it,” said Michu, dumbfounded by his +reply, and beginning now to believe that his masters and himself were +entangled in some plot which had been laid against them. + +Just then the party from the stables returned. Laurence went up to +Madame d’Hauteserre, who recovered her senses enough to say: “The +penalty is death!” + +“Death!” repeated Laurence, looking at the four gentlemen. + +The word excited a general terror, of which Giguet, formerly instructed +by Corentin, took immediate advantage. + +“Everything can be arranged,” he said, drawing the Marquis de Simeuse +into a corner of the dining-room. “Perhaps after all it is nothing but a +joke; you’ve been a soldier and soldiers understand each other. Tell me, +what have you really done with the senator? If you have killed him--why, +that’s the end of it! But if you have only locked him up, release him, +for you see for yourself your game is balked. Do this and I am certain +the director of the jury and the senator himself will drop the matter.” + +“We know absolutely nothing about it,” said the marquis. + +“If you take that tone the matter is likely to go far,” replied the +lieutenant. + +“Dear cousin,” said the Marquis de Simeuse, “we are forced to go to +prison; but do not be uneasy; we shall return in a few hours, for there +is some misunderstanding in all this which can be explained.” + +“I hope so, for your sakes, gentlemen,” said the magistrate, signing to +the gendarmes to remove the four gentlemen, Michu, and Gothard. “Don’t +take them to Troyes; keep them in your guardhouse at Arcis,” he said to +the lieutenant; “they must be present to-morrow, at daybreak, when we +compare the shoes of their horses with the hoof-prints in the park.” + +Lechesneau and Pigoult did not follow until they had closely questioned +Catherine, Monsieur and Madame d’Hauteserre, and Laurence. The Durieus, +Catherine, and Marthe declared they had only seen their masters at +breakfast-time; Monsieur d’Hauteserre said he had seen them at three +o’clock. + +When, at midnight, Laurence found herself alone with Monsieur and Madame +d’Hauteserre, the abbe and his sister, and without the four young men +who for the last eighteen months had been the life of the chateau and +the love and joy of her own life, she fell into a gloomy silence which +no one present dared to break. No affliction was ever deeper or more +complete than hers. At last a deep sigh broke the stillness, and all +eyes turned towards the sound. + +Marthe, forgotten in a corner, rose, exclaiming, “Death! They will kill +them in spite of their innocence!” + +“Mademoiselle, what is the matter with you?” said the abbe. + +Laurence left the room without replying. She needed solitude to recover +strength in presence of this terrible unforeseen disaster. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. DOUBTS AND FEARS OF COUNSEL + +At a distance of thirty-four years, during which three great revolutions +have taken place, none but elderly persons can recall the immense +excitement produced in Europe by the abduction of a senator of the +French Empire. No trial, if we except that of Trumeaux, the grocer of +the Place Saint-Michel, and that of the widow Morin, under the Empire; +those of Fualdes and de Castaing, under the Restoration; those of Madame +Lafarge and Fieschi, under the present government, ever roused so much +curiosity or so deep an interest as that of the four young men accused +of abducting Malin. Such an attack against a member of his Senate +excited the wrath of the Emperor, who was told of the arrest of the +delinquents almost at the moment when he first heard of the crime and +the negative results of the inquiries. The forest, searched throughout, +the department of the Aube, ransacked from end to end, gave not the +slightest indication of the passage of the Comte de Gondreville nor +of his imprisonment. Napoleon sent for the chief justice, who, after +obtaining certain information from the ministry of police, explained to +his Majesty the position of Malin in regard to the Simeuse brothers +and the Gondreville estate. The Emperor, at that time pre-occupied +with serious matters, considered the affair explained by these anterior +facts. + +“Those young men are fools,” he said. “A lawyer like Malin will escape +any deed they may force him to sign under violence. Watch those nobles, +and discover the means they take to set the Comte de Gondreville at +liberty.” + +He ordered the affair to be conducted with the utmost celerity, +regarding it as an attack on his own institutions, a fatal example of +resistance to the results of the Revolution, an effort to open the great +question of the sales of “national property,” and a hindrance to that +fusion of parties which was the constant object of his home policy. +Besides all this, he thought himself tricked by these young nobles, who +had given him their promise to live peaceably. + +“Fouche’s prediction has come true,” he cried, remembering the words +uttered two years earlier by his present minister of police, who said +them under the impressions conveyed to him by Corentin’s report as to +the character and designs of Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne. + +It is impossible for persons living under a constitutional government, +where no one really cares for that cold and thankless, blind, deaf Thing +called public interest, to imagine the zeal which a mere word of the +Emperor was able to inspire in his political or administrative machine. +That powerful will seemed to impress itself as much upon things as upon +men. His decision once uttered, the Emperor, overtaken by the coalition +of 1806, forgot the whole matter. He thought only of new battles to +fight, and his mind was occupied in massing his regiments to strike the +great blow at the heart of the Prussian monarchy. His desire for prompt +justice in the present case found powerful assistance in the great +uncertainty which affected the position of all magistrates of the +Empire. Just at this time Cambaceres, as arch-chancellor, and Regnier, +chief justice, were preparing to organize _tribunaux de premiere +instance_ (lower civil courts), imperial courts, and a court of appeal +or supreme court. They were agitating the question of a legal garb or +costume; to which Napoleon attached, and very justly, so much importance +in all official stations; and they were also inquiring into the +character of the persons composing the magistracy. Naturally, therefore, +the officials of the department of the Aube considered they could have +no better recommendation than to give proofs of their zeal in the matter +of the abduction of the Comte de Gondreville. Napoleon’s suppositions +became certainties to these courtiers and also to the populace. + +Peace still reigned on the continent; admiration for the Emperor was +unanimous in France; he cajoled all interests, persons, vanities, and +things, in short, everything, even memories. This attack, therefore, +directed against his senator, seemed in the eyes of all an assault upon +the public welfare. The luckless and innocent gentlemen were the objects +of general opprobrium. A few nobles living quietly on their estates +deplored the affair among themselves but dared not open their lips; +in fact, how was it possible for them to oppose the current of public +opinion. Throughout the department the deaths of the eleven persons +killed by the Simeuse brothers in 1792 from the windows of the hotel +Cinq-Cygne were brought up against them. It was feared that other +returned and now emboldened _emigres_ might follow this example of +violence against those who had bought their estates from the “national +domain,” as a method of protesting against what they might call an +unjust spoliation. + +The unfortunate young nobles were therefore considered as robbers, +brigands, murderers; and their connection with Michu was particularly +fatal to them. Michu, who was declared, either he or his father-in-law, +to have cut off all the heads that fell under the Terror in that +department, was made the subject of ridiculous tales. The exasperation +of the public mind was all the more intense because nearly all the +functionaries of the department owed their offices to Malin. No generous +voice uplifted itself against the verdict of the public. Besides all +this, the accused had no legal means with which to combat prejudice; for +the Code of Brumaire, year IV., giving as it did both the prosecution of +a charge and the verdict upon it into the hands of a jury, deprived the +accused of the vast protection of an appeal against legal suspicion. + +The day after the arrest all the inhabitants of the chateau of +Cinq-Cygne, both masters and servants, were summoned to appear before +the prosecuting jury. Cinq-Cygne was left in charge of a farmer, +under the supervision of the abbe and his sister who moved into it. +Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne, with Monsieur and Madame d’Hauteserre, went +to Troyes and occupied a small house belonging to Durieu in one of the +long and wide faubourgs which lead from the little town. Laurence’s +heart was wrung when she at last comprehended the temper of the +populace, the malignity of the bourgeoisie, and the hostility of the +administration, from the many little events which happened to them as +relatives of prisoners accused of criminal wrong-doing and about to +be judged in a provincial town. Instead of hearing encouraging or +compassionate words they heard only speeches which called for vengeance; +proofs of hatred surrounded them in place of the strict politeness or +the reserve required by mere decency; but above all they were conscious +of an isolation which every mind must feel, but more particularly those +which are made distrustful by misfortune. + +Laurence, who had recovered her vigor of mind, relied upon the innocence +of the accused, and despised the community too much to be frightened by +the stern and silent disapproval they met with everywhere. She sustained +the courage of Monsieur and Madame d’Hauteserre, all the while thinking +of the judicial struggle which was now being hurried on. She was, +however, to receive a blow she little expected, which, undoubtedly, +diminished her courage. + +In the midst of this great disaster, at the moment when this afflicted +family were made to feel themselves, as it were, in a desert, a man +suddenly became exalted in Laurence’s eyes and showed the full beauty of +his character. The day after the indictment was found by the jury, +and the prisoners were finally committed for trial, the Marquis de +Chargeboeuf courageously appeared, still in the same old caleche, to +support and protect his young cousin. Foreseeing the haste with which +the law would be administered, this chief of a great family had already +gone to Paris and secured the services of the most able as well as the +most honest lawyer of the old school, named Bordin, who was for ten +years counsel of the nobility in Paris, and was ultimately succeeded by +the celebrated Derville. This excellent lawyer chose for his assistant +the grandson of a former president of the parliament of Normandy, whose +studies had been made under his tuition. This young lawyer, who was +destined to be appointed deputy-attorney-general in Paris after the +conclusion of the present trial, became eventually one of the most +celebrated of French magistrates. Monsieur de Grandville, for that was +his name, accepted the defence of the four young men, being glad of +an opportunity to make his first appearance as an advocate with +distinction. + +The old marquis, alarmed at the ravages which troubles had wrought in +Laurence’s appearance, was charmingly kind and considerate. He made no +allusion to his neglected advice; he presented Bordin as an oracle whose +counsel must be followed to the letter, and young de Grandville as a +defender in whom the utmost confidence might be placed. + +Laurence held out her hand to the kind old man, and pressed his with an +eagerness which delighted him. + +“You were right,” she said. + +“Will you now take my advice?” he asked. + +The young countess bowed her head in assent, as did Monsieur and Madame +d’Hauteserre. + +“Well, then, come to my house; it is in the middle of town, close to +the courthouse. You and your lawyers will be better off there than here, +where you are crowded and too far from the field of battle. Here, you +would have to cross the town twice a day.” + +Laurence, accepted, and the old man took her with Madame d’Hauteserre +to his house, which became the home of the Cinq-Cygne household and the +lawyers of the defence during the whole time the trial lasted. After +dinner, when the doors were closed, Bordin made Laurence relate every +circumstance of the affair, entreating her to omit nothing, not the most +trifling detail. Though many of the facts had already been told to him +and his young assistant by the marquis on their journey from Paris +to Troyes, Bordin listened, his feet on the fender, without obtruding +himself into the recital. The young lawyer, however, could not help +being divided between his admiration for Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne, and +the attention he was bound to give to the facts of his case. + +“Is that really all?” asked Bordin when Laurence had related the events +of the drama just as the present narrative has given them up to the +present time. + +“Yes,” she answered. + +Profound silence reigned for several minutes in the salon of the +Chargeboeuf mansion where this scene took place,--one of the most +important which occur in life. All cases are judged by the counsellors +engaged in them, just as the death or life or a patient is foreseen by +a physician, before the final struggle which the one sustains +against nature, the other against law. Laurence, Monsieur and Madame +d’Hauteserre, and the marquis sat with their eyes fixed on the swarthy +and deeply pitted face of the old lawyer, who was now to pronounce the +words of life or death. Monsieur d’Hauteserre wiped the sweat from his +brow. Laurence looked at the younger man and noted his saddened face. + +“Well, my dear Bordin?” said the marquis at last, holding out his +snuffbox, from which the old lawyer took a pinch in an absent-minded +way. + +Bordin rubbed the calf of his leg, covered with thick stockings of +black raw silk, for he always wore black cloth breeches and a coat made +somewhat in the shape of those which are now termed _a la Francaise_. +He cast his shrewd eyes upon his clients with an anxious expression, the +effect of which was icy. + +“Must I analyze all that?” he said; “am I to speak frankly?” + +“Yes; go on, monsieur,” said Laurence. + +“All that you have innocently done can be converted into proof against +you,” said the old lawyer. “We cannot save your friends; we can only +reduce the penalty. The sale which you induced Michu to make of his +property will be taken as evident proof of your criminal intentions +against the senator. You sent your servants to Troyes so that you might +be alone; that is all the more plausible because it is actually true. +The elder d’Hauteserre made an unfortunate speech to Beauvisage, which +will be your ruin. You yourself, mademoiselle, made another in your +own courtyard, which proves that you have long shown ill-will to +the possessor of Gondreville. Besides, you were at the gate of the +_rond-point_, apparently on the watch, about the time when the abduction +took place; if they have not arrested you, it is solely because they +fear to bring a sentimental element into the affair.” + +“The case cannot be successfully defended,” said Monsieur de Grandville. + +“The less so,” continued Bordin, “because we cannot tell the whole +truth. Michu and the Messieurs de Simeuse and d’Hauteserre must hold to +the assertion that you merely went for an excursion into the forest and +returned to Cinq-Cygne for luncheon. Allowing that we can show you were +in the house at three o’clock (the exact hour at which the attack was +made), who are our witnesses? Marthe, the wife of one of the accused, +the Durieus, and Catherine, your own servants, and Monsieur and Madame +d’Hauteserre, father and mother of two of the accused. Such testimony +is valueless; the law does not admit it against you, and commonsense +rejects it when given in your favor. If, on the other hand, you were to +say you went to the forest to recover eleven hundred thousand francs in +gold, you would send the accused to the galleys as robbers. Judge, jury, +audience, and the whole of France would believe that you took that gold +from Gondreville, and abducted the senator that you might ransack his +house. The accusation as it now stands is not wholly clear, but tell +the truth about the matter and it would become as plain as day; the jury +would declare that the robbery explained the mysterious features,--for +in these days, you must remember, a royalist means a thief. This very +case is welcomed as a legitimate political vengeance. The prisoners are +now in danger of the death penalty; but that is not dishonoring under +some circumstances. Whereas, if they can be proved to have stolen money, +which can never be made to seem excusable, you lose all benefit of +whatever interest may attach to persons condemned to death for other +crimes. If, at the first, you had shown the hiding-places of the +treasure, the plan of the forest, the tubes in which the gold was +buried, and the gold itself, as an explanation of your day’s work, it is +possible you might have been believed by an impartial magistrate, but as +it is we must be silent. God grant that none of the prisoners may reveal +the truth and compromise the defence; if they do, we must rely on our +cross-examinations.” + +Laurence wrung her hands in despair and raised her eyes to heaven with +a despondent look, for she saw at last in all its depths the gulf into +which her cousins had fallen. The marquis and the young lawyer agreed +with the dreadful view of Bordin. Old d’Hauteserre wept. + +“Ah! why did they not listen to the Abbe Goujet and fly!” cried Madame +d’Hauteserre, exasperated. + +“If they could have escaped, and you prevented them,” said Bordin, +“you have killed them yourselves. Judgment by default gains time; time +enables the innocent to clear themselves. This is the most mysterious +case I have ever known in my life, in the course of which I have +certainly seen and known many strange things.” + +“It is inexplicable to every one, even to us,” said Monsieur de +Grandville. “If the prisoners are innocent some one else has committed +the crime. Five persons do not come to a place as if by enchantment, +obtain five horses shod precisely like those of the accused, imitate the +appearance of some of them, and put Malin apparently underground for the +sole purpose of casting suspicion on Michu and the four gentlemen. The +unknown guilty parties must have had some strong reason for wearing the +skin, as it were, of five innocent men. To discover them, even to get +upon their traces, we need as much power as the government itself, as +many agents and as many eyes as there are townships in a radius of fifty +miles.” + +“The thing is impossible,” said Bordin. “There’s no use thinking of it. +Since society invented law it has never found a way to give an innocent +prisoner an equal chance against a magistrate who is pre-disposed +against him. Law is not bilateral. The defence, without spies or +police, cannot call social power to the rescue of its innocent clients. +Innocence has nothing on her side but reason, and reasoning which may +strike a judge is often powerless on the narrow minds of jurymen. The +whole department is against you. The eight jurors who have signed the +indictment are each and all purchasers of national domain. Among the +trial jurors we are certain to have some who have either sold or bought +the same property. In short, we can get nothing but a Malin jury. You +must therefore set up a consistent defence, hold fast to it, and perish +in your innocence. You will certainly be condemned. But there’s a court +of appeal; we will go there and try to remain there as long as possible. +If in the mean time we can collect proofs in your favor you must apply +for pardon. That’s the anatomy of the business, and my advice. If we +triumph (for everything is possible in law) it will be a miracle; but +your advocate Monsieur de Grandville is the most likely man among all I +know to produce that miracle, and I’ll do my best to help him.” + +“The senator has the key to the mystery,” said Monsieur de Grandville; +“for a man knows his enemies and why they are so. Here we find him +leaving Paris at the close of the winter, coming to Gondreville alone, +shutting himself up with his notary, and delivering himself over, as one +might say, to five men who seize him.” + +“Certainly,” said Bordin, “his conduct seems inexplicable. But how +could we, in the face of a hostile community, become accusers when we +ourselves are the accused? We should need the help and good-will of the +government and a thousand times more proof than is wanted in ordinary +circumstances. I am convinced there was premeditation, and subtle +premeditation, on the part of our mysterious adversaries, who must have +known the situation of Michu and the Messieurs de Simeuse towards Malin. +Not to utter one word; not to steal one thing!--remarkable prudence! +I see something very different from ordinary evil-doers behind those +masks. But what would be the use of saying so to the sort of jurors we +shall have to face?” + +This insight into hidden matters which gives such power to certain +lawyers and certain magistrates astonished and confounded Laurence; her +heart was wrung by that inexorable logic. + +“Out of every hundred criminal cases,” continued Bordin, “there are not +ten where the law really lays bare the truth to its full extent; and +there is perhaps a good third in which the truth is never brought to +light at all. Yours is one of those cases which are inexplicable to all +parties, to accused and accusers, to the law and to the public. As for +the Emperor, he has other fish to fry than to consider the case of these +gentlemen, supposing even that they had not conspired against him. But +who the devil _is_ Malin’s enemy? and what has really been done with +him?” + +Bordin and Monsieur de Grandville looked at each other; they seemed in +doubt as to Laurence’s veracity. This evident suspicion was the most +cutting of all the many pangs the girl had suffered in the affair; and +she turned upon the lawyers a look which effectually put an end to their +distrust. + +The next day the indictment was handed over to the defence, and the +lawyers were then enabled to communicate with the prisoners. +Bordin informed the family that the six accused men were “well +supported,”--using a professional term. + +“Monsieur de Grandville will defend Michu,” said Bordin. + +“Michu!” exclaimed the Marquis de Chargeboeuf, amazed at the change. + +“He is the pivot of the affair--the danger lies there,” replied the old +lawyer. + +“If he is more in danger than the others, I think that is just,” cried +Laurence. + +“We see certain chances,” said Monsieur de Grandville, “and we shall +study them carefully. If we are able to save these gentlemen it will be +because Monsieur d’Hauteserre ordered Michu to repair one of the stone +posts in the covered way, and also because a wolf has been seen in +the forest; in a criminal court everything depends on discussions, and +discussions often turn on trivial matters which then become of immense +importance.” + +Laurence sank into that inward dejection which humiliates the soul of +all thoughtful and energetic persons when the uselessness of thought +and action is made manifest to them. It was no longer a matter +of overthrowing a usurper, or of coming to the help of devoted +friends,--fanatical sympathies wrapped in a shroud of mystery. She now +saw all social forces full-armed against her cousins and herself. There +was no taking a prison by assault with her own hands, no deliverance of +prisoners from the midst of a hostile population and beneath the eyes of +a watchful police. So, when the young lawyer, alarmed at the stupor of +the generous and noble girl, which the natural expression of her face +made still more noticeable, endeavored to revive her courage, she turned +to him and said: “I must be silent; I suffer,--I wait.” + +The accent, gesture, and look with which the words were said made this +answer one of those sublime things which only need a wider stage to make +them famous. + +A few moments later old d’Hauteserre was saying to the Marquis de +Chargeboeuf: “What efforts I have made for my two unfortunate sons! I +have already laid by in the Funds enough to give them eight thousand +francs a year. If they had only been willing to serve in the army they +would have reached the higher grades by this time, and could now have +married to advantage. Instead of that, all my plans are scattered to the +winds!” + +“How can you,” said his wife, “think of their interests when it is a +question of their honor and their lives?” + +“Monsieur d’Hauteserre thinks of everything,” said the marquis. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. MARTHE INVEIGLED + +While the masters of Cinq-Cygne were waiting at Troyes for the opening +of the trial before the Criminal court and vainly soliciting permission +to see the prisoners, an event of the utmost importance had taken place +at the chateau. + +Marthe returned to Cinq-Cygne as soon as she had given her testimony +before the indicting jury. This testimony was so insignificant that it +was not thought necessary to summon her before the Criminal court. Like +all persons of extreme sensibility, the poor woman sat silent in the +salon, where she kept company with Mademoiselle Goujet, in a pitiable +state of stupefaction. To her, as to the abbe, and indeed to all others +who did not know how the accused had been employed on that day, their +innocence seemed doubtful. There were moments when Marthe believed +that Michu and his masters and Laurence had executed vengeance on the +senator. The unhappy woman now knew Michu’s devotion well enough to +be certain that he was the one who would be most in danger, not only +because of his antecedents, but because of the part he was sure to have +taken in the execution of the scheme. + +The Abbe Goujet and his sister and Marthe were bewildered among the +possibilities to which this opinion gave rise; and yet, in the process +of thinking them over, their minds insensibly took hold of them in a +certain way. The absolute doubt which Descartes demands can no more +exist in the brain of a man than a vacuum can exist in nature, and the +mental operation required to produce it would, like the effect of a +pneumatic machine, be exceptional and anomalous. Whatever a case may +be, the mind believes in something. Now Marthe was so afraid that the +accused were guilty that her fear became equivalent to belief; and this +condition of her mind proved fatal to her. + +Five days after the arrests, just as she was in the act of going to bed +about ten o’clock at night, she was called from the courtyard by her +mother, who had come from the farm on foot. + +“A laboring man from Troyes wants to speak to you; he is sent by Michu, +and is waiting in the covered way,” she said to Marthe. + +They passed through the breach so as to take the shortest path. In the +darkness it was impossible for Marthe to distinguish anything more than +the form of a person which loomed through the shadows. + +“Speak, madame; so that I may be certain you are really Madame Michu,” + said the person, in a rather anxious voice. + +“I am Madame Michu,” said Marthe; “what do you want of me?” + +“Very good,” said the unknown, “give me your hand; do not fear me. I +come,” he added, leaning towards her and speaking low, “from Michu +with a note for you. I am employed at the prison, and if my superiors +discover my absence we shall all be lost. Trust me; your good father +placed me where I am. For that reason Michu counted on my helping him.” + +He put the letter into Marthe’s hand and disappeared toward the forest +without waiting for an answer. Marthe trembled at the thought that she +was now to hear the secret of the mystery. She ran to the farm with her +mother and shut herself up to read the following letter:-- + + My dear Marthe,--You can rely on the discretion of the man who + will give you this letter; he does not know how to read or to + write. He is a stanch Republican, and shared in Baboeuf’s + conspiracy; your father often made use of him, and he regards the + senator as a traitor. Now, my dear wife, attend to my directions. + The senator has been shut up by us in the cave where our masters + were hidden. The poor creature had provisions for only five days, + and as it is our interest that he should live, I wish you, as soon + as you receive this letter, to take him food for at least five + days more. The forest is of course watched; therefore take as many + precautions as we formerly did for our young masters. Don’t say a + word to Malin; don’t speak to him; and put on one of our masks + which you will find on the steps which lead down to the cave. + Unless you wish to compromise our heads you must be absolutely + silent about this letter and the secret I have now confided to + you. Don’t say a word to Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne, who might + tell of it. Don’t fear for me. We are certain that the matter will + turn out well; when the time comes Malin himself will save us. I + don’t need to tell you to burn this letter as soon as you have + read it, for it would cost me my head if a line of it were seen. I + kiss you for now and always, + + + Michu. + + +The existence of the cave was known only to Marthe, her son, Michu, the +four gentlemen, and Laurence; or rather, Marthe, to whom her husband +had not related the incident of his meeting with Peyrade and Corentin, +believed it was known only to them. Had she consulted her mistress and +the two lawyers, who knew the innocence of the prisoners, the shrewd +Bordin would have gained some light upon the perfidious trap which was +evidently laid for his clients. But Marthe, acting like most women under +a first impulse, was convinced by this proof which came to her own eyes, +and flung the letter into the fire as directed. Nevertheless, moved by +a singular gleam of caution, she caught a portion of it from the flames, +tore off the five first lines, which compromised no one, and sewed them +into the hem of her dress. Terrified at the thought that the prisoner +had been without food for twenty-four hours, she resolved to carry +bread, meat, and wine to him at once; curiosity was well as humanity +permitting no delay. Accordingly, she heated her oven and made, with +her mother’s help, a _pate_ of hare and ducks, a rice cake, roasted two +fowls, selected three bottles of wine, and baked two loaves of bread. +About two in the morning she started for the forest, carrying the load +on her back, accompanied by Couraut, who in all such expeditions +showed wonderful sagacity as a guide. He scented strangers at immense +distances, and as soon as he was certain of their presence he returned +to his mistress with a low growl, looking at her fixedly and turning his +muzzle in the direction of the danger. + +Marthe reached the pond about three in the morning, and left the dog +as sentinel on the bank. After half an hour’s labor in clearing the +entrance she came with a dark lantern to the door of the cave, her face +covered with a mask, which she had found, as directed, on the steps. +The imprisonment of the senator seemed to have been long premeditated. +A hole about a foot square, which Marthe had never seen before, was +roughly cut in the upper part of the iron door which closed the cave; +but in order to prevent Malin from using the time and patience all +prisoners have at their command in loosening the iron bar which held the +door, it was securely fastened with a padlock. + +The senator, who had risen from his bed of moss, sighed when he saw the +masked face and felt that there was no chance then of his deliverance. +He examined Marthe, as much as he could by the unsteady light of her +dark lantern, and he recognized her by her clothes, her stoutness, and +her motions. When she passed the _pate_ through the door he dropped it +to seize her hand and then, with great swiftness, he tried to pull the +rings from her fingers,--one her wedding-ring, the other a gift from +Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne. + +“You cannot deny that it is you, my dear Madame Michu,” he said. + +Marthe closed her fist the moment she felt his fingers, and gave him a +vigorous blow in the chest. Then, without a word, she turned away and +cut a stick, at the end of which she held out to the senator the rest of +the provisions. + +“What do they want of me?” he asked. + +Marthe departed giving him no answer. By five o’clock she had reached +the edge of the forest and was warned by Couraut of the presence of +strangers. She retraced her steps and made for the pavilion where she +had lived so long; but just as she entered the avenue she was seen from +afar by the forester of Gondreville, and she quickly reflected that her +best plan was to go straight up to him. + +“You are out early, Madame Michu,” he said, accosting her. + +“We are so unfortunate,” she replied, “that I am obliged to do a +servant’s work myself. I am going to Bellache for some grain.” + +“Haven’t you any at Cinq-Cygne?” said the forester. + +Marthe made no answer. She continued on her way and reached the farm at +Bellache, where she asked Beauvisage to give her some seed-grain, saying +that Monsieur d’Hauteserre advised her to get it from him to renew her +crop. As soon as Marthe had left the farm, the forester went there to +find out what she asked for. + +Six days later, Marthe, determined to be prudent, went at midnight with +her provisions so as to avoid the keepers who were evidently patrolling +the forest. After carrying a third supply to the senator she suddenly +became terrified on hearing the abbe read aloud the public examination +of the prisoners,--for the trial was by that time begun. She took the +abbe aside, and after obliging him to swear that he would keep the +secret she was about to reveal as though it was said to him in the +confessional, she showed him the fragments of Michu’s letter, told him +the contents of it, and also the secret of the hiding-place where the +senator then was. + +The abbe at once inquired if she had other letters from her husband that +he might compare the writing. Marthe went to her home to fetch them and +there found a summons to appear in court. By the time she returned to +the chateau the abbe and his sister had received a similar summons on +behalf of the defence. They were obliged therefore to start for Troyes +immediately. Thus all the personages of our drama, even those who were +only, as it were, supernumeraries, were collected on the spot where the +fate of the two families was about to be decided. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. THE TRIAL + +There are but few localities in France where Law derives from outward +appearance the dignity which ought always to accompany it. Yet it +surely is, after religion and royalty, the greatest engine of society. +Everywhere, even in Paris, the meanness of its surroundings, the +wretched arrangement of the courtrooms, their barrenness and want of +decoration in the most ornate and showy nation upon earth in the matter +of its public monuments, lessens the action of the law’s mighty power. +At the farther end of some oblong room may be seen a desk with a green +baize covering raised on a platform; behind it sit the judges on +the commonest of arm-chairs. To the left, is the seat of the public +prosecutor, and beside him, close to the wall, is a long pen filled with +chairs for the jury. Opposite to the jury is another pen with a bench +for the prisoners and the gendarmes who guard them. The clerk of the +court sits below the platform at a table covered with the papers of the +case. Before the imperial changes in the administration of justice were +instituted, a commissary of the government and the director of the jury +each had a seat and a table, one to the right, the other to the left of +the baize-covered desk. Two sheriffs hovered about in the space left in +front of the desk for the station of witnesses. Facing the judges and +against the wall above the entrance, there is always a shabby gallery +reserved for officials and for women, to which admittance is granted +only by the president of the court, to whom the proper management of the +courtroom belongs. The non-privileged public are compelled to stand in +the empty space between the door of the hall and the bar. This normal +appearance of all French law courts and assize-rooms was that of the +Criminal court of Troyes. + +In April, 1806, neither the four judges nor the president (or +chief-justice) who made up the court, nor the public prosecutor, the +director of the jury, the commissary of the government, nor the sheriffs +or lawyers, in fact no one except the gendarmes, wore any robes or +other distinctive sign which might have relieved the nakedness of the +surroundings and the somewhat meagre aspect of the figures. The crucifix +was suppressed; its example was no longer held up before the eyes of +justice and of guilt. All was dull and vulgar. The paraphernalia +so necessary to excite social interest is perhaps a consolation to +criminals. On this occasion the eagerness of the public was what it has +ever been and ever will be in trials of this kind, so long as France +refuses to recognize that the admission of the public to the courts +involves publicity, and that the publicity given to trials is a terrible +penalty which would never have been inflicted had legislators reflected +on it. Customs are often more cruel than laws. Customs are the deeds of +men, but laws are the judgment of a nation. Customs in which there is +often no judgment are stronger than laws. + +Crowds surrounded the courtroom; the president was obliged to station +squads of soldiers to guard the doors. The audience, standing below the +bar, was so crowded that persons suffocated. Monsieur de Grandville, +defending Michu, Bordin, defending the Simeuse brothers, and a lawyer +of Troyes who appeared for the d’Hauteserres, were in their seats before +the opening of the court; their faces wore a look of confidence. When +the prisoners were brought in, sympathetic murmurs were heard at the +appearance of the young men, whose faces, in twenty days’ imprisonment +and anxiety, had somewhat paled. The perfect likeness of the twins +excited the deepest interest. Perhaps the spectators thought that Nature +would exercise some special protection in the case of her own anomalies, +and felt ready to join in repairing the harm done to them by destiny. +Their noble, simple faces, showing no signs of shame, still less of +bravado, touched the women’s hearts. The four gentlemen and Gothard wore +the clothes in which they had been arrested; but Michu, whose coat and +trousers were among the “articles of testimony,” so-called, had put +on his best clothes,--a blue surtout, a brown velvet waistcoat _a la_ +Robespierre, and a white cravat. The poor man paid the penalty of his +dangerous-looking face. When he cast a glance of his yellow eye, so +clear and so profound upon the audience, a murmur of repulsion answered +it. The assembly chose to see the finger of God bringing him to the dock +where his father-in-law had sacrificed so many victims. This man, truly +great, looked at his masters, repressing a smile of scorn. He seemed to +say to them, “I am injuring your cause.” Five of the prisoners exchanged +greetings with their counsel. Gothard still played the part of an idiot. + +After several challenges, made with much sagacity by the defence under +advice of the Marquis de Chargeboeuf, who boldly took a seat beside +Bordin and de Grandville, the jury were empanelled, the indictment was +read, and the prisoners were brought up separately to be examined. They +answered every question with remarkable unanimity. After riding about +the forest all the morning they had returned to Cinq-Cygne for breakfast +at one o’clock. After that meal, from three to half-past five in the +afternoon, they had returned to the forest. That was the basis of each +testimony; any variations were merely individual circumstances. When +the president asked the Messieurs de Simeuse why they had ridden out so +early, they both declared that wishing, since their return, to buy back +Gondreville and intending to make an offer to Malin who had arrived the +night before, they had gone out early with their cousin and Michu to +make certain examinations of the property on which to base their offer. +During that time the Messieurs d’Hauteserre, their cousin, and Gothard +had chased a wolf which was reported in the forest by the peasantry. If +the director of the jury had sought for the prints of their horses’ feet +in the forest as carefully as in the park of Gondreville, he would have +found proof of their presence at long distances from the house. + +The examination of the Messieurs d’Hauteserre corroborated this +testimony, and was in harmony with their preliminary dispositions. The +necessity of some reason for their ride suggested to each of them the +excuse of hunting. The peasants had given warning, a few days earlier, +of a wolf in the forest, and on that they had fastened as a pretext. + +The public prosecutor, however, pointed out a discrepancy between the +first statements of the Messieurs d’Hauteserre, in which they mentioned +that the whole party hunted together, and the defence now made by the +Messieurs de Simeuse that their purpose on that day was the valuation of +the forest. + +Monsieur de Grandville here called attention to the fact that as the +crime was not committed until after two o’clock in the afternoon, the +prosecution had no ground to question their word when they stated the +manner in which they had employed their morning. + +The prosecutor replied that the prisoners had an interest in concealing +their preparations for the abduction of the senator. + +The remarkable ability of the defence was now felt. Judges, jurors, and +audience became aware that victory would be hotly contested. Bordin and +Monsieur de Grandville had studied their ground and foreseen everything. +Innocence is required to render a clear and plausible account of its +actions. The duty of the defence is to present a consistent and probable +tale in opposition to an insufficient and improbable accusation. To +counsel who regard their client as innocent, an accusation is false. +The public examination of the four gentlemen sufficiently explained the +matter in their favor. So far all was well. But the examination of Michu +was more serious; there the real struggle began. It was now clear to +every one why Monsieur de Grandville had preferred to take charge of the +servant’s defence rather than that of his masters. + +Michu admitted his threats against Marion; but denied that he had made +them violently. As for the ambush in which he was supposed to have +watched for his enemy, he said he was merely making his rounds in his +park; the senator and Monsieur Grevin might perhaps have been alarmed at +the sight of his gun and have thought his intentions hostile when they +were really inoffensive. He called attention to the fact that in the +dusk a man who was not in the habit of hunting might easily fancy a gun +was pointed at him, whereas, in point of fact, it was held in his hand +at half-cock. To explain the condition of his clothes when arrested, he +said he had slipped and fallen in the breach on his way home. “I could +scarcely see my way,” he said, “and the loose stones slipped from under +me as I climbed the bank.” As for the plaster which Gothard was bringing +him, he replied as he had done in all previous examinations, that he +wanted it to secure one of the stone posts of the covered way. + +The public prosecutor and the president asked him to explain how he +could have been at the top of the covered way engaged in mending a +stone post and at the same time in the breach of the moat leading to the +chateau; more especially as the justice of peace, the gendarmes and the +forester all declared they had heard him approach them from the lower +road. To this Michu replied that Monsieur d’Hauteserre had blamed him +for not having mended the post,--which he was anxious to have finished +because there were difficulties about that road with the township,--and +he had therefore gone up to the chateau to report that the work was +done. + +Monsieur d’Hauteserre had, in fact, put up a fence above the covered way +to prevent the township from taking possession of it. Michu seeing +the important part which the state of his clothes was likely to play, +invented this subterfuge. If, in law, truth is often like falsehood, +falsehood on the other hand has a very great resemblance to truth. +The defence and the prosecution both attached much importance to this +testimony, which became one of the leading points of the trial +on account of the vigor of the defence and the suspicions of the +prosecution. + +Gothard, instructed no doubt by Monsieur de Grandville, for up to that +time he had only wept when they questioned him, admitted that Michu had +told him to carry the plaster. + +“Why did neither you nor Gothard take the justice of peace and the +forester to the stone post and show them your work?” said the public +prosecutor, addressing Michu. + +“Because,” replied the man, “I didn’t believe there was any serious +accusation against us.” + +All the prisoners except Gothard were now removed from the courtroom. +When Gothard was left alone the president adjured him to speak the truth +for his own sake, pointing out that his pretended idiocy had come to an +end; none of the jurors believed him imbecile; if he refused to answer +the court he ran the risk of serious penalty; whereas by telling the +truth at once he would probably be released. Gothard wept, hesitated, +and finally ended by saying that Michu had told him to carry several +sacks of plaster; but that each time he had met him near the farm. He +was asked how many sacks he had carried. + +“Three,” he replied. + +An argument hereupon ensued as to whether the three sacks included the +one which Gothard was carrying at the time of the arrest (which reduced +the number of the other sacks to two) or whether there were three +without the last. The debate ended in favor of the first proposition, +the jury considering that only two sacks had been used. They appeared +to have a foregone conviction on that point, but Bordin and Monsieur de +Grandville judged it best to surfeit them with plaster, and weary them +so thoroughly with the argument that they would no longer comprehend the +question. Monsieur de Grandville made it appear that experts ought to +have been sent to examine the stone posts. + +“The director of the jury,” he said, “has contented himself with merely +visiting the place, less for the purpose of making a careful examination +than to trap Michu in a lie; this, in our opinion, was a failure of +duty, but the blunder is to our advantage.” + +On this the Court appointed experts to examine the posts and see if one +of them had been really mended and reset. The public prosecutor, on his +side, endeavored to make capital of the affair before the experts could +testify. + +“You seem to have chosen,” he said to Michu, who was now brought +back into the courtroom, “an hour when the daylight was waning, from +half-past five to half-past six o’clock, to mend this post and to cement +it all alone.” + +“Monsieur d’Hauteserre had blamed me for not doing it,” replied Michu. + +“But,” said the prosecutor, “if you used that plaster on the post you +must have had a trough and a trowel. Now, if you went to the chateau +to tell Monsieur d’Hauteserre that you had done the work, how do you +explain the fact that Gothard was bringing you more plaster. You +must have passed your farm on your way to the chateau, and you would +naturally have left your tools at home and stopped Gothard.” + +This overwhelming argument produced a painful silence in the courtroom. + +“Come,” said the prosecutor, “you had better admit at once that what you +buried was _not a stone post_.” + +“Do you think it was the senator?” said Michu, sarcastically. + +Monsieur de Grandville hereupon demanded that the public prosecutor +should explain his meaning. Michu was accused of abduction and the +concealment of a person, but not of murder. Such an insinuation was +a serious matter. The code of Brumaire, year IV., forbade the public +prosecutor from presenting any fresh count at the trial; he must keep +within the indictment or the proceedings would be annulled. + +The public prosecutor replied that Michu, the person chiefly concerned +in the abduction and who, in the interests of his masters, had taken the +responsibility on his own shoulders, might have thought it necessary to +plaster up the entrance of the hiding-place, still undiscovered, where +the senator was now immured. + +Pressed with questions, hampered by the presence of Gothard, and brought +into contradiction with himself, Michu struck his fist upon the edge of +the dock with a resounding blow and said: “I have had nothing whatever +to do with the abduction of the senator. I hope and believe his enemies +have merely imprisoned him; when he reappears you’ll find out that the +plaster was put to no such use.” + +“Good!” said de Grandville, addressing the public prosecutor; “you have +done more for my client’s cause than anything I could have said.” + +The first day’s session ended with this bold declaration, which +surprised the judges and gave an advantage to the defence. The lawyers +of the town and Bordin himself congratulated the young advocate. The +prosecutor, uneasy at the assertion, feared that he had fallen into some +trap; in fact he was really caught in a snare that was cleverly set for +him by the defence and admirably played off by Gothard. The wits of the +town declared that he had white-washed the affair and splashed his own +cause, and had made the accused as white as the plaster itself. France +is the domain of satire, which reigns supreme in our land; Frenchmen +jest on a scaffold, at the Beresina, at the barricades, and some will +doubtless appear with a quirk upon their lips at the grand assizes of +the Last Judgment. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. TRIAL CONTINUED: CRUEL VICISSITUDES + +On the morrow the witnesses for the prosecution were examined,--Madame +Marion, Madame Grevin, Grevin himself, the senator’s valet, and +Violette, whose testimony can readily be imagined from the facts +already told. They all identified the five prisoners, with more or less +hesitation as to the four gentlemen, but with absolute certainty as to +Michu. Beauvisage repeated Robert d’Hauteserre’s speech when he met +them at daybreak in the park. The peasant who had bought Monsieur +d’Hauteserre’s calf testified to overhearing that of Mademoiselle de +Cinq-Cygne. The experts, who had compared the hoof-prints with the shoes +on the horses ridden by the five prisoners and found them absolutely +alike, confirmed their previous depositions. This point was naturally +one of vehement contention between Monsieur de Grandville and the +prosecuting officer. The defence called the blacksmith at Cinq-Cygne +and succeeded in proving that he had sold several horseshoes of the same +pattern to strangers who were not known in the place. The blacksmith +declared, moreover, that he was in the habit of shoeing in this +particular manner not only the horses of the chateau de Cinq-Cygne, but +those from other places in the canton. It was also proved that the horse +which Michu habitually rode was always shod at Troyes, and the mark of +that shoe was not among the hoof-prints found in the park. + +“Michu’s double was not aware of this circumstance, or he would have +provided for it,” said Monsieur de Grandville, looking at the jury. +“Neither has the prosecution shown what horses our clients rode.” + +He ridiculed the testimony of Violette so far as it concerned a +recognition of the horses, seen from a long distance, from behind, and +after dusk. Still, in spite of all his efforts, the body of the evidence +was against Michu; and the prosecutor, judge, jury, and audience were +impressed with a feeling (as the lawyers for the defence had foreseen) +that the guilt of the servant carried with it that of the masters. So +the vital interest centred on all that concerned Michu. His bearing +was noble. He showed in his answers the sagacity with which nature had +endowed him; and the public, seeing him on his mettle, recognized his +superiority. And yet, strange to say, the more they understood him the +more certainty they felt that he was the instigator of the outrage. + +The witnesses for the defence, always less important in the eyes of a +jury and of the law than the witnesses for the prosecution, seemed to +testify as in duty bound, and were listened to with that allowance. In +the first place neither Marthe, nor Monsieur and Madame d’Hauteserre +took the oath. Catherine and the Durieus, in their capacity as servants, +did not take it. Monsieur d’Hauteserre stated that he had ordered Michu +to replace and mend the stone post which had been thrown down. The +deposition of the experts sent to examine the fence, which was now read, +confirmed his testimony; but they helped the prosecution by declaring +they could not fix the exact time at which the repairs had been made; it +might have been several weeks or no more than twenty days. + +The appearance of Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne excited the liveliest +curiosity; but the sight of her cousins in the prisoners’ dock after +three weeks’ separation affected her so much that her emotions gave +the audience an impression of guilt. She felt an overwhelming desire to +stand beside the twins, and was obliged, as she afterwards admitted, to +use all her strength to repress the longing that came into her mind +to kill the prosecutor so as to stand in the eyes of the world as a +criminal beside them. She testified, with simplicity, that riding from +Cinq-Cygne and seeing smoke in the park of Gondreville, she had supposed +there was a fire; at first she thought they were burning weeds or brush; +“but later,” she added, “I observed a circumstance which I offer to the +attention of the Court. I found in the frogging of my habit and in the +folds of my collar small fragments of what appeared to be burned paper +which were floating in the air.” + +“Was there much smoke?” asked Bordin. + +“Yes,” replied Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne, “I feared a conflagration.” + +“This is enough to change the whole inquiry,” remarked Bordin. “I +request the Court to order an immediate examination of that region of +the park where the fire occurred.” + +The president ordered the inquiry. + +Grevin, recalled by the defence and questioned on this circumstance, +declared he knew nothing about it. But Bordin and he exchanged looks +which mutually enlightened them. + +“The gist of the case is there,” thought the old notary. + +“They’ve laid their finger on it,” thought the notary. + +But each shrewd head considered the following up of this point useless. +Bordin reflected that Grevin would be silent as the grave; and Grevin +congratulated himself that every sign of the fire had been effaced. + +To settle this point, which seemed a mere accessory to the trial and +somewhat puerile (but which is really essential in the justification +which history owes to these young men), the experts and Pigoult, who +were despatched by the president to examine the park, reported that they +could find no traces of a bonfire. + +Bordin summoned two laborers, who testified to having dug over, under +the direction of the forester, a tract of ground in the park where +the grass had been burned; but they declared they had not observed the +nature of the ashes they had buried. + +The forester, recalled by the defence, said he had received from the +senator himself, as he was passing the chateau of Gondreville on his way +to the masquerade at Arcis, an order to dig over that particular piece +of ground which the senator had remarked as needing it. + +“Had papers, or herbage been burned there?” + +“I could not say. I saw nothing that made me think that papers had been +burned there,” replied the forester. + +“At any rate,” said Bordin, “if, as it appears, a fire was kindled on +that piece of ground some one brought to the spot whatever was burned +there.” + +The testimony of the abbe and that of Mademoiselle Goujet made a +favorable impression. They said that as they left the church after +vespers and were walking towards home, they met the four gentlemen +and Michu leaving the chateau on horseback and making their way to +the forest. The character, position, and known uprightness of the Abbe +Goujet gave weight to his words. + +The summing up of the public prosecutor, who felt sure of obtaining a +verdict, was in the nature of all such speeches. The prisoners were the +incorrigible enemies of France, her institutions and laws. They thirsted +for tumult and conspiracy. Though they had belonged to the army of Conde +and had shared in the late attempts against the life of the Emperor, +that magnanimous sovereign had erased their names from the list of +_emigres_. This was the return they made for his clemency! In short, all +the oratorical declamations of the Bourbons against the Bonapartists, +which in our day are repeated against the republicans and the +legitimists by the Younger Branch, flourished in the speech. These trite +commonplaces, which might have some meaning under a fixed government, +seem farcical in the mouth of administrators of all epochs and opinions. +A saying of the troublous times of yore is still applicable: “The label +is changed, but the wine is the same as ever.” The public prosecutor, +one of the most distinguished legal men under the Empire, attributed +the crime to a fixed determination on the part of returned _emigres_ to +protest against the sale of their estates. He made the audience shudder +at the probable condition of the senator; then he massed together +proofs, half-proofs, and probabilities with a cleverness stimulated by +a sense that his zeal was certain of its reward, and sat down tranquilly +to await the fire of his opponents. + +Monsieur de Grandville never argued but this one criminal case; and it +made his reputation. In the first place, he spoke with the same glowing +eloquence which to-day we admire in Berryer. He was profoundly convinced +of the innocence of his clients, and that in itself is a most powerful +auxiliary of speech. The following are the chief points of his defence, +which was reported in full by all the leading newspapers of the period. +In the first place he exhibited the character and life of Michu in its +true light. He made it a noble tale, ringing with lofty sentiments, and +it awakened the sympathies of many. When Michu heard himself vindicated +by that eloquent voice, tears sprang from his yellow eyes and rolled +down his terrible face. He appeared then for what he really was,--a man +as simple and as wily as a child; a being whose whole existence had +but one thought, one aim. He was suddenly explained to the minds of all +present, more especially by his tears, which produced a great effect +upon the jury. His able defender seized that moment of strong interest +to enter upon a discussion of the charges:-- + +“Where is the body of the person abducted? Where is the senator?” he +asked. “You accuse us of walling him up with stones and plaster. If so, +we alone know where he is; you have kept us twenty-three days in prison, +and the senator must be dead by this time for want of food. We are +therefore murderers, but you have not accused us of murder. On the other +hand, if he still lives, we must have accomplices. If we have them, and +if the senator is living, we should assuredly have set him at liberty. +The scheme in relation to Gondreville which you attribute to us is a +failure, and only aggravates our position uselessly. We might perhaps +obtain a pardon for an abortive attempt by releasing our victim; instead +of that we persist in detaining a man from whom we can obtain no +benefit whatever. It is absurd! Take away your plaster; the effect is +a failure,” he said, addressing the public prosecutor. “We are either +idiotic criminals (which you do not believe) or the innocent victims of +circumstances as inexplicable to us as they are to you. You ought rather +to search for the mass of papers which were burned at Gondreville, which +will reveal motives stronger far than yours or ours and put you on the +track of the causes of this abduction.” + +The speaker discussed these hypotheses with marvellous ability. He dwelt +on the moral character of the witnesses for the defence, whose religious +faith was a living one, who believed in a future life and in eternal +punishment. He rose to grandeur in this part of his speech and moved his +hearers deeply:-- + +“Remember!” he said; “these criminals were tranquilly dining when told +of the abduction of the senator. When the officer of gendarmes intimated +to them the best means of ending the whole affair by giving up the +senator, they refused, for they did not understand what was asked of +them!” + +Then, reverting to the mystery of the matter, he declared that its +solution was in the hands of time, which would eventually reveal the +injustice of the charge. Once on this ground, he boldly and ingeniously +supposed himself a juror; related his deliberations with his colleagues; +imagined his distress lest, having condemned the innocent, the error +should be known too late, and drew such a picture of his remorse, +dwelling on the grave doubts which the case presented, that he brought +the jury to a condition of intense anxiety. + +Juries were not in those days so blase to this sort of allocution as +they are now; Monsieur de Grandville’s appeal had the power of things +new, and the jurors were evidently shaken. After this passionate +outburst they had to listen to the wily and specious prosecutor, who +went over the whole case, brought out the darkest points against the +prisoners and made the rest inexplicable. His aim was to reach the +minds and the reasoning faculties of his hearers just as Monsieur de +Grandville had aimed at the heart and the imagination. The latter, +however, had seriously entangled the convictions of the jury, and the +public prosecutor found his well-laid arguments ineffectual. This was +so plain that the counsel for the Messieurs d’Hauteserre and Gothard +appealed to the judgment of the jury, asking that the case against their +clients be abandoned. The prosecutor demanded a postponement till the +next day in order that he might prepare an answer. Bordin, who saw +acquittal in the eyes of the jury if they deliberated on the case at +once, opposed the delay of even one night by arguments of legal right +and justice to his innocent clients; but in vain,--the court allowed it. + +“The interests of society are as great as those of the accused,” said +the president. “The court would be lacking in equity if it denied a like +request when made by the defence; it ought therefore to grant that of +the prosecution.” + +“All is luck or ill-luck!” said Bordin to his clients when the session +was over. “Almost acquitted tonight you may be condemned to-morrow.” + +“In either case,” said the elder de Simeuse, “we can only admire your +skill.” + +Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne’s eyes were full of tears. After the doubts +and fears of the counsel for the defence, she had not expected this +success. Those around her congratulated her and predicted the acquittal +of her cousins. But alas! the matter was destined to end in a startling +and almost theatrical event, the most unexpected and disastrous +circumstance which ever changed the face of a criminal trial. + +At five in the morning of the day after Monsieur de Grandville’s +speech, the senator was found on the high road to Troyes, delivered from +captivity during his sleep, unaware of the trial that was going on or +of the excitement attaching to his name in Europe, and simply happy in +being once more able to breathe the fresh air. The man who was the pivot +of the drama was quite as amazed at what was now told to him as +the persons who met him on his way to Troyes were astounded at his +reappearance. A farmer lent him a carriage and he soon reached the house +of the prefect at Troyes. The prefect notified the director of the jury, +the commissary of the government, and the public prosecutor, who, after +a statement made to them by Malin, arrested Marthe, while she was still +in bed at the Durieu’s house in the suburbs. Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne, +who was only at liberty under bail, was also snatched from one of the +few hours of slumber she had been able to obtain at rare intervals in +the course of her ceaseless anxiety, and taken to the prefecture to +undergo an examination. An order to keep the accused from holding any +communication with each other or with their counsel was sent to the +prison. At ten o’clock the crowd which assembled around the courtroom +were informed that the trial was postponed until one o’clock in the +afternoon of the same day. + +This change of hour, following on the news of the senator’s deliverance, +Marthe’s arrest, and that of Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne, together with +the denial of the right to communicate with the prisoners carried terror +to the hotel de Chargeboeuf. The whole town and the spectators who had +come to Troyes to be present at the trial, the short-hand writers +for the daily journals, even the populace were in a ferment which can +readily be imagined. The Abbe Goujet came at ten o’clock to see Monsieur +and Madame d’Hauteserre and the counsel for the defence, who were +breakfasting--as well as they could under the circumstances. The abbe +took Bordin and Monsieur Grandville apart, told them what Marthe had +confided to him the day before, and gave them the fragment of the letter +she had received. The two lawyers exchanged a look, after which Bordin +said to the abbe: “Not a word of all this! The case is lost; but at any +rate let us show a firm front.” + +Marthe was not strong enough to evade the cross-questioning of the +director of the jury and the public prosecutor. Moreover the proof +against her was too overwhelming. Lechesneau had sent for the under +crust of the last loaf of bread she had carried to the cavern, also for +the empty bottles and various other articles. During the senator’s long +hours of captivity he had formed conjectures in his own mind and had +looked for indications which might put him on the track of his enemies. +These he now communicated to the authorities. Michu’s farmhouse, lately +built, had, he supposed, a new oven; the tiles or bricks on which the +bread was baked would show their jointed lines on the bottom of the +loaves, and thus afford a proof that the bread supplied to him was baked +on that particular oven. So with the wine brought in bottles sealed with +green wax, which would probably be found identical with other bottles in +Michu’s cellar. These shrewd observations, which Malin imparted to the +justice of peace, who made the first examination (taking Marthe with +him), led to the results foreseen by the senator. + +Marthe, deceived by the apparent friendliness of Lechesneau and the +public prosecutor, who assured her that complete confession could alone +save her husband’s life, admitted that the cavern where the senator had +been hidden was known only to her husband and the Messieurs de Simeuse +and d’Hauteserre, and that she herself had taken provisions to the +senator on three separate occasions at midnight. + +Laurence, questioned about the cavern, was forced to acknowledge that +Michu had discovered it and had shown it to her at the time when the +four young men evaded the police and were hidden in it. + +As soon as these preliminary examinations were ended, the jury, lawyers, +and audience were notified that the trial would be resumed. At three +o’clock the president opened the session by announcing that the case +would be continued under a new aspect. He exhibited to Michu three +bottles of wine and asked him if he recognized them as bottles from his +own cellar, showing him at the same time the identity between the green +wax on two empty bottles with the green wax on a full bottle taken from +his cellar that morning by the justice of peace in presence of his wife. +Michu refused to recognize anything as his own. But these proofs for +the prosecution were understood by the jurors, to whom the president +explained that the empty bottles were found in the place where the +senator was imprisoned. + +Each prisoner was questioned as to the cavern or cellar beneath the +ruins of the old monastery. It was proved by all witnesses for the +prosecution, and also for the defence, that the existence of this +hiding-place discovered by Michu was known only to him and his wife, and +to Laurence and the four gentlemen. We may judge of the effect in the +courtroom when the public prosecutor made known the fact that this +cavern, known only to the accused and to their two witnesses, was the +place where the senator had been imprisoned. + +Marthe was summoned. Her appearance caused much excitement among the +spectators and keen anxiety to the prisoners. Monsieur de Grandville +rose to protest against the testimony of a wife against her husband. +The public prosecutor replied that Marthe by her own confession was an +accomplice in the outrage; that she had neither sworn nor testified, and +was to be heard solely in the interests of truth. + +“We need only submit her preliminary examination to the jury,” remarked +the president, who now ordered the clerk of the court to read the said +testimony aloud. + +“Do you now confirm your own statement?” said the president, addressing +Marthe. + +Michu looked at his wife, and Marthe, who saw her fatal error, fainted +away and fell to the floor. It may be truly said that a thunderbolt had +fallen upon the prisoners and their counsel. + +“I never wrote to my wife from prison, and I know none of the persons +employed there,” said Michu. + +Bordin passed to him the fragments of the letter Marthe had received. +Michu gave but one glance at it. “My writing has been imitated,” he +said. + +“Denial is your last resource,” said the public prosecutor. + +The senator was introduced into the courtroom with all the ceremonies +due to his position. His entrance was like a stage scene. Malin (now +called Comte de Gondreville, without regard to the feelings of the late +owners of the property) was requested by the president to look at the +prisoners, and did so with great attention and for a long time. He +stated that the clothing of his abductors was exactly like that worn +by the four gentlemen; but he declared that the trouble of his mind had +been such that he could not be positive that the accused were really the +guilty parties. + +“More than that,” he said, “it is my conviction that these four +gentlemen had nothing to do with it. The hands that blindfolded me in +the forest were coarse and rough. I should rather suppose,” he added, +looking at Michu, “that my old enemy took charge of that duty; but I beg +the gentlemen of the jury not to give too much weight to this remark. My +suspicions are very slight, and I feel no certainty whatever--for this +reason. The two men who seized me put me on horseback behind the man who +blindfolded me, and whose hair was red like Michu’s. However singular +you may consider the observation I am about to make, it is necessary +to make it because it is the ground of an opinion favorable to the +accused--who, I hope, will not feel offended by it. Fastened to the +man’s back I would naturally have been affected by his odor--yet I +did not perceive that which is peculiar to Michu. As to the person who +brought me provisions on three several occasions, I am certain it was +Marthe, the wife of Michu. I recognized her the first time she came by +a ring she always wore, which she had forgotten to remove. The Court and +jury will please allow for the contradictions which appear in the facts +I have stated, which I myself am wholly unable to reconcile.” + +A murmur of approval followed this testimony. Bordin asked permission of +the Court to address a few questions to the witness. + +“Does the senator think that his abduction was due to other causes than +the interests respecting property which the prosecution attributes to +the prisoners?” + +“I do,” replied the senator, “but I am wholly ignorant of what the real +motives were; for during a captivity of twenty days I saw and heard no +one.” + +“Do you think,” said the public prosecutor, “that your chateau at +Gondreville contains information, title-deeds, or other papers of value +which would induce a search on the part of the Messieurs de Simeuse?” + +“I do not think so,” replied Malin; “I believe those gentlemen to be +incapable of attempting to get possession of such papers by violence. +They had only to ask me for them to obtain them.” + +“You burned certain papers in the park, did you not?” said Monsieur de +Gondreville, abruptly. + +Malin looked at Grevin. After exchanging a rapid glance with the notary, +which Bordin intercepted, he replied that he had not burned any papers. +The public prosecutor having asked him to describe the ambush to which +he had so nearly fallen a victim two years earlier, the senator replied +that he had seen Michu watching him from the fork of a tree. This +answer, which agreed with Grevin’s testimony, produced a great +impression. + +The four gentlemen remained impassible during the examination of their +enemy, who seemed determined to overwhelm them with generosity. Laurence +suffered horrible agony. From time to time the Marquis de Chargeboeuf +held her by the arm, fearing she might dart forward to the rescue. The +Comte de Gondreville retired from the courtroom and as he did so he +bowed to the four gentlemen, who did not return the salutation. This +trifling matter made the jury indignant. + +“They are lost now,” whispered Bordin to the Marquis de Chargeboeuf. + +“Alas, yes! and always through the nobility of their sentiments,” + replied the marquis. + +“My task is now only too easy, gentlemen,” said the prosecutor, rising +to address the jury. + +He explained the use of the cement by the necessity of securing an iron +frame on which to fasten a padlock which held the iron bar with which +the gate of the cavern was closed; a description of which was given in +the _proces-verbal_ made that morning by Pigoult. He put the falsehoods +of the accused into the strongest light, and pulverized the arguments +of the defence with the new evidence so miraculously obtained. In 1806 +France was still too near the Supreme Being of 1793 to talk about divine +justice; he therefore spared the jury all reference to the intervention +of heaven; but he said that earthly justice would be on the watch for +the mysterious accomplices who had set the senator at liberty, and he +sat down, confidently awaiting the verdict. + +The jury believed there was a mystery, but they were all persuaded that +it came from the prisoners, who were probably concealing some matter of +a private interest of great importance to them. + +Monsieur de Grandville, to whom a plot or machination of some kind was +quite evident, rose; but he seemed discouraged,--less, however, by the +new evidence than by the manifest opinion of the jury. He surpassed, +if anything, his speech of the previous evening; his argument was more +compact and logical; but he felt his fervor repelled by the coldness of +the jury; he spoke ineffectually, and he knew it,--a chilling situation +for an advocate. He called attention to the fact that the release of +the senator, as if by magic and clearly without the aid of any of the +accused or of Marthe, corroborated his previous argument. Yesterday the +prisoners could most surely rely on acquittal, and if they had, as the +prosecution claimed, the power to hold or to release the senator, they +certainly would not have released him until after their acquittal. He +endeavored to bring before the minds of the Court and jury the fact that +mysterious enemies, undiscovered as yet, could alone have struck the +accused this final blow. + +Strange to say, the only minds Monsieur de Grandville reached with this +argument were those of the public prosecutor and the judges. The jury +listened perfunctorily; the audience, usually so favorable to prisoners, +were convinced of their guilt. In a court of justice the sentiments +of the crowd do unquestionably weigh upon the judges and the jury, and +_vice versa_. Seeing this condition of the minds about him, which could +be felt if not defined, the counsel uttered his last words in a tone of +passionate excitement caused by his conviction:-- + +“In the name of the accused,” he cried, “I forgive you for the fatal +error you are about to commit, and which nothing can repair! We are the +victims of some mysterious and Machiavellian power. Marthe Michu was +inveigled by vile perfidy. You will discover this too late, when the +evil you now do will be irreparable.” + +Bordin simply claimed the acquittal of the prisoners on the testimony of +the senator himself. + +The president summed up the case with all the more impartiality because +it was evident that the minds of the jurors were already made up. He +even turned the scales in favor of the prisoners by dwelling on the +senator’s evidence. This clemency, however, did not in the least +endanger the success of the prosecution. At eleven o’clock that night, +after the jury had replied through their foreman to the usual questions, +the Court condemned Michu to death, the Messieurs de Simeuse to +twenty-four years’ and the Messieurs d’Hauteserre to ten years, penal +servitude at hard labor. Gothard was acquitted. + +The whole audience was eager to observe the bearing of the five guilty +men in this supreme moment of their lives. The four gentlemen looked +at Laurence, who returned them, with dry eyes, the ardent look of the +martyrs. + +“She would have wept had we been acquitted,” said the younger de Simeuse +to his brother. + +Never did convicted men meet an unjust fate with serener brows or +countenances more worthy of their manhood than these five victims of a +cruel plot. + +“Our counsel has forgiven you,” said the eldest de Simeuse to the Court. + + * * * * * + +Madame d’Hauteserre fell ill, and was three months in her bed at the +hotel de Chargeboeuf. Monsieur d’Hauteserre returned patiently to +Cinq-Cygne, inwardly gnawed by one of those sorrows of old age which +have none of youth’s distractions; often he was so absent-minded that +the abbe, who watched him, knew the poor father was living over again +the scene of the fatal verdict. Marthe passed away from all blame; she +died three weeks after the condemnation of her husband, confiding her +son to Laurence, in whose arms she died. + +The trial once over, political events of the utmost importance effaced +even the memory of it, and nothing further was discovered. Society is +like the ocean; it returns to its level and its specious calmness +after a disaster, effacing all traces of it in the tide of its eager +interests. + +Without her natural firmness of mind and her knowledge of her cousins’ +innocence, Laurence would have succumbed; but she gave fresh proof of +the grandeur of her character; she astonished Monsieur de Grandville and +Bordin by the apparent serenity which these terrible misfortunes called +forth in her noble soul. She nursed Madame d’Hauteserre and went daily +to the prison, saying openly that she would marry one of the cousins +when they were taken to the galleys. + +“To the galleys!” cried Bordin, “Mademoiselle! our first endeavor must +be to wring their pardon from the Emperor.” + +“Their pardon!--_from a Bonaparte_?” cried Laurence in horror. + +The spectacles of the old lawyer jumped from his nose; he caught them +as they fell and looked at the young girl who was now indeed a woman; he +understood her character at last in all its bearings; then he took the +arm of the Marquis de Chargeboeuf, saying:-- + +“Monsieur le Marquis, let us go to Paris instantly and save them without +her!” + +The appeal of the Messieurs de Simeuse and d’Hauteserre and that +of Michu was the first case to be brought before the new court. Its +decision was fortunately delayed by the ceremonies attending its +installation. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. THE EMPEROR’S BIVOUAC + +Towards the end of September, after three sessions of the Court +of Appeals in which the lawyers for the defence pleaded, and the +attorney-general Merlin himself spoke for the prosecution, the appeal +was rejected. The Imperial Court of Paris was by this time instituted. +Monsieur de Grandville was appointed assistant attorney-general, and the +department of the Aube coming under the jurisdiction of this court, it +became possible for him to take certain steps in favor of the convicted +prisoners, among them that of importuning Cambaceres, his protector. +Bordin and Monsieur de Chargeboeuf came to his house in the Marais the +day after the appeal was rejected, where they found him in the midst of +his honeymoon, for he had married in the interval. In spite of all these +changes in his condition, Monsieur de Chargeboeuf saw very plainly that +the young lawyer was faithful to his late clients. Certain lawyers, the +artists of their profession, treat their causes like mistresses. This is +rare, however, and must not be depended on. + +As soon as they were alone in his study, Monsieur de Grandville said to +the marquis: “I have not waited for your visit; I have already employed +all my influence. Don’t attempt to save Michu; if you do, you cannot +obtain the pardon of the Messieurs de Simeuse. The law will insist on +one victim.” + +“Good God!” cried Bordin, showing the young magistrate the three +petitions for mercy; “how can I take upon myself to withdraw the +application for that man. If I suppress the paper I cut off his head.” + +He held out the petition; de Grandville took it, looked it over, and +said:-- + +“We can’t suppress it; but be sure of one thing, if you ask all you will +obtain nothing.” + +“Have we time to consult Michu?” asked Bordin. + +“Yes. The order for execution comes from the office of the +attorney-general; I will see that you have some days. We kill men,” he +said with some bitterness, “but at least we do it formally, especially +in Paris.” + +Monsieur de Chargeboeuf had already received from the chief justice +certain information which added weight to these sad words of Monsieur de +Grandville. + +“Michu is innocent, I know,” continued the young lawyer, “but what can +we do against so many? Remember, too, that my present influence depends +on my keeping silent. I must order the scaffold to be prepared, or my +late client is certain to be beheaded.” + +Monsieur de Chargeboeuf knew Laurence well enough to be certain she +would never consent to save her cousins at the expense of Michu; he +therefore resolved on making one more effort. He asked an audience of +the minister of foreign affairs to learn if salvation could be looked +for through the influence of the great diplomat. He took Bordin with +him, for the latter knew the minister and had done him some service. +The two old men found Talleyrand sitting with his feet stretched out, +absorbed in contemplation of his fire, his head resting on his hand, his +elbow on the table, a newspaper lying at his feet. The minister had just +read the decision of the Court of Appeals. + +“Pray sit down, Monsieur le marquis,” said Talleyrand, “and you, +Bordin,” he added, pointing to a place at the table, “write as +follows:--” + + Sire,--Four innocent gentlemen, declared guilty by a jury have + just had their condemnation confirmed by your Court of Appeals. + + Your Imperial Majesty can now only pardon them. These gentlemen + ask this pardon of your august clemency, in the hope that they may + enter your army and meet their death in battle before your eyes; + and thus praying, they are, of your Imperial and Royal Majesty, + with reverence, etc. + +“None but princes can do such prompt and graceful kindness,” said the +Marquis de Chargeboeuf, taking the precious draft of the petition from +the hands of Bordin that he might have it signed by the four gentlemen; +resolving in his own mind that he would also obtain the signatures of +several august names. + +“The life of your young relatives, Monsieur le marquis,” said the +minister, “now depends on the turn of a battle. Endeavor to reach the +Emperor on the morning after a victory and they are saved.” + +He took a pen and himself wrote a private and confidential letter to the +Emperor, and another of ten lines to Marechal Duroc. Then he rang the +bell, asked his secretary for a diplomatic passport, and said tranquilly +to the old lawyer, “What is your honest opinion of that trial?” + +“Do you know, monseigneur, who was at the bottom of this cruel wrong?” + +“I presume I do; but I have reasons to wish for certainty,” replied +Talleyrand. “Return to Troyes; bring me the Comtesse de Cinq-Cygne, +here, to-morrow at the same hour, but secretly; ask to be ushered +into Madame de Talleyrand’s salon; I will tell her you are coming. If +Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne, who shall be placed where she can see a man +who will be standing before me, recognizes that man as an individual who +came to her house during the conspiracy of de Polignac and Riviere, tell +her to remember that, no matter what I say or what he answers me, she +must not utter a word nor make a gesture. One thing more, think only +of saving the de Simeuse brothers; don’t embarrass yourself with that +scoundrel of a bailiff--” + +“A sublime man, monseigneur!” exclaimed Bordin. + +“Enthusiasm! in you, Bordin! The man must be remarkable. Our sovereign +has an immense self-love, Monsieur le marquis,” he said, changing the +conversation. “He is about to dismiss me that he may commit follies +without warning. The Emperor is a great soldier who can change the +laws of time and distance, but he cannot change men; yet he persists in +trying to run them in his own mould! Now, remember this; the young men’s +pardon can be obtained by one person only--Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne.” + +The marquis went alone to Troyes and told the whole matter to Laurence. +She obtained permission from the authorities to see Michu, and the +marquis accompanied her to the gates of the prison, where he waited for +her. When she came out her face was bathed in tears. + +“Poor man!” she said; “he tried to kneel to me, praying that I would +not think of him, and forgetting the shackles that were on his feet! +Ah, marquis, I _will_ plead his cause. Yes, I’ll kiss the boot of their +Emperor. If I fail--well, the memory of that man shall live eternally +honored in our family. Present his petition for mercy so as to gain +time; meantime I am resolved to have his portrait. Come, let us go.” + +The next day, when Talleyrand was informed by a sign agreed upon that +Laurence was at her post, he rang the bell; his orderly came to him, and +received orders to admit Monsieur Corentin. + +“My friend, you are a very clever fellow,” said Talleyrand, “and I wish +to employ you.” + +“Monsiegneur--” + +“Listen. In serving Fouche you will get money, but never honor nor any +position you can acknowledge. But in serving me, as you have lately done +at Berlin, you can win credit and repute.” + +“Monseigneur is very good.” + +“You displayed genius in that late affair at Gondreville.” + +“To what does Monseigneur allude?” said Corentin, with a manner that was +neither too reserved nor too surprised. + +“Ah, Monsieur!” observed the minister, dryly, “you will never make a +successful man; you fear--” + +“What, monseigneur?” + +“Death!” replied Talleyrand, in his fine, deep voice. “Adieu, my good +friend.” + +“That is the man,” said the Marquis de Chargeboeuf entering the room +after Corentin was dismissed; “but we have nearly killed the countess.” + +“He is the only man I know capable of playing such a trick,” replied the +minister. “Monsieur le marquis, you are in danger of not succeeding +in your mission. Start ostensibly for Strasburg; I’ll send you double +passports in blank to be filled out. Provide yourself with substitutes; +change your route and above all your carriage; let your substitutes +go on to Strasburg, and do you reach Prussia through Switzerland and +Bavaria. Not a word--prudence! The police are against you; and you do +not know what the police are--” + +Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne offered the then celebrated Robert Lefebvre a +sufficient sum to induce him to go to Troyes and take Michu’s portrait. +Monsieur de Grandville promised to afford the painter every possible +facility. Monsieur de Chargeboeuf then started in the old _berlingot_, +with Laurence and a servant who spoke German. Not far from Nancy they +overtook Mademoiselle Goujet and Gothard, who had preceded them in an +excellent carriage, which the marquis took, giving them in exchange the +_berlingot_. + +Talleyrand was right. At Strasburg the commissary-general of police +refused to countersign the passport of the travellers, and gave them +positive orders to return. By that time the marquis and Laurence were +leaving France by way of Besancon with the diplomatic passport. + +Laurence crossed Switzerland in the first days of October, without +paying the slightest attention to that glorious land. She lay back in +the carriage in the torpor which overtakes a criminal on the eve of his +execution. To her eyes all nature was shrouded in a seething vapor; even +common things assumed fantastic shapes. The one thought, “If I do not +succeed they will kill themselves,” fell upon her soul with reiterated +blows, as the bar of the executioner fell upon the victim’s members when +tortured on the wheel. She felt herself breaking; she lost her energy in +this terrible waiting for the cruel moment, short and decisive, when she +should find herself face to face with that man on whom the fate of the +condemned depended. She chose to yield to her depression rather +than waste her strength uselessly. The marquis, who was incapable of +understanding this resolve of firm minds, which often assumes quite +diverse aspects (for in such moments of tension certain superior minds +give way to surprising gaiety), began to fear that he might never bring +Laurence alive to the momentous interview, solemn to them only, and yet +beyond the ordinary limits of private life. To Laurence, the necessity +of humiliating herself before that man, the object of her hatred and +contempt, meant the sacrifice of all her noblest feelings. + +“After this,” she said, “the Laurence who survives will bear no likeness +to her who is now to perish.” + +The travellers could not fail to be aware of the vast movement of men +and material which surrounded them the moment they entered Prussia. The +campaign of Jena had just begun. Laurence and the marquis beheld the +magnificent divisions of the French army deploying and parading as if +at the Tuileries. In this display of military power, which can be +adequately described only with the words and images of the Bible, the +proportions of the Man whose spirit moved these masses grew gigantic to +Laurence’s imagination. Soon, the cry of victory resounded in her ears. +The Imperial arms had just obtained two signal advantages. The Prince +of Prussia had been killed the evening before the day on which the +travellers arrived at Saalfeld on their endeavor to overtake Napoleon, +who was marching with the rapidity of lightning. + +At last, on the 13th of October (date of ill-omen) Mademoiselle de +Cinq-Cygne was skirting a river in the midst of the Grand Army, seeing +nought but confusion, sent hither and thither from one village to +another, from division to division, frightened at finding herself +alone with one old man tossed about in an ocean of a hundred and fifty +thousand armed men facing a hundred and fifty thousand more. Weary of +watching the river through the hedges of the muddy road which she was +following along a hillside, she asked its name of a passing soldier. + +“That’s the Saale,” he said, showing her the Prussian army, grouped in +great masses on the other side of the stream. + +Night came on. Laurence beheld the camp-fires lighted and the glitter +of stacked arms. The old marquis, whose courage was chivalric, drove +the horses himself (two strong beasts bought the evening before), his +servant sitting beside him. He knew very well he should find neither +horses nor postilions within the lines of the army. Suddenly the bold +equipage, an object of great astonishment to the soldiers, was stopped +by a gendarme of the military gendarmerie, who galloped up to the +carriage, calling out to the marquis: “Who are you? where are you going? +what do you want?” + +“The Emperor,” replied the Marquis de Chargeboeuf; “I have an important +dispatch for the Grand-marechal Duroc.” + +“Well, you can’t stay here,” said the gendarme. + +Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne and the marquis were, however, compelled to +remain where they were on account of the darkness. + +“Where are we?” she asked, stopping two officers whom she saw passing, +whose uniforms were concealed by cloth overcoats. + +“You are among the advanced guard of the French army,” answered one of +the officers. “You cannot stay here, for if the enemy makes a movement +and the artillery opens you will be between two fires.” + +“Ah!” she said, with an indifferent air. + +Hearing that “Ah!” the other officer turned and said: “How did that +woman come here?” + +“We are waiting,” said Laurence, “for a gendarme who has gone to find +General Duroc, a protector who will enable us to speak to the Emperor.” + +“Speak to the Emperor!” exclaimed the first officer; “how can you think +of such a thing--on the eve of a decisive battle?” + +“True,” she said; “I ought to speak to him on the morrow--victory would +make him kind.” + +The two officers stationed themselves at a little distance and sat +motionless on their horses. The carriage was now surrounded by a mass +of generals, marshals, and other officers, all extremely brilliant in +appearance, who appeared to pay deference to the carriage merely because +it was there. + +“Good God!” said the marquis to Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne; “I am afraid +you spoke to the Emperor.” + +“The Emperor?” said a colonel, beside them, “why there he is!” pointing +to the officer who had said, “How did that woman get here?” He was +mounted on a white horse, richly caparisoned, and wore the celebrated +gray top-coat over his green uniform. He was scanning with a field-glass +the Prussian army massed beyond the Saale. Laurence understood then why +the carriage remained there, and why the Emperor’s escort respected it. +She was seized with a convulsive tremor--the hour had come! She heard +the heavy sound of the tramp of men and the clang of their arms as they +arrived at a quick step on the plateau. The batteries had a language, +the caissons thundered, the brass glittered. + +“Marechal Lannes will take position with his whole corps in the advance; +Marechal Lefebvre and the Guard will occupy this hill,” said the other +officer, who was Major-general Berthier. + +The Emperor dismounted. At his first motion Roustan, his famous +mameluke, hastened to hold his horse. Laurence was stupefied with +amazement; she had never dreamed of such simplicity. + +“I shall pass the night on the plateau,” said the Emperor. + +Just then the Grand-marechal Duroc, whom the gendarme had finally +found, came up to the Marquis de Chargeboeuf and asked the reason of his +coming. The marquis replied that a letter from the Prince de Talleyrand, +of which he was the bearer, would explain to the marshal how urgent +it was that Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne and himself should obtain an +audience of the Emperor. + +“His Majesty will no doubt dine at his bivouac,” said Duroc, taking the +letter, “and when I find out what your object is, I will let you know +if you can see him. Corporal,” he said to the gendarme, “accompany this +carriage, and take it close to that hut at the rear.” + +Monsieur de Chargeboeuf followed the gendarme and stopped his horses +behind a miserable cabin, built of mud and branches, surrounded by a few +fruit-trees, and guarded by pickets of infantry and cavalry. + +It may be said that the majesty of war appeared here in all its +grandeur. From this height the lines of the two armies were visible in +the moonlight. After an hour’s waiting, the time being occupied by the +incessant coming and going of the aides-de-camp, Duroc himself came for +Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne and the marquis, and made them enter the hut, +the floor of which was of battened earth like that of a stable. + +Before a table with the remains of dinner, and before a fire made of +green wood which smoked, Napoleon was seated in a clumsy chair. His +muddy boots gave evidence of a long tramp across country. He had taken +off the famous top-coat; and his equally famous green uniform, crossed +by the red cordon of the Legion of honor and heightened by the white of +his kerseymere breeches and of his waistcoat, brought out vividly +his pale and terrible Caesarian face. One hand was on a map which lay +unfolded on his knees. Berthier stood near him in the brilliant uniform +of the vice-constable of the Empire. Constant, the valet, was offering +the Emperor his coffee from a tray. + +“What do you want?” said Napoleon, with a show of roughness, darting his +eye like a flash through Laurence’s head. “You are no longer afraid to +speak to me before the battle? What is it about?” + +“Sire,” she said, looking at him with as firm an eye, “I am Mademoiselle +de Cinq-Cygne.” + +“Well?” he replied, in an angry voice, thinking her look braved him. + +“Do you not understand? I am the Comtesse de Cinq-Cygne, come to ask +mercy,” she said, falling on her knees and holding out to him the +petition drawn up by Talleyrand, endorsed by the Empress, by Cambaceres +and by Malin. + +The Emperor raised her graciously, and said with a keen look: “Have you +come to your senses? Do you now understand what the French Empire is and +must be?” + +“Ah! at this moment I understand only the Emperor,” she said, vanquished +by the kindly manner with which the man of destiny had said the words +that foretold to her ears success. + +“Are they innocent?” asked the Emperor. + +“Yes, all of them,” she said with enthusiasm. + +“All? No, that bailiff is a dangerous man, who would have killed my +senator without taking your advice.” + +“Ah, Sire,” she said, “if you had a friend devoted to you, would you +abandon him? Would you not rather--” + +“You are a woman,” he said, interrupting her in a faint tone of +ridicule. + +“And you, a man of iron!” she replied with a passionate sternness which +pleased him. + +“That man has been condemned to death by the laws of his country,” he +continued. + +“But he is innocent!” + +“Child!” he said. + +He took Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne by the hand and led her from the hut +to the plateau. + +“See,” he continued, with that eloquence of his which changed even +cowards to brave men, “see those three hundred thousand men--all +innocent. And yet to-morrow thirty thousand of them will be lying dead, +dead for their country! Among those Prussians there is, perhaps, some +great mathematician, a man of genius, an idealist, who will be mown +down. On our side we shall assuredly lose many a great man never known +to fame. Perhaps even I shall see my best friend die. Shall I blame God? +No. I shall bear it silently. Learn from this, mademoiselle, that a +man must die for the laws of his country just as men die here for her +glory.” So saying, he led her back into the hut. “Return to France,” he +said, looking at the marquis; “my orders shall follow you.” + +Laurence believed in a commutation of Michu’s punishment, and in her +gratitude she knelt again before the Emperor and kissed his hand. + +“You are the Marquis de Chargeboeuf?” said Napoleon, addressing the +marquis. + +“Yes, Sire.” + +“You have children?” + +“Many children.” + +“Why not give me one of your grandsons? he shall be my page.” + +“Ah!” thought Laurence, “there’s the sub-lieutenant after all; he wants +to be paid for his mercy.” + +The marquis bowed without replying. Happily at this moment General Rapp +rushed into the hut. + +“Sire, the cavalry of the Guard, and that of the Grand-duc de Berg +cannot be set up before midday to-morrow.” + +“Never mind,” said Napoleon, turning to Berthier, “we, too, get our +reprieves; let us profit by them.” + +At a sign of his hand the marquis and Laurence retired and again entered +their carriage; the corporal showed them their road and accompanied them +to a village where they passed the night. The next day they left +the field of battle behind them, followed by the thunder of the +cannon,--eight hundred pieces,--which pursued them for ten hours. While +still on their way they learned of the amazing victory of Jena. + +Eight days later, they were driving through the faubourg of Troyes, +where they learned that an order of the chief justice, transmitted +through the _procureur imperial_ of Troyes, commanded the release of +the four gentlemen on bail during the Emperor’s pleasure. But Michu’s +sentence was confirmed, and the warrant for his execution had been +forwarded from the ministry of police. These orders had reached Troyes +that very morning. Laurence went at once to the prison, though it was +two in the morning, and obtained permission to stay with Michu, who was +about to undergo the melancholy ceremony called “the toilet.” The good +abbe, who had asked permission to accompany him to the scaffold, had +just given absolution to the man, whose only distress in dying was his +uncertainty as to the fate of his young masters. When Laurence entered +his cell he uttered a cry of joy. + +“I can die now,” he said. + +“They are pardoned,” she said; “I do not know on what conditions, but +they are pardoned. I did all I could for you, dear friend--against the +advice of others. I thought I had saved you; but the Emperor deceived me +with his graciousness.” + +“It was written above,” said Michu, “that the watch-dog should be killed +on the spot where his old masters died.” + +The last hour passed rapidly. Michu, at the moment of parting, asked +to kiss her hand, but Laurence held her cheek to the lips of the noble +victim that he might sacredly kiss it. Michu refused to mount the cart. + +“Innocent men should go afoot,” he said. + +He would not let the abbe give him his arm; resolutely and with dignity +he walked alone to the scaffold. As he laid his head on the plank he +said to the executioner, after asking him to turn down the collar of his +coat, “My clothes belong to you; try not to spot them.” + + * * * * * + +The four gentlemen had hardly time to even see Mademoiselle de +Cinq-Cygne. An orderly of the general commanding the division to which +they were assigned, brought them their commissions as sub-lieutenants in +the same regiment of cavalry, with orders to proceed at once to Bayonne, +the base of supplies for its particular army-corps. After a scene of +heart-rending farewells, for they all foreboded what the future should +bring forth, Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne returned to her desolate home. + +The two brothers were killed together under the eyes of the Emperor at +Sommo-Sierra, the one defending the other, both being already in command +of their troop. The last words of each were, “Laurence, _cy meurs_!” + +The elder d’Hauteserre died a colonel at the attack on the redoubt at +Moscow, where his brother took his place. + +Adrien d’Hauteserre, appointed brigadier-general at the battle of +Dresden, was dangerously wounded there and was sent to Cinq-Cygne +for proper nursing. While endeavoring to save this relic of the four +gentlemen who for a few brief months had been so happy around her, +Laurence, then thirty-two years of age, married him. She offered him a +withered heart, but he accepted it; those who truly love doubt nothing +or doubt all. + +The Restoration found Laurence without enthusiasm. The Bourbons returned +too late for her. Nevertheless, she had no cause for complaint. Her +husband, made peer of France with the title of Marquis de Cinq-Cygne, +became lieutenant-general in 1816, and was rewarded with the blue ribbon +for the eminent services which he then performed. + +Michu’s son, of whom Laurence took care as though he were her own child, +was admitted to the bar in 1817. After practising two years he was +made assistant-judge at the court of Alencon, and from there he became +_procureur-du-roi_ at Arcis in 1827. Laurence, who had also taken +charge of Michu’s property, made over to the young man on the day of his +majority an investment in the public Funds which yielded him an income +of twelve thousand francs a year. Later, she arranged a marriage for him +with Mademoiselle Girel, an heiress at Troyes. + +The Marquis de Cinq-Cygne died in 1829, in the arms of his wife, +surrounded by his father and mother, and his children who adored him. +At the time of his death no one had ever fathomed the mystery of the +senator’s abduction. Louis XVIII. did not neglect to repair, as far as +possible, the wrongs done by that affair; but he was silent as to the +causes of the disaster. From that time forth the Marquise de Cinq-Cygne +believed him to have been an accomplice in the catastrophe. + + + + +CHAPTER XX. THE MYSTERY SOLVED + +The late Marquis de Cinq-Cygne had used his savings, as well as those +of his father and mother, in the purchase of a fine house in the rue +de Faubourg-du-Roule, entailing it on heirs male for the support of +the title. The sordid economy of the marquis and his parents, which had +often troubled Laurence, was then explained. After this purchase the +marquise, who lived at Cinq-Cygne and economized on her own account +for her children, spent her winters in Paris,--all the more willingly +because her daughter Berthe and her son Paul were now of an age when +their education required the resources of Paris. + +Madame de Cinq-Cygne went but little into society. Her husband could not +be ignorant of the regrets which lay in her tender heart; but he showed +her always the most exquisite delicacy, and died having loved no other +woman. This noble soul, not fully understood for a period of time but +to which the generous daughter of the Cinq-Cygnes returned in his last +years as true a love as that he gave to her, was completely happy in +his married life. Laurence lived for the joys of home. No woman has ever +been more cherished by her friends or more respected. To be received in +her house is an honor. Gentle, indulgent, intellectual, above all things +simple and natural, she pleases choice souls and draws them to her in +spite of her saddened aspect; each longs to protect this woman, inwardly +so strong, and that sentiment of secret protection counts for much in +the wondrous charm of her friendship. Her life, so painful during her +youth, is beautiful and serene towards evening. Her sufferings are +known, and no one asks who was the original of that portrait by Lefebvre +which is the chief and sacred ornament of her salon. Her face has the +maturity of fruits that have ripened slowly; a hallowed pride dignifies +that long-tried brow. + +At the period when the marquise came to Paris to open the new house, her +fortune, increased by the law of indemnities, gave her some two hundred +thousand francs a year, not counting her husband’s salary; besides this, +Laurence had inherited the money guarded by Michu for his young masters. +From that time forth she made a practice of spending half her income and +of laying by the rest for her daughter Berthe. + +Berthe is the living image of her mother, but without her warrior nerve; +she is her mother in delicacy, in intellect,--“more a woman,” Laurence +says, sadly. The marquise was not willing to marry her daughter until +she was twenty years of age. Her savings, judiciously invested in the +Funds by old Monsieur d’Hauteserre at the moment when consols fell in +1830, gave Berthe a dowry of eighty thousand francs a year in 1833, when +she was twenty. + +About that time the Princesse de Cadignan, who was seeking to marry her +son, the Duc de Maufrigneuse, brought him into intimate relations with +Madame de Cinq-Cygne. Georges de Maufrigneuse dined with the marquise +three times a week, accompanied the mother and daughter to the Opera, +and curvetted in the Bois around their carriage when they drove out. It +was evident to all the world of the Faubourg Saint-Germain that Georges +loved Berthe. But no one could discover to a certainty whether Madame +de Cinq-Cygne was desirous of making her daughter a duchess, to become a +princess later, or whether it was only the princess who coveted for +her son the splendid dowry. Did the celebrated Diane court the noble +provincial house? and was the daughter of the Cinq-Cygnes frightened +by the celebrity of Madame de Cadignan, her tastes and her ruinous +extravagance? In her strong desire not to injure her son’s prospects the +princess grew devout, shut the door on her former life, and spent the +summer season at Geneva in a villa on the lake. + +One evening there were present in the salon of the Princesse de +Cadignan, the Marquise d’Espard, and de Marsay, then president of the +Council (on this occasion the princess saw her former lover for the +last time, for he died the following year), Eugene de Rastignac, +under-secretary of State attached to de Marsay’s ministry, two +ambassadors, two celebrated orators from the Chamber of Peers, the old +dukes of Lenoncourt and de Navarreins, the Comte de Vandenesse and his +young wife, and d’Arthez,--who formed a rather singular circle, the +composition of which can be thus explained. The princess was anxious to +obtain from the prime minister of the crown a permit for the return +of the Prince de Cadignan. De Marsay, who did not choose to take upon +himself the responsibility of granting it came to tell the princess the +matter had been entrusted to safe hands, and that a certain political +manager had promised to bring her the result in the course of that +evening. + +Madame and Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne were announced. Laurence, whose +principles were unyielding, was not only surprised but shocked to see +the most illustrious representatives of Legitimacy talking and laughing +in a friendly manner with the prime minister of the man whom she never +called anything but Monsieur le Duc d’Orleans. De Marsay, like an +expiring lamp, shone with a last brilliancy. He laid aside for the +moment his political anxieties, and Madame de Cinq-Cygne endured him, as +they say the Court of Austria endured de Saint-Aulaire; the man of the +world effaced the minister of the citizen-king. But she rose to her feet +as though her chair were of red-hot iron when the name was announced of +“Monsieur le Comte de Gondreville.” + +“Adieu, madame,” she said to the princess in a curt tone. + +She left the room with Berthe, measuring her steps to avoid encountering +that fatal being. + +“You may have caused the loss of Georges’ marriage,” said the princess +to de Marsay, in a low voice. “Why did you not tell me your agent’s +name?” + +The former clerk of Arcis, former Conventional, former Thermidorien, +tribune, Councillor of State, count of the Empire and senator, peer of +the Restoration, and now peer of the monarchy of July, made a servile +bow to the princess. + +“Fear nothing, madame,” he said; “we have ceased to make war on princes. +I bring you an assurance of the permit,” he added, seating himself +beside her. + +Malin was long in the confidence of Louis XVIII., to whom his varied +experience was useful. He had greatly aided in overthrowing Decazes, and +had given much good advice to the ministry of Villele. Coldly received +by Charles X., he had adopted all the rancors of Talleyrand. He was now +in high favor under the twelfth government he had served since 1789, and +which in turn he would doubtless betray. For the last fifteen months he +had broken the long friendship which had bound him for thirty-six years +to our greatest diplomat, the Prince de Talleyrand. It was in the course +of this very evening that he made answer to some one who asked why the +Prince showed such hostility to the Duc de Bordeaux, “The Pretender is +too young!” + +“Singular advice to give young men,” remarked Rastignac. + +De Marsay, who grew thoughtful after Madame de Cadignan’s reproachful +speech, took no notice of these jests. He looked askance at Gondreville +and was evidently biding his time until that now old man, who went to +bed early, had taken leave. All present, who had witnessed the abrupt +departure of Madame de Cinq-Cygne (whose reasons were well-known to +them), imitated de Marsay’s conduct and kept silence. Gondreville, +who had not recognized the marquise, was ignorant of the cause of the +general reticence, but the habit of dealing with public matters had +given him a certain tact; he was moreover a clever man; he saw that his +presence was embarrassing to the company and he took leave. De Marsay, +standing with his back to the fire, watched the slow departure of the +old man in a manner which revealed the gravity of his thoughts. + +“I did wrong, madame, not to tell you the name of my negotiator,” said +the prime minister, listening for the sound of Malin’s wheels as they +rolled away. “But I will redeem my fault and give you the means of +making your peace with the Cinq-Cygnes. It is now thirty years since the +affair I am about to speak of took place; it is as old to the present +day as the death of Henri IV. (which between ourselves and in spite +of the proverb is still a mystery, like so many other historical +catastrophes). I can, however, assure you that even if this affair did +not concern Madame de Cinq-Cygne it would be none the less curious and +interesting. Moreover, it throws light on a celebrated exploit in our +modern annals,--I mean that of the Mont Saint-Bernard. Messieurs les +Ambassadeurs,” he added, bowing to the two diplomats, “will see that in +the element of profound intrigue the political men of the present day +are far behind the Machiavellis whom the waves of the popular will +lifted, in 1793, above the storm,--some of whom have ‘found,’ as the old +song says, ‘a haven.’ To be anything in France in these days a man must +have been tossed in those tempests.” + +“It seems to me,” said the princess, smiling, “that from that point of +view the present state of things under your regime leaves nothing to be +desired.” + +A well-bred laugh went round the room, and even the prime minister +himself could not help smiling. The ambassadors seemed impatient for the +tale; de Marsay coughed dryly and silence was obtained. + +“On a June night in 1800,” began the minister, “about three in the +morning, just as daylight was beginning to pale the brilliancy of the +wax candles, two men tired of playing at _bouillotte_ (or who were +playing merely to keep others employed) left the salon of the ministry +of foreign affairs, then situated in the rue du Bac, and went apart into +a boudoir. These two men, of whom one is dead and the other has _one_ +foot in the grave, were, each in his own way, equally extraordinary. +Both had been priests; both had abjured religion; both were married. One +had been merely an Oratorian, the other had worn the mitre of a bishop. +The first was named Fouche; I shall not tell you the name of the +second;[*] both were then mere simple citizens--with very little +simplicity. When they were seen to leave the salon and enter the +boudoir, the rest of the company present showed a certain curiosity. A +third person followed them,--a man who thought himself far stronger than +the other two. His name was Sieyes, and you all know that he too +had been a priest before the Revolution. The one who _walked with +difficulty_ was then the minister of foreign affairs; Fouche was +minister of police; Sieyes had resigned the consulate. + + [*] Talleyrand was still living when de Marsay related these + circumstances. + + +“A small man, cold and stern in appearance, left his seat and followed +the three others, saying aloud in the hearing of the person from whom I +have the information, ‘I mistrust the gambling of priests.’ This man was +Carnot, minister of war. His remark did not trouble the two consuls who +were playing cards in the salon. Cambaceres and Lebrun were then at the +mercy of their ministers, men who were infinitely stronger than they. + +“Nearly all these statesmen are dead, and no secrecy is due to +them. They belong to history; and the history of that night and its +consequences has been terrible. I tell it to you now because I alone +know it; because Louis XVIII. never revealed the truth to that poor +Madame de Cinq-Cygne; and because the present government which I serve +is wholly indifferent as to whether the truth be known to the world or +not. + +“All four of these personages sat down in the boudoir. The lame man +undoubtedly closed the door before a word was said; it is even thought +that he ran the bolt. It is only persons of high rank who pay attention +to such trifles. The three priests had the livid, impassible faces which +you all remember. Carnot alone was ruddy. He was the first to speak. +‘What is the point to be discussed?’ he asked. ‘France,’ must have been +the answer of the Prince (whom I admire as one of the most extraordinary +men of our time). ‘The Republic,’ undoubtedly said Fouche. ‘Power,’ +probably said Sieyes.” + +All present looked at each other. With voice, look, and gesture de +Marsay had wonderfully represented the three men. + +“The three priests fully understood one another,” he continued, resuming +his narrative. “Carnot no doubt looked at his colleagues and the +ex-consul in a dignified manner. He must, however, have felt bewildered +in his own mind. + +“‘Do you believe in the success of the army?’ Sieyes said to him. + +“‘We may expect everything from Bonaparte,’ replied the minister of war; +‘he has crossed the Alps.’ + +“‘At this moment,’ said the minister of foreign affairs, with deliberate +slowness, ‘he is playing his last stake.’ + +“‘Come, let’s speak out,’ said Fouche; ‘what shall we do if the First +Consul is defeated? Is it possible to collect another army? Must we +continue his humble servants?’ + +“‘There is no republic now,’ remarked Sieyes; ‘Bonaparte is consul for +ten years.’ + +“‘He has more power than ever Cromwell had,’ said the former bishop, +‘and he did not vote for the death of the king.’ + +“‘We have a master,’ said Fouche; ‘the question is, shall we continue to +keep him if he loses the battle or shall we return to a pure republic?’ + +“‘France,’ replied Carnot, sententiously, ‘cannot resist except she +reverts to the old Conventional _energy_.’ + +“‘I agree with Carnot,’ said Sieyes; ‘if Bonaparte returns defeated we +must put an end to him; he has let us know him too well during the last +seven months.’ + +“‘The army is for him,’ remarked Carnot, thoughtfully. + +“‘And the people for us!’ cried Fouche. + +“‘You go fast, monsieur,’ said the Prince, in that deep bass voice which +he still preserves and which now drove Fouche back into himself. + +“‘Be frank,’ said a voice, as a former Conventional rose from a corner +of the boudoir and showed himself; ‘if Bonaparte returns a victor, we +shall adore him; if vanquished, we’ll bury him!’ + +“‘So you were there, Malin, were you?’ said the Prince, without +betraying the least feeling. ‘Then you must be one of us; sit down’; and +he made him a sign to be seated. + +“It is to this one circumstance that Malin, a Conventional of small +repute, owes the position he afterwards obtained and, ultimately, that +in which we see him at the present moment. He proved discreet, and +the ministers were faithful to him; but they made him the pivot of the +machine and the cat’s-paw of the machination. To return to my tale. + +“‘Bonaparte has never yet been vanquished,’ cried Carnot, in a tone of +conviction, ‘and he has just surpassed Hannibal.’ + +“‘If the worst happens, here is the Directory,’ said Sieyes, artfully, +indicating with a wave of his hand the five persons present. + +“‘And,’ added the Prince, ‘we are all committed to the maintenance +of the French republic; we three priests have literally unfrocked +ourselves; the general, here, voted for the death of the king; and +you,’ he said, turning to Malin, ‘have got possession of the property of +_emigres_.’ + +“‘Yes, we have all the same interests,’ said Sieyes, dictatorially, ‘and +our interests are one with those of the nation.’ + +“‘A rare thing,’ said the Prince, smiling. + +“‘We must act,’ interrupted Fouche. ‘In all probability the battle is +now going on; the Austrians outnumber us; Genoa has surrendered; Massena +has committed the great mistake of embarking for Antibes; it is very +doubtful if he can rejoin Bonaparte, who will then be reduced to his own +resources.’ + +“‘Who gave you that news?’ asked Carnot. + +“‘It is sure,’ replied Fouche. ‘You will have the courier when the +Bourse opens.’ + +“Those men didn’t mince their words,” said de Marsay, smiling, and +stopping short for a moment. + +“‘Remember,’ continued Fouche, ‘it is not when the news of a disaster +comes that we can organize clubs, rouse the patriotism of the people, +and change the constitution. Our 18th Brumaire ought to be prepared +beforehand.’ + +“‘Let us leave the care of that to the minister of police,’ said the +Prince, bowing to Fouche, ‘and beware ourselves of Lucien.’ (Lucien +Bonaparte was then minister of the interior.) + +“‘I’ll arrest him,’ said Fouche. + +“‘Messieurs!’ cried Sieyes, ‘our Directory ought not to be subject to +anarchical changes. We must organize a government of the few, a Senate +for life, and an elective chamber the control of which shall be in our +hands; for we ought to profit by the blunders of the past.’ + +“‘With such a system, there would be peace for me,’ remarked the +ex-bishop. + +“‘Find me a sure man to negotiate with Moreau; for the Army of the +Rhine will be our sole resource,’ cried Carnot, who had been plunged in +meditation. + +“Ah!” said de Marsay, pausing, “those men were right. They were grand +in this crisis. I should have done as they did”; then he resumed his +narrative. + +“‘Messieurs!’ cried Sieyes, in a grave and solemn tone. + +“That word ‘Messieurs!’ was perfectly understood by all present; all +eyes expressed the same faith, the same promise, that of absolute +silence, and unswerving loyalty to each other in case the First Consul +returned triumphant. + +“‘We all know what we have to do,’ added Fouche. + +“Sieyes softly unbolted the door; his priestly ear had warned him. +Lucien entered the room. + +“‘Good news!’ he said. ‘A courier has just brought Madame Bonaparte a +line from the First Consul. The campaign has opened with a victory at +Montebello.’ + +“The three ministers exchanged looks. + +“‘Was it a general engagement?’ asked Carnot. + +“‘No, a fight, in which Lannes has covered himself with glory. The +affair was bloody. Attacked with ten thousand men by eighteen thousand, +he was only saved by a division sent to his support. Ott is in full +retreat. The Austrian line is broken.’ + +“‘When did the fight take place?’ asked Carnot. + +“‘On the 8th,’ replied Lucien. + +“‘And this is the 13th,’ said the sagacious minister. ‘Well, if that is +so, the destinies of France are in the scale at the very moment we are +speaking.’” + +(In fact, the battle of Marengo did begin at dawn of the 14th.) + +“‘Four days of fatal uncertainty!’ said Lucien. + +“‘Fatal?’ said the minister of foreign affairs, coldly and +interrogatively. + +“‘Four days,’ echoed Fouche. + +“An eye-witness told me,” said de Marsay, continuing the narrative in +his own person, “that the consuls, Cambaceres and Lebrun, knew nothing +of this momentous news until after the six personages returned to the +salon. It was then four in the morning. Fouche left first. That man +of dark and mysterious genius, extraordinary, profound, and little +understood, but who undoubtedly had the gifts of a Philip the Second, a +Tiberius and a Borgia, went at once to work with an infernal and secret +activity. His conduct at the time of the affair at Walcheren was that of +a consummate soldier, a great politician, a far-seeing administrator. He +was the only real minister that Napoleon ever had. And you all know how +he then alarmed him. + +“Fouche, Massena and the Prince,” continued de Marsay, reflectively, +“are the three greatest men, the wisest heads in diplomacy, war, and +government, that I have ever known. If Napoleon had frankly allied them +with his work there would no longer be a Europe, only a vast French +Empire. Fouche did not finally detach himself from Napoleon until he saw +Sieyes and the Prince de Talleyrand shoved aside. + +“He now went to work, and in three days (all the while hiding the hand +that stirred the ashes of the Montagne) he had organized that general +agitation which then arose all over France and revived the republicanism +of 1793. As it is necessary that I should explain this obscure corner of +our history, I must tell you that this agitation, starting from Fouche’s +own hand (which held the wires of the former Montagne), produced +republican plots against the life of the First Consul, which was in +peril from this cause long after the victory of Marengo. It was Fouche’s +sense of the evil he had thus brought about which led him to warn +Napoleon, who held a contrary opinion, that republicans were more +concerned than royalists in the various conspiracies. + +“Fouche was an admirable judge of men; he relied on Sieyes because of +his thwarted ambition, on Talleyrand because he was a great _seigneur_, +on Carnot for his perfect honesty; but the man he dreaded was the one +whom you have seen here this evening. I will now tell how he entangled +that man in his meshes. + +“Malin was only Malin in those days,--a secret agent and correspondent +of Louis XVIII. Fouche now compelled him to reduce to writing all the +proclamations of the proposed revolutionary government, its warrants and +edicts against the factions of the 18th Brumaire. An accomplice against +his own will, Malin was required to have these documents secretly +printed, and the copies held ready in his own house for distribution +if Bonaparte were defeated. The printer was subsequently imprisoned and +detained two months; he died in 1816, and always believed he had been +employed by a Montagnard conspiracy. + +“One of the most singular scenes ever played by Fouche’s police was +caused by the blunder of an agent, who despatched a courier to a famous +banker of that day with the news of a defeat at Marengo. Victory, you +will remember, did not declare itself for Napoleon until seven o’clock +in the evening of the battle. At midday the banker’s agent, considering +the day lost and the French army about to be annihilated, hastened to +despatch the courier. On receipt of that news Fouche was about to put +into motion a whole army of bill-posters and cries, with a truck full +of proclamations, when the second courier arrived with the news of the +triumph which put all France beside itself with joy. There were heavy +losses at the Bourse, of course. But the criers and posters who were +gathered to announce the political death of Bonaparte and to post up +the new proclamations were only kept waiting awhile till the news of the +victory could be struck off! + +“Malin, on whom the whole responsibility of the plot of which he had +been the working agent was likely to fall if it ever became known, was +so terrified that he packed the proclamations and other papers in carts +and took them down to Gondreville in the night-time, where no doubt they +were hidden in the cellars of that chateau, which he had bought in +the name of another man--who was it, by the bye? he had him made +chief-justice of an Imperial court--Ah! Marion. Having thus disposed +of these damning proofs he returned to Paris to congratulate the First +Consul on his victory. Napoleon, as you know, rushed from Italy to Paris +after the battle of Marengo with alarming celerity. Those who know the +secret history of that time are well aware that a message from Lucien +brought him back. The minister of the interior had foreseen the attitude +of the Montagnard party, and though he had no idea of the quarter from +which the wind really blew, he feared a storm. Incapable of suspecting +the three ministers and Carnot, he attributed the movement which stirred +all France to the hatred his brother had excited by the 18th Brumaire, +and to the confident belief of the men of 1793 that defeat was certain +in Italy. + +“The battle of Marengo detained Napoleon on the plains of Lombardy until +the 25th of June, but he reached Paris on the 2nd of July. Imagine +the faces of the five conspirators as they met the First Consul at the +Tuileries, and congratulated him on the victory. Fouche on that very +occasion at the palace told Malin to have patience, for _all was not +over yet_. The truth was, Talleyrand and Fouche both held that Bonaparte +was not as much bound to the principles of the Revolution as they were, +and as he ought to be; and for this reason, as well as for their own +safety, they subsequently, in 1804, buckled him irrevocably, as they +believed, to its cause by the affair of the Duc d’Enghien. The execution +of that prince is connected by a series of discoverable ramifications +with the plot which was laid on that June evening in the boudoir of the +ministry of foreign affairs, the night before the battle of Marengo. +Those who have the means of judging, and who have known persons who were +well-informed, are fully aware that Bonaparte was handled like a +child by Talleyrand and Fouche, who were determined to alienate him +irrevocably from the House of Bourbon, whose agents were even then, at +the last moment, endeavoring to negotiate with the First Consul.” + +“Talleyrand was playing whist in the salon of Madame de Luynes,” said a +personage who had been listening attentively to de Marsay’s narrative. +“It was about three o’clock in the morning, when he pulled out his +watch, looked at it, stopped the game, and asked his three companions +abruptly and without any preface whether the Prince de Conde had any +other children than the Duc d’Enghien. Such an absurd inquiry from the +lips of Talleyrand caused the utmost surprise. ‘Why do you ask us what +you know perfectly well yourself?’ they said to him. ‘Only to let +you know that the House of Conde comes to an end at this moment.’ +Now Monsieur de Talleyrand had been at the hotel de Luynes the entire +evening, and he must have known that Bonaparte was absolutely unable to +grant the pardon.” + +“But,” said Eugene de Rastignac, “I don’t see in all this any connection +with Madame de Cinq-Cygnes and her troubles.” + +“Ah, you were so young at that time, my dear fellow; I forgot to explain +the conclusion. You all know the affair of the abduction of the Comte de +Gondreville, then senator of the Empire, for which the Simeuse brothers +and the two d’Hauteserres were condemned to the galleys,--an affair +which did, in fact, lead to their death.” + +De Marsay, entreated by several persons present to whom the +circumstances were unknown, related the whole trial, stating that the +mysterious abductors were five sharks of the secret service of the +ministry of the police, who were ordered to obtain the proclamations of +the would-be Directory which Malin had surreptitiously taken from his +house in Paris, and which he had himself come to Gondreville for the +express purpose of destroying, being convinced at last that the Empire +was on a sure foundation and could not be overthrown. “I have no doubt,” + added de Marsay, “that Fouche took the opportunity to have the house +searched for the correspondence between Malin and Louis XVIII., which +was always kept up, even during the Terror. But in this cruel affair +there was a private element, a passion of revenge in the mind of the +leader of the party, a man named Corentin, who is still living, and who +is one of those subaltern agents whom nothing can replace and who +makes himself felt by his amazing ability. It appears that Madame, then +Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne, had ill-treated him on a former occasion +when he attempted to arrest the Simeuse brothers. What happened +afterwards in connection with the senator’s abduction was the result of +his private vengeance. + +“These facts were known, of course, to Malin, and through him to Louis +XVIII. You may therefore,” added de Marsay, turning to the Princesse de +Cadignan, “explain the whole matter to the Marquise de Cinq-Cygne, and +show her why Louis XVIII. thought fit to keep silence.” ADDENDUM + +The following personages appear in other stories of the Human Comedy. + +Beauvisage The Member for Arcis + + Berthier, Alexandre + The Chouans + + Bonaparte, Lucien + The Vendetta + + Bordin + The Seamy Side of History + The Commission in Lunacy + Jealousies of a Country Town + + Cinq-Cygne, Laurence, Comtesse (afterwards Marquise de) + The Secrets of a Princess + The Seamy Side of History + The Member for Arcis + + Corentin + The Chouans + Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life + The Middle Classes + + Derville + Gobseck + A Start in Life + Father Goriot + Colonel Chabert + Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life + + Duroc, Gerard-Christophe-Michel + A Woman of Thirty + + Espard, Jeanne-Clementine-Athenais de Blamont-Chauvry, Marquise d’ + The Commission in Lunacy + A Distinguished Provincial at Paris + Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life + Letters of Two Brides + Another Study of Woman + The Secrets of a Princess + A Daughter of Eve + Beatrix + + Fouche, Joseph + The Chouans + Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life + + Giguet, Colonel + The Member for Arcis + + Gondreville, Malin, Comte de + A Start in Life + Domestic Peace + The Member for Arcis + + Gothard + The Member for Arcis + + Goujet, Abbe + The Member for Arcis + + Grandlieu, Duc Ferdinand de + The Thirteen + A Bachelor’s Establishment + Modeste Mignon + Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life + + Granville, Vicomte de + A Second Home + Farewell (Adieu) + Cesar Birotteau + Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life + A Daughter of Eve + Cousin Pons + + Grevin + A Start in Life + The Member for Arcis + + Hauteserre, D’ + The Member for Arcis + + Lefebvre, Robert + Cousin Betty + + Lenoncourt, Duc de + The Lily of the Valley + Cesar Birotteau + Jealousies of a Country Town + Beatrix + + Louis XVIII., Louis-Stanislas-Xavier + The Chouans + The Seamy Side of History + Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life + The Ball at Sceaux + The Lily of the Valley + Colonel Chabert + The Government Clerks + + Marion (of Arcis) + The Member for Arcis + + Marion (brother) + The Member for Arcis + + Marsay, Henri de + The Thirteen + The Unconscious Humorists + Another Study of Woman + The Lily of the Valley + Father Goriot + Jealousies of a Country Town + Ursule Mirouet + A Marriage Settlement + Lost Illusions + A Distinguished Provincial at Paris + Letters of Two Brides + The Ball at Sceaux + Modeste Mignon + The Secrets of a Princess + A Daughter of Eve + + Maufrigneuse, Duchesse de + The Secrets of a Princess + Modeste Mignon + Jealousies of a Country Town + The Muse of the Department + Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life + Letters of Two Brides + Another Study of Woman + The Member for Arcis + + Maufrigneuse, Georges de + The Secrets of a Princess + Beatrix + The Member for Arcis + + Maufrigneuse, Berthe de + Beatrix + The Member for Arcis + + Michu, Francois + Jealousies of a Country Town + The Member for Arcis + + Michu, Madame Francois + The Member for Arcis + + Murat, Joachim, Prince + The Vendetta + Colonel Chabert + Domestic Peace + The Country Doctor + + Navarreins, Duc de + A Bachelor’s Establishment + Colonel Chabert + The Muse of the Department + The Thirteen + Jealousies of a Country Town + The Peasantry + Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life + The Country Parson + The Magic Skin + The Secrets of a Princess + Cousin Betty + + Peyrade + Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life + + Rapp + The Vendetta + + Rastignac, Eugene de + Father Goriot + A Distinguished Provincial at Paris + Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life + The Ball at Sceaux + The Commission in Lunacy + A Study of Woman + Another Study of Woman + The Magic Skin + The Secrets of a Princess + A Daughter of Eve + The Firm of Nucingen + Cousin Betty + The Member for Arcis + The Unconscious Humorists + + Regnier, Claude-Antoine + A Second Home + + Simeuse, Admiral de + Beatrix + Jealousies of a Country Town + + Steingel + The Peasantry + + Talleyrand-Perigord, Charles-Maurice de + The Chouans + The Thirteen + Letters of Two Brides + Gaudissart II. + + Vandenesse, Comte Felix de + The Lily of the Valley + Lost Illusions + A Distinguished Provincial at Paris + Cesar Birotteau + Letters of Two Brides + A Start in Life + The Marriage Settlement + The Secrets of a Princess + Another Study of Woman + A Daughter of Eve + + Varlet + The Gondreville Mystery + The Member for Arcis + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg’s An Historical Mystery, by Honore de Balzac + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AN HISTORICAL MYSTERY *** + +***** This file should be named 1678-0.txt or 1678-0.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/1/6/7/1678/ + +Produced by John Bickers, Dagny, and Bonnie Sala + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public 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Thus, we do not necessarily +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search facility: + + http://www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. diff --git a/1678-0.zip b/1678-0.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..3da6ea4 --- /dev/null +++ b/1678-0.zip diff --git a/1678-h.zip b/1678-h.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..fd38df6 --- /dev/null +++ b/1678-h.zip diff --git a/1678-h/1678-h.htm b/1678-h/1678-h.htm new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d78d9e5 --- /dev/null +++ b/1678-h/1678-h.htm @@ -0,0 +1,10276 @@ +<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?> + +<!DOCTYPE html + PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Strict//EN" + "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-strict.dtd" > + +<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml" lang="en"> + <head> + <title> + An Historical Mystery, by Honore de Balzac + </title> + <style type="text/css" xml:space="preserve"> + + body { margin:5%; background:#faebd0; text-align:justify} + P { text-indent: 1em; margin-top: .25em; margin-bottom: .25em; } + H1,H2,H3,H4,H5,H6 { text-align: center; margin-left: 15%; margin-right: 15%; } + hr { width: 50%; text-align: center;} + .foot { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; text-indent: -3em; font-size: 90%; } + blockquote {font-size: 97%; font-style: italic; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%;} + .mynote {background-color: #DDE; color: #000; padding: .5em; margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 95%;} + .toc { margin-left: 10%; margin-bottom: .75em;} + .toc2 { margin-left: 20%;} + div.fig { display:block; margin:0 auto; text-align:center; } + div.middle { margin-left: 20%; margin-right: 20%; text-align: justify; } + .figleft {float: left; margin-left: 0%; margin-right: 1%;} + .figright {float: right; margin-right: 0%; margin-left: 1%;} + .pagenum {display:inline; font-size: 70%; font-style:normal; + margin: 0; padding: 0; position: absolute; right: 1%; + text-align: right;} + pre { font-style: italic; font-size: 90%; margin-left: 10%;} + +</style> + </head> + <body> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of An Historical Mystery, by Honore de Balzac + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: An Historical Mystery + +Author: Honore de Balzac + +Translator: Katharine Prescott Wormeley + +Release Date: February 28, 2010 [EBook #1678] +Last Updated: November 22, 2016 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: UTF-8 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AN HISTORICAL MYSTERY *** + + + + +Produced by John Bickers, Dagny, Bonnie Sala, and David Widger + + + + + + +</pre> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <h1> + AN HISTORICAL MYSTERY + </h1> + <h3> + (The Gondreville Mystery) + </h3> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <h2> + By Honore De Balzac + </h2> + <p> + <br /><br /> + </p> + <h3> + Translated by Katharine Prescott Wormeley + </h3> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h3> + DEDICATION<br /><br /> To Monsieur de Margone.<br /><br /> In grateful + remembrance, from his guest at the Chateau de Sache.<br /><br /> De Balzac. + </h3> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <h2> + Contents + </h2> + <h3> + <a href="#link2H_4_0001"> <b>AN HISTORICAL MYSTERY</b> </a> + </h3> + <h3> + </h3> + <table summary="" style="margin-right: auto; margin-left: auto"> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#link2H_PART1"> <b>PART I.</b> </a> + </td> + <td> + + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#link2HCH0001"> CHAPTER I. </a> + </td> + <td> + JUDAS + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#link2HCH0002"> CHAPTER II. </a> + </td> + <td> + A CRIME RELINQUISHED + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#link2HCH0003"> CHAPTER III. </a> + </td> + <td> + THE MASK THROWN OFF + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#link2HCH0004"> CHAPTER IV. </a> + </td> + <td> + LAURENCE DE CINQ-CYGNE + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#link2HCH0005"> CHAPTER V. </a> + </td> + <td> + ROYALIST HOMES AND PORTRAITS UNDER THE CONSULATE + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#link2HCH0006"> CHAPTER VI. </a> + </td> + <td> + A DOMICILIARY VISIT + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#link2HCH0007"> CHAPTER VII. </a> + </td> + <td> + A FOREST NOOK + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#link2HCH0008"> CHAPTER VIII. </a> + </td> + <td> + TRIALS OF THE POLICE + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#link2HCH0009"> CHAPTER IX. </a> + </td> + <td> + FOILED + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + + </td> + <td> + + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#link2H_PART2"> <b>PART II.</b> </a> + </td> + <td> + + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#link2HCH0010"> CHAPTER X. </a> + </td> + <td> + ONE AND THE SAME, YET A TWO-FOLD LOVE + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#link2HCH0011"> CHAPTER XI. </a> + </td> + <td> + WISE COUNSEL + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#link2HCH0012"> CHAPTER XII. </a> + </td> + <td> + THE FACTS OF A MYSTERIOUS AFFAIR + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#link2HCH0013"> CHAPTER XIII. </a> + </td> + <td> + THE CODE OF BRUMAIRE, YEAR IV. + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#link2HCH0014"> CHAPTER XIV. </a> + </td> + <td> + THE ARRESTS + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#link2HCH0015"> CHAPTER XV. </a> + </td> + <td> + DOUBTS AND FEARS OF COUNSEL + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#link2HCH0016"> CHAPTER XVI. </a> + </td> + <td> + MARTHE INVEIGLED + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#link2HCH0017"> CHAPTER XVII. </a> + </td> + <td> + THE TRIAL + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#link2HCH0018"> CHAPTER XVIII. </a> + </td> + <td> + TRIAL CONTINUED: CRUEL VICISSITUDES + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#link2HCH0019"> CHAPTER XIX. </a> + </td> + <td> + THE EMPEROR’S BIVOUAC + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + <a href="#link2HCH0020"> CHAPTER XX. </a> + </td> + <td> + THE MYSTERY SOLVED + </td> + </tr> + <tr> + <td> + </td> + </tr> + </table> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> <a name="link2H_4_0001" id="link2H_4_0001"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <h1> + AN HISTORICAL MYSTERY + </h1> + <p> + <a name="link2H_PART1" id="link2H_PART1"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + PART I + </h2> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0001" id="link2HCH0001"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER I. JUDAS + </h2> + <p> + The autumn of the year 1803 was one of the finest in the early part of + that period of the present century which we now call “Empire.” Rain had + refreshed the earth during the month of October, so that the trees were + still green and leafy in November. The French people were beginning to put + faith in a secret understanding between the skies and Bonaparte, then + declared Consul for life,—a belief in which that man owes part of + his prestige; strange to say, on the day the sun failed him, in 1812, his + luck ceased! + </p> + <p> + About four in the afternoon on the fifteenth of November, 1803, the sun + was casting what looked like scarlet dust upon the venerable tops of four + rows of elms in a long baronial avenue, and sparkling on the sand and + grassy places of an immense <i>rond-point</i>, such as we often see in the + country where land is cheap enough to be sacrificed to ornament. The air + was so pure, the atmosphere so tempered that a family was sitting out of + doors as if it were summer. A man dressed in a hunting-jacket of green + drilling with green buttons, and breeches of the same stuff, and wearing + shoes with thin soles and gaiters to the knee, was cleaning a gun with the + minute care a skilful huntsman gives to the work in his leisure hours. + This man had neither game nor game-bag, nor any of the accoutrements which + denote either departure for a hunt or the return from it; and two women + sitting near were looking at him as though beset by a terror they could + ill-conceal. Any one observing the scene taking place in this leafy nook + would have shuddered, as the old mother-in-law and the wife of the man we + speak of were now shuddering. A huntsman does not take such minute + precautions with his weapon to kill small game, neither does he use, in + the department of the Aube, a heavy rifled carbine. + </p> + <p> + “Shall you kill a roe-buck, Michu?” said his handsome young wife, trying + to assume a laughing air. + </p> + <p> + Before replying, Michu looked at his dog, which had been lying in the sun, + its paws stretched out and its nose on its paws, in the charming attitude + of a trained hunter. The animal had just raised its head and was snuffing + the air, first down the avenue nearly a mile long which stretched before + them, and then up the cross road where it entered the <i>rond-point</i> to + the left. + </p> + <p> + “No,” answered Michu, “but a brute I do not wish to miss, a lynx.” + </p> + <p> + The dog, a magnificent spaniel, white with brown spots, growled. + </p> + <p> + “Hah!” said Michu, talking to himself, “spies! the country swarms with + them.” + </p> + <p> + Madame Michu looked appealingly to heaven. A beautiful fair woman with + blue eyes, composed and thoughtful in expression and made like an antique + statue, she seemed to be a prey to some dark and bitter grief. The + husband’s appearance may explain to a certain extent the evident fear of + the two women. The laws of physiognomy are precise, not only in their + application to character, but also in relation to the destinies of life. + There is such a thing as prophetic physiognomy. If it were possible (and + such a vital statistic would be of value to society) to obtain exact + likenesses of those who perish on the scaffold, the science of Lavatar and + also that of Gall would prove unmistakably that the heads of all such + persons, even those who are innocent, show prophetic signs. Yes, fate sets + its mark on the faces of those who are doomed to die a violent death of + any kind. Now, this sign, this seal, visible to the eye of an observer, + was imprinted on the expressive face of the man with the rifled carbine. + Short and stout, abrupt and active in his motions as a monkey, though calm + in temperament, Michu had a white face injected with blood, and features + set close together like those of a Tartar,—a likeness to which his + crinkled red hair conveyed a sinister expression. His eyes, clear and + yellow as those of a tiger, showed depths behind them in which the glance + of whoever examined the man might lose itself and never find either warmth + or motion. Fixed, luminous, and rigid, those eyes terrified whoever gazed + into them. The singular contrast between the immobility of the eyes and + the activity of the body increased the chilling impression conveyed by a + first sight of Michu. Action, always prompt in this man, was the outcome + of a single thought; just as the life of animals is, without reflection, + the outcome of instinct. Since 1793 he had trimmed his red beard to the + shape of a fan. Even if he had not been (as he was during the Terror) + president of a club of Jacobins, this peculiarity of his head would in + itself have made him terrible to behold. His Socratic face with its blunt + nose was surmounted by a fine forehead, so projecting, however, that it + overhung the rest of the features. The ears, well detached from the head, + had the sort of mobility which we find in those of wild animals, which are + ever on the qui-vive. The mouth, half-open, as the custom usually is among + country-people, showed teeth that were strong and white as almonds, but + irregular. Gleaming red whiskers framed this face, which was white and yet + mottled in spots. The hair, cropped close in front and allowed to grow + long at the sides and on the back of the head, brought into relief, by its + savage redness, all the strange and fateful peculiarities of this singular + face. The neck which was short and thick, seemed to tempt the axe. + </p> + <p> + At this moment the sunbeams, falling in long lines athwart the group, + lighted up the three heads at which the dog from time to time glanced up. + The spot on which this scene took place was magnificently fine. The <i>rond-point</i> + is at the entrance of the park of Gondreville, one of the finest estates + in France, and by far the finest in the departments of the Aube; it boasts + of long avenues of elms, a castle built from designs by Mansart, a park of + fifteen hundred acres enclosed by a stone wall, nine large farms, a + forest, mills, and meadows. This almost regal property belonged before the + Revolution to the family of Simeuse. Ximeuse was a feudal estate in + Lorraine; the name was pronounced Simeuse, and in course of time it came + to be written as pronounced. + </p> + <p> + The great fortune of the Simeuse family, adherents of the House of + Burgundy, dates from the time when the Guises were in conflict with the + Valois. Richelieu first, and afterwards Louis XIV. remembered their + devotion to the factious house of Lorraine, and rebuffed them. Then the + Marquis de Simeuse, an old Burgundian, old Guiser, old leaguer, old <i>frondeur</i> + (he inherited the four great rancors of the nobility against royalty), + came to live at Cinq-Cygne. The former courtier, rejected at the Louvre, + married the widow of the Comte de Cinq-Cygne, younger branch of the famous + family of Chargeboeuf, one of the most illustrious names in Champagne, and + now as celebrated and opulent as the elder. The marquis, among the richest + men of his day, instead of wasting his substance at court, built the + chateau of Gondreville, enlarged the estate by the purchase of others, and + united the several domains, solely for the purposes of a hunting-ground. + He also built the Simeuse mansion at Troyes, not far from that of the + Cinq-Cygnes. These two old houses and the bishop’s palace were long the + only stone mansions at Troyes. The marquis sold Simeuse to the Duc de + Lorraine. His son wasted the father’s savings and some part of his great + fortune under the reign of Louis XV., but he subsequently entered the + navy, became a vice-admiral, and redeemed the follies of his youth by + brilliant services. The Marquis de Simeuse, son of this naval worthy, + perished with his wife on the scaffold at Troyes, leaving twin sons, who + emigrated and were, at the time our history opens, still in foreign parts + following the fortunes of the house of Conde. + </p> + <p> + The <i>rond-point</i> was the scene of the meet in the time of the “Grand + Marquis”—a name given in the family to the Simeuse who built + Gondreville. Since 1789 Michu lived in the hunting lodge at the entrance + to the park, built in the reign of Louis XIV., and called the pavilion of + Cinq-Cygne. The village of Cinq-Cygne is at the end of the forest of + Nodesme (a corruption of Notre-Dame) which was reached through the fine + avenue of four rows of elms where Michu’s dog was now suspecting spies. + After the death of the Grand Marquis this pavilion fell into disuse. The + vice-admiral preferred the court and the sea to Champagne, and his son + gave the dilapidated building to Michu for a dwelling. + </p> + <p> + This noble structure is of brick, with vermiculated stone-work at the + angles and on the casings of the doors and windows. On either side is a + gateway of finely wrought iron, eaten with rust and connected by a + railing, beyond which is a wide and deep ha-ha, full of vigorous trees, + its parapets bristling with iron arabesques, the innumerable sharp points + of which are a warning to evil-doers. + </p> + <p> + The park walls begin on each side of the circumference of the <i>rond-point</i>; + on the one hand the fine semi-circle is defined by slopes planted with + elms; on the other, within the park, a corresponding half-circle is formed + by groups of rare trees. The pavilion, therefore, stands at the centre of + this round open space, which extends before it and behind it in the shape + of two horseshoes. Michu had turned the rooms on the lower floor into a + stable, a kitchen, and a wood-shed. The only trace remaining of their + ancient splendor was an antechamber paved with marble in squares of black + and white, which was entered on the park side through a door with small + leaded panes, such as might still be seen at Versailles before + Louis-Philippe turned that Chateau into an asylum for the glories of + France. The pavilion is divided inside by an old staircase of worm-eaten + wood, full of character, which leads to the first story. Above that is an + immense garret. This venerable edifice is covered by one of those vast + roofs with four sides, a ridgepole decorated with leaden ornaments, and a + round projecting window on each side, such as Mansart very justly + delighted in; for in France, the Italian attics and flat roofs are a folly + against which our climate protests. Michu kept his fodder in this garret. + That portion of the park which surrounds the old pavilion is English in + style. A hundred feet from the house a former lake, now a mere pond well + stocked with fish, makes known its vicinity as much by a thin mist rising + above the tree-tops as by the croaking of a thousand frogs, toads, and + other amphibious gossips who discourse at sunset. The time-worn look of + everything, the deep silence of the woods, the long perspective of the + avenue, the forest in the distance, the rusty iron-work, the masses of + stone draped with velvet mosses, all made poetry of this old structure, + which still exists. + </p> + <p> + At the moment when our history begins Michu was leaning against a mossy + parapet on which he had laid his powder-horn, cap, handkerchief, + screw-driver, and rags,—in fact, all the utensils needed for his + suspicious occupation. His wife’s chair was against the wall beside the + outer door of the house, above which could still be seen the arms of the + Simeuse family, richly carved, with their noble motto, “Cy meurs.” The old + mother, in peasant dress, had moved her chair in front of Madame Michu, so + that the latter might put her feet upon the rungs and keep them from + dampness. + </p> + <p> + “Where’s the boy?” said Michu to his wife. + </p> + <p> + “Round the pond; he is crazy about the frogs and the insects,” answered + the mother. + </p> + <p> + Michu whistled in a way that made his hearers tremble. The rapidity with + which his son ran up to him proved plainly enough the despotic power of + the bailiff of Gondreville. Since 1789, but more especially since 1793, + Michu had been well-nigh master of the property. The terror he inspired in + his wife, his mother-in-law, a servant-lad named Gaucher, and the cook + named Marianne, was shared throughout a neighborhood of twenty miles in + circumference. It may be well to give, without further delay, the reasons + for this fear,—all the more because an account of them will complete + the moral portrait of the man. + </p> + <p> + The old Marquis de Simeuse transferred the greater part of his property in + 1790; but, overtaken by circumstances, he had not been able to put the + estate of Gondreville into sure hands. Accused of corresponding with the + Duke of Brunswick and the Prince of Cobourg, the marquis and his wife were + thrust into prison and condemned to death by the revolutionary tribunal of + Troyes, of which Madame Michu’s father was then president. The fine domain + of Gondreville was sold as national property. The head-keeper, to the + horror of many, was present at the execution of the marquis and his wife + in his capacity as president of the club of Jacobins at Arcis. Michu, the + orphan son of a peasant, showered with benefactions by the marquise, who + brought him up in her own home and gave him his place as keeper, was + regarded as a Brutus by excited demagogues; but the people of the + neighborhood ceased to recognize him after this act of base ingratitude. + The purchaser of the estate was a man from Arcis named Marion, grandson of + a former bailiff in the Simeuse family. This man, a lawyer before and + after the Revolution, was afraid of the keeper; he made him his bailiff + with a salary of three thousand francs, and gave him an interest in the + sales of timber; Michu, who was thought to have some ten thousand francs + of his own laid by, married the daughter of a tanner at Troyes, an apostle + of the Revolution in that town, where he was president of the + revolutionary tribunal. This tanner, a man of profound convictions, who + resembled Saint-Just as to character, was afterwards mixed up in Baboeuf’s + conspiracy and killed himself to escape execution. Marthe was the + handsomest girl in Troyes. In spite of her shrinking modesty she had been + forced by her formidable father to play the part of Goddess of Liberty in + some republican ceremony. + </p> + <p> + The new proprietor came only three times to Gondreville in the course of + seven years. His grandfather had been bailiff of the estate under the + Simeuse family, and all Arcis took for granted that the citizen Marion was + the secret representative of the present Marquis and his twin brother. As + long as the Terror lasted, Michu, still bailiff of Gondreville, a devoted + patriot, son-in-law of the president of the revolutionary tribunal of + Troyes and flattered by Malin, representative from the department of the + Aube, was the object of a certain sort of respect. But when the Mountain + was overthrown and after his father-in-law committed suicide, he found + himself a scape-goat; everybody hastened to accuse him, in common with his + father-in-law, of acts to which, so far as he was concerned, he was a + total stranger. The bailiff resented the injustice of the community; he + stiffened his back and took an attitude of hostility. He talked boldly. + But after the 18th Brumaire he maintained an unbroken silence, the + philosophy of the strong; he struggled no longer against public opinion, + and contented himself with attending to his own affairs,—wise + conduct, which led his neighbors to pronounce him sly, for he owned, it + was said, a fortune of not less than a hundred thousand francs in landed + property. In the first place, he spent nothing; next, this property was + legitimately acquired, partly from the inheritance of his father-in-law’s + estate, and partly from the savings of six-thousand francs a year, the + salary he derived from his place with its profits and emoluments. He had + been bailiff of Gondreville for the last twelve years and every one had + estimated the probable amount of his savings, so that when, after the + Consulate was proclaimed, he bought a farm for fifty thousand francs, the + suspicions attaching to his former opinions lessened, and the community of + Arcis gave him credit for intending to recover himself in public + estimation. Unfortunately, at the very moment when public opinion was + condoning his past a foolish affair, envenomed by the gossip of the + country-side, revived the latent and very general belief in the ferocity + of his character. + </p> + <p> + One evening, coming away from Troyes in company with several peasants, + among whom was the farmer at Cinq-Cygne, he let fall a paper on the main + road; the farmer, who was walking behind him, stooped and picked it up. + Michu turned round, saw the paper in the man’s hands, pulled a pistol from + his belt and threatened the farmer (who knew how to read) to blow his + brains out if he opened the paper. Michu’s action was so sudden and + violent, the tone of his voice so alarming, his eyes blazed so savagely, + that the men about him turned cold with fear. The farmer of Cinq-Cygne was + already his enemy. Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne, the man’s employer, was a + cousin of the Simeuse brothers; she had only one farm left for her + maintenance and was now residing at her chateau of Cinq-Cygne. She lived + for her cousins the twins, with whom she had played in childhood at Troyes + and at Gondreville. Her only brother, Jules de Cinq-Cygne, who emigrated + before the twins, died at Mayence, but by a privilege which was somewhat + rare and will be mentioned later, the name of Cinq-Cygne was not to perish + through lack of male heirs. + </p> + <p> + This affair between Michu and the farmer made a great noise in the + arrondissement and darkened the already mysterious shadows which seemed to + veil him. Nor was it the only circumstance which made him feared. A few + months after this scene the citizen Marion, present owner of the + Gondreville estate, came to inspect it with the citizen Malin. Rumor said + that Marion was about to sell the property to his companion, who had + profited by political events and had just been appointed on the Council of + State by the First Consul, in return for his services on the 18th + Brumaire. The shrewd heads of the little town of Arcis now perceived that + Marion had been the agent of Malin in the purchase of the property, and + not of the brothers Simeuse, as was first supposed. The all-powerful + Councillor of State was the most important personage in Arcis. He had + obtained for one of his political friends the prefecture of Troyes, and + for a farmer at Gondreville the exemption of his son from the draft; in + fact, he had done services to many. Consequently, the sale met with no + opposition in the neighborhood where Malin then reigned, and where he + still reigns supreme. + </p> + <p> + The Empire was just dawning. Those who in these days read the histories of + the French Revolution can form no conception of the vast spaces which + public thought traversed between events which now seem to have been so + near together. The strong need of peace and tranquillity which every one + felt after the violent tumults of the Revolution brought about a complete + forgetfulness of important anterior facts. History matured rapidly under + the advance of new and eager interests. No one, therefore, except Michu, + looked into the past of this affair, which the community accepted as a + simple matter. Marion, who had bought Gondreville for six hundred thousand + francs in assignats, sold it for the value of a couple of million in coin; + but the only payments actually made by Malin were for the costs of + registration. Grevin, a seminary comrade of Malin, assisted the + transaction, and the Councillor rewarded his help with the office of + notary at Arcis. When the news of the sale reached the pavilion, brought + there by a farmer whose farm, at Grouage, was situated between the forest + and the park on the left of the noble avenue, Michu turned pale and left + the house. He lay in wait for Marion, and finally met him alone in one of + the shrubberies of the park. + </p> + <p> + “Is monsieur about to sell Gondreville?” asked the bailiff. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, Michu, yes. You will have a man of powerful influence for your + master. He is the friend of the First Consul, and very intimate with all + the ministers; he will protect you.” + </p> + <p> + “Then you were holding the estate for him?” + </p> + <p> + “I don’t say that,” replied Marion. “At the time I bought it I was looking + for a place to put my money, and I invested in national property as the + best security. But it doesn’t suit me to keep an estate once belonging to + a family in which my father was—” + </p> + <p> + “—a servant,” said Michu, violently. “But you shall not sell it! I + want it; and I can pay for it.” + </p> + <p> + “You?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, I; seriously, in good gold,—eight hundred thousand francs.” + </p> + <p> + “Eight hundred thousand francs!” exclaimed Marion. “Where did you get + them?” + </p> + <p> + “That’s none of your business,” replied Michu; then, softening his tone, + he added in a low voice: “My father-in-law saved the lives of many + persons.” + </p> + <p> + “You are too late, Michu; the sale is made.” + </p> + <p> + “You must put it off, monsieur!” cried the bailiff, seizing his master by + the hand which he held as in a vice. “I am hated, but I choose to be rich + and powerful, and I must have Gondreville. Listen to me; I don’t cling to + life; sell me that place or I’ll blow your brains out!—” + </p> + <p> + “But do give me time to get off my bargain with Malin; he’s troublesome to + deal with.” + </p> + <p> + “I’ll give you twenty-four hours. If you say a word about this matter I’ll + chop your head off as I would chop a turnip.” + </p> + <p> + Marion and Malin left the chateau in the course of the night. Marion was + frightened; he told Malin of the meeting and begged him to keep an eye on + the bailiff. It was impossible for Marion to avoid delivering the property + to the man who had been the real purchaser, and Michu did not seem likely + to admit any such reason. Moreover, this service done by Marion to Malin + was to be, and in fact ended by being, the origin of the former’s + political fortune, and also that of his brother. In 1806 Malin had him + appointed chief justice of an imperial court, and after the creation of + tax-collectors his brother obtained the post of receiver-general for the + department of the Aube. The State Councillor told Marion to stay in Paris, + and he warned the minister of police, who gave orders that Michu should be + secretly watched. Not wishing to push the man to extremes, Malin kept him + on as bailiff, under the iron rule of Grevin the notary of Arcis. + </p> + <p> + From that moment Michu became more absorbed and taciturn than ever, and + obtained the reputation of a man who was capable of committing a crime. + Malin, the Councillor of State (a function which the First Consul raised + to the level of a ministry), and a maker of the Code, played a great part + in Paris, where he bought one of the finest mansions in the Faubuorg + Saint-Germain after marrying the only daughter of a rich contractor named + Sibuelle. He never came to Gondreville; leaving all matters concerning the + property to the management of Grevin, the Arcis notary. After all, what + had he to fear?—he, a former representative of the Aube, and + president of a club of Jacobins. And yet, the unfavorable opinion of Michu + held by the lower classes was shared by the bourgeoisie, and Marion, + Grevin, and Malin, without giving any reason or compromising themselves on + the subject, showed that they regarded him as an extremely dangerous man. + The authorities, who were under instructions from the minister of police + to watch the bailiff, did not of course lessen this belief. The + neighborhood wondered that he kept his place, but supposed it was in + consequence of the terror he inspired. It is easy now, after these + explanations, to understand the anxiety and sadness expressed in the face + of Michu’s wife. + </p> + <p> + In the first place, Marthe had been piously brought up by her mother. + Both, being good Catholics, had suffered much from the opinions and + behavior of the tanner. Marthe could never think without a blush of having + marched through the street of Troyes in the garb of a goddess. Her father + had forced her to marry Michu, whose bad reputation was then increasing, + and she feared him too much to be able to judge him. Nevertheless, she + knew that he loved her, and at the bottom of her heart lay the truest + affection for this awe-inspiring man; she had never known him to do + anything that was not just; never did he say a brutal word, to her at + least; in fact, he endeavored to forestall her every wish. The poor + pariah, believing himself disagreeable to his wife, spent most of his time + out of doors. Marthe and Michu, distrustful of each other, lived in what + is called in these days an “armed peace.” Marthe, who saw no one, suffered + keenly from the ostracism which for the last seven years had surrounded + her as the daughter of a revolutionary butcher, and the wife of a + so-called traitor. More than once she had overheard the laborers of the + adjoining farm (held by a man named Beauvisage, greatly attached to the + Simeuse family) say as they passed the pavilion, “That’s where Judas + lives!” The singular resemblance between the bailiff’s head and that of + the thirteenth apostle, which his conduct appeared to carry out, won him + that odious nickname throughout the neighborhood. It was this distress of + mind, added to vague but constant fears for the future, which gave Marthe + her thoughtful and subdued air. Nothing saddens so deeply as unmerited + degradation from which there seems no escape. A painter could have made a + fine picture of this family of pariahs in the bosom of their pretty nook + in Champagne, where the landscape is generally sad. + </p> + <p> + “Francois!” called the bailiff, to hasten his son. + </p> + <p> + Francois Michu, a child of ten, played in the park and forest, and levied + his little tithes like a master; he ate the fruits; he chased the game; he + at least had neither cares nor troubles. Of all the family, Francois alone + was happy in a home thus isolated from the neighborhood by its position + between the park and the forest, and by the still greater moral solitude + of universal repulsion. + </p> + <p> + “Pick up these things,” said his father, pointing to the parapet, “and put + them away. Look at me! You love your father and your mother, don’t you?” + The child flung himself on his father as if to kiss him, but Michu made a + movement to shift the gun and pushed him back. “Very good. You have + sometimes chattered about things that are done here,” continued the + father, fixing his eyes, dangerous as those of a wild-cat, on the boy. + “Now remember this; if you tell the least little thing that happens here + to Gaucher, or to the Grouage and Bellache people, or even to Marianne who + loves us, you will kill your father. Never tattle again, and I will + forgive what you said yesterday.” The child began to cry. “Don’t cry; but + when any one questions you, say, as the peasants do, ‘I don’t know.’ There + are persons roaming about whom I distrust. Run along! As for you two,” he + added, turning to the women, “you have heard what I said. Keep a close + mouth, both of you.” + </p> + <p> + “Husband, what are you going to do?” + </p> + <p> + Michu, who was carefully measuring a charge of powder, poured it into the + barrel of his gun, rested the weapon against the parapet and said to + Marthe:— + </p> + <p> + “No one knows I own that gun. Stand in front of it.” + </p> + <p> + Couraut, who had sprung to his feet, was barking furiously. + </p> + <p> + “Good, intelligent fellow!” cried Michu. “I am certain there are spies + about—” + </p> + <p> + Man and beast feel a spy. Couraut and Michu, who seemed to have one and + the same soul, lived together as the Arab and his horse in the desert. The + bailiff knew the modulations of the dog’s voice, just as the dog read his + master’s meaning in his eyes, or felt it exhaling in the air from his + body. + </p> + <p> + “What do you say to that?” said Michu, in a low voice, calling his wife’s + attention to two strangers who appeared in a by-path making for the <i>rond-point</i>. + </p> + <p> + “What can it mean?” cried the old mother. “They are Parisians.” + </p> + <p> + “Here they come!” said Michu. “Hide my gun,” he whispered to his wife. + </p> + <p> + The two men who now crossed the wide open space of the <i>rond-point</i> + were typical enough for a painter. One, who appeared to be the subaltern, + wore top-boots, turned down rather low, showing well-made calves, and + colored silk stockings of doubtful cleanliness. The breeches, of ribbed + cloth, apricot color with metal buttons, were too large; they were baggy + about the body, and the lines of their creases seemed to indicate a + sedentary man. A marseilles waistcoat, overloaded with embroidery, open, + and held together by one button only just above the stomach, gave to the + wearer a dissipated look,—all the more so, because his jet black + hair, in corkscrew curls, hid his forehead and hung down his cheeks. Two + steel watch-chains were festooned upon his breeches. The shirt was adorned + with a cameo in white and blue. The coat, cinnamon-colored, was a treasure + to caricaturists by reason of its long tails, which, when seen from + behind, bore so perfect a resemblance to a cod that the name of that fish + was given to them. The fashion of codfish tails lasted ten years; almost + the whole period of the empire of Napoleon. The cravat, loosely fastened, + and with numerous small folds, allowed the wearer to bury his face in it + up to the nostrils. His pimpled skin, his long, thick, brick-dust colored + nose, his high cheek-bones, his mouth, lacking half its teeth but greedy + for all that and menacing, his ears adorned with huge gold rings, his low + forehead,—all these personal details, which might have seemed + grotesque in many men, were rendered terrible in him by two small eyes set + in his head like those of a pig, expressive of insatiable covetousness, + and of insolent, half-jovial cruelty. These ferreting and perspicacious + blue eyes, glassy and glacial, might be taken for the model of that famous + Eye, the formidable emblem of the police, invented during the Revolution. + Black silk gloves were on his hands and he carried a switch. He was + certainly some official personage, for he showed in his bearing, in his + way of taking snuff and ramming it into his nose, the bureaucratic + importance of an office subordinate, one who signs for his superiors and + acquires a passing sovereignty by enforcing their orders. + </p> + <p> + The other man, whose dress was in the same style, but elegant and + elegantly put on and careful in its smallest detail, wore boots <i>a la</i> + Suwaroff which came high upon the leg above a pair of tight trousers, and + creaked as he walked. Above his coat he wore a spencer, an aristocratic + garment adopted by the Clichiens and the young bloods of Paris, which + survived both the Clichiens and the fashionable youths. In those days + fashions sometimes lasted longer than parties,—a symptom of anarchy + which the year of our Lord 1830 has again presented to us. This + accomplished dandy seemed to be thirty years of age. His manners were + those of good society; he wore jewels of value; the collar of his shirt + came to the tops of his ears. His conceited and even impertinent air + betrayed a consciousness of hidden superiority. His pallid face seemed + bloodless, his thin flat nose had the sardonic expression which we see in + a death’s head, and his green eyes were inscrutable; their glance was + discreet in meaning just as the thin closed mouth was discreet in words. + The first man seemed on the whole a good fellow compared with this younger + man, who was slashing the air with a cane, the top of which, made of gold, + glittered in the sunshine. The first man might have cut off a head with + his own hand, but the second was capable of entangling innocence, virtue, + and beauty in the nets of calumny and intrigue, and then poisoning them or + drowning them. The rubicund stranger would have comforted his victim with + a jest; the other was incapable of a smile. The first was forty-five years + old, and he loved, undoubtedly, both women and good cheer. Such men have + passions which keep them slaves to their calling. But the young man was + plainly without passions and without vices. If he was a spy he belonged to + diplomacy, and did such work from a pure love of art. He conceived, the + other executed; he was the idea, the other was the form. + </p> + <p> + “This must be Gondreville, is it not, my good woman?” said the young man. + </p> + <p> + “We don’t say ‘my good woman’ here,” said Michu. “We are still simple + enough to say ‘citizen’ and ‘citizeness’ in these parts.” + </p> + <p> + “Ah!” exclaimed the young man, in a natural way, and without seeming at + all annoyed. + </p> + <p> + Players of ecarte often have a sense of inward disaster when some unknown + person sits down at the same table with them, whose manners, look, voice, + and method of shuffling the cards, all, to their fancy, foretell defeat. + The instant Michu looked at the young man he felt an inward and prophetic + collapse. He was struck by a fatal presentiment; he had a sudden confused + foreboding of the scaffold. A voice told him that that dandy would destroy + him, although there was nothing whatever in common between them. For this + reason his answer was rude; he was and he wished to be forbidding. + </p> + <p> + “Don’t you belong to the Councillor of State, Malin?” said the younger + man. + </p> + <p> + “I am my own master,” answered Malin. + </p> + <p> + “Mesdames,” said the young man, assuming a most polite air, “are we not at + Gondreville? We are expected there by Monsieur Malin.” + </p> + <p> + “There’s the park,” said Michu, pointing to the open gate. + </p> + <p> + “Why are you hiding that gun, my fine girl?” said the elder, catching + sight of the carbine as he passed through the gate. + </p> + <p> + “You never let a chance escape you, even in the country!” cried his + companion. + </p> + <p> + They both turned back with a sense of distrust which the bailiff + understood at once in spite of their impassible faces. Marthe let them + look at the gun, to the tune of Couraut’s bark; she was so convinced that + her husband was meditating some evil deed that she was thankful for the + curiosity of the strangers. + </p> + <p> + Michu flung a look at his wife which made her tremble; he took the gun and + began to load it, accepting quietly the fatal ill-luck of this encounter + and the discovery of the weapon. He seemed no longer to care for life, and + his wife fathomed his inward feeling. + </p> + <p> + “So you have wolves in these parts?” said the young man, watching him. + </p> + <p> + “There are always wolves where there are sheep. You are in Champagne, and + there’s a forest; we have wild-boars, large and small game both, a little + of everything,” replied Michu, in a truculent manner. + </p> + <p> + “I’ll bet, Corentin,” said the elder of the two men, after exchanging a + glance with his companion, “that this is my friend Michu—” + </p> + <p> + “We never kept pigs together that I know of,” said the bailiff. + </p> + <p> + “No, but we both presided over Jacobins, citizen,” replied the old cynic,—“you + at Arcis, I elsewhere. I see you’ve kept your Carmagnole civility, but + it’s no longer in fashion, my good fellow.” + </p> + <p> + “The park strikes me as rather large; we might lose our way. If you are + really the bailiff show us the path to the chateau,” said Corentin, in a + peremptory tone. + </p> + <p> + Michu whistled to his son and continued to load his gun. Corentin looked + at Marthe with indifference, while his companion seemed charmed by her; + but the young man noticed the signs of her inward distress, which escaped + the old libertine, who had, however, noticed and feared the gun. The + natures of the two men were disclosed in this trifling yet important + circumstance. + </p> + <p> + “I’ve an appointment the other side of the forest,” said the bailiff. “I + can’t go with you, but my son here will take you to the chateau. How did + you get to Gondreville? did you come by Cinq-Cygne?” + </p> + <p> + “We had, like yourself, business in the forest,” said Corentin, without + apparent sarcasm. + </p> + <p> + “Francois,” cried Michu, “take these gentlemen to the chateau by the wood + path, so that no one sees them; they don’t follow the beaten tracks. Come + here,” he added, as the strangers turned to walk away, talking together as + they did so in a low voice. Michu caught the boy in his arms, and kissed + him almost solemnly with an expression which confirmed his wife’s fears; + cold chills ran down her back; she glanced at her mother with haggard + eyes, for she could not weep. + </p> + <p> + “Go,” said Michu; and he watched the boy until he was entirely out of + sight. Couraut was barking on the other side of the road in the direction + of Grouage. “Oh, that’s Violette,” remarked Michu. “This is the third time + that old fellow has passed here to-day. What’s in the wind? Hush, + Couraut!” + </p> + <p> + A few moments later the trot of a pony was heard approaching. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0002" id="link2HCH0002"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER II. A CRIME RELINQUISHED + </h2> + <p> + Violette, mounted on one of those little nags which the farmers in the + neighborhood of Paris use so much, soon appeared, wearing a round hat with + a broad brim, beneath which his wood-colored face, deeply wrinkled, + appeared in shadow. His gray eyes, mischievous and lively, concealed in a + measure the treachery of his nature. His skinny legs, covered with gaiters + of white linen which came to the knee, hung rather than rested in the + stirrups, seemingly held in place by the weight of his hob-nailed shoes. + Above his jacket of blue cloth he wore a cloak of some coarse woollen + stuff woven in black and white stripes. His gray hair fell in curls behind + his ears. This dress, the gray horse with its short legs, the manner in + which Violette sat him, stomach projecting and shoulders thrown back, the + big chapped hands which held the shabby bridle, all depicted him plainly + as the grasping, ambitious peasant who desires to own land and buys it at + any price. His mouth, with its bluish lips parted as if a surgeon had + pried them open with a scalpel, and the innumerable wrinkles of his face + and forehead hindered the play of features which were expressive only in + their outlines. Those hard, fixed lines seemed menacing, in spite of the + humility which country-folks assume and beneath which they conceal their + emotions and schemes, as savages and Easterns hide theirs behind an + imperturbable gravity. First a mere laborer, then the farmer of Grouage + through a long course of persistent ill-doing, he continued his evil + practices after conquering a position which surpassed his early hopes. He + wished harm to all men and wished it vehemently. When he could assist in + doing harm he did it eagerly. He was openly envious; but, no matter how + malignant he might be, he kept within the limits of the law,—neither + beyond it nor behind it, like a parliamentary opposition. He believed his + prosperity depended on the ruin of others, and that whoever was above him + was an enemy against whom all weapons were good. A character like this is + very common among the peasantry. + </p> + <p> + Violette’s present business was to obtain from Malin an extension of the + lease of his farm, which had only six years longer to run. Jealous of the + bailiff’s means, he watched him narrowly. The neighbors reproached him for + his intimacy with “Judas”; but the sly old farmer, wishing to obtain a + twelve years’ lease, was really lying in wait for an opportunity to serve + either the government or Malin, who distrusted Michu. Violette, by the + help of the game-keeper of Gondreville and others belonging to the estate, + kept Malin informed of all Michu’s actions. Malin had endeavored, + fruitlessly, to win over Marianne, the Michus’ servant-woman; but Violette + and his satellites heard everything from Gaucher,—a lad on whose + fidelity Michu relied, but who betrayed him for cast-off clothing, + waistcoats, buckles, cotton socks and sugar-plums. The boy had no + suspicion of the importance of his gossip. Violette in his reports + blackened all Michu’s actions and gave them a criminal aspect by absurd + suggestions,—unknown, of course, to the bailiff, who was aware, + however, of the base part played by the farmer, and took delight in + mystifying him. + </p> + <p> + “You must have a deal of business at Bellache to be here again,” said + Michu. + </p> + <p> + “Again! is that meant as a reproach, Monsieur Michu?—Hey! I did not + know you had that gun. You are not going to whistle for the sparrows on + that pipe, I suppose—” + </p> + <p> + “It grew in a field of mine which bears guns,” replied Michu. “Look! this + is how I sow them.” + </p> + <p> + The bailiff took aim at a viper thirty feet away and cut it in two. + </p> + <p> + “Have you got that bandit’s weapon to protect your master?” said Violette. + “Perhaps he gave it to you.” + </p> + <p> + “He came from Paris expressly to bring it to me,” replied Michu. + </p> + <p> + “People are talking all round the neighborhood of this journey of his; + some say he is in disgrace and has to retire from office; others that he + wants to see things for himself down here. But anyway, why does he come, + like the First Consul, without giving warning? Did you know he was + coming?” + </p> + <p> + “I am not on such terms with him as to be in his confidence.” + </p> + <p> + “Then you have not seen him?” + </p> + <p> + “I did not know he was here till I got back from my rounds in the forest,” + said Michu, reloading his gun. + </p> + <p> + “He has sent to Arcis for Monsieur Grevin,” said Violette; “they are + scheming something.” + </p> + <p> + “If you are going round by Cinq-Cygne, take me up behind you,” said the + bailiff. “I’m going there.” + </p> + <p> + Violette was too timid to have a man of Michu’s strength on his crupper, + and he spurred his beast. Judas slung his gun over his shoulder and walked + rapidly up the avenue. + </p> + <p> + “Who can it be that Michu is angry with?” said Marthe to her mother. + </p> + <p> + “Ever since he heard of Monsieur Malin’s arrival he has been gloomy,” + replied the old woman. “But it is getting damp here, let us go in.” + </p> + <p> + After the two women had settled themselves in the chimney corner they + heard Couraut’s bark. + </p> + <p> + “There’s my husband returning!” cried Marthe. + </p> + <p> + Michu passed up the stairs; his wife, uneasy, followed him to their + bedroom. + </p> + <p> + “See if any one is about,” he said to her, in a voice of some emotion. + </p> + <p> + “No one,” she replied. “Marianne is in the field with the cow, and Gaucher—” + </p> + <p> + “Where is Gaucher?” he asked. + </p> + <p> + “I don’t know.” + </p> + <p> + “I distrust that little scamp. Go up in the garret, look in the hay-loft, + look everywhere for him.” + </p> + <p> + Marthe left the room to obey the order. When she returned she found Michu + on his knees, praying. + </p> + <p> + “What is the matter?” she said, frightened. + </p> + <p> + The bailiff took his wife round the waist and drew her to him, saying in a + voice of deep feeling: “If we never see each other again remember, my poor + wife, that I loved you well. Follow minutely the instructions which you + will find in a letter buried at the foot of the larch in that copse. It is + enclosed in a tin tube. Do not touch it until after my death. And + remember, Marthe, whatever happens to me, that in spite of man’s + injustice, my arm has been the instrument of the justice of God.” + </p> + <p> + Marthe, who turned pale by degrees, became white as her own linen; she + looked at her husband with fixed eyes widened by fear; she tried to speak, + but her throat was dry. Michu disappeared like a shadow, having tied + Couraut to the foot of his bed where the dog, after the manner of all + dogs, howled in despair. + </p> + <p> + Michu’s anger against Monsieur Marion had serious grounds, but it was now + concentrated on another man, far more criminal in his eyes,—on + Malin, whose secrets were known to the bailiff, he being in a better + position than others to understand the conduct of the State Councillor. + Michu’s father-in-law had had, politically speaking, the confidence of the + former representative to the Convention, through Grevin. + </p> + <p> + Perhaps it would be well here to relate the circumstances which brought + the Simeuse and the Cinq-Cygne families into connection with Malin,—circumstances + which weighed heavily on the fate of Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne’s twin + cousins, but still more heavily on that of Marthe and Michu. + </p> + <p> + The Cinq-Cygne mansion at Troyes stands opposite to that of Simeuse. When + the populace, incited by minds that were as shrewd as they were cautious, + pillaged the hotel Simeuse, discovered the marquis and marchioness, who + were accused of corresponding with the nation’s enemies, and delivered + them to the national guards who took them to prison, the crowd shouted, + “Now for the Cinq-Cygnes!” To their minds the Cinq-Cygnes were as guilty + as other aristocrats. The brave and worthy Monsieur de Simeuse in the + endeavor to save his two sons, then eighteen years of age, whose courage + was likely to compromise them, had confided them, a few hours before the + storm broke, to their aunt, the Comtesse de Cinq-Cygne. Two servants + attached to the Simeuse family accompanied the young men to her house. The + old marquis, who was anxious that his name should not die out, requested + that what was happening might be concealed from his sons, even in the + event of dire disaster. Laurence, the only daughter of the Comtesse de + Cinq-Cygne, was then twelve years of age; her cousins both loved her and + she loved them equally. Like other twins the Simeuse brothers were so + alike that for a long while their mother dressed them in different colors + to know them apart. The first comer, the eldest, was named Paul-Marie, the + other Marie-Paul. Laurence de Cinq-Cygne, to whom their danger was + revealed, played her woman’s part well though still a mere child. She + coaxed and petted her cousins and kept them occupied until the very moment + when the populace surrounded the Cinq-Cygne mansion. The two brothers then + knew their danger for the first time, and looked at each other. Their + resolution was instantly taken; they armed their own servants and those of + the Comtesse de Cinq-Cygne, barricaded the doors, and stood guard at the + windows, after closing the wooden blinds, with the five men-servants and + the Abbe d’Hauteserre, a relative of the Cinq-Cygnes. These eight + courageous champions poured a deadly fire into the crowd. Every shot + killed or wounded an assailant. Laurence, instead of wringing her hands, + loaded the guns with extraordinary coolness, and passed the balls and + powder to those who needed them. The Comtesse de Cinq-Cygne was on her + knees. + </p> + <p> + “What are you doing, mother?” said Laurence. + </p> + <p> + “I am praying,” she answered, “for them and for you.” + </p> + <p> + Sublime words,—said also by the mother of Godoy, prince of the + Peace, in Spain, under similar circumstances. + </p> + <p> + In a moment eleven persons were killed and lying on the ground among a + number of wounded. Such results either cool or excite a populace; either + it grows savage at the work or discontinues it. On the present occasion + those in advance recoiled; but the crowd behind them were there to kill + and rob, and when they saw their own dead, they cried out: “Murder! + Murder! Revenge!” The wiser heads went in search of the representative to + the Convention, Malin. The twins, by this time aware of the disastrous + events of the day, suspected Malin of desiring the ruin of their family, + and of causing the arrest of their parents, and the suspicion soon became + a certainty. They posted themselves beneath the porte-cochere, gun in + hand, intending to kill Malin as soon as he made his appearance; but the + countess lost her head; she imagined her house in ashes and her daughter + assassinated, and she blamed the young men for their heroic defence and + compelled them to desist. It was Laurence who opened the door slightly + when Malin summoned the household to admit him. Seeing her, the + representative relied upon the awe he expected to inspire in a mere child, + and he entered the house. To his first words of inquiry as to why the + family were making such a resistance, the girl replied: “If you really + desire to give liberty to France how is it that you do not protect us in + our homes? They are trying to tear down this house, monsieur, to murder + us, and you say we have no right to oppose force to force!” + </p> + <p> + Malin stood rooted to the ground. + </p> + <p> + “You, the son of a mason employed by the Grand Marquis to build his + castle!” exclaimed Marie-Paul, “you have let them drag our father to + prison—you have believed calumnies!” + </p> + <p> + “He shall be released at once,” said Malin, who thought himself lost when + he saw each youth clutch his weapon convulsively. + </p> + <p> + “You owe your life to that promise,” said Marie-Paul, solemnly. “If it is + not fulfilled to-night we shall find you again.” + </p> + <p> + “As to that howling populace,” said Laurence, “If you do not send them + away, the next blood will be yours. Now, Monsieur Malin, leave this + house!” + </p> + <p> + The Conventionalist did leave it, and he harangued the crowd, dwelling on + the sacred rights of the domestic hearth, the habeas corpus and the + English “home.” He told them that the law and the people were sovereigns, + that the law <i>was</i> the people, and that the people could only act + through the law, and that power was vested in the law. The particular law + of personal necessity made him eloquent, and he managed to disperse the + crowd. But he never forgot the contemptuous expression of the two + brothers, nor the “Leave this house!” of Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne. + Therefore, when it was a question of selling the estates of the Comte de + Cinq-Cygne, Laurence’s brother, as national property, the sale was + rigorously made. The agents left nothing for Laurence but the chateau, the + park and gardens, and one farm called that of Cinq-Cygne. Malin instructed + the appraisers that Laurence had no rights beyond her legal share,—the + nation taking possession of all that belonged to her brother, who had + emigrated and, above all, had borne arms against the Republic. + </p> + <p> + The evening after this terrible tumult, Laurence so entreated her cousins + to leave the country, fearing treachery on the part of Malin, or some trap + into which they might fall, that they took horse that night and gained the + Prussian outposts. They had scarcely reached the forest of Gondreville + before the hotel Cinq-Cygne was surrounded; Malin came himself to arrest + the heirs of the house of Simeuse. He dared not lay hands on the Comtesse + de Cinq-Cygne, who was in bed with a nervous fever, nor on Laurence, a + child of twelve. The servants, fearing the severity of the Republic, had + disappeared. The next day the news of the resistance of the brothers and + their flight to Prussia was known to the neighborhood. A crowd of three + thousand persons assembled before the hotel de Cinq-Cygne, which was + demolished with incredible rapidity. Madame de Cinq-Cygne, carried to the + hotel Simeuse, died there from the effects of the fever aggravated by + terror. + </p> + <p> + Michu did not appear in the political arena until after these events, for + the marquis and his wife remained in prison over five months. During this + time Malin was away on a mission. But when Monsieur Marion sold + Gondreville to the Councillor of State, Michu understood the latter’s + game,—or rather, he thought he did; for Malin was, like Fouche, one + of those personages who are of such depth in all their different aspects + that they are impenetrable when they play a part, and are never understood + until long after their drama is ended. + </p> + <p> + In all the chief circumstances of Malin’s life he had never failed to + consult his faithful friend Grevin, the notary of Arcis, whose judgment on + men and things was, at a distance, clear-cut and precise. This faculty is + the wisdom and makes the strength of second-rate men. Now, in November, + 1803, a combination of events (already related in the “Depute d’Arcis”) + made matters so serious for the Councillor of State that a letter might + have compromised the two friends. Malin, who hoped to be appointed + senator, was afraid to offer his explanations in Paris. He came to + Gondreville, giving the First Consul only one of the reasons that made him + wish to be there; that reason gave him an appearance of zeal in the eyes + of Bonaparte; whereas his journey, far from concerning the interests of + the State, related to his own interests only. On this particular day, as + Michu was watching the park and expecting, after the manner of a red + Indian, a propitious moment for his vengeance, the astute Malin, + accustomed to turn all events to his own profit, was leading his friend + Grevin to a little field in the English garden, a lonely spot in the park, + favorable for a secret conference. There, standing in the centre of the + grass plot and speaking low, the friends were at too great a distance to + be overheard if any one were lurking near enough to listen to them; they + were also sure of time to change the conversation if others unwarily + approached. + </p> + <p> + “Why couldn’t we have stayed in a room in the chateau?” asked Grevin. + </p> + <p> + “Didn’t you take notice of those two men whom the prefect of police has + sent here to me?” + </p> + <p> + Though Fouche made himself in the matter of the Pichegru, Georges, Moreau, + and Polignac conspiracy the soul of the Consular cabinet, he did not at + this time control the ministry of police, but was merely a councillor of + State like Malin. + </p> + <p> + “Those men,” continued Malin, “are Fouche’s two arms. One, that dandy + Corentin, whose face is like a glass of lemonade, vinegar on his lips and + verjuice in his eyes, put an end to the insurrection at the West in the + year VII. in less than fifteen days. The other is a disciple of Lenoir; he + is the only one who preserves the great traditions of the police. I had + asked for an agent of no great account, backed by some official personage, + and they send me those past-masters of the business! Ah, Grevin, Fouche + wants to pry into my game. That’s why I left those fellows dining at the + chateau; they may look into everything for all I care; they won’t find + Louis XVIII. nor any sign of him.” + </p> + <p> + “But see here, my dear fellow, what game are you playing?” cried Grevin. + </p> + <p> + “Ha, my friend, a double game is a dangerous one, but this, taking Fouche + into account, is a triple one. He may have nosed the fact that I am in the + secrets of the house of Bourbon.” + </p> + <p> + “You?” + </p> + <p> + “I,” replied Malin. + </p> + <p> + “Have you forgotten Favras?” + </p> + <p> + The words made an impression on the councillor. + </p> + <p> + “Since when?” asked Grevin, after a pause. + </p> + <p> + “Since the Consulate for life.” + </p> + <p> + “I hope there’s no proof of it?” + </p> + <p> + “Not that!” said Malin, clicking his thumb-nail against his teeth. + </p> + <p> + In few words the Councillor of State gave a clear and succinct account of + the critical position in which Bonaparte was about to hold England, by + threatening her with invasion from the camp at Boulogne; he explained to + Grevin the bearings of that project, which was unobserved by France and + Europe but suspected by Pitt; also the critical position in which England + was about to put Bonaparte. A powerful coalition, Prussia, Austria, and + Russia, paid by English gold, was pledged to furnish seven hundred + thousand men under arms. At the same time a formidable conspiracy was + throwing a network over the whole of France, including among its members + montagnards, chouans, royalists, and their princes. + </p> + <p> + “Louis XVIII. held that as long as there were three Consuls anarchy was + certain, and that he could at some opportune moment take his revenge for + the 13th Vendemiaire and the 18th Fructidor,” said Malin, “but the + Consulate for life has unmasked Bonaparte’s intentions—he will soon + be emperor. The late sub-lieutenant means to create a dynasty! This time + his life is in actual danger; and the plot is far better laid than that of + the Rue Saint-Nicaise. Pichegru, Georges, Moreau, the Duc d’Enghien, + Polignac and Riviere, the two friends of the Comte d’Artois are in it.” + </p> + <p> + “What an amalgamation!” cried Grevin. + </p> + <p> + “France is being silently invaded; no stone is left unturned; the thing + will be carried with a rush. A hundred picked men, commanded by Georges, + are to attack the Consular guard and the Consul hand to hand.” + </p> + <p> + “Well then, denounce them.” + </p> + <p> + “For the last two months the Consul, his minister of police, the prefect + and Fouche, hold some of the clues of this vast conspiracy; but they don’t + know its full extent, and at this particular moment they are leaving + nearly all the conspirators free, so as to discover more about it.” + </p> + <p> + “As to rights,” said the notary, “the Bourbons have much more right to + conceive, plan, and execute a scheme against Bonaparte, than Bonaparte had + on the 18th Brumaire against the Republic, whose product he was. He + murdered his mother on that occasion, but these royalists only seek to + recover what was theirs. I can understand that the princes and their + adherents, seeing the lists of the <i>emigres</i> closed, mortgages + suppressed, the Catholic faith restored, anti-revolutionary decrees + accumulating, should begin to see that their return is becoming difficult, + not to say impossible. Bonaparte being the sole obstacle now in their way, + they want to get rid of him—nothing simpler. Conspirators if + defeated are brigands, if successful, heroes; and your perplexity seems to + me very natural.” + </p> + <p> + “The matter now is,” said Malin, “to make Bonaparte fling the head of the + Duc d’Enghien at the Bourbons, just as the Convention flung the head of + Louis XVI. at the kings, so as to commit him as fully as we are to the + Revolution; <i>or else</i>, we must upset the idol of the French people + and their future emperor, and seat the true throne upon his ruins. I am at + the mercy of some event, some fortunate pistol-shot, some infernal machine + which does its work. Even I don’t know the whole conspiracy; they don’t + tell me all; but they have asked me to call the Council of State at the + critical moment and direct its action towards the restoration of the + Bourbons.” + </p> + <p> + “Wait,” said the notary. + </p> + <p> + “Impossible! I am compelled to make my decision at once.” + </p> + <p> + “Why?” + </p> + <p> + “Well, the Simeuse brothers are in the conspiracy; they are here in the + neighborhood; I must either have them watched, let them compromise + themselves, and so be rid of them, or else I must privately protect them. + I asked the prefect for underlings and he has sent me lynxes, who came + through Troyes and have got the gendarmerie to support them.” + </p> + <p> + “Gondreville is your real object,” said Grevin, “and this conspiracy your + best chance of keeping it. Fouche, Talleyrand, and those two fellows have + nothing to do with that. Therefore play fair with them. What nonsense! + those who cut Louis XVI.‘s head off are in the government; France is full + of men who have bought national property, and yet you talk of bringing + back those who would require you to give up Gondreville! If the Bourbons + were not imbeciles they would pass a sponge over all we have done. Warn + Bonaparte, that’s my advice.” + </p> + <p> + “A man of my rank can’t denounce,” said Malin, quickly. + </p> + <p> + “Your rank!” exclaimed Grevin, smiling. + </p> + <p> + “They have offered to make me Keeper of the Seals.” + </p> + <p> + “Ah! Now I understand your bewilderment, and it is for me to see clear in + this political darkness and find a way out for you. Now, it is quite + impossible to foresee what events may happen to bring back the Bourbons + when a General Bonaparte is in possession of eighty line of battle ships + and four hundred thousand men. The most difficult thing of all in + expectant politics is to know when a power that totters will fall; but, my + old man, Bonaparte’s power is not tottering, it is in the ascendant. Don’t + you think that Fouche may be sounding you so as to get to the bottom of + your mind, and then get rid of you?” + </p> + <p> + “No; I am sure of my go-between. Besides, Fouche would never, under those + circumstances, send me such fellows as these; he would know they would + make me suspicious.” + </p> + <p> + “They alarm me,” said Grevin. “If Fouche does not distrust you, and is not + seeking to probe you, why does he send them? Fouche doesn’t play such a + trick as that without a motive; what is it?” + </p> + <p> + “What decides me,” said Malin, “is that I should never be easy with those + two Simeuse brothers in France. Perhaps Fouche, who knows how I am placed + towards them, wants to make sure they don’t escape him, and hopes through + them to reach the Condes.” + </p> + <p> + “That’s right, old fellow; it is not under Bonaparte that the present + possessor of Gondreville can be ousted.” + </p> + <p> + Just then Malin, happening to look up, saw the muzzle of a gun through the + foliage of a tall linden. + </p> + <p> + “I was not mistaken, I thought I heard the click of a trigger,” he said to + Grevin, after getting behind the trunk of a large tree, where the notary, + uneasy at his friend’s sudden movement, followed him. + </p> + <p> + “It is Michu,” said Grevin; “I see his red beard.” + </p> + <p> + “Don’t let us seem afraid,” said Malin, who walked slowly away, saying at + intervals: “Why is that man so bitter against the owners of this property? + It was not you he was covering. If he overheard us he had better ask the + prayers of the congregation! Who the devil would have thought of looking + up into the trees!” + </p> + <p> + “There’s always something to learn,” said the notary. “But he was a good + distance off, and we spoke low.” + </p> + <p> + “I shall tell Corentin about it,” replied Malin. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0003" id="link2HCH0003"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER III. THE MASK THROWN OFF + </h2> + <p> + A few moments later Michu returned home, his face pale, his features + contracted. + </p> + <p> + “What is the matter?” said his wife, frightened. + </p> + <p> + “Nothing,” he replied, seeing Violette whose presence silenced him. + </p> + <p> + Michu took a chair and sat down quietly before the fire, into which he + threw a letter which he drew from a tin tube such as are given to soldiers + to hold their papers. This act, which enabled Marthe to draw a long breath + like one relieved of a great burden, greatly puzzled Violette. The bailiff + laid his gun on the mantel-shelf with admirable composure. Marianne the + servant, and Marthe’s mother were spinning by the light of a lamp. + </p> + <p> + “Come, Francois,” said the father, presently, “it is time to go to bed.” + </p> + <p> + He lifted the boy roughly by the middle of his body and carried him off. + </p> + <p> + “Run down to the cellar,” he whispered, when they reached the stairs. + “Empty one third out of two bottles of the Macon wine, and fill them up + with the Cognac brandy which is on the shelf. Then mix a bottle of white + wine with one half brandy. Do it neatly, and put the three bottles on the + empty cask which stands by the cellar door. When you hear me open the + window in the kitchen come out of the cellar, run to the stable, saddle my + horse, mount it, and go and wait for me at Poteaudes-Gueux—That + little scamp hates to go to bed,” said Michu, returning; “he likes to do + as grown people do, see all, hear all, and know all. You spoil my people, + pere Violette.” + </p> + <p> + “Goodness!” cried Violette, “what has loosened your tongue? I never heard + you say as much before.” + </p> + <p> + “Do you suppose I let myself be spied upon without taking notice of it? + You are on the wrong side, pere Violette. If, instead of serving those who + hate me, you were on my side I could do better for you than renew that + lease of yours.” + </p> + <p> + “How?” said the peasant, opening wide his avaricious eyes. + </p> + <p> + “I’ll sell you my property cheap.” + </p> + <p> + “Nothing is cheap when we have to pay,” said Violette, sententiously. + </p> + <p> + “I want to leave the neighborhood, and I’ll let you have my farm of + Mousseau, the buildings, granary, and cattle for fifty thousand francs.” + </p> + <p> + “Really?” + </p> + <p> + “Does that suit you?” + </p> + <p> + “Hang it! I must think—” + </p> + <p> + “We’ll talk about it—I shall want earnest money.” + </p> + <p> + “I have no money.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, a note.” + </p> + <p> + “Can’t give it.” + </p> + <p> + “Tell me who sent you here to-day.” + </p> + <p> + “I am on my way back from where I spent this afternoon, and I only stopped + in to say good-evening.” + </p> + <p> + “Back without your horse? What a fool you must take me for! You are lying, + and you shall not have my farm.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, to tell you the truth, it was monsieur Grevin who sent me. He said + ‘Violette, we want Michu; do you go and get him; if he isn’t at home, wait + for him.’ I saw I should have to stay here all this evening.” + </p> + <p> + “Are those sharks from Paris still at the chateau?” + </p> + <p> + “Ah! that I don’t know; but there were people in the salon.” + </p> + <p> + “You shall have my farm; we’ll settle the terms now. Wife, go and get some + wine to wash down the contract. Take the best Roussillon, the wine of the + ex-marquis,—we are not babes. You’ll find a couple of bottles on the + empty cask near the door, and a bottle of white wine.” + </p> + <p> + “Very good,” said Violette, who never got drunk. “Let us drink.” + </p> + <p> + “You have fifty thousand francs beneath the floor of your bedroom under + your bed, pere Violette; you will give them to me two weeks after we sign + the deed of sale before Grevin—” Violette stared at Michu and grew + livid. “Ah! you came here to spy upon a Jacobin who had the honor to be + president of the club at Arcis, and you imagine he will let you get the + better of him! I have eyes, I saw where your tiles have been freshly + cemented, and I concluded that you did not pry them up to plant wheat + there. Come, drink.” + </p> + <p> + Violette, much troubled, drank a large glass of wine without noticing the + quality; terror had put a hot iron in his stomach, the brandy was not + hotter than his cupidity. He would have given many things to be safely + home and able to change the hiding-place of his treasure. The three women + smiled. + </p> + <p> + “Do you like that wine?” said Michu, refilling his glass. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, I do.” + </p> + <p> + After a good half-hour’s decision on the time when the buyer might take + possession, and on the various punctilios which the peasantry bring + forward when concluding a bargain,—in the midst of assertions and + counter-assertions, the filling and emptying of glasses, the giving of + promises and denials, Violette suddenly fell forward with his head on the + table, not tipsy, but dead-drunk. The instant that Michu saw his eyes blur + he opened the window. + </p> + <p> + “Where’s that scamp, Gaucher?” he said to his wife. + </p> + <p> + “In bed.” + </p> + <p> + “You, Marianne,” said the bailiff to his faithful servant, “stand in front + of his door and watch him. You, mother, stay down here, and keep an eye on + this spy; keep your eyes and ears open and don’t unfasten the door to any + one but Francois. It is a question of life or death,” he added, in a deep + voice. “Every creature beneath my roof must remember that I have not + quitted it this night; all of you must assert that—even though your + heads were on the block. Come,” he said to Marthe, “come, wife, put on + your shoes, take your coat, and let us be off! No questions—I go + with you.” + </p> + <p> + For the last three quarters of an hour the man’s demeanor and glance were + of despotic authority, all-powerful, irresistible, drawn from the same + mysterious source from which great generals on fields of battle who + inflame an army, great orators inspiring vast audiences, and (it must be + said) great criminals perpetrating bold crimes derive their inspiration. + At such times invincible influence seems to exhale from the head and issue + from the tongue; the gesture even can inject the will of the one man into + others. The three women knew that some dreadful crisis was at hand; + without warning of its nature they felt it in the rapid actions of the + man, whose countenance shone, whose forehead spoke, whose brilliant eyes + glittered like stars; they saw it in the sweat that covered his brow to + the roots of his hair, while more than once his voice vibrated with + impatience and fury. Marthe obeyed passively. Armed to the teeth and with + his gun over his shoulder Michu dashed into the avenue, followed by his + wife. They soon reached the cross-roads where Francois was in waiting + hidden among the bushes. + </p> + <p> + “The boy is intelligent,” said Michu, when he caught sight of him. + </p> + <p> + These were his first words. His wife had rushed after him, unable to + speak. + </p> + <p> + “Go back to the house, hide in a thick tree, and watch the country and the + park,” he said to his son. “We have all gone to bed, no one is stirring. + Your grandmother will not open the door until you ask her to let you in. + Remember every word I say to you. The life of your father and mother + depends on it. No one must know we did not sleep at home.” + </p> + <p> + After whispering these words to the boy, who instantly disappeared in the + forest like an eel in the mud, Michu turned to his wife. + </p> + <p> + “Mount behind me,” he said, “and pray that God be with us. Sit firm, the + beast may die of it.” So saying he kicked the horse with both heels, + pressing him with his powerful knees, and the animal sprang forward with + the rapidity of a hunter, seeming to understand what his master wanted of + him, and crossed the forest in fifteen minutes. Then Michu, who had not + swerved from the shortest way, pulled up, found a spot at the edge of the + woods from which he could see the roofs of the chateau of Cinq-Cygne + lighted by the moon, tied his horse to a tree, and followed by his wife, + gained a little eminence which overlooked the valley. + </p> + <p> + The chateau, which Marthe and Michu looked at together for a moment, makes + a charming effect in the landscape. Though it has little extent and is of + no importance whatever as architecture, yet archaeologically it is not + without a certain interest. This old edifice of the fifteenth century, + placed on an eminence, surrounded on all sides by a moat, or rather by + deep, wide ditches always full of water, is built in cobble-stones buried + in cement, the walls being seven feet thick. Its simplicity recalls the + rough and warlike life of feudal days. The chateau, plain and unadorned, + has two large reddish towers at either end, connected by a long main + building with casement windows, the stone mullions of which, being roughly + carved, bear some resemblance to vine-shoots. The stairway is outside the + house, at the middle, in a sort of pentagonal tower entered through a + small arched door. The interior of the ground-floor together with the + rooms on the first storey were modernized in the time of Louis XIV., and + the whole building is surmounted by an immense roof broken by casement + windows with carved triangular pediments. Before the castle lies a vast + green sward the trees of which had recently been cut down. On either side + of the entrance bridge are two small dwellings where the gardeners live, + connected across the road by a paltry iron railing without character, + evidently modern. To right and left of the lawn, which is divided in two + by a paved road-way, are the stables, cow-sheds, barns, wood-house, + bakery, poultry-yard, and the offices, placed in what were doubtless the + remains of two wings of the old building similar to those that were still + standing. The two large towers, with their pepper-pot roofs which had not + been rased, and the belfry of the middle tower, gave an air of distinction + to the village. The church, also very old, showed near by its pointed + steeple, which harmonized well with the solid masses of the castle. The + moon brought out in full relief the various roofs and towers on which it + played and sparkled. + </p> + <p> + Michu gazed at this baronial structure in a manner that upset all his + wife’s ideas about him; his face, now calm, wore a look of hope and also a + sort of pride. His eyes scanned the horizon with a glance of defiance; he + listened for sounds in the air. It was now nine o’clock; the moon was + beginning to cast its light upon the margin of the forest and to illumine + the little bluff on which they stood. The position struck him as dangerous + and he left it, fearful of being seen. But no suspicious noise troubled + the peace of the beautiful valley encircled on this side by the forest of + Nodesme. Marthe, exhausted and trembling, was awaiting some explanation of + their hurried ride. What was she engaged in? Was she to aid in a good deed + or an evil one? At that instant Michu bent to his wife’s ear and + whispered:— + </p> + <p> + “Go the house and ask to speak to the Comtesse de Cinq-Cygne; when you see + her beg her to speak to you alone. If no one can overhear you, say to her: + ‘Mademoiselle, the lives of your two cousins are in danger, and he who can + explain the how and why is waiting to speak to you.’ If she seems afraid, + if she distrusts you, add these words: ‘They are conspiring against the + First Consul and the conspiracy is discovered.’ Don’t give your name; they + distrust us too much.” + </p> + <p> + Marthe raised her face towards her husband and said:— + </p> + <p> + “Can it be that you serve them?” + </p> + <p> + “What if I do?” he said, frowning, taking her words as a reproach. + </p> + <p> + “You don’t understand me,” cried Marthe, seizing his large hand and + falling on her knees beside him as she kissed it and covered it with her + tears. + </p> + <p> + “Go, go, you shall cry later,” he said, kissing her vehemently. + </p> + <p> + When he no longer heard her step his eyes filled with tears. He had + distrusted Marthe on account of her father’s opinions; he had hidden the + secrets of his life from her; but the beauty of her simple nature had + suddenly appeared to him, just as the grandeur of his had, as suddenly, + revealed itself to her. Marthe had passed in a moment from the deep + humiliation caused by the degradation of the man whose name she bore, to + the exaltation given by a sense of his nobleness. The change was + instantaneous, without transition; it was enough to make her tremble. She + told him later that she went, as it were, through blood from the pavilion + to the edge of the forest, and there was lifted to heaven, in a moment, + among the angels. Michu, who had known he was not appreciated, and who + mistook his wife’s grieved and melancholy manner for lack of affection, + and had left her to herself, living chiefly out of doors and reserving all + his tenderness for his boy, instantly understood the meaning of her tears. + She had cursed the part which her beauty and her father’s will had forced + her to take; but now happiness, in the midst of this great storm, played, + with a beautiful flame like a vivid lightning about them. And it was + lightning! Each thought of the last ten years of misconception, and they + blamed themselves only. Michu stood motionless, his elbow on his gun, his + chin on his hand, lost in deep reverie. Such a moment in a man’s life + makes him willing to accept the saddest moments of a painful past. + </p> + <p> + Marthe, agitated by the same thoughts as those of her husband, was also + troubled in heart by the danger of the Simeuse brothers; for she now + understood all, even the faces of the two Parisians, though she still + could not explain to herself her husband’s gun. She darted forward like a + doe, and soon reached the road to the chateau. There she was surprised by + the steps of a man following behind her; she turned, with a cry, and her + husband’s large hand closed her mouth. + </p> + <p> + “From the hill up there I saw the silver lace of the gendarmes’ hats. Go + in by the breach in the moat between Mademoiselle’s tower and the stables. + The dogs won’t bark at you. Go through the garden and call the countess by + the window; order them to saddle her horse, and ask her to come out + through the breach. I’ll be there, after discovering what the Parisians + are planning, and how to escape them.” + </p> + <p> + Danger, which seemed to be rolling like an avalanche upon them, gave wings + to Marthe’s feet. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0004" id="link2HCH0004"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER IV. LAURENCE DE CINQ-CYGNE + </h2> + <p> + The old Frank name of the Cinq-Cygnes and the Chargeboeufs was Duineff. + Cinq-Cygne became that of the younger branch of the Chargeboeufs after the + defence of a castle made, during their father’s absence, by five daughters + of that race, all remarkably fair, and of whom no one expected such + heroism. One of the first Comtes de Champagne wished, by bestowing this + pretty name, to perpetuate the memory of their deed as long as the family + existed. Laurence, the last of her race, was, contrary to Salic law, + heiress of the name, the arms, and the manor. She was therefore Comtesse + de Cinq-Cygne in her own right; her husband would have to take both her + name and her blazon, which bore for device the glorious answer made by the + elder of the five sisters when summoned to surrender the castle, “We die + singing.” Worthy descendant of these noble heroines, Laurence was fair and + lily-white as though nature had made her for a wager. The lines of her + blue veins could be seen through the delicate close texture of her skin. + Her beautiful golden hair harmonized delightfully with eyes of the deepest + blue. Everything about her belonged to the type of delicacy. Within that + fragile though active body, and in defiance as it were of its pearly + whiteness, lived a soul like that of a man of noble nature; but no one, + not even a close observer, would have suspected it from the gentle + countenance and rounded features which, when seen in profile, bore some + slight resemblance to those of a lamb. This extreme gentleness, though + noble, had something of the stupidity of the little animal. “I look like a + dreamy sheep,” she would say, smiling. Laurence, who talked little, seemed + not so much dreamy as dormant. But, did any important circumstance arise, + the hidden Judith was revealed, sublime; and circumstances had, + unfortunately, not been wanting. + </p> + <p> + At thirteen years of age, Laurence, after the events already related, was + an orphan living in a house opposite to the empty space where so recently + had stood one of the most curious specimens in France of sixteenth-century + architecture, the hotel Cinq-Cygne. Monsieur d’Hauteserre, her relation, + now her guardian, took the young heiress to live in the country at her + chateau of Cinq-Cygne. That brave provincial gentleman, alarmed at the + death of his brother, the Abbe d’Hauteserre, who was shot in the open + square as he was about to escape in the dress of a peasant, was not in a + position to defend the interests of his ward. He had two sons in the army + of the princes, and every day, at the slightest unusual sound, he believed + that the municipals of Arcis were coming to arrest him. Laurence, proud of + having sustained a siege and of possessing the historic whiteness of her + swan-like ancestors, despised the prudent cowardice of the old man who + bent to the storm, and dreamed only of distinguishing herself. So, she + boldly hung the portrait of Charlotte Corday on the walls of her poor + salon at Cinq-Cygne, and crowned it with oak-leaves. She corresponded by + messenger with her twin cousins, in defiance of the law, which punished + the act, when discovered, with death. The messenger, who risked his life, + brought back the answers. Laurence lived only, after the catastrophes at + Troyes, for the triumph of the royal cause. After soberly judging Monsieur + and Madame d’Hauteserre (who lived with her at the chateau de Cinq-Cygne), + and recognizing their honest, but stolid natures, she put them outside the + lines of her own life. She had, moreover, too good a mind and too sound a + judgment to complain of their natures; always kind, amiable, and + affectionate towards them, she nevertheless told them none of her secrets. + Nothing forms a character so much as the practice of constant concealment + in the bosom of a family. + </p> + <p> + After she attained her majority Laurence allowed Monsieur d’Hauteserre to + manage her affairs as in the past. So long as her favorite mare was + well-groomed, her maid Catherine dressed to please her, and Gothard the + little page was suitably clothed, she cared for nothing else. Her thoughts + were aimed too high to come down to occupations and interests which in + other times than these would doubtless have pleased her. Dress was a small + matter to her mind; moreover her cousins were not there to see her. She + wore a dark-green habit when she rode, and a gown of some common woollen + stuff with a cape trimmed with braid when she walked; in the house she was + always seen in a silk wrapper. Gothard, the little groom, a brave and + clever lad of fifteen, attended her wherever she went, and she was nearly + always out of doors, riding or hunting over the farms of Gondreville, + without objection being made by either Michu or the farmers. She rode + admirably well, and her cleverness in hunting was thought miraculous. In + the country she was never called anything but “Mademoiselle” even during + the Revolution. + </p> + <p> + Whoever has read the fine romance of “Rob Roy” will remember that rare + woman for whose making Walter Scott’s imagination abandoned its customary + coldness,—Diana Vernon. The recollection will serve to make Laurence + understood if, to the noble qualities of the Scottish huntress you add the + restrained exaltation of Charlotte Corday, surpassing, however, the + charming vivacity which rendered Diana so attractive. The young countess + had seen her mother die, the Abbe d’Hauteserre shot down, the Marquis de + Simeuse and his wife executed; her only brother had died of his wounds; + her two cousins serving in Conde’s army might be killed at any moment; + and, finally, the fortunes of the Simeuse and the Cinq-Cygne families had + been seized and wasted by the Republic without being of any benefit to the + nation. Her grave demeanor, now lapsing into apparent stolidity, can be + readily understood. + </p> + <p> + Monsieur d’Hauteserre proved an upright and most careful guardian. Under + his administration Cinq-Cygne became a sort of farm. The good man, who was + far more of a close manager than a knight of the old nobility, had turned + the park and gardens to profit, and used their two hundred acres of grass + and woodland as pasturage for horses and fuel for the family. Thanks to + his severe economy the countess, on coming of age, had recovered by his + investments in the State funds a competent fortune. In 1798 she possessed + about twenty thousand francs a year from those sources, on which, in fact, + some dividends were still due, and twelve thousand francs a year from the + rentals at Cinq-Cygne, which had lately been renewed at a notable + increase. Monsieur and Madame d’Hauteserre had provided for their old age + by the purchase of an annuity of three thousand francs in the Tontines + Lafarge. That fragment of their former means did not enable them to live + elsewhere than at Cinq-Cygne, and Laurence’s first act on coming to her + majority was to give them the use for life of the wing of the chateau + which they occupied. + </p> + <p> + The Hauteserres, as niggardly for their ward as they were for themselves, + laid up every year nearly the whole of their annuity for the benefit of + their sons, and kept the young heiress on miserable fare. The whole cost + of the Cinq-Cygne household never exceeded five thousand francs a year. + But Laurence, who condescended to no details, was satisfied. Her guardian + and his wife, unconsciously ruled by the imperceptible influence of her + strong character, which was felt even in little things, had ended by + admiring her whom they had known and treated as a child,—a + sufficiently rare feeling. But in her manner, her deep voice, her + commanding eye, Laurence held that inexplicable power which rules all men,—even + when its strength is mere appearance. To vulgar minds real depth is + incomprehensible; it is perhaps for that reason that the populace is so + prone to admire what it cannot understand. Monsieur and Madame + d’Hauteserre, impressed by the habitual silence and erratic habits of the + young girl, were constantly expecting some extraordinary thing of her. + </p> + <p> + Laurence, who did good intelligently and never allowed herself to be + deceived, was held in the utmost respect by the peasantry although she was + an aristocrat. Her sex, name, and great misfortunes, also the originality + of her present life, contributed to give her authority over the + inhabitants of the valley of Cinq-Cygne. She was sometimes absent for two + days, attended by Gothard, but neither Monsieur nor Madame d’Hauteserre + questioned her, on her return, as to the reasons of her absence. Please + observe, however, that there was nothing odd or eccentric about Laurence. + What she was and what she did was masked, as it were, by a feminine and + even fragile appearance. Her heart was full of extreme sensibility, though + her head contained a stoical firmness and the virile gift of resolution. + Her clear-seeing eyes knew not how to weep; but no one would have imagined + that the delicate white wrist with its tracery of blue veins could defy + that of the boldest horseman. Her hand, so noble, so flexible, could + handle gun or pistol with the ease of a practised marksman. She always + wore when out of doors the coquettish little cap with visor and green veil + which women wear on horseback. Her delicate fair face, thus protected, and + her white throat tied with a black cravat, were never injured by her long + rides in all weathers. + </p> + <p> + Under the Directory and at the beginning of the Consulate, Laurence had + been able to escape the observation of others; but since the government + had become a more settled thing, the new authorities, the prefect of the + Aube, Malin’s friends, and Malin himself had endeavored to undermine her + in the community. Her preoccupying thought was the overthrow of Bonaparte, + whose ambition and its triumphs excited the anger of her soul,—a + cold, deliberate anger. The obscure and hidden enemy of a man at the + pinnacle of glory, she kept her gaze upon him from the depths of her + valley and her forests, with relentless fixity; there were times when she + thought of killing him in the roads about Malmaison or Saint-Cloud. Plans + for the execution of this idea may have been the cause of many of her past + actions, but having been initiated, after the peace of Amiens, into the + conspiracy of the men who expected to make the 18th Brumaire recoil upon + the First Consul, she had thenceforth subordinated her faculties and her + hatred to their vast and well laid scheme, which was to strike at + Bonaparte externally by the vast coalition of Russia, Austria, and Prussia + (vanquished at Austerlitz) and internally by the coalition of men + politically opposed to each other, but united by their common hatred of a + man whose death some of them were meditating, like Laurence herself, + without shrinking from the word assassination. This young girl, so fragile + to the eye, so powerful to those who knew her well, was at the present + moment the faithful guide and assistant of the exiled gentlemen who came + from England to take part in this deadly enterprise. + </p> + <p> + Fouche relied on the co-operation of the <i>emigres</i> everywhere beyond + the Rhine to lure the Duc d’Enghien into the plot. The presence of that + prince in the Baden territory, not far from Strasburg, gave much weight + later to the accusation. The great question of whether the prince really + knew of the enterprise, and was waiting on the frontier to enter France on + its success, is one of those secrets about which, as about several others, + the house of Bourbon has maintained an unbroken silence. As the history of + that period recedes into the past, impartial historians will declare the + imprudence, to say the least, of the Duc d’Enghien in placing himself + close to the frontier at a time when a vast conspiracy was about to break + forth, the secret of which was undoubtedly known to every member of the + Bourbon family. + </p> + <p> + The caution which Malin displayed in talking with Grevin in the open air, + Laurence applied to her every action. She met the emissaries and conferred + with them either at various points in the Nodesme forest, or beyond the + valley of the Cinq-Cygne, between the villages of Sezanne and Brienne. + Often she rode forty miles on a stretch with Gothard, and returned to + Cinq-Cygne without the least sign of weariness or pre-occupation on her + fair young face. + </p> + <p> + Some years earlier, Laurence had seen in the eyes of a little cow-boy, + then nine years old, the artless admiration which children feel for + everything that is out of the common way. She made him her page, and + taught him to groom a horse with the nicety and care of an Englishman. She + saw in the lad a desire to do well, a bright intelligence, and a total + absence of sly motives; she tested his devotion and found he had not only + mind but nobility of character; he never dreamed of reward. The young girl + trained this soul that was still so young; she was good to him, good with + dignity; she attached him to her by attaching herself to him, and by + herself polishing a nature that was half wild, without destroying its + freshness or its simplicity. When she had sufficiently tested the almost + canine fidelity she had nurtured, Gothard became her intelligent and + ingenuous accomplice. The little peasant, whom no one could suspect, went + from Cinq-Cygne to Nancy, and often returned before any one had missed him + from the neighborhood. He knew how to practise all the tricks of a spy. + The extreme distrust and caution his mistress had taught him did not + change his natural self. Gothard, who possessed all the craft of a woman, + the candor of a child, and the ceaseless observation of a conspirator, hid + every one of these admirable qualities beneath the torpor and dull + ignorance of a country lad. The little fellow had a silly, weak, and + clumsy appearance; but once at work he was active as a fish; he escaped + like an eel; he understood, as the dogs do, the merest glance; he nosed a + thought. His good fat face, both round and red, his sleepy brown eyes, his + hair, cut in the peasant fashion, his clothes, and his slow growth gave + him the appearance of a child of ten. + </p> + <p> + The two young d’Hauteserres and the twin brothers Simeuse, under the + guidance of their cousin Laurence, who had been watching over their safety + and that of the other <i>emigres</i> who accompanied them from Strasburg + to Bar-sur-Aube, had just passed through Alsace and Lorraine, and were now + in Champagne while other conspirators, not less bold, were entering France + by the cliffs of Normandy. Dressed as workmen the d’Hauteserres and the + Simeuse twins had walked from forest to forest, guided on their way by + relays of persons, chosen by Laurence during the last three months from + among the least suspected of the Bourbon adherents living in each + neighborhood. The <i>emigres</i> slept by day and travelled by night. Each + brought with him two faithful soldiers; one of whom went before to warn of + danger, the other behind to protect a retreat. Thanks to these military + precautions, this valuable detachment had at last reached, without + accident, the forest of Nodesme, which was chosen as the rendezvous. + Twenty-seven other gentlemen had entered France from Switzerland and + crossed Burgundy, guided towards Paris with the same caution. + </p> + <p> + Monsieur de Riviere counted on collecting five hundred men, one hundred of + whom were young nobles, the officers of this sacred legion. Monsieur de + Polignac and Monsieur de Riviere, whose conduct as chiefs of this advance + was most remarkable, afterwards preserved an impenetrable secrecy as to + the names of those of their accomplices who were not discovered. It may be + said, therefore, now that the Restoration has made matters clearer, that + Bonaparte never knew the extent of the danger he then ran, any more than + England knew the peril she had escaped from the camp at Boulogne; and yet + the police of France was never more intelligently or ably managed. + </p> + <p> + At the period when this history begins, a coward—for cowards are + always to be found in conspiracies which are not confined to a small + number of equally strong men—a sworn confederate, brought face to + face with death, gave certain information, happily insufficient to cover + the extent of the conspiracy, but precise enough to show the object of the + enterprise. The police had therefore, as Malin told Grevin, left the + conspirators at liberty, though all the while watching them, hoping to + discover the ramifications of the plot. Nevertheless, the government found + its hand to a certain extent forced by Georges Cadoudal, a man of action + who took counsel of himself only, and who was hiding in Paris with + twenty-five <i>chouans</i> for the purpose of attacking the First Consul. + </p> + <p> + Laurence combined both hatred and love within her breast. To destroy + Bonaparte and bring back the Bourbons was to recover Gondreville and make + the fortune of her cousins. The two sentiments, one the counterpart of the + other, were sufficient, more especially at twenty-three years of age, to + excite all the faculties of her soul and all the powers of her being. So, + for the last two months, she had seemed to the inhabitants of Cinq-Cygne + more beautiful than at any other period of her life. Her cheeks became + rosy; hope gave pride to her brow; but when old d’Hauteserre read the + Gazette at night and discussed the conservative course of the First Consul + she lowered her eyes to conceal her passionate hopes of the coming fall of + that enemy of the Bourbons. + </p> + <p> + No one at the chateau had the faintest idea that the young countess had + met her cousins the night before. The two sons of Monsieur and Madame + d’Hauteserre had passed the preceding night in Laurence’s own room, under + the same roof with their father and mother; and Laurence, after knowing + them safely in bed had gone between one and two o’clock in the morning to + a rendezvous with her cousins in the forest, where she hid them in the + deserted hut of a wood-dealer’s agent. The following day, certain of + seeing them again, she showed no signs of her joy; nothing about her + betrayed emotion; she was able to efface all traces of pleasure at having + met them again; in fact, she was impassible. Catherine, her pretty maid, + daughter of her former nurse, and Gothard, both in the secret, modelled + their behavior upon hers. Catherine was nineteen years old. At that age a + girl is a fanatic and would let her throat be cut before betraying a + thought of one she loves. As for Gothard, merely to inhale the perfume + which the countess used in her hair and among her clothes he would have + born the rack without a word. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0005" id="link2HCH0005"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER V. ROYALIST HOMES AND PORTRAITS UNDER THE CONSULATE + </h2> + <p> + At the moment when Marthe, driven by the imminence of the peril, was + gliding with the rapidity of a shadow towards the breach of which Michu + had told her, the salon of the chateau of Cinq-Cygne presented a peaceful + sight. Its occupants were so far from suspecting the storm that was about + to burst upon them that their quiet aspect would have roused the + compassion of any one who knew their situation. In the large fireplace, + the mantel of which was adorned with a mirror with shepherdesses in + paniers painted on its frame, burned a fire such as can be seen only in + chateaus bordering on forests. At the corner of this fireplace, on a large + square sofa of gilded wood with a magnificent brocaded cover, the young + countess lay as it were extended, in an attitude of utter weariness. + Returning at six o’clock from the confines of Brie, having played the part + of scout to the four gentlemen whom she guided safely to their last + halting-place before they entered Paris, she had found Monsieur and Madame + d’Hauteserre just finishing their dinner. Pressed by hunger she sat down + to table without changing either her muddy habit or her boots. Instead of + doing so at once after dinner, she was suddenly overcome with fatigue and + allowed her head with its beautiful fair curls to drop on the back of the + sofa, her feet being supported in front of her by a stool. The warmth of + the fire had dried the mud on her habit and on her boots. Her doeskin + gloves and the little peaked cap with its green veil and a whip lay on the + table where she had flung them. She looked sometimes at the old Boule + clock which stood on the mantelshelf between the candelabra, perhaps to + judge if her four conspirators were asleep, and sometimes at the + card-table in front of the fire where Monsieur and Madame d’Hauteserre, + the cure of Cinq-Cygne, and his sister were playing a game of boston. + </p> + <p> + Even if these personages were not embedded in this drama, their portraits + would have the merit of representing one of the aspects of the aristocracy + after its overthrow in 1793. From this point of view, a sketch of the + salon at Cinq-Cygne has the raciness of history seen in dishabille. + </p> + <p> + Monsieur d’Hauteserre, then fifty-two years of age, tall, spare, + high-colored, and robust in health, would have seemed the embodiment of + vigor if it were not for a pair of porcelain blue eyes, the glance of + which denoted the most absolute simplicity. In his face, which ended in a + long pointed chin, there was, judging by the rules of design, an unnatural + distance between his nose and mouth which gave him a submissive air, + wholly in keeping with his character, which harmonized, in fact, with + other details of his appearance. His gray hair, flattened by his hat, + which he wore nearly all day, looked much like a skull-cap on his head, + and defined its pear-shaped outline. His forehead, much wrinkled by life + in the open air and by constant anxieties, was flat and expressionless. + His aquiline nose redeemed the face somewhat; but the sole indication of + any strength of character lay in the bushy eyebrows which retained their + blackness, and in the brilliant coloring of his skin. These signs were in + some respects not misleading, for the worthy gentlemen, though simple and + very gentle, was Catholic and monarchical in faith, and no consideration + on earth could make him change his views. Nevertheless he would have let + himself be arrested without an effort at defence, and would have gone to + the scaffold quietly. His annuity of three thousand francs kept him from + emigrating. He therefore obeyed the government <i>de facto</i> without + ceasing to love the royal family and to pray for their return, though he + would firmly have refused to compromise himself by any effort in their + favor. He belonged to that class of royalists who ceaselessly remembered + that they were beaten and robbed; and who remained thenceforth dumb, + economical, rancorous, without energy; incapable of abjuring the past, but + equally incapable of sacrifice; waiting to greet triumphant royalty; true + to religion and true to the priesthood, but firmly resolved to bear in + silence the shocks of fate. Such an attitude cannot be considered that of + maintaining opinions, it becomes sheer obstinacy. Action is the essence of + party. Without intelligence, but loyal, miserly as a peasant yet noble in + demeanor, bold in his wishes but discreet in word and action, turning all + things to profit, willing even to be made mayor of Cinq-Cygne, Monsieur + d’Hauteserre was an admirable representative of those honorable gentlemen + on whose brow God Himself has written the word <i>mites</i>,—Frenchmen + who burrowed in their country homes and let the storms of the Revolution + pass above their heads; who came once more to the surface under the + Restoration, rich with their hidden savings, proud of their discreet + attachment to the monarchy, and who, after 1830, recovered their estates. + </p> + <p> + Monsieur d’Hauteserre’s costume, expressive envelope of his distinctive + character, described to the eye both the man and his period. He always + wore one of those nut-colored great-coats with small collars which the Duc + d’Orleans made the fashion after his return from England, and which were, + during the Revolution, a sort of compromise between the hideous popular + garments and the elegant surtouts of the aristocracy. His velvet waistcoat + with flowered stripes, the style of which recalled those of Robespierre + and Saint-Just, showed the upper part of a shirt-frill in fine plaits. He + still wore breeches; but his were of coarse blue cloth, with burnished + steel buckles. His stockings of black spun-silk defined his deer-like + legs, the feet of which were shod in thick shoes, held in place by gaiters + of black cloth. He retained the former fashion of a muslin cravat in + innumerable folds fastened by a gold buckle at the throat. The worthy man + had not intended an act of political eclecticism in adopting this costume, + which combined the styles of peasant, revolutionist, and aristocrat; he + simply and innocently obeyed the dictates of circumstances. + </p> + <p> + Madame d’Hauteserre, forty years of age and wasted by emotions, had a + faded face which seemed to be always posing for its portrait. A lace cap, + trimmed with bows of white satin, contributed singularly to give her a + solemn air. She still wore powder, in spite of a white kerchief, and a + gown of puce-colored silk with tight sleeves and full skirt, the sad last + garments of Marie-Antoinette. Her nose was pinched, her chin sharp, the + whole face nearly triangular, the eyes worn-out with weeping; but she now + wore a touch of rouge which brightened their grayness. She took snuff, and + each time that she did so she employed all the pretty precautions of the + fashionable women of her early days; the details of this snuff-taking + constituted a ceremony which could be explained by one fact—she had + very pretty hands. + </p> + <p> + For the last two years the former tutor of the Simeuse twins, a friend of + the late Abbe d’Hauteserre, named Goujet, Abbe des Minimes, had taken + charge of the parish of Cinq-Cygne out of friendship for the d’Hauteserres + and the young countess. His sister, Mademoiselle Goujet, who possessed a + little income of seven hundred francs, added that sum to the meagre salary + of her brother and kept his house. Neither church nor parsonage had been + sold during the Revolution on account of their small value. The abbe and + his sister lived close to the chateau, for the wall of the parsonage + garden and that of the park were the same in places. Twice a week the pair + dined at the chateau, but they came every evening to play boston with the + d’Hauteserres; for Laurence, unable to play a game, did not even know one + card from another. + </p> + <p> + The Abbe Goujet, an old man with white hair and a face as white as that of + an old woman, endowed with a kindly smile and a gentle and persuasive + voice, redeemed the insipidity of his rather mincing face by a fine + intellectual brow and a pair of keen eyes. Of medium height, and very well + made, he still wore the old-fashioned black coat, silver shoe-buckles, + breeches, black silk stockings, and a black waistcoat on which lay his + clerical bands, giving him a distinguished air which detracted nothing + from his dignity. This abbe, who became bishop of Troyes after the + Restoration, had long made a study of young people and fully understood + the noble character of the young countess; he appreciated her at her full + value, and had shown her, from the first, a respectful deference which + contributed much to her independence at Cinq-Cygne, for it led the austere + old lady and the kind old gentleman to yield to the young girl, who by + rights should have yielded to them. For the last six months the abbe had + watched Laurence with the intuition peculiar to priests, the most + sagacious of men; and although he did not know that this girl of + twenty-three was thinking of overturning Bonaparte as she lay there + twisting with slender fingers the frogged lacing of her riding-habit, he + was well aware that she was agitated by some great project. + </p> + <p> + Mademoiselle Goujet was one of those unmarried women whose portrait can be + drawn in one word which will enable the least imaginative mind to picture + her; she was ungainly. She knew her own ugliness and was the first to + laugh at it, showing her long teeth, yellow as her complexion and her bony + hands. She was gay and hearty. She wore the famous short gown of former + days, a very full skirt with pockets full of keys, a cap with ribbons and + a false front. She was forty years of age very early, but had, so she + said, caught up with herself by keeping at that age for twenty years. She + revered the nobility; and knew well how to preserve her own dignity by + giving to persons of noble birth the respect and deference that were due + to them. + </p> + <p> + This little company was a god-send to Madame d’Hauteserre, who had not, + like her husband, rural occupations, nor, like Laurence, the tonic of + hatred, to enable her to bear the dulness of a retired life. Many things + had happened to ameliorate that life within the last six years. The + restoration of Catholic worship allowed the faithful to fulfil their + religious duties, which play more of a part in country life than + elsewhere. Protected by the conservative edicts of the First Consul, + Monsieur and Madame d’Hauteserre had been able to correspond with their + sons, and no longer in dread of what might happen to them could even hope + for the erasure of their names from the lists of the proscribed and their + consequent return to France. The Treasury had lately made up the + arrearages and now paid its dividends promptly; so that the d’Hauteserres + received, over and above their annuity, about eight thousand francs a + year. The old man congratulated himself on the sagacity of his foresight + in having put all his savings, amounting to twenty thousand francs, + together with those of his ward, in the public Funds before the 18th + Brumaire, which, as we all know, sent those stocks up from twelve to + eighteen francs. + </p> + <p> + The chateau of Cinq-Cygne had long been empty and denuded of furniture. + The prudent guardian was careful not to alter its aspect during the + revolutionary troubles; but after the peace of Amiens he made a journey to + Troyes and brought back various relics of the pillaged mansions which he + obtained from the dealers in second-hand furniture. The salon was + furnished for the first time since their occupation of the house. Handsome + curtains of white brocade with green flowers, from the hotel de Simeuse, + draped the six windows of the salon, in which the family were now + assembled. The walls of this vast room were entirely of wood, with panels + encased in beaded mouldings with masks at the angles; the whole painted in + two shades of gray. The spaces over the four doors were filled with those + designs, painted in cameo of two colors, which were so much in vogue under + Louis XV. Monsieur d’Hauteserre had picked up at Troyes certain gilded + pier-tables, a sofa in green damask, a crystal chandelier, a card-table of + marquetry, among other things that served him to restore the chateau. In + 1792 all the furniture of the house had been taken or destroyed, for the + pillage of the mansions in town was imitated in the valley. Each time that + the old man went to Troyes he returned with some relic of the former + splendor, sometimes a fine carpet for the floor of the salon, at other + times part of a dinner service, or a bit of rare old porcelain of either + Sevres or Dresden. During the last six months he had ventured to dig up + the family silver, which the cook had buried in the cellar of a little + house belonging to him at the end of one of the long faubourgs in Troyes. + </p> + <p> + That faithful servant, named Durieu, and his wife had followed the + fortunes of their young mistress. Durieu was the factotum of the chateau, + and his wife was the housekeeper. He was helped in the cooking by the + sister of Catherine, Laurence’s maid, to whom he was teaching his art and + who gave promise of becoming an excellent cook. An old gardener, his wife, + a son paid by the day, and a daughter who served as a dairy-woman, made up + the household. Madame Durieu had lately and secretly had the Cinq-Cygne + liveries made for the gardener’s son and for Gothard. Though blamed for + this imprudence by Monsieur d’Hauteserre, the housekeeper took great + pleasure in seeing the dinner served on the festival of Saint-Laurence, + the countess’s fete-day, with almost as much style as in former times. + </p> + <p> + This slow and difficult restoration of departed things was the delight of + Monsieur and Madame d’Hauteserre and the Durieus. Laurence smiled at what + she thought nonsense. But the worthy old d’Hauteserre did not forget the + more solid matters; he repaired the buildings, put up the walls, planted + trees wherever there was a chance to make them grow, and did not leave an + inch of unproductive land. The whole valley regarded him as an oracle in + the matter of agriculture. He had managed to recover a hundred acres of + contested land, not sold as national property, being in some way + confounded with that of the township. This land he had turned into fields + which afforded good pasturage for his horses and cattle, and he planted + them round with poplars, which now, at the end of six years, were making a + fine growth. He intended to buy back some of the lost estate, and to + utilize all the out-buildings of the chateau by making a second farm and + managing it himself. + </p> + <p> + Life at the chateau had thus become during the last two years prosperous + and almost happy. Monsieur d’Hauteserre was off at daybreaks to overlook + his laborers, for he employed them in all weathers. He came home to + breakfast, mounted his farm pony as soon as the meal was over, and made + his rounds of the estate like a bailiff,—getting home in time for + dinner, and finishing the day with a game of boston. All the inhabitants + of the chateau had their stated occupations; life was as closely regulated + there as in a convent. Laurence alone disturbed its even tenor by her + sudden journeys, her uncertain returns, and by what Madame d’Hauteserre + called her pranks. But with all this peacefulness there existed at + Cinq-Cygne conflicting interests and certain causes of dissension. In the + first place Durieu and his wife were jealous of Catherine and Gothard, who + lived in greater intimacy with their young mistress, the idol of the + household, than they did. Then the two d’Hauteserres, encouraged by + Mademoiselle Goujet and the abbe, wanted their sons as well as the Simeuse + brothers to take the oath and return to this quiet life, instead of living + miserably in foreign countries. Laurence scouted the odious compromise and + stood firmly for the monarchy, militant and implacable. The four old + people, anxious that their present peaceful existence should not be + risked, nor their spot of refuge, saved from the furious waters of the + revolutionary torrent, lost, did their best to convert Laurence to their + cautious views, believing that her influence counted for much in the + unwillingness of their sons and the Simeuse twins to return to France. The + superb disdain with which she met the project frightened these poor + people, who were not mistaken in their fears that she was meditating what + they called knight-errantry. This jarring of opinion came to the surface + after the explosion of the infernal machine in the rue Saint-Nicaise, the + first royalist attempt against the conqueror of Marengo after his refusal + to treat with the house of Bourbon. The d’Hauteserres considered it + fortunate that Bonaparte escaped that danger, believing that the + republicans had instigated it. But Laurence wept with rage when she heard + he was safe. Her despair overcame her usual reticence, and she vehemently + complained that God had deserted the sons of Saint-Louis. + </p> + <p> + “I,” she exclaimed, “I could have succeeded! Have we no right,” she added, + seeing the stupefaction her words produced on the faces about her, and + addressing the abbe, “no right to attack the usurper by every means in our + power?” + </p> + <p> + “My child,” replied the abbe, “the Church has been greatly blamed by + philosophers for declaring in former times that the same weapons might be + employed against usurpers which the usurpers themselves had employed to + succeed; but in these days the Church owes far too much to the First + Consul not to protect him against that maxim,—which, by the by, was + due to the Jesuits.” + </p> + <p> + “So the Church abandons us!” she answered, gloomily. + </p> + <p> + From that day forth whenever the four old people talked of submitting to + the decrees of Providence, Laurence left the room. Of late, the abbe, + shrewder than Monsieur d’Hauteserre, instead of discussing principles, + drew pictures of the material advantages of the consular rule, less to + convert the countess than to detect in her eyes some expression which + might enlighten him as to her projects. Gothard’s frequent disappearances, + the long rides of his mistress, and her evident preoccupation, which, for + the last few days, had appeared in her face, together with other little + signs not to be hidden in the silence and tranquillity of such a life, had + roused the fears of these submissive royalists. Still, as no event + happened, and perfect quiet appeared to reign in the political atmosphere, + the minds of the little household were soothed into peace, and the + countess’s long rides were one more attributed to her passion for hunting. + </p> + <p> + It is easy to imagine the deep silence which reigned at nine o’clock in + the evening in the park, courtyards, and gardens of Cinq-Cygne, where at + that particular moment the persons we have described were harmoniously + grouped, where perfect peace pervaded all things, where comfort and + abundance were again enjoyed, and where the worthy and judicious old + gentleman was still hoping to convert his late ward to his system of + obedience to the ruling powers by the argument of what we may call the + continuity of prosperous results. + </p> + <p> + These royalists continued to play their boston, a game which spread ideas + of independence under a frivolous form over the whole of France; for it + was first invented in honor of the American insurgents, its very terms + applying to the struggle which Louis XVI. encouraged. While making their + “independences” and “poverties,” the players kept an eye on the countess, + who had fallen asleep, overcome by fatigue, with a singular smile on her + lips, her last waking thought having been of the terror two words could + inspire in the minds of the peaceful company by informing the + d’Hauteserres that their sons had passed the preceding night under that + roof. What young girl of twenty-three would not have been, as Laurence + was, proud to play the part of Destiny? and who would not have felt, as + she did, a sense of compassion for those whom she felt to be so far below + her in loyalty? + </p> + <p> + “She sleeps,” said the abbe. “I have never seen her so wearied.” + </p> + <p> + “Durieu tells me her mare is almost foundered,” remarked Madame + d’Hauteserre. “Her gun has not been fired; the breech is clean; she has + evidently not hunted.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh! that’s neither here nor there,” said the abbe. + </p> + <p> + “Bah?” cried Mademoiselle Goujet; “when I was twenty-three and saw I + should be an old maid all my life, I rushed about and fatigued myself in a + dozen ways. I understand how the countess can scour the country for hours + without thinking of the game. It is nearly twelve years now since she has + seen her cousins, and you know she loves them. Well, if I were she, if I + were as young and pretty, I’d make a straight line for Germany! Poor + darling, perhaps she is thinking of the frontier, and that may be the + reason why she rides so far towards it.” + </p> + <p> + “You are rather giddy, Mademoiselle Goujet,” said the abbe, smiling. + </p> + <p> + “Not at all,” she replied. “I see you all uneasy about the goings on of a + young girl, and I am explaining them to you.” + </p> + <p> + “Her cousins will submit and return soon; they will all be rich, and she + will end by calming down,” said old d’Hauteserre. + </p> + <p> + “God grant it!” said his wife, taking out a gold snuff-box which had again + seen the light under the Consulate. + </p> + <p> + “There is something stirring in the neighborhood,” remarked Monsieur + d’Hauteserre to the abbe. “Malin has been two days at Gondreville.” + </p> + <p> + “Malin!” cried Laurence, roused by the name, though her sleep was sound. + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” replied the abbe, “but he leaves to-night; everybody is + conjecturing the motive of this hasty visit.” + </p> + <p> + “That man,” said Laurence, “is the evil genius of our two houses.” + </p> + <p> + The countess had been dreaming of her cousins and the young Hauteserres; + she saw them in peril. Her beautiful eyes grew fixed and glassy as her + mind thus warned dwelled on the dangers they were about to incur in Paris. + She rose suddenly and went to her bedroom without speaking. Her bedroom + was the best in the house; next came a dressing-room and an oratory, in + the tower which faced towards the forest. Soon after she had left the + salon the dogs barked, the bell of the small gate rang, and Durieu rushed + into the salon with a frightened face. “Here is the mayor!” he said. + “Something is the matter.” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0006" id="link2HCH0006"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER VI. A DOMICILIARY VISIT + </h2> + <p> + The mayor, a former huntsman of the house of Simeuse, came occasionally to + the chateau, where the d’Hauteserres showed him out of policy, a deference + to which he attached great value. His name was Goulard; he had married a + rich woman of Troyes, whose property, which was in the commune of + Cinq-Cygne, he had further increased by the purchase of a fine abbey and + its lands, in which he invested all his savings. The vast abbey of + Val-des-Preux, standing about a mile from the chateau, he had turned into + a dwelling that was almost as splendid as Gondreville; in it his wife and + he were now living like rats in a cathedral. “Ah! Goulard, you have been + greedy,” Mademoiselle had said to him with a laugh the first time she + received him at Cinq-Cygne. Though greatly attached to the Revolution and + coldly received by the countess, the mayor always felt himself bound by + ties of respect to the Cinq-Cygne and Simeuse families. He therefore shut + his eyes to what went on at the chateau. He called shutting his eyes not + seeing the portraits of Louis XVI., Marie Antoinette, and the royal + children, and those of Monsieur, the Comte d’Artois, Cazales and Charlotte + Corday, which filled the various panels of the salon; not resenting either + the wishes freely expressed in his presence for the ruin of the Republic, + or the ridicule flung at the five directors and all the other governmental + combinations of that time. The position of this man, who, like many + parvenus, having once made his fortune, reverted to his early faith in the + old families, and sought to attach himself to them, was now being made use + of by the two members of the Paris police whose profession had been so + quickly guessed by Michu, and who, before going to Gondreville had + reconnoitred the neighborhood. + </p> + <p> + The worthy described as the depositary of the best traditions of the old + police, and Corentin phoenix of spies, were in fact employed on a secret + mission. Malin was not mistaken in attributing a double purpose to those + stars of tragic farces. But, before seeing them at work, it is advisable + to show the head of which they were the arms. When Bonaparte became First + Consul he found Fouche at the head of the police. The Revolution had + frankly and with good reason made the management of the police into a + special ministry. But after his return from Marengo, Bonaparte created the + prefecture of police, placed Dubois in charge of it, and called Fouche to + the Council of State, naming as his successor in the ministry a + conventional named Cochon, since known as Comte de Lapparent. Fouche, who + considered the ministry of police as by far the most important in a + government of broad ideas and fixed policy, saw disgrace or at any rate + distrust in the change. After Napoleon became aware of the immense + superiority of this great statesman, as evidenced in the affair of the + infernal machine and in the conspiracy with which we are now concerned, he + returned him to the ministry of police. Later still, becoming alarmed at + the powers Fouche displayed during his absence at the time of the affair + at Walcheren, the Emperor gave that ministry to the Duc de Rovigo, and + sent Fouche (Duc d’Otrante) as governor to the Illyrian provinces,—an + appointment which was in fact an exile. + </p> + <p> + The singular genius of this man, Fouche, which had the power of inspiring + Napoleon with a sort of fear, did not reveal itself all at once. This + obscure conventional, one of the most extraordinary men of our time, and + the most misjudged, was moulded, as it were, by the whirlwind of events. + He raised himself under the Directory to the height from which men of + genius could see the future and judge the past, and then, like certain + commonplace actors who suddenly become admirable through the light of some + vivid perception, he gave proofs of his dexterity during the rapid + revolution of the 18th Brumaire. This man with the pallid face, educated + to monastic dissimulation, possessing the secrets of the <i>montagnards</i> + to whom he belonged, and those of the royalists to whom he ended by + belonging, had slowly and silently studied the men, the events, and the + interests on the political stage; he penetrated Napoleon’s secrets, he + gave him useful counsel and precious information. Satisfied with having + proven his capacity and his usefulness, Fouche was careful not to disclose + himself completely. He wished to remain at the head of affairs, but the + Emperor’s restless uneasiness about him cost him his place. + </p> + <p> + The ingratitude or rather the distrust shown by Napoleon after the affair + at Walcheren, gives the key-note to the character of a man who, + unfortunately for himself, was not a great <i>seigneur</i>, and whose + conduct was modelled on that of Talleyrand. At that time neither his + former colleagues nor his present ones had suspected the amplitude of his + genius, which was purely ministerial, essentially governmental, just in + its forecasts and incredibly sagacious. To-day, every impartial historian + perceives that Napoleon’s inordinate self-love was among the chief causes + of his fall, a punishment which cruelly expiated his wrong-doing. In the + mind of that distrustful sovereign lurked a constant jealousy for his own + rising power, which influenced all his actions, and caused his secret + hatred for men of talent, the precious legacy of the Revolution, with whom + he might have made himself a cabinet capable of being a true repository + for his thoughts. Talleyrand and Fouche were not the only ones who gave + him umbrage. The misfortune of usurpers is that those who have given them + a crown are as much their enemies as those from whom they snatch it. + Napoleon’s sovereignty was never convincingly felt by those who were once + his superiors or his equals, nor by those who still held to the doctrine + of rights; none of them regarded their oath of allegiance to him as + binding. + </p> + <p> + Malin, an inferior man, incapable of comprehending Fouche’s hidden genius, + or of distrusting his own perceptions, burned himself, like a moth in a + candle, by asking him confidentially to send agents to Gondreville, where, + he said, he hoped to obtain certain clues to the conspiracy. Fouche, + without alarming his friend by any questions, asked himself why Malin was + going to Gondreville, and why he did not immediately and without loss of + time, give the information he already possessed. The ex-Oratorian, fed + from his youth up on trickery, and well aware of the double part played by + a good many of the conventionals, said to himself: “From whom is Malin + likely to obtain information when we ourselves know little or nothing?” + Fouche concluded therefore that there was some either latent or + prospective collusion, and took care to say nothing about it to the First + Consul. He preferred to make Malin his instrument rather than destroy him. + It was Fouche’s habit to keep to himself a good part of the secrets he + detected, and he thus obtained for his own purposes a power over those + concerned which was even greater than that of Bonaparte. This duplicity + was one of the Emperor’s charges against his minister. + </p> + <p> + Fouche knew of the swindling transaction by which Malin became possessed + of Gondreville and which led him to keep his eyes so anxiously on the + Simeuse brothers. These gentlemen were now serving in the army of Conde; + Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne was their cousin; possibly they were in her + neighborhood, and were sharers in the conspiracy; if so, it would + implicate the house of Conde to which they were devoted. Talleyrand and + Fouche were bent on casting light into this dark corner of the conspiracy + of 1803. All these considerations Fouche saw at a glance, rapidly and with + great clearness. But between Malin, Talleyrand, and himself there were + strong ties which forced him to the utmost circumspection, and made him + anxious to know the exact state of things within the walls of Gondreville. + Corentin was unreservedly attached to Fouche, just as Monsieur de la + Besnardiere was to Talleyrand, Gentz to Monsieur de Metternich, Dundas to + Pitt, Duroc to Napoleon, Chavigny to Cardinal Richelieu. Corentin was not + the counsellor of his master, but his instrument, the Tristan to this + Louis XI. of low estate. Fouche had kept him in the ministry of the police + when he himself left it, so as to still keep an eye and a finger in it. It + was said that Corentin belonged to Fouche by some unavowed relationship, + for he rewarded him lavishly after every service. Corentin had a friend in + Peyrade, the old pupil of the last lieutenant of police; but he kept a + good many of his secrets from him. Fouche gave Corentin an order to + explore the chateau of Gondreville, to get the plan of it into his memory, + and to know every hiding-place within its walls. + </p> + <p> + “We may be obliged to return there,” said the ex-minister, precisely as + Napoleon told his lieutenants to explore the field of Austerlitz on which + he intended to fall back. + </p> + <p> + Corentin was also to study Malin’s conduct, discover what influence he had + in the neighborhood, and observe the men he employed. Fouche regarded it + as certain that the Simeuse brothers were in that part of the country. By + cautiously watching the two officers, who were closely allied with the + Prince de Conde, Peyrade and Corentin could obtain precious light on the + ramifications of the conspiracy beyond the Rhine. In any case, however, + Corentin received the means, the orders, and the agents, to surround the + chateau of Cinq-Cygne and watch the whole region, from the forest of + Nodesme into Paris. Fouche insisted on the utmost caution, and would only + allow a domiciliary visit to Cinq-Cygne in case Malin gave them positive + information which made it necessary. By way of instructions he explained + to Corentin the otherwise inexplicable personality of Michu, who had been + watched by the police for the last three years. Corentin’s idea was that + of his master: “Malin knows all about the conspiracy—But,” he added + to himself, “perhaps Fouche does, too; who knows?” + </p> + <p> + Corentin, having started for Troyes before Malin, had made arrangements + with the commandant of the gendarmerie in that town, who picked out a + number of his most intelligent men and placed them under orders of an able + captain. Corentin chose Gondreville as the place of rendezvous, and + directed the captain to send some of his men at night in four detachments + to different points of the valley of Cinq-Cygne at sufficient distance + from each other to cause no alarm. These four pickets were to form a + square and close in around the chateau of Cinq-Cygne. By leaving Corentin + alone at Gondreville during his consultation in the fields with Grevin, + Malin had enabled him to fulfil part of Fouche’s orders and explore the + house. When the Councillor of State returned home he told Corentin so + positively that the d’Hauteserre and Simeuse brothers were in the + neighborhood and probably at Cinq-Cygne that the two agents despatched the + captain with the rest of his company, who, fortunately for the four + gentlemen, crossed the forest on their way to the chateau during the time + when Michu was making Violette drunk. Malin had told Corentin and Peyrade + of the escape he had from lying in wait for him. The two agents related + the incident of the gun they had seen the bailiff load, and Grevin had + sent Violette to obtain information as to what was going on at Michu’s + house. Corentin advised the notary to take Malin to his own house in the + little town of Arcis, and let him sleep there as a measure of precaution. + At the moment when Michu and his wife were rushing through the forest on + their way to Cinq-Cygne, Peyrade and Corentin were starting from + Gondreville for Cinq-Cygne in a shabby wicker carriage, drawn by one + post-horse driven by the corporal of Arcis, one of the shrewdest men in + the Legion, whom the commandant at Troyes advised them to employ. + </p> + <p> + “The surest way to seize them all is to warn them,” said Peyrade to + Corentin. “At the moment when they are well frightened and are trying to + save their papers or to escape we’ll fall upon them like a thunderbolt. + The gendarmes surround the chateau now and are as good as a net. We + sha’n’t lose one of them!” + </p> + <p> + “You had better send the mayor to warn them,” said the corporal. “He is + friendly to them and wouldn’t like to see them harmed; they won’t distrust + him.” + </p> + <p> + Just as Goulard was preparing to go to bed, Corentin, who stopped the + vehicle in a little wood, went to his house and told him, confidentially, + that in a few moments an emissary from the government would require him to + enter the chateau of Cinq-Cygne and arrest the brothers d’Hauteserre and + Simeuse; and in case they had already disappeared he would have to + ascertain if they had slept there the night before, search Mademoiselle de + Cinq-Cygne’s papers, and, possibly, arrest both the masters and servants + of the household. + </p> + <p> + “Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne,” said Corentin, “is undoubtedly protected by + some great personages, for I have received private orders to warn her of + this visit, and to do all I can to save her without compromising myself. + Once on the ground, I shall no longer be able to do so, for I am not + alone; go to the chateau yourself and warn them.” + </p> + <p> + The mayor’s visit at that time of night was all the more bewildering to + the card-players when they saw the agitation of his face. + </p> + <p> + “Where is the countess?” were his first words. + </p> + <p> + “She has gone to bed,” said Madame d’Hauteserre. + </p> + <p> + The mayor, incredulous, listened to noises that were heard on the upper + floor. + </p> + <p> + “What is the matter with you, Goulard?” said Monsieur d’Hauteserre. + </p> + <p> + Goulard was dumb with surprise as he noted the tranquil ease of the faces + about him. Observing the peaceful and innocent game of cards which he had + thus interrupted, he was unable to imagine what the Parisian police meant + by their suspicions. + </p> + <p> + At that moment Laurence, kneeling in her oratory, was praying fervently + for the success of the conspiracy. She prayed to God to send help and + succor to the murderers of Bonaparte. She implored Him ardently to destroy + that fatal being. The fanaticism of Harmodius, Judith, Jacques Clement, + Ankarstroem, of Charlotte Corday and Limoelan, inspired this pure and + virgin spirit. Catherine was preparing the bed, Gothard was closing the + blinds, when Marthe Michu coming under the windows flung a pebble on the + glass and was seen at once. + </p> + <p> + “Mademoiselle, here’s some one,” said Gothard, seeing a woman. + </p> + <p> + “Hush!” said Marthe, in a low voice. “Come down and speak to me.” + </p> + <p> + Gothard was in the garden in less time than a bird would have taken to fly + down from a tree. + </p> + <p> + “In a minute the chateau will be surrounded by the gendarmerie. Saddle + mademoiselle’s horse without making any noise and take it down through the + breach in the moat between the stables and this tower.” + </p> + <p> + Marthe quivered when she saw Laurence, who had followed Gothard, standing + beside her. + </p> + <p> + “What is it?” asked Laurence, quietly. + </p> + <p> + “The conspiracy against the First Consul is discovered,” replied Marthe, + in a whisper. “My husband, who seeks to save your two cousins, sends me to + ask you to come and speak to him.” + </p> + <p> + Laurence drew back and looked at Marthe. “Who are you?” she said. + </p> + <p> + “Marthe Michu.” + </p> + <p> + “I do not know what you want of me,” replied the countess, coldly. + </p> + <p> + “Take care, you will kill them. Come with me, I implore you in the Simeuse + name,” said Marthe, clasping her hands and stretching them towards + Laurence. “Have you papers here which may compromise you? If so, destroy + them. From the heights over there my husband has just seen the + silver-laced hats and the muskets of the gendarmerie.” + </p> + <p> + Gothard had already clambered to the hay-loft and seen the same sight; he + heard in the stillness of the evening the sound of their horses’ hoofs. + Down he slipped into the stable and saddled his mistress’s mare, whose + feet Catherine, at a word from the lad, muffled in linen. + </p> + <p> + “Where am I to go?” said Laurence to Marthe, whose look and language bore + the unmistakable signs of sincerity. + </p> + <p> + “Through the breach,” she replied; “my noble husband is there. You shall + learn the value of a ‘Judas’!” + </p> + <p> + Catherine went quickly into the salon, picked up the hat, veil, whip, and + gloves of her mistress, and disappeared. This sudden apparition and action + were so striking a commentary on the mayor’s inquiry that Madame + d’Hauteserre and the abbe exchanged glances which contained the melancholy + thought: “Farewell to all our peace! Laurence is conspiring; she will be + the death of her cousins.” + </p> + <p> + “But what do you really mean?” said Monsieur d’Hauteserre to the mayor. + </p> + <p> + “The chateau is surrounded. You are about to receive a domiciliary visit. + If your sons are here tell them to escape, and the Simeuse brothers too, + if they are with them.” + </p> + <p> + “My sons!” exclaimed Madame d’Hauteserre, stupefied. + </p> + <p> + “We have seen no one,” said Monsieur d’Hauteserre. + </p> + <p> + “So much the better,” said Goulard; “but I care too much for the + Cinq-Cygne and Simeuse families to let any harm come to them. Listen to + me. If you have any compromising papers—” + </p> + <p> + “Papers!” repeated the old gentleman. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, if you have any, burn them at once,” said the mayor. “I’ll go and + amuse the police agents.” + </p> + <p> + Goulard, whose object was to run with the royalist hare and hold with the + republican hounds, left the room; at that moment the dogs barked + violently. + </p> + <p> + “There is no longer time,” said the abbe, “here they come! But who is to + warn the countess? Where is she?” + </p> + <p> + “Catherine didn’t come for her hat and whip to make relics of them,” + remarked Mademoiselle Goujet. + </p> + <p> + Goulard tried to detain the two agents for a few moments, assuring them of + the perfect ignorance of the family at Cinq-Cygne. + </p> + <p> + “You don’t know these people!” said Peyrade, laughing at him. + </p> + <p> + The two agents, insinuatingly dangerous, entered the house at once, + followed by the corporal from Arcis and one gendarme. The sight of them + paralyzed the peaceful card-players, who kept their seats at the table, + terrified by such a display of force. The noise produced by a dozen + gendarmes whose horses were stamping on the terrace, was heard without. + </p> + <p> + “I do not see Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne,” said Corentin. + </p> + <p> + “She is probably asleep in her bedroom,” said Monsieur d’Hauteserre. + </p> + <p> + “Come with me, ladies,” said Corentin, turning to pass through the + ante-chamber and up the staircase, followed by Mademoiselle Goujet and + Madame d’Hauteserre. “Rely upon me,” he whispered to the old lady. “I am + in your interests. I sent the mayor to warn you. Distrust my colleague and + look to me. I can save every one of you.” + </p> + <p> + “But what is it all about?” said Mademoiselle Goujet. + </p> + <p> + “A matter of life and death; you must know that,” replied Corentin. + </p> + <p> + Madame d’Hauteserre fainted. To Mademoiselle Goujet’s great astonishment + and Corentin’s disappointment, Laurence’s room was empty. Certain that no + one could have escaped from the park or the chateau, for all the issues + were guarded, Corentin stationed a gendarme in every room and ordered + others to search the farm buildings, stables, and sheds. Then he returned + to the salon, where Durieu and his wife and the other servants had rushed + in the wildest excitement. Peyrade was studying their faces with his + little blue eye, cold and calm in the midst of the uproar. Just as + Corentin reappeared alone (Mademoiselle Goujet remaining behind to take + care of Madame d’Hauteserre) the tramp of horses was heard, and presently + the sound of a child’s weeping. The horses entered by the small gate; and + the general suspense was put an end to by a corporal appearing at the door + of the salon pushing Gothard, whose hands were tied, and Catherine whom he + led to the agents. + </p> + <p> + “Here are some prisoners,” he said; “that little scamp was escaping on + horseback.” + </p> + <p> + “Fool!” said Corentin, in his ear, “why didn’t you let him alone? You + could have found out something by following him.” + </p> + <p> + Gothard had chosen to burst into tears and behave like an idiot. Catherine + took an attitude of artless innocence which made the old agent reflective. + The pupil of Lenoir, after considering the two prisoners carefully, and + noting the vacant air of the old gentleman whom he took to be sly, the + intelligent eye of the abbe who was still fingering the cards, and the + utter stupefaction of the servants and Durieu, approached Corentin and + whispered in his ear, “We are not dealing with ninnies.” + </p> + <p> + Corentin answered with a look at the card-table; then he added, “They were + playing at boston! Mademoiselle’s bed was just being made for the night; + she escaped in a hurry; it is a regular surprise; we shall catch them.” + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0007" id="link2HCH0007"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER VII. A FOREST NOOK + </h2> + <p> + A breach has always a cause and a purpose. Here is the explanation of how + the one which led from the tower called that of Mademoiselle and the + stables came to be made. After his installation as Laurence’s guardian at + Cinq-Cygne old d’Hauteserre converted a long ravine, through which the + water of the forest flowed into the moat, into a roadway between two + tracts of uncultivated land belonging to the chateau, by merely planting + out in it about a hundred walnut trees which he found ready in the + nursery. In eleven years these trees had grown and branched so as to + nearly cover the road, hidden already by steep banks, which ran into a + little wood of thirty acres recently purchased. When the chateau had its + full complement of inhabitants they all preferred to take this covered way + through the breach to the main road which skirted the park walls and led + to the farm, rather than go round by the entrance. By dint of thus using + it the breach in the sides of the moat had gradually been widened on both + sides, with all the less scruple because in this nineteenth century of + ours moats are no longer of the slightest use, and Laurence’s guardian had + often talked of putting this one to some other purpose. The constant + crumbling away of the earth and stones and gravel had ended by filling up + the ditch, so that only after heavy rains was the causeway thus + constructed covered. But the bank was still so steep that it was difficult + to make a horse descend it, and even more difficult to get him up upon the + main road. Horses, however, seem in times of peril to share their masters’ + thought. + </p> + <p> + While the young countess was hesitating to follow Marthe, and asking + explanations, Michu, from his vantage-ground watched the closing in of the + gendarmes and understood their plan. He grew desperate as time went by and + the countess did not come to him. A squad of gendarmes were marching along + the park wall and stationing themselves as sentinels, each man being near + enough to communicate with those on either side of them, by voice and eye. + Michu, lying flat on his stomach, his ear to earth, gauged, like a red + Indian, by the strength of the sounds the time that remained to him. + </p> + <p> + “I came too late!” he said to himself. “Violette shall pay dear for this! + what a time it took to make him drunk! What can be done?” + </p> + <p> + He heard the detachment that was coming through the forest reach the iron + gates and turn into the main road, where before long it would meet the + squad coming up from the other direction. + </p> + <p> + “Still five or six minutes!” he said. + </p> + <p> + At that instant the countess appeared. Michu took her with a firm hand and + pushed her into the covered way. + </p> + <p> + “Keep straight before you! Lead her to where my horse is,” he said to his + wife, “and remember that gendarmes have ears.” + </p> + <p> + Seeing Catherine, who carried the hat and whip, and Gothard leading the + mare, the man, keen-witted in presence of danger, bethought himself of + playing the gendarmes a trick as useful as the one he had just played + Violette. Gothard had forced the mare to mount the bank. + </p> + <p> + “Her feet muffled! I thank thee, boy,” exclaimed the bailiff. + </p> + <p> + Michu let the mare follow her mistress and took the hat, gloves, and whip + from Catherine. + </p> + <p> + “You have sense, boy, you’ll understand me,” he said. “Force your own + horse up here, jump on him, and draw the gendarmes after you across the + fields towards the farm; get the whole squad to follow you—And you,” + he added to Catherine, “there are other gendarmes coming up on the road + from Cinq-Cygne to Gondreville; run in the opposite direction to the one + Gothard takes, and draw them towards the forest. Manage so that we shall + not be interfered with in the covered way.” + </p> + <p> + Catherine and the boy, who were destined to give in this affair such + remarkable proofs of intelligence, executed the manoeuvre in a way to make + both detachments of gendarmes believe that they held the game. The dim + light of the moon prevented the pursuers from distinguishing the figure, + clothing, sex, or number of those they followed. The pursuit was based on + the maxim, “Always arrest those who are escaping,”—the folly of + which saying was, as we have seen, energetically declared by Corentin to + the corporal in command. Michu, counting on this instinct of the + gendarmes, was able to reach the forest a few moments after the countess, + whom Marthe had guided to the appointed place. + </p> + <p> + “Go home now,” he said to Marthe. “The forest is watched and it is + dangerous to remain here. We need all our freedom.” + </p> + <p> + Michu unfastened his horse and asked the countess to follow him. + </p> + <p> + “I shall not go a step further,” said Laurence, “unless you give me some + proof of the interest you seem to have in us—for, after all, you are + Michu.” + </p> + <p> + “Mademoiselle,” he answered, in a gentle voice; “the part I am playing can + be explained to you in two words. I am, unknown to the Marquis de Simeuse + and his brother, the guardian of their property. On this subject I + received the last instructions of their late father and their dear mother, + my protectress. I have played the part of a virulent Jacobin to serve my + dear young masters. Unhappily, I began this course too late; I could not + save their parents.” Here, Michu’s voice broke down. “Since the young men + emigrated I have sent them regularly the sums they needed to live upon.” + </p> + <p> + “Through the house of Breintmayer of Strasburg?” asked the countess. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, mademoiselle; the correspondents of Monsieur Girel of Troyes, a + royalist who, like me, made himself for good reasons, a Jacobin. The paper + which your farmer picked up one evening and which I forced him to + surrender, related to the affair and would have compromised your cousins. + My life no longer belongs to me, but to them, you understand. I could not + buy in Gondreville. In my position, I should have lost my head had the + authorities known I had the money. I preferred to wait and buy it later. + But that scoundrel of a Marion was the slave of another scoundrel, Malin. + All the same, Gondreville shall once more belong to its rightful masters. + That’s my affair. Four hours ago I had Malin sighted by my gun; ha! he was + almost gone then! Were he dead, the property would be sold and you could + have bought it. In case of my death my wife would have brought you a + letter which would have given you the means of buying it. But I overheard + that villain telling his accomplice Grevin—another scoundrel like + himself—that the Marquis and his brother were conspiring against the + First Consul, that they were here in the neighborhood, and that he meant + to give them up and get rid of them so as to keep Gondreville in peace. I + myself saw the police spies; I laid aside my gun, and I have lost no time + in coming here, thinking that you must be the one to know best how to warn + the young men. That’s the whole of it.” + </p> + <p> + “You are worthy to be a noble,” said Laurence, offering her hand to Michu, + who tried to kneel and kiss it. She saw his motion and prevented it, + saying: “Stand up!” in a tone of voice and with a look which made him + amends for all the scorn of the last twelve years. + </p> + <p> + “You reward me as though I had done all that remains for me to do,” he + said. “But don’t you hear them, those huzzars of the guillotine? Let us go + elsewhere.” + </p> + <p> + He took the mare’s bridle, and led her a little distance. + </p> + <p> + “Think only of sitting firm,” he said, “and of saving your head from the + branches of the trees which might strike you in the face.” + </p> + <p> + Then he mounted his own horse and guided the young girl for half an hour + at full gallop; making turns and half turns, and striking into wood-paths, + so as to confuse their traces, until they reached a spot where he pulled + up. + </p> + <p> + “I don’t know where I am,” said the countess looking about her,—“I, + who know the forest as well as you do.” + </p> + <p> + “We are in the heart of it,” he replied. “Two gendarmes are after us, but + we are quite safe.” + </p> + <p> + The picturesque spot to which the bailiff had guided Laurence was destined + to be so fatal to the principal personages of this drama, and to Michu + himself, that it becomes our duty, as an historian, to describe it. The + scene became, as we shall see hereafter, one of noted interest in the + judiciary annals of the Empire. + </p> + <p> + The forest of Nodesme belonged to the monastery of Notre-Dame. That + monastery, seized, sacked, and demolished, had disappeared entirely, monks + and property. The forest, an object of much cupidity, was taken into the + domain of the Comtes de Champagne, who mortgaged it later and allowed it + to be sold. In the course of six centuries nature covered its ruins with + her rich and vigorous green mantle, and effaced them so thoroughly that + the existence of one of the finest convents was no longer even indicated + except by a slight eminence shaded by noble trees and circled by thick, + impenetrable shrubbery, which, since 1794, Michu had taken great pains to + make still more impenetrable by planting the thorny acacia in all the + slight openings between the bushes. A pond was at the foot of the eminence + and showed the existence of a hidden stream which no doubt determined in + former days the site of the monastery. The late owner of the title to the + forest of Nodesme was the first to recognize the etymology of the name, + which dated back for eight centuries, and to discover that at one time a + monastery had existed in the heart of the forest. When the first rumblings + of the thunder of the Revolution were heard, the Marquis de Simeuse, who + had been forced to look into his title by a lawsuit and so learned the + above facts as it were by chance, began, with a secret intention not + difficult to conceive, to search for some remains of the former monastery. + The keeper, Michu, to whom the forest was well known, helped his master in + the search, and it was his sagacity as a forester which led to the + discovery of the site. Observing the trend of the five chief roads of the + forest, some of which were now effaced, he saw that they all ended either + at the little eminence or by the pond at the foot of it, to which points + travellers from Troyes, from the valley of Arcis and that of Cinq-Cygne, + and from Bar-sur-Aube doubtless came. The marquis wished to excavate the + hillock but he dared not employ the people of the neighborhood. Pressed by + circumstances, he abandoned the intention, leaving in Michu’s mind a + strong conviction that the eminence had either the treasure or the + foundations of the former abbey. He continued, all alone, this + archaeological enterprise; he sounded the earth and discovered a + hollowness on the level of the pond between two trees, at the foot of the + only craggy part of the hillock. + </p> + <p> + One fine night he came to the place armed with a pickaxe, and by the sweat + of his brow uncovered a succession of cellars, which were entered by a + flight of stone steps. The pond, which was three feet deep in the middle, + formed a sort of dipper, the handle of which seemed to come from the + little eminence, and went far to prove that a spring had once issued from + the crags, and was now lost by infiltration through the forest. The marshy + shores of the pond, covered with aquatic trees, alders, willow, and ash, + were the terminus of all the wood-paths, the remains of former roads and + forest by-ways, now abandoned. The water, flowing from a spring, though + apparently stagnant, was covered with large-leaved plants and cresses, + which gave it a perfectly green surface almost indistinguishable from the + shores, which were covered with fine close herbage. The place is too far + from human habitations for any animal, unless a wild one, to come there. + Convinced that no game was in the marsh and repelled by the craggy sides + of the hills, keepers and hunters had never explored or visited this nook, + which belonged to a part of the forest where the timber had not been cut + for many years and which Michu meant to keep in its full growth when the + time came round to fell it. + </p> + <p> + At the further end of the first cellar was a vaulted chamber, clean and + dry, built with hewn stone, a sort of convent dungeon, such as they called + in monastic days the <i>in pace</i>. The salubrity of the chamber and the + preservation of this part of the staircase and of the vaults were + explained by the presence of the spring, which had been enclosed at some + time by a wall of extraordinary thickness built in brick and cement like + those of the Romans, and received all the waters. Michu closed the + entrance to this retreat with large stones; then, to keep the secret of it + to himself and make it impenetrable to others, he made a rule never to + enter it except from the wooded height above, by clambering down the crag + instead of approaching it from the pond. + </p> + <p> + Just as the fugitives arrived, the moon was casting her beautiful silvery + light on the aged tree-tops above the crag, and flickering on the splendid + foliage at the corners of the several paths, all of which ended here, some + with one tree, some with a group of trees. On all sides the eye was + irresistibly led along their vanishing perspectives, following the curve + of a wood-path or the solemn stretch of a forest glade flanked by a wall + of verdure that was nearly black. The moonlight, filtering through the + branches of the crossways, made the lonely, tranquil waters, where they + peeped between the crosses and the lily-pads, sparkle like diamonds. The + croaking of the frogs broke the deep silence of this beautiful + forest-nook, the wild odors of which incited the soul to thoughts of + liberty. + </p> + <p> + “Are we safe?” said the countess to Michu. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, mademoiselle. But we have each some work to do. Do you go and fasten + our horses to the trees at the top of the little hill; tie a handkerchief + round the mouth of each of them,” he said, giving her his cravat; “your + beast and mine are both intelligent, they will understand they are not to + neigh. When you have done that, come down the crag directly above the + pond; but don’t let your habit catch anywhere. You will find me below.” + </p> + <p> + While the countess hid the horses and tied and gagged them, Michu removed + the stones and opened the entrance to the caverns. The countess, who + thought she knew the forest by heart, was amazed when she descended into + the vaulted chambers. Michu replaced the stones above them with the + dexterity of a mason. As he finished, the sound of horses’ feet and the + voices of the gendarmes echoed in the darkness; but he quietly struck a + match, lighted a resinous bit of wood and led the countess to the <i>in + pace</i>, where there was still a piece of the candle with which he had + first explored the caves. An iron door of some thickness, eaten in several + places by rust, had been put in good order by the bailiff, and could be + fastened securely by bars slipping into holes in the wall on either side + of it. The countess, half dead with fatigue, sat down on a stone bench, + above which there still remained an iron ring, the staple of which was + embedded in the masonry. + </p> + <p> + “We have a salon to converse in,” said Michu. “The gendarmes may prowl as + much as they like; the worst they could do would be to take our horses.” + </p> + <p> + “If they do that,” said Laurence, “it would be the death of my cousins and + the Messieurs d’Hauteserre. Tell me now, what do you know?” + </p> + <p> + Michu related what he had overheard Malin say to Grevin. + </p> + <p> + “They are already on the road to Paris; they were to enter it to-morrow + morning,” said the countess when he had finished. + </p> + <p> + “Lost!” exclaimed Michu. “All persons entering or leaving the barriers are + examined. Malin has strong reasons to let my masters compromise + themselves; he is seeking to get them killed out of his way.” + </p> + <p> + “And I, who don’t know anything of the general plan of the affair,” cried + Laurence, “how can I warn Georges, Riviere, and Moreau? Where are they?—However, + let us think only of my cousins and the d’Hauteserres; you must catch up + with them, no matter what it costs.” + </p> + <p> + “The telegraph goes faster than the best horse,” said Michu; “and of all + the nobles concerned in this conspiracy your cousins are the closest + watched. If I can find them, they must be hidden here and kept here till + the affair is over. Their poor father may have had a foreboding when he + set me to search for this hiding-place; perhaps he felt that his sons + would be saved here.” + </p> + <p> + “My mare is from the stables of the Comte d’Artois,—she is the + daughter of his finest English horse,” said Laurence; “but she has already + gone sixty miles, she would drop dead before you reached them.” + </p> + <p> + “Mine is in good condition,” replied Michu; “and if you did sixty miles I + shall have only thirty to do.” + </p> + <p> + “Nearer forty,” she said, “they have been walking since dark. You will + overtake them beyond Lagny, at Coupvrai, where they expected to be at + daybreak. They are disguised as sailors, and will enter Paris by the river + on some vessel. This,” she added, taking half of her mother’s wedding-ring + from her finger, “is the only thing which will make them trust you; they + have the other half. The keeper of Couvrai is the father of one of their + soldiers; he has hidden them tonight in a hut in the forest deserted by + charcoal-burners. They are eight in all, Messieurs d’Hauteserre and four + others are with my cousins.” + </p> + <p> + “Mademoiselle, no one is looking for the others! let them save themselves + as they can; we must think only of the Messieurs de Simeuse. It is enough + just to warn the rest.” + </p> + <p> + “What! abandon the Hauteserres? never!” she said. “They must all perish or + be saved together!” + </p> + <p> + “Only petty noblemen!” remarked Michu. + </p> + <p> + “They are only chevaliers, I know that,” she replied, “but they are + related to the Cinq-Cygne and Simeuse blood. Save them all, and advise + them how best to regain this forest.” + </p> + <p> + “The gendarmes are here,—don’t you hear them? they are holding a + council of war.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, you have twice had luck to-night; go! bring my cousins here and + hide them in these vaults; they’ll be safe from all pursuit—Alas! I + am good for nothing!” she cried, with rage; “I should be only a beacon to + light the enemy—but the police will never imagine that my cousins + are in the forest if they see me at my ease. So the question resolves + itself into this: how can we get five good horses to bring them in six + hours from Lagny to the forest,—five horses to be killed and hidden + in some thicket.” + </p> + <p> + “And the money?” said Michu, who was thinking deeply as he listened to the + young countess. + </p> + <p> + “I gave my cousins a hundred louis this evening,” she replied. + </p> + <p> + “I’ll answer for them!” cried Michu. “But once hidden here you must not + attempt to see them. My wife, or the little one, shall bring them food + twice a week. But, as I can’t be sure of what may happen to me, remember, + mademoiselle, in case of trouble, that the main beam in my hay-loft has + been bored with an auger. In the hole, which is plugged with a bit of + wood, you will find a plan showing how to reach this spot. The trees which + you will find marked with a red dot on the plan have a black mark at their + foot close to the earth. Each of these trees is a sign-post. At the foot + of the third old oak which stands to the left of each sign-post, two feet + in front of it and buried seven feet in the ground, you will find a large + metal tube; in each tube are one hundred thousand francs in gold. These + eleven trees—there are only eleven—contain the whole fortune + of the Simeuse brothers, now that Gondreville has been taken from them.” + </p> + <p> + “It will take a hundred years for the nobility to recover from such + blows,” said Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne, slowly. + </p> + <p> + “Is there a pass-word?” asked Michu. + </p> + <p> + “‘France and Charles’ for the soldiers, ‘Laurence and Louis’ for the + Messieurs d’Hauteserre and Simeuse. Good God! to think that I saw them + yesterday for the first time in eleven years, and that now they are in + danger of death—and what a death! Michu,” she said, with a + melancholy look, “be as prudent during the next fifteen hours as you have + been grand and devoted during the last twelve years. If disaster were to + overtake my cousins now I should die of it—No,” she added, quickly, + “I would live long enough to kill Bonaparte.” + </p> + <p> + “There will be two of us to do that when all is lost,” said Michu. + </p> + <p> + Laurence took his rough hand and wrung it warmly, as the English do. Michu + looked at his watch; it was midnight. + </p> + <p> + “We must leave here at any cost,” he said. “Death to the gendarme who + attempts to stop me! And you, madame la comtesse, without presuming to + dictate, ride back to Cinq-Cygne as fast as you can. The police are there + by this time; fool them! delay them!” + </p> + <p> + The hole once opened, Michu flung himself down with his ear to the earth; + then he rose precipitately. “The gendarmes are at the edge of the forest + towards Troyes!” he said. “Ha, I’ll get the better of them yet!” + </p> + <p> + He helped the countess to come out, and replaced the stones. When this was + done he heard her soft voice telling him she must see him mounted before + mounting herself. Tears came to the eyes of the stern man as he exchanged + a last look with his young mistress, whose own eyes were tearless. + </p> + <p> + “Fool them! yes, he is right!” she said when she heard him no longer. Then + she darted towards Cinq-Cygne at full gallop. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0008" id="link2HCH0008"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER VIII. TRIALS OF THE POLICE + </h2> + <p> + Madame d’Hauteserre, roused by the danger of her sons, and not believing + that the Revolution was over, but still fearing its summary justice, + recovered her senses by the violence of the same distress which made her + lose them. Led by an agonizing curiosity she returned to the salon, which + presented a picture worthy of the brush of a genre painter. The abbe, + still seated at the card-table and mechanically playing with the counters, + was covertly observing Corentin and Peyrade, who were standing together at + a corner of the fireplace and speaking in a low voice. Several times + Corentin’s keen eye met the not less keen glance of the priest; but, like + two adversaries who knew themselves equally strong, and who return to + their guard after crossing their weapons, each averted his eyes the + instant they met. The worthy old d’Hauteserre, poised on his long thin + legs like a heron, was standing beside the stout form of the mayor, in an + attitude expressive of utter stupefaction. The mayor, though dressed as a + bourgeois, always looked like a servant. Each gazed with a bewildered eye + at the gendarmes, in whose clutches Gothard was still sobbing, his hands + purple and swollen from the tightness of the cord that bound them. + Catherine maintained her attitude of artless simplicity, which was quite + impenetrable. The corporal, who, according to Corentin, had committed a + great blunder in arresting these smaller fry, did not know whether to stay + where he was or to depart. He stood pensively in the middle of the salon, + his hand on the hilt of his sabre, his eye on the two Parisians. The + Durieus, also stupefied, and the other servants of the chateau made an + admirable group of expressive uneasiness. If it had not been for Gothard’s + convulsive snifflings those present could have heard the flies fly. + </p> + <p> + When Madame d’Hauteserre, pale and terrified, opened the door and entered + the room, almost carried by Mademoiselle Goujet, whose red eyes had + evidently been weeping, all faces turned to her at once. The two agents + hoped as much as the household feared to see Laurence enter. This + spontaneous movement of both masters and servants seemed produced by the + sort of mechanism which makes a number of wooden figures perform the same + gesture or wink the same eye. + </p> + <p> + Madame d’Hauteserre advanced by three rapid strides towards Corentin and + said, in a broken voice but violently: “For pity’s sake, monsieur, tell me + what my sons are accused of. Do you really think they have been here?” + </p> + <p> + The abbe, who seemed to be saying to himself when he saw the old lady, + “She will certainly commit some folly,” lowered his eyes. + </p> + <p> + “My duty and the mission I am engaged in forbid me to tell you,” answered + Corentin, with a gracious but rather mocking air. + </p> + <p> + This refusal, which the detestable politeness of the vulgar fop seemed to + make all the more emphatic, petrified the poor mother, who fell into a + chair beside the Abbe Goujet, clasped her hands and began to pray. + </p> + <p> + “Where did you arrest that blubber?” asked Corentin, addressing the + corporal and pointing to Laurence’s little henchman. + </p> + <p> + “On the road that leads to the farm along the park walls; the little scamp + had nearly reached the Closeaux woods,” replied the corporal. + </p> + <p> + “And that girl?” + </p> + <p> + “She? oh, it was Oliver who caught her.” + </p> + <p> + “Where was she going?” + </p> + <p> + “Towards Gondreville.” + </p> + <p> + “They were going in opposite directions?” said Corentin. + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” replied the gendarme. + </p> + <p> + “Is that boy the groom, and the girl the maid of the citizeness + Cinq-Cygne?” said Corentin to the mayor. + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” replied Goulard. + </p> + <p> + After Corentin had exchanged a few words with Peyrade in a whisper, the + latter left the room, taking the corporal of gendarmes with him. + </p> + <p> + Just then the corporal of Arcis made his appearance. He went up to + Corentin and spoke to him in a low voice: “I know these premises well,” he + said; “I have searched everywhere; unless those young fellows are buried, + they are not here. We have sounded all the floors and walls with the butt + end of our muskets.” + </p> + <p> + Peyrade, who presently returned, signed to Corentin to come out, and then + took him to the breach in the moat and showed him the sunken way. + </p> + <p> + “We have guessed the trick,” said Peyrade. + </p> + <p> + “And I’ll tell you how it was done,” added Corentin. “That little scamp + and the girl decoyed those idiots of gendarmes and thus made time for the + game to escape.” + </p> + <p> + “We can’t know the truth till daylight,” said Peyrade. “The road is damp; + I have ordered two gendarmes to barricade it top and bottom. We’ll examine + it after daylight, and find out by the footsteps who went that way.” + </p> + <p> + “I see a hoof-mark,” said Corentin; “let us go to the stables.” + </p> + <p> + “How many horses do you keep?” said Peyrade, returning to the salon with + Corentin, and addressing Monsieur d’Hauteserre and Goulard. + </p> + <p> + “Come, monsieur le maire, you know, answer,” cried Corentin, seeing that + that functionary hesitated. + </p> + <p> + “Why, there’s the countess’s mare, Gothard’s horse, and Monsieur + d’Hauteserre’s.” + </p> + <p> + “There is only one in the stable,” said Peyrade. + </p> + <p> + “Mademoiselle is out riding,” said Durieu. + </p> + <p> + “Does she often ride about at this time of night?” said the libertine + Peyrade, addressing Monsieur d’Hauteserre. + </p> + <p> + “Often,” said the good man, simply. “Monsieur le maire can tell you that.” + </p> + <p> + “Everybody knows she has her freaks,” remarked Catherine; “she looked at + the sky before she went to bed, and I think the glitter of your bayonets + in the moonlight puzzled her. She told me she wanted to know if there was + going to be another revolution.” + </p> + <p> + “When did she go?” asked Peyrade. + </p> + <p> + “When she saw your guns.” + </p> + <p> + “Which road did she take?” + </p> + <p> + “I don’t know.” + </p> + <p> + “There’s another horse missing,” said Corentin. + </p> + <p> + “The gendarmes—took it—away from me,” said Gothard. + </p> + <p> + “Where were you going?” said one of them. + </p> + <p> + “I was—following—my mistress to the farm,” sobbed the boy. + </p> + <p> + The gendarme looked towards Corentin as if expecting an order. But + Gothard’s speech was evidently so true and yet so false, so perfectly + innocent and so artful that the two Parisians again looked at each other + as if to echo Peyrade’s former words: “They are not ninnies.” + </p> + <p> + Monsieur d’Hauteserre seemed incapable of a word; the mayor was + bewildered; the mother, imbecile from maternal fears, was putting + questions to the police agents that were idiotically innocent; the + servants had been roused from their sleep. Judging by these trifling + signs, and these diverse characters, Corentin came to the conclusion that + his only real adversary was Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne. Shrewd and + dexterous as the police may be, they are always under certain + disadvantages. Not only are they forced to discover all that is known to a + conspirator, but they must also suppose and test a great number of things + before they hit upon the right one. The conspirator is always thinking of + his own safety, whereas the police is only on duty at certain hours. Were + it not for treachery and betrayals, nothing would be easier than to + conspire successfully. The conspirator has more mind concentrated upon + himself than the police can bring to bear with all its vast facilities of + action. Finding themselves stopped short morally, as they might be + physically by a door which they expected to find open being shut in their + faces, Corentin and Peyrade saw they were tricked and misled, without + knowing by whom. + </p> + <p> + “I assert,” said the corporal of Arcis, in their ear, “that if the four + young men slept here last night it must have been in the beds of their + father and mother, and Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne, or those of the + servants; or they must have spent the night in the park. There is not a + trace of their presence.” + </p> + <p> + “Who could have warned them?” said Corentin, to Peyrade. “No one but the + First Consul, Fouche, the ministers, the prefect of police, and Malin knew + anything about it.” + </p> + <p> + “We must set spies in the neighborhood,” whispered Peyrade. + </p> + <p> + “And watch the spies,” said the abbe, who smiled as he overheard the word + and guessed all. + </p> + <p> + “Good God!” thought Corentin, replying to the abbe’s smile with one of his + own; “there is but one intelligent being here,—he’s the one to come + to an understanding with; I’ll try him.” + </p> + <p> + “Gentlemen—” said the mayor, anxious to give some proof of devotion + to the First Consul and addressing the two agents. + </p> + <p> + “Say ‘citizens’; the Republic still exists,” interrupted Corentin, looking + at the priest with a quizzical air. + </p> + <p> + “Citizens,” resumed the mayor, “just as I entered this salon and before I + had opened my mouth Catherine rushed in and took her mistress’s hat, + gloves, and whip.” + </p> + <p> + A low murmur of horror came from the breasts of all the household except + Gothard. All eyes but those of the agent and the gendarmes were turned + threateningly on Goulard, the informer, seeming to dart flames at him. + </p> + <p> + “Very good, citizen mayor,” said Peyrade. “We see it all plainly. Some + one” (this with a glance of evident distrust at Corentin) “warned the + citizeness Cinq-Cygne in time.” + </p> + <p> + “Corporal, handcuff that boy,” said Corentin, to the gendarme, “and take + him away by himself. And shut up that girl, too,” pointing to Catherine. + “As for you, Peyrade, search for papers,” adding in his ear, “Ransack + everything, spare nothing.—Monsieur l’abbe,” he said, + confidentially, “I have an important communication to make to you”; and he + took him into the garden. + </p> + <p> + “Listen to me attentively, monsieur,” he went on; “you seem to have the + mind of a bishop, and (no one can hear us) you will understand me. I have + no longer any hope except through you of saving these families, who, with + the greatest folly, are letting themselves roll down a precipice where no + one can save them. The Messieurs Simeuse and d’Hauteserre have been + betrayed by one of those infamous spies whom governments introduce into + all conspiracies to learn their objects, means, and members. Don’t + confound me, I beg of you, with the wretch who is with me. He belongs to + the police; but I am honorably attached to the Consular cabinet, I am + therefore behind the scenes. The ruin of the Simeuse brothers is not + desired. Though Malin would like to see them shot, the First Consul, if + they are here and have come without evil intentions, wishes them to be + warned out of danger, for he likes good soldiers. The agent who + accompanies me has all the powers, I, apparently, am nothing. But I see + plainly what is hatching. The agent is pledged to Malin, who has doubtless + promised him his influence, an office, and perhaps money if he finds the + Simeuse brothers and delivers them up. The First Consul, who is a really + great man, never favors selfish schemes—I don’t want to know if + those young men are here,” he added, quickly, observing the abbe’s + gesture, “but I wish to tell you that there is only one way to save them. + You know the law of the 6th Floreal, year X., which amnestied all the <i>emigres</i> + who were still in foreign countries on condition that they returned home + before the 1st Vendemiaire of the year XI., that is to say, in September + of last year. But the Messieurs Simeuse having, like the Messieurs + d’Hauteserre, served in the army of Conde, they come into the category of + exceptions to this law. Their presence in France is therefore criminal, + and suffices, under the circumstances in which we are, to make them + suspected of collusion in a horrible plot. The First Consul saw the error + of this exception which has made enemies for his government, and he wishes + the Messieurs Simeuse to know that no steps will be taken against them, if + they will send him a petition saying that they have re-entered France + intending to submit to the laws, and agreeing to take oath to the + Constitution. You can understand that the document ought to be in my hands + before they are arrested, and be dated some days earlier. I would then be + the bearer of it—I do not ask you where those young men are,” he + said again, seeing another gesture of denial from the priest. “We are, + unfortunately, sure of finding them; the forest is guarded, the entrances + to Paris and the frontiers are all watched. Pray listen to me; if these + gentlemen are between the forest and Paris they must be taken; if they are + in Paris they will be found; if they retreat to the frontier they will + still be arrested. The First Consul likes the <i>ci-devants</i>, and + cannot endure the republicans—simple enough; if he wants a throne he + must needs strangle Liberty. Keep the matter a secret between us. This is + what I will do; I will stay here till to-morrow and <i>be blind</i>; but + beware of the agent; that cursed Provencal is the devil’s own valet; he + has the ear of Fouche just as I have that of the First Consul.” + </p> + <p> + “If the Messieurs Simeuse are here,” said the abbe, “I would give ten + pints of my blood and my right arm to save them; but if Mademoiselle de + Cinq-Cygne is in the secret she has not—and this I swear on my + eternal salvation—betrayed it in any way, neither has she done me + the honor to consult me. I am now very glad of her discretion, if + discretion there be. We played cards last night as usual, at boston, in + almost complete silence, until half-past ten o’clock, and we neither saw + nor heard anything. Not a child can pass through this solitary valley + without the whole community knowing it, and for the last two weeks no one + has come from other places. Now the d’Hauteserre and the Simeuse brothers + would make a party of four. Old d’Hauteserre and his wife have submitted + to the present government, and they have made all imaginable efforts to + persuade their sons to return to France; they wrote to them again + yesterday. I can only say, upon my soul and conscience, that your visit + has alone shaken my firm belief that these young men are living in + Germany. Between ourselves, there is no one here, except the young + countess, who does not do justice to the eminent qualities of the First + Consul.” + </p> + <p> + “Fox!” thought Corentin. “Well, if those young men are shot,” he said, + aloud; “it is because their friends have willed it—I wash my hands + of the affair.” + </p> + <p> + He had led the abbe to a part of the garden which lay in the moonlight, + and as he said the last words he looked at him suddenly. The priest was + greatly distressed, but his manner was that of a man surprised and wholly + ignorant. + </p> + <p> + “Understand this, monsieur l’abbe,” resumed Corentin; “the right of these + young men to the estate of Gondreville will render them doubly criminal in + the eyes of the middle class. I’d like to see them put faith in God and + not in his saints—” + </p> + <p> + “Is there really a plot?” asked the abbe, simply. + </p> + <p> + “Base, odious, cowardly, and so contrary to the generous spirit of the + nation,” replied Corentin, “that it will meet with universal opprobrium.” + </p> + <p> + “Well! Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne is incapable of baseness,” cried the + abbe. + </p> + <p> + “Monsieur l’abbe,” replied Corentin, “let me tell you this; there is for + us (meaning you and me) proof positive of her guilt; but there is not + enough for the law. You see she took flight when we came; I sent the mayor + to warn her.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, but for one who is so anxious to save them, you followed rather + closely on his heels,” said the abbe. + </p> + <p> + At those words the two men looked at each other, and all was said. Each + belonged to those profound anatomists of thought to whom a mere inflexion + of the voice, a look, a word suffices to reveal a soul, just as the + Indians track their enemies by signs invisible to European eyes. + </p> + <p> + “I expected to draw something out of him, and I have only betrayed + myself,” thought Corentin. + </p> + <p> + “Ha! the sly rogue!” thought the priest. + </p> + <p> + Midnight rang from the old church clock just as Corentin and the abbe + re-entered the salon. The opening and shutting of doors and closets could + be heard from the bedrooms above. The gendarmes pulled open the beds; + Peyrade, with the quick perception of a spy, handled and sounded + everything. Such desecration excited both fear and indignation among the + faithful servants of the house, who still stood motionless about the + salon. Monsieur d’Hauteserre exchanged looks of commiseration with his + wife and Mademoiselle Goujet. A species of horrible curiosity kept every + one on the qui vive. Peyrade at length came down, holding in his hand a + sandal-wood box which had probably been brought from China by Admiral de + Simeuse. This pretty casket was flat and about the size of a quarto + volume. + </p> + <p> + Peyrade made a sign to Corentin and took him into the embrasure of a + window. + </p> + <p> + “I’ve an idea!” he said, “that Michu, who was ready to pay Marion eight + hundred thousand francs in gold for Gondreville, and who evidently meant + to shoot Malin yesterday, is the man who is helping the Simeuse brothers. + His motive in threatening Marion and aiming at Malin must be the same. I + thought when I saw him that he was capable of ideas; evidently he has but + one; he discovered what was going on and he must have come here to warn + them.” + </p> + <p> + “Probably Malin talked about the conspiracy to his friend the notary, and + Michu from his ambush overheard what was said,” remarked Corentin, + continuing the inductions of his colleague. “No doubt he has only + postponed his shot to prevent an evil he thinks worse than the loss of + Gondreville.” + </p> + <p> + “He knew what we were the moment he laid eyes on us,” said Peyrade. “I + thought then that he was amazingly intelligent for a peasant.” + </p> + <p> + “That proves that he is always on his guard,” replied Corentin. “But, mind + you, my old man, don’t let us make a mistake. Treachery stinks in the + nostrils, and primitive folks do scent it from afar.” + </p> + <p> + “But that’s our strength,” said the Provencal. + </p> + <p> + “Call the corporal of Arcis,” cried Corentin to one of the gendarmes. “I + shall send him at once to Michu’s house,” he added to Peyrade. + </p> + <p> + “Our ear, Violette, is there,” said Peyrade. + </p> + <p> + “We started without getting news from him. Two of us are not enough; we + ought to have had Sabatier with us—Corporal,” he said, when the + gendarme appeared, taking him aside with Peyrade, “don’t let them fool you + as they did the Troyes corporal just now. We think Michu is in this + business. Go to his house, put your eye on everything, and bring word of + the result.” + </p> + <p> + “One of my men heard horses in the forest just as they arrested the little + groom; I’ve four fine fellows now on the track of whoever is hiding + there,” replied the gendarme. + </p> + <p> + He left the room, and the gallop of his horse which echoed on the paved + courtyard died rapidly away. + </p> + <p> + “One thing is certain,” said Corentin to himself, “either they have gone + to Paris or they are retreating to Germany.” + </p> + <p> + He sat down, pulled a note-book from the pocket of his spencer, wrote two + orders in pencil, sealed them, and made a sign to one of the gendarmes to + come to him. + </p> + <p> + “Be off at full gallop to Troyes, wake up the prefect, and tell him to + start the telegraph as soon as there’s light enough.” + </p> + <p> + The gendarme departed. The meaning of this movement and Corentin’s + intentions were so evident that the hearts of the household sank within + them; but this new anxiety was additional to another that was now + martyrizing them; their eyes were fixed on the sandal-wood box! All the + while the two agents were talking together they were each taking note of + those eager looks. A sort of cold anger stirred the unfeeling hearts of + these men who relished the power of inspiring terror. The police man has + the instincts and emotions of a hunter: but where the one employs his + powers of mind and body in killing a hare, a partridge, or a deer, the + other is thinking of saving the State, or a king, and of winning a large + reward. So the hunt for men is superior to the other class of hunting by + all the distance that there is between animals and human beings. Moreover, + a spy is forced to lift the part he plays to the level and the importance + of the interests to which he is bound. Without looking further into this + calling, it is easy to see that the man who follows it puts as much + passionate ardor into his chase as another man does into the pursuit of + game. Therefore the further these men advanced in their investigations the + more eager they became; but the expression of their faces and their eyes + continued calm and cold, just as their ideas, their suspicions, and their + plans remained impenetrable. To any one who watched the effects of the + moral scent, if we may so call it, of these bloodhounds on the track of + hidden facts, and who noted and understood the movements of canine agility + which led them to strike the truth in their rapid examination of + probabilities, there was in it all something actually horrifying. How and + why should men of genius fall so low when it was in their power to be so + high? What imperfection, what vice, what passion debases them? Does a man + become a police-agent as he becomes a thinker, writer, statesmen, painter, + general, on the condition of knowing nothing but how to spy, as the others + speak, write, govern, paint, and fight? The inhabitants of the chateau had + but one wish,—that the thunderbolts of heaven might fall upon these + miscreants; they were athirst for vengeance; and had it not been for the + presence, up to this time, of the gendarmes there would undoubtedly have + been an outbreak. + </p> + <p> + “No one, I suppose, has the key of this box?” said the cynical Peyrade, + questioning the family as much by the movement of his huge red nose as by + his words. + </p> + <p> + The Provencal noticed, not without fear, that the guards were no longer + present; he and Corentin were alone with the family. The younger man drew + a small dagger from his pocket, and began to force the lock of the box. + Just then the desperate galloping of a horse was heard upon the road and + then upon the pavement by the lawn; but most horrible of all was the fall + and sighing of the animal, which seemed to drop all at once at the door of + the middle tower. A convulsion like that which a thunderbolt might produce + shook the spectators when Laurence, the trailing of whose riding-habit + announced her coming, entered the room. The servants hastily formed into + two lines to let her pass. + </p> + <p> + In spite of her rapid ride, the girl had felt the full anguish the + discovery of the conspiracy must needs cause her. All her hopes were + overthrown! she had galloped through ruins as her thoughts turned to the + necessity of submission to the Consular government. Were it not for the + danger which threatened the four gentlemen, and which served as a tonic to + conquer her weariness and her despair, she would have dropped asleep on + the way. The mare was almost killed in her haste to reach the chateau, and + stand between her cousins and death. As all present looked at the heroic + girl, pale, her features drawn, her veil aside, her whip in her hand, + standing on the threshold of the door, whence her burning glance grasped + the whole scene and comprehended it, each knew from the almost + imperceptible motion which crossed the soured and bittered face of + Corentin, that the real adversaries had met. A terrible duel was about to + begin. + </p> + <p> + Noticing the box, now in the hands of Corentin, the countess raised her + whip and sprang rapidly towards him. Striking his hands with so violent a + blow that the casket fell to the ground, she seized it, flung it into the + middle of the fire, and stood with her back to the chimney in a + threatening attitude before either of the agents recovered from their + surprise. The scorn which flamed from her eyes, her pale brow, her + disdainful lips, were even more insulting than the haughty action which + treated Corentin as though he were a venomous reptile. Old d’Hauteserre + felt himself once more a cavalier; all his blood rushed to his face, and + he grieved that he had no sword. The servants trembled for an instant with + joy. The vengeance they had called down upon these men had come. But their + joy was driven back within their souls by a terrible fear; the gendarmes + were still heard coming and going in the garrets. + </p> + <p> + The <i>spy</i>—noun of strength, under which all shades of the + police are confounded, for the public has never chosen to specify in + language the varieties of those who compose this dispensary of social + remedies so essential to all governments—the spy has this curious + and magnificent quality: he never becomes angry; he possesses the + Christian humility of a priest; his eyes are stolid with an indifference + which he holds as a barrier against the world of fools who do not + understand him; his forehead is adamant under insult; he pursues his ends + like a reptile whose carapace is fractured only by a cannonball; but (like + that reptile) he is all the more furious when the blow does reach him, + because he believed his armor invulnerable. The lash of the whip upon his + fingers was to Corentin, pain apart, the cannonball that cracked the + shell. Coming from that magnificent and noble girl, this action, + emblematic of her disgust, humiliated him, not only in the eyes of the + people about him, but in his own. + </p> + <p> + Peyrade sprang to the hearth, caught Laurence’s foot, raised it, and + compelled her, out of modesty, to throw herself on the sofa, where she had + lately lain asleep. The scene, like other contrasts in human things, was + burlesque in the midst of terror. Peyrade scorched his hand as he dashed + it into the fire to seize the box; but he got it, threw it on the floor + and sat down upon it. These little actions were done with great rapidity + and without a word being uttered. Corentin, recovering from the pain of + the blow, caught Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne by both hands, and held her. + </p> + <p> + “Do not compel me to use force against you,” he said, with withering + politeness. + </p> + <p> + Peyrade’s action had extinguished the fire by the natural process of + suppressing the air. + </p> + <p> + “Gendarmes! here!” he cried, still occupying his ridiculous position. + </p> + <p> + “Will you promise to behave yourself?” said Corentin, insolently, + addressing Laurence, and picking up his dagger, but not committing the + great fault of threatening her with it. + </p> + <p> + “The secrets of that box do not concern the government,” she answered, + with a tinge of melancholy in her tone and manner. “When you have read the + letters it contains you will, in spite of your infamy, feel ashamed of + having read them—that is, if you can still feel shame at anything,” + she added, after a pause. + </p> + <p> + The abbe looked at her as if to say, “For God’s sake, be calm!” + </p> + <p> + Peyrade rose. The bottom of the box, which had been nearly burned through, + left a mark upon the floor; the lid was scorched and the sides gave way. + The grotesque Scaevola, who had offered to the god of the Police and + Terror the seat of his apricot breeches, opened the two sides of the box + as if it had been a book, and slid three letters and two locks of hair + upon the card-table. He was about to smile at Corentin when he perceived + that the locks were of two shades of gray. Corentin released Mademoiselle + de Cinq-Cygne’s hands and went up to the table to read the letter from + which the hair had fallen. + </p> + <p> + Laurence rose, moved to the table beside the spies, and said:—“Read + it aloud; that shall be your punishment.” + </p> + <p> + As the two men continued to read to themselves, she herself read out the + following words:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Dear Laurence,—My husband and I have heard of your noble conduct + on the day of our arrest. We know that you love our dear twins as + much, almost, as we love them ourselves. Therefore it is with you + that we leave a token which will be both precious and sad to them. + The executioner has come to cut our hair, for we are to die in a + few moments; he has promised to put into your hands the only + remembrance we are able to leave to our beloved orphans. Keep + these last remains of us and give them to our sons in happier + days. We have kissed these locks of hair and have laid our + blessing upon them. Our last thought will be of our sons, of you, + and of God. Love them, Laurence. +</pre> + <p> + Berthe de Cinq-Cygne. Jean de Simeuse. + </p> + <p> + Tears came to the eyes of all the household as they listened to the + letter. + </p> + <p> + Laurence looked at the agents with a petrifying glance and said, in a firm + voice:— + </p> + <p> + “You have less pity than the executioner.” + </p> + <p> + Corentin quietly folded the hair in the letter, laid the letter aside on + the table, and put a box of counters on the top of it as if to prevent its + blowing away. His coolness in the midst of the general emotion was + horrible. + </p> + <p> + Peyrade unfolded the other letters. + </p> + <p> + “Oh, as for those,” said Laurence, “they are very much alike. You hear the + will; you can now hear of its fulfilment. In future I shall have no + secrets from any one.” + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + 1794, Andernach. Before the battle. + + My dear Laurence,—I love you for life, and I wish you to know it. + But you ought also to know, in case I die, that my brother, + Paul-Marie, loves you as much as I love you. My only consolation in + dying would be the thought that you might some day make my brother + your husband without being forced to see me die of jealousy—which + must surely happen if, both of us being alive, you preferred him + to me. After all, that preference seems natural, for he is, + perhaps, more worthy of your love than I— + + Marie-Paul. +</pre> + <p> + “Here is the other letter,” she said, with the color in her cheeks. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Andernach. Before the battle. + + My kind Laurence,—My heart is sad; but Marie-Paul has a gayer + nature, and will please you more than I am able to do. Some day + you will have to choose between us—well, though I love you + passionately— +</pre> + <p> + “You are corresponding with <i>emigres</i>,” said Peyrade, interrupting + Laurence, and holding the letters between himself and the light to see if + they contained between the lines any treasonable writing with invisible + ink. + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” replied Laurence, folding the precious letters, the paper of which + was already yellow with time. “But by virtue of what right do you presume + to violate my dwelling and my personal liberty?” + </p> + <p> + “Ah, that’s the point!” cried Peyrade. “By what right, indeed!—it is + time to let you know it, beautiful aristocrat,” he added, taking a warrant + from his pocket, which came from the minister of justice and was + countersigned by the minister of the interior. “See, the authorities have + their eye upon you.” + </p> + <p> + “We might also ask you,” said Corentin, in her ear, “by what right you + harbor in this house the assassins of the First Consul. You have applied + your whip to my hands in a manner that authorizes me to take my revenge + upon your cousins, whom I came here to save.” + </p> + <p> + At the mere movement of her lips and the glance which Laurence cast upon + Corentin, the abbe guessed what that great artist was saying, and he made + her a sign to be distrustful, which no one intercepted but Goulard. + Peyrade struck the cover of the box to see if there were a double top. + </p> + <p> + “Don’t break it!” she exclaimed, taking the cover from him. + </p> + <p> + She took a pin, pushed the head of one of the carved figures, and the two + halves of the top, joined by a spring, opened. In the hollow half lay + miniatures of the Messieurs de Simeuse, in the uniform of the army of + Conde, two portraits on ivory done in Germany. Corentin, who felt himself + in presence of an adversary worthy of his efforts, called Peyrade aside + into a corner of the room and conferred with him. + </p> + <p> + “How could you throw <i>that</i> into the fire?” said the abbe, speaking + to Laurence and pointing to the letter of the marquise which enclosed the + locks of hair. + </p> + <p> + For all answer the young girl shrugged her shoulders significantly. The + abbe comprehended then that she had made the sacrifice to mislead the + agents and gain time; he raised his eyes to heaven with a gesture of + admiration. + </p> + <p> + “Where did they arrest Gothard, whom I hear crying?” she asked him, loud + enough to be overheard. + </p> + <p> + “I don’t know,” said the abbe. + </p> + <p> + “Did he reach the farm?” + </p> + <p> + “The farm!” whispered Peyrade to Corentin. “Let us send there.” + </p> + <p> + “No,” said Corentin; “that girl never trusted her cousins’ safety to a + farmer. She is playing with us. Do as I tell you, so that we mayn’t have + to leave here without detecting something, after committing the great + blunder of coming here at all.” + </p> + <p> + Corentin stationed himself before the fire, lifting the long pointed + skirts of his coat to warm himself and assuming the air, manner, and tone + of a gentleman who was paying a visit. + </p> + <p> + “Mesdames, you can go to bed, and the servants also. Monsieur le maire, + your services are no longer needed. The sternness of our orders does not + permit us to act otherwise than as we have done; but as soon as the walls, + which seem to me rather thick, have been thoroughly examined, we shall + take our departure.” + </p> + <p> + The mayor bowed to the company and retired; but neither the abbe nor + Mademoiselle Goujet stirred. The servants were too uneasy not to watch the + fate of their young mistress. Madame d’Hauteserre, who, from the moment of + Laurence’s entrance, had studied her with the anxiety of a mother, rose, + took her by the arm, led her aside, and said in a low voice, “Have you + seen them?” + </p> + <p> + “Do you think I could have let your sons be under this roof without your + knowing it?” replied Laurence. “Durieu,” she added, “see if it is possible + to save my poor Stella; she is still breathing.” + </p> + <p> + “She must have gone a great distance,” said Corentin. + </p> + <p> + “Forty miles in three hours,” she answered, addressing the abbe, who + watched her with amazement. “I started at half-past nine, and it was well + past one when I returned.” + </p> + <p> + She looked at the clock which said half-past two. + </p> + <p> + “So you don’t deny that you have ridden forty miles?” said Corentin. + </p> + <p> + “No,” she said. “I admit that my cousins, in their perfect innocence, + expected not to be excluded from the amnesty, and were on their way to + Cinq-Cygne. When I found that the Sieur Malin was plotting to injure them, + I went to warn them to return to Germany, where they will be before the + telegraph can have guarded the frontier. If I have done wrong I shall be + punished for it.” + </p> + <p> + This answer, which Laurence had carefully considered, was so probable in + all its parts that Corentin’s convictions were shaken. In that decisive + moment, when every soul present hung suspended, as it were, on the faces + of the two adversaries, and all eyes turned from Corentin to Laurence and + from Laurence to Corentin, again the gallop of a horse, coming from the + forest, resounded on the road and from there through the gates to the + paved courtyard. Frightful anxiety was stamped on every face. + </p> + <p> + Peyrade entered, his eyes gleaming with joy. He went hastily to Corentin + and said, loud enough for the countess to hear him: “We have caught + Michu.” + </p> + <p> + Laurence, to whom the agony, fatigue, and tension of all her intellectual + faculties had given an unusual color, turned white and fell back almost + fainting on a chair. Madame Durieu, Mademoiselle Goujet, and Madame + d’Hauteserre sprang to help her, for she was suffocating. She signed to + cut the frogging of her habit. + </p> + <p> + “Duped!” said Corentin to Peyrade. “I am certain now they are on their way + to Paris. Change the orders.” + </p> + <p> + They left the room and the house, placing one gendarme on guard at the + door of the salon. The infernal cleverness of the two men had gained a + terrible advantage by taking Laurence in the trap of a not uncommon trick. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0009" id="link2HCH0009"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER IX. FOILED + </h2> + <p> + At six o’clock in the morning, as day was dawning, Corentin and Peyrade + returned. Having explored the covered way they were satisfied that horses + had passed through it to reach the forest. They were now awaiting the + report of the captain of gendarmerie sent to reconnoitre the neighborhood. + Leaving the chateau in charge of a corporal, they went to the tavern at + Cinq-Cygne to get their breakfast, giving orders that Gothard, who never + ceased to reply to all questions with a burst of tears, should be set at + liberty, also Catherine, who still continued silent and immovable. + Catherine and Gothard went to the salon to kiss the hands of their + mistress, who lay exhausted on the sofa; Durieu also went in to tell her + that Stella would recover, but needed great care. + </p> + <p> + The mayor, uneasy and inquisitive, met Peyrade and Corentin in the + village. He declared that he could not allow such important officials to + breakfast in a miserable tavern, and he took them to his own house. The + abbey was only three quarters of a mile distant. On the way, Peyrade + remarked that the corporal of Arcis had sent no news of Michu or of + Violette. + </p> + <p> + “We are dealing with very able people,” said Corentin; “they are stronger + than we. The priest no doubt has a finger in all this.” + </p> + <p> + Just as the mayor’s wife was ushering her guests into a vast dining-room + (without any fire) the lieutenant of gendarmes arrived with an anxious + air. + </p> + <p> + “We met the horse of the corporal of Arcis in the forest without his + master,” he said to Peyrade. + </p> + <p> + “Lieutenant,” cried Corentin, “go instantly to Michu’s house and find out + what is going on there. They must have murdered the corporal.” + </p> + <p> + This news interfered with the mayor’s breakfast. Corentin and Peyrade + swallowed their food with the rapidity of hunters halting for a meal, and + drove back to the chateau in their wicker carriage, so as to be ready to + start at the first call for any point where their presence might be + necessary. When the two men reappeared in the salon into which they had + brought such trouble, terror, grief, and anxiety, they found Laurence, in + a dressing-gown, Monsieur d’Hauteserre and his wife, the abbe and his + sister, sitting round the fire, to all appearance tranquil. + </p> + <p> + “If they had caught Michu,” Laurence told herself, “they would have + brought him with them. I have the mortification of knowing that I was not + the mistress of myself, and that I threw some light upon the matter for + those wretches; but the harm can be undone—How long are we to be + your prisoners?” she asked sarcastically, with an easy manner. + </p> + <p> + “How can she know anything about Michu? No one from the outside has got + near the chateau; she is laughing at us,” said the two agents to each + other by a look. + </p> + <p> + “We shall not inconvenience you long,” replied Corentin. “In three hours + from now we shall offer our regrets for having troubled your solitude.” + </p> + <p> + No one replied. This contemptuous silence redoubled Corentin’s inward + rage. Laurence and the abbe (the two minds of their little world) had + talked the man over and drawn their conclusions. Gothard and Catherine had + set the breakfast-table near the fire and the abbe and his sister were + sharing the meal. Neither masters nor servants paid the slightest + attention to the two spies, who walked up and down the garden, the + courtyard or the lawn, returning every now and then to the salon. + </p> + <p> + At half-past two the lieutenant reappeared. + </p> + <p> + “I found the corporal,” he said to Corentin, “lying in the road which + leads from the pavilion of Cinq-Cygne to the farm at Bellache. He has no + wound, only a bad contusion of the head, caused, apparently, by his fall. + He told me he had been lifted suddenly off his horse and flung so + violently to the ground that he could not discover how the thing was done. + His feet left the stirrups, which was lucky, for he might have been killed + by the horse dragging him. We put him in charge of Michu and Violette—” + </p> + <p> + “Michu! is Michu in his own house?” said Corentin, glancing at Laurence. + </p> + <p> + The countess smiled ironically, like a woman obtaining her revenge. + </p> + <p> + “He is bargaining with Violette about the sale of some land,” said the + lieutenant. “They seemed to me drunk; and it’s no wonder, for they have + been drinking all night and discussing the matter, and they haven’t come + to terms yet.” + </p> + <p> + “Did Violette tell you so?” cried Corentin. + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” said the lieutenant. + </p> + <p> + “Nothing is right if we don’t attend to it ourselves!” cried Peyrade, + looking at Corentin, who doubted the lieutenant’s news as much as the + other did. + </p> + <p> + “At what hour did you get to Michu’s house?” asked Corentin, noticing that + the countess had glanced at the clock. + </p> + <p> + “About two,” replied the lieutenant. + </p> + <p> + Laurence covered Monsieur and Madame d’Hauteserre and the abbe and his + sister in one comprehensive glance, which made them fancy they were + wrapped in an azure mantle; triumph sparkled in her eyes, she blushed, and + the tears welled up beneath her lids. Strong under all misfortunes, the + girl knew not how to weep except from joy. At this moment she was all + glorious, especially to the priest, who was sometimes distressed by the + virility of her character, and who now caught a glimpse of the infinite + tenderness of her woman’s nature. But such feelings lay in her soul like a + treasure hidden at a great depth beneath a block of granite. + </p> + <p> + Just then a gendarme entered the salon to ask if he might bring in Michu’s + son, sent by his father to speak to the gentlemen from Paris. Corentin + gave an affirmative nod. Francois Michu, a sly little chip of the old + block, was in the courtyard, where Gothard, now at liberty, got a chance + to speak to him for an instant under the eyes of a gendarme. The little + fellow managed to slip something into Gothard’s hand without being + detected, and the latter glided into the salon after him till he reached + his mistress, to whom he stealthily conveyed both halves of the + wedding-ring, a sure sign, she knew, that Michu had met the four gentlemen + and put them in safety. + </p> + <p> + “My papa wants to know what he’s to do with the corporal, who ain’t doing + well,” said Francois. + </p> + <p> + “What’s the matter with him?” asked Peyrade. + </p> + <p> + “It’s his head—he pitched down hard on the ground,” replied the boy. + “For a gindarme who knows how to ride it was bad luck—I suppose the + horse stumbled. He’s got a hole—my! as big as your fist—in the + back of his head. Seems as if he must have hit some big stone, poor man! + He may be a gindarme, but he suffers all the same—you’d pity him.” + </p> + <p> + The captain of the gendarmerie now arrived and dismounted in the + courtyard. Corentin threw up the window, not to lose time. + </p> + <p> + “What has been done?” + </p> + <p> + “We are back like the Dutchmen! We found nothing but five dead horses, + their coats stiff with sweat, in the middle of the forest. I have kept + them to find out where they came from and who owns them. The forest is + surrounded; whoever is in it can’t get out.” + </p> + <p> + “At what hour do you suppose those horsemen entered the forest?” + </p> + <p> + “About half-past twelve.” + </p> + <p> + “Don’t let a hare leave that forest without your seeing it,” whispered + Corentin. “I’ll station Peyrade at the village to help you; I am going to + see the corporal myself—Go to the mayor’s house,” he added, still + whispering, to Peyrade. “I’ll send some able man to relieve you. We shall + have to make use of the country-people; examine all faces.” He turned + towards the family and said in a threatening tone, “Au revoir!” + </p> + <p> + No one replied, and the two agents left the room. + </p> + <p> + “What would Fouche say if he knew we had made a domiciliary visit without + getting any results?” remarked Peyrade as he helped Corentin into the + osier vehicle. + </p> + <p> + “It isn’t over yet,” replied the other, “those four young men are in the + forest. Look there!” and he pointed to Laurence who was watching them from + a window. “I once revenged myself on a woman who was worth a dozen of that + one and had stirred my bile a good deal less. If this girl comes in the + way of my hatchet I’ll pay her for the lash of that whip.” + </p> + <p> + “The other was a strumpet,” said Peyrade; “this one has rank.” + </p> + <p> + “What difference is that to me? All’s fish that swims in the sea,” replied + Corentin, signing to the gendarme who drove him to whip up. + </p> + <p> + Ten minutes later the chateau de Cinq-Cygne was completely evacuated. + </p> + <p> + “How did they get rid of the corporal?” said Laurence to Francois Michu, + whom she had ordered to sit down and eat some breakfast. + </p> + <p> + “My father told me it was a matter of life and death and I mustn’t let + anybody get into our house,” replied the boy. “I knew when I heard the + horses in the forest that I’d got to do with them hounds of gindarmes, and + I meant to keep ‘em from getting in. So I took some big ropes that were in + my garret and fastened one of ‘em to a tree at the corner of the road. + Then I drew the rope high enough to hit the breast of a man on horseback, + and tied it to the tree on the opposite side of the way in the direction + where I heard the horses. That barred the road. It didn’t miss fire, I can + tell you! There was no moon, and the corporal just pitched!—but he + wasn’t killed; they’re tough, them gindarmes! I did what I could.” + </p> + <p> + “You have saved us!” said Laurence, kissing him as she took him to the + gate. When there, she looked about her and seeing no one she said + cautiously, “Have they provisions?” + </p> + <p> + “I have just taken them twelve pounds of bread and four bottles of wine,” + said the boy. “They’ll be snug for a week.” + </p> + <p> + Returning to the salon, the girl was beset with mute questions in the eyes + of all, each of whom looked at her with as much admiration as eagerness. + </p> + <p> + “But have you really seen them?” cried Madame d’Hauteserre. + </p> + <p> + The countess put a finger on her lips and smiled; then she left the room + and went to bed; her triumph sure, utter weariness had overtaken her. + </p> + <p> + The shortest road from Cinq-Cygne to Michu’s lodge was that which led from + the village past the farm at Bellache to the <i>rond-point</i> where the + Parisian spies had first seen Michu on the preceding evening. The gendarme + who was driving Corentin took this way, which was the one the corporal of + Arcis had taken. As they drove along, the agent was on the look-out for + signs to show why the corporal had been unhorsed. He blamed himself for + having sent but one man on so important an errand, and he drew from this + mistake an axiom for the police Code, which he afterwards applied. + </p> + <p> + “If they have got rid of the corporal,” he said to himself, “they have + done as much by Violette. Those five horses have evidently brought the + four conspirators and Michu from the neighborhood of Paris to the forest. + Has Michu a horse?” he inquired of the gendarme who was driving him and + who belonged to the squad from Arcis. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, and a famous little horse it is,” answered the man, “a hunter from + the stables of the ci-devant Marquis de Simeuse. There’s no better beast, + though it is nearly fifteen years old. Michu can ride him fifty miles and + he won’t turn a hair. He takes mighty good care of him and wouldn’t sell + him at any price.” + </p> + <p> + “What does the horse look like?” + </p> + <p> + “He’s brown, turning rather to black; white stockings above the hoofs, + thin, all nerves like an Arab.” + </p> + <p> + “Did you ever see an Arab?” + </p> + <p> + “In Egypt—last year. I’ve ridden the horses of the mamelukes. We + have to serve twelve years in the cavalry, and I was on the Rhine under + General Steingel, after that in Italy, and then I followed the First + Consul to Egypt. I’ll be a corporal soon.” + </p> + <p> + “When I get to Michu’s house go to the stable; if you have served twelve + years in the cavalry you know when a horse is blown. Let me know the + condition of Michu’s beast.” + </p> + <p> + “See! that’s where our corporal was thrown,” said the man, pointing to a + spot where the road they were following entered the <i>rond-point</i>. + </p> + <p> + “Tell the captain to come and pick me up at Michu’s, and I’ll go with him + to Troyes.” + </p> + <p> + So saying Corentin got down, and stood about for a few minutes examining + the ground. He looked at the two elms which faced each other,—one + against the park wall, the other on the bank of the <i>rond-point</i>; + then he saw (what no one had yet noticed) the button of a uniform lying in + the dust, and he picked it up. Entering the lodge he saw Violette and + Michu sitting at the table in the kitchen and talking eagerly. Violette + rose, bowed to Corentin, and offered him some wine. + </p> + <p> + “Thank you, no; I came to see the corporal,” said the young man, who saw + with half a glance that Violette had been drunk all night. + </p> + <p> + “My wife is nursing him upstairs,” said Michu. + </p> + <p> + “Well, corporal, how are you?” said Corentin who had run up the stairs and + found the gendarme with his head bandaged, and lying on Madame Michu’s + bed; his hat, sabre, and shoulder-belt on a chair. + </p> + <p> + Marthe, faithful in her womanly instincts, and knowing nothing of her + son’s prowess, was giving all her care to the corporal, assisted by her + mother. + </p> + <p> + “We expect Monsieur Varlet the doctor from Arcis,” she said to Corentin; + “our servant-lad has gone to fetch him.” + </p> + <p> + “Leave us alone for a moment,” said Corentin, a good deal surprised at the + scene, which amply proved the innocence of the two women. “Where were you + struck?” he asked the man, examining his uniform. + </p> + <p> + “On the breast,” replied the corporal. + </p> + <p> + “Let’s see your belt,” said Corentin. + </p> + <p> + On the yellow band with a white edge, which a recent regulation had made + part of the equipment of the guard now called National, was a metal plate + a good deal like that of the foresters, on which the law required the + inscription of these remarkable words: “Respect to persons and to + properties.” Francois’s rope had struck the belt and defaced it. Corentin + took up the coat and found the place where the button he had picked up + upon the road belonged. + </p> + <p> + “What time did they find you?” asked Corentin. + </p> + <p> + “About daybreak.” + </p> + <p> + “Did they bring you up here at once?” said Corentin, noticing that the bed + had not been slept in. + </p> + <p> + “Yes.” + </p> + <p> + “Who brought you up?” + </p> + <p> + “The women and little Michu, who found me unconscious.” + </p> + <p> + “So!” thought Corentin: “evidently they didn’t go to bed. The corporal was + not shot at, nor struck by any weapon, for an assailant must have been at + his own height to strike a blow. Something, some obstacle, was in his way + and that unhorsed him. A piece of wood? not possible! an iron chain? that + would have left marks. What did you feel?” he said aloud. + </p> + <p> + “I was knocked over so suddenly—” + </p> + <p> + “The skin is rubbed off under your chin,” said Corentin quickly. + </p> + <p> + “I think,” said the corporal, “that a rope did go over my face.” + </p> + <p> + “I have it!” cried Corentin; “somebody tied a rope from tree to tree to + bar the way.” + </p> + <p> + “Like enough,” replied the corporal. + </p> + <p> + Corentin went downstairs to the kitchen. + </p> + <p> + “Come, you old rascal,” Michu was saying to Violette, “let’s make an end + of this. One hundred thousand francs for the place, and you are master of + my whole property. I shall retire on my income.” + </p> + <p> + “I tell you, as there’s a God in heaven, I haven’t more than sixty + thousand.” + </p> + <p> + “But don’t I offer you time to pay the rest? You’ve kept me here since + yesterday, arguing it. The land is in prime order.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, the soil is good,” said Violette. + </p> + <p> + “Wife, some more wine,” cried Michu. + </p> + <p> + “Haven’t you drunk enough?” called down Marthe’s mother. “This is the + fourteenth bottle since nine o’clock yesterday.” + </p> + <p> + “You have been here since nine o’clock this morning, haven’t you?” said + Corentin to Violette. + </p> + <p> + “No, beg your pardon, since last night I haven’t left the place, and I’ve + gained nothing after all; the more he makes me drink the more he puts up + the price.” + </p> + <p> + “In all markets he who raises his elbow raises a price,” said Corentin. + </p> + <p> + A dozen empty bottles ranged along the table proved the truth of the old + woman’s words. Just then the gendarme who had driven him made a sign to + Corentin, who went to the door to speak to him. + </p> + <p> + “There is no horse in the stable,” said the man. + </p> + <p> + “You sent your boy on horseback to the chateau, didn’t you?” said + Corentin, returning to the kitchen. “Will he be back soon?” + </p> + <p> + “No, monsieur,” said Michu, “he went on foot.” + </p> + <p> + “What have you done with your horse, then?” + </p> + <p> + “I have lent him,” said Michu, curtly. + </p> + <p> + “Come out here, my good fellow,” said Corentin; “I’ve a word for your + ear.” + </p> + <p> + Corentin and Michu left the house. + </p> + <p> + “The gun which you were loading yesterday at four o’clock you meant to use + in murdering the Councillor of State; but we can’t take you up for that—plenty + of intention, but no witnesses. You managed, I don’t know how, to stupefy + Violette, and you and your wife and that young rascal of yours spent the + night out of doors to warn Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne and save her + cousins, whom you are hiding here,—though I don’t as yet know where. + Your son or your wife threw the corporal off his horse cleverly enough. + Well, you’ve got the better of us just now; you’re a devil of a fellow. + But the end is not yet, and you won’t have the last word. Hadn’t you + better compromise? your masters would be the better for it.” + </p> + <p> + “Come this way, where we can talk without being overheard,” said Michu, + leading the way through the park to the pond. + </p> + <p> + When Corentin saw the water he looked fixedly at Michu, who was no doubt + reckoning on his physical strength to fling the spy into seven feet of mud + below three feet of water. Michu replied with a look that was not less + fixed. The scene was absolutely as if a cold and flabby boa constrictor + had defied one of those tawny, fierce leopards of Brazil. + </p> + <p> + “I am not thirsty,” said Corentin, stopping short at the edge of the field + and putting his hand into his pocket to feel for his dagger. + </p> + <p> + “We shall never come to terms,” said Michu, coldly. + </p> + <p> + “Mind what you’re about, my good fellow; the law has its eye upon you.” + </p> + <p> + “If the law can’t see any clearer than you, there’s danger to every one,” + said the bailiff. + </p> + <p> + “Do you refuse?” said Corentin, in a significant tone. + </p> + <p> + “I’d rather have my head cut off a thousand times, if that could be done, + than come to an agreement with such a villain as you.” + </p> + <p> + Corentin got into his vehicle hastily, after one more comprehensive look + at Michu, the lodge, and Couraut, who barked at him. He gave certain + orders in passing through Troyes, and then returned to Paris. All the + brigades of gendarmerie in the neighborhood received secret instructions + and special orders. + </p> + <p> + During the months of December, January, and February the search was active + and incessant, even in remote villages. Spies were in all the taverns. + Corentin learned some important facts: a horse like that of Michu had been + found dead in the neighborhood of Lagny; the five horses burned in the + forest of Nodesme had been sold, for five hundred francs each, by farmers + and millers to a man who answered to the description of Michu. When the + decree against the accomplices and harborers of Georges was put in force + Corentin confined his search to the forest of Nodesme. After Moreau, the + royalists, and Pichegru were arrested no strangers were ever seen about + the place. + </p> + <p> + Michu lost his situation at that time; the notary of Arcis brought him a + letter in which Malin, now made senator, requested Grevin to settle all + accounts with the bailiff and dismiss him. Michu asked and obtained a + formal discharge and became a free man. To the great astonishment of the + neighborhood he went to live at Cinq-Cygne, where Laurence made him the + farmer of all the reserved land about the chateau. The day of his + installation as farmer coincided with the fatal day of the death of the + Duc d’Enghien, when nearly the whole of France heard at the same time of + the arrest, trial, condemnation, and death of the prince,—terrible + reprisals, which preceded the trial of Polignac, Riviere, and Moreau. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2H_PART2" id="link2H_PART2"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + PART II. + </h2> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0010" id="link2HCH0010"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER X. ONE AND THE SAME, YET A TWO-FOLD LOVE + </h2> + <p> + While the new farm-house was being built Michu the Judas, so-called, and + his family occupied the rooms over the stables at Cinq-Cygne on the side + of the chateau next to the famous breach. He bought two horses, one for + himself and one for Francois, and they both joined Gothard in accompanying + Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne in her many rides, which had for their object, + as may well be imagined, the feeding of the four gentlemen and perpetual + watching that they were still in safety. Francois and Gothard, assisted by + Couraut and the countess’s dogs, went in front and beat the woods all + around the hiding-place to make sure that there was no one within sight. + Laurence and Michu carried the provisions which Marthe, her mother, and + Catherine prepared, unknown to the other servants of the household so as + to restrict the secret to themselves, for all were sure that there were + spies in the village. These expeditions were never made oftener than twice + a week and on different days and at different hours, sometimes by day, + sometimes by night. + </p> + <p> + These precautions lasted until the trial of Riviere, Polignac, and Moreau + ended. When the senatus-consultum, which called the dynasty of Bonaparte + to the throne and nominated Napoleon as Emperor of the French, was + submitted to the French people for acceptance Monsieur d’Hauteserre signed + the paper Goulard brought him. When it was made known that the Pope would + come to France to crown the Emperor, Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne no longer + opposed the general desire that her cousins and the young d’Hauteserres + should petition to have their names struck off the list of <i>emigres</i>, + and be themselves reinstated in their rights as citizens. On this, old + d’Hauteserre went to Paris and consulted the ci-devant Marquis de + Chargeboeuf who knew Talleyrand. That minister, then in favor, conveyed + the petition to Josephine, and Josephine gave it to her husband, who was + addressed as Emperor, Majesty, Sire, before the result of the popular vote + was known. Monsieur de Chargeboeuf, Monsieur d’Hauteserre, and the Abbe + Goujet, who also went to Paris, obtained an interview with Talleyrand, who + promised them his support. Napoleon had already pardoned several of the + principal actors in the great royalist conspiracy; and yet, though the + four gentlemen were merely suspected of complicity, the Emperor, after a + meeting of the Council of State, called the senator Malin, Fouche, + Talleyrand, Cambaceres, Lebrun, and Dubois, prefect of police, into his + cabinet. + </p> + <p> + “Gentlemen,” said the future Emperor, who still wore the dress of the + First Consul, “we have received from the Sieurs de Simeuse and + d’Hauteserre, officers in the army of the Prince de Conde, a request to be + allowed to re-enter France.” + </p> + <p> + “They are here now,” said Fouche. + </p> + <p> + “Like many others whom I meet in Paris,” remarked Talleyrand. + </p> + <p> + “I think you have not met these gentlemen,” said Malin, “for they are + hidden in the forest of Nodesme, where they consider themselves at home.” + </p> + <p> + He was careful not to tell the First Consul and Fouche how he himself had + given them warning, by talking with Grevin within hearing of Michu, but he + made the most of Corentin’s reports and convinced Napoleon that the four + gentlemen were sharers in the plot of Riviere and Polignac, with Michu for + an accomplice. The prefect of police confirmed these assertions. + </p> + <p> + “But how could that bailiff know that the conspiracy was discovered?” said + the prefect, “for the Emperor and the council and I were the only persons + in the secret.” + </p> + <p> + No one paid attention to this remark. + </p> + <p> + “If they have been hidden in that forest for the last seven months and you + have not been able to find them,” said the Emperor to Fouche, “they have + expiated their misdeeds.” + </p> + <p> + “Since they are my enemies as well,” said Malin, frightened by the + Emperor’s clear-sightedness, “I desire to follow the magnanimous example + of your Majesty; I therefore make myself their advocate and ask that their + names be stricken from the list of <i>emigres</i>.” + </p> + <p> + “They will be less dangerous to you here than if they are exiled; for they + will now have to swear allegiance to the Empire and the laws,” said + Fouche, looking at Malin fixedly. + </p> + <p> + “In what way are they dangerous to the senator?” asked Napoleon. + </p> + <p> + Talleyrand spoke to the Emperor for some minutes in a low voice. The + reinstatement of the Messieurs de Simeuse and d’Hauteserre appeared to be + granted. + </p> + <p> + “Sire,” said Fouche, “rely upon it, you will hear of those men again.” + </p> + <p> + Talleyrand, who had been urged by the Duc de Grandlieu, gave the Emperor + pledges in the name of the young men on their honor as gentlemen (a term + which had great fascination for Napoleon), to abstain from all attacks + upon his Majesty and to submit themselves to his government in good faith. + </p> + <p> + “Messieurs d’Hauteserre and de Simeuse are not willing to bear arms + against France, now that events have taken their present course,” he said, + aloud; “they have little sympathy, it is true, with the Imperial + government, but they are just the men that your Majesty ought to + conciliate. They will be satisfied to live on French soil and obey the + laws.” + </p> + <p> + Then he laid before the Emperor a letter he had received from the brothers + in which these sentiments were expressed. + </p> + <p> + “Anything so frank is likely to be sincere,” said the Emperor, returning + the letter and looking at Lebrun and Cambaceres. “Have you any further + suggestions?” he asked of Fouche. + </p> + <p> + “In your Majesty’s interests,” replied the future minister of police, “I + ask to be allowed to inform these gentlemen of their reinstatement—when + it is <i>really granted</i>,” he added, in a louder tone. + </p> + <p> + “Very well,” said Napoleon, noticing an anxious look on Fouche’s face. + </p> + <p> + The matter did not seem positively decided when the Council rose; but it + had the effect of putting into Napoleon’s mind a vague distrust of the + four young men. Monsieur d’Hauteserre, believing that all was gained, + wrote a letter announcing the good news. The family at Cinq-Cygne were + therefore not surprised when, a few days later, Goulard came to inform the + countess and Madame d’Hauteserre that they were to send the four gentlemen + to Troyes, where the prefect would show them the decree reinstating them + in their rights and administer to them the oath of allegiance to the + Empire and the laws. Laurence replied that she would send the notification + to her cousins and the Messieurs d’Hauteserre. + </p> + <p> + “Then they are not here?” said Goulard. + </p> + <p> + Madame d’Hauteserre looked anxiously after Laurence, who left the room to + consult Michu. Michu saw no reason why the young men should not be + released at once from their hiding-place. Laurence, Michu, his son, and + Gothard therefore started as soon as possible for the forest, taking an + extra horse, for the countess resolved to accompany her cousins to Troyes + and return with them. The whole household, made aware of the good news, + gathered on the lawn to witness the departure of the happy cavalcade. The + four young men issued from their long confinement, mounted their horses, + and took the road to Troyes, accompanied by Mademoiselle Cinq-Cygne. + Michu, with the help of his son and Gothard, closed the entrance to the + cellar, and started to return home on foot. On the way he recollected that + he had left the forks and spoons and a silver cup, which the young men had + been using, in the cave, and he went back for them alone. When he reached + the edge of the pond he heard voices, and went straight to the entrance of + the cave through the brushwood. + </p> + <p> + “Have you come for your silver?” said Peyrade, showing his big red nose + through the branches. + </p> + <p> + Without knowing why, for at any rate his young masters were safe, Michu + felt a sharp agony in all his joints, so keen was the sense of vague, + indefinable coming evil which took possession of him; but he went forward + at once, and found Corentin on the stairs with a taper in his hand. + </p> + <p> + “We are not very harsh,” he said to Michu; “we might have seized your + ci-devants any day for the last week; but we knew they were reinstated—You’re + a tough fellow to deal with, and you gave us too much trouble not to make + us anxious to satisfy our curiosity about this hiding-place of yours.” + </p> + <p> + “I’d give something,” cried Michu, “to know how and by whom we have been + sold.” + </p> + <p> + “If that puzzles you, old fellow,” said Peyrade, laughing, “look at your + horses’ shoes, and you’ll see that you betrayed yourselves.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, there need be no rancor!” said Corentin, whistling for the captain + of gendarmerie and their horses. + </p> + <p> + “So that rascally Parisian blacksmith who shoed the horses in the English + fashion and left Cinq-Cygne only the other day was their spy!” thought + Michu. “They must have followed our tracks when the ground was damp. Well, + we’re quits now!” + </p> + <p> + Michu consoled himself by thinking that the discovery was of no + consequence, as the young men were now safe, Frenchmen once more, and at + liberty. Yet his first presentiment was a true one. The police, like the + Jesuits, have the one virtue of never abandoning their friends or their + enemies. + </p> + <p> + Old d’Hauteserre returned from Paris and was more than surprised not to be + the first to bring the news. Durieu prepared a succulent dinner, the + servants donned their best clothes, and the household impatiently awaited + the exiles, who arrived about four o’clock, happy,—and yet + humiliated, for they found they were to be under police surveillance for + two years, obliged to present themselves at the prefecture every month and + ordered to remain in the commune of Cinq-Cygne during the said two years. + “I’ll send you the papers for signature,” the prefect said to them. “Then, + in the course of a few months, you can ask to be relieved of these + conditions, which are imposed on all of Pichegru’s accomplices. I will + back your request.” + </p> + <p> + These restrictions, fairly deserved, rather dispirited the young men, but + Laurence laughed at them. + </p> + <p> + “The Emperor of the French,” she said, “was badly brought up; he has not + yet acquired the habit of bestowing favors graciously.” + </p> + <p> + The party found all the inhabitants of the chateau at the gates, and a + goodly proportion of the people of the village waiting on the road to see + the young men, whose adventures had made them famous throughout the + department. Madame d’Hauteserre held her sons to her breast for a long + time, her face covered with tears; she was unable to speak and remained + silent, though happy, through a part of the evening. No sooner had the + Simeuse twins dismounted than a cry of surprise arose on all sides, caused + by their amazing resemblance,—the same look, the same voice, the + same actions. They both had the same movement in rising from their + saddles, in throwing their leg over the crupper of their horses when + dismounting, in flinging the reins upon the animal’s neck. Their dress, + precisely the same, contributed to this likeness. They wore boots <i>a la</i> + Suwaroff, made to fit the instep, tight trousers of white leather, green + hunting-jackets with metal buttons, black cravats, and buckskin gloves. + The two young men, just thirty-one years of age, were—to use a term + in vogue in those days—charming cavaliers, of medium height but well + set up, brilliant eyes with long lashes, floating in liquid like those of + children, black hair, noble brows, and olive skin. Their speech, gentle as + that of a woman, fell graciously from their fresh red lips; their manners, + more elegant and polished than those of the provincial gentlemen, showed + that knowledge of men and things had given them that supplementary + education which makes its possessor a man of the world. + </p> + <p> + Not lacking money, thanks to Michu, during their emigration, they had been + able to travel and be received at foreign courts. Old d’Hauteserre and the + abbe thought them rather haughty; but in their present position this may + have been the sign of nobility of character. They possessed all the + eminent little marks of a careful education, to which they added a + wonderful dexterity in bodily exercises. Their only dissimilarity was in + the region of ideas. The youngest charmed others by his gaiety, the eldest + by his melancholy; but the contrast, which was purely spiritual, was not + at first observable. + </p> + <p> + “Ah, wife,” whispered Michu in Marthe’s ear, “how could one help devoting + one’s self to those young fellows?” + </p> + <p> + Marthe, who admired them as a wife and mother, nodded her head prettily + and pressed her husband’s hand. The servants were allowed to kiss their + new masters. + </p> + <p> + During their seven months’ seclusion in the forest (which the young men + had brought upon themselves) they had several times committed the + imprudence of taking walks about their hiding-place, carefully guarded by + Michu, his son, and Gothard. During these walks, taken usually on starlit + nights, Laurence, reuniting the thread of their past and present lives, + felt the utter impossibility of choosing between the brothers. A pure and + equal love for each divided her heart. She fancied indeed that she had two + hearts. On their side, the brothers dared not speak to themselves of their + impending rivalry. Perhaps all three were trusting to time and accident. + The condition of her mind on this subject acted no doubt upon Laurence as + they entered the house, for she hesitated a moment, and then took an arm + of each as she entered the salon followed by Monsieur and Madame + d’Hauteserre, who were occupied with their sons. Just then a cheer burst + from the servants, “Long live the Cinq-Cygne and the Simeuse families!” + Laurence turned round, still between the brothers, and made a charming + gesture of acknowledgement. + </p> + <p> + When these nine persons came to actually observe each other,—for in + all meetings, even in the bosom of families, there comes a moment when + friends observe those from whom they have been long parted,—the + first glance which Adrien d’Hauteserre cast upon Laurence seemed to his + mother and to the abbe to betray love. Adrien, the youngest of the + d’Hauteserres, had a sweet and tender soul; his heart had remained + adolescent in spite of the catastrophes which had nerved the man. Like + many young heroes, kept virgin in spirit by perpetual peril, he was + daunted by the timidities of youth. In this he was very different from his + brother, a man of rough manners, a great hunter, an intrepid soldier, full + of resolution, but coarse in fibre and without activity of mind or + delicacy in matters of the heart. One was all soul, the other all action; + and yet they both possessed in the same degree that sense of honor which + is the vital essence of a gentleman. Dark, short, slim and wiry, Adrien + d’Hauteserre gave an impression of strength; whereas Robert, who was tall, + pale and fair, seemed weakly. Adrien, nervous in temperament, was stronger + in soul; while his brother though lymphatic, was fonder of bodily + exercise. Families often present these singularities of contrast, the + causes of which it might be interesting to examine; but they are mentioned + here merely to explain how it was that Adrien was not likely to find a + rival in his brother. Robert’s affection for Laurence was that of a + relation, the respect of a noble for a girl of his own caste. In matters + of sentiment the elder d’Hauteserre belonged to the class of men who + consider woman as an appendage to man, limiting her sphere to the physical + duties of maternity; demanding perfection in that respect, but regarding + her mentally as of no account. To such men the admittance of woman as an + actual sharer in society, in the body politic, in the family, meant the + subversion of the social system. In these days we are so far removed from + this theory of primitive people that almost all women, even those who do + not desire the fatal emancipation offered by the new sects, will be + shocked in merely hearing of it; but it must be owned that Robert + d’Hauteserre had the misfortune to think in that way. Robert was a man of + the middle-ages, Adrien a man of to-day. These differences instead of + hindering their affection had drawn its bonds the closer. On the first + evening after the return of the young men these shades of character were + caught and understood by the abbe, Mademoiselle Goujet, and Madame + d’Hauteserre, who, while playing their boston, were secretly foreseeing + the difficulties of the future. + </p> + <p> + At twenty-three years of age, having passed through the many reflections + of a long solitude and the anguish of a defeated enterprise, Laurence had + become a woman, and felt within her an absorbing desire for affection. She + now put forth all her graces of her mind and was charming; she revealed + the hidden beauties of her tender heart with the simple candor of a child. + For the last thirteen years she had been a woman only through suffering; + she longed to obtain amends for it, and she showed herself as loving and + winning as she had been, up to this time, strong and great. + </p> + <p> + The four elders, who were the last to leave the salon that night, admitted + to each other that they felt uneasy at the new position of this charming + girl. What power might not passion have on a young woman of her character + and with her nobility of soul? The twin brothers loved her with one and + the same love and a blind devotion; which of the two would Laurence + choose? To choose one was to kill the other. Countess in her own right, + she could bring her husband a title and certain prerogatives, together + with a long lineage. Perhaps in thinking of these advantages the elder of + the twins, the Marquis de Simeuse, would sacrifice himself to give + Laurence to his brother, who, according to the old laws, was poor and + without a title. But would the younger brother deprive the elder of the + happiness of having Laurence for a wife? At a distance, this strife of + love and generosity might do no harm,—in fact, so long as the + brothers were facing danger the chances of war might end the difficulty; + but what would be the result of this reunion? When Marie-Paul and + Paul-Marie reached the age when passions rise to their greatest height + could they share, as now, the looks and words and attentions of their + cousin? must there not inevitably arise a jealousy between them the + consequences of which might be horrible? What would then become of the + unity of those beautiful lives, one in heart though twain in body? To + these questionings, passed from one to another as they finished their + game, Madame d’Hauteserre replied that in her opinion Laurence would not + marry either of her cousins. The poor lady had experienced that evening + one of those inexplicable presentiments which are secrets between the + mother’s heart and God. + </p> + <p> + Laurence, in her inward consciousness, was not less alarmed at finding + herself tete-a-tete with her cousins. To the active drama of conspiracy, + to the dangers which the brothers had incurred, to the pain and penalties + of their exile, was now succeeding another sort of drama, of which she had + never thought. This noble girl could not resort to the violent means of + refusing to marry either of the twins; and she was too honest a woman to + marry one and keep an irresistible passion for the other in her heart. To + remain unmarried, to weary her cousins’ love by no decision, and then to + take the one who was faithful to her in spite of her caprices, was a + solution of the difficulty not so much sought for by her as vaguely + admitted. As she fell asleep that night she told herself the wisest course + to follow was to let things take their chance. Chance is, in love, the + providence of women. + </p> + <p> + The next morning Michu went to Paris, whence he returned a few days later + with four fine horses for his new masters. In six weeks’ time the hunting + would begin, and the young countess sagely reflected that the violent + excitements of that exercise would be a help against the tete-a-tetes of + the chateau. At first, however, an unexpected result surprised the + spectators of these strange loves and roused their admiration. Without any + premeditated agreement the brothers rivalled each other in attentions to + Laurence, with a sense of pleasure in so doing which appeared to suffice + them. The relation between themselves and Laurence was just as fraternal + as that between themselves. What could be more natural? After so long an + absence they felt the necessity of studying her, of knowing her well and + letting her know them, leaving to her the right of choice. They were + sustained in this first trial by the mutual affection which made their + double life one and the same life. + </p> + <p> + Love, like their own mother, was unable to distinguish between the + brothers. Laurence was obliged (in order to know them apart and make no + mistakes) to give them different cravats—to the elder a white one, + to the younger black. Without this perfect resemblance, this identity of + life, which misled all about them, such a situation would be justly + thought impossible. It can, indeed, be explained only by the fact itself, + which is one of those which men do not believe in unless they see them; + and then the mind is more bewildered by having to explain them than by the + actual sight which caused belief. If Laurence spoke, her voice echoed in + two hearts equally faithful and loving with one tone. Did she give + utterance to an intelligent, or witty, or noble thought, her glance + encountered the delight expressed in two glances which followed her every + movement, interpreted her slightest wish, and beamed upon her ever with a + new expression, gaiety in the one, tender melancholy in the other. In any + matter that concerned their mistress the brothers showed an admirable + quick-wittedness of heart coupled with instant action which (to use the + abbe’s own expression) approached the sublime. Often, if something had to + be fetched, if it was a question of some little attention which men + delight to pay to a beloved woman, the elder would leave that pleasure to + the younger with a look at Laurence that was proud and tender. The + younger, on the other hand, put all his own pride into paying such debts. + This rivalry of noble natures in a feeling which leads men often to the + jealous ferocity of the beasts amazed the old people who were watching it, + and bewildered their ideas. + </p> + <p> + Such little details often drew tears to the eyes of the countess. A single + sensation, which is perhaps all-powerful in some rare organizations, will + give an idea of Laurence’s emotions; it may be perceived by recalling the + perfect unison of two fine voices (like those of Malibran and Sontag) in + some harmonious <i>duo</i>, or the blending of two instruments touched by + the hand of genius, their melodious tones entering the soul like the + passionate sighing of one heart. Sometimes, seeing the Marquis de Simeuse + buried in an arm-chair and glancing from time to time with deepest + melancholy at his brother and Laurence who were talking and laughing, the + abbe believed him capable of making the great sacrifice; presently, + however, the priest would see in the young man’s eyes the flash of an + unconquerable passion. Whenever either of the brothers found himself alone + with Laurence he might reasonably suppose himself the one preferred. + </p> + <p> + “I fancy then that there is but one of them,” explained the countess to + the abbe when he questioned her. That answer showed the priest her total + want of coquetry. Laurence did not conceive that she was loved by two men. + </p> + <p> + “But, my dear child,” said Madame d’Hauteserre one evening (her own son + silently dying of love for Laurence), “you must choose!” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, let us be happy,” she replied; “God will save us from ourselves.” + </p> + <p> + Adrien d’Hauteserre buried within his breast the jealousy that was + consuming him; he kept the secret of his torture, aware of how little he + could hope. He tried to be content with the happiness of seeing the + charming woman who during the few months this struggle lasted shone in all + her brilliancy. In one sense Laurence had become coquettish, taking that + dainty care of her person which women who are loved delight in. She + followed the fashions, and went more than once to Paris to deck her beauty + with <i>chiffons</i> or some choice novelty. Desirous of giving her + cousins a sense of home and its every enjoyment, from which they had so + long been severed, she made her chateau, in spite of the remonstrances of + her late guardian, the most completely comfortable house in Champagne. + </p> + <p> + Robert d’Hauteserre saw nothing of this hidden drama; he never noticed his + brother’s love for Laurence. As to the girl herself, he liked to tease her + about her coquetry,—for he confounded that odious defect with the + natural desire to please; he was always mistaken in matters of feeling, + taste, and the higher ethics. So, whenever this man of the middle-ages + appeared on the scene, Laurence immediately made him, unknown to himself, + the clown of the play; she amused her cousins by arguing with Robert, and + leading him, step by step, into some bog of ignorance and stupidity. She + excelled in such clever mischief, which, to be really successful, must + leave the victim content with himself. And yet, though his nature was a + coarse one, Robert never, during those delightful months (the only happy + period in the lives of the three young people) said one virile word which + might have brought matters to a crisis between Laurence and her cousins. + He was struck with the sincerity of the brothers; he saw how the one could + be glad at the happiness of the other and yet suffer anguish in the depths + of his heart, and he did perceive how a woman might shrink from showing + tenderness to one which would grieve the other. This perception on + Robert’s part was a just one; it explains a situation which, in times of + faith, when the sovereign pontiff had power to intervene and cut the + Gordian knot of such phenomena (allied to the deepest and most + impenetrable mysteries), would have found its solution. The Revolution had + deepened the Catholic faith in these young hearts, and religion now + rendered this crisis in their lives the more severe, because nobility of + character is ever heightened by the grandeur of circumstances. A sense of + this truth kept Monsieur and Madame d’Hauteserre and the abbe from the + slightest fear of any unworthy result on the part of the brothers or of + Laurence. + </p> + <p> + This private drama, secretly developing within the limits of the family + life where each member watched it silently, ran its course so rapidly and + withal so slowly, it carried with it so many unhoped-for pleasures, + trifling jars, frustrated fancies, hopes reversed, anxious waitings, + delayed explanations and mute avowals that the dwellers at Cinq-Cygne paid + no attention to the public drama of the Emperor’s coronation. At times + these passions made a truce and sought distraction in the violent + enjoyment of hunting, when weariness of body took from the soul all + occasions to wander in the dangerous meadows of reverie. Neither Laurence + nor her cousins had a thought now for public affairs; each day brought its + palpitating and absorbing interests for their hearts. + </p> + <p> + “Really,” said Mademoiselle Goujet one evening, “I don’t know which of all + the lovers loves the most.” + </p> + <p> + Adrien, who happened to be alone in the salon with the four card-players, + raised his eyes and turned pale. For the last few days his only hold on + life had been the pleasure of seeing Laurence and of listening to her. + </p> + <p> + “I think,” said the abbe, “that the countess, being a woman, loves with + the greater abandonment to love.” + </p> + <p> + Laurence, the twins, and Robert entered the room soon after. The + newspapers had just arrived. England, seeing the failure of all + conspiracies attempted within the borders of France, was now arming all + Europe against their common enemy. The disaster at Trafalgar had + overthrown one of the most amazing plans which human genius ever + conceived; by which, if it had succeeded, the Emperor would have paid the + nation for his election by the ruin of the British power. The camp at + Boulogne had just been raised. Napoleon, whose solders were, as always, + inferior in numbers to the enemy, was about to carry the war into parts of + Europe where he had not before waged it. The whole world was breathless, + awaiting the results of the campaign. + </p> + <p> + “He’ll surely be defeated this time,” said Robert, laying down the paper. + </p> + <p> + “The armies of Austria and of Russia are before him,” said Marie-Paul. + </p> + <p> + “He has never fought in Germany,” added Paul-Marie. + </p> + <p> + “Of whom are you speaking?” asked Laurence. + </p> + <p> + “The Emperor,” answered the three gentlemen. + </p> + <p> + The jealous girl threw a disdainful look at her twin lovers, which + humiliated them while it rejoiced the heart of Adrien, who made a gesture + of admiration and gave her one proud look, which said plainly that <i>he</i> + thought only of her,—of Laurence. + </p> + <p> + “I told you,” said the abbe in a low voice, “that love would some day + cause her to forget her animosity.” + </p> + <p> + It was the first, last, and only reproach the brothers ever received from + her; but certainly at that moment their love, which could still be + distracted by national events, was inferior to that of Laurence, which, + absorbed her mind so completely that she only knew of the amazing triumph + at Austerlitz by overhearing a discussion between Monsieur d’Hauteserre + and his sons. + </p> + <p> + Faithful to his ideas of submission, the old man wished both Robert and + Adrien to re-enter the French army and apply for service; they could, he + thought, be reinstated in their rank and soon find an opening to military + honors. But royalist opinions were now all-powerful at Cinq-Cygne. The + four young men and Laurence laughed at their prudent elder, who seemed to + foresee a coming evil. Possibly, prudence is less virtue than the exercise + of some instinct, or <i>sense</i> of the mind (if it is allowable to + couple those two words). A day will come, no doubt, when physiologists and + philosophers will both admit that the senses are, in some way, the sheath + or vehicle of a keen and penetrative active power which issues from the + mind. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0011" id="link2HCH0011"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XI. WISE COUNSEL + </h2> + <p> + After peace was concluded between France and Austria, towards the end of + the month of February, 1806, a relative, whose influence had been employed + for the reinstatement of the Simeuse brothers, and who was destined later + to give them signal proofs of family attachment, the ci-devant Marquis de + Chargeboeuf, whose estates extended from the department of the + Seine-et-Marne to that of the Aube, arrived one morning at Cinq-Cygne in a + species of caleche which was then named in derision a <i>berlingot</i>. + When this shabby carriage was driven past the windows the inhabitants of + the chateau, who were at breakfast, were convulsed with laughter; but when + the bald head of the old man was seen issuing from behind the leather + curtain of the vehicle Monsieur d’Hauteserre told his name, and all + present rose instantly to receive and do honor to the head of the house of + Chargeboeuf. + </p> + <p> + “We have done wrong to let him come to us,” said the Marquis de Simeuse to + his brother and the d’Hauteserres; “we ought to have gone to him and made + our acknowledgements.” + </p> + <p> + A servant, dressed as a peasant, who drove the horses from a seat on a + level with the body of the carriage, slipped his cartman’s whip into a + coarse leather socket, and got down from the box to assist the marquis + from the carriage; but Adrien and the younger de Simeuse prevented him, + unbuttoned the leather apron, and helped the old man out in spite of his + protestations. This gentleman of the old school chose to consider his + yellow <i>berlingot</i> with its leather curtains a most convenient and + excellent equipage. The servant, assisted by Gothard, unharnessed the + stout horses with shining flanks, accustomed no doubt to do as much duty + at the plough as in a carriage. + </p> + <p> + “In spite of this cold weather! Why, you are a knight of the olden time,” + said Laurence, to her visitor, taking his arm and leading him into the + salon. + </p> + <p> + “What has he come for?” thought old d’Hauteserre. + </p> + <p> + Monsieur de Chargeboeuf, a handsome old gentleman of sixty-six, in + light-colored breeches, his small weak legs encased in colored stockings, + wore powder, pigeon-wings and a queue. His green cloth hunting-coat with + gold buttons was braided and frogged with gold. His white waistcoat + glittered with gold embroidery. This apparel, still in vogue among old + people, became his face, which was not unlike that of Frederick the Great. + He never put on his three-cornered hat lest he should destroy the effect + of the half-moon traced upon his cranium by a layer of powder. His right + hand, resting on a hooked cane, held both cane and hat in a manner worthy + of Louis XIV. The fine old gentleman took off his wadded silk pelisse and + seated himself in an armchair, holding the three-cornered hat and the cane + between his knees in an attitude the secret of which has never been + grasped by any but the roues of Louis XV.‘s court, an attitude which left + the hands free to play with a snuff-box, always a precious trinket. + Accordingly the marquis drew from the pocket of his waistcoat, which was + closed by a flap embroidered in gold arabesques, a sumptuous snuff-box. + While fingering his own pinch and offering the box around him with another + charming gesture accompanied with kindly smiles, he noticed the pleasure + which his visit gave. He seemed then to comprehend why these young <i>emigres</i> + had been remiss in their duty towards him, and to be saying to himself, + “When we are making love we can’t make visits.” + </p> + <p> + “You will stay with us some days?” said Laurence. + </p> + <p> + “Impossible,” he replied. “If we were not so separated by events (for as + to distance, you go farther than that which lies between us) you would + know, my dear child, that I have daughters, daughters-in-law, and + grand-children. All these dear creatures would be very uneasy if I did not + return to them to-night, and I have forty-five miles to go.” + </p> + <p> + “Your horses are in good condition,” said the Marquis de Simeuse. + </p> + <p> + “Oh! I am just from Troyes, where I had business yesterday.” + </p> + <p> + After the customary polite inquiries for the Marquise de Chargeboeuf and + other matters really uninteresting but about which politeness assumes that + we are keenly interested, it dawned on Monsieur d’Hauteserre that the old + gentleman had come to warn his young relatives against imprudence. He + remarked that times were changed and no one could tell what the Emperor + might now become. + </p> + <p> + “Oh!” said Laurence, “he’ll make himself God.” + </p> + <p> + The Marquis spoke of the wisdom of concession. When he stated, with more + emphasis and authority than he put into his other remarks, the necessity + of submission, Monsieur d’Hauteserre looked at his sons with an almost + supplicating air. + </p> + <p> + “Would you serve that man?” asked the Marquis de Simeuse. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, I would, if the interests of my family required it,” replied + Monsieur de Chargeboeuf. + </p> + <p> + Gradually the old man made them aware, though vaguely, of some threatened + danger. When Laurence begged him to explain the nature of it, he advised + the four young men to refrain from hunting and to keep themselves as much + in retirement as possible. + </p> + <p> + “You treat the domain of Gondreville as if it were your own,” he said to + the Messieurs de Simeuse, “and you are keeping alive a deadly hatred. I + see, by the surprise upon your faces, that you are quite unaware of the + ill-will against you at Troyes, where your late brave conduct is + remembered. They tell of how you foiled the police of the Empire; some + praise you for it, but others regard you as enemies of the Emperor; + partisans declare that Napoleon’s clemency is inexplicable. That, however, + is nothing. The real danger lies here; you foiled men who thought + themselves cleverer than you; and low-bred men never forgive. Sooner or + later justice, which in your department emanates from your enemy, Senator + Malin (who has his henchmen everywhere, even in the ministerial offices),—<i>his</i> + justice will rejoice to see you involved in some annoying scrape. A + peasant, for instance, will quarrel with you for riding over his field; + your guns are in your hands, you are hot-tempered, and something happens. + In your position it is absolutely essential that you should not put + yourselves in the wrong. I do not speak to you thus without good reason. + The police keep this arrondissement under strict surveillance; they have + an agent in that little hole of Arcis expressly to protect the Imperial + senator Malin against your attacks. He is afraid of you, and says so + openly.” + </p> + <p> + “It is a calumny!” cried the younger Simeuse. + </p> + <p> + “A calumny,—I am sure of it myself, but will the public believe it? + Michu certainly did aim at the senator, who does not forget the danger he + was in; and since your return the countess has taken Michu into her + service. To many persons, in fact to the majority, Malin will seem to be + in the right. You do not understand how delicate the position of an <i>emigre</i> + is towards those who are now in possession of his property. The prefect, a + very intelligent man, dropped a word to me yesterday about you which has + made me uneasy. In short, I sincerely wish you would not remain here.” + </p> + <p> + This speech was received in dumb amazement. Marie-Paul rang the bell. + </p> + <p> + “Gothard,” he said, to the little page, “send Michu here.” + </p> + <p> + “Michu, my friend,” said the Marquis de Simeuse when the man appeared, “is + it true that you intended to kill Malin?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, Monsieur le marquis; and when he comes here again I shall lie in + wait for him.” + </p> + <p> + “Do you know that we are suspected of instigating it, and that our cousin, + by taking you as her farmer is supposed to be furthering your scheme?” + </p> + <p> + “Good God!” cried Michu, “am I accursed? Shall I never be able to rid you + of that villain?” + </p> + <p> + “No, my man, no!” said Paul-Marie. “But we will always take care of you, + though you will have to leave our service and the country too. Sell your + property here; we will send you to Trieste to a friend of ours who has + immense business connections, and he’ll employ you until things are better + in this country for all of us.” + </p> + <p> + Tears came into Michu’s eyes; he stood rooted to the floor. + </p> + <p> + “Were there any witnesses when you aimed at Malin?” asked the Marquis de + Chargeboeuf. + </p> + <p> + “Grevin the notary was talking with him, and that prevented my killing him—very + fortunately, as Madame la Comtesse knows,” said Michu, looking at his + mistress. + </p> + <p> + “Grevin is not the only one who knows it?” said Monsieur de Chargeboeuf, + who seemed annoyed at what was said, though none but the family were + present. + </p> + <p> + “That police spy who came here to trap my masters, he knew it too,” said + Michu. + </p> + <p> + Monsieur de Chargeboeuf rose as if to look at the gardens, and said, “You + have made the most of Cinq-Cygne.” Then he left the house, followed by the + two brothers and Laurence, who now saw the meaning of his visit. + </p> + <p> + “You are frank and generous, but most imprudent,” said the old man. “It + was natural enough that I should warn you of a rumor which was certain to + be a slander; but what have you done now? you have let such weak persons + as Monsieur and Madame d’Hauteserre and their sons see that there was + truth in it. Oh, young men! young men! You ought to keep Michu here and go + away yourselves. But if you persist in remaining, at least write a letter + to the senator and tell him that having heard the rumors about Michu you + have dismissed him from your employ.” + </p> + <p> + “We!” exclaimed the brothers; “what, write to Malin,—to the murderer + of our father and our mother, to the insolent plunderer of our property!” + </p> + <p> + “All true; but he is one of the chief personages at the Imperial court, + and the king of your department.” + </p> + <p> + “He, who voted for the death of Louis XVI. in case the army of Conde + entered France!” cried Laurence. + </p> + <p> + “He, who probably advised the murder of the Duc d’Enghien!” exclaimed + Paul-Marie. + </p> + <p> + “Well, well, if you want to recapitulate his titles of nobility,” cried + Monsieur de Chargeboeuf, “say he who pulled Robespierre by the skirts of + his coat to make him fall when he saw that his enemies were stronger than + he; he who would have shot Bonaparte if the 18th Brumaire had missed fire; + he who manoeuvres now to bring back the Bourbons if Napoleon totters; he + whom the strong will ever find on their side to handle either sword or + pistol and put an end to an adversary whom they fear! But—all that + is only reason the more for what I urge upon you.” + </p> + <p> + “We have fallen very low,” said Laurence. + </p> + <p> + “Children,” said the old marquis, taking them by the hand and going to the + lawn, then covered by a slight fall of snow; “you will be angry at the + prudent advice of an old man, but I am bound to give it, and here it is: + If I were you I would employ as go-between some trustworthy old fellow—like + myself, for instance; I would commission him to ask Malin for a million of + francs for the title-deeds of Gondreville; he would gladly consent if the + matter were kept secret. You will then have capital in hand, an income of + a hundred thousand francs, and you can buy a fine estate in another part + of France. As for Cinq-Cygne, it can safely be left to the management of + Monsieur d’Hauteserre, and you can draw lots as to which of you shall win + the hand of this dear heiress—But ah! I know the words of an old man + in the ears of the young are like the words of the young in the ears of + the old, a sound without meaning.” + </p> + <p> + The old marquis signed to his three relatives that he wished no answer, + and returned to the salon, where, during their absence, the abbe and his + sister had arrived. + </p> + <p> + The proposal to draw lots for their cousin’s hand had offended the + brothers, while Laurence revolted in her soul at the bitterness of the + remedy the old marquis counselled. All three were now less gracious to + him, though they did not cease to be polite. The warmth of their feeling + was chilled. Monsieur de Chargeboeuf, who felt the change, cast frequent + looks of kindly compassion on these charming young people. The + conversation became general, but the old marquis still dwelt on the + necessity of submitting to events, and he applauded Monsieur d’Hauteserre + for his persistence in urging his sons to take service under the Empire. + </p> + <p> + “Bonaparte,” he said, “makes dukes. He has created Imperial fiefs, he will + therefore make counts. Malin is determined to be Comte de Gondreville. + That is a fancy,” he added, looking at the Simeuse brothers, “which might + be profitable to you—” + </p> + <p> + “Or fatal,” said Laurence. + </p> + <p> + As soon as the horses were put-to the marquis took leave, accompanied to + the door by the whole party. When fairly in the carriage he made a sign to + Laurence to come and speak to him, and she sprang upon the foot-board with + the lightness of a swallow. + </p> + <p> + “You are not an ordinary woman, and you ought to understand me,” he said + in her ear. “Malin’s conscience will never allow him to leave you in + peace; he will set some trap to injure you. I implore you to be careful of + all your actions, even the most unimportant. Compromise, negotiate; those + are my last words.” + </p> + <p> + The brothers stood motionless behind their cousin and watched the <i>berlingot</i> + as it turned through the iron gates and took the road to Troyes. Laurence + repeated the old man’s last words. But sage experience should not present + itself to the eyes of youth in a <i>berlingot</i>, colored stockings, and + a queue. These ardent young hearts had no conception of the change that + had passed over France; indignation crisped their nerves, honor boiled + with their noble blood through every vein. + </p> + <p> + “He, the head of the house of Chargeboeuf!” said the Marquis de Simeuse. + “A man who bears the motto <i>Adsit fortior</i>, the noblest of warcries!” + </p> + <p> + “We are no longer in the days of Saint-Louis,” said the younger Simeuse. + </p> + <p> + “But ‘We die singing,’” said the countess. “The cry of the five young + girls of my house is mine!” + </p> + <p> + “And ours, ‘Cy meurs,’” said the elder Simeuse. “Therefore, no quarter, I + say; for, on reflection, we shall find that our relative had pondered well + what he told us—Gondreville to be the title of a Malin!” + </p> + <p> + “And his seat!” said the younger. + </p> + <p> + “Mansart designed it for noble stock, and the populace will get their + children in it!” exclaimed the elder. + </p> + <p> + “If that were to come to pass, I’d rather see Gondreville in ashes!” cried + Mademoiselle Cinq-Cygne. + </p> + <p> + One of the villagers, who had entered the grounds to examine a calf + Monsieur d’Hauteserre was trying to sell him, overheard these words as he + came from the cow-sheds. + </p> + <p> + “Let us go in,” said Laurence, laughing; “this is very imprudent; we are + giving the old marquis a right to blame us. My poor Michu,” she added, as + she entered the salon, “I had forgotten your adventure; as we are not in + the odor of sanctity in these parts you must be careful not to compromise + us in future. Have you any other peccadilloes on your conscience?” + </p> + <p> + “I blame myself for not having killed the murderer of my old masters + before I came to the rescue of my present ones—” + </p> + <p> + “Michu!” said the abbe in a warning tone. + </p> + <p> + “But I’ll not leave the country,” Michu continued, paying no heed to the + abbe’s exclamation, “till I am certain you are safe. I see fellows roaming + about here whom I distrust. The last time we hunted in the forest, that + keeper who took my place at Gondreville came to me and asked if we + supposed we were on our own property. ‘Ho! my lad,’ I said, ‘we can’t get + rid in two weeks of ideas we’ve had for centuries.’” + </p> + <p> + “You did wrong, Michu,” said the Marquis de Simeuse, smiling with + satisfaction. + </p> + <p> + “What answer did he make?” asked Monsieur d’Hauteserre. + </p> + <p> + “He said he would inform the senator of our claims,” replied Michu. + </p> + <p> + “Comte de Gondreville!” repeated the elder Simeuse; “what a masquerade! + But after all, they say ‘your Majesty’ to Bonaparte!” + </p> + <p> + “And to the Grand Duc de Berg, ‘your Highness!’” said the abbe. + </p> + <p> + “Who is he?” asked the Marquis de Simeuse. + </p> + <p> + “Murat, Napoleon’s brother-in-law,” replied old d’Hauteserre. + </p> + <p> + “Delightful!” remarked Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne. “Do they also say ‘your + Majesty’ to the widow of Beauharnais?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, mademoiselle,” said the abbe. + </p> + <p> + “We ought to go to Paris and see it all,” cried Laurence. + </p> + <p> + “Alas, mademoiselle,” said Michu, “I was there to put Francois at school, + and I swear to you there’s no joking with what they call the Imperial + Guard. If the rest of the army are like them, the thing may last longer + than we.” + </p> + <p> + “They say many of the noble families are taking service,” said Monsieur + d’Hauteserre. + </p> + <p> + “According to the present law,” added the abbe, “you will be compelled to + serve. The conscription makes no distinction of ranks or names.” + </p> + <p> + “That man is doing us more harm with his court than the Revolution did + with its axe!” cried Laurence. + </p> + <p> + “The Church prays for him,” said the abbe. + </p> + <p> + These remarks, made rapidly one after another, were so many commentaries + on the wise counsel of the old Marquis de Chargeboeuf; but the young + people had too much faith, too much honor, to dream of resorting to a + compromise. They told themselves, as all vanquished parties in all times + have declared, that the luck of the conquerors would soon be at an end, + that the Emperor had no support but that of the army, that the power <i>de + facto</i> must sooner or later give way to the Divine Right, etc. So, in + spite of the wise counsel given to them, they fell into the pitfall, which + others, like old d’Hauteserre, more prudent and more amenable to reason, + would have been able to avoid. If men were frank they might perhaps admit + that misfortunes never overtake them until after they have received either + an actual or an occult warning. Many do not perceive the deep meaning of + such visible or invisible signs until after the disaster is upon them. + </p> + <p> + “In any case, Madame la comtesse knows that I cannot leave the country + until I have given up a certain trust,” said Michu in a low voice to + Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne. + </p> + <p> + For all answer she made him a sign of acquiescence, and he left the room. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0012" id="link2HCH0012"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XII. THE FACTS OF A MYSTERIOUS AFFAIR + </h2> + <p> + Michu sold his farm at once to Beauvisage, a farmer at Bellache, but he + was not to receive the money for twenty days. A month after the Marquis de + Chargeboeuf’s visit, Laurence, who had told her cousins of their buried + fortune, proposed to them to take the day of the Mi-careme to disinter it. + The unusual quantity of snow which fell that winter had hitherto prevented + Michu from obtaining the treasure, and it now gave him pleasure to + undertake the operation with his masters. He was determined to leave the + neighborhood as soon as it was over, for he feared himself. + </p> + <p> + “Malin has suddenly arrived at Gondreville, and no one knows why,” he said + to his mistress. “I shall never be able to resist putting the property + into the market by the death of its owner. I feel I am guilty in not + following my inspirations.” + </p> + <p> + “Why should he leave Paris at this season?” said the countess. + </p> + <p> + “All Arcis is talking about it,” replied Michu; “he has left his family in + Paris, and no one is with him but his valet. Monsieur Grevin, the notary + of Arcis, Madame Marion, the wife of the receiver-general, and her + sister-in-law are staying at Gondreville.” + </p> + <p> + Laurence had chosen the mid-lent day for their purpose because it enabled + her to give her servants a holiday and so get them out of the way. The + usual masquerade drew the peasantry to the town and no one was at work in + the fields. Chance made its calculations with as much cleverness as + Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne made hers. The uneasiness of Monsieur and + Madame d’Hauteserre at the idea of keeping eleven hundred thousand francs + in gold in a lonely chateau on the borders of a forest was likely to be so + great that their sons advised they should know nothing about it. The + secret of the expedition was therefore confined to Gothard, Michu, + Laurence, and the four gentlemen. + </p> + <p> + After much consultation it seemed possible to put forty-eight thousand + francs in a long sack on the crupper of each of their horses. Three trips + would therefore bring the whole. It was agreed to send all the servants, + whose curiosity might be troublesome, to Troyes to see the shows. + Catherine, Marthe, and Durieu, who could be relied on, stayed at home in + charge of the house. The other servants were glad of their holiday and + started by daybreak. Gothard, assisted by Michu, saddled the horses as + soon as they were gone, and the party started by way of the gardens to + reach the forest. Just as they were mounting—for the park gate was + so low on the garden side that they led their horses until they were + through it—old Beauvisage, the farmer at Bellache, happened to pass. + </p> + <p> + “There!” cried Gothard, “I hear some one.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, it is only I,” said the worthy man, coming toward them. “Your + servant, gentleman; are you off hunting, in spite of the new decrees? <i>I</i> + don’t complain of you; but do take care! though you have friends you have + also enemies.” + </p> + <p> + “Oh, as for that,” said the elder Hauteserre, smiling, “God grant that our + hunt may be lucky to-day,—if so, you will get your masters back + again.” + </p> + <p> + These words, to which events were destined to give a totally different + meaning, earned a severe look from Laurence. The elder Simeuse was + confident that Malin would restore Gondreville for an indemnity. These + rash youths were determined to do exactly the contrary of what the Marquis + de Chargeboeuf had advised. Robert, who shared these hopes, was thinking + of them when he gave utterance to the fatal words. + </p> + <p> + “Not a word of this, old friend,” said Michu to Beauvisage, waiting behind + the others to lock the gate. + </p> + <p> + It was one of those fine mornings in March when the air is dry, the earth + pure, the sky clear, and the atmosphere a contradiction to the leafless + trees; the season was so mild that the eye caught glimpses here and there + of verdure. + </p> + <p> + “We are seeking treasure when all the while you are the real treasure of + our house, cousin,” said the elder Simeuse, gaily. + </p> + <p> + Laurence was in front, with a cousin on each side of her. The + d’Hauteserres were behind, followed by Michu. Gothard had gone forward to + clear the way. + </p> + <p> + “Now that our fortune is restored, you must marry my brother,” said the + younger in a low voice. “He adores you; together you will be as rich as + nobles ought to be in these days.” + </p> + <p> + “No, give the whole fortune to him and I will marry you,” said Laurence; + “I am rich enough for two.” + </p> + <p> + “So be it,” cried the Marquis; “I will leave you, and find a wife worthy + to be your sister.” + </p> + <p> + “So you really love me less than I thought you did?” said Laurence looking + at him with a sort of jealousy. + </p> + <p> + “No; I love you better than either of you love me,” replied the marquis. + </p> + <p> + “And therefore you would sacrifice yourself?” asked Laurence with a glance + full of momentary preference. + </p> + <p> + The marquis was silent. + </p> + <p> + “Well, then, I shall think only of you, and that will be intolerable to my + husband,” exclaimed Laurence, impatient at his silence. + </p> + <p> + “How could I live without you?” said the younger twin to his brother. + </p> + <p> + “But, after all, you can’t marry us both,” said the marquis, replying to + Laurence; “and the time has come,” he continued, in the brusque tone of a + man who is struck to the heart, “to make your decision.” + </p> + <p> + He urged his horse in advance so that the d’Hauteserres might not overhear + them. His brother’s horse and Laurence’s followed him. When they had put + some distance between themselves and the rest of the party Laurence + attempted to speak, but tears were at first her only language. + </p> + <p> + “I will enter a cloister,” she said at last. + </p> + <p> + “And let the race of Cinq-Cygne end?” said the younger brother. “Instead + of one unhappy man, would you make two? No, whichever of us must be your + brother only, will resign himself to that fate. It is the knowledge that + we are no longer poor that has brought us to explain ourselves,” he added, + glancing at the marquis. “If I am the one preferred, all this money is my + brother’s. If I am rejected, he will give it to me with the title of de + Simeuse, for he must then take the name and title of Cinq-Cygne. Whichever + way it ends, the loser will have a chance of recovery—but if he + feels he must die of grief, he can enter the army and die in battle, not + to sadden the happy household.” + </p> + <p> + “We are true knights of the olden time, worthy of our fathers,” cried the + elder. “Speak, Laurence; decide between us.” + </p> + <p> + “We cannot continue as we are,” said the younger. + </p> + <p> + “Do not think, Laurence, that self-denial is without its joys,” said the + elder. + </p> + <p> + “My dear loved ones,” said the girl, “I am unable to decide. I love you + both as though you were one being—as your mother loved you. God will + help us. I cannot choose. Let us put it to chance—but I make one + condition.” + </p> + <p> + “What is it?” + </p> + <p> + “Whichever one of you becomes my brother must stay with me until I suffer + him to leave me. I wish to be sole judge of when to part.” + </p> + <p> + “Yes, yes,” said the brothers, without explaining to themselves her + meaning. + </p> + <p> + “The first of you to whom Madame d’Hauteserre speaks to-night at table + after the Benedicite, shall be my husband. But neither of you must + practise fraud or induce her to answer a question.” + </p> + <p> + “We will play fair,” said the younger, smiling. + </p> + <p> + Each kissed her hand. The certainty of some decision which both could + fancy favorable made them gay. + </p> + <p> + “Either way, dear Laurence, you create a Comte de Cinq-Cygne—” + </p> + <p> + “I believe,” thought Michu, riding behind them, “that mademoiselle will + not long be unmarried. How gay my masters are! If my mistress makes her + choice I shall not leave; I must stay and see that wedding.” + </p> + <p> + Just then a magpie flew suddenly before his face. Michu, superstitious + like all primitive beings, fancied he heard the muffled tones of a + death-knell. The day, however, began brightly enough for lovers, who + rarely see magpies when together in the woods. Michu, armed with his plan, + verified the spots; each gentleman had brought a pickaxe, and the money + was soon found. The part of the forest where it was buried was quite wild, + far from all paths or habitations, so that the cavalcade bearing the gold + returned unseen. This proved to be a great misfortune. On their way from + Cinq-Cygne to fetch the last two hundred thousand francs, the party, + emboldened by success, took a more direct way than on their other trips. + The path passed an opening from which the park of Gondreville could be + seen. + </p> + <p> + “What is that?” cried Laurence, pointing to a column of blue flame. + </p> + <p> + “A bonfire, I think,” replied Michu. + </p> + <p> + Laurence, who knew all the by-ways of the forest, left the rest of the + party and galloped towards the pavilion, Michu’s old home. Though the + building was closed and deserted, the iron gates were open, and traces of + the recent passage of several horses struck Laurence instantly. The column + of blue smoke was rising from a field in what was called the English park, + where, as she supposed, they were burning brush. + </p> + <p> + “Ah! so you are concerned in it, too, are you, mademoiselle?” cried + Violette, who came out of the park at top speed on his pony, and pulled up + to meet Laurence. “But, of course, it is only a carnival joke? They surely + won’t kill him?” + </p> + <p> + “Who?” + </p> + <p> + “Your cousins wouldn’t put him to death?” + </p> + <p> + “Death! whose death?” + </p> + <p> + “The senator’s.” + </p> + <p> + “You are crazy, Violette!” + </p> + <p> + “Well, what are you doing here, then?” he demanded. + </p> + <p> + At the idea of a danger which was threatening her cousins, Laurence turned + her horse and galloped back to them, reaching the ground as the last sacks + were filled. + </p> + <p> + “Quick, quick!” she cried. “I don’t know what is going on, but let us get + back to Cinq-Cygne.” + </p> + <p> + While the happy party were employed in recovering the fortune saved by the + old marquis, and guarded for so many years by Michu, an extraordinary + scene was taking place in the chateau of Gondreville. + </p> + <p> + About two o’clock in the afternoon Malin and his friend Grevin were + playing chess before the fire in the great salon on the ground-floor. + Madame Grevin and Madame Marion were sitting on a sofa and talking + together at a corner of the fireplace. All the servants had gone to see + the masquerade, which had long been announced in the arrondissement. The + family of the bailiff who had replaced Michu had gone too. The senator’s + valet and Violette were the only persons beside the family at the chateau. + The porter, two gardeners, and their wives were on the place, but their + lodge was at the entrance of the courtyards at the farther end of the + avenue to Arcis, and the distance from there to the chateau is beyond the + sound of a pistol-shot. Violette was waiting in the antechamber until the + senator and Grevin could see him on business, to arrange a matter relating + to his lease. At that moment five men, masked and gloved, who in height, + manner, and bearing strongly resembled the Simeuse and d’Hauteserre + brothers and Michu, rushed into the antechamber, seized and gagged the + valet and Violette, and fastened them to their chairs in a side room. In + spite of the rapidity with which this was done, Violette and the servant + had time to utter one cry. It was heard in the salon. The two ladies + thought it a cry of fear. + </p> + <p> + “Listen!” said Madame Grevin, “can there be robbers?” + </p> + <p> + “No, nonsense!” said Grevin, “only carnival cries; the masqueraders must + be coming to pay us a visit.” + </p> + <p> + This discussion gave time for the four strangers to close the doors + towards the courtyards and to lock up Violette and the valet. Madame + Grevin, who was rather obstinate, insisted on knowing what the noise + meant. She rose, left the room, and came face to face with the five masked + men, who treated her as they had treated the farmer and the valet. Then + they rushed into the salon, where the two strongest seized and gagged + Malin, and carried him off into the park, while the three others remained + behind to gag Madame Marion and Grevin and lash them to their armchairs. + The whole affair did not take more than half an hour. The three unknown + men, who were quickly rejoined by the two who had carried off the senator, + then proceeded to ransack the chateau from cellar to garret. They opened + all closets and doors, and sounded the walls; until five o’clock they were + absolute masters of the place. By that time the valet had managed to + loosen with his teeth the rope that bound Violette. Violette, able then to + get the gag from his mouth, began to shout for help. Hearing the shouts + the five men withdrew to the gardens, where they mounted horses closely + resembling those at Cinq-Cygne and rode away, but not so rapidly that + Violette was unable to catch sight of them. After releasing the valet, the + two ladies, and the notary, Violette mounted his pony and rode after help. + When he reached the pavilion he was amazed to see the gates open and + Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne apparently on the watch. + </p> + <p> + Directly after the young countess had ridden off, Violette was overtaken + by Grevin and the forester of the township of Gondreville, who had taken + horses from the stables at the chateau. The porter’s wife was on her way + to summon the gendarmerie from Arcis. Violette at once informed Grevin of + his meeting with Laurence and the sudden flight of the daring girl, whose + strong and decided character was known to all of them. + </p> + <p> + “She was keeping watch,” said Violette. + </p> + <p> + “Is it possible that those Cinq-Cygne people have done this thing?” cried + Grevin. + </p> + <p> + “Do you mean to say you didn’t recognize that stout Michu?” exclaimed + Violette. “It was he who attacked me; I knew his fist. Besides, they rode + the Cinq-Cygne horses.” + </p> + <p> + Noticing the hoof-marks on the sand of the <i>rond-point</i> and along the + park road the notary stationed the forester at the gateway to see to the + preservation of these precious traces until the justice of peace of Arcis + (for whom he now sent Violette) could take note of them. He himself + returned hastily to the chateau, where the lieutenant and sub-lieutenant + of the Imperial gendarmerie at Arcis had arrived, accompanied by four men + and a corporal. The lieutenant was the same man whose head Francois Michu + had broken two years earlier, and who had heard from Corentin the name of + his mischievous assailant. This man, whose name was Giguet (his brother + was in the army, and became one of the finest colonels of artillery), was + an extremely able officer of gendarmerie. Later he commanded the squadron + of the Aube. The sub-lieutenant, named Welff, had formerly driven Corentin + from Cinq-Cygne to the pavilion, and from the pavilion to Troyes. On the + way, the spy had fully informed him as to what he called the trickery of + Laurence and Michu. The two officers were therefore well inclined to show, + and did show, great eagerness against the family at Cinq-Cygne. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0013" id="link2HCH0013"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XIII. THE CODE OF BRUMAIRE, YEAR IV. + </h2> + <p> + Malin and Grevin had both, the latter working for the former, taken part + in the construction of the Code called that of Brumaire, year IV., the + judicial work of the National Convention, so-called, and promulgated by + the Directory. Grevin knew its provisions thoroughly, and was able to + apply them in this affair with terrible celerity, under a theory, now + converted into a certainty, of the guilt of Michu and the Messieurs de + Simeuse and d’Hauteserre. No one in these days, unless it be some + antiquated magistrates, will remember this system of justice, which + Napoleon was even then overthrowing by the promulgation of his own Codes, + and by the institution of his magistracy under the form in which it now + rules France. + </p> + <p> + The Code of Brumaire, year IV., gave to the director of the jury of the + department the duty of discovering, indicting, and prosecuting the persons + guilty of the delinquency committed at Gondreville. Remark, by the way, + that the Convention had eliminated from its judicial vocabulary the word + “crime”; <i>delinquencies</i> and <i>misdemeanors</i> were alone admitted; + and these were punished with fines, imprisonment, and penalties + “afflictive or infamous.” Death was an afflictive punishment. But the + penalty of death was to be done away with after the restoration of peace, + and twenty-four years of hard labor were to take its place. Thus the + Convention estimated twenty-four years of hard labor as the equivalent of + death. What therefore can be said for a code which inflicts the punishment + of hard labor for life? The system then in process of preparation by the + Napoleonic Council of State suppressed the function of the directors of + juries, which united many enormous powers. In relation to the discovery of + delinquencies and their prosecution the director of the jury was, in fact, + agent of police, public prosecutor, municipal judge, and the court itself. + His proceedings and his indictments were, however, submitted for signature + to a commissioner of the executive power and to the verdict of eight + jurymen, before whom he laid the facts of the case, and who examined the + witnesses and the accused and rendered the preliminary verdict, called the + indictment. The director was, however, in a position to exercise such + influence over the jurymen, who met in his private office, that they could + not well avoid agreeing with him. These jurymen were called the jury of + indictment. There were others who formed the juries of the criminal + tribunals whose duty it was to judge the accused; these were called, in + contradistinction to the jury of indictment, the judgment jury. The + criminal tribunal, to which Napoleon afterwards gave the name of criminal + court, was composed of one President or chief justice, four judges, the + public prosecutor, and a government commissioner. + </p> + <p> + Nevertheless, from 1799 to 1806 there were special courts (so-called) + which judged without juries certain misdemeanors in certain departments; + these were composed of judges taken from the civil courts and formed into + a special court. This conflict of special justice and criminal justice + gave rise to questions of competence which came before the courts of + appeal. If the department of the Aube had had a special court, the verdict + on the outrage committed on a senator of the Empire would no doubt have + been referred to it; but this tranquil department had never needed unusual + jurisdiction. Grevin therefore despatched the sub-lieutenant to Troyes to + bring the director of the jury of that town. The emissary went at full + gallop, and soon returned in a post-carriage with the all-powerful + magistrate. + </p> + <p> + The director of the Troyes jury was formerly secretary of one of the + committees of the Convention, a friend of Malin, to whom he owed his + present place. This magistrate, named Lechesneau, had helped Malin, as + Grevin had done, in his work on the Code during the Convention. Malin in + return recommended him to Cambaceres, who appointed him attorney-general + for Italy. Unfortunately for him, Lechesneau had a liaison with a great + lady in Turin, and Napoleon removed him to avoid a criminal trial + threatened by the husband. Lechesneau, bound in gratitude to Malin, felt + the importance of this attack upon his patron, and brought with him a + captain of gendarmerie and twelve men. + </p> + <p> + Before starting he laid his plans with the prefect, who was unable at that + late hour, it being after dark, to use the telegraph. They therefore sent + a mounted messenger to Paris to notify the minister of police, the chief + justice and the Emperor of this extraordinary crime. In the salon of + Gondreville, Lechesneau found Mesdames Marion and Grevin, Violette, the + senator’s valet, and the justice of peace with his clerk. The chateau had + already been examined; the justice, assisted by Grevin, had carefully + collected the first testimony. The first thing that struck him was the + obvious intention shown in the choice of the day and hour for the attack. + The hour prevented an immediate search for proofs and traces. At this + season it was nearly dark by half-past five, the hour at which Violette + gave the alarm, and darkness often means impunity to evil-doers. The + choice of a holiday, when most persons had gone to the masquerade at + Arcis, and the senator was comparatively alone in the house, showed an + obvious intention to get rid of witnesses. + </p> + <p> + “Let us do justice to the intelligence of the prefecture of police,” said + Lechesneau; “they have never ceased to warn us to be on our guard against + the nobles at Cinq-Cygne; they have always declared that sooner or later + those people would play us some dangerous trick.” + </p> + <p> + Sure of the active co-operation of the prefect of the Aube, who sent + messengers to all the surrounding prefectures asking them to search for + the five abductors and the senator, Lechesneau began his work by verifying + the first facts. This was soon done by the help of two such legal heads as + those of Grevin and the justice of peace. The latter, named Pigoult, + formerly head-clerk in the office where Malin and Grevin had first studied + law in Paris, was soon after appointed judge of the municipal court at + Arcis. In relation to Michu, Lechesneau knew of the threats the man had + made about the sale of Gondreville to Marion, and the danger Malin had + escaped in his own park from Michu’s gun. These two facts, one being the + consequence of the other, were no doubt the precursors of the present + successful attack, and they pointed so obviously to the late bailiff as + the instigator of the outrage that Grevin, his wife, Violette, and Madame + Marion declared that they had recognized among the five masked men one who + exactly resembled Michu. The color of the hair and whiskers and the + thick-set figure of the man made the mask he wore useless. Besides, who + but Michu could have opened the iron gates of the park with a key? The + present bailiff and his wife, now returned from the masquerade, deposed to + have locked both gates before leaving the pavilion. The gates when + examined showed no sign of being forced. + </p> + <p> + “When we turned him off he must have taken some duplicate keys with him,” + remarked Grevin. “No doubt he has been meditating a desperate step, for he + has lately sold his whole property, and he received the money for it in my + office day before yesterday.” + </p> + <p> + “The others have followed his lead!” exclaimed Lechesneau, struck with the + circumstances. “He has been their evil genius.” + </p> + <p> + Moreover, who could know as well as the Messieurs de Simeuse the ins and + outs of the chateau. None of the assailants seemed to have blundered in + their search; they had gone through the house in a confident way which + showed that they knew what they wanted to find and where to find it. The + locks of none of the opened closets had been forced; therefore the + delinquents had keys. Strange to say, however, nothing had been taken; the + motive, therefore, was not robbery. More than all, when Violette had + followed the tracks of the horses as far as the <i>rond-point</i>, he had + found the countess, evidently on guard, at the pavilion. From such a + combination of facts and depositions arose a presumption as to the guilt + of the Messieurs de Simeuse, d’Hauteserre, and Michu, which would have + been strong to unprejudiced minds, and to the director of the jury had the + force of certainty. What were they likely to do to the future Comte de + Gondreville? Did they mean to force him to make over the estate for which + Michu declared in 1799 he had the money to pay? + </p> + <p> + But there was another aspect of the cast to the knowing criminal lawyer. + He asked himself what could be the object of the careful search made of + the chateau. If revenge were at the bottom of the matter, the assailants + would have killed the senator. Perhaps he had been killed and buried. The + abduction, however, seemed to point to imprisonment. But why keep their + victim imprisoned after searching the castle? It was folly to suppose that + the abduction of a dignitary of the Empire could long remain secret. The + publicity of the matter would prevent any benefit from it. + </p> + <p> + To these suggestions Pigoult replied that justice was never able to make + out all the motives of scoundrels. In every criminal case there were + obscurities, he said, between the judge and the guilty person; conscience + had depths into which no human mind could enter unless by the confession + of the criminal. + </p> + <p> + Grevin and Lechesneau nodded their assent, without, however, relaxing + their determination to see to the bottom of the present mystery. + </p> + <p> + “The Emperor pardoned those young men,” said Pigoult to Grevin. “He + removed their names from the list of <i>emigres</i>, though they certainly + took part in that last conspiracy against him.” + </p> + <p> + Lechesneau make no delay in sending his whole force of gendarmerie to the + forest and to the valley of Cinq-Cygne; telling Giguet to take with him + the justice of peace, who, according to the terms of the Code, would then + become an auxiliary police-officer. He ordered them to make all + preliminary inquiries in the township of Cinq-Cygne, and to take testimony + if necessary; and to save time, he dictated and signed a warrant for the + arrest of Michu, against whom the charge was evident on the positive + testimony of Violette. After the departure of the gendarmes Lechesneau + returned to the important question of issuing warrants for the arrest of + the Simeuse and d’Hauteserre brothers. According to the Code these + warrants would have to contain the charges against the delinquents. + </p> + <p> + Giguet and the justice of peace rode so rapidly to Cinq-Cygne that they + met Laurence’s servants returning from the festivities at Troyes. Stopped, + and taken before the mayor where they were interrogated, they all stated, + being ignorant of the importance of the answer, that their mistress had + given them permission to spend the whole day at Troyes. To a question put + by the justice of the peace, each replied that Mademoiselle had offered + them the amusement which they had not thought of asking for. This + testimony seemed so important to the justice of the peace that he sent + back a messenger to Gondreville to advise Lechesneau to proceed himself to + Cinq-Cygne and arrest the four gentlemen, while he went to Michu’s farm, + so that the five arrests might be made simultaneously. + </p> + <p> + This new element was so convincing that Lechesneau started at once for + Cinq-Cygne. He knew well what pleasure would be felt in Troyes at such + proceedings against the old nobles, the enemies of the people, now become + the enemies of the Emperor. In such circumstances a magistrate is very apt + to take mere presumptive evidence for actual proof. Nevertheless, on his + way from Gondreville to Cinq-Cygne, in the senator’s own carriage, it did + occur to Lechesneau (who would certainly have made a fine magistrate had + it not been for his love-affair, and the Emperor’s sudden morality to + which he owed his disgrace) to think the audacity of the young men and + Michu a piece of folly which was not in keeping with what he knew of the + judgment and character of Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne. He imagined in his + own mind some other motives for the deed than the restitution of + Gondreville. In all things, even in the magistracy, there is what may be + called the conscience of a calling. Lechesneau’s perplexities came from + this conscience, which all men put into the proper performance of the + duties they like—scientific men into science, artists into art, + judges into the rendering of justice. Perhaps for this reason judges are + really greater safeguards for persons accused of wrong-doing than are + juries. A magistrate relies only on reason and its laws; juries are + floated to and fro by the waves of sentiment. The director of the jury + accordingly set several questions before his mind, resolving to find in + their solution satisfactory reasons for making the arrests. + </p> + <p> + Though the news of the abduction was already agitating the town of Troyes, + it was still unknown at Arcis, where the inhabitants were supping when the + messenger arrived to summon the gendarmes. No one, of course, knew it in + the village of Cinq-Cygne, the valley and the chateau of which were now, + for the second time, encircled by gendarmes. + </p> + <p> + Laurence had only to tell Marthe, Catherine, and the Durieus not to leave + the chateau, to be strictly obeyed. After each trip to fetch the gold, the + horses were fastened in the covered way opposite to the breach in the + moat, and from there Robert and Michu, the strongest of the party, carried + the sacks through the breach to a cellar under the staircase in the tower + called Mademoiselle’s. Reaching the chateau with the last load about + half-past five o’clock, the four gentlemen and Michu proceeded to bury the + treasure in the floor of the cellar and then to wall up the entrance. + Michu took charge of the matter with Gothard to help him; the lad was sent + to the farm for some sacks of plaster left over when the new buildings + were put up, and Marthe went with him to show him where they were. Michu, + very hungry, made such haste that by half-past seven o’clock the work was + done; and he started for home at a quick pace to stop Gothard, who had + been sent for another sack of plaster which he thought he might want. The + farm was already watched by the forester of Cinq-Cygne, the justice of + peace, his clerk and four gendarmes who, however, kept out of sight and + allowed him to enter the house without seeing them. + </p> + <p> + Michu saw Gothard with the sack on his shoulder and called to him from a + distance: “It is all finished, my lad; take that back and stay and dine + with us.” + </p> + <p> + Michu, his face perspiring, his clothes soiled with plaster and covered + with fragments of muddy stone from the breach, reached home joyfully and + entered the kitchen where Marthe and her mother were serving the soup in + expectation of his coming. + </p> + <p> + Just as Michu was turning the faucet of the water-pipe intending to wash + his hands, the justice of peace entered the house accompanied by his clerk + and the forester. + </p> + <p> + “What have you come for, Monsieur Pigoult?” asked Michu. + </p> + <p> + “In the name of the Emperor and the laws, I arrest you,” replied the + justice. + </p> + <p> + The three gendarmes entered the kitchen leading Gothard. Seeing the silver + lace on their hats Marthe and her mother looked at each other in terror. + </p> + <p> + “Pooh! why?” asked Michu, who sat down at the table and called to his + wife, “Give me something to eat; I’m famished.” + </p> + <p> + “You know why as well as we do,” said the justice, making a sign to his + clerk to begin the <i>proces-verbal</i> and exhibiting the warrant of + arrest. + </p> + <p> + “Well, well, Gothard, you needn’t stare so,” said Michu. “Do you want some + dinner, yes or no? Let them write down their nonsense.” + </p> + <p> + “You admit, of course, the condition of your clothes?” said the justice of + peace; “and you can’t deny the words you said just now to Gothard?” + </p> + <p> + Michu, supplied with food by his wife, who was amazed at his coolness, was + eating with the avidity of a hungry man. He made no answer to the justice, + for his mouth was full and his heart innocent. Gothard’s appetite was + destroyed by fear. + </p> + <p> + “Look here,” said the forester, going up to Michu and whispering in his + ear: “What have you done with the senator? You had better make a clean + breast of it, for if we are to believe these people it is a matter of life + or death to you.” + </p> + <p> + “Good God!” cried Marthe, who overheard the last words and fell into a + chair as if annihilated. + </p> + <p> + “Violette must have played us some infamous trick,” cried Michu, + recollecting what Laurence had said in the forest. + </p> + <p> + “Ha! so you do know that Violette saw you?” said the justice of peace. + </p> + <p> + Michu bit his lips and resolved to say no more. Gothard imitated him. + Seeing the uselessness of all attempts to make them talk, and knowing what + the neighborhood chose to call Michu’s perversity, the justice ordered the + gendarmes to bind his hands and those of Gothard, and take them both to + the chateau, whither he now went himself to rejoin the director of the + jury. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0014" id="link2HCH0014"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XIV. THE ARRESTS + </h2> + <p> + The four young men and Laurence were so hungry and the dinner so + acceptable that they would not delay it by changing their dress. They + entered the salon, she in her riding-habit, they in their white leather + breeches, high-top boots and green-cloth jackets, where they found + Monsieur d’Hauteserre and his wife, not a little uneasy at their long + absence. The goodman had noticed their goings and comings, and, above all, + their evident distrust of him, for Laurence had been unable to get rid of + him as she had of her servants. Once when his own sons evidently avoided + making any reply to his questions, he went to his wife and said, “I am + afraid that Laurence may still get us into trouble!” + </p> + <p> + “What sort of game did you hunt to-day?” said Madame d’Hauteserre to + Laurence. + </p> + <p> + “Ah!” replied the young girl, laughing, “you’ll hear some day what a + strange hunt your sons have joined in to-day.” + </p> + <p> + Though said in jest the words made the old lady tremble. Catherine entered + to announce dinner. Laurence took Monsieur d’Hauteserre’s arm, smiling for + a moment at the necessity she thus forced upon her cousins to offer an arm + to Madame d’Hauteserre, who, according to agreement, was now to be the + arbiter of their fate. + </p> + <p> + The Marquis de Simeuse took in Madame d’Hauteserre. The situation was so + momentous that after the Benedicite was said Laurence and the young men + trembled from the violent palpitation of their hearts. Madame + d’Hauteserre, who carved, was struck by the anxiety on the faces of the + Simeuse brothers and the great alteration that was noticeable in + Laurence’s lamb-like features. + </p> + <p> + “Something extraordinary is going on, I am sure of it!” she exclaimed, + looking at all of them. + </p> + <p> + “To whom are you speaking?” asked Laurence. + </p> + <p> + “To all of you,” said the old lady. + </p> + <p> + “As for me, mother,” said Robert, “I am frightfully hungry, and that is + not extraordinary.” + </p> + <p> + Madame d’Hauteserre, still troubled, offered the Marquis de Simeuse a + plate intended for his brother. + </p> + <p> + “I am like your mother,” she said. “I don’t know you apart even by your + cravats. I thought I was helping your brother.” + </p> + <p> + “You have helped me better than you thought for,” said the youngest, + turning pale; “you have made him Comte de Cinq-Cygne.” + </p> + <p> + “What! do you mean to tell me the countess has made her choice?” cried + Madame d’Hauteserre. + </p> + <p> + “No,” said Laurence; “we left the decision to fate and you are its + instrument.” + </p> + <p> + She told of the agreement made that morning. The elder Simeuse, watching + the increasing pallor of his brother’s face, was momentarily on the point + of crying out, “Marry her; I will go away and die!” Just then, as the + dessert was being served, all present heard raps upon the window of the + dining-room on the garden side. The eldest d’Hauteserre opened it and gave + entrance to the abbe, whose breeches were torn in climbing over the walls + of the park. + </p> + <p> + “Fly! they are coming to arrest you,” he cried. + </p> + <p> + “Why?” + </p> + <p> + “I don’t know yet; but there’s a warrant against you.” + </p> + <p> + The words were greeted with general laughter. + </p> + <p> + “We are innocent,” said the young men. + </p> + <p> + “Innocent or guilty,” said the abbe, “mount your horses and make for the + frontier. There you can prove your innocence. You could overcome a + sentence by default; you will never overcome a sentence rendered by + popular passion and instigated by prejudice. Remember the words of + President de Harlay, ‘If I were accused of carrying off the towers of + Notre-Dame the first thing I should do would be to run away.’” + </p> + <p> + “To run away would be to admit we were guilty,” said the Marquis de + Simeuse. + </p> + <p> + “Don’t do it!” cried Laurence. + </p> + <p> + “Always the same sublime folly!” exclaimed the abbe, in despair. “If I had + the power of God I would carry you away. But if I am found here in this + state they will turn my visit against you, and against me too; therefore I + leave you by the way I came. Consider my advice; you have still time. The + gendarmes have not yet thought of the wall which adjoins the parsonage; + but you are hemmed in on the other sides.” + </p> + <p> + The sound of many feet and the jangle of the sabres of the gendarmerie + echoed through the courtyard and reached the dining-room a few moments + after the departure of the poor abbe, whose advice had met the same fate + as that of the Marquis de Chargeboeuf. + </p> + <p> + “Our twin existence,” said the younger Simeuse, speaking to Laurence, “is + an anomaly—our love for you is anomalous; it is that very quality + which was won your heart. Possibly, the reason why all twins known to us + in history have been unfortunate is that the laws of nature are subverted + in them. In our case, see how persistently an evil fate follows us! your + decision is now postponed.” + </p> + <p> + Laurence was stupefied; the fatal words of the director of the jury hummed + in her ears:—“In the name of the Emperor and the laws, I arrest the + Sieurs Paul-Marie and Marie-Paul Simeuse, Adrien and Robert d’Hauteserre—These + gentlemen,” he added, addressing the men who accompanied him and pointing + to the mud on the clothing of the prisoners, “cannot deny that they have + spent the greater part of this day on horseback.” + </p> + <p> + “Of what are they accused?” asked Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne, haughtily. + </p> + <p> + “Don’t you mean to arrest Mademoiselle?” said Giguet. + </p> + <p> + “I shall leave her at liberty under bail, until I can carefully examine + the charges against her,” replied the director. + </p> + <p> + The mayor offered bail, asking the countess to merely give her word of + honor that she would not escape. Laurence blasted him with a look which + made him a mortal enemy; a tear started from her eyes, one of those tears + of rage which reveal a hell of suffering. The four gentlemen exchanged a + terrible look, but remained motionless. Monsieur and Madame d’Hauteserre, + dreading lest the young people had practised some deceit, were in a state + of indescribable stupefaction. Clinging to their chairs these unfortunate + parents, finding their sons torn from them after so many fears and their + late hopes of safety, sat gazing before them without seeing, listening + without hearing. + </p> + <p> + “Must I ask you to bail me, Monsieur d’Hauteserre?” cried Laurence to her + former guardian, who was roused by the cry, clear and agonizing to his ear + as the sound of the last trumpet. + </p> + <p> + He tried to wipe the tears which sprang to his eyes; he now understood + what was passing, and said to his young relation in a quivering voice, + “Forgive me, countess; you know that I am yours, body and soul.” + </p> + <p> + Lechesneau, who at first was much struck by the evident tranquillity in + which the whole party were dining, now returned to his former opinion of + their guilt as he noticed the stupefaction of the old people and the + evident anxiety of Laurence, who was seeking to discover the nature of the + trap which was set for them. + </p> + <p> + “Gentlemen,” he said, politely, “you are too well-bred to make a useless + resistance; follow me to the stables, where I must, in your presence, have + the shoes of your horses taken off; they afford important proof of either + guilt or innocence. Come, too, mademoiselle.” + </p> + <p> + The blacksmith of Cinq-Cygne and his assistant had been summoned by + Lechesneau as experts. While the operation at the stable was going on the + justice of peace brought in Gothard and Michu. The work of detaching the + shoes of each horse, putting them together and ticketing them, so as to + compare them with the hoof-prints in the park, took time. Lechesneau, + notified of the arrival of Pigoult, left the prisoners with the gendarmes + and returned to the dining-room to dictate the indictment. The justice of + peace called his attention to the condition of Michu’s clothes and related + the circumstances of his arrest. + </p> + <p> + “They must have killed the senator and plastered the body up in some + wall,” said Pigoult. + </p> + <p> + “I begin to fear it,” answered Lechesneau. “Where did you carry that + plaster?” he said to Gothard. + </p> + <p> + The boy began to cry. + </p> + <p> + “The law frightens him,” said Michu, whose eyes were darting flames like + those of a lion in the toils. + </p> + <p> + The servants, who had been detained at the village by order of the mayor, + now arrived and filled the antechamber where Catherine and Gothard were + weeping. To all the questions of the director of the jury and the justice + of peace Gothard replied by sobs; and by dint of weeping he brought on a + species of convulsion which alarmed them so much that they let him alone. + The little scamp, perceiving that he was no longer watched, looked at + Michu with a grin, and Michu signified his approval by a glance. + Lechesneau left the justice of peace and returned to the stables. + </p> + <p> + “Monsieur,” said Madame d’Hauteserre, at last, addressing Pigoult; “can + you explain these arrests?” + </p> + <p> + “The gentlemen are accused of abducting the senator by armed force and + keeping him a prisoner; for we do not think they have murdered him—in + spite of appearances,” replied Pigoult. + </p> + <p> + “What penalties are attached to the crime?” asked Monsieur d’Hauteserre. + </p> + <p> + “Well, as the old law continues in force, and they are not amenable under + the Code, the penalty is death,” replied the justice. + </p> + <p> + “Death!” cried Madame d’Hauteserre, fainting away. + </p> + <p> + The abbe now came in with his sister, who stopped to speak to Catherine + and Madame Durieu. + </p> + <p> + “We haven’t even seen your cursed senator!” said Michu. + </p> + <p> + “Madame Marion, Madame Grevin, Monsieur Grevin, the senator’s valet, and + Violette all tell another tale,” replied Pigoult, with the sour smile of + magisterial conviction. + </p> + <p> + “I don’t understand a thing about it,” said Michu, dumbfounded by his + reply, and beginning now to believe that his masters and himself were + entangled in some plot which had been laid against them. + </p> + <p> + Just then the party from the stables returned. Laurence went up to Madame + d’Hauteserre, who recovered her senses enough to say: “The penalty is + death!” + </p> + <p> + “Death!” repeated Laurence, looking at the four gentlemen. + </p> + <p> + The word excited a general terror, of which Giguet, formerly instructed by + Corentin, took immediate advantage. + </p> + <p> + “Everything can be arranged,” he said, drawing the Marquis de Simeuse into + a corner of the dining-room. “Perhaps after all it is nothing but a joke; + you’ve been a soldier and soldiers understand each other. Tell me, what + have you really done with the senator? If you have killed him—why, + that’s the end of it! But if you have only locked him up, release him, for + you see for yourself your game is balked. Do this and I am certain the + director of the jury and the senator himself will drop the matter.” + </p> + <p> + “We know absolutely nothing about it,” said the marquis. + </p> + <p> + “If you take that tone the matter is likely to go far,” replied the + lieutenant. + </p> + <p> + “Dear cousin,” said the Marquis de Simeuse, “we are forced to go to + prison; but do not be uneasy; we shall return in a few hours, for there is + some misunderstanding in all this which can be explained.” + </p> + <p> + “I hope so, for your sakes, gentlemen,” said the magistrate, signing to + the gendarmes to remove the four gentlemen, Michu, and Gothard. “Don’t + take them to Troyes; keep them in your guardhouse at Arcis,” he said to + the lieutenant; “they must be present to-morrow, at daybreak, when we + compare the shoes of their horses with the hoof-prints in the park.” + </p> + <p> + Lechesneau and Pigoult did not follow until they had closely questioned + Catherine, Monsieur and Madame d’Hauteserre, and Laurence. The Durieus, + Catherine, and Marthe declared they had only seen their masters at + breakfast-time; Monsieur d’Hauteserre said he had seen them at three + o’clock. + </p> + <p> + When, at midnight, Laurence found herself alone with Monsieur and Madame + d’Hauteserre, the abbe and his sister, and without the four young men who + for the last eighteen months had been the life of the chateau and the love + and joy of her own life, she fell into a gloomy silence which no one + present dared to break. No affliction was ever deeper or more complete + than hers. At last a deep sigh broke the stillness, and all eyes turned + towards the sound. + </p> + <p> + Marthe, forgotten in a corner, rose, exclaiming, “Death! They will kill + them in spite of their innocence!” + </p> + <p> + “Mademoiselle, what is the matter with you?” said the abbe. + </p> + <p> + Laurence left the room without replying. She needed solitude to recover + strength in presence of this terrible unforeseen disaster. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0015" id="link2HCH0015"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XV. DOUBTS AND FEARS OF COUNSEL + </h2> + <p> + At a distance of thirty-four years, during which three great revolutions + have taken place, none but elderly persons can recall the immense + excitement produced in Europe by the abduction of a senator of the French + Empire. No trial, if we except that of Trumeaux, the grocer of the Place + Saint-Michel, and that of the widow Morin, under the Empire; those of + Fualdes and de Castaing, under the Restoration; those of Madame Lafarge + and Fieschi, under the present government, ever roused so much curiosity + or so deep an interest as that of the four young men accused of abducting + Malin. Such an attack against a member of his Senate excited the wrath of + the Emperor, who was told of the arrest of the delinquents almost at the + moment when he first heard of the crime and the negative results of the + inquiries. The forest, searched throughout, the department of the Aube, + ransacked from end to end, gave not the slightest indication of the + passage of the Comte de Gondreville nor of his imprisonment. Napoleon sent + for the chief justice, who, after obtaining certain information from the + ministry of police, explained to his Majesty the position of Malin in + regard to the Simeuse brothers and the Gondreville estate. The Emperor, at + that time pre-occupied with serious matters, considered the affair + explained by these anterior facts. + </p> + <p> + “Those young men are fools,” he said. “A lawyer like Malin will escape any + deed they may force him to sign under violence. Watch those nobles, and + discover the means they take to set the Comte de Gondreville at liberty.” + </p> + <p> + He ordered the affair to be conducted with the utmost celerity, regarding + it as an attack on his own institutions, a fatal example of resistance to + the results of the Revolution, an effort to open the great question of the + sales of “national property,” and a hindrance to that fusion of parties + which was the constant object of his home policy. Besides all this, he + thought himself tricked by these young nobles, who had given him their + promise to live peaceably. + </p> + <p> + “Fouche’s prediction has come true,” he cried, remembering the words + uttered two years earlier by his present minister of police, who said them + under the impressions conveyed to him by Corentin’s report as to the + character and designs of Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne. + </p> + <p> + It is impossible for persons living under a constitutional government, + where no one really cares for that cold and thankless, blind, deaf Thing + called public interest, to imagine the zeal which a mere word of the + Emperor was able to inspire in his political or administrative machine. + That powerful will seemed to impress itself as much upon things as upon + men. His decision once uttered, the Emperor, overtaken by the coalition of + 1806, forgot the whole matter. He thought only of new battles to fight, + and his mind was occupied in massing his regiments to strike the great + blow at the heart of the Prussian monarchy. His desire for prompt justice + in the present case found powerful assistance in the great uncertainty + which affected the position of all magistrates of the Empire. Just at this + time Cambaceres, as arch-chancellor, and Regnier, chief justice, were + preparing to organize <i>tribunaux de premiere instance</i> (lower civil + courts), imperial courts, and a court of appeal or supreme court. They + were agitating the question of a legal garb or costume; to which Napoleon + attached, and very justly, so much importance in all official stations; + and they were also inquiring into the character of the persons composing + the magistracy. Naturally, therefore, the officials of the department of + the Aube considered they could have no better recommendation than to give + proofs of their zeal in the matter of the abduction of the Comte de + Gondreville. Napoleon’s suppositions became certainties to these courtiers + and also to the populace. + </p> + <p> + Peace still reigned on the continent; admiration for the Emperor was + unanimous in France; he cajoled all interests, persons, vanities, and + things, in short, everything, even memories. This attack, therefore, + directed against his senator, seemed in the eyes of all an assault upon + the public welfare. The luckless and innocent gentlemen were the objects + of general opprobrium. A few nobles living quietly on their estates + deplored the affair among themselves but dared not open their lips; in + fact, how was it possible for them to oppose the current of public + opinion. Throughout the department the deaths of the eleven persons killed + by the Simeuse brothers in 1792 from the windows of the hotel Cinq-Cygne + were brought up against them. It was feared that other returned and now + emboldened <i>emigres</i> might follow this example of violence against + those who had bought their estates from the “national domain,” as a method + of protesting against what they might call an unjust spoliation. + </p> + <p> + The unfortunate young nobles were therefore considered as robbers, + brigands, murderers; and their connection with Michu was particularly + fatal to them. Michu, who was declared, either he or his father-in-law, to + have cut off all the heads that fell under the Terror in that department, + was made the subject of ridiculous tales. The exasperation of the public + mind was all the more intense because nearly all the functionaries of the + department owed their offices to Malin. No generous voice uplifted itself + against the verdict of the public. Besides all this, the accused had no + legal means with which to combat prejudice; for the Code of Brumaire, year + IV., giving as it did both the prosecution of a charge and the verdict + upon it into the hands of a jury, deprived the accused of the vast + protection of an appeal against legal suspicion. + </p> + <p> + The day after the arrest all the inhabitants of the chateau of Cinq-Cygne, + both masters and servants, were summoned to appear before the prosecuting + jury. Cinq-Cygne was left in charge of a farmer, under the supervision of + the abbe and his sister who moved into it. Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne, + with Monsieur and Madame d’Hauteserre, went to Troyes and occupied a small + house belonging to Durieu in one of the long and wide faubourgs which lead + from the little town. Laurence’s heart was wrung when she at last + comprehended the temper of the populace, the malignity of the bourgeoisie, + and the hostility of the administration, from the many little events which + happened to them as relatives of prisoners accused of criminal wrong-doing + and about to be judged in a provincial town. Instead of hearing + encouraging or compassionate words they heard only speeches which called + for vengeance; proofs of hatred surrounded them in place of the strict + politeness or the reserve required by mere decency; but above all they + were conscious of an isolation which every mind must feel, but more + particularly those which are made distrustful by misfortune. + </p> + <p> + Laurence, who had recovered her vigor of mind, relied upon the innocence + of the accused, and despised the community too much to be frightened by + the stern and silent disapproval they met with everywhere. She sustained + the courage of Monsieur and Madame d’Hauteserre, all the while thinking of + the judicial struggle which was now being hurried on. She was, however, to + receive a blow she little expected, which, undoubtedly, diminished her + courage. + </p> + <p> + In the midst of this great disaster, at the moment when this afflicted + family were made to feel themselves, as it were, in a desert, a man + suddenly became exalted in Laurence’s eyes and showed the full beauty of + his character. The day after the indictment was found by the jury, and the + prisoners were finally committed for trial, the Marquis de Chargeboeuf + courageously appeared, still in the same old caleche, to support and + protect his young cousin. Foreseeing the haste with which the law would be + administered, this chief of a great family had already gone to Paris and + secured the services of the most able as well as the most honest lawyer of + the old school, named Bordin, who was for ten years counsel of the + nobility in Paris, and was ultimately succeeded by the celebrated + Derville. This excellent lawyer chose for his assistant the grandson of a + former president of the parliament of Normandy, whose studies had been + made under his tuition. This young lawyer, who was destined to be + appointed deputy-attorney-general in Paris after the conclusion of the + present trial, became eventually one of the most celebrated of French + magistrates. Monsieur de Grandville, for that was his name, accepted the + defence of the four young men, being glad of an opportunity to make his + first appearance as an advocate with distinction. + </p> + <p> + The old marquis, alarmed at the ravages which troubles had wrought in + Laurence’s appearance, was charmingly kind and considerate. He made no + allusion to his neglected advice; he presented Bordin as an oracle whose + counsel must be followed to the letter, and young de Grandville as a + defender in whom the utmost confidence might be placed. + </p> + <p> + Laurence held out her hand to the kind old man, and pressed his with an + eagerness which delighted him. + </p> + <p> + “You were right,” she said. + </p> + <p> + “Will you now take my advice?” he asked. + </p> + <p> + The young countess bowed her head in assent, as did Monsieur and Madame + d’Hauteserre. + </p> + <p> + “Well, then, come to my house; it is in the middle of town, close to the + courthouse. You and your lawyers will be better off there than here, where + you are crowded and too far from the field of battle. Here, you would have + to cross the town twice a day.” + </p> + <p> + Laurence, accepted, and the old man took her with Madame d’Hauteserre to + his house, which became the home of the Cinq-Cygne household and the + lawyers of the defence during the whole time the trial lasted. After + dinner, when the doors were closed, Bordin made Laurence relate every + circumstance of the affair, entreating her to omit nothing, not the most + trifling detail. Though many of the facts had already been told to him and + his young assistant by the marquis on their journey from Paris to Troyes, + Bordin listened, his feet on the fender, without obtruding himself into + the recital. The young lawyer, however, could not help being divided + between his admiration for Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne, and the attention + he was bound to give to the facts of his case. + </p> + <p> + “Is that really all?” asked Bordin when Laurence had related the events of + the drama just as the present narrative has given them up to the present + time. + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” she answered. + </p> + <p> + Profound silence reigned for several minutes in the salon of the + Chargeboeuf mansion where this scene took place,—one of the most + important which occur in life. All cases are judged by the counsellors + engaged in them, just as the death or life or a patient is foreseen by a + physician, before the final struggle which the one sustains against + nature, the other against law. Laurence, Monsieur and Madame d’Hauteserre, + and the marquis sat with their eyes fixed on the swarthy and deeply pitted + face of the old lawyer, who was now to pronounce the words of life or + death. Monsieur d’Hauteserre wiped the sweat from his brow. Laurence + looked at the younger man and noted his saddened face. + </p> + <p> + “Well, my dear Bordin?” said the marquis at last, holding out his + snuffbox, from which the old lawyer took a pinch in an absent-minded way. + </p> + <p> + Bordin rubbed the calf of his leg, covered with thick stockings of black + raw silk, for he always wore black cloth breeches and a coat made somewhat + in the shape of those which are now termed <i>a la Francaise</i>. He cast + his shrewd eyes upon his clients with an anxious expression, the effect of + which was icy. + </p> + <p> + “Must I analyze all that?” he said; “am I to speak frankly?” + </p> + <p> + “Yes; go on, monsieur,” said Laurence. + </p> + <p> + “All that you have innocently done can be converted into proof against + you,” said the old lawyer. “We cannot save your friends; we can only + reduce the penalty. The sale which you induced Michu to make of his + property will be taken as evident proof of your criminal intentions + against the senator. You sent your servants to Troyes so that you might be + alone; that is all the more plausible because it is actually true. The + elder d’Hauteserre made an unfortunate speech to Beauvisage, which will be + your ruin. You yourself, mademoiselle, made another in your own courtyard, + which proves that you have long shown ill-will to the possessor of + Gondreville. Besides, you were at the gate of the <i>rond-point</i>, + apparently on the watch, about the time when the abduction took place; if + they have not arrested you, it is solely because they fear to bring a + sentimental element into the affair.” + </p> + <p> + “The case cannot be successfully defended,” said Monsieur de Grandville. + </p> + <p> + “The less so,” continued Bordin, “because we cannot tell the whole truth. + Michu and the Messieurs de Simeuse and d’Hauteserre must hold to the + assertion that you merely went for an excursion into the forest and + returned to Cinq-Cygne for luncheon. Allowing that we can show you were in + the house at three o’clock (the exact hour at which the attack was made), + who are our witnesses? Marthe, the wife of one of the accused, the + Durieus, and Catherine, your own servants, and Monsieur and Madame + d’Hauteserre, father and mother of two of the accused. Such testimony is + valueless; the law does not admit it against you, and commonsense rejects + it when given in your favor. If, on the other hand, you were to say you + went to the forest to recover eleven hundred thousand francs in gold, you + would send the accused to the galleys as robbers. Judge, jury, audience, + and the whole of France would believe that you took that gold from + Gondreville, and abducted the senator that you might ransack his house. + The accusation as it now stands is not wholly clear, but tell the truth + about the matter and it would become as plain as day; the jury would + declare that the robbery explained the mysterious features,—for in + these days, you must remember, a royalist means a thief. This very case is + welcomed as a legitimate political vengeance. The prisoners are now in + danger of the death penalty; but that is not dishonoring under some + circumstances. Whereas, if they can be proved to have stolen money, which + can never be made to seem excusable, you lose all benefit of whatever + interest may attach to persons condemned to death for other crimes. If, at + the first, you had shown the hiding-places of the treasure, the plan of + the forest, the tubes in which the gold was buried, and the gold itself, + as an explanation of your day’s work, it is possible you might have been + believed by an impartial magistrate, but as it is we must be silent. God + grant that none of the prisoners may reveal the truth and compromise the + defence; if they do, we must rely on our cross-examinations.” + </p> + <p> + Laurence wrung her hands in despair and raised her eyes to heaven with a + despondent look, for she saw at last in all its depths the gulf into which + her cousins had fallen. The marquis and the young lawyer agreed with the + dreadful view of Bordin. Old d’Hauteserre wept. + </p> + <p> + “Ah! why did they not listen to the Abbe Goujet and fly!” cried Madame + d’Hauteserre, exasperated. + </p> + <p> + “If they could have escaped, and you prevented them,” said Bordin, “you + have killed them yourselves. Judgment by default gains time; time enables + the innocent to clear themselves. This is the most mysterious case I have + ever known in my life, in the course of which I have certainly seen and + known many strange things.” + </p> + <p> + “It is inexplicable to every one, even to us,” said Monsieur de + Grandville. “If the prisoners are innocent some one else has committed the + crime. Five persons do not come to a place as if by enchantment, obtain + five horses shod precisely like those of the accused, imitate the + appearance of some of them, and put Malin apparently underground for the + sole purpose of casting suspicion on Michu and the four gentlemen. The + unknown guilty parties must have had some strong reason for wearing the + skin, as it were, of five innocent men. To discover them, even to get upon + their traces, we need as much power as the government itself, as many + agents and as many eyes as there are townships in a radius of fifty + miles.” + </p> + <p> + “The thing is impossible,” said Bordin. “There’s no use thinking of it. + Since society invented law it has never found a way to give an innocent + prisoner an equal chance against a magistrate who is pre-disposed against + him. Law is not bilateral. The defence, without spies or police, cannot + call social power to the rescue of its innocent clients. Innocence has + nothing on her side but reason, and reasoning which may strike a judge is + often powerless on the narrow minds of jurymen. The whole department is + against you. The eight jurors who have signed the indictment are each and + all purchasers of national domain. Among the trial jurors we are certain + to have some who have either sold or bought the same property. In short, + we can get nothing but a Malin jury. You must therefore set up a + consistent defence, hold fast to it, and perish in your innocence. You + will certainly be condemned. But there’s a court of appeal; we will go + there and try to remain there as long as possible. If in the mean time we + can collect proofs in your favor you must apply for pardon. That’s the + anatomy of the business, and my advice. If we triumph (for everything is + possible in law) it will be a miracle; but your advocate Monsieur de + Grandville is the most likely man among all I know to produce that + miracle, and I’ll do my best to help him.” + </p> + <p> + “The senator has the key to the mystery,” said Monsieur de Grandville; + “for a man knows his enemies and why they are so. Here we find him leaving + Paris at the close of the winter, coming to Gondreville alone, shutting + himself up with his notary, and delivering himself over, as one might say, + to five men who seize him.” + </p> + <p> + “Certainly,” said Bordin, “his conduct seems inexplicable. But how could + we, in the face of a hostile community, become accusers when we ourselves + are the accused? We should need the help and good-will of the government + and a thousand times more proof than is wanted in ordinary circumstances. + I am convinced there was premeditation, and subtle premeditation, on the + part of our mysterious adversaries, who must have known the situation of + Michu and the Messieurs de Simeuse towards Malin. Not to utter one word; + not to steal one thing!—remarkable prudence! I see something very + different from ordinary evil-doers behind those masks. But what would be + the use of saying so to the sort of jurors we shall have to face?” + </p> + <p> + This insight into hidden matters which gives such power to certain lawyers + and certain magistrates astonished and confounded Laurence; her heart was + wrung by that inexorable logic. + </p> + <p> + “Out of every hundred criminal cases,” continued Bordin, “there are not + ten where the law really lays bare the truth to its full extent; and there + is perhaps a good third in which the truth is never brought to light at + all. Yours is one of those cases which are inexplicable to all parties, to + accused and accusers, to the law and to the public. As for the Emperor, he + has other fish to fry than to consider the case of these gentlemen, + supposing even that they had not conspired against him. But who the devil + <i>is</i> Malin’s enemy? and what has really been done with him?” + </p> + <p> + Bordin and Monsieur de Grandville looked at each other; they seemed in + doubt as to Laurence’s veracity. This evident suspicion was the most + cutting of all the many pangs the girl had suffered in the affair; and she + turned upon the lawyers a look which effectually put an end to their + distrust. + </p> + <p> + The next day the indictment was handed over to the defence, and the + lawyers were then enabled to communicate with the prisoners. Bordin + informed the family that the six accused men were “well supported,”—using + a professional term. + </p> + <p> + “Monsieur de Grandville will defend Michu,” said Bordin. + </p> + <p> + “Michu!” exclaimed the Marquis de Chargeboeuf, amazed at the change. + </p> + <p> + “He is the pivot of the affair—the danger lies there,” replied the + old lawyer. + </p> + <p> + “If he is more in danger than the others, I think that is just,” cried + Laurence. + </p> + <p> + “We see certain chances,” said Monsieur de Grandville, “and we shall study + them carefully. If we are able to save these gentlemen it will be because + Monsieur d’Hauteserre ordered Michu to repair one of the stone posts in + the covered way, and also because a wolf has been seen in the forest; in a + criminal court everything depends on discussions, and discussions often + turn on trivial matters which then become of immense importance.” + </p> + <p> + Laurence sank into that inward dejection which humiliates the soul of all + thoughtful and energetic persons when the uselessness of thought and + action is made manifest to them. It was no longer a matter of overthrowing + a usurper, or of coming to the help of devoted friends,—fanatical + sympathies wrapped in a shroud of mystery. She now saw all social forces + full-armed against her cousins and herself. There was no taking a prison + by assault with her own hands, no deliverance of prisoners from the midst + of a hostile population and beneath the eyes of a watchful police. So, + when the young lawyer, alarmed at the stupor of the generous and noble + girl, which the natural expression of her face made still more noticeable, + endeavored to revive her courage, she turned to him and said: “I must be + silent; I suffer,—I wait.” + </p> + <p> + The accent, gesture, and look with which the words were said made this + answer one of those sublime things which only need a wider stage to make + them famous. + </p> + <p> + A few moments later old d’Hauteserre was saying to the Marquis de + Chargeboeuf: “What efforts I have made for my two unfortunate sons! I have + already laid by in the Funds enough to give them eight thousand francs a + year. If they had only been willing to serve in the army they would have + reached the higher grades by this time, and could now have married to + advantage. Instead of that, all my plans are scattered to the winds!” + </p> + <p> + “How can you,” said his wife, “think of their interests when it is a + question of their honor and their lives?” + </p> + <p> + “Monsieur d’Hauteserre thinks of everything,” said the marquis. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0016" id="link2HCH0016"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XVI. MARTHE INVEIGLED + </h2> + <p> + While the masters of Cinq-Cygne were waiting at Troyes for the opening of + the trial before the Criminal court and vainly soliciting permission to + see the prisoners, an event of the utmost importance had taken place at + the chateau. + </p> + <p> + Marthe returned to Cinq-Cygne as soon as she had given her testimony + before the indicting jury. This testimony was so insignificant that it was + not thought necessary to summon her before the Criminal court. Like all + persons of extreme sensibility, the poor woman sat silent in the salon, + where she kept company with Mademoiselle Goujet, in a pitiable state of + stupefaction. To her, as to the abbe, and indeed to all others who did not + know how the accused had been employed on that day, their innocence seemed + doubtful. There were moments when Marthe believed that Michu and his + masters and Laurence had executed vengeance on the senator. The unhappy + woman now knew Michu’s devotion well enough to be certain that he was the + one who would be most in danger, not only because of his antecedents, but + because of the part he was sure to have taken in the execution of the + scheme. + </p> + <p> + The Abbe Goujet and his sister and Marthe were bewildered among the + possibilities to which this opinion gave rise; and yet, in the process of + thinking them over, their minds insensibly took hold of them in a certain + way. The absolute doubt which Descartes demands can no more exist in the + brain of a man than a vacuum can exist in nature, and the mental operation + required to produce it would, like the effect of a pneumatic machine, be + exceptional and anomalous. Whatever a case may be, the mind believes in + something. Now Marthe was so afraid that the accused were guilty that her + fear became equivalent to belief; and this condition of her mind proved + fatal to her. + </p> + <p> + Five days after the arrests, just as she was in the act of going to bed + about ten o’clock at night, she was called from the courtyard by her + mother, who had come from the farm on foot. + </p> + <p> + “A laboring man from Troyes wants to speak to you; he is sent by Michu, + and is waiting in the covered way,” she said to Marthe. + </p> + <p> + They passed through the breach so as to take the shortest path. In the + darkness it was impossible for Marthe to distinguish anything more than + the form of a person which loomed through the shadows. + </p> + <p> + “Speak, madame; so that I may be certain you are really Madame Michu,” + said the person, in a rather anxious voice. + </p> + <p> + “I am Madame Michu,” said Marthe; “what do you want of me?” + </p> + <p> + “Very good,” said the unknown, “give me your hand; do not fear me. I + come,” he added, leaning towards her and speaking low, “from Michu with a + note for you. I am employed at the prison, and if my superiors discover my + absence we shall all be lost. Trust me; your good father placed me where I + am. For that reason Michu counted on my helping him.” + </p> + <p> + He put the letter into Marthe’s hand and disappeared toward the forest + without waiting for an answer. Marthe trembled at the thought that she was + now to hear the secret of the mystery. She ran to the farm with her mother + and shut herself up to read the following letter:— + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + My dear Marthe,—You can rely on the discretion of the man who + will give you this letter; he does not know how to read or to + write. He is a stanch Republican, and shared in Baboeuf’s + conspiracy; your father often made use of him, and he regards the + senator as a traitor. Now, my dear wife, attend to my directions. + The senator has been shut up by us in the cave where our masters + were hidden. The poor creature had provisions for only five days, + and as it is our interest that he should live, I wish you, as soon + as you receive this letter, to take him food for at least five + days more. The forest is of course watched; therefore take as many + precautions as we formerly did for our young masters. Don’t say a + word to Malin; don’t speak to him; and put on one of our masks + which you will find on the steps which lead down to the cave. + Unless you wish to compromise our heads you must be absolutely + silent about this letter and the secret I have now confided to + you. Don’t say a word to Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne, who might + tell of it. Don’t fear for me. We are certain that the matter will + turn out well; when the time comes Malin himself will save us. I + don’t need to tell you to burn this letter as soon as you have + read it, for it would cost me my head if a line of it were seen. I + kiss you for now and always, +</pre> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Michu. +</pre> + <p> + The existence of the cave was known only to Marthe, her son, Michu, the + four gentlemen, and Laurence; or rather, Marthe, to whom her husband had + not related the incident of his meeting with Peyrade and Corentin, + believed it was known only to them. Had she consulted her mistress and the + two lawyers, who knew the innocence of the prisoners, the shrewd Bordin + would have gained some light upon the perfidious trap which was evidently + laid for his clients. But Marthe, acting like most women under a first + impulse, was convinced by this proof which came to her own eyes, and flung + the letter into the fire as directed. Nevertheless, moved by a singular + gleam of caution, she caught a portion of it from the flames, tore off the + five first lines, which compromised no one, and sewed them into the hem of + her dress. Terrified at the thought that the prisoner had been without + food for twenty-four hours, she resolved to carry bread, meat, and wine to + him at once; curiosity was well as humanity permitting no delay. + Accordingly, she heated her oven and made, with her mother’s help, a <i>pate</i> + of hare and ducks, a rice cake, roasted two fowls, selected three bottles + of wine, and baked two loaves of bread. About two in the morning she + started for the forest, carrying the load on her back, accompanied by + Couraut, who in all such expeditions showed wonderful sagacity as a guide. + He scented strangers at immense distances, and as soon as he was certain + of their presence he returned to his mistress with a low growl, looking at + her fixedly and turning his muzzle in the direction of the danger. + </p> + <p> + Marthe reached the pond about three in the morning, and left the dog as + sentinel on the bank. After half an hour’s labor in clearing the entrance + she came with a dark lantern to the door of the cave, her face covered + with a mask, which she had found, as directed, on the steps. The + imprisonment of the senator seemed to have been long premeditated. A hole + about a foot square, which Marthe had never seen before, was roughly cut + in the upper part of the iron door which closed the cave; but in order to + prevent Malin from using the time and patience all prisoners have at their + command in loosening the iron bar which held the door, it was securely + fastened with a padlock. + </p> + <p> + The senator, who had risen from his bed of moss, sighed when he saw the + masked face and felt that there was no chance then of his deliverance. He + examined Marthe, as much as he could by the unsteady light of her dark + lantern, and he recognized her by her clothes, her stoutness, and her + motions. When she passed the <i>pate</i> through the door he dropped it to + seize her hand and then, with great swiftness, he tried to pull the rings + from her fingers,—one her wedding-ring, the other a gift from + Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne. + </p> + <p> + “You cannot deny that it is you, my dear Madame Michu,” he said. + </p> + <p> + Marthe closed her fist the moment she felt his fingers, and gave him a + vigorous blow in the chest. Then, without a word, she turned away and cut + a stick, at the end of which she held out to the senator the rest of the + provisions. + </p> + <p> + “What do they want of me?” he asked. + </p> + <p> + Marthe departed giving him no answer. By five o’clock she had reached the + edge of the forest and was warned by Couraut of the presence of strangers. + She retraced her steps and made for the pavilion where she had lived so + long; but just as she entered the avenue she was seen from afar by the + forester of Gondreville, and she quickly reflected that her best plan was + to go straight up to him. + </p> + <p> + “You are out early, Madame Michu,” he said, accosting her. + </p> + <p> + “We are so unfortunate,” she replied, “that I am obliged to do a servant’s + work myself. I am going to Bellache for some grain.” + </p> + <p> + “Haven’t you any at Cinq-Cygne?” said the forester. + </p> + <p> + Marthe made no answer. She continued on her way and reached the farm at + Bellache, where she asked Beauvisage to give her some seed-grain, saying + that Monsieur d’Hauteserre advised her to get it from him to renew her + crop. As soon as Marthe had left the farm, the forester went there to find + out what she asked for. + </p> + <p> + Six days later, Marthe, determined to be prudent, went at midnight with + her provisions so as to avoid the keepers who were evidently patrolling + the forest. After carrying a third supply to the senator she suddenly + became terrified on hearing the abbe read aloud the public examination of + the prisoners,—for the trial was by that time begun. She took the + abbe aside, and after obliging him to swear that he would keep the secret + she was about to reveal as though it was said to him in the confessional, + she showed him the fragments of Michu’s letter, told him the contents of + it, and also the secret of the hiding-place where the senator then was. + </p> + <p> + The abbe at once inquired if she had other letters from her husband that + he might compare the writing. Marthe went to her home to fetch them and + there found a summons to appear in court. By the time she returned to the + chateau the abbe and his sister had received a similar summons on behalf + of the defence. They were obliged therefore to start for Troyes + immediately. Thus all the personages of our drama, even those who were + only, as it were, supernumeraries, were collected on the spot where the + fate of the two families was about to be decided. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0017" id="link2HCH0017"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XVII. THE TRIAL + </h2> + <p> + There are but few localities in France where Law derives from outward + appearance the dignity which ought always to accompany it. Yet it surely + is, after religion and royalty, the greatest engine of society. + Everywhere, even in Paris, the meanness of its surroundings, the wretched + arrangement of the courtrooms, their barrenness and want of decoration in + the most ornate and showy nation upon earth in the matter of its public + monuments, lessens the action of the law’s mighty power. At the farther + end of some oblong room may be seen a desk with a green baize covering + raised on a platform; behind it sit the judges on the commonest of + arm-chairs. To the left, is the seat of the public prosecutor, and beside + him, close to the wall, is a long pen filled with chairs for the jury. + Opposite to the jury is another pen with a bench for the prisoners and the + gendarmes who guard them. The clerk of the court sits below the platform + at a table covered with the papers of the case. Before the imperial + changes in the administration of justice were instituted, a commissary of + the government and the director of the jury each had a seat and a table, + one to the right, the other to the left of the baize-covered desk. Two + sheriffs hovered about in the space left in front of the desk for the + station of witnesses. Facing the judges and against the wall above the + entrance, there is always a shabby gallery reserved for officials and for + women, to which admittance is granted only by the president of the court, + to whom the proper management of the courtroom belongs. The non-privileged + public are compelled to stand in the empty space between the door of the + hall and the bar. This normal appearance of all French law courts and + assize-rooms was that of the Criminal court of Troyes. + </p> + <p> + In April, 1806, neither the four judges nor the president (or + chief-justice) who made up the court, nor the public prosecutor, the + director of the jury, the commissary of the government, nor the sheriffs + or lawyers, in fact no one except the gendarmes, wore any robes or other + distinctive sign which might have relieved the nakedness of the + surroundings and the somewhat meagre aspect of the figures. The crucifix + was suppressed; its example was no longer held up before the eyes of + justice and of guilt. All was dull and vulgar. The paraphernalia so + necessary to excite social interest is perhaps a consolation to criminals. + On this occasion the eagerness of the public was what it has ever been and + ever will be in trials of this kind, so long as France refuses to + recognize that the admission of the public to the courts involves + publicity, and that the publicity given to trials is a terrible penalty + which would never have been inflicted had legislators reflected on it. + Customs are often more cruel than laws. Customs are the deeds of men, but + laws are the judgment of a nation. Customs in which there is often no + judgment are stronger than laws. + </p> + <p> + Crowds surrounded the courtroom; the president was obliged to station + squads of soldiers to guard the doors. The audience, standing below the + bar, was so crowded that persons suffocated. Monsieur de Grandville, + defending Michu, Bordin, defending the Simeuse brothers, and a lawyer of + Troyes who appeared for the d’Hauteserres, were in their seats before the + opening of the court; their faces wore a look of confidence. When the + prisoners were brought in, sympathetic murmurs were heard at the + appearance of the young men, whose faces, in twenty days’ imprisonment and + anxiety, had somewhat paled. The perfect likeness of the twins excited the + deepest interest. Perhaps the spectators thought that Nature would + exercise some special protection in the case of her own anomalies, and + felt ready to join in repairing the harm done to them by destiny. Their + noble, simple faces, showing no signs of shame, still less of bravado, + touched the women’s hearts. The four gentlemen and Gothard wore the + clothes in which they had been arrested; but Michu, whose coat and + trousers were among the “articles of testimony,” so-called, had put on his + best clothes,—a blue surtout, a brown velvet waistcoat <i>a la</i> + Robespierre, and a white cravat. The poor man paid the penalty of his + dangerous-looking face. When he cast a glance of his yellow eye, so clear + and so profound upon the audience, a murmur of repulsion answered it. The + assembly chose to see the finger of God bringing him to the dock where his + father-in-law had sacrificed so many victims. This man, truly great, + looked at his masters, repressing a smile of scorn. He seemed to say to + them, “I am injuring your cause.” Five of the prisoners exchanged + greetings with their counsel. Gothard still played the part of an idiot. + </p> + <p> + After several challenges, made with much sagacity by the defence under + advice of the Marquis de Chargeboeuf, who boldly took a seat beside Bordin + and de Grandville, the jury were empanelled, the indictment was read, and + the prisoners were brought up separately to be examined. They answered + every question with remarkable unanimity. After riding about the forest + all the morning they had returned to Cinq-Cygne for breakfast at one + o’clock. After that meal, from three to half-past five in the afternoon, + they had returned to the forest. That was the basis of each testimony; any + variations were merely individual circumstances. When the president asked + the Messieurs de Simeuse why they had ridden out so early, they both + declared that wishing, since their return, to buy back Gondreville and + intending to make an offer to Malin who had arrived the night before, they + had gone out early with their cousin and Michu to make certain + examinations of the property on which to base their offer. During that + time the Messieurs d’Hauteserre, their cousin, and Gothard had chased a + wolf which was reported in the forest by the peasantry. If the director of + the jury had sought for the prints of their horses’ feet in the forest as + carefully as in the park of Gondreville, he would have found proof of + their presence at long distances from the house. + </p> + <p> + The examination of the Messieurs d’Hauteserre corroborated this testimony, + and was in harmony with their preliminary dispositions. The necessity of + some reason for their ride suggested to each of them the excuse of + hunting. The peasants had given warning, a few days earlier, of a wolf in + the forest, and on that they had fastened as a pretext. + </p> + <p> + The public prosecutor, however, pointed out a discrepancy between the + first statements of the Messieurs d’Hauteserre, in which they mentioned + that the whole party hunted together, and the defence now made by the + Messieurs de Simeuse that their purpose on that day was the valuation of + the forest. + </p> + <p> + Monsieur de Grandville here called attention to the fact that as the crime + was not committed until after two o’clock in the afternoon, the + prosecution had no ground to question their word when they stated the + manner in which they had employed their morning. + </p> + <p> + The prosecutor replied that the prisoners had an interest in concealing + their preparations for the abduction of the senator. + </p> + <p> + The remarkable ability of the defence was now felt. Judges, jurors, and + audience became aware that victory would be hotly contested. Bordin and + Monsieur de Grandville had studied their ground and foreseen everything. + Innocence is required to render a clear and plausible account of its + actions. The duty of the defence is to present a consistent and probable + tale in opposition to an insufficient and improbable accusation. To + counsel who regard their client as innocent, an accusation is false. The + public examination of the four gentlemen sufficiently explained the matter + in their favor. So far all was well. But the examination of Michu was more + serious; there the real struggle began. It was now clear to every one why + Monsieur de Grandville had preferred to take charge of the servant’s + defence rather than that of his masters. + </p> + <p> + Michu admitted his threats against Marion; but denied that he had made + them violently. As for the ambush in which he was supposed to have watched + for his enemy, he said he was merely making his rounds in his park; the + senator and Monsieur Grevin might perhaps have been alarmed at the sight + of his gun and have thought his intentions hostile when they were really + inoffensive. He called attention to the fact that in the dusk a man who + was not in the habit of hunting might easily fancy a gun was pointed at + him, whereas, in point of fact, it was held in his hand at half-cock. To + explain the condition of his clothes when arrested, he said he had slipped + and fallen in the breach on his way home. “I could scarcely see my way,” + he said, “and the loose stones slipped from under me as I climbed the + bank.” As for the plaster which Gothard was bringing him, he replied as he + had done in all previous examinations, that he wanted it to secure one of + the stone posts of the covered way. + </p> + <p> + The public prosecutor and the president asked him to explain how he could + have been at the top of the covered way engaged in mending a stone post + and at the same time in the breach of the moat leading to the chateau; + more especially as the justice of peace, the gendarmes and the forester + all declared they had heard him approach them from the lower road. To this + Michu replied that Monsieur d’Hauteserre had blamed him for not having + mended the post,—which he was anxious to have finished because there + were difficulties about that road with the township,—and he had + therefore gone up to the chateau to report that the work was done. + </p> + <p> + Monsieur d’Hauteserre had, in fact, put up a fence above the covered way + to prevent the township from taking possession of it. Michu seeing the + important part which the state of his clothes was likely to play, invented + this subterfuge. If, in law, truth is often like falsehood, falsehood on + the other hand has a very great resemblance to truth. The defence and the + prosecution both attached much importance to this testimony, which became + one of the leading points of the trial on account of the vigor of the + defence and the suspicions of the prosecution. + </p> + <p> + Gothard, instructed no doubt by Monsieur de Grandville, for up to that + time he had only wept when they questioned him, admitted that Michu had + told him to carry the plaster. + </p> + <p> + “Why did neither you nor Gothard take the justice of peace and the + forester to the stone post and show them your work?” said the public + prosecutor, addressing Michu. + </p> + <p> + “Because,” replied the man, “I didn’t believe there was any serious + accusation against us.” + </p> + <p> + All the prisoners except Gothard were now removed from the courtroom. When + Gothard was left alone the president adjured him to speak the truth for + his own sake, pointing out that his pretended idiocy had come to an end; + none of the jurors believed him imbecile; if he refused to answer the + court he ran the risk of serious penalty; whereas by telling the truth at + once he would probably be released. Gothard wept, hesitated, and finally + ended by saying that Michu had told him to carry several sacks of plaster; + but that each time he had met him near the farm. He was asked how many + sacks he had carried. + </p> + <p> + “Three,” he replied. + </p> + <p> + An argument hereupon ensued as to whether the three sacks included the one + which Gothard was carrying at the time of the arrest (which reduced the + number of the other sacks to two) or whether there were three without the + last. The debate ended in favor of the first proposition, the jury + considering that only two sacks had been used. They appeared to have a + foregone conviction on that point, but Bordin and Monsieur de Grandville + judged it best to surfeit them with plaster, and weary them so thoroughly + with the argument that they would no longer comprehend the question. + Monsieur de Grandville made it appear that experts ought to have been sent + to examine the stone posts. + </p> + <p> + “The director of the jury,” he said, “has contented himself with merely + visiting the place, less for the purpose of making a careful examination + than to trap Michu in a lie; this, in our opinion, was a failure of duty, + but the blunder is to our advantage.” + </p> + <p> + On this the Court appointed experts to examine the posts and see if one of + them had been really mended and reset. The public prosecutor, on his side, + endeavored to make capital of the affair before the experts could testify. + </p> + <p> + “You seem to have chosen,” he said to Michu, who was now brought back into + the courtroom, “an hour when the daylight was waning, from half-past five + to half-past six o’clock, to mend this post and to cement it all alone.” + </p> + <p> + “Monsieur d’Hauteserre had blamed me for not doing it,” replied Michu. + </p> + <p> + “But,” said the prosecutor, “if you used that plaster on the post you must + have had a trough and a trowel. Now, if you went to the chateau to tell + Monsieur d’Hauteserre that you had done the work, how do you explain the + fact that Gothard was bringing you more plaster. You must have passed your + farm on your way to the chateau, and you would naturally have left your + tools at home and stopped Gothard.” + </p> + <p> + This overwhelming argument produced a painful silence in the courtroom. + </p> + <p> + “Come,” said the prosecutor, “you had better admit at once that what you + buried was <i>not a stone post</i>.” + </p> + <p> + “Do you think it was the senator?” said Michu, sarcastically. + </p> + <p> + Monsieur de Grandville hereupon demanded that the public prosecutor should + explain his meaning. Michu was accused of abduction and the concealment of + a person, but not of murder. Such an insinuation was a serious matter. The + code of Brumaire, year IV., forbade the public prosecutor from presenting + any fresh count at the trial; he must keep within the indictment or the + proceedings would be annulled. + </p> + <p> + The public prosecutor replied that Michu, the person chiefly concerned in + the abduction and who, in the interests of his masters, had taken the + responsibility on his own shoulders, might have thought it necessary to + plaster up the entrance of the hiding-place, still undiscovered, where the + senator was now immured. + </p> + <p> + Pressed with questions, hampered by the presence of Gothard, and brought + into contradiction with himself, Michu struck his fist upon the edge of + the dock with a resounding blow and said: “I have had nothing whatever to + do with the abduction of the senator. I hope and believe his enemies have + merely imprisoned him; when he reappears you’ll find out that the plaster + was put to no such use.” + </p> + <p> + “Good!” said de Grandville, addressing the public prosecutor; “you have + done more for my client’s cause than anything I could have said.” + </p> + <p> + The first day’s session ended with this bold declaration, which surprised + the judges and gave an advantage to the defence. The lawyers of the town + and Bordin himself congratulated the young advocate. The prosecutor, + uneasy at the assertion, feared that he had fallen into some trap; in fact + he was really caught in a snare that was cleverly set for him by the + defence and admirably played off by Gothard. The wits of the town declared + that he had white-washed the affair and splashed his own cause, and had + made the accused as white as the plaster itself. France is the domain of + satire, which reigns supreme in our land; Frenchmen jest on a scaffold, at + the Beresina, at the barricades, and some will doubtless appear with a + quirk upon their lips at the grand assizes of the Last Judgment. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0018" id="link2HCH0018"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XVIII. TRIAL CONTINUED: CRUEL VICISSITUDES + </h2> + <p> + On the morrow the witnesses for the prosecution were examined,—Madame + Marion, Madame Grevin, Grevin himself, the senator’s valet, and Violette, + whose testimony can readily be imagined from the facts already told. They + all identified the five prisoners, with more or less hesitation as to the + four gentlemen, but with absolute certainty as to Michu. Beauvisage + repeated Robert d’Hauteserre’s speech when he met them at daybreak in the + park. The peasant who had bought Monsieur d’Hauteserre’s calf testified to + overhearing that of Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne. The experts, who had + compared the hoof-prints with the shoes on the horses ridden by the five + prisoners and found them absolutely alike, confirmed their previous + depositions. This point was naturally one of vehement contention between + Monsieur de Grandville and the prosecuting officer. The defence called the + blacksmith at Cinq-Cygne and succeeded in proving that he had sold several + horseshoes of the same pattern to strangers who were not known in the + place. The blacksmith declared, moreover, that he was in the habit of + shoeing in this particular manner not only the horses of the chateau de + Cinq-Cygne, but those from other places in the canton. It was also proved + that the horse which Michu habitually rode was always shod at Troyes, and + the mark of that shoe was not among the hoof-prints found in the park. + </p> + <p> + “Michu’s double was not aware of this circumstance, or he would have + provided for it,” said Monsieur de Grandville, looking at the jury. + “Neither has the prosecution shown what horses our clients rode.” + </p> + <p> + He ridiculed the testimony of Violette so far as it concerned a + recognition of the horses, seen from a long distance, from behind, and + after dusk. Still, in spite of all his efforts, the body of the evidence + was against Michu; and the prosecutor, judge, jury, and audience were + impressed with a feeling (as the lawyers for the defence had foreseen) + that the guilt of the servant carried with it that of the masters. So the + vital interest centred on all that concerned Michu. His bearing was noble. + He showed in his answers the sagacity with which nature had endowed him; + and the public, seeing him on his mettle, recognized his superiority. And + yet, strange to say, the more they understood him the more certainty they + felt that he was the instigator of the outrage. + </p> + <p> + The witnesses for the defence, always less important in the eyes of a jury + and of the law than the witnesses for the prosecution, seemed to testify + as in duty bound, and were listened to with that allowance. In the first + place neither Marthe, nor Monsieur and Madame d’Hauteserre took the oath. + Catherine and the Durieus, in their capacity as servants, did not take it. + Monsieur d’Hauteserre stated that he had ordered Michu to replace and mend + the stone post which had been thrown down. The deposition of the experts + sent to examine the fence, which was now read, confirmed his testimony; + but they helped the prosecution by declaring they could not fix the exact + time at which the repairs had been made; it might have been several weeks + or no more than twenty days. + </p> + <p> + The appearance of Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne excited the liveliest + curiosity; but the sight of her cousins in the prisoners’ dock after three + weeks’ separation affected her so much that her emotions gave the audience + an impression of guilt. She felt an overwhelming desire to stand beside + the twins, and was obliged, as she afterwards admitted, to use all her + strength to repress the longing that came into her mind to kill the + prosecutor so as to stand in the eyes of the world as a criminal beside + them. She testified, with simplicity, that riding from Cinq-Cygne and + seeing smoke in the park of Gondreville, she had supposed there was a + fire; at first she thought they were burning weeds or brush; “but later,” + she added, “I observed a circumstance which I offer to the attention of + the Court. I found in the frogging of my habit and in the folds of my + collar small fragments of what appeared to be burned paper which were + floating in the air.” + </p> + <p> + “Was there much smoke?” asked Bordin. + </p> + <p> + “Yes,” replied Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne, “I feared a conflagration.” + </p> + <p> + “This is enough to change the whole inquiry,” remarked Bordin. “I request + the Court to order an immediate examination of that region of the park + where the fire occurred.” + </p> + <p> + The president ordered the inquiry. + </p> + <p> + Grevin, recalled by the defence and questioned on this circumstance, + declared he knew nothing about it. But Bordin and he exchanged looks which + mutually enlightened them. + </p> + <p> + “The gist of the case is there,” thought the old notary. + </p> + <p> + “They’ve laid their finger on it,” thought the notary. + </p> + <p> + But each shrewd head considered the following up of this point useless. + Bordin reflected that Grevin would be silent as the grave; and Grevin + congratulated himself that every sign of the fire had been effaced. + </p> + <p> + To settle this point, which seemed a mere accessory to the trial and + somewhat puerile (but which is really essential in the justification which + history owes to these young men), the experts and Pigoult, who were + despatched by the president to examine the park, reported that they could + find no traces of a bonfire. + </p> + <p> + Bordin summoned two laborers, who testified to having dug over, under the + direction of the forester, a tract of ground in the park where the grass + had been burned; but they declared they had not observed the nature of the + ashes they had buried. + </p> + <p> + The forester, recalled by the defence, said he had received from the + senator himself, as he was passing the chateau of Gondreville on his way + to the masquerade at Arcis, an order to dig over that particular piece of + ground which the senator had remarked as needing it. + </p> + <p> + “Had papers, or herbage been burned there?” + </p> + <p> + “I could not say. I saw nothing that made me think that papers had been + burned there,” replied the forester. + </p> + <p> + “At any rate,” said Bordin, “if, as it appears, a fire was kindled on that + piece of ground some one brought to the spot whatever was burned there.” + </p> + <p> + The testimony of the abbe and that of Mademoiselle Goujet made a favorable + impression. They said that as they left the church after vespers and were + walking towards home, they met the four gentlemen and Michu leaving the + chateau on horseback and making their way to the forest. The character, + position, and known uprightness of the Abbe Goujet gave weight to his + words. + </p> + <p> + The summing up of the public prosecutor, who felt sure of obtaining a + verdict, was in the nature of all such speeches. The prisoners were the + incorrigible enemies of France, her institutions and laws. They thirsted + for tumult and conspiracy. Though they had belonged to the army of Conde + and had shared in the late attempts against the life of the Emperor, that + magnanimous sovereign had erased their names from the list of <i>emigres</i>. + This was the return they made for his clemency! In short, all the + oratorical declamations of the Bourbons against the Bonapartists, which in + our day are repeated against the republicans and the legitimists by the + Younger Branch, flourished in the speech. These trite commonplaces, which + might have some meaning under a fixed government, seem farcical in the + mouth of administrators of all epochs and opinions. A saying of the + troublous times of yore is still applicable: “The label is changed, but + the wine is the same as ever.” The public prosecutor, one of the most + distinguished legal men under the Empire, attributed the crime to a fixed + determination on the part of returned <i>emigres</i> to protest against + the sale of their estates. He made the audience shudder at the probable + condition of the senator; then he massed together proofs, half-proofs, and + probabilities with a cleverness stimulated by a sense that his zeal was + certain of its reward, and sat down tranquilly to await the fire of his + opponents. + </p> + <p> + Monsieur de Grandville never argued but this one criminal case; and it + made his reputation. In the first place, he spoke with the same glowing + eloquence which to-day we admire in Berryer. He was profoundly convinced + of the innocence of his clients, and that in itself is a most powerful + auxiliary of speech. The following are the chief points of his defence, + which was reported in full by all the leading newspapers of the period. In + the first place he exhibited the character and life of Michu in its true + light. He made it a noble tale, ringing with lofty sentiments, and it + awakened the sympathies of many. When Michu heard himself vindicated by + that eloquent voice, tears sprang from his yellow eyes and rolled down his + terrible face. He appeared then for what he really was,—a man as + simple and as wily as a child; a being whose whole existence had but one + thought, one aim. He was suddenly explained to the minds of all present, + more especially by his tears, which produced a great effect upon the jury. + His able defender seized that moment of strong interest to enter upon a + discussion of the charges:— + </p> + <p> + “Where is the body of the person abducted? Where is the senator?” he + asked. “You accuse us of walling him up with stones and plaster. If so, we + alone know where he is; you have kept us twenty-three days in prison, and + the senator must be dead by this time for want of food. We are therefore + murderers, but you have not accused us of murder. On the other hand, if he + still lives, we must have accomplices. If we have them, and if the senator + is living, we should assuredly have set him at liberty. The scheme in + relation to Gondreville which you attribute to us is a failure, and only + aggravates our position uselessly. We might perhaps obtain a pardon for an + abortive attempt by releasing our victim; instead of that we persist in + detaining a man from whom we can obtain no benefit whatever. It is absurd! + Take away your plaster; the effect is a failure,” he said, addressing the + public prosecutor. “We are either idiotic criminals (which you do not + believe) or the innocent victims of circumstances as inexplicable to us as + they are to you. You ought rather to search for the mass of papers which + were burned at Gondreville, which will reveal motives stronger far than + yours or ours and put you on the track of the causes of this abduction.” + </p> + <p> + The speaker discussed these hypotheses with marvellous ability. He dwelt + on the moral character of the witnesses for the defence, whose religious + faith was a living one, who believed in a future life and in eternal + punishment. He rose to grandeur in this part of his speech and moved his + hearers deeply:— + </p> + <p> + “Remember!” he said; “these criminals were tranquilly dining when told of + the abduction of the senator. When the officer of gendarmes intimated to + them the best means of ending the whole affair by giving up the senator, + they refused, for they did not understand what was asked of them!” + </p> + <p> + Then, reverting to the mystery of the matter, he declared that its + solution was in the hands of time, which would eventually reveal the + injustice of the charge. Once on this ground, he boldly and ingeniously + supposed himself a juror; related his deliberations with his colleagues; + imagined his distress lest, having condemned the innocent, the error + should be known too late, and drew such a picture of his remorse, dwelling + on the grave doubts which the case presented, that he brought the jury to + a condition of intense anxiety. + </p> + <p> + Juries were not in those days so blase to this sort of allocution as they + are now; Monsieur de Grandville’s appeal had the power of things new, and + the jurors were evidently shaken. After this passionate outburst they had + to listen to the wily and specious prosecutor, who went over the whole + case, brought out the darkest points against the prisoners and made the + rest inexplicable. His aim was to reach the minds and the reasoning + faculties of his hearers just as Monsieur de Grandville had aimed at the + heart and the imagination. The latter, however, had seriously entangled + the convictions of the jury, and the public prosecutor found his well-laid + arguments ineffectual. This was so plain that the counsel for the + Messieurs d’Hauteserre and Gothard appealed to the judgment of the jury, + asking that the case against their clients be abandoned. The prosecutor + demanded a postponement till the next day in order that he might prepare + an answer. Bordin, who saw acquittal in the eyes of the jury if they + deliberated on the case at once, opposed the delay of even one night by + arguments of legal right and justice to his innocent clients; but in vain,—the + court allowed it. + </p> + <p> + “The interests of society are as great as those of the accused,” said the + president. “The court would be lacking in equity if it denied a like + request when made by the defence; it ought therefore to grant that of the + prosecution.” + </p> + <p> + “All is luck or ill-luck!” said Bordin to his clients when the session was + over. “Almost acquitted tonight you may be condemned to-morrow.” + </p> + <p> + “In either case,” said the elder de Simeuse, “we can only admire your + skill.” + </p> + <p> + Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne’s eyes were full of tears. After the doubts and + fears of the counsel for the defence, she had not expected this success. + Those around her congratulated her and predicted the acquittal of her + cousins. But alas! the matter was destined to end in a startling and + almost theatrical event, the most unexpected and disastrous circumstance + which ever changed the face of a criminal trial. + </p> + <p> + At five in the morning of the day after Monsieur de Grandville’s speech, + the senator was found on the high road to Troyes, delivered from captivity + during his sleep, unaware of the trial that was going on or of the + excitement attaching to his name in Europe, and simply happy in being once + more able to breathe the fresh air. The man who was the pivot of the drama + was quite as amazed at what was now told to him as the persons who met him + on his way to Troyes were astounded at his reappearance. A farmer lent him + a carriage and he soon reached the house of the prefect at Troyes. The + prefect notified the director of the jury, the commissary of the + government, and the public prosecutor, who, after a statement made to them + by Malin, arrested Marthe, while she was still in bed at the Durieu’s + house in the suburbs. Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne, who was only at liberty + under bail, was also snatched from one of the few hours of slumber she had + been able to obtain at rare intervals in the course of her ceaseless + anxiety, and taken to the prefecture to undergo an examination. An order + to keep the accused from holding any communication with each other or with + their counsel was sent to the prison. At ten o’clock the crowd which + assembled around the courtroom were informed that the trial was postponed + until one o’clock in the afternoon of the same day. + </p> + <p> + This change of hour, following on the news of the senator’s deliverance, + Marthe’s arrest, and that of Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne, together with the + denial of the right to communicate with the prisoners carried terror to + the hotel de Chargeboeuf. The whole town and the spectators who had come + to Troyes to be present at the trial, the short-hand writers for the daily + journals, even the populace were in a ferment which can readily be + imagined. The Abbe Goujet came at ten o’clock to see Monsieur and Madame + d’Hauteserre and the counsel for the defence, who were breakfasting—as + well as they could under the circumstances. The abbe took Bordin and + Monsieur Grandville apart, told them what Marthe had confided to him the + day before, and gave them the fragment of the letter she had received. The + two lawyers exchanged a look, after which Bordin said to the abbe: “Not a + word of all this! The case is lost; but at any rate let us show a firm + front.” + </p> + <p> + Marthe was not strong enough to evade the cross-questioning of the + director of the jury and the public prosecutor. Moreover the proof against + her was too overwhelming. Lechesneau had sent for the under crust of the + last loaf of bread she had carried to the cavern, also for the empty + bottles and various other articles. During the senator’s long hours of + captivity he had formed conjectures in his own mind and had looked for + indications which might put him on the track of his enemies. These he now + communicated to the authorities. Michu’s farmhouse, lately built, had, he + supposed, a new oven; the tiles or bricks on which the bread was baked + would show their jointed lines on the bottom of the loaves, and thus + afford a proof that the bread supplied to him was baked on that particular + oven. So with the wine brought in bottles sealed with green wax, which + would probably be found identical with other bottles in Michu’s cellar. + These shrewd observations, which Malin imparted to the justice of peace, + who made the first examination (taking Marthe with him), led to the + results foreseen by the senator. + </p> + <p> + Marthe, deceived by the apparent friendliness of Lechesneau and the public + prosecutor, who assured her that complete confession could alone save her + husband’s life, admitted that the cavern where the senator had been hidden + was known only to her husband and the Messieurs de Simeuse and + d’Hauteserre, and that she herself had taken provisions to the senator on + three separate occasions at midnight. + </p> + <p> + Laurence, questioned about the cavern, was forced to acknowledge that + Michu had discovered it and had shown it to her at the time when the four + young men evaded the police and were hidden in it. + </p> + <p> + As soon as these preliminary examinations were ended, the jury, lawyers, + and audience were notified that the trial would be resumed. At three + o’clock the president opened the session by announcing that the case would + be continued under a new aspect. He exhibited to Michu three bottles of + wine and asked him if he recognized them as bottles from his own cellar, + showing him at the same time the identity between the green wax on two + empty bottles with the green wax on a full bottle taken from his cellar + that morning by the justice of peace in presence of his wife. Michu + refused to recognize anything as his own. But these proofs for the + prosecution were understood by the jurors, to whom the president explained + that the empty bottles were found in the place where the senator was + imprisoned. + </p> + <p> + Each prisoner was questioned as to the cavern or cellar beneath the ruins + of the old monastery. It was proved by all witnesses for the prosecution, + and also for the defence, that the existence of this hiding-place + discovered by Michu was known only to him and his wife, and to Laurence + and the four gentlemen. We may judge of the effect in the courtroom when + the public prosecutor made known the fact that this cavern, known only to + the accused and to their two witnesses, was the place where the senator + had been imprisoned. + </p> + <p> + Marthe was summoned. Her appearance caused much excitement among the + spectators and keen anxiety to the prisoners. Monsieur de Grandville rose + to protest against the testimony of a wife against her husband. The public + prosecutor replied that Marthe by her own confession was an accomplice in + the outrage; that she had neither sworn nor testified, and was to be heard + solely in the interests of truth. + </p> + <p> + “We need only submit her preliminary examination to the jury,” remarked + the president, who now ordered the clerk of the court to read the said + testimony aloud. + </p> + <p> + “Do you now confirm your own statement?” said the president, addressing + Marthe. + </p> + <p> + Michu looked at his wife, and Marthe, who saw her fatal error, fainted + away and fell to the floor. It may be truly said that a thunderbolt had + fallen upon the prisoners and their counsel. + </p> + <p> + “I never wrote to my wife from prison, and I know none of the persons + employed there,” said Michu. + </p> + <p> + Bordin passed to him the fragments of the letter Marthe had received. + Michu gave but one glance at it. “My writing has been imitated,” he said. + </p> + <p> + “Denial is your last resource,” said the public prosecutor. + </p> + <p> + The senator was introduced into the courtroom with all the ceremonies due + to his position. His entrance was like a stage scene. Malin (now called + Comte de Gondreville, without regard to the feelings of the late owners of + the property) was requested by the president to look at the prisoners, and + did so with great attention and for a long time. He stated that the + clothing of his abductors was exactly like that worn by the four + gentlemen; but he declared that the trouble of his mind had been such that + he could not be positive that the accused were really the guilty parties. + </p> + <p> + “More than that,” he said, “it is my conviction that these four gentlemen + had nothing to do with it. The hands that blindfolded me in the forest + were coarse and rough. I should rather suppose,” he added, looking at + Michu, “that my old enemy took charge of that duty; but I beg the + gentlemen of the jury not to give too much weight to this remark. My + suspicions are very slight, and I feel no certainty whatever—for + this reason. The two men who seized me put me on horseback behind the man + who blindfolded me, and whose hair was red like Michu’s. However singular + you may consider the observation I am about to make, it is necessary to + make it because it is the ground of an opinion favorable to the accused—who, + I hope, will not feel offended by it. Fastened to the man’s back I would + naturally have been affected by his odor—yet I did not perceive that + which is peculiar to Michu. As to the person who brought me provisions on + three several occasions, I am certain it was Marthe, the wife of Michu. I + recognized her the first time she came by a ring she always wore, which + she had forgotten to remove. The Court and jury will please allow for the + contradictions which appear in the facts I have stated, which I myself am + wholly unable to reconcile.” + </p> + <p> + A murmur of approval followed this testimony. Bordin asked permission of + the Court to address a few questions to the witness. + </p> + <p> + “Does the senator think that his abduction was due to other causes than + the interests respecting property which the prosecution attributes to the + prisoners?” + </p> + <p> + “I do,” replied the senator, “but I am wholly ignorant of what the real + motives were; for during a captivity of twenty days I saw and heard no + one.” + </p> + <p> + “Do you think,” said the public prosecutor, “that your chateau at + Gondreville contains information, title-deeds, or other papers of value + which would induce a search on the part of the Messieurs de Simeuse?” + </p> + <p> + “I do not think so,” replied Malin; “I believe those gentlemen to be + incapable of attempting to get possession of such papers by violence. They + had only to ask me for them to obtain them.” + </p> + <p> + “You burned certain papers in the park, did you not?” said Monsieur de + Gondreville, abruptly. + </p> + <p> + Malin looked at Grevin. After exchanging a rapid glance with the notary, + which Bordin intercepted, he replied that he had not burned any papers. + The public prosecutor having asked him to describe the ambush to which he + had so nearly fallen a victim two years earlier, the senator replied that + he had seen Michu watching him from the fork of a tree. This answer, which + agreed with Grevin’s testimony, produced a great impression. + </p> + <p> + The four gentlemen remained impassible during the examination of their + enemy, who seemed determined to overwhelm them with generosity. Laurence + suffered horrible agony. From time to time the Marquis de Chargeboeuf held + her by the arm, fearing she might dart forward to the rescue. The Comte de + Gondreville retired from the courtroom and as he did so he bowed to the + four gentlemen, who did not return the salutation. This trifling matter + made the jury indignant. + </p> + <p> + “They are lost now,” whispered Bordin to the Marquis de Chargeboeuf. + </p> + <p> + “Alas, yes! and always through the nobility of their sentiments,” replied + the marquis. + </p> + <p> + “My task is now only too easy, gentlemen,” said the prosecutor, rising to + address the jury. + </p> + <p> + He explained the use of the cement by the necessity of securing an iron + frame on which to fasten a padlock which held the iron bar with which the + gate of the cavern was closed; a description of which was given in the <i>proces-verbal</i> + made that morning by Pigoult. He put the falsehoods of the accused into + the strongest light, and pulverized the arguments of the defence with the + new evidence so miraculously obtained. In 1806 France was still too near + the Supreme Being of 1793 to talk about divine justice; he therefore + spared the jury all reference to the intervention of heaven; but he said + that earthly justice would be on the watch for the mysterious accomplices + who had set the senator at liberty, and he sat down, confidently awaiting + the verdict. + </p> + <p> + The jury believed there was a mystery, but they were all persuaded that it + came from the prisoners, who were probably concealing some matter of a + private interest of great importance to them. + </p> + <p> + Monsieur de Grandville, to whom a plot or machination of some kind was + quite evident, rose; but he seemed discouraged,—less, however, by + the new evidence than by the manifest opinion of the jury. He surpassed, + if anything, his speech of the previous evening; his argument was more + compact and logical; but he felt his fervor repelled by the coldness of + the jury; he spoke ineffectually, and he knew it,—a chilling + situation for an advocate. He called attention to the fact that the + release of the senator, as if by magic and clearly without the aid of any + of the accused or of Marthe, corroborated his previous argument. Yesterday + the prisoners could most surely rely on acquittal, and if they had, as the + prosecution claimed, the power to hold or to release the senator, they + certainly would not have released him until after their acquittal. He + endeavored to bring before the minds of the Court and jury the fact that + mysterious enemies, undiscovered as yet, could alone have struck the + accused this final blow. + </p> + <p> + Strange to say, the only minds Monsieur de Grandville reached with this + argument were those of the public prosecutor and the judges. The jury + listened perfunctorily; the audience, usually so favorable to prisoners, + were convinced of their guilt. In a court of justice the sentiments of the + crowd do unquestionably weigh upon the judges and the jury, and <i>vice + versa</i>. Seeing this condition of the minds about him, which could be + felt if not defined, the counsel uttered his last words in a tone of + passionate excitement caused by his conviction:— + </p> + <p> + “In the name of the accused,” he cried, “I forgive you for the fatal error + you are about to commit, and which nothing can repair! We are the victims + of some mysterious and Machiavellian power. Marthe Michu was inveigled by + vile perfidy. You will discover this too late, when the evil you now do + will be irreparable.” + </p> + <p> + Bordin simply claimed the acquittal of the prisoners on the testimony of + the senator himself. + </p> + <p> + The president summed up the case with all the more impartiality because it + was evident that the minds of the jurors were already made up. He even + turned the scales in favor of the prisoners by dwelling on the senator’s + evidence. This clemency, however, did not in the least endanger the + success of the prosecution. At eleven o’clock that night, after the jury + had replied through their foreman to the usual questions, the Court + condemned Michu to death, the Messieurs de Simeuse to twenty-four years’ + and the Messieurs d’Hauteserre to ten years, penal servitude at hard + labor. Gothard was acquitted. + </p> + <p> + The whole audience was eager to observe the bearing of the five guilty men + in this supreme moment of their lives. The four gentlemen looked at + Laurence, who returned them, with dry eyes, the ardent look of the + martyrs. + </p> + <p> + “She would have wept had we been acquitted,” said the younger de Simeuse + to his brother. + </p> + <p> + Never did convicted men meet an unjust fate with serener brows or + countenances more worthy of their manhood than these five victims of a + cruel plot. + </p> + <p> + “Our counsel has forgiven you,” said the eldest de Simeuse to the Court. + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + Madame d’Hauteserre fell ill, and was three months in her bed at the hotel + de Chargeboeuf. Monsieur d’Hauteserre returned patiently to Cinq-Cygne, + inwardly gnawed by one of those sorrows of old age which have none of + youth’s distractions; often he was so absent-minded that the abbe, who + watched him, knew the poor father was living over again the scene of the + fatal verdict. Marthe passed away from all blame; she died three weeks + after the condemnation of her husband, confiding her son to Laurence, in + whose arms she died. + </p> + <p> + The trial once over, political events of the utmost importance effaced + even the memory of it, and nothing further was discovered. Society is like + the ocean; it returns to its level and its specious calmness after a + disaster, effacing all traces of it in the tide of its eager interests. + </p> + <p> + Without her natural firmness of mind and her knowledge of her cousins’ + innocence, Laurence would have succumbed; but she gave fresh proof of the + grandeur of her character; she astonished Monsieur de Grandville and + Bordin by the apparent serenity which these terrible misfortunes called + forth in her noble soul. She nursed Madame d’Hauteserre and went daily to + the prison, saying openly that she would marry one of the cousins when + they were taken to the galleys. + </p> + <p> + “To the galleys!” cried Bordin, “Mademoiselle! our first endeavor must be + to wring their pardon from the Emperor.” + </p> + <p> + “Their pardon!—<i>from a Bonaparte</i>?” cried Laurence in horror. + </p> + <p> + The spectacles of the old lawyer jumped from his nose; he caught them as + they fell and looked at the young girl who was now indeed a woman; he + understood her character at last in all its bearings; then he took the arm + of the Marquis de Chargeboeuf, saying:— + </p> + <p> + “Monsieur le Marquis, let us go to Paris instantly and save them without + her!” + </p> + <p> + The appeal of the Messieurs de Simeuse and d’Hauteserre and that of Michu + was the first case to be brought before the new court. Its decision was + fortunately delayed by the ceremonies attending its installation. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0019" id="link2HCH0019"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XIX. THE EMPEROR’S BIVOUAC + </h2> + <p> + Towards the end of September, after three sessions of the Court of Appeals + in which the lawyers for the defence pleaded, and the attorney-general + Merlin himself spoke for the prosecution, the appeal was rejected. The + Imperial Court of Paris was by this time instituted. Monsieur de + Grandville was appointed assistant attorney-general, and the department of + the Aube coming under the jurisdiction of this court, it became possible + for him to take certain steps in favor of the convicted prisoners, among + them that of importuning Cambaceres, his protector. Bordin and Monsieur de + Chargeboeuf came to his house in the Marais the day after the appeal was + rejected, where they found him in the midst of his honeymoon, for he had + married in the interval. In spite of all these changes in his condition, + Monsieur de Chargeboeuf saw very plainly that the young lawyer was + faithful to his late clients. Certain lawyers, the artists of their + profession, treat their causes like mistresses. This is rare, however, and + must not be depended on. + </p> + <p> + As soon as they were alone in his study, Monsieur de Grandville said to + the marquis: “I have not waited for your visit; I have already employed + all my influence. Don’t attempt to save Michu; if you do, you cannot + obtain the pardon of the Messieurs de Simeuse. The law will insist on one + victim.” + </p> + <p> + “Good God!” cried Bordin, showing the young magistrate the three petitions + for mercy; “how can I take upon myself to withdraw the application for + that man. If I suppress the paper I cut off his head.” + </p> + <p> + He held out the petition; de Grandville took it, looked it over, and said:— + </p> + <p> + “We can’t suppress it; but be sure of one thing, if you ask all you will + obtain nothing.” + </p> + <p> + “Have we time to consult Michu?” asked Bordin. + </p> + <p> + “Yes. The order for execution comes from the office of the + attorney-general; I will see that you have some days. We kill men,” he + said with some bitterness, “but at least we do it formally, especially in + Paris.” + </p> + <p> + Monsieur de Chargeboeuf had already received from the chief justice + certain information which added weight to these sad words of Monsieur de + Grandville. + </p> + <p> + “Michu is innocent, I know,” continued the young lawyer, “but what can we + do against so many? Remember, too, that my present influence depends on my + keeping silent. I must order the scaffold to be prepared, or my late + client is certain to be beheaded.” + </p> + <p> + Monsieur de Chargeboeuf knew Laurence well enough to be certain she would + never consent to save her cousins at the expense of Michu; he therefore + resolved on making one more effort. He asked an audience of the minister + of foreign affairs to learn if salvation could be looked for through the + influence of the great diplomat. He took Bordin with him, for the latter + knew the minister and had done him some service. The two old men found + Talleyrand sitting with his feet stretched out, absorbed in contemplation + of his fire, his head resting on his hand, his elbow on the table, a + newspaper lying at his feet. The minister had just read the decision of + the Court of Appeals. + </p> + <p> + “Pray sit down, Monsieur le marquis,” said Talleyrand, “and you, Bordin,” + he added, pointing to a place at the table, “write as follows:—” + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + Sire,—Four innocent gentlemen, declared guilty by a jury have + just had their condemnation confirmed by your Court of Appeals. + + Your Imperial Majesty can now only pardon them. These gentlemen + ask this pardon of your august clemency, in the hope that they may + enter your army and meet their death in battle before your eyes; + and thus praying, they are, of your Imperial and Royal Majesty, + with reverence, etc. +</pre> + <p> + “None but princes can do such prompt and graceful kindness,” said the + Marquis de Chargeboeuf, taking the precious draft of the petition from the + hands of Bordin that he might have it signed by the four gentlemen; + resolving in his own mind that he would also obtain the signatures of + several august names. + </p> + <p> + “The life of your young relatives, Monsieur le marquis,” said the + minister, “now depends on the turn of a battle. Endeavor to reach the + Emperor on the morning after a victory and they are saved.” + </p> + <p> + He took a pen and himself wrote a private and confidential letter to the + Emperor, and another of ten lines to Marechal Duroc. Then he rang the + bell, asked his secretary for a diplomatic passport, and said tranquilly + to the old lawyer, “What is your honest opinion of that trial?” + </p> + <p> + “Do you know, monseigneur, who was at the bottom of this cruel wrong?” + </p> + <p> + “I presume I do; but I have reasons to wish for certainty,” replied + Talleyrand. “Return to Troyes; bring me the Comtesse de Cinq-Cygne, here, + to-morrow at the same hour, but secretly; ask to be ushered into Madame de + Talleyrand’s salon; I will tell her you are coming. If Mademoiselle de + Cinq-Cygne, who shall be placed where she can see a man who will be + standing before me, recognizes that man as an individual who came to her + house during the conspiracy of de Polignac and Riviere, tell her to + remember that, no matter what I say or what he answers me, she must not + utter a word nor make a gesture. One thing more, think only of saving the + de Simeuse brothers; don’t embarrass yourself with that scoundrel of a + bailiff—” + </p> + <p> + “A sublime man, monseigneur!” exclaimed Bordin. + </p> + <p> + “Enthusiasm! in you, Bordin! The man must be remarkable. Our sovereign has + an immense self-love, Monsieur le marquis,” he said, changing the + conversation. “He is about to dismiss me that he may commit follies + without warning. The Emperor is a great soldier who can change the laws of + time and distance, but he cannot change men; yet he persists in trying to + run them in his own mould! Now, remember this; the young men’s pardon can + be obtained by one person only—Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne.” + </p> + <p> + The marquis went alone to Troyes and told the whole matter to Laurence. + She obtained permission from the authorities to see Michu, and the marquis + accompanied her to the gates of the prison, where he waited for her. When + she came out her face was bathed in tears. + </p> + <p> + “Poor man!” she said; “he tried to kneel to me, praying that I would not + think of him, and forgetting the shackles that were on his feet! Ah, + marquis, I <i>will</i> plead his cause. Yes, I’ll kiss the boot of their + Emperor. If I fail—well, the memory of that man shall live eternally + honored in our family. Present his petition for mercy so as to gain time; + meantime I am resolved to have his portrait. Come, let us go.” + </p> + <p> + The next day, when Talleyrand was informed by a sign agreed upon that + Laurence was at her post, he rang the bell; his orderly came to him, and + received orders to admit Monsieur Corentin. + </p> + <p> + “My friend, you are a very clever fellow,” said Talleyrand, “and I wish to + employ you.” + </p> + <p> + “Monsiegneur—” + </p> + <p> + “Listen. In serving Fouche you will get money, but never honor nor any + position you can acknowledge. But in serving me, as you have lately done + at Berlin, you can win credit and repute.” + </p> + <p> + “Monseigneur is very good.” + </p> + <p> + “You displayed genius in that late affair at Gondreville.” + </p> + <p> + “To what does Monseigneur allude?” said Corentin, with a manner that was + neither too reserved nor too surprised. + </p> + <p> + “Ah, Monsieur!” observed the minister, dryly, “you will never make a + successful man; you fear—” + </p> + <p> + “What, monseigneur?” + </p> + <p> + “Death!” replied Talleyrand, in his fine, deep voice. “Adieu, my good + friend.” + </p> + <p> + “That is the man,” said the Marquis de Chargeboeuf entering the room after + Corentin was dismissed; “but we have nearly killed the countess.” + </p> + <p> + “He is the only man I know capable of playing such a trick,” replied the + minister. “Monsieur le marquis, you are in danger of not succeeding in + your mission. Start ostensibly for Strasburg; I’ll send you double + passports in blank to be filled out. Provide yourself with substitutes; + change your route and above all your carriage; let your substitutes go on + to Strasburg, and do you reach Prussia through Switzerland and Bavaria. + Not a word—prudence! The police are against you; and you do not know + what the police are—” + </p> + <p> + Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne offered the then celebrated Robert Lefebvre a + sufficient sum to induce him to go to Troyes and take Michu’s portrait. + Monsieur de Grandville promised to afford the painter every possible + facility. Monsieur de Chargeboeuf then started in the old <i>berlingot</i>, + with Laurence and a servant who spoke German. Not far from Nancy they + overtook Mademoiselle Goujet and Gothard, who had preceded them in an + excellent carriage, which the marquis took, giving them in exchange the <i>berlingot</i>. + </p> + <p> + Talleyrand was right. At Strasburg the commissary-general of police + refused to countersign the passport of the travellers, and gave them + positive orders to return. By that time the marquis and Laurence were + leaving France by way of Besancon with the diplomatic passport. + </p> + <p> + Laurence crossed Switzerland in the first days of October, without paying + the slightest attention to that glorious land. She lay back in the + carriage in the torpor which overtakes a criminal on the eve of his + execution. To her eyes all nature was shrouded in a seething vapor; even + common things assumed fantastic shapes. The one thought, “If I do not + succeed they will kill themselves,” fell upon her soul with reiterated + blows, as the bar of the executioner fell upon the victim’s members when + tortured on the wheel. She felt herself breaking; she lost her energy in + this terrible waiting for the cruel moment, short and decisive, when she + should find herself face to face with that man on whom the fate of the + condemned depended. She chose to yield to her depression rather than waste + her strength uselessly. The marquis, who was incapable of understanding + this resolve of firm minds, which often assumes quite diverse aspects (for + in such moments of tension certain superior minds give way to surprising + gaiety), began to fear that he might never bring Laurence alive to the + momentous interview, solemn to them only, and yet beyond the ordinary + limits of private life. To Laurence, the necessity of humiliating herself + before that man, the object of her hatred and contempt, meant the + sacrifice of all her noblest feelings. + </p> + <p> + “After this,” she said, “the Laurence who survives will bear no likeness + to her who is now to perish.” + </p> + <p> + The travellers could not fail to be aware of the vast movement of men and + material which surrounded them the moment they entered Prussia. The + campaign of Jena had just begun. Laurence and the marquis beheld the + magnificent divisions of the French army deploying and parading as if at + the Tuileries. In this display of military power, which can be adequately + described only with the words and images of the Bible, the proportions of + the Man whose spirit moved these masses grew gigantic to Laurence’s + imagination. Soon, the cry of victory resounded in her ears. The Imperial + arms had just obtained two signal advantages. The Prince of Prussia had + been killed the evening before the day on which the travellers arrived at + Saalfeld on their endeavor to overtake Napoleon, who was marching with the + rapidity of lightning. + </p> + <p> + At last, on the 13th of October (date of ill-omen) Mademoiselle de + Cinq-Cygne was skirting a river in the midst of the Grand Army, seeing + nought but confusion, sent hither and thither from one village to another, + from division to division, frightened at finding herself alone with one + old man tossed about in an ocean of a hundred and fifty thousand armed men + facing a hundred and fifty thousand more. Weary of watching the river + through the hedges of the muddy road which she was following along a + hillside, she asked its name of a passing soldier. + </p> + <p> + “That’s the Saale,” he said, showing her the Prussian army, grouped in + great masses on the other side of the stream. + </p> + <p> + Night came on. Laurence beheld the camp-fires lighted and the glitter of + stacked arms. The old marquis, whose courage was chivalric, drove the + horses himself (two strong beasts bought the evening before), his servant + sitting beside him. He knew very well he should find neither horses nor + postilions within the lines of the army. Suddenly the bold equipage, an + object of great astonishment to the soldiers, was stopped by a gendarme of + the military gendarmerie, who galloped up to the carriage, calling out to + the marquis: “Who are you? where are you going? what do you want?” + </p> + <p> + “The Emperor,” replied the Marquis de Chargeboeuf; “I have an important + dispatch for the Grand-marechal Duroc.” + </p> + <p> + “Well, you can’t stay here,” said the gendarme. + </p> + <p> + Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne and the marquis were, however, compelled to + remain where they were on account of the darkness. + </p> + <p> + “Where are we?” she asked, stopping two officers whom she saw passing, + whose uniforms were concealed by cloth overcoats. + </p> + <p> + “You are among the advanced guard of the French army,” answered one of the + officers. “You cannot stay here, for if the enemy makes a movement and the + artillery opens you will be between two fires.” + </p> + <p> + “Ah!” she said, with an indifferent air. + </p> + <p> + Hearing that “Ah!” the other officer turned and said: “How did that woman + come here?” + </p> + <p> + “We are waiting,” said Laurence, “for a gendarme who has gone to find + General Duroc, a protector who will enable us to speak to the Emperor.” + </p> + <p> + “Speak to the Emperor!” exclaimed the first officer; “how can you think of + such a thing—on the eve of a decisive battle?” + </p> + <p> + “True,” she said; “I ought to speak to him on the morrow—victory + would make him kind.” + </p> + <p> + The two officers stationed themselves at a little distance and sat + motionless on their horses. The carriage was now surrounded by a mass of + generals, marshals, and other officers, all extremely brilliant in + appearance, who appeared to pay deference to the carriage merely because + it was there. + </p> + <p> + “Good God!” said the marquis to Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne; “I am afraid + you spoke to the Emperor.” + </p> + <p> + “The Emperor?” said a colonel, beside them, “why there he is!” pointing to + the officer who had said, “How did that woman get here?” He was mounted on + a white horse, richly caparisoned, and wore the celebrated gray top-coat + over his green uniform. He was scanning with a field-glass the Prussian + army massed beyond the Saale. Laurence understood then why the carriage + remained there, and why the Emperor’s escort respected it. She was seized + with a convulsive tremor—the hour had come! She heard the heavy + sound of the tramp of men and the clang of their arms as they arrived at a + quick step on the plateau. The batteries had a language, the caissons + thundered, the brass glittered. + </p> + <p> + “Marechal Lannes will take position with his whole corps in the advance; + Marechal Lefebvre and the Guard will occupy this hill,” said the other + officer, who was Major-general Berthier. + </p> + <p> + The Emperor dismounted. At his first motion Roustan, his famous mameluke, + hastened to hold his horse. Laurence was stupefied with amazement; she had + never dreamed of such simplicity. + </p> + <p> + “I shall pass the night on the plateau,” said the Emperor. + </p> + <p> + Just then the Grand-marechal Duroc, whom the gendarme had finally found, + came up to the Marquis de Chargeboeuf and asked the reason of his coming. + The marquis replied that a letter from the Prince de Talleyrand, of which + he was the bearer, would explain to the marshal how urgent it was that + Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne and himself should obtain an audience of the + Emperor. + </p> + <p> + “His Majesty will no doubt dine at his bivouac,” said Duroc, taking the + letter, “and when I find out what your object is, I will let you know if + you can see him. Corporal,” he said to the gendarme, “accompany this + carriage, and take it close to that hut at the rear.” + </p> + <p> + Monsieur de Chargeboeuf followed the gendarme and stopped his horses + behind a miserable cabin, built of mud and branches, surrounded by a few + fruit-trees, and guarded by pickets of infantry and cavalry. + </p> + <p> + It may be said that the majesty of war appeared here in all its grandeur. + From this height the lines of the two armies were visible in the + moonlight. After an hour’s waiting, the time being occupied by the + incessant coming and going of the aides-de-camp, Duroc himself came for + Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne and the marquis, and made them enter the hut, + the floor of which was of battened earth like that of a stable. + </p> + <p> + Before a table with the remains of dinner, and before a fire made of green + wood which smoked, Napoleon was seated in a clumsy chair. His muddy boots + gave evidence of a long tramp across country. He had taken off the famous + top-coat; and his equally famous green uniform, crossed by the red cordon + of the Legion of honor and heightened by the white of his kerseymere + breeches and of his waistcoat, brought out vividly his pale and terrible + Caesarian face. One hand was on a map which lay unfolded on his knees. + Berthier stood near him in the brilliant uniform of the vice-constable of + the Empire. Constant, the valet, was offering the Emperor his coffee from + a tray. + </p> + <p> + “What do you want?” said Napoleon, with a show of roughness, darting his + eye like a flash through Laurence’s head. “You are no longer afraid to + speak to me before the battle? What is it about?” + </p> + <p> + “Sire,” she said, looking at him with as firm an eye, “I am Mademoiselle + de Cinq-Cygne.” + </p> + <p> + “Well?” he replied, in an angry voice, thinking her look braved him. + </p> + <p> + “Do you not understand? I am the Comtesse de Cinq-Cygne, come to ask + mercy,” she said, falling on her knees and holding out to him the petition + drawn up by Talleyrand, endorsed by the Empress, by Cambaceres and by + Malin. + </p> + <p> + The Emperor raised her graciously, and said with a keen look: “Have you + come to your senses? Do you now understand what the French Empire is and + must be?” + </p> + <p> + “Ah! at this moment I understand only the Emperor,” she said, vanquished + by the kindly manner with which the man of destiny had said the words that + foretold to her ears success. + </p> + <p> + “Are they innocent?” asked the Emperor. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, all of them,” she said with enthusiasm. + </p> + <p> + “All? No, that bailiff is a dangerous man, who would have killed my + senator without taking your advice.” + </p> + <p> + “Ah, Sire,” she said, “if you had a friend devoted to you, would you + abandon him? Would you not rather—” + </p> + <p> + “You are a woman,” he said, interrupting her in a faint tone of ridicule. + </p> + <p> + “And you, a man of iron!” she replied with a passionate sternness which + pleased him. + </p> + <p> + “That man has been condemned to death by the laws of his country,” he + continued. + </p> + <p> + “But he is innocent!” + </p> + <p> + “Child!” he said. + </p> + <p> + He took Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne by the hand and led her from the hut to + the plateau. + </p> + <p> + “See,” he continued, with that eloquence of his which changed even cowards + to brave men, “see those three hundred thousand men—all innocent. + And yet to-morrow thirty thousand of them will be lying dead, dead for + their country! Among those Prussians there is, perhaps, some great + mathematician, a man of genius, an idealist, who will be mown down. On our + side we shall assuredly lose many a great man never known to fame. Perhaps + even I shall see my best friend die. Shall I blame God? No. I shall bear + it silently. Learn from this, mademoiselle, that a man must die for the + laws of his country just as men die here for her glory.” So saying, he led + her back into the hut. “Return to France,” he said, looking at the + marquis; “my orders shall follow you.” + </p> + <p> + Laurence believed in a commutation of Michu’s punishment, and in her + gratitude she knelt again before the Emperor and kissed his hand. + </p> + <p> + “You are the Marquis de Chargeboeuf?” said Napoleon, addressing the + marquis. + </p> + <p> + “Yes, Sire.” + </p> + <p> + “You have children?” + </p> + <p> + “Many children.” + </p> + <p> + “Why not give me one of your grandsons? he shall be my page.” + </p> + <p> + “Ah!” thought Laurence, “there’s the sub-lieutenant after all; he wants to + be paid for his mercy.” + </p> + <p> + The marquis bowed without replying. Happily at this moment General Rapp + rushed into the hut. + </p> + <p> + “Sire, the cavalry of the Guard, and that of the Grand-duc de Berg cannot + be set up before midday to-morrow.” + </p> + <p> + “Never mind,” said Napoleon, turning to Berthier, “we, too, get our + reprieves; let us profit by them.” + </p> + <p> + At a sign of his hand the marquis and Laurence retired and again entered + their carriage; the corporal showed them their road and accompanied them + to a village where they passed the night. The next day they left the field + of battle behind them, followed by the thunder of the cannon,—eight + hundred pieces,—which pursued them for ten hours. While still on + their way they learned of the amazing victory of Jena. + </p> + <p> + Eight days later, they were driving through the faubourg of Troyes, where + they learned that an order of the chief justice, transmitted through the + <i>procureur imperial</i> of Troyes, commanded the release of the four + gentlemen on bail during the Emperor’s pleasure. But Michu’s sentence was + confirmed, and the warrant for his execution had been forwarded from the + ministry of police. These orders had reached Troyes that very morning. + Laurence went at once to the prison, though it was two in the morning, and + obtained permission to stay with Michu, who was about to undergo the + melancholy ceremony called “the toilet.” The good abbe, who had asked + permission to accompany him to the scaffold, had just given absolution to + the man, whose only distress in dying was his uncertainty as to the fate + of his young masters. When Laurence entered his cell he uttered a cry of + joy. + </p> + <p> + “I can die now,” he said. + </p> + <p> + “They are pardoned,” she said; “I do not know on what conditions, but they + are pardoned. I did all I could for you, dear friend—against the + advice of others. I thought I had saved you; but the Emperor deceived me + with his graciousness.” + </p> + <p> + “It was written above,” said Michu, “that the watch-dog should be killed + on the spot where his old masters died.” + </p> + <p> + The last hour passed rapidly. Michu, at the moment of parting, asked to + kiss her hand, but Laurence held her cheek to the lips of the noble victim + that he might sacredly kiss it. Michu refused to mount the cart. + </p> + <p> + “Innocent men should go afoot,” he said. + </p> + <p> + He would not let the abbe give him his arm; resolutely and with dignity he + walked alone to the scaffold. As he laid his head on the plank he said to + the executioner, after asking him to turn down the collar of his coat, “My + clothes belong to you; try not to spot them.” + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + The four gentlemen had hardly time to even see Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne. + An orderly of the general commanding the division to which they were + assigned, brought them their commissions as sub-lieutenants in the same + regiment of cavalry, with orders to proceed at once to Bayonne, the base + of supplies for its particular army-corps. After a scene of heart-rending + farewells, for they all foreboded what the future should bring forth, + Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne returned to her desolate home. + </p> + <p> + The two brothers were killed together under the eyes of the Emperor at + Sommo-Sierra, the one defending the other, both being already in command + of their troop. The last words of each were, “Laurence, <i>cy meurs</i>!” + </p> + <p> + The elder d’Hauteserre died a colonel at the attack on the redoubt at + Moscow, where his brother took his place. + </p> + <p> + Adrien d’Hauteserre, appointed brigadier-general at the battle of Dresden, + was dangerously wounded there and was sent to Cinq-Cygne for proper + nursing. While endeavoring to save this relic of the four gentlemen who + for a few brief months had been so happy around her, Laurence, then + thirty-two years of age, married him. She offered him a withered heart, + but he accepted it; those who truly love doubt nothing or doubt all. + </p> + <p> + The Restoration found Laurence without enthusiasm. The Bourbons returned + too late for her. Nevertheless, she had no cause for complaint. Her + husband, made peer of France with the title of Marquis de Cinq-Cygne, + became lieutenant-general in 1816, and was rewarded with the blue ribbon + for the eminent services which he then performed. + </p> + <p> + Michu’s son, of whom Laurence took care as though he were her own child, + was admitted to the bar in 1817. After practising two years he was made + assistant-judge at the court of Alencon, and from there he became <i>procureur-du-roi</i> + at Arcis in 1827. Laurence, who had also taken charge of Michu’s property, + made over to the young man on the day of his majority an investment in the + public Funds which yielded him an income of twelve thousand francs a year. + Later, she arranged a marriage for him with Mademoiselle Girel, an heiress + at Troyes. + </p> + <p> + The Marquis de Cinq-Cygne died in 1829, in the arms of his wife, + surrounded by his father and mother, and his children who adored him. At + the time of his death no one had ever fathomed the mystery of the + senator’s abduction. Louis XVIII. did not neglect to repair, as far as + possible, the wrongs done by that affair; but he was silent as to the + causes of the disaster. From that time forth the Marquise de Cinq-Cygne + believed him to have been an accomplice in the catastrophe. + </p> + <p> + <a name="link2HCH0020" id="link2HCH0020"> + <!-- H2 anchor --> </a> + </p> + <div style="height: 4em;"> + <br /><br /><br /><br /> + </div> + <h2> + CHAPTER XX. THE MYSTERY SOLVED + </h2> + <p> + The late Marquis de Cinq-Cygne had used his savings, as well as those of + his father and mother, in the purchase of a fine house in the rue de + Faubourg-du-Roule, entailing it on heirs male for the support of the + title. The sordid economy of the marquis and his parents, which had often + troubled Laurence, was then explained. After this purchase the marquise, + who lived at Cinq-Cygne and economized on her own account for her + children, spent her winters in Paris,—all the more willingly because + her daughter Berthe and her son Paul were now of an age when their + education required the resources of Paris. + </p> + <p> + Madame de Cinq-Cygne went but little into society. Her husband could not + be ignorant of the regrets which lay in her tender heart; but he showed + her always the most exquisite delicacy, and died having loved no other + woman. This noble soul, not fully understood for a period of time but to + which the generous daughter of the Cinq-Cygnes returned in his last years + as true a love as that he gave to her, was completely happy in his married + life. Laurence lived for the joys of home. No woman has ever been more + cherished by her friends or more respected. To be received in her house is + an honor. Gentle, indulgent, intellectual, above all things simple and + natural, she pleases choice souls and draws them to her in spite of her + saddened aspect; each longs to protect this woman, inwardly so strong, and + that sentiment of secret protection counts for much in the wondrous charm + of her friendship. Her life, so painful during her youth, is beautiful and + serene towards evening. Her sufferings are known, and no one asks who was + the original of that portrait by Lefebvre which is the chief and sacred + ornament of her salon. Her face has the maturity of fruits that have + ripened slowly; a hallowed pride dignifies that long-tried brow. + </p> + <p> + At the period when the marquise came to Paris to open the new house, her + fortune, increased by the law of indemnities, gave her some two hundred + thousand francs a year, not counting her husband’s salary; besides this, + Laurence had inherited the money guarded by Michu for his young masters. + From that time forth she made a practice of spending half her income and + of laying by the rest for her daughter Berthe. + </p> + <p> + Berthe is the living image of her mother, but without her warrior nerve; + she is her mother in delicacy, in intellect,—“more a woman,” + Laurence says, sadly. The marquise was not willing to marry her daughter + until she was twenty years of age. Her savings, judiciously invested in + the Funds by old Monsieur d’Hauteserre at the moment when consols fell in + 1830, gave Berthe a dowry of eighty thousand francs a year in 1833, when + she was twenty. + </p> + <p> + About that time the Princesse de Cadignan, who was seeking to marry her + son, the Duc de Maufrigneuse, brought him into intimate relations with + Madame de Cinq-Cygne. Georges de Maufrigneuse dined with the marquise + three times a week, accompanied the mother and daughter to the Opera, and + curvetted in the Bois around their carriage when they drove out. It was + evident to all the world of the Faubourg Saint-Germain that Georges loved + Berthe. But no one could discover to a certainty whether Madame de + Cinq-Cygne was desirous of making her daughter a duchess, to become a + princess later, or whether it was only the princess who coveted for her + son the splendid dowry. Did the celebrated Diane court the noble + provincial house? and was the daughter of the Cinq-Cygnes frightened by + the celebrity of Madame de Cadignan, her tastes and her ruinous + extravagance? In her strong desire not to injure her son’s prospects the + princess grew devout, shut the door on her former life, and spent the + summer season at Geneva in a villa on the lake. + </p> + <p> + One evening there were present in the salon of the Princesse de Cadignan, + the Marquise d’Espard, and de Marsay, then president of the Council (on + this occasion the princess saw her former lover for the last time, for he + died the following year), Eugene de Rastignac, under-secretary of State + attached to de Marsay’s ministry, two ambassadors, two celebrated orators + from the Chamber of Peers, the old dukes of Lenoncourt and de Navarreins, + the Comte de Vandenesse and his young wife, and d’Arthez,—who formed + a rather singular circle, the composition of which can be thus explained. + The princess was anxious to obtain from the prime minister of the crown a + permit for the return of the Prince de Cadignan. De Marsay, who did not + choose to take upon himself the responsibility of granting it came to tell + the princess the matter had been entrusted to safe hands, and that a + certain political manager had promised to bring her the result in the + course of that evening. + </p> + <p> + Madame and Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne were announced. Laurence, whose + principles were unyielding, was not only surprised but shocked to see the + most illustrious representatives of Legitimacy talking and laughing in a + friendly manner with the prime minister of the man whom she never called + anything but Monsieur le Duc d’Orleans. De Marsay, like an expiring lamp, + shone with a last brilliancy. He laid aside for the moment his political + anxieties, and Madame de Cinq-Cygne endured him, as they say the Court of + Austria endured de Saint-Aulaire; the man of the world effaced the + minister of the citizen-king. But she rose to her feet as though her chair + were of red-hot iron when the name was announced of “Monsieur le Comte de + Gondreville.” + </p> + <p> + “Adieu, madame,” she said to the princess in a curt tone. + </p> + <p> + She left the room with Berthe, measuring her steps to avoid encountering + that fatal being. + </p> + <p> + “You may have caused the loss of Georges’ marriage,” said the princess to + de Marsay, in a low voice. “Why did you not tell me your agent’s name?” + </p> + <p> + The former clerk of Arcis, former Conventional, former Thermidorien, + tribune, Councillor of State, count of the Empire and senator, peer of the + Restoration, and now peer of the monarchy of July, made a servile bow to + the princess. + </p> + <p> + “Fear nothing, madame,” he said; “we have ceased to make war on princes. I + bring you an assurance of the permit,” he added, seating himself beside + her. + </p> + <p> + Malin was long in the confidence of Louis XVIII., to whom his varied + experience was useful. He had greatly aided in overthrowing Decazes, and + had given much good advice to the ministry of Villele. Coldly received by + Charles X., he had adopted all the rancors of Talleyrand. He was now in + high favor under the twelfth government he had served since 1789, and + which in turn he would doubtless betray. For the last fifteen months he + had broken the long friendship which had bound him for thirty-six years to + our greatest diplomat, the Prince de Talleyrand. It was in the course of + this very evening that he made answer to some one who asked why the Prince + showed such hostility to the Duc de Bordeaux, “The Pretender is too + young!” + </p> + <p> + “Singular advice to give young men,” remarked Rastignac. + </p> + <p> + De Marsay, who grew thoughtful after Madame de Cadignan’s reproachful + speech, took no notice of these jests. He looked askance at Gondreville + and was evidently biding his time until that now old man, who went to bed + early, had taken leave. All present, who had witnessed the abrupt + departure of Madame de Cinq-Cygne (whose reasons were well-known to them), + imitated de Marsay’s conduct and kept silence. Gondreville, who had not + recognized the marquise, was ignorant of the cause of the general + reticence, but the habit of dealing with public matters had given him a + certain tact; he was moreover a clever man; he saw that his presence was + embarrassing to the company and he took leave. De Marsay, standing with + his back to the fire, watched the slow departure of the old man in a + manner which revealed the gravity of his thoughts. + </p> + <p> + “I did wrong, madame, not to tell you the name of my negotiator,” said the + prime minister, listening for the sound of Malin’s wheels as they rolled + away. “But I will redeem my fault and give you the means of making your + peace with the Cinq-Cygnes. It is now thirty years since the affair I am + about to speak of took place; it is as old to the present day as the death + of Henri IV. (which between ourselves and in spite of the proverb is still + a mystery, like so many other historical catastrophes). I can, however, + assure you that even if this affair did not concern Madame de Cinq-Cygne + it would be none the less curious and interesting. Moreover, it throws + light on a celebrated exploit in our modern annals,—I mean that of + the Mont Saint-Bernard. Messieurs les Ambassadeurs,” he added, bowing to + the two diplomats, “will see that in the element of profound intrigue the + political men of the present day are far behind the Machiavellis whom the + waves of the popular will lifted, in 1793, above the storm,—some of + whom have ‘found,’ as the old song says, ‘a haven.’ To be anything in + France in these days a man must have been tossed in those tempests.” + </p> + <p> + “It seems to me,” said the princess, smiling, “that from that point of + view the present state of things under your regime leaves nothing to be + desired.” + </p> + <p> + A well-bred laugh went round the room, and even the prime minister himself + could not help smiling. The ambassadors seemed impatient for the tale; de + Marsay coughed dryly and silence was obtained. + </p> + <p> + “On a June night in 1800,” began the minister, “about three in the + morning, just as daylight was beginning to pale the brilliancy of the wax + candles, two men tired of playing at <i>bouillotte</i> (or who were + playing merely to keep others employed) left the salon of the ministry of + foreign affairs, then situated in the rue du Bac, and went apart into a + boudoir. These two men, of whom one is dead and the other has <i>one</i> + foot in the grave, were, each in his own way, equally extraordinary. Both + had been priests; both had abjured religion; both were married. One had + been merely an Oratorian, the other had worn the mitre of a bishop. The + first was named Fouche; I shall not tell you the name of the second;[*] + both were then mere simple citizens—with very little simplicity. + When they were seen to leave the salon and enter the boudoir, the rest of + the company present showed a certain curiosity. A third person followed + them,—a man who thought himself far stronger than the other two. His + name was Sieyes, and you all know that he too had been a priest before the + Revolution. The one who <i>walked with difficulty</i> was then the + minister of foreign affairs; Fouche was minister of police; Sieyes had + resigned the consulate. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + [*] Talleyrand was still living when de Marsay related these + circumstances. +</pre> + <p> + “A small man, cold and stern in appearance, left his seat and followed the + three others, saying aloud in the hearing of the person from whom I have + the information, ‘I mistrust the gambling of priests.’ This man was + Carnot, minister of war. His remark did not trouble the two consuls who + were playing cards in the salon. Cambaceres and Lebrun were then at the + mercy of their ministers, men who were infinitely stronger than they. + </p> + <p> + “Nearly all these statesmen are dead, and no secrecy is due to them. They + belong to history; and the history of that night and its consequences has + been terrible. I tell it to you now because I alone know it; because Louis + XVIII. never revealed the truth to that poor Madame de Cinq-Cygne; and + because the present government which I serve is wholly indifferent as to + whether the truth be known to the world or not. + </p> + <p> + “All four of these personages sat down in the boudoir. The lame man + undoubtedly closed the door before a word was said; it is even thought + that he ran the bolt. It is only persons of high rank who pay attention to + such trifles. The three priests had the livid, impassible faces which you + all remember. Carnot alone was ruddy. He was the first to speak. ‘What is + the point to be discussed?’ he asked. ‘France,’ must have been the answer + of the Prince (whom I admire as one of the most extraordinary men of our + time). ‘The Republic,’ undoubtedly said Fouche. ‘Power,’ probably said + Sieyes.” + </p> + <p> + All present looked at each other. With voice, look, and gesture de Marsay + had wonderfully represented the three men. + </p> + <p> + “The three priests fully understood one another,” he continued, resuming + his narrative. “Carnot no doubt looked at his colleagues and the ex-consul + in a dignified manner. He must, however, have felt bewildered in his own + mind. + </p> + <p> + “‘Do you believe in the success of the army?’ Sieyes said to him. + </p> + <p> + “‘We may expect everything from Bonaparte,’ replied the minister of war; + ‘he has crossed the Alps.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘At this moment,’ said the minister of foreign affairs, with deliberate + slowness, ‘he is playing his last stake.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘Come, let’s speak out,’ said Fouche; ‘what shall we do if the First + Consul is defeated? Is it possible to collect another army? Must we + continue his humble servants?’ + </p> + <p> + “‘There is no republic now,’ remarked Sieyes; ‘Bonaparte is consul for ten + years.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘He has more power than ever Cromwell had,’ said the former bishop, ‘and + he did not vote for the death of the king.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘We have a master,’ said Fouche; ‘the question is, shall we continue to + keep him if he loses the battle or shall we return to a pure republic?’ + </p> + <p> + “‘France,’ replied Carnot, sententiously, ‘cannot resist except she + reverts to the old Conventional <i>energy</i>.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘I agree with Carnot,’ said Sieyes; ‘if Bonaparte returns defeated we + must put an end to him; he has let us know him too well during the last + seven months.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘The army is for him,’ remarked Carnot, thoughtfully. + </p> + <p> + “‘And the people for us!’ cried Fouche. + </p> + <p> + “‘You go fast, monsieur,’ said the Prince, in that deep bass voice which + he still preserves and which now drove Fouche back into himself. + </p> + <p> + “‘Be frank,’ said a voice, as a former Conventional rose from a corner of + the boudoir and showed himself; ‘if Bonaparte returns a victor, we shall + adore him; if vanquished, we’ll bury him!’ + </p> + <p> + “‘So you were there, Malin, were you?’ said the Prince, without betraying + the least feeling. ‘Then you must be one of us; sit down’; and he made him + a sign to be seated. + </p> + <p> + “It is to this one circumstance that Malin, a Conventional of small + repute, owes the position he afterwards obtained and, ultimately, that in + which we see him at the present moment. He proved discreet, and the + ministers were faithful to him; but they made him the pivot of the machine + and the cat’s-paw of the machination. To return to my tale. + </p> + <p> + “‘Bonaparte has never yet been vanquished,’ cried Carnot, in a tone of + conviction, ‘and he has just surpassed Hannibal.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘If the worst happens, here is the Directory,’ said Sieyes, artfully, + indicating with a wave of his hand the five persons present. + </p> + <p> + “‘And,’ added the Prince, ‘we are all committed to the maintenance of the + French republic; we three priests have literally unfrocked ourselves; the + general, here, voted for the death of the king; and you,’ he said, turning + to Malin, ‘have got possession of the property of <i>emigres</i>.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘Yes, we have all the same interests,’ said Sieyes, dictatorially, ‘and + our interests are one with those of the nation.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘A rare thing,’ said the Prince, smiling. + </p> + <p> + “‘We must act,’ interrupted Fouche. ‘In all probability the battle is now + going on; the Austrians outnumber us; Genoa has surrendered; Massena has + committed the great mistake of embarking for Antibes; it is very doubtful + if he can rejoin Bonaparte, who will then be reduced to his own + resources.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘Who gave you that news?’ asked Carnot. + </p> + <p> + “‘It is sure,’ replied Fouche. ‘You will have the courier when the Bourse + opens.’ + </p> + <p> + “Those men didn’t mince their words,” said de Marsay, smiling, and + stopping short for a moment. + </p> + <p> + “‘Remember,’ continued Fouche, ‘it is not when the news of a disaster + comes that we can organize clubs, rouse the patriotism of the people, and + change the constitution. Our 18th Brumaire ought to be prepared + beforehand.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘Let us leave the care of that to the minister of police,’ said the + Prince, bowing to Fouche, ‘and beware ourselves of Lucien.’ (Lucien + Bonaparte was then minister of the interior.) + </p> + <p> + “‘I’ll arrest him,’ said Fouche. + </p> + <p> + “‘Messieurs!’ cried Sieyes, ‘our Directory ought not to be subject to + anarchical changes. We must organize a government of the few, a Senate for + life, and an elective chamber the control of which shall be in our hands; + for we ought to profit by the blunders of the past.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘With such a system, there would be peace for me,’ remarked the + ex-bishop. + </p> + <p> + “‘Find me a sure man to negotiate with Moreau; for the Army of the Rhine + will be our sole resource,’ cried Carnot, who had been plunged in + meditation. + </p> + <p> + “Ah!” said de Marsay, pausing, “those men were right. They were grand in + this crisis. I should have done as they did”; then he resumed his + narrative. + </p> + <p> + “‘Messieurs!’ cried Sieyes, in a grave and solemn tone. + </p> + <p> + “That word ‘Messieurs!’ was perfectly understood by all present; all eyes + expressed the same faith, the same promise, that of absolute silence, and + unswerving loyalty to each other in case the First Consul returned + triumphant. + </p> + <p> + “‘We all know what we have to do,’ added Fouche. + </p> + <p> + “Sieyes softly unbolted the door; his priestly ear had warned him. Lucien + entered the room. + </p> + <p> + “‘Good news!’ he said. ‘A courier has just brought Madame Bonaparte a line + from the First Consul. The campaign has opened with a victory at + Montebello.’ + </p> + <p> + “The three ministers exchanged looks. + </p> + <p> + “‘Was it a general engagement?’ asked Carnot. + </p> + <p> + “‘No, a fight, in which Lannes has covered himself with glory. The affair + was bloody. Attacked with ten thousand men by eighteen thousand, he was + only saved by a division sent to his support. Ott is in full retreat. The + Austrian line is broken.’ + </p> + <p> + “‘When did the fight take place?’ asked Carnot. + </p> + <p> + “‘On the 8th,’ replied Lucien. + </p> + <p> + “‘And this is the 13th,’ said the sagacious minister. ‘Well, if that is + so, the destinies of France are in the scale at the very moment we are + speaking.’” + </p> + <p> + (In fact, the battle of Marengo did begin at dawn of the 14th.) + </p> + <p> + “‘Four days of fatal uncertainty!’ said Lucien. + </p> + <p> + “‘Fatal?’ said the minister of foreign affairs, coldly and + interrogatively. + </p> + <p> + “‘Four days,’ echoed Fouche. + </p> + <p> + “An eye-witness told me,” said de Marsay, continuing the narrative in his + own person, “that the consuls, Cambaceres and Lebrun, knew nothing of this + momentous news until after the six personages returned to the salon. It + was then four in the morning. Fouche left first. That man of dark and + mysterious genius, extraordinary, profound, and little understood, but who + undoubtedly had the gifts of a Philip the Second, a Tiberius and a Borgia, + went at once to work with an infernal and secret activity. His conduct at + the time of the affair at Walcheren was that of a consummate soldier, a + great politician, a far-seeing administrator. He was the only real + minister that Napoleon ever had. And you all know how he then alarmed him. + </p> + <p> + “Fouche, Massena and the Prince,” continued de Marsay, reflectively, “are + the three greatest men, the wisest heads in diplomacy, war, and + government, that I have ever known. If Napoleon had frankly allied them + with his work there would no longer be a Europe, only a vast French + Empire. Fouche did not finally detach himself from Napoleon until he saw + Sieyes and the Prince de Talleyrand shoved aside. + </p> + <p> + “He now went to work, and in three days (all the while hiding the hand + that stirred the ashes of the Montagne) he had organized that general + agitation which then arose all over France and revived the republicanism + of 1793. As it is necessary that I should explain this obscure corner of + our history, I must tell you that this agitation, starting from Fouche’s + own hand (which held the wires of the former Montagne), produced + republican plots against the life of the First Consul, which was in peril + from this cause long after the victory of Marengo. It was Fouche’s sense + of the evil he had thus brought about which led him to warn Napoleon, who + held a contrary opinion, that republicans were more concerned than + royalists in the various conspiracies. + </p> + <p> + “Fouche was an admirable judge of men; he relied on Sieyes because of his + thwarted ambition, on Talleyrand because he was a great <i>seigneur</i>, + on Carnot for his perfect honesty; but the man he dreaded was the one whom + you have seen here this evening. I will now tell how he entangled that man + in his meshes. + </p> + <p> + “Malin was only Malin in those days,—a secret agent and + correspondent of Louis XVIII. Fouche now compelled him to reduce to + writing all the proclamations of the proposed revolutionary government, + its warrants and edicts against the factions of the 18th Brumaire. An + accomplice against his own will, Malin was required to have these + documents secretly printed, and the copies held ready in his own house for + distribution if Bonaparte were defeated. The printer was subsequently + imprisoned and detained two months; he died in 1816, and always believed + he had been employed by a Montagnard conspiracy. + </p> + <p> + “One of the most singular scenes ever played by Fouche’s police was caused + by the blunder of an agent, who despatched a courier to a famous banker of + that day with the news of a defeat at Marengo. Victory, you will remember, + did not declare itself for Napoleon until seven o’clock in the evening of + the battle. At midday the banker’s agent, considering the day lost and the + French army about to be annihilated, hastened to despatch the courier. On + receipt of that news Fouche was about to put into motion a whole army of + bill-posters and cries, with a truck full of proclamations, when the + second courier arrived with the news of the triumph which put all France + beside itself with joy. There were heavy losses at the Bourse, of course. + But the criers and posters who were gathered to announce the political + death of Bonaparte and to post up the new proclamations were only kept + waiting awhile till the news of the victory could be struck off! + </p> + <p> + “Malin, on whom the whole responsibility of the plot of which he had been + the working agent was likely to fall if it ever became known, was so + terrified that he packed the proclamations and other papers in carts and + took them down to Gondreville in the night-time, where no doubt they were + hidden in the cellars of that chateau, which he had bought in the name of + another man—who was it, by the bye? he had him made chief-justice of + an Imperial court—Ah! Marion. Having thus disposed of these damning + proofs he returned to Paris to congratulate the First Consul on his + victory. Napoleon, as you know, rushed from Italy to Paris after the + battle of Marengo with alarming celerity. Those who know the secret + history of that time are well aware that a message from Lucien brought him + back. The minister of the interior had foreseen the attitude of the + Montagnard party, and though he had no idea of the quarter from which the + wind really blew, he feared a storm. Incapable of suspecting the three + ministers and Carnot, he attributed the movement which stirred all France + to the hatred his brother had excited by the 18th Brumaire, and to the + confident belief of the men of 1793 that defeat was certain in Italy. + </p> + <p> + “The battle of Marengo detained Napoleon on the plains of Lombardy until + the 25th of June, but he reached Paris on the 2nd of July. Imagine the + faces of the five conspirators as they met the First Consul at the + Tuileries, and congratulated him on the victory. Fouche on that very + occasion at the palace told Malin to have patience, for <i>all was not + over yet</i>. The truth was, Talleyrand and Fouche both held that + Bonaparte was not as much bound to the principles of the Revolution as + they were, and as he ought to be; and for this reason, as well as for + their own safety, they subsequently, in 1804, buckled him irrevocably, as + they believed, to its cause by the affair of the Duc d’Enghien. The + execution of that prince is connected by a series of discoverable + ramifications with the plot which was laid on that June evening in the + boudoir of the ministry of foreign affairs, the night before the battle of + Marengo. Those who have the means of judging, and who have known persons + who were well-informed, are fully aware that Bonaparte was handled like a + child by Talleyrand and Fouche, who were determined to alienate him + irrevocably from the House of Bourbon, whose agents were even then, at the + last moment, endeavoring to negotiate with the First Consul.” + </p> + <p> + “Talleyrand was playing whist in the salon of Madame de Luynes,” said a + personage who had been listening attentively to de Marsay’s narrative. “It + was about three o’clock in the morning, when he pulled out his watch, + looked at it, stopped the game, and asked his three companions abruptly + and without any preface whether the Prince de Conde had any other children + than the Duc d’Enghien. Such an absurd inquiry from the lips of Talleyrand + caused the utmost surprise. ‘Why do you ask us what you know perfectly + well yourself?’ they said to him. ‘Only to let you know that the House of + Conde comes to an end at this moment.’ Now Monsieur de Talleyrand had been + at the hotel de Luynes the entire evening, and he must have known that + Bonaparte was absolutely unable to grant the pardon.” + </p> + <p> + “But,” said Eugene de Rastignac, “I don’t see in all this any connection + with Madame de Cinq-Cygnes and her troubles.” + </p> + <p> + “Ah, you were so young at that time, my dear fellow; I forgot to explain + the conclusion. You all know the affair of the abduction of the Comte de + Gondreville, then senator of the Empire, for which the Simeuse brothers + and the two d’Hauteserres were condemned to the galleys,—an affair + which did, in fact, lead to their death.” + </p> + <p> + De Marsay, entreated by several persons present to whom the circumstances + were unknown, related the whole trial, stating that the mysterious + abductors were five sharks of the secret service of the ministry of the + police, who were ordered to obtain the proclamations of the would-be + Directory which Malin had surreptitiously taken from his house in Paris, + and which he had himself come to Gondreville for the express purpose of + destroying, being convinced at last that the Empire was on a sure + foundation and could not be overthrown. “I have no doubt,” added de + Marsay, “that Fouche took the opportunity to have the house searched for + the correspondence between Malin and Louis XVIII., which was always kept + up, even during the Terror. But in this cruel affair there was a private + element, a passion of revenge in the mind of the leader of the party, a + man named Corentin, who is still living, and who is one of those subaltern + agents whom nothing can replace and who makes himself felt by his amazing + ability. It appears that Madame, then Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne, had + ill-treated him on a former occasion when he attempted to arrest the + Simeuse brothers. What happened afterwards in connection with the + senator’s abduction was the result of his private vengeance. + </p> + <p> + “These facts were known, of course, to Malin, and through him to Louis + XVIII. You may therefore,” added de Marsay, turning to the Princesse de + Cadignan, “explain the whole matter to the Marquise de Cinq-Cygne, and + show her why Louis XVIII. thought fit to keep silence.” + </p> + <h2> + ADDENDUM + </h2> + <p> + The following personages appear in other stories of the Human Comedy. + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + + Beauvisage + The Member for Arcis + + Berthier, Alexandre + The Chouans + + Bonaparte, Lucien + The Vendetta + + Bordin + The Seamy Side of History + The Commission in Lunacy + Jealousies of a Country Town + + Cinq-Cygne, Laurence, Comtesse (afterwards Marquise de) + The Secrets of a Princess + The Seamy Side of History + The Member for Arcis + + Corentin + The Chouans + Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life + The Middle Classes + + Derville + Gobseck + A Start in Life + Father Goriot + Colonel Chabert + Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life + + Duroc, Gerard-Christophe-Michel + A Woman of Thirty + + Espard, Jeanne-Clementine-Athenais de Blamont-Chauvry, Marquise d’ + The Commission in Lunacy + A Distinguished Provincial at Paris + Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life + Letters of Two Brides + Another Study of Woman + The Secrets of a Princess + A Daughter of Eve + Beatrix + + Fouche, Joseph + The Chouans + Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life + + Giguet, Colonel + The Member for Arcis + + Gondreville, Malin, Comte de + A Start in Life + Domestic Peace + The Member for Arcis + + Gothard + The Member for Arcis + + Goujet, Abbe + The Member for Arcis + + Grandlieu, Duc Ferdinand de + The Thirteen + A Bachelor’s Establishment + Modeste Mignon + Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life + + Granville, Vicomte de + A Second Home + Farewell (Adieu) + Cesar Birotteau + Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life + A Daughter of Eve + Cousin Pons + + Grevin + A Start in Life + The Member for Arcis + + Hauteserre, D’ + The Member for Arcis + + Lefebvre, Robert + Cousin Betty + + Lenoncourt, Duc de + The Lily of the Valley + Cesar Birotteau + Jealousies of a Country Town + Beatrix + + Louis XVIII., Louis-Stanislas-Xavier + The Chouans + The Seamy Side of History + Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life + The Ball at Sceaux + The Lily of the Valley + Colonel Chabert + The Government Clerks + + Marion (of Arcis) + The Member for Arcis + + Marion (brother) + The Member for Arcis + + Marsay, Henri de + The Thirteen + The Unconscious Humorists + Another Study of Woman + The Lily of the Valley + Father Goriot + Jealousies of a Country Town + Ursule Mirouet + A Marriage Settlement + Lost Illusions + A Distinguished Provincial at Paris + Letters of Two Brides + The Ball at Sceaux + Modeste Mignon + The Secrets of a Princess + A Daughter of Eve + + Maufrigneuse, Duchesse de + The Secrets of a Princess + Modeste Mignon + Jealousies of a Country Town + The Muse of the Department + Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life + Letters of Two Brides + Another Study of Woman + The Member for Arcis + + Maufrigneuse, Georges de + The Secrets of a Princess + Beatrix + The Member for Arcis + + Maufrigneuse, Berthe de + Beatrix + The Member for Arcis + + Michu, Francois + Jealousies of a Country Town + The Member for Arcis + + Michu, Madame Francois + The Member for Arcis + + Murat, Joachim, Prince + The Vendetta + Colonel Chabert + Domestic Peace + The Country Doctor + + Navarreins, Duc de + A Bachelor’s Establishment + Colonel Chabert + The Muse of the Department + The Thirteen + Jealousies of a Country Town + The Peasantry + Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life + The Country Parson + The Magic Skin + The Secrets of a Princess + Cousin Betty + + Peyrade + Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life + + Rapp + The Vendetta + + Rastignac, Eugene de + Father Goriot + A Distinguished Provincial at Paris + Scenes from a Courtesan’s Life + The Ball at Sceaux + The Commission in Lunacy + A Study of Woman + Another Study of Woman + The Magic Skin + The Secrets of a Princess + A Daughter of Eve + The Firm of Nucingen + Cousin Betty + The Member for Arcis + The Unconscious Humorists + + Regnier, Claude-Antoine + A Second Home + + Simeuse, Admiral de + Beatrix + Jealousies of a Country Town + + Steingel + The Peasantry + + Talleyrand-Perigord, Charles-Maurice de + The Chouans + The Thirteen + Letters of Two Brides + Gaudissart II. + + Vandenesse, Comte Felix de + The Lily of the Valley + Lost Illusions + A Distinguished Provincial at Paris + Cesar Birotteau + Letters of Two Brides + A Start in Life + The Marriage Settlement + The Secrets of a Princess + Another Study of Woman + A Daughter of Eve + + Varlet + The Gondreville Mystery + The Member for Arcis +</pre> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> + <hr /> + <p> + <br /> <br /> + </p> +<pre xml:space="preserve"> + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg’s An Historical Mystery, by Honore de Balzac + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AN HISTORICAL MYSTERY *** + +***** This file should be named 1678-h.htm or 1678-h.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/1/6/7/1678/ + 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: An Historical Mystery + +Author: Honore de Balzac + +Translator: Katharine Prescott Wormeley + +Release Date: March, 1998 [Etext #1678] +Posting Date: February 28, 2010 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AN HISTORICAL MYSTERY *** + + + + +Produced by John Bickers, Dagny, and Bonnie Sala + + + + + +AN HISTORICAL MYSTERY + +(The Gondreville Mystery) + + +By Honore De Balzac + + + +Translated by Katharine Prescott Wormeley + + + + + DEDICATION + + To Monsieur de Margone. + + In grateful remembrance, from his guest at the Chateau de Sache. + + De Balzac. + + + + + +AN HISTORICAL MYSTERY + + + + +PART I + + + + +CHAPTER I. JUDAS + +The autumn of the year 1803 was one of the finest in the early part of +that period of the present century which we now call "Empire." Rain had +refreshed the earth during the month of October, so that the trees were +still green and leafy in November. The French people were beginning to +put faith in a secret understanding between the skies and Bonaparte, +then declared Consul for life,--a belief in which that man owes part of +his prestige; strange to say, on the day the sun failed him, in 1812, +his luck ceased! + +About four in the afternoon on the fifteenth of November, 1803, the sun +was casting what looked like scarlet dust upon the venerable tops of +four rows of elms in a long baronial avenue, and sparkling on the sand +and grassy places of an immense _rond-point_, such as we often see in +the country where land is cheap enough to be sacrificed to ornament. The +air was so pure, the atmosphere so tempered that a family was sitting +out of doors as if it were summer. A man dressed in a hunting-jacket of +green drilling with green buttons, and breeches of the same stuff, and +wearing shoes with thin soles and gaiters to the knee, was cleaning a +gun with the minute care a skilful huntsman gives to the work in his +leisure hours. This man had neither game nor game-bag, nor any of the +accoutrements which denote either departure for a hunt or the return +from it; and two women sitting near were looking at him as though beset +by a terror they could ill-conceal. Any one observing the scene taking +place in this leafy nook would have shuddered, as the old mother-in-law +and the wife of the man we speak of were now shuddering. A huntsman does +not take such minute precautions with his weapon to kill small game, +neither does he use, in the department of the Aube, a heavy rifled +carbine. + +"Shall you kill a roe-buck, Michu?" said his handsome young wife, trying +to assume a laughing air. + +Before replying, Michu looked at his dog, which had been lying in the +sun, its paws stretched out and its nose on its paws, in the charming +attitude of a trained hunter. The animal had just raised its head and +was snuffing the air, first down the avenue nearly a mile long which +stretched before them, and then up the cross road where it entered the +_rond-point_ to the left. + +"No," answered Michu, "but a brute I do not wish to miss, a lynx." + +The dog, a magnificent spaniel, white with brown spots, growled. + +"Hah!" said Michu, talking to himself, "spies! the country swarms with +them." + +Madame Michu looked appealingly to heaven. A beautiful fair woman +with blue eyes, composed and thoughtful in expression and made like an +antique statue, she seemed to be a prey to some dark and bitter grief. +The husband's appearance may explain to a certain extent the evident +fear of the two women. The laws of physiognomy are precise, not only in +their application to character, but also in relation to the destinies +of life. There is such a thing as prophetic physiognomy. If it were +possible (and such a vital statistic would be of value to society) to +obtain exact likenesses of those who perish on the scaffold, the science +of Lavatar and also that of Gall would prove unmistakably that the heads +of all such persons, even those who are innocent, show prophetic signs. +Yes, fate sets its mark on the faces of those who are doomed to die a +violent death of any kind. Now, this sign, this seal, visible to the eye +of an observer, was imprinted on the expressive face of the man with the +rifled carbine. Short and stout, abrupt and active in his motions as a +monkey, though calm in temperament, Michu had a white face injected +with blood, and features set close together like those of a Tartar,--a +likeness to which his crinkled red hair conveyed a sinister expression. +His eyes, clear and yellow as those of a tiger, showed depths behind +them in which the glance of whoever examined the man might lose itself +and never find either warmth or motion. Fixed, luminous, and rigid, +those eyes terrified whoever gazed into them. The singular contrast +between the immobility of the eyes and the activity of the body +increased the chilling impression conveyed by a first sight of Michu. +Action, always prompt in this man, was the outcome of a single thought; +just as the life of animals is, without reflection, the outcome of +instinct. Since 1793 he had trimmed his red beard to the shape of a fan. +Even if he had not been (as he was during the Terror) president of a +club of Jacobins, this peculiarity of his head would in itself have +made him terrible to behold. His Socratic face with its blunt nose was +surmounted by a fine forehead, so projecting, however, that it overhung +the rest of the features. The ears, well detached from the head, had the +sort of mobility which we find in those of wild animals, which are ever +on the qui-vive. The mouth, half-open, as the custom usually is among +country-people, showed teeth that were strong and white as almonds, but +irregular. Gleaming red whiskers framed this face, which was white and +yet mottled in spots. The hair, cropped close in front and allowed to +grow long at the sides and on the back of the head, brought into relief, +by its savage redness, all the strange and fateful peculiarities of this +singular face. The neck which was short and thick, seemed to tempt the +axe. + +At this moment the sunbeams, falling in long lines athwart the group, +lighted up the three heads at which the dog from time to time glanced +up. The spot on which this scene took place was magnificently fine. The +_rond-point_ is at the entrance of the park of Gondreville, one of the +finest estates in France, and by far the finest in the departments of +the Aube; it boasts of long avenues of elms, a castle built from designs +by Mansart, a park of fifteen hundred acres enclosed by a stone wall, +nine large farms, a forest, mills, and meadows. This almost regal +property belonged before the Revolution to the family of Simeuse. +Ximeuse was a feudal estate in Lorraine; the name was pronounced +Simeuse, and in course of time it came to be written as pronounced. + +The great fortune of the Simeuse family, adherents of the House of +Burgundy, dates from the time when the Guises were in conflict with +the Valois. Richelieu first, and afterwards Louis XIV. remembered their +devotion to the factious house of Lorraine, and rebuffed them. Then +the Marquis de Simeuse, an old Burgundian, old Guiser, old leaguer, old +_frondeur_ (he inherited the four great rancors of the nobility against +royalty), came to live at Cinq-Cygne. The former courtier, rejected at +the Louvre, married the widow of the Comte de Cinq-Cygne, younger branch +of the famous family of Chargeboeuf, one of the most illustrious names +in Champagne, and now as celebrated and opulent as the elder. The +marquis, among the richest men of his day, instead of wasting his +substance at court, built the chateau of Gondreville, enlarged the +estate by the purchase of others, and united the several domains, solely +for the purposes of a hunting-ground. He also built the Simeuse mansion +at Troyes, not far from that of the Cinq-Cygnes. These two old houses +and the bishop's palace were long the only stone mansions at Troyes. The +marquis sold Simeuse to the Duc de Lorraine. His son wasted the father's +savings and some part of his great fortune under the reign of Louis +XV., but he subsequently entered the navy, became a vice-admiral, and +redeemed the follies of his youth by brilliant services. The Marquis +de Simeuse, son of this naval worthy, perished with his wife on the +scaffold at Troyes, leaving twin sons, who emigrated and were, at the +time our history opens, still in foreign parts following the fortunes of +the house of Conde. + +The _rond-point_ was the scene of the meet in the time of the +"Grand Marquis"--a name given in the family to the Simeuse who built +Gondreville. Since 1789 Michu lived in the hunting lodge at the entrance +to the park, built in the reign of Louis XIV., and called the pavilion +of Cinq-Cygne. The village of Cinq-Cygne is at the end of the forest of +Nodesme (a corruption of Notre-Dame) which was reached through the fine +avenue of four rows of elms where Michu's dog was now suspecting spies. +After the death of the Grand Marquis this pavilion fell into disuse. The +vice-admiral preferred the court and the sea to Champagne, and his son +gave the dilapidated building to Michu for a dwelling. + +This noble structure is of brick, with vermiculated stone-work at the +angles and on the casings of the doors and windows. On either side is +a gateway of finely wrought iron, eaten with rust and connected by a +railing, beyond which is a wide and deep ha-ha, full of vigorous trees, +its parapets bristling with iron arabesques, the innumerable sharp +points of which are a warning to evil-doers. + +The park walls begin on each side of the circumference of the +_rond-point_; on the one hand the fine semi-circle is defined by slopes +planted with elms; on the other, within the park, a corresponding +half-circle is formed by groups of rare trees. The pavilion, therefore, +stands at the centre of this round open space, which extends before it +and behind it in the shape of two horseshoes. Michu had turned the rooms +on the lower floor into a stable, a kitchen, and a wood-shed. The only +trace remaining of their ancient splendor was an antechamber paved with +marble in squares of black and white, which was entered on the park side +through a door with small leaded panes, such as might still be seen at +Versailles before Louis-Philippe turned that Chateau into an asylum +for the glories of France. The pavilion is divided inside by an old +staircase of worm-eaten wood, full of character, which leads to the +first story. Above that is an immense garret. This venerable edifice +is covered by one of those vast roofs with four sides, a ridgepole +decorated with leaden ornaments, and a round projecting window on each +side, such as Mansart very justly delighted in; for in France, the +Italian attics and flat roofs are a folly against which our climate +protests. Michu kept his fodder in this garret. That portion of the park +which surrounds the old pavilion is English in style. A hundred feet +from the house a former lake, now a mere pond well stocked with fish, +makes known its vicinity as much by a thin mist rising above the +tree-tops as by the croaking of a thousand frogs, toads, and other +amphibious gossips who discourse at sunset. The time-worn look of +everything, the deep silence of the woods, the long perspective of the +avenue, the forest in the distance, the rusty iron-work, the masses of +stone draped with velvet mosses, all made poetry of this old structure, +which still exists. + +At the moment when our history begins Michu was leaning against a +mossy parapet on which he had laid his powder-horn, cap, handkerchief, +screw-driver, and rags,--in fact, all the utensils needed for his +suspicious occupation. His wife's chair was against the wall beside the +outer door of the house, above which could still be seen the arms of the +Simeuse family, richly carved, with their noble motto, "Cy meurs." The +old mother, in peasant dress, had moved her chair in front of Madame +Michu, so that the latter might put her feet upon the rungs and keep +them from dampness. + +"Where's the boy?" said Michu to his wife. + +"Round the pond; he is crazy about the frogs and the insects," answered +the mother. + +Michu whistled in a way that made his hearers tremble. The rapidity with +which his son ran up to him proved plainly enough the despotic power of +the bailiff of Gondreville. Since 1789, but more especially since 1793, +Michu had been well-nigh master of the property. The terror he inspired +in his wife, his mother-in-law, a servant-lad named Gaucher, and the +cook named Marianne, was shared throughout a neighborhood of twenty +miles in circumference. It may be well to give, without further delay, +the reasons for this fear,--all the more because an account of them will +complete the moral portrait of the man. + +The old Marquis de Simeuse transferred the greater part of his property +in 1790; but, overtaken by circumstances, he had not been able to put +the estate of Gondreville into sure hands. Accused of corresponding with +the Duke of Brunswick and the Prince of Cobourg, the marquis and his +wife were thrust into prison and condemned to death by the revolutionary +tribunal of Troyes, of which Madame Michu's father was then president. +The fine domain of Gondreville was sold as national property. The +head-keeper, to the horror of many, was present at the execution of +the marquis and his wife in his capacity as president of the club of +Jacobins at Arcis. Michu, the orphan son of a peasant, showered with +benefactions by the marquise, who brought him up in her own home and +gave him his place as keeper, was regarded as a Brutus by excited +demagogues; but the people of the neighborhood ceased to recognize him +after this act of base ingratitude. The purchaser of the estate was a +man from Arcis named Marion, grandson of a former bailiff in the Simeuse +family. This man, a lawyer before and after the Revolution, was afraid +of the keeper; he made him his bailiff with a salary of three thousand +francs, and gave him an interest in the sales of timber; Michu, who was +thought to have some ten thousand francs of his own laid by, married +the daughter of a tanner at Troyes, an apostle of the Revolution in that +town, where he was president of the revolutionary tribunal. This tanner, +a man of profound convictions, who resembled Saint-Just as to character, +was afterwards mixed up in Baboeuf's conspiracy and killed himself to +escape execution. Marthe was the handsomest girl in Troyes. In spite of +her shrinking modesty she had been forced by her formidable father to +play the part of Goddess of Liberty in some republican ceremony. + +The new proprietor came only three times to Gondreville in the course +of seven years. His grandfather had been bailiff of the estate under the +Simeuse family, and all Arcis took for granted that the citizen Marion +was the secret representative of the present Marquis and his twin +brother. As long as the Terror lasted, Michu, still bailiff of +Gondreville, a devoted patriot, son-in-law of the president of the +revolutionary tribunal of Troyes and flattered by Malin, representative +from the department of the Aube, was the object of a certain sort +of respect. But when the Mountain was overthrown and after his +father-in-law committed suicide, he found himself a scape-goat; +everybody hastened to accuse him, in common with his father-in-law, of +acts to which, so far as he was concerned, he was a total stranger. The +bailiff resented the injustice of the community; he stiffened his back +and took an attitude of hostility. He talked boldly. But after the +18th Brumaire he maintained an unbroken silence, the philosophy of the +strong; he struggled no longer against public opinion, and contented +himself with attending to his own affairs,--wise conduct, which led his +neighbors to pronounce him sly, for he owned, it was said, a fortune of +not less than a hundred thousand francs in landed property. In the first +place, he spent nothing; next, this property was legitimately acquired, +partly from the inheritance of his father-in-law's estate, and partly +from the savings of six-thousand francs a year, the salary he derived +from his place with its profits and emoluments. He had been bailiff of +Gondreville for the last twelve years and every one had estimated the +probable amount of his savings, so that when, after the Consulate was +proclaimed, he bought a farm for fifty thousand francs, the suspicions +attaching to his former opinions lessened, and the community of Arcis +gave him credit for intending to recover himself in public estimation. +Unfortunately, at the very moment when public opinion was condoning +his past a foolish affair, envenomed by the gossip of the country-side, +revived the latent and very general belief in the ferocity of his +character. + +One evening, coming away from Troyes in company with several peasants, +among whom was the farmer at Cinq-Cygne, he let fall a paper on the main +road; the farmer, who was walking behind him, stooped and picked it up. +Michu turned round, saw the paper in the man's hands, pulled a pistol +from his belt and threatened the farmer (who knew how to read) to blow +his brains out if he opened the paper. Michu's action was so sudden and +violent, the tone of his voice so alarming, his eyes blazed so savagely, +that the men about him turned cold with fear. The farmer of Cinq-Cygne +was already his enemy. Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne, the man's employer, +was a cousin of the Simeuse brothers; she had only one farm left for her +maintenance and was now residing at her chateau of Cinq-Cygne. She lived +for her cousins the twins, with whom she had played in childhood at +Troyes and at Gondreville. Her only brother, Jules de Cinq-Cygne, who +emigrated before the twins, died at Mayence, but by a privilege which +was somewhat rare and will be mentioned later, the name of Cinq-Cygne +was not to perish through lack of male heirs. + +This affair between Michu and the farmer made a great noise in the +arrondissement and darkened the already mysterious shadows which seemed +to veil him. Nor was it the only circumstance which made him feared. +A few months after this scene the citizen Marion, present owner of the +Gondreville estate, came to inspect it with the citizen Malin. Rumor +said that Marion was about to sell the property to his companion, who +had profited by political events and had just been appointed on the +Council of State by the First Consul, in return for his services on +the 18th Brumaire. The shrewd heads of the little town of Arcis now +perceived that Marion had been the agent of Malin in the purchase of the +property, and not of the brothers Simeuse, as was first supposed. The +all-powerful Councillor of State was the most important personage in +Arcis. He had obtained for one of his political friends the prefecture +of Troyes, and for a farmer at Gondreville the exemption of his son from +the draft; in fact, he had done services to many. Consequently, the sale +met with no opposition in the neighborhood where Malin then reigned, and +where he still reigns supreme. + +The Empire was just dawning. Those who in these days read the histories +of the French Revolution can form no conception of the vast spaces which +public thought traversed between events which now seem to have been so +near together. The strong need of peace and tranquillity which every +one felt after the violent tumults of the Revolution brought about a +complete forgetfulness of important anterior facts. History matured +rapidly under the advance of new and eager interests. No one, therefore, +except Michu, looked into the past of this affair, which the community +accepted as a simple matter. Marion, who had bought Gondreville for six +hundred thousand francs in assignats, sold it for the value of a couple +of million in coin; but the only payments actually made by Malin were +for the costs of registration. Grevin, a seminary comrade of Malin, +assisted the transaction, and the Councillor rewarded his help with +the office of notary at Arcis. When the news of the sale reached the +pavilion, brought there by a farmer whose farm, at Grouage, was situated +between the forest and the park on the left of the noble avenue, Michu +turned pale and left the house. He lay in wait for Marion, and finally +met him alone in one of the shrubberies of the park. + +"Is monsieur about to sell Gondreville?" asked the bailiff. + +"Yes, Michu, yes. You will have a man of powerful influence for your +master. He is the friend of the First Consul, and very intimate with all +the ministers; he will protect you." + +"Then you were holding the estate for him?" + +"I don't say that," replied Marion. "At the time I bought it I was +looking for a place to put my money, and I invested in national property +as the best security. But it doesn't suit me to keep an estate once +belonging to a family in which my father was--" + +"--a servant," said Michu, violently. "But you shall not sell it! I want +it; and I can pay for it." + +"You?" + +"Yes, I; seriously, in good gold,--eight hundred thousand francs." + +"Eight hundred thousand francs!" exclaimed Marion. "Where did you get +them?" + +"That's none of your business," replied Michu; then, softening his +tone, he added in a low voice: "My father-in-law saved the lives of many +persons." + +"You are too late, Michu; the sale is made." + +"You must put it off, monsieur!" cried the bailiff, seizing his master +by the hand which he held as in a vice. "I am hated, but I choose to be +rich and powerful, and I must have Gondreville. Listen to me; I don't +cling to life; sell me that place or I'll blow your brains out!--" + +"But do give me time to get off my bargain with Malin; he's troublesome +to deal with." + +"I'll give you twenty-four hours. If you say a word about this matter +I'll chop your head off as I would chop a turnip." + +Marion and Malin left the chateau in the course of the night. Marion was +frightened; he told Malin of the meeting and begged him to keep an eye +on the bailiff. It was impossible for Marion to avoid delivering the +property to the man who had been the real purchaser, and Michu did not +seem likely to admit any such reason. Moreover, this service done by +Marion to Malin was to be, and in fact ended by being, the origin of the +former's political fortune, and also that of his brother. In 1806 Malin +had him appointed chief justice of an imperial court, and after +the creation of tax-collectors his brother obtained the post of +receiver-general for the department of the Aube. The State Councillor +told Marion to stay in Paris, and he warned the minister of police, who +gave orders that Michu should be secretly watched. Not wishing to push +the man to extremes, Malin kept him on as bailiff, under the iron rule +of Grevin the notary of Arcis. + +From that moment Michu became more absorbed and taciturn than ever, and +obtained the reputation of a man who was capable of committing a crime. +Malin, the Councillor of State (a function which the First Consul raised +to the level of a ministry), and a maker of the Code, played a great +part in Paris, where he bought one of the finest mansions in the +Faubuorg Saint-Germain after marrying the only daughter of a rich +contractor named Sibuelle. He never came to Gondreville; leaving all +matters concerning the property to the management of Grevin, the Arcis +notary. After all, what had he to fear?--he, a former representative of +the Aube, and president of a club of Jacobins. And yet, the unfavorable +opinion of Michu held by the lower classes was shared by the +bourgeoisie, and Marion, Grevin, and Malin, without giving any reason or +compromising themselves on the subject, showed that they regarded him as +an extremely dangerous man. The authorities, who were under instructions +from the minister of police to watch the bailiff, did not of course +lessen this belief. The neighborhood wondered that he kept his place, +but supposed it was in consequence of the terror he inspired. It is easy +now, after these explanations, to understand the anxiety and sadness +expressed in the face of Michu's wife. + +In the first place, Marthe had been piously brought up by her mother. +Both, being good Catholics, had suffered much from the opinions and +behavior of the tanner. Marthe could never think without a blush of +having marched through the street of Troyes in the garb of a goddess. +Her father had forced her to marry Michu, whose bad reputation was +then increasing, and she feared him too much to be able to judge him. +Nevertheless, she knew that he loved her, and at the bottom of her heart +lay the truest affection for this awe-inspiring man; she had never known +him to do anything that was not just; never did he say a brutal word, +to her at least; in fact, he endeavored to forestall her every wish. The +poor pariah, believing himself disagreeable to his wife, spent most +of his time out of doors. Marthe and Michu, distrustful of each other, +lived in what is called in these days an "armed peace." Marthe, who +saw no one, suffered keenly from the ostracism which for the last seven +years had surrounded her as the daughter of a revolutionary butcher, and +the wife of a so-called traitor. More than once she had overheard the +laborers of the adjoining farm (held by a man named Beauvisage, greatly +attached to the Simeuse family) say as they passed the pavilion, "That's +where Judas lives!" The singular resemblance between the bailiff's head +and that of the thirteenth apostle, which his conduct appeared to carry +out, won him that odious nickname throughout the neighborhood. It was +this distress of mind, added to vague but constant fears for the future, +which gave Marthe her thoughtful and subdued air. Nothing saddens so +deeply as unmerited degradation from which there seems no escape. A +painter could have made a fine picture of this family of pariahs in +the bosom of their pretty nook in Champagne, where the landscape is +generally sad. + +"Francois!" called the bailiff, to hasten his son. + +Francois Michu, a child of ten, played in the park and forest, and +levied his little tithes like a master; he ate the fruits; he chased +the game; he at least had neither cares nor troubles. Of all the family, +Francois alone was happy in a home thus isolated from the neighborhood +by its position between the park and the forest, and by the still +greater moral solitude of universal repulsion. + +"Pick up these things," said his father, pointing to the parapet, "and +put them away. Look at me! You love your father and your mother, don't +you?" The child flung himself on his father as if to kiss him, but Michu +made a movement to shift the gun and pushed him back. "Very good. You +have sometimes chattered about things that are done here," continued the +father, fixing his eyes, dangerous as those of a wild-cat, on the boy. +"Now remember this; if you tell the least little thing that happens here +to Gaucher, or to the Grouage and Bellache people, or even to Marianne +who loves us, you will kill your father. Never tattle again, and I will +forgive what you said yesterday." The child began to cry. "Don't cry; +but when any one questions you, say, as the peasants do, 'I don't know.' +There are persons roaming about whom I distrust. Run along! As for you +two," he added, turning to the women, "you have heard what I said. Keep +a close mouth, both of you." + +"Husband, what are you going to do?" + +Michu, who was carefully measuring a charge of powder, poured it into +the barrel of his gun, rested the weapon against the parapet and said to +Marthe:-- + +"No one knows I own that gun. Stand in front of it." + +Couraut, who had sprung to his feet, was barking furiously. + +"Good, intelligent fellow!" cried Michu. "I am certain there are spies +about--" + +Man and beast feel a spy. Couraut and Michu, who seemed to have one and +the same soul, lived together as the Arab and his horse in the desert. +The bailiff knew the modulations of the dog's voice, just as the dog +read his master's meaning in his eyes, or felt it exhaling in the air +from his body. + +"What do you say to that?" said Michu, in a low voice, calling his +wife's attention to two strangers who appeared in a by-path making for +the _rond-point_. + +"What can it mean?" cried the old mother. "They are Parisians." + +"Here they come!" said Michu. "Hide my gun," he whispered to his wife. + +The two men who now crossed the wide open space of the _rond-point_ were +typical enough for a painter. One, who appeared to be the subaltern, +wore top-boots, turned down rather low, showing well-made calves, and +colored silk stockings of doubtful cleanliness. The breeches, of ribbed +cloth, apricot color with metal buttons, were too large; they were baggy +about the body, and the lines of their creases seemed to indicate a +sedentary man. A marseilles waistcoat, overloaded with embroidery, open, +and held together by one button only just above the stomach, gave to the +wearer a dissipated look,--all the more so, because his jet black hair, +in corkscrew curls, hid his forehead and hung down his cheeks. Two steel +watch-chains were festooned upon his breeches. The shirt was adorned +with a cameo in white and blue. The coat, cinnamon-colored, was a +treasure to caricaturists by reason of its long tails, which, when seen +from behind, bore so perfect a resemblance to a cod that the name of +that fish was given to them. The fashion of codfish tails lasted ten +years; almost the whole period of the empire of Napoleon. The cravat, +loosely fastened, and with numerous small folds, allowed the wearer +to bury his face in it up to the nostrils. His pimpled skin, his long, +thick, brick-dust colored nose, his high cheek-bones, his mouth, lacking +half its teeth but greedy for all that and menacing, his ears adorned +with huge gold rings, his low forehead,--all these personal details, +which might have seemed grotesque in many men, were rendered terrible in +him by two small eyes set in his head like those of a pig, expressive +of insatiable covetousness, and of insolent, half-jovial cruelty. These +ferreting and perspicacious blue eyes, glassy and glacial, might be +taken for the model of that famous Eye, the formidable emblem of the +police, invented during the Revolution. Black silk gloves were on his +hands and he carried a switch. He was certainly some official personage, +for he showed in his bearing, in his way of taking snuff and ramming it +into his nose, the bureaucratic importance of an office subordinate, +one who signs for his superiors and acquires a passing sovereignty by +enforcing their orders. + +The other man, whose dress was in the same style, but elegant and +elegantly put on and careful in its smallest detail, wore boots _a la_ +Suwaroff which came high upon the leg above a pair of tight trousers, +and creaked as he walked. Above his coat he wore a spencer, an +aristocratic garment adopted by the Clichiens and the young bloods of +Paris, which survived both the Clichiens and the fashionable youths. In +those days fashions sometimes lasted longer than parties,--a symptom of +anarchy which the year of our Lord 1830 has again presented to us. This +accomplished dandy seemed to be thirty years of age. His manners were +those of good society; he wore jewels of value; the collar of his shirt +came to the tops of his ears. His conceited and even impertinent air +betrayed a consciousness of hidden superiority. His pallid face seemed +bloodless, his thin flat nose had the sardonic expression which we see +in a death's head, and his green eyes were inscrutable; their glance was +discreet in meaning just as the thin closed mouth was discreet in words. +The first man seemed on the whole a good fellow compared with this +younger man, who was slashing the air with a cane, the top of which, +made of gold, glittered in the sunshine. The first man might have cut +off a head with his own hand, but the second was capable of entangling +innocence, virtue, and beauty in the nets of calumny and intrigue, and +then poisoning them or drowning them. The rubicund stranger would have +comforted his victim with a jest; the other was incapable of a smile. +The first was forty-five years old, and he loved, undoubtedly, both +women and good cheer. Such men have passions which keep them slaves +to their calling. But the young man was plainly without passions and +without vices. If he was a spy he belonged to diplomacy, and did such +work from a pure love of art. He conceived, the other executed; he was +the idea, the other was the form. + +"This must be Gondreville, is it not, my good woman?" said the young +man. + +"We don't say 'my good woman' here," said Michu. "We are still simple +enough to say 'citizen' and 'citizeness' in these parts." + +"Ah!" exclaimed the young man, in a natural way, and without seeming at +all annoyed. + +Players of ecarte often have a sense of inward disaster when some +unknown person sits down at the same table with them, whose manners, +look, voice, and method of shuffling the cards, all, to their fancy, +foretell defeat. The instant Michu looked at the young man he felt an +inward and prophetic collapse. He was struck by a fatal presentiment; he +had a sudden confused foreboding of the scaffold. A voice told him that +that dandy would destroy him, although there was nothing whatever in +common between them. For this reason his answer was rude; he was and he +wished to be forbidding. + +"Don't you belong to the Councillor of State, Malin?" said the younger +man. + +"I am my own master," answered Malin. + +"Mesdames," said the young man, assuming a most polite air, "are we not +at Gondreville? We are expected there by Monsieur Malin." + +"There's the park," said Michu, pointing to the open gate. + +"Why are you hiding that gun, my fine girl?" said the elder, catching +sight of the carbine as he passed through the gate. + +"You never let a chance escape you, even in the country!" cried his +companion. + +They both turned back with a sense of distrust which the bailiff +understood at once in spite of their impassible faces. Marthe let them +look at the gun, to the tune of Couraut's bark; she was so convinced +that her husband was meditating some evil deed that she was thankful for +the curiosity of the strangers. + +Michu flung a look at his wife which made her tremble; he took the +gun and began to load it, accepting quietly the fatal ill-luck of this +encounter and the discovery of the weapon. He seemed no longer to care +for life, and his wife fathomed his inward feeling. + +"So you have wolves in these parts?" said the young man, watching him. + +"There are always wolves where there are sheep. You are in Champagne, +and there's a forest; we have wild-boars, large and small game both, a +little of everything," replied Michu, in a truculent manner. + +"I'll bet, Corentin," said the elder of the two men, after exchanging a +glance with his companion, "that this is my friend Michu--" + +"We never kept pigs together that I know of," said the bailiff. + +"No, but we both presided over Jacobins, citizen," replied the old +cynic,--"you at Arcis, I elsewhere. I see you've kept your Carmagnole +civility, but it's no longer in fashion, my good fellow." + +"The park strikes me as rather large; we might lose our way. If you are +really the bailiff show us the path to the chateau," said Corentin, in a +peremptory tone. + +Michu whistled to his son and continued to load his gun. Corentin looked +at Marthe with indifference, while his companion seemed charmed by +her; but the young man noticed the signs of her inward distress, which +escaped the old libertine, who had, however, noticed and feared the gun. +The natures of the two men were disclosed in this trifling yet important +circumstance. + +"I've an appointment the other side of the forest," said the bailiff. "I +can't go with you, but my son here will take you to the chateau. How did +you get to Gondreville? did you come by Cinq-Cygne?" + +"We had, like yourself, business in the forest," said Corentin, without +apparent sarcasm. + +"Francois," cried Michu, "take these gentlemen to the chateau by the +wood path, so that no one sees them; they don't follow the beaten +tracks. Come here," he added, as the strangers turned to walk away, +talking together as they did so in a low voice. Michu caught the boy +in his arms, and kissed him almost solemnly with an expression which +confirmed his wife's fears; cold chills ran down her back; she glanced +at her mother with haggard eyes, for she could not weep. + +"Go," said Michu; and he watched the boy until he was entirely out +of sight. Couraut was barking on the other side of the road in the +direction of Grouage. "Oh, that's Violette," remarked Michu. "This is +the third time that old fellow has passed here to-day. What's in the +wind? Hush, Couraut!" + +A few moments later the trot of a pony was heard approaching. + + + + +CHAPTER II. A CRIME RELINQUISHED + +Violette, mounted on one of those little nags which the farmers in the +neighborhood of Paris use so much, soon appeared, wearing a round hat +with a broad brim, beneath which his wood-colored face, deeply wrinkled, +appeared in shadow. His gray eyes, mischievous and lively, concealed +in a measure the treachery of his nature. His skinny legs, covered with +gaiters of white linen which came to the knee, hung rather than rested +in the stirrups, seemingly held in place by the weight of his hob-nailed +shoes. Above his jacket of blue cloth he wore a cloak of some coarse +woollen stuff woven in black and white stripes. His gray hair fell in +curls behind his ears. This dress, the gray horse with its short legs, +the manner in which Violette sat him, stomach projecting and shoulders +thrown back, the big chapped hands which held the shabby bridle, all +depicted him plainly as the grasping, ambitious peasant who desires +to own land and buys it at any price. His mouth, with its bluish lips +parted as if a surgeon had pried them open with a scalpel, and the +innumerable wrinkles of his face and forehead hindered the play of +features which were expressive only in their outlines. Those hard, fixed +lines seemed menacing, in spite of the humility which country-folks +assume and beneath which they conceal their emotions and schemes, as +savages and Easterns hide theirs behind an imperturbable gravity. First +a mere laborer, then the farmer of Grouage through a long course of +persistent ill-doing, he continued his evil practices after conquering a +position which surpassed his early hopes. He wished harm to all men +and wished it vehemently. When he could assist in doing harm he did it +eagerly. He was openly envious; but, no matter how malignant he might +be, he kept within the limits of the law,--neither beyond it nor behind +it, like a parliamentary opposition. He believed his prosperity depended +on the ruin of others, and that whoever was above him was an enemy +against whom all weapons were good. A character like this is very common +among the peasantry. + +Violette's present business was to obtain from Malin an extension of the +lease of his farm, which had only six years longer to run. Jealous of +the bailiff's means, he watched him narrowly. The neighbors reproached +him for his intimacy with "Judas"; but the sly old farmer, wishing +to obtain a twelve years' lease, was really lying in wait for an +opportunity to serve either the government or Malin, who distrusted +Michu. Violette, by the help of the game-keeper of Gondreville and +others belonging to the estate, kept Malin informed of all Michu's +actions. Malin had endeavored, fruitlessly, to win over Marianne, the +Michus' servant-woman; but Violette and his satellites heard everything +from Gaucher,--a lad on whose fidelity Michu relied, but who betrayed +him for cast-off clothing, waistcoats, buckles, cotton socks and +sugar-plums. The boy had no suspicion of the importance of his gossip. +Violette in his reports blackened all Michu's actions and gave them +a criminal aspect by absurd suggestions,--unknown, of course, to the +bailiff, who was aware, however, of the base part played by the farmer, +and took delight in mystifying him. + +"You must have a deal of business at Bellache to be here again," said +Michu. + +"Again! is that meant as a reproach, Monsieur Michu?--Hey! I did not +know you had that gun. You are not going to whistle for the sparrows on +that pipe, I suppose--" + +"It grew in a field of mine which bears guns," replied Michu. "Look! +this is how I sow them." + +The bailiff took aim at a viper thirty feet away and cut it in two. + +"Have you got that bandit's weapon to protect your master?" said +Violette. "Perhaps he gave it to you." + +"He came from Paris expressly to bring it to me," replied Michu. + +"People are talking all round the neighborhood of this journey of his; +some say he is in disgrace and has to retire from office; others that he +wants to see things for himself down here. But anyway, why does he +come, like the First Consul, without giving warning? Did you know he was +coming?" + +"I am not on such terms with him as to be in his confidence." + +"Then you have not seen him?" + +"I did not know he was here till I got back from my rounds in the +forest," said Michu, reloading his gun. + +"He has sent to Arcis for Monsieur Grevin," said Violette; "they are +scheming something." + +"If you are going round by Cinq-Cygne, take me up behind you," said the +bailiff. "I'm going there." + +Violette was too timid to have a man of Michu's strength on his crupper, +and he spurred his beast. Judas slung his gun over his shoulder and +walked rapidly up the avenue. + +"Who can it be that Michu is angry with?" said Marthe to her mother. + +"Ever since he heard of Monsieur Malin's arrival he has been gloomy," +replied the old woman. "But it is getting damp here, let us go in." + +After the two women had settled themselves in the chimney corner they +heard Couraut's bark. + +"There's my husband returning!" cried Marthe. + +Michu passed up the stairs; his wife, uneasy, followed him to their +bedroom. + +"See if any one is about," he said to her, in a voice of some emotion. + +"No one," she replied. "Marianne is in the field with the cow, and +Gaucher--" + +"Where is Gaucher?" he asked. + +"I don't know." + +"I distrust that little scamp. Go up in the garret, look in the +hay-loft, look everywhere for him." + +Marthe left the room to obey the order. When she returned she found +Michu on his knees, praying. + +"What is the matter?" she said, frightened. + +The bailiff took his wife round the waist and drew her to him, saying in +a voice of deep feeling: "If we never see each other again remember, my +poor wife, that I loved you well. Follow minutely the instructions which +you will find in a letter buried at the foot of the larch in that copse. +It is enclosed in a tin tube. Do not touch it until after my death. +And remember, Marthe, whatever happens to me, that in spite of man's +injustice, my arm has been the instrument of the justice of God." + +Marthe, who turned pale by degrees, became white as her own linen; she +looked at her husband with fixed eyes widened by fear; she tried to +speak, but her throat was dry. Michu disappeared like a shadow, having +tied Couraut to the foot of his bed where the dog, after the manner of +all dogs, howled in despair. + +Michu's anger against Monsieur Marion had serious grounds, but it was +now concentrated on another man, far more criminal in his eyes,--on +Malin, whose secrets were known to the bailiff, he being in a better +position than others to understand the conduct of the State Councillor. +Michu's father-in-law had had, politically speaking, the confidence of +the former representative to the Convention, through Grevin. + +Perhaps it would be well here to relate the circumstances which +brought the Simeuse and the Cinq-Cygne families into connection with +Malin,--circumstances which weighed heavily on the fate of Mademoiselle +de Cinq-Cygne's twin cousins, but still more heavily on that of Marthe +and Michu. + +The Cinq-Cygne mansion at Troyes stands opposite to that of Simeuse. +When the populace, incited by minds that were as shrewd as they were +cautious, pillaged the hotel Simeuse, discovered the marquis and +marchioness, who were accused of corresponding with the nation's +enemies, and delivered them to the national guards who took them to +prison, the crowd shouted, "Now for the Cinq-Cygnes!" To their minds the +Cinq-Cygnes were as guilty as other aristocrats. The brave and worthy +Monsieur de Simeuse in the endeavor to save his two sons, then eighteen +years of age, whose courage was likely to compromise them, had confided +them, a few hours before the storm broke, to their aunt, the Comtesse de +Cinq-Cygne. Two servants attached to the Simeuse family accompanied the +young men to her house. The old marquis, who was anxious that his name +should not die out, requested that what was happening might be concealed +from his sons, even in the event of dire disaster. Laurence, the only +daughter of the Comtesse de Cinq-Cygne, was then twelve years of age; +her cousins both loved her and she loved them equally. Like other twins +the Simeuse brothers were so alike that for a long while their mother +dressed them in different colors to know them apart. The first comer, +the eldest, was named Paul-Marie, the other Marie-Paul. Laurence de +Cinq-Cygne, to whom their danger was revealed, played her woman's part +well though still a mere child. She coaxed and petted her cousins and +kept them occupied until the very moment when the populace surrounded +the Cinq-Cygne mansion. The two brothers then knew their danger for the +first time, and looked at each other. Their resolution was instantly +taken; they armed their own servants and those of the Comtesse de +Cinq-Cygne, barricaded the doors, and stood guard at the windows, after +closing the wooden blinds, with the five men-servants and the Abbe +d'Hauteserre, a relative of the Cinq-Cygnes. These eight courageous +champions poured a deadly fire into the crowd. Every shot killed or +wounded an assailant. Laurence, instead of wringing her hands, loaded +the guns with extraordinary coolness, and passed the balls and powder to +those who needed them. The Comtesse de Cinq-Cygne was on her knees. + +"What are you doing, mother?" said Laurence. + +"I am praying," she answered, "for them and for you." + +Sublime words,--said also by the mother of Godoy, prince of the Peace, +in Spain, under similar circumstances. + +In a moment eleven persons were killed and lying on the ground among a +number of wounded. Such results either cool or excite a populace; either +it grows savage at the work or discontinues it. On the present occasion +those in advance recoiled; but the crowd behind them were there to kill +and rob, and when they saw their own dead, they cried out: "Murder! +Murder! Revenge!" The wiser heads went in search of the representative +to the Convention, Malin. The twins, by this time aware of the +disastrous events of the day, suspected Malin of desiring the ruin +of their family, and of causing the arrest of their parents, and the +suspicion soon became a certainty. They posted themselves beneath the +porte-cochere, gun in hand, intending to kill Malin as soon as he made +his appearance; but the countess lost her head; she imagined her house +in ashes and her daughter assassinated, and she blamed the young men for +their heroic defence and compelled them to desist. It was Laurence who +opened the door slightly when Malin summoned the household to admit +him. Seeing her, the representative relied upon the awe he expected to +inspire in a mere child, and he entered the house. To his first words +of inquiry as to why the family were making such a resistance, the girl +replied: "If you really desire to give liberty to France how is it that +you do not protect us in our homes? They are trying to tear down this +house, monsieur, to murder us, and you say we have no right to oppose +force to force!" + +Malin stood rooted to the ground. + +"You, the son of a mason employed by the Grand Marquis to build his +castle!" exclaimed Marie-Paul, "you have let them drag our father to +prison--you have believed calumnies!" + +"He shall be released at once," said Malin, who thought himself lost +when he saw each youth clutch his weapon convulsively. + +"You owe your life to that promise," said Marie-Paul, solemnly. "If it +is not fulfilled to-night we shall find you again." + +"As to that howling populace," said Laurence, "If you do not send them +away, the next blood will be yours. Now, Monsieur Malin, leave this +house!" + +The Conventionalist did leave it, and he harangued the crowd, dwelling +on the sacred rights of the domestic hearth, the habeas corpus and +the English "home." He told them that the law and the people were +sovereigns, that the law _was_ the people, and that the people could +only act through the law, and that power was vested in the law. The +particular law of personal necessity made him eloquent, and he managed +to disperse the crowd. But he never forgot the contemptuous expression +of the two brothers, nor the "Leave this house!" of Mademoiselle de +Cinq-Cygne. Therefore, when it was a question of selling the estates of +the Comte de Cinq-Cygne, Laurence's brother, as national property, the +sale was rigorously made. The agents left nothing for Laurence but the +chateau, the park and gardens, and one farm called that of Cinq-Cygne. +Malin instructed the appraisers that Laurence had no rights beyond her +legal share,--the nation taking possession of all that belonged to her +brother, who had emigrated and, above all, had borne arms against the +Republic. + +The evening after this terrible tumult, Laurence so entreated her +cousins to leave the country, fearing treachery on the part of Malin, +or some trap into which they might fall, that they took horse that night +and gained the Prussian outposts. They had scarcely reached the forest +of Gondreville before the hotel Cinq-Cygne was surrounded; Malin came +himself to arrest the heirs of the house of Simeuse. He dared not lay +hands on the Comtesse de Cinq-Cygne, who was in bed with a nervous +fever, nor on Laurence, a child of twelve. The servants, fearing the +severity of the Republic, had disappeared. The next day the news of the +resistance of the brothers and their flight to Prussia was known to the +neighborhood. A crowd of three thousand persons assembled before the +hotel de Cinq-Cygne, which was demolished with incredible rapidity. +Madame de Cinq-Cygne, carried to the hotel Simeuse, died there from the +effects of the fever aggravated by terror. + +Michu did not appear in the political arena until after these events, +for the marquis and his wife remained in prison over five months. During +this time Malin was away on a mission. But when Monsieur Marion sold +Gondreville to the Councillor of State, Michu understood the latter's +game,--or rather, he thought he did; for Malin was, like Fouche, one of +those personages who are of such depth in all their different aspects +that they are impenetrable when they play a part, and are never +understood until long after their drama is ended. + +In all the chief circumstances of Malin's life he had never failed to +consult his faithful friend Grevin, the notary of Arcis, whose judgment +on men and things was, at a distance, clear-cut and precise. This +faculty is the wisdom and makes the strength of second-rate men. Now, in +November, 1803, a combination of events (already related in the "Depute +d'Arcis") made matters so serious for the Councillor of State that a +letter might have compromised the two friends. Malin, who hoped to be +appointed senator, was afraid to offer his explanations in Paris. He +came to Gondreville, giving the First Consul only one of the reasons +that made him wish to be there; that reason gave him an appearance of +zeal in the eyes of Bonaparte; whereas his journey, far from concerning +the interests of the State, related to his own interests only. On this +particular day, as Michu was watching the park and expecting, after +the manner of a red Indian, a propitious moment for his vengeance, +the astute Malin, accustomed to turn all events to his own profit, was +leading his friend Grevin to a little field in the English garden, +a lonely spot in the park, favorable for a secret conference. There, +standing in the centre of the grass plot and speaking low, the friends +were at too great a distance to be overheard if any one were lurking +near enough to listen to them; they were also sure of time to change the +conversation if others unwarily approached. + +"Why couldn't we have stayed in a room in the chateau?" asked Grevin. + +"Didn't you take notice of those two men whom the prefect of police has +sent here to me?" + +Though Fouche made himself in the matter of the Pichegru, Georges, +Moreau, and Polignac conspiracy the soul of the Consular cabinet, he +did not at this time control the ministry of police, but was merely a +councillor of State like Malin. + +"Those men," continued Malin, "are Fouche's two arms. One, that dandy +Corentin, whose face is like a glass of lemonade, vinegar on his lips +and verjuice in his eyes, put an end to the insurrection at the West +in the year VII. in less than fifteen days. The other is a disciple of +Lenoir; he is the only one who preserves the great traditions of the +police. I had asked for an agent of no great account, backed by some +official personage, and they send me those past-masters of the business! +Ah, Grevin, Fouche wants to pry into my game. That's why I left those +fellows dining at the chateau; they may look into everything for all I +care; they won't find Louis XVIII. nor any sign of him." + +"But see here, my dear fellow, what game are you playing?" cried Grevin. + +"Ha, my friend, a double game is a dangerous one, but this, taking +Fouche into account, is a triple one. He may have nosed the fact that I +am in the secrets of the house of Bourbon." + +"You?" + +"I," replied Malin. + +"Have you forgotten Favras?" + +The words made an impression on the councillor. + +"Since when?" asked Grevin, after a pause. + +"Since the Consulate for life." + +"I hope there's no proof of it?" + +"Not that!" said Malin, clicking his thumb-nail against his teeth. + +In few words the Councillor of State gave a clear and succinct account +of the critical position in which Bonaparte was about to hold England, +by threatening her with invasion from the camp at Boulogne; he explained +to Grevin the bearings of that project, which was unobserved by France +and Europe but suspected by Pitt; also the critical position in which +England was about to put Bonaparte. A powerful coalition, Prussia, +Austria, and Russia, paid by English gold, was pledged to furnish +seven hundred thousand men under arms. At the same time a formidable +conspiracy was throwing a network over the whole of France, including +among its members montagnards, chouans, royalists, and their princes. + +"Louis XVIII. held that as long as there were three Consuls anarchy was +certain, and that he could at some opportune moment take his revenge +for the 13th Vendemiaire and the 18th Fructidor," said Malin, "but the +Consulate for life has unmasked Bonaparte's intentions--he will soon be +emperor. The late sub-lieutenant means to create a dynasty! This time +his life is in actual danger; and the plot is far better laid than that +of the Rue Saint-Nicaise. Pichegru, Georges, Moreau, the Duc d'Enghien, +Polignac and Riviere, the two friends of the Comte d'Artois are in it." + +"What an amalgamation!" cried Grevin. + +"France is being silently invaded; no stone is left unturned; the thing +will be carried with a rush. A hundred picked men, commanded by Georges, +are to attack the Consular guard and the Consul hand to hand." + +"Well then, denounce them." + +"For the last two months the Consul, his minister of police, the prefect +and Fouche, hold some of the clues of this vast conspiracy; but they +don't know its full extent, and at this particular moment they are +leaving nearly all the conspirators free, so as to discover more about +it." + +"As to rights," said the notary, "the Bourbons have much more right to +conceive, plan, and execute a scheme against Bonaparte, than Bonaparte +had on the 18th Brumaire against the Republic, whose product he was. He +murdered his mother on that occasion, but these royalists only seek to +recover what was theirs. I can understand that the princes and +their adherents, seeing the lists of the _emigres_ closed, mortgages +suppressed, the Catholic faith restored, anti-revolutionary decrees +accumulating, should begin to see that their return is becoming +difficult, not to say impossible. Bonaparte being the sole obstacle now +in their way, they want to get rid of him--nothing simpler. Conspirators +if defeated are brigands, if successful, heroes; and your perplexity +seems to me very natural." + +"The matter now is," said Malin, "to make Bonaparte fling the head of +the Duc d'Enghien at the Bourbons, just as the Convention flung the head +of Louis XVI. at the kings, so as to commit him as fully as we are to +the Revolution; _or else_, we must upset the idol of the French people +and their future emperor, and seat the true throne upon his ruins. I am +at the mercy of some event, some fortunate pistol-shot, some infernal +machine which does its work. Even I don't know the whole conspiracy; +they don't tell me all; but they have asked me to call the Council +of State at the critical moment and direct its action towards the +restoration of the Bourbons." + +"Wait," said the notary. + +"Impossible! I am compelled to make my decision at once." + +"Why?" + +"Well, the Simeuse brothers are in the conspiracy; they are here in +the neighborhood; I must either have them watched, let them compromise +themselves, and so be rid of them, or else I must privately protect +them. I asked the prefect for underlings and he has sent me lynxes, who +came through Troyes and have got the gendarmerie to support them." + +"Gondreville is your real object," said Grevin, "and this conspiracy +your best chance of keeping it. Fouche, Talleyrand, and those two +fellows have nothing to do with that. Therefore play fair with +them. What nonsense! those who cut Louis XVI.'s head off are in the +government; France is full of men who have bought national property, +and yet you talk of bringing back those who would require you to give up +Gondreville! If the Bourbons were not imbeciles they would pass a sponge +over all we have done. Warn Bonaparte, that's my advice." + +"A man of my rank can't denounce," said Malin, quickly. + +"Your rank!" exclaimed Grevin, smiling. + +"They have offered to make me Keeper of the Seals." + +"Ah! Now I understand your bewilderment, and it is for me to see clear +in this political darkness and find a way out for you. Now, it is quite +impossible to foresee what events may happen to bring back the Bourbons +when a General Bonaparte is in possession of eighty line of battle +ships and four hundred thousand men. The most difficult thing of all in +expectant politics is to know when a power that totters will fall; but, +my old man, Bonaparte's power is not tottering, it is in the ascendant. +Don't you think that Fouche may be sounding you so as to get to the +bottom of your mind, and then get rid of you?" + +"No; I am sure of my go-between. Besides, Fouche would never, under +those circumstances, send me such fellows as these; he would know they +would make me suspicious." + +"They alarm me," said Grevin. "If Fouche does not distrust you, and is +not seeking to probe you, why does he send them? Fouche doesn't play +such a trick as that without a motive; what is it?" + +"What decides me," said Malin, "is that I should never be easy with +those two Simeuse brothers in France. Perhaps Fouche, who knows how I am +placed towards them, wants to make sure they don't escape him, and hopes +through them to reach the Condes." + +"That's right, old fellow; it is not under Bonaparte that the present +possessor of Gondreville can be ousted." + +Just then Malin, happening to look up, saw the muzzle of a gun through +the foliage of a tall linden. + +"I was not mistaken, I thought I heard the click of a trigger," he said +to Grevin, after getting behind the trunk of a large tree, where the +notary, uneasy at his friend's sudden movement, followed him. + +"It is Michu," said Grevin; "I see his red beard." + +"Don't let us seem afraid," said Malin, who walked slowly away, saying +at intervals: "Why is that man so bitter against the owners of this +property? It was not you he was covering. If he overheard us he had +better ask the prayers of the congregation! Who the devil would have +thought of looking up into the trees!" + +"There's always something to learn," said the notary. "But he was a good +distance off, and we spoke low." + +"I shall tell Corentin about it," replied Malin. + + + + +CHAPTER III. THE MASK THROWN OFF + +A few moments later Michu returned home, his face pale, his features +contracted. + +"What is the matter?" said his wife, frightened. + +"Nothing," he replied, seeing Violette whose presence silenced him. + +Michu took a chair and sat down quietly before the fire, into which +he threw a letter which he drew from a tin tube such as are given to +soldiers to hold their papers. This act, which enabled Marthe to draw +a long breath like one relieved of a great burden, greatly puzzled +Violette. The bailiff laid his gun on the mantel-shelf with admirable +composure. Marianne the servant, and Marthe's mother were spinning by +the light of a lamp. + +"Come, Francois," said the father, presently, "it is time to go to bed." + +He lifted the boy roughly by the middle of his body and carried him off. + +"Run down to the cellar," he whispered, when they reached the stairs. +"Empty one third out of two bottles of the Macon wine, and fill them up +with the Cognac brandy which is on the shelf. Then mix a bottle of white +wine with one half brandy. Do it neatly, and put the three bottles on +the empty cask which stands by the cellar door. When you hear me open +the window in the kitchen come out of the cellar, run to the +stable, saddle my horse, mount it, and go and wait for me at +Poteaudes-Gueux--That little scamp hates to go to bed," said Michu, +returning; "he likes to do as grown people do, see all, hear all, and +know all. You spoil my people, pere Violette." + +"Goodness!" cried Violette, "what has loosened your tongue? I never +heard you say as much before." + +"Do you suppose I let myself be spied upon without taking notice of it? +You are on the wrong side, pere Violette. If, instead of serving those +who hate me, you were on my side I could do better for you than renew +that lease of yours." + +"How?" said the peasant, opening wide his avaricious eyes. + +"I'll sell you my property cheap." + +"Nothing is cheap when we have to pay," said Violette, sententiously. + +"I want to leave the neighborhood, and I'll let you have my farm of +Mousseau, the buildings, granary, and cattle for fifty thousand francs." + +"Really?" + +"Does that suit you?" + +"Hang it! I must think--" + +"We'll talk about it--I shall want earnest money." + +"I have no money." + +"Well, a note." + +"Can't give it." + +"Tell me who sent you here to-day." + +"I am on my way back from where I spent this afternoon, and I only +stopped in to say good-evening." + +"Back without your horse? What a fool you must take me for! You are +lying, and you shall not have my farm." + +"Well, to tell you the truth, it was monsieur Grevin who sent me. He +said 'Violette, we want Michu; do you go and get him; if he isn't at +home, wait for him.' I saw I should have to stay here all this evening." + +"Are those sharks from Paris still at the chateau?" + +"Ah! that I don't know; but there were people in the salon." + +"You shall have my farm; we'll settle the terms now. Wife, go and get +some wine to wash down the contract. Take the best Roussillon, the wine +of the ex-marquis,--we are not babes. You'll find a couple of bottles on +the empty cask near the door, and a bottle of white wine." + +"Very good," said Violette, who never got drunk. "Let us drink." + +"You have fifty thousand francs beneath the floor of your bedroom under +your bed, pere Violette; you will give them to me two weeks after we +sign the deed of sale before Grevin--" Violette stared at Michu and grew +livid. "Ah! you came here to spy upon a Jacobin who had the honor to be +president of the club at Arcis, and you imagine he will let you get the +better of him! I have eyes, I saw where your tiles have been freshly +cemented, and I concluded that you did not pry them up to plant wheat +there. Come, drink." + +Violette, much troubled, drank a large glass of wine without noticing +the quality; terror had put a hot iron in his stomach, the brandy was +not hotter than his cupidity. He would have given many things to be +safely home and able to change the hiding-place of his treasure. The +three women smiled. + +"Do you like that wine?" said Michu, refilling his glass. + +"Yes, I do." + +After a good half-hour's decision on the time when the buyer might take +possession, and on the various punctilios which the peasantry bring +forward when concluding a bargain,--in the midst of assertions and +counter-assertions, the filling and emptying of glasses, the giving of +promises and denials, Violette suddenly fell forward with his head on +the table, not tipsy, but dead-drunk. The instant that Michu saw his +eyes blur he opened the window. + +"Where's that scamp, Gaucher?" he said to his wife. + +"In bed." + +"You, Marianne," said the bailiff to his faithful servant, "stand in +front of his door and watch him. You, mother, stay down here, and keep +an eye on this spy; keep your eyes and ears open and don't unfasten the +door to any one but Francois. It is a question of life or death," he +added, in a deep voice. "Every creature beneath my roof must remember +that I have not quitted it this night; all of you must assert that--even +though your heads were on the block. Come," he said to Marthe, +"come, wife, put on your shoes, take your coat, and let us be off! No +questions--I go with you." + +For the last three quarters of an hour the man's demeanor and glance +were of despotic authority, all-powerful, irresistible, drawn from the +same mysterious source from which great generals on fields of battle who +inflame an army, great orators inspiring vast audiences, and (it must be +said) great criminals perpetrating bold crimes derive their inspiration. +At such times invincible influence seems to exhale from the head and +issue from the tongue; the gesture even can inject the will of the one +man into others. The three women knew that some dreadful crisis was at +hand; without warning of its nature they felt it in the rapid actions of +the man, whose countenance shone, whose forehead spoke, whose brilliant +eyes glittered like stars; they saw it in the sweat that covered his +brow to the roots of his hair, while more than once his voice vibrated +with impatience and fury. Marthe obeyed passively. Armed to the teeth +and with his gun over his shoulder Michu dashed into the avenue, +followed by his wife. They soon reached the cross-roads where Francois +was in waiting hidden among the bushes. + +"The boy is intelligent," said Michu, when he caught sight of him. + +These were his first words. His wife had rushed after him, unable to +speak. + +"Go back to the house, hide in a thick tree, and watch the country +and the park," he said to his son. "We have all gone to bed, no one is +stirring. Your grandmother will not open the door until you ask her to +let you in. Remember every word I say to you. The life of your father +and mother depends on it. No one must know we did not sleep at home." + +After whispering these words to the boy, who instantly disappeared in +the forest like an eel in the mud, Michu turned to his wife. + +"Mount behind me," he said, "and pray that God be with us. Sit firm, +the beast may die of it." So saying he kicked the horse with both heels, +pressing him with his powerful knees, and the animal sprang forward with +the rapidity of a hunter, seeming to understand what his master wanted +of him, and crossed the forest in fifteen minutes. Then Michu, who had +not swerved from the shortest way, pulled up, found a spot at the +edge of the woods from which he could see the roofs of the chateau of +Cinq-Cygne lighted by the moon, tied his horse to a tree, and followed +by his wife, gained a little eminence which overlooked the valley. + +The chateau, which Marthe and Michu looked at together for a moment, +makes a charming effect in the landscape. Though it has little extent +and is of no importance whatever as architecture, yet archaeologically +it is not without a certain interest. This old edifice of the fifteenth +century, placed on an eminence, surrounded on all sides by a moat, +or rather by deep, wide ditches always full of water, is built in +cobble-stones buried in cement, the walls being seven feet thick. +Its simplicity recalls the rough and warlike life of feudal days. The +chateau, plain and unadorned, has two large reddish towers at either +end, connected by a long main building with casement windows, the +stone mullions of which, being roughly carved, bear some resemblance to +vine-shoots. The stairway is outside the house, at the middle, in a sort +of pentagonal tower entered through a small arched door. The interior +of the ground-floor together with the rooms on the first storey +were modernized in the time of Louis XIV., and the whole building is +surmounted by an immense roof broken by casement windows with carved +triangular pediments. Before the castle lies a vast green sward the +trees of which had recently been cut down. On either side of the +entrance bridge are two small dwellings where the gardeners live, +connected across the road by a paltry iron railing without character, +evidently modern. To right and left of the lawn, which is divided in +two by a paved road-way, are the stables, cow-sheds, barns, wood-house, +bakery, poultry-yard, and the offices, placed in what were doubtless +the remains of two wings of the old building similar to those that were +still standing. The two large towers, with their pepper-pot roofs which +had not been rased, and the belfry of the middle tower, gave an air of +distinction to the village. The church, also very old, showed near by +its pointed steeple, which harmonized well with the solid masses of the +castle. The moon brought out in full relief the various roofs and towers +on which it played and sparkled. + +Michu gazed at this baronial structure in a manner that upset all his +wife's ideas about him; his face, now calm, wore a look of hope and also +a sort of pride. His eyes scanned the horizon with a glance of defiance; +he listened for sounds in the air. It was now nine o'clock; the moon +was beginning to cast its light upon the margin of the forest and to +illumine the little bluff on which they stood. The position struck him +as dangerous and he left it, fearful of being seen. But no suspicious +noise troubled the peace of the beautiful valley encircled on this side +by the forest of Nodesme. Marthe, exhausted and trembling, was awaiting +some explanation of their hurried ride. What was she engaged in? Was she +to aid in a good deed or an evil one? At that instant Michu bent to his +wife's ear and whispered:-- + +"Go the house and ask to speak to the Comtesse de Cinq-Cygne; when you +see her beg her to speak to you alone. If no one can overhear you, say +to her: 'Mademoiselle, the lives of your two cousins are in danger, and +he who can explain the how and why is waiting to speak to you.' If +she seems afraid, if she distrusts you, add these words: 'They are +conspiring against the First Consul and the conspiracy is discovered.' +Don't give your name; they distrust us too much." + +Marthe raised her face towards her husband and said:-- + +"Can it be that you serve them?" + +"What if I do?" he said, frowning, taking her words as a reproach. + +"You don't understand me," cried Marthe, seizing his large hand and +falling on her knees beside him as she kissed it and covered it with her +tears. + +"Go, go, you shall cry later," he said, kissing her vehemently. + +When he no longer heard her step his eyes filled with tears. He had +distrusted Marthe on account of her father's opinions; he had hidden the +secrets of his life from her; but the beauty of her simple nature had +suddenly appeared to him, just as the grandeur of his had, as suddenly, +revealed itself to her. Marthe had passed in a moment from the deep +humiliation caused by the degradation of the man whose name she bore, +to the exaltation given by a sense of his nobleness. The change was +instantaneous, without transition; it was enough to make her tremble. +She told him later that she went, as it were, through blood from the +pavilion to the edge of the forest, and there was lifted to heaven, in +a moment, among the angels. Michu, who had known he was not appreciated, +and who mistook his wife's grieved and melancholy manner for lack of +affection, and had left her to herself, living chiefly out of doors +and reserving all his tenderness for his boy, instantly understood the +meaning of her tears. She had cursed the part which her beauty and her +father's will had forced her to take; but now happiness, in the midst of +this great storm, played, with a beautiful flame like a vivid lightning +about them. And it was lightning! Each thought of the last ten years of +misconception, and they blamed themselves only. Michu stood motionless, +his elbow on his gun, his chin on his hand, lost in deep reverie. Such +a moment in a man's life makes him willing to accept the saddest moments +of a painful past. + +Marthe, agitated by the same thoughts as those of her husband, was also +troubled in heart by the danger of the Simeuse brothers; for she now +understood all, even the faces of the two Parisians, though she still +could not explain to herself her husband's gun. She darted forward like +a doe, and soon reached the road to the chateau. There she was surprised +by the steps of a man following behind her; she turned, with a cry, and +her husband's large hand closed her mouth. + +"From the hill up there I saw the silver lace of the gendarmes' hats. +Go in by the breach in the moat between Mademoiselle's tower and the +stables. The dogs won't bark at you. Go through the garden and call the +countess by the window; order them to saddle her horse, and ask her to +come out through the breach. I'll be there, after discovering what the +Parisians are planning, and how to escape them." + +Danger, which seemed to be rolling like an avalanche upon them, gave +wings to Marthe's feet. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. LAURENCE DE CINQ-CYGNE + +The old Frank name of the Cinq-Cygnes and the Chargeboeufs was Duineff. +Cinq-Cygne became that of the younger branch of the Chargeboeufs after +the defence of a castle made, during their father's absence, by five +daughters of that race, all remarkably fair, and of whom no one expected +such heroism. One of the first Comtes de Champagne wished, by bestowing +this pretty name, to perpetuate the memory of their deed as long as the +family existed. Laurence, the last of her race, was, contrary to Salic +law, heiress of the name, the arms, and the manor. She was therefore +Comtesse de Cinq-Cygne in her own right; her husband would have to take +both her name and her blazon, which bore for device the glorious answer +made by the elder of the five sisters when summoned to surrender the +castle, "We die singing." Worthy descendant of these noble heroines, +Laurence was fair and lily-white as though nature had made her for a +wager. The lines of her blue veins could be seen through the delicate +close texture of her skin. Her beautiful golden hair harmonized +delightfully with eyes of the deepest blue. Everything about her +belonged to the type of delicacy. Within that fragile though active +body, and in defiance as it were of its pearly whiteness, lived a +soul like that of a man of noble nature; but no one, not even a close +observer, would have suspected it from the gentle countenance and +rounded features which, when seen in profile, bore some slight +resemblance to those of a lamb. This extreme gentleness, though noble, +had something of the stupidity of the little animal. "I look like a +dreamy sheep," she would say, smiling. Laurence, who talked little, +seemed not so much dreamy as dormant. But, did any important +circumstance arise, the hidden Judith was revealed, sublime; and +circumstances had, unfortunately, not been wanting. + +At thirteen years of age, Laurence, after the events already related, +was an orphan living in a house opposite to the empty space where +so recently had stood one of the most curious specimens in France +of sixteenth-century architecture, the hotel Cinq-Cygne. Monsieur +d'Hauteserre, her relation, now her guardian, took the young heiress to +live in the country at her chateau of Cinq-Cygne. That brave provincial +gentleman, alarmed at the death of his brother, the Abbe d'Hauteserre, +who was shot in the open square as he was about to escape in the dress +of a peasant, was not in a position to defend the interests of his +ward. He had two sons in the army of the princes, and every day, at the +slightest unusual sound, he believed that the municipals of Arcis were +coming to arrest him. Laurence, proud of having sustained a siege and of +possessing the historic whiteness of her swan-like ancestors, despised +the prudent cowardice of the old man who bent to the storm, and dreamed +only of distinguishing herself. So, she boldly hung the portrait of +Charlotte Corday on the walls of her poor salon at Cinq-Cygne, and +crowned it with oak-leaves. She corresponded by messenger with her +twin cousins, in defiance of the law, which punished the act, when +discovered, with death. The messenger, who risked his life, brought back +the answers. Laurence lived only, after the catastrophes at Troyes, +for the triumph of the royal cause. After soberly judging Monsieur and +Madame d'Hauteserre (who lived with her at the chateau de Cinq-Cygne), +and recognizing their honest, but stolid natures, she put them outside +the lines of her own life. She had, moreover, too good a mind and too +sound a judgment to complain of their natures; always kind, amiable, +and affectionate towards them, she nevertheless told them none of her +secrets. Nothing forms a character so much as the practice of constant +concealment in the bosom of a family. + +After she attained her majority Laurence allowed Monsieur d'Hauteserre +to manage her affairs as in the past. So long as her favorite mare was +well-groomed, her maid Catherine dressed to please her, and Gothard +the little page was suitably clothed, she cared for nothing else. Her +thoughts were aimed too high to come down to occupations and interests +which in other times than these would doubtless have pleased her. Dress +was a small matter to her mind; moreover her cousins were not there to +see her. She wore a dark-green habit when she rode, and a gown of some +common woollen stuff with a cape trimmed with braid when she walked; +in the house she was always seen in a silk wrapper. Gothard, the little +groom, a brave and clever lad of fifteen, attended her wherever she +went, and she was nearly always out of doors, riding or hunting over the +farms of Gondreville, without objection being made by either Michu or +the farmers. She rode admirably well, and her cleverness in hunting was +thought miraculous. In the country she was never called anything but +"Mademoiselle" even during the Revolution. + +Whoever has read the fine romance of "Rob Roy" will remember that +rare woman for whose making Walter Scott's imagination abandoned its +customary coldness,--Diana Vernon. The recollection will serve to make +Laurence understood if, to the noble qualities of the Scottish huntress +you add the restrained exaltation of Charlotte Corday, surpassing, +however, the charming vivacity which rendered Diana so attractive. The +young countess had seen her mother die, the Abbe d'Hauteserre shot down, +the Marquis de Simeuse and his wife executed; her only brother had died +of his wounds; her two cousins serving in Conde's army might be killed +at any moment; and, finally, the fortunes of the Simeuse and the +Cinq-Cygne families had been seized and wasted by the Republic without +being of any benefit to the nation. Her grave demeanor, now lapsing into +apparent stolidity, can be readily understood. + +Monsieur d'Hauteserre proved an upright and most careful guardian. Under +his administration Cinq-Cygne became a sort of farm. The good man, who +was far more of a close manager than a knight of the old nobility, had +turned the park and gardens to profit, and used their two hundred acres +of grass and woodland as pasturage for horses and fuel for the family. +Thanks to his severe economy the countess, on coming of age, had +recovered by his investments in the State funds a competent fortune. +In 1798 she possessed about twenty thousand francs a year from those +sources, on which, in fact, some dividends were still due, and twelve +thousand francs a year from the rentals at Cinq-Cygne, which had lately +been renewed at a notable increase. Monsieur and Madame d'Hauteserre +had provided for their old age by the purchase of an annuity of three +thousand francs in the Tontines Lafarge. That fragment of their former +means did not enable them to live elsewhere than at Cinq-Cygne, and +Laurence's first act on coming to her majority was to give them the use +for life of the wing of the chateau which they occupied. + +The Hauteserres, as niggardly for their ward as they were for +themselves, laid up every year nearly the whole of their annuity for the +benefit of their sons, and kept the young heiress on miserable fare. +The whole cost of the Cinq-Cygne household never exceeded five thousand +francs a year. But Laurence, who condescended to no details, was +satisfied. Her guardian and his wife, unconsciously ruled by the +imperceptible influence of her strong character, which was felt even in +little things, had ended by admiring her whom they had known and treated +as a child,--a sufficiently rare feeling. But in her manner, her deep +voice, her commanding eye, Laurence held that inexplicable power which +rules all men,--even when its strength is mere appearance. To vulgar +minds real depth is incomprehensible; it is perhaps for that reason that +the populace is so prone to admire what it cannot understand. Monsieur +and Madame d'Hauteserre, impressed by the habitual silence and erratic +habits of the young girl, were constantly expecting some extraordinary +thing of her. + +Laurence, who did good intelligently and never allowed herself to be +deceived, was held in the utmost respect by the peasantry although +she was an aristocrat. Her sex, name, and great misfortunes, also the +originality of her present life, contributed to give her authority over +the inhabitants of the valley of Cinq-Cygne. She was sometimes absent +for two days, attended by Gothard, but neither Monsieur nor Madame +d'Hauteserre questioned her, on her return, as to the reasons of +her absence. Please observe, however, that there was nothing odd or +eccentric about Laurence. What she was and what she did was masked, as +it were, by a feminine and even fragile appearance. Her heart was full +of extreme sensibility, though her head contained a stoical firmness +and the virile gift of resolution. Her clear-seeing eyes knew not how to +weep; but no one would have imagined that the delicate white wrist with +its tracery of blue veins could defy that of the boldest horseman. Her +hand, so noble, so flexible, could handle gun or pistol with the ease of +a practised marksman. She always wore when out of doors the coquettish +little cap with visor and green veil which women wear on horseback. Her +delicate fair face, thus protected, and her white throat tied with a +black cravat, were never injured by her long rides in all weathers. + +Under the Directory and at the beginning of the Consulate, Laurence had +been able to escape the observation of others; but since the government +had become a more settled thing, the new authorities, the prefect of the +Aube, Malin's friends, and Malin himself had endeavored to undermine +her in the community. Her preoccupying thought was the overthrow of +Bonaparte, whose ambition and its triumphs excited the anger of her +soul,--a cold, deliberate anger. The obscure and hidden enemy of a man +at the pinnacle of glory, she kept her gaze upon him from the depths +of her valley and her forests, with relentless fixity; there were +times when she thought of killing him in the roads about Malmaison or +Saint-Cloud. Plans for the execution of this idea may have been the +cause of many of her past actions, but having been initiated, after the +peace of Amiens, into the conspiracy of the men who expected to make +the 18th Brumaire recoil upon the First Consul, she had thenceforth +subordinated her faculties and her hatred to their vast and well +laid scheme, which was to strike at Bonaparte externally by the vast +coalition of Russia, Austria, and Prussia (vanquished at Austerlitz) and +internally by the coalition of men politically opposed to each other, +but united by their common hatred of a man whose death some of them +were meditating, like Laurence herself, without shrinking from the word +assassination. This young girl, so fragile to the eye, so powerful to +those who knew her well, was at the present moment the faithful guide +and assistant of the exiled gentlemen who came from England to take part +in this deadly enterprise. + +Fouche relied on the co-operation of the _emigres_ everywhere beyond +the Rhine to lure the Duc d'Enghien into the plot. The presence of that +prince in the Baden territory, not far from Strasburg, gave much weight +later to the accusation. The great question of whether the prince really +knew of the enterprise, and was waiting on the frontier to enter France +on its success, is one of those secrets about which, as about several +others, the house of Bourbon has maintained an unbroken silence. As the +history of that period recedes into the past, impartial historians +will declare the imprudence, to say the least, of the Duc d'Enghien in +placing himself close to the frontier at a time when a vast conspiracy +was about to break forth, the secret of which was undoubtedly known to +every member of the Bourbon family. + +The caution which Malin displayed in talking with Grevin in the open +air, Laurence applied to her every action. She met the emissaries and +conferred with them either at various points in the Nodesme forest, or +beyond the valley of the Cinq-Cygne, between the villages of Sezanne +and Brienne. Often she rode forty miles on a stretch with Gothard, +and returned to Cinq-Cygne without the least sign of weariness or +pre-occupation on her fair young face. + +Some years earlier, Laurence had seen in the eyes of a little cow-boy, +then nine years old, the artless admiration which children feel for +everything that is out of the common way. She made him her page, and +taught him to groom a horse with the nicety and care of an Englishman. +She saw in the lad a desire to do well, a bright intelligence, and a +total absence of sly motives; she tested his devotion and found he had +not only mind but nobility of character; he never dreamed of reward. The +young girl trained this soul that was still so young; she was good to +him, good with dignity; she attached him to her by attaching herself +to him, and by herself polishing a nature that was half wild, without +destroying its freshness or its simplicity. When she had sufficiently +tested the almost canine fidelity she had nurtured, Gothard became her +intelligent and ingenuous accomplice. The little peasant, whom no one +could suspect, went from Cinq-Cygne to Nancy, and often returned before +any one had missed him from the neighborhood. He knew how to practise +all the tricks of a spy. The extreme distrust and caution his mistress +had taught him did not change his natural self. Gothard, who possessed +all the craft of a woman, the candor of a child, and the ceaseless +observation of a conspirator, hid every one of these admirable qualities +beneath the torpor and dull ignorance of a country lad. The little +fellow had a silly, weak, and clumsy appearance; but once at work he was +active as a fish; he escaped like an eel; he understood, as the dogs do, +the merest glance; he nosed a thought. His good fat face, both round and +red, his sleepy brown eyes, his hair, cut in the peasant fashion, his +clothes, and his slow growth gave him the appearance of a child of ten. + +The two young d'Hauteserres and the twin brothers Simeuse, under the +guidance of their cousin Laurence, who had been watching over their +safety and that of the other _emigres_ who accompanied them from +Strasburg to Bar-sur-Aube, had just passed through Alsace and Lorraine, +and were now in Champagne while other conspirators, not less bold, +were entering France by the cliffs of Normandy. Dressed as workmen the +d'Hauteserres and the Simeuse twins had walked from forest to forest, +guided on their way by relays of persons, chosen by Laurence during +the last three months from among the least suspected of the Bourbon +adherents living in each neighborhood. The _emigres_ slept by day and +travelled by night. Each brought with him two faithful soldiers; one +of whom went before to warn of danger, the other behind to protect a +retreat. Thanks to these military precautions, this valuable detachment +had at last reached, without accident, the forest of Nodesme, which +was chosen as the rendezvous. Twenty-seven other gentlemen had entered +France from Switzerland and crossed Burgundy, guided towards Paris with +the same caution. + +Monsieur de Riviere counted on collecting five hundred men, one hundred +of whom were young nobles, the officers of this sacred legion. Monsieur +de Polignac and Monsieur de Riviere, whose conduct as chiefs of this +advance was most remarkable, afterwards preserved an impenetrable +secrecy as to the names of those of their accomplices who were not +discovered. It may be said, therefore, now that the Restoration has made +matters clearer, that Bonaparte never knew the extent of the danger he +then ran, any more than England knew the peril she had escaped from +the camp at Boulogne; and yet the police of France was never more +intelligently or ably managed. + +At the period when this history begins, a coward--for cowards are always +to be found in conspiracies which are not confined to a small number +of equally strong men--a sworn confederate, brought face to face with +death, gave certain information, happily insufficient to cover the +extent of the conspiracy, but precise enough to show the object of the +enterprise. The police had therefore, as Malin told Grevin, left the +conspirators at liberty, though all the while watching them, hoping to +discover the ramifications of the plot. Nevertheless, the government +found its hand to a certain extent forced by Georges Cadoudal, a man +of action who took counsel of himself only, and who was hiding in +Paris with twenty-five _chouans_ for the purpose of attacking the First +Consul. + +Laurence combined both hatred and love within her breast. To destroy +Bonaparte and bring back the Bourbons was to recover Gondreville and +make the fortune of her cousins. The two sentiments, one the counterpart +of the other, were sufficient, more especially at twenty-three years of +age, to excite all the faculties of her soul and all the powers of her +being. So, for the last two months, she had seemed to the inhabitants +of Cinq-Cygne more beautiful than at any other period of her life. +Her cheeks became rosy; hope gave pride to her brow; but when old +d'Hauteserre read the Gazette at night and discussed the conservative +course of the First Consul she lowered her eyes to conceal her +passionate hopes of the coming fall of that enemy of the Bourbons. + +No one at the chateau had the faintest idea that the young countess had +met her cousins the night before. The two sons of Monsieur and Madame +d'Hauteserre had passed the preceding night in Laurence's own room, +under the same roof with their father and mother; and Laurence, after +knowing them safely in bed had gone between one and two o'clock in the +morning to a rendezvous with her cousins in the forest, where she hid +them in the deserted hut of a wood-dealer's agent. The following day, +certain of seeing them again, she showed no signs of her joy; nothing +about her betrayed emotion; she was able to efface all traces of +pleasure at having met them again; in fact, she was impassible. +Catherine, her pretty maid, daughter of her former nurse, and Gothard, +both in the secret, modelled their behavior upon hers. Catherine was +nineteen years old. At that age a girl is a fanatic and would let +her throat be cut before betraying a thought of one she loves. As for +Gothard, merely to inhale the perfume which the countess used in her +hair and among her clothes he would have born the rack without a word. + + + + +CHAPTER V. ROYALIST HOMES AND PORTRAITS UNDER THE CONSULATE + +At the moment when Marthe, driven by the imminence of the peril, was +gliding with the rapidity of a shadow towards the breach of which +Michu had told her, the salon of the chateau of Cinq-Cygne presented a +peaceful sight. Its occupants were so far from suspecting the storm that +was about to burst upon them that their quiet aspect would have roused +the compassion of any one who knew their situation. In the large +fireplace, the mantel of which was adorned with a mirror with +shepherdesses in paniers painted on its frame, burned a fire such as +can be seen only in chateaus bordering on forests. At the corner of +this fireplace, on a large square sofa of gilded wood with a magnificent +brocaded cover, the young countess lay as it were extended, in an +attitude of utter weariness. Returning at six o'clock from the confines +of Brie, having played the part of scout to the four gentlemen whom she +guided safely to their last halting-place before they entered Paris, she +had found Monsieur and Madame d'Hauteserre just finishing their dinner. +Pressed by hunger she sat down to table without changing either her +muddy habit or her boots. Instead of doing so at once after dinner, +she was suddenly overcome with fatigue and allowed her head with its +beautiful fair curls to drop on the back of the sofa, her feet being +supported in front of her by a stool. The warmth of the fire had dried +the mud on her habit and on her boots. Her doeskin gloves and the little +peaked cap with its green veil and a whip lay on the table where she had +flung them. She looked sometimes at the old Boule clock which stood on +the mantelshelf between the candelabra, perhaps to judge if her four +conspirators were asleep, and sometimes at the card-table in front of +the fire where Monsieur and Madame d'Hauteserre, the cure of Cinq-Cygne, +and his sister were playing a game of boston. + +Even if these personages were not embedded in this drama, their +portraits would have the merit of representing one of the aspects of +the aristocracy after its overthrow in 1793. From this point of view, +a sketch of the salon at Cinq-Cygne has the raciness of history seen in +dishabille. + +Monsieur d'Hauteserre, then fifty-two years of age, tall, spare, +high-colored, and robust in health, would have seemed the embodiment of +vigor if it were not for a pair of porcelain blue eyes, the glance of +which denoted the most absolute simplicity. In his face, which ended +in a long pointed chin, there was, judging by the rules of design, +an unnatural distance between his nose and mouth which gave him a +submissive air, wholly in keeping with his character, which harmonized, +in fact, with other details of his appearance. His gray hair, flattened +by his hat, which he wore nearly all day, looked much like a skull-cap +on his head, and defined its pear-shaped outline. His forehead, much +wrinkled by life in the open air and by constant anxieties, was flat and +expressionless. His aquiline nose redeemed the face somewhat; but the +sole indication of any strength of character lay in the bushy eyebrows +which retained their blackness, and in the brilliant coloring of his +skin. These signs were in some respects not misleading, for the worthy +gentlemen, though simple and very gentle, was Catholic and monarchical +in faith, and no consideration on earth could make him change his views. +Nevertheless he would have let himself be arrested without an effort +at defence, and would have gone to the scaffold quietly. His annuity of +three thousand francs kept him from emigrating. He therefore obeyed the +government _de facto_ without ceasing to love the royal family and to +pray for their return, though he would firmly have refused to compromise +himself by any effort in their favor. He belonged to that class of +royalists who ceaselessly remembered that they were beaten and robbed; +and who remained thenceforth dumb, economical, rancorous, without +energy; incapable of abjuring the past, but equally incapable of +sacrifice; waiting to greet triumphant royalty; true to religion and +true to the priesthood, but firmly resolved to bear in silence +the shocks of fate. Such an attitude cannot be considered that of +maintaining opinions, it becomes sheer obstinacy. Action is the essence +of party. Without intelligence, but loyal, miserly as a peasant yet +noble in demeanor, bold in his wishes but discreet in word and +action, turning all things to profit, willing even to be made mayor of +Cinq-Cygne, Monsieur d'Hauteserre was an admirable representative of +those honorable gentlemen on whose brow God Himself has written the +word _mites_,--Frenchmen who burrowed in their country homes and let the +storms of the Revolution pass above their heads; who came once more to +the surface under the Restoration, rich with their hidden savings, +proud of their discreet attachment to the monarchy, and who, after 1830, +recovered their estates. + +Monsieur d'Hauteserre's costume, expressive envelope of his distinctive +character, described to the eye both the man and his period. He always +wore one of those nut-colored great-coats with small collars which the +Duc d'Orleans made the fashion after his return from England, and which +were, during the Revolution, a sort of compromise between the hideous +popular garments and the elegant surtouts of the aristocracy. His velvet +waistcoat with flowered stripes, the style of which recalled those of +Robespierre and Saint-Just, showed the upper part of a shirt-frill in +fine plaits. He still wore breeches; but his were of coarse blue cloth, +with burnished steel buckles. His stockings of black spun-silk defined +his deer-like legs, the feet of which were shod in thick shoes, held +in place by gaiters of black cloth. He retained the former fashion of +a muslin cravat in innumerable folds fastened by a gold buckle at the +throat. The worthy man had not intended an act of political eclecticism +in adopting this costume, which combined the styles of peasant, +revolutionist, and aristocrat; he simply and innocently obeyed the +dictates of circumstances. + +Madame d'Hauteserre, forty years of age and wasted by emotions, had a +faded face which seemed to be always posing for its portrait. A lace +cap, trimmed with bows of white satin, contributed singularly to give +her a solemn air. She still wore powder, in spite of a white kerchief, +and a gown of puce-colored silk with tight sleeves and full skirt, the +sad last garments of Marie-Antoinette. Her nose was pinched, her chin +sharp, the whole face nearly triangular, the eyes worn-out with weeping; +but she now wore a touch of rouge which brightened their grayness. She +took snuff, and each time that she did so she employed all the pretty +precautions of the fashionable women of her early days; the details of +this snuff-taking constituted a ceremony which could be explained by one +fact--she had very pretty hands. + +For the last two years the former tutor of the Simeuse twins, a friend +of the late Abbe d'Hauteserre, named Goujet, Abbe des Minimes, had +taken charge of the parish of Cinq-Cygne out of friendship for the +d'Hauteserres and the young countess. His sister, Mademoiselle Goujet, +who possessed a little income of seven hundred francs, added that sum to +the meagre salary of her brother and kept his house. Neither church nor +parsonage had been sold during the Revolution on account of their small +value. The abbe and his sister lived close to the chateau, for the wall +of the parsonage garden and that of the park were the same in places. +Twice a week the pair dined at the chateau, but they came every evening +to play boston with the d'Hauteserres; for Laurence, unable to play a +game, did not even know one card from another. + +The Abbe Goujet, an old man with white hair and a face as white as that +of an old woman, endowed with a kindly smile and a gentle and persuasive +voice, redeemed the insipidity of his rather mincing face by a fine +intellectual brow and a pair of keen eyes. Of medium height, and +very well made, he still wore the old-fashioned black coat, silver +shoe-buckles, breeches, black silk stockings, and a black waistcoat +on which lay his clerical bands, giving him a distinguished air which +detracted nothing from his dignity. This abbe, who became bishop of +Troyes after the Restoration, had long made a study of young people +and fully understood the noble character of the young countess; he +appreciated her at her full value, and had shown her, from the first, +a respectful deference which contributed much to her independence at +Cinq-Cygne, for it led the austere old lady and the kind old gentleman +to yield to the young girl, who by rights should have yielded to them. +For the last six months the abbe had watched Laurence with the intuition +peculiar to priests, the most sagacious of men; and although he did +not know that this girl of twenty-three was thinking of overturning +Bonaparte as she lay there twisting with slender fingers the frogged +lacing of her riding-habit, he was well aware that she was agitated by +some great project. + +Mademoiselle Goujet was one of those unmarried women whose portrait can +be drawn in one word which will enable the least imaginative mind to +picture her; she was ungainly. She knew her own ugliness and was the +first to laugh at it, showing her long teeth, yellow as her complexion +and her bony hands. She was gay and hearty. She wore the famous short +gown of former days, a very full skirt with pockets full of keys, a cap +with ribbons and a false front. She was forty years of age very early, +but had, so she said, caught up with herself by keeping at that age for +twenty years. She revered the nobility; and knew well how to preserve +her own dignity by giving to persons of noble birth the respect and +deference that were due to them. + +This little company was a god-send to Madame d'Hauteserre, who had not, +like her husband, rural occupations, nor, like Laurence, the tonic of +hatred, to enable her to bear the dulness of a retired life. Many things +had happened to ameliorate that life within the last six years. The +restoration of Catholic worship allowed the faithful to fulfil their +religious duties, which play more of a part in country life than +elsewhere. Protected by the conservative edicts of the First Consul, +Monsieur and Madame d'Hauteserre had been able to correspond with their +sons, and no longer in dread of what might happen to them could even +hope for the erasure of their names from the lists of the proscribed and +their consequent return to France. The Treasury had lately made up +the arrearages and now paid its dividends promptly; so that the +d'Hauteserres received, over and above their annuity, about eight +thousand francs a year. The old man congratulated himself on the +sagacity of his foresight in having put all his savings, amounting to +twenty thousand francs, together with those of his ward, in the public +Funds before the 18th Brumaire, which, as we all know, sent those stocks +up from twelve to eighteen francs. + +The chateau of Cinq-Cygne had long been empty and denuded of furniture. +The prudent guardian was careful not to alter its aspect during the +revolutionary troubles; but after the peace of Amiens he made a journey +to Troyes and brought back various relics of the pillaged mansions which +he obtained from the dealers in second-hand furniture. The salon was +furnished for the first time since their occupation of the house. +Handsome curtains of white brocade with green flowers, from the hotel de +Simeuse, draped the six windows of the salon, in which the family were +now assembled. The walls of this vast room were entirely of wood, with +panels encased in beaded mouldings with masks at the angles; the whole +painted in two shades of gray. The spaces over the four doors were +filled with those designs, painted in cameo of two colors, which were +so much in vogue under Louis XV. Monsieur d'Hauteserre had picked up +at Troyes certain gilded pier-tables, a sofa in green damask, a crystal +chandelier, a card-table of marquetry, among other things that served +him to restore the chateau. In 1792 all the furniture of the house had +been taken or destroyed, for the pillage of the mansions in town was +imitated in the valley. Each time that the old man went to Troyes he +returned with some relic of the former splendor, sometimes a fine carpet +for the floor of the salon, at other times part of a dinner service, or +a bit of rare old porcelain of either Sevres or Dresden. During the last +six months he had ventured to dig up the family silver, which the cook +had buried in the cellar of a little house belonging to him at the end +of one of the long faubourgs in Troyes. + +That faithful servant, named Durieu, and his wife had followed the +fortunes of their young mistress. Durieu was the factotum of the +chateau, and his wife was the housekeeper. He was helped in the cooking +by the sister of Catherine, Laurence's maid, to whom he was teaching his +art and who gave promise of becoming an excellent cook. An old gardener, +his wife, a son paid by the day, and a daughter who served as a +dairy-woman, made up the household. Madame Durieu had lately and +secretly had the Cinq-Cygne liveries made for the gardener's son and for +Gothard. Though blamed for this imprudence by Monsieur d'Hauteserre, +the housekeeper took great pleasure in seeing the dinner served on the +festival of Saint-Laurence, the countess's fete-day, with almost as much +style as in former times. + +This slow and difficult restoration of departed things was the delight +of Monsieur and Madame d'Hauteserre and the Durieus. Laurence smiled +at what she thought nonsense. But the worthy old d'Hauteserre did not +forget the more solid matters; he repaired the buildings, put up the +walls, planted trees wherever there was a chance to make them grow, and +did not leave an inch of unproductive land. The whole valley regarded +him as an oracle in the matter of agriculture. He had managed to recover +a hundred acres of contested land, not sold as national property, being +in some way confounded with that of the township. This land he had +turned into fields which afforded good pasturage for his horses and +cattle, and he planted them round with poplars, which now, at the end +of six years, were making a fine growth. He intended to buy back some of +the lost estate, and to utilize all the out-buildings of the chateau by +making a second farm and managing it himself. + +Life at the chateau had thus become during the last two years prosperous +and almost happy. Monsieur d'Hauteserre was off at daybreaks to overlook +his laborers, for he employed them in all weathers. He came home to +breakfast, mounted his farm pony as soon as the meal was over, and +made his rounds of the estate like a bailiff,--getting home in time for +dinner, and finishing the day with a game of boston. All the inhabitants +of the chateau had their stated occupations; life was as closely +regulated there as in a convent. Laurence alone disturbed its even +tenor by her sudden journeys, her uncertain returns, and by what Madame +d'Hauteserre called her pranks. But with all this peacefulness there +existed at Cinq-Cygne conflicting interests and certain causes of +dissension. In the first place Durieu and his wife were jealous of +Catherine and Gothard, who lived in greater intimacy with their young +mistress, the idol of the household, than they did. Then the two +d'Hauteserres, encouraged by Mademoiselle Goujet and the abbe, wanted +their sons as well as the Simeuse brothers to take the oath and return +to this quiet life, instead of living miserably in foreign countries. +Laurence scouted the odious compromise and stood firmly for the +monarchy, militant and implacable. The four old people, anxious that +their present peaceful existence should not be risked, nor their spot +of refuge, saved from the furious waters of the revolutionary torrent, +lost, did their best to convert Laurence to their cautious views, +believing that her influence counted for much in the unwillingness of +their sons and the Simeuse twins to return to France. The superb disdain +with which she met the project frightened these poor people, who were +not mistaken in their fears that she was meditating what they called +knight-errantry. This jarring of opinion came to the surface after the +explosion of the infernal machine in the rue Saint-Nicaise, the first +royalist attempt against the conqueror of Marengo after his refusal +to treat with the house of Bourbon. The d'Hauteserres considered +it fortunate that Bonaparte escaped that danger, believing that the +republicans had instigated it. But Laurence wept with rage when she +heard he was safe. Her despair overcame her usual reticence, and she +vehemently complained that God had deserted the sons of Saint-Louis. + +"I," she exclaimed, "I could have succeeded! Have we no right," she +added, seeing the stupefaction her words produced on the faces about +her, and addressing the abbe, "no right to attack the usurper by every +means in our power?" + +"My child," replied the abbe, "the Church has been greatly blamed by +philosophers for declaring in former times that the same weapons might +be employed against usurpers which the usurpers themselves had employed +to succeed; but in these days the Church owes far too much to the First +Consul not to protect him against that maxim,--which, by the by, was due +to the Jesuits." + +"So the Church abandons us!" she answered, gloomily. + +From that day forth whenever the four old people talked of submitting +to the decrees of Providence, Laurence left the room. Of late, the abbe, +shrewder than Monsieur d'Hauteserre, instead of discussing principles, +drew pictures of the material advantages of the consular rule, less to +convert the countess than to detect in her eyes some expression +which might enlighten him as to her projects. Gothard's frequent +disappearances, the long rides of his mistress, and her evident +preoccupation, which, for the last few days, had appeared in her face, +together with other little signs not to be hidden in the silence and +tranquillity of such a life, had roused the fears of these submissive +royalists. Still, as no event happened, and perfect quiet appeared to +reign in the political atmosphere, the minds of the little household +were soothed into peace, and the countess's long rides were one more +attributed to her passion for hunting. + +It is easy to imagine the deep silence which reigned at nine o'clock in +the evening in the park, courtyards, and gardens of Cinq-Cygne, where at +that particular moment the persons we have described were harmoniously +grouped, where perfect peace pervaded all things, where comfort and +abundance were again enjoyed, and where the worthy and judicious old +gentleman was still hoping to convert his late ward to his system of +obedience to the ruling powers by the argument of what we may call the +continuity of prosperous results. + +These royalists continued to play their boston, a game which spread +ideas of independence under a frivolous form over the whole of France; +for it was first invented in honor of the American insurgents, its very +terms applying to the struggle which Louis XVI. encouraged. While making +their "independences" and "poverties," the players kept an eye on the +countess, who had fallen asleep, overcome by fatigue, with a singular +smile on her lips, her last waking thought having been of the terror two +words could inspire in the minds of the peaceful company by informing +the d'Hauteserres that their sons had passed the preceding night under +that roof. What young girl of twenty-three would not have been, as +Laurence was, proud to play the part of Destiny? and who would not have +felt, as she did, a sense of compassion for those whom she felt to be so +far below her in loyalty? + +"She sleeps," said the abbe. "I have never seen her so wearied." + +"Durieu tells me her mare is almost foundered," remarked Madame +d'Hauteserre. "Her gun has not been fired; the breech is clean; she has +evidently not hunted." + +"Oh! that's neither here nor there," said the abbe. + +"Bah?" cried Mademoiselle Goujet; "when I was twenty-three and saw I +should be an old maid all my life, I rushed about and fatigued myself +in a dozen ways. I understand how the countess can scour the country for +hours without thinking of the game. It is nearly twelve years now since +she has seen her cousins, and you know she loves them. Well, if I +were she, if I were as young and pretty, I'd make a straight line for +Germany! Poor darling, perhaps she is thinking of the frontier, and that +may be the reason why she rides so far towards it." + +"You are rather giddy, Mademoiselle Goujet," said the abbe, smiling. + +"Not at all," she replied. "I see you all uneasy about the goings on of +a young girl, and I am explaining them to you." + +"Her cousins will submit and return soon; they will all be rich, and she +will end by calming down," said old d'Hauteserre. + +"God grant it!" said his wife, taking out a gold snuff-box which had +again seen the light under the Consulate. + +"There is something stirring in the neighborhood," remarked Monsieur +d'Hauteserre to the abbe. "Malin has been two days at Gondreville." + +"Malin!" cried Laurence, roused by the name, though her sleep was sound. + +"Yes," replied the abbe, "but he leaves to-night; everybody is +conjecturing the motive of this hasty visit." + +"That man," said Laurence, "is the evil genius of our two houses." + +The countess had been dreaming of her cousins and the young Hauteserres; +she saw them in peril. Her beautiful eyes grew fixed and glassy as her +mind thus warned dwelled on the dangers they were about to incur in +Paris. She rose suddenly and went to her bedroom without speaking. Her +bedroom was the best in the house; next came a dressing-room and an +oratory, in the tower which faced towards the forest. Soon after she +had left the salon the dogs barked, the bell of the small gate rang, +and Durieu rushed into the salon with a frightened face. "Here is the +mayor!" he said. "Something is the matter." + + + + +CHAPTER VI. A DOMICILIARY VISIT + +The mayor, a former huntsman of the house of Simeuse, came occasionally +to the chateau, where the d'Hauteserres showed him out of policy, a +deference to which he attached great value. His name was Goulard; he had +married a rich woman of Troyes, whose property, which was in the commune +of Cinq-Cygne, he had further increased by the purchase of a fine abbey +and its lands, in which he invested all his savings. The vast abbey of +Val-des-Preux, standing about a mile from the chateau, he had turned +into a dwelling that was almost as splendid as Gondreville; in it his +wife and he were now living like rats in a cathedral. "Ah! Goulard, you +have been greedy," Mademoiselle had said to him with a laugh the first +time she received him at Cinq-Cygne. Though greatly attached to the +Revolution and coldly received by the countess, the mayor always felt +himself bound by ties of respect to the Cinq-Cygne and Simeuse families. +He therefore shut his eyes to what went on at the chateau. He called +shutting his eyes not seeing the portraits of Louis XVI., Marie +Antoinette, and the royal children, and those of Monsieur, the Comte +d'Artois, Cazales and Charlotte Corday, which filled the various panels +of the salon; not resenting either the wishes freely expressed in his +presence for the ruin of the Republic, or the ridicule flung at the five +directors and all the other governmental combinations of that time. +The position of this man, who, like many parvenus, having once made his +fortune, reverted to his early faith in the old families, and sought to +attach himself to them, was now being made use of by the two members of +the Paris police whose profession had been so quickly guessed by Michu, +and who, before going to Gondreville had reconnoitred the neighborhood. + +The worthy described as the depositary of the best traditions of the old +police, and Corentin phoenix of spies, were in fact employed on a secret +mission. Malin was not mistaken in attributing a double purpose to those +stars of tragic farces. But, before seeing them at work, it is advisable +to show the head of which they were the arms. When Bonaparte became +First Consul he found Fouche at the head of the police. The Revolution +had frankly and with good reason made the management of the police into +a special ministry. But after his return from Marengo, Bonaparte created +the prefecture of police, placed Dubois in charge of it, and called +Fouche to the Council of State, naming as his successor in the ministry +a conventional named Cochon, since known as Comte de Lapparent. Fouche, +who considered the ministry of police as by far the most important in a +government of broad ideas and fixed policy, saw disgrace or at any +rate distrust in the change. After Napoleon became aware of the immense +superiority of this great statesman, as evidenced in the affair of the +infernal machine and in the conspiracy with which we are now concerned, +he returned him to the ministry of police. Later still, becoming alarmed +at the powers Fouche displayed during his absence at the time of the +affair at Walcheren, the Emperor gave that ministry to the Duc de +Rovigo, and sent Fouche (Duc d'Otrante) as governor to the Illyrian +provinces,--an appointment which was in fact an exile. + +The singular genius of this man, Fouche, which had the power of +inspiring Napoleon with a sort of fear, did not reveal itself all at +once. This obscure conventional, one of the most extraordinary men +of our time, and the most misjudged, was moulded, as it were, by the +whirlwind of events. He raised himself under the Directory to the height +from which men of genius could see the future and judge the past, and +then, like certain commonplace actors who suddenly become admirable +through the light of some vivid perception, he gave proofs of his +dexterity during the rapid revolution of the 18th Brumaire. This man +with the pallid face, educated to monastic dissimulation, possessing +the secrets of the _montagnards_ to whom he belonged, and those of the +royalists to whom he ended by belonging, had slowly and silently studied +the men, the events, and the interests on the political stage; he +penetrated Napoleon's secrets, he gave him useful counsel and precious +information. Satisfied with having proven his capacity and his +usefulness, Fouche was careful not to disclose himself completely. He +wished to remain at the head of affairs, but the Emperor's restless +uneasiness about him cost him his place. + +The ingratitude or rather the distrust shown by Napoleon after the +affair at Walcheren, gives the key-note to the character of a man who, +unfortunately for himself, was not a great _seigneur_, and whose conduct +was modelled on that of Talleyrand. At that time neither his former +colleagues nor his present ones had suspected the amplitude of his +genius, which was purely ministerial, essentially governmental, just +in its forecasts and incredibly sagacious. To-day, every impartial +historian perceives that Napoleon's inordinate self-love was among +the chief causes of his fall, a punishment which cruelly expiated his +wrong-doing. In the mind of that distrustful sovereign lurked a constant +jealousy for his own rising power, which influenced all his actions, and +caused his secret hatred for men of talent, the precious legacy of the +Revolution, with whom he might have made himself a cabinet capable of +being a true repository for his thoughts. Talleyrand and Fouche were not +the only ones who gave him umbrage. The misfortune of usurpers is that +those who have given them a crown are as much their enemies as those +from whom they snatch it. Napoleon's sovereignty was never convincingly +felt by those who were once his superiors or his equals, nor by those +who still held to the doctrine of rights; none of them regarded their +oath of allegiance to him as binding. + +Malin, an inferior man, incapable of comprehending Fouche's hidden +genius, or of distrusting his own perceptions, burned himself, like +a moth in a candle, by asking him confidentially to send agents to +Gondreville, where, he said, he hoped to obtain certain clues to the +conspiracy. Fouche, without alarming his friend by any questions, +asked himself why Malin was going to Gondreville, and why he did not +immediately and without loss of time, give the information he already +possessed. The ex-Oratorian, fed from his youth up on trickery, and well +aware of the double part played by a good many of the conventionals, +said to himself: "From whom is Malin likely to obtain information when +we ourselves know little or nothing?" Fouche concluded therefore that +there was some either latent or prospective collusion, and took care to +say nothing about it to the First Consul. He preferred to make Malin +his instrument rather than destroy him. It was Fouche's habit to keep to +himself a good part of the secrets he detected, and he thus obtained +for his own purposes a power over those concerned which was even greater +than that of Bonaparte. This duplicity was one of the Emperor's charges +against his minister. + +Fouche knew of the swindling transaction by which Malin became possessed +of Gondreville and which led him to keep his eyes so anxiously on the +Simeuse brothers. These gentlemen were now serving in the army of Conde; +Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne was their cousin; possibly they were in +her neighborhood, and were sharers in the conspiracy; if so, it would +implicate the house of Conde to which they were devoted. Talleyrand +and Fouche were bent on casting light into this dark corner of the +conspiracy of 1803. All these considerations Fouche saw at a glance, +rapidly and with great clearness. But between Malin, Talleyrand, +and himself there were strong ties which forced him to the utmost +circumspection, and made him anxious to know the exact state of things +within the walls of Gondreville. Corentin was unreservedly attached to +Fouche, just as Monsieur de la Besnardiere was to Talleyrand, Gentz to +Monsieur de Metternich, Dundas to Pitt, Duroc to Napoleon, Chavigny to +Cardinal Richelieu. Corentin was not the counsellor of his master, but +his instrument, the Tristan to this Louis XI. of low estate. Fouche had +kept him in the ministry of the police when he himself left it, so as to +still keep an eye and a finger in it. It was said that Corentin belonged +to Fouche by some unavowed relationship, for he rewarded him lavishly +after every service. Corentin had a friend in Peyrade, the old pupil of +the last lieutenant of police; but he kept a good many of his secrets +from him. Fouche gave Corentin an order to explore the chateau of +Gondreville, to get the plan of it into his memory, and to know every +hiding-place within its walls. + +"We may be obliged to return there," said the ex-minister, precisely +as Napoleon told his lieutenants to explore the field of Austerlitz on +which he intended to fall back. + +Corentin was also to study Malin's conduct, discover what influence +he had in the neighborhood, and observe the men he employed. Fouche +regarded it as certain that the Simeuse brothers were in that part of +the country. By cautiously watching the two officers, who were closely +allied with the Prince de Conde, Peyrade and Corentin could obtain +precious light on the ramifications of the conspiracy beyond the Rhine. +In any case, however, Corentin received the means, the orders, and +the agents, to surround the chateau of Cinq-Cygne and watch the whole +region, from the forest of Nodesme into Paris. Fouche insisted on the +utmost caution, and would only allow a domiciliary visit to Cinq-Cygne +in case Malin gave them positive information which made it necessary. By +way of instructions he explained to Corentin the otherwise inexplicable +personality of Michu, who had been watched by the police for the last +three years. Corentin's idea was that of his master: "Malin knows all +about the conspiracy--But," he added to himself, "perhaps Fouche does, +too; who knows?" + +Corentin, having started for Troyes before Malin, had made arrangements +with the commandant of the gendarmerie in that town, who picked out a +number of his most intelligent men and placed them under orders of an +able captain. Corentin chose Gondreville as the place of rendezvous, +and directed the captain to send some of his men at night in four +detachments to different points of the valley of Cinq-Cygne at +sufficient distance from each other to cause no alarm. These four +pickets were to form a square and close in around the chateau of +Cinq-Cygne. By leaving Corentin alone at Gondreville during his +consultation in the fields with Grevin, Malin had enabled him to fulfil +part of Fouche's orders and explore the house. When the Councillor of +State returned home he told Corentin so positively that the d'Hauteserre +and Simeuse brothers were in the neighborhood and probably at Cinq-Cygne +that the two agents despatched the captain with the rest of his company, +who, fortunately for the four gentlemen, crossed the forest on their +way to the chateau during the time when Michu was making Violette drunk. +Malin had told Corentin and Peyrade of the escape he had from lying in +wait for him. The two agents related the incident of the gun they +had seen the bailiff load, and Grevin had sent Violette to obtain +information as to what was going on at Michu's house. Corentin advised +the notary to take Malin to his own house in the little town of Arcis, +and let him sleep there as a measure of precaution. At the moment when +Michu and his wife were rushing through the forest on their way to +Cinq-Cygne, Peyrade and Corentin were starting from Gondreville for +Cinq-Cygne in a shabby wicker carriage, drawn by one post-horse driven +by the corporal of Arcis, one of the shrewdest men in the Legion, whom +the commandant at Troyes advised them to employ. + +"The surest way to seize them all is to warn them," said Peyrade to +Corentin. "At the moment when they are well frightened and are trying to +save their papers or to escape we'll fall upon them like a thunderbolt. +The gendarmes surround the chateau now and are as good as a net. We +sha'n't lose one of them!" + +"You had better send the mayor to warn them," said the corporal. "He +is friendly to them and wouldn't like to see them harmed; they won't +distrust him." + +Just as Goulard was preparing to go to bed, Corentin, who stopped +the vehicle in a little wood, went to his house and told him, +confidentially, that in a few moments an emissary from the government +would require him to enter the chateau of Cinq-Cygne and arrest +the brothers d'Hauteserre and Simeuse; and in case they had already +disappeared he would have to ascertain if they had slept there the +night before, search Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne's papers, and, possibly, +arrest both the masters and servants of the household. + +"Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne," said Corentin, "is undoubtedly protected +by some great personages, for I have received private orders to warn +her of this visit, and to do all I can to save her without compromising +myself. Once on the ground, I shall no longer be able to do so, for I am +not alone; go to the chateau yourself and warn them." + +The mayor's visit at that time of night was all the more bewildering to +the card-players when they saw the agitation of his face. + +"Where is the countess?" were his first words. + +"She has gone to bed," said Madame d'Hauteserre. + +The mayor, incredulous, listened to noises that were heard on the upper +floor. + +"What is the matter with you, Goulard?" said Monsieur d'Hauteserre. + +Goulard was dumb with surprise as he noted the tranquil ease of the +faces about him. Observing the peaceful and innocent game of cards which +he had thus interrupted, he was unable to imagine what the Parisian +police meant by their suspicions. + +At that moment Laurence, kneeling in her oratory, was praying fervently +for the success of the conspiracy. She prayed to God to send help and +succor to the murderers of Bonaparte. She implored Him ardently to +destroy that fatal being. The fanaticism of Harmodius, Judith, Jacques +Clement, Ankarstroem, of Charlotte Corday and Limoelan, inspired this +pure and virgin spirit. Catherine was preparing the bed, Gothard was +closing the blinds, when Marthe Michu coming under the windows flung a +pebble on the glass and was seen at once. + +"Mademoiselle, here's some one," said Gothard, seeing a woman. + +"Hush!" said Marthe, in a low voice. "Come down and speak to me." + +Gothard was in the garden in less time than a bird would have taken to +fly down from a tree. + +"In a minute the chateau will be surrounded by the gendarmerie. Saddle +mademoiselle's horse without making any noise and take it down through +the breach in the moat between the stables and this tower." + +Marthe quivered when she saw Laurence, who had followed Gothard, +standing beside her. + +"What is it?" asked Laurence, quietly. + +"The conspiracy against the First Consul is discovered," replied Marthe, +in a whisper. "My husband, who seeks to save your two cousins, sends me +to ask you to come and speak to him." + +Laurence drew back and looked at Marthe. "Who are you?" she said. + +"Marthe Michu." + +"I do not know what you want of me," replied the countess, coldly. + +"Take care, you will kill them. Come with me, I implore you in the +Simeuse name," said Marthe, clasping her hands and stretching them +towards Laurence. "Have you papers here which may compromise you? If so, +destroy them. From the heights over there my husband has just seen the +silver-laced hats and the muskets of the gendarmerie." + +Gothard had already clambered to the hay-loft and seen the same sight; +he heard in the stillness of the evening the sound of their horses' +hoofs. Down he slipped into the stable and saddled his mistress's mare, +whose feet Catherine, at a word from the lad, muffled in linen. + +"Where am I to go?" said Laurence to Marthe, whose look and language +bore the unmistakable signs of sincerity. + +"Through the breach," she replied; "my noble husband is there. You shall +learn the value of a 'Judas'!" + +Catherine went quickly into the salon, picked up the hat, veil, whip, +and gloves of her mistress, and disappeared. This sudden apparition and +action were so striking a commentary on the mayor's inquiry that +Madame d'Hauteserre and the abbe exchanged glances which contained the +melancholy thought: "Farewell to all our peace! Laurence is conspiring; +she will be the death of her cousins." + +"But what do you really mean?" said Monsieur d'Hauteserre to the mayor. + +"The chateau is surrounded. You are about to receive a domiciliary +visit. If your sons are here tell them to escape, and the Simeuse +brothers too, if they are with them." + +"My sons!" exclaimed Madame d'Hauteserre, stupefied. + +"We have seen no one," said Monsieur d'Hauteserre. + +"So much the better," said Goulard; "but I care too much for the +Cinq-Cygne and Simeuse families to let any harm come to them. Listen to +me. If you have any compromising papers--" + +"Papers!" repeated the old gentleman. + +"Yes, if you have any, burn them at once," said the mayor. "I'll go and +amuse the police agents." + +Goulard, whose object was to run with the royalist hare and hold with +the republican hounds, left the room; at that moment the dogs barked +violently. + +"There is no longer time," said the abbe, "here they come! But who is to +warn the countess? Where is she?" + +"Catherine didn't come for her hat and whip to make relics of them," +remarked Mademoiselle Goujet. + +Goulard tried to detain the two agents for a few moments, assuring them +of the perfect ignorance of the family at Cinq-Cygne. + +"You don't know these people!" said Peyrade, laughing at him. + +The two agents, insinuatingly dangerous, entered the house at once, +followed by the corporal from Arcis and one gendarme. The sight of them +paralyzed the peaceful card-players, who kept their seats at the table, +terrified by such a display of force. The noise produced by a dozen +gendarmes whose horses were stamping on the terrace, was heard without. + +"I do not see Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne," said Corentin. + +"She is probably asleep in her bedroom," said Monsieur d'Hauteserre. + +"Come with me, ladies," said Corentin, turning to pass through the +ante-chamber and up the staircase, followed by Mademoiselle Goujet and +Madame d'Hauteserre. "Rely upon me," he whispered to the old lady. "I am +in your interests. I sent the mayor to warn you. Distrust my colleague +and look to me. I can save every one of you." + +"But what is it all about?" said Mademoiselle Goujet. + +"A matter of life and death; you must know that," replied Corentin. + +Madame d'Hauteserre fainted. To Mademoiselle Goujet's great astonishment +and Corentin's disappointment, Laurence's room was empty. Certain that +no one could have escaped from the park or the chateau, for all the +issues were guarded, Corentin stationed a gendarme in every room and +ordered others to search the farm buildings, stables, and sheds. Then he +returned to the salon, where Durieu and his wife and the other servants +had rushed in the wildest excitement. Peyrade was studying their faces +with his little blue eye, cold and calm in the midst of the uproar. Just +as Corentin reappeared alone (Mademoiselle Goujet remaining behind to +take care of Madame d'Hauteserre) the tramp of horses was heard, and +presently the sound of a child's weeping. The horses entered by the +small gate; and the general suspense was put an end to by a corporal +appearing at the door of the salon pushing Gothard, whose hands were +tied, and Catherine whom he led to the agents. + +"Here are some prisoners," he said; "that little scamp was escaping on +horseback." + +"Fool!" said Corentin, in his ear, "why didn't you let him alone? You +could have found out something by following him." + +Gothard had chosen to burst into tears and behave like an idiot. +Catherine took an attitude of artless innocence which made the old agent +reflective. The pupil of Lenoir, after considering the two prisoners +carefully, and noting the vacant air of the old gentleman whom he took +to be sly, the intelligent eye of the abbe who was still fingering the +cards, and the utter stupefaction of the servants and Durieu, approached +Corentin and whispered in his ear, "We are not dealing with ninnies." + +Corentin answered with a look at the card-table; then he added, "They +were playing at boston! Mademoiselle's bed was just being made for the +night; she escaped in a hurry; it is a regular surprise; we shall catch +them." + + + + +CHAPTER VII. A FOREST NOOK + +A breach has always a cause and a purpose. Here is the explanation of +how the one which led from the tower called that of Mademoiselle and the +stables came to be made. After his installation as Laurence's guardian +at Cinq-Cygne old d'Hauteserre converted a long ravine, through which +the water of the forest flowed into the moat, into a roadway between two +tracts of uncultivated land belonging to the chateau, by merely planting +out in it about a hundred walnut trees which he found ready in the +nursery. In eleven years these trees had grown and branched so as to +nearly cover the road, hidden already by steep banks, which ran into a +little wood of thirty acres recently purchased. When the chateau had its +full complement of inhabitants they all preferred to take this covered +way through the breach to the main road which skirted the park walls and +led to the farm, rather than go round by the entrance. By dint of thus +using it the breach in the sides of the moat had gradually been widened +on both sides, with all the less scruple because in this nineteenth +century of ours moats are no longer of the slightest use, and Laurence's +guardian had often talked of putting this one to some other purpose. The +constant crumbling away of the earth and stones and gravel had ended by +filling up the ditch, so that only after heavy rains was the causeway +thus constructed covered. But the bank was still so steep that it was +difficult to make a horse descend it, and even more difficult to get him +up upon the main road. Horses, however, seem in times of peril to share +their masters' thought. + +While the young countess was hesitating to follow Marthe, and asking +explanations, Michu, from his vantage-ground watched the closing in of +the gendarmes and understood their plan. He grew desperate as time +went by and the countess did not come to him. A squad of gendarmes were +marching along the park wall and stationing themselves as sentinels, +each man being near enough to communicate with those on either side of +them, by voice and eye. Michu, lying flat on his stomach, his ear to +earth, gauged, like a red Indian, by the strength of the sounds the time +that remained to him. + +"I came too late!" he said to himself. "Violette shall pay dear for +this! what a time it took to make him drunk! What can be done?" + +He heard the detachment that was coming through the forest reach the +iron gates and turn into the main road, where before long it would meet +the squad coming up from the other direction. + +"Still five or six minutes!" he said. + +At that instant the countess appeared. Michu took her with a firm hand +and pushed her into the covered way. + +"Keep straight before you! Lead her to where my horse is," he said to +his wife, "and remember that gendarmes have ears." + +Seeing Catherine, who carried the hat and whip, and Gothard leading the +mare, the man, keen-witted in presence of danger, bethought himself of +playing the gendarmes a trick as useful as the one he had just played +Violette. Gothard had forced the mare to mount the bank. + +"Her feet muffled! I thank thee, boy," exclaimed the bailiff. + +Michu let the mare follow her mistress and took the hat, gloves, and +whip from Catherine. + +"You have sense, boy, you'll understand me," he said. "Force your own +horse up here, jump on him, and draw the gendarmes after you across the +fields towards the farm; get the whole squad to follow you--And you," +he added to Catherine, "there are other gendarmes coming up on the road +from Cinq-Cygne to Gondreville; run in the opposite direction to the one +Gothard takes, and draw them towards the forest. Manage so that we shall +not be interfered with in the covered way." + +Catherine and the boy, who were destined to give in this affair such +remarkable proofs of intelligence, executed the manoeuvre in a way to +make both detachments of gendarmes believe that they held the game. The +dim light of the moon prevented the pursuers from distinguishing the +figure, clothing, sex, or number of those they followed. The pursuit was +based on the maxim, "Always arrest those who are escaping,"--the folly +of which saying was, as we have seen, energetically declared by Corentin +to the corporal in command. Michu, counting on this instinct of +the gendarmes, was able to reach the forest a few moments after the +countess, whom Marthe had guided to the appointed place. + +"Go home now," he said to Marthe. "The forest is watched and it is +dangerous to remain here. We need all our freedom." + +Michu unfastened his horse and asked the countess to follow him. + +"I shall not go a step further," said Laurence, "unless you give me some +proof of the interest you seem to have in us--for, after all, you are +Michu." + +"Mademoiselle," he answered, in a gentle voice; "the part I am playing +can be explained to you in two words. I am, unknown to the Marquis de +Simeuse and his brother, the guardian of their property. On this subject +I received the last instructions of their late father and their dear +mother, my protectress. I have played the part of a virulent Jacobin to +serve my dear young masters. Unhappily, I began this course too late; +I could not save their parents." Here, Michu's voice broke down. "Since +the young men emigrated I have sent them regularly the sums they needed +to live upon." + +"Through the house of Breintmayer of Strasburg?" asked the countess. + +"Yes, mademoiselle; the correspondents of Monsieur Girel of Troyes, a +royalist who, like me, made himself for good reasons, a Jacobin. The +paper which your farmer picked up one evening and which I forced him +to surrender, related to the affair and would have compromised your +cousins. My life no longer belongs to me, but to them, you understand. I +could not buy in Gondreville. In my position, I should have lost my head +had the authorities known I had the money. I preferred to wait and +buy it later. But that scoundrel of a Marion was the slave of another +scoundrel, Malin. All the same, Gondreville shall once more belong +to its rightful masters. That's my affair. Four hours ago I had Malin +sighted by my gun; ha! he was almost gone then! Were he dead, the +property would be sold and you could have bought it. In case of my death +my wife would have brought you a letter which would have given you the +means of buying it. But I overheard that villain telling his accomplice +Grevin--another scoundrel like himself--that the Marquis and his brother +were conspiring against the First Consul, that they were here in the +neighborhood, and that he meant to give them up and get rid of them so +as to keep Gondreville in peace. I myself saw the police spies; I laid +aside my gun, and I have lost no time in coming here, thinking that you +must be the one to know best how to warn the young men. That's the whole +of it." + +"You are worthy to be a noble," said Laurence, offering her hand to +Michu, who tried to kneel and kiss it. She saw his motion and prevented +it, saying: "Stand up!" in a tone of voice and with a look which made +him amends for all the scorn of the last twelve years. + +"You reward me as though I had done all that remains for me to do," he +said. "But don't you hear them, those huzzars of the guillotine? Let us +go elsewhere." + +He took the mare's bridle, and led her a little distance. + +"Think only of sitting firm," he said, "and of saving your head from the +branches of the trees which might strike you in the face." + +Then he mounted his own horse and guided the young girl for half an +hour at full gallop; making turns and half turns, and striking into +wood-paths, so as to confuse their traces, until they reached a spot +where he pulled up. + +"I don't know where I am," said the countess looking about her,--"I, who +know the forest as well as you do." + +"We are in the heart of it," he replied. "Two gendarmes are after us, +but we are quite safe." + +The picturesque spot to which the bailiff had guided Laurence was +destined to be so fatal to the principal personages of this drama, and +to Michu himself, that it becomes our duty, as an historian, to describe +it. The scene became, as we shall see hereafter, one of noted interest +in the judiciary annals of the Empire. + +The forest of Nodesme belonged to the monastery of Notre-Dame. That +monastery, seized, sacked, and demolished, had disappeared entirely, +monks and property. The forest, an object of much cupidity, was taken +into the domain of the Comtes de Champagne, who mortgaged it later and +allowed it to be sold. In the course of six centuries nature covered +its ruins with her rich and vigorous green mantle, and effaced them +so thoroughly that the existence of one of the finest convents was no +longer even indicated except by a slight eminence shaded by noble trees +and circled by thick, impenetrable shrubbery, which, since 1794, Michu +had taken great pains to make still more impenetrable by planting the +thorny acacia in all the slight openings between the bushes. A pond was +at the foot of the eminence and showed the existence of a hidden stream +which no doubt determined in former days the site of the monastery. +The late owner of the title to the forest of Nodesme was the first +to recognize the etymology of the name, which dated back for eight +centuries, and to discover that at one time a monastery had existed in +the heart of the forest. When the first rumblings of the thunder of the +Revolution were heard, the Marquis de Simeuse, who had been forced to +look into his title by a lawsuit and so learned the above facts as +it were by chance, began, with a secret intention not difficult to +conceive, to search for some remains of the former monastery. The +keeper, Michu, to whom the forest was well known, helped his master +in the search, and it was his sagacity as a forester which led to the +discovery of the site. Observing the trend of the five chief roads of +the forest, some of which were now effaced, he saw that they all ended +either at the little eminence or by the pond at the foot of it, to which +points travellers from Troyes, from the valley of Arcis and that of +Cinq-Cygne, and from Bar-sur-Aube doubtless came. The marquis wished +to excavate the hillock but he dared not employ the people of the +neighborhood. Pressed by circumstances, he abandoned the intention, +leaving in Michu's mind a strong conviction that the eminence had either +the treasure or the foundations of the former abbey. He continued, +all alone, this archaeological enterprise; he sounded the earth and +discovered a hollowness on the level of the pond between two trees, at +the foot of the only craggy part of the hillock. + +One fine night he came to the place armed with a pickaxe, and by the +sweat of his brow uncovered a succession of cellars, which were entered +by a flight of stone steps. The pond, which was three feet deep in the +middle, formed a sort of dipper, the handle of which seemed to come from +the little eminence, and went far to prove that a spring had once issued +from the crags, and was now lost by infiltration through the forest. The +marshy shores of the pond, covered with aquatic trees, alders, willow, +and ash, were the terminus of all the wood-paths, the remains of former +roads and forest by-ways, now abandoned. The water, flowing from a +spring, though apparently stagnant, was covered with large-leaved +plants and cresses, which gave it a perfectly green surface almost +indistinguishable from the shores, which were covered with fine close +herbage. The place is too far from human habitations for any animal, +unless a wild one, to come there. Convinced that no game was in the +marsh and repelled by the craggy sides of the hills, keepers and hunters +had never explored or visited this nook, which belonged to a part of the +forest where the timber had not been cut for many years and which Michu +meant to keep in its full growth when the time came round to fell it. + +At the further end of the first cellar was a vaulted chamber, clean +and dry, built with hewn stone, a sort of convent dungeon, such as they +called in monastic days the _in pace_. The salubrity of the chamber and +the preservation of this part of the staircase and of the vaults were +explained by the presence of the spring, which had been enclosed at some +time by a wall of extraordinary thickness built in brick and cement +like those of the Romans, and received all the waters. Michu closed the +entrance to this retreat with large stones; then, to keep the secret of +it to himself and make it impenetrable to others, he made a rule never +to enter it except from the wooded height above, by clambering down the +crag instead of approaching it from the pond. + +Just as the fugitives arrived, the moon was casting her beautiful +silvery light on the aged tree-tops above the crag, and flickering on +the splendid foliage at the corners of the several paths, all of which +ended here, some with one tree, some with a group of trees. On all +sides the eye was irresistibly led along their vanishing perspectives, +following the curve of a wood-path or the solemn stretch of a forest +glade flanked by a wall of verdure that was nearly black. The moonlight, +filtering through the branches of the crossways, made the lonely, +tranquil waters, where they peeped between the crosses and the +lily-pads, sparkle like diamonds. The croaking of the frogs broke the +deep silence of this beautiful forest-nook, the wild odors of which +incited the soul to thoughts of liberty. + +"Are we safe?" said the countess to Michu. + +"Yes, mademoiselle. But we have each some work to do. Do you go and +fasten our horses to the trees at the top of the little hill; tie a +handkerchief round the mouth of each of them," he said, giving her his +cravat; "your beast and mine are both intelligent, they will understand +they are not to neigh. When you have done that, come down the crag +directly above the pond; but don't let your habit catch anywhere. You +will find me below." + +While the countess hid the horses and tied and gagged them, Michu +removed the stones and opened the entrance to the caverns. The countess, +who thought she knew the forest by heart, was amazed when she descended +into the vaulted chambers. Michu replaced the stones above them with the +dexterity of a mason. As he finished, the sound of horses' feet and the +voices of the gendarmes echoed in the darkness; but he quietly struck +a match, lighted a resinous bit of wood and led the countess to the _in +pace_, where there was still a piece of the candle with which he had +first explored the caves. An iron door of some thickness, eaten in +several places by rust, had been put in good order by the bailiff, and +could be fastened securely by bars slipping into holes in the wall on +either side of it. The countess, half dead with fatigue, sat down on a +stone bench, above which there still remained an iron ring, the staple +of which was embedded in the masonry. + +"We have a salon to converse in," said Michu. "The gendarmes may prowl +as much as they like; the worst they could do would be to take our +horses." + +"If they do that," said Laurence, "it would be the death of my cousins +and the Messieurs d'Hauteserre. Tell me now, what do you know?" + +Michu related what he had overheard Malin say to Grevin. + +"They are already on the road to Paris; they were to enter it to-morrow +morning," said the countess when he had finished. + +"Lost!" exclaimed Michu. "All persons entering or leaving the barriers +are examined. Malin has strong reasons to let my masters compromise +themselves; he is seeking to get them killed out of his way." + +"And I, who don't know anything of the general plan of the affair," +cried Laurence, "how can I warn Georges, Riviere, and Moreau? Where are +they?--However, let us think only of my cousins and the d'Hauteserres; +you must catch up with them, no matter what it costs." + +"The telegraph goes faster than the best horse," said Michu; "and of +all the nobles concerned in this conspiracy your cousins are the closest +watched. If I can find them, they must be hidden here and kept here till +the affair is over. Their poor father may have had a foreboding when he +set me to search for this hiding-place; perhaps he felt that his sons +would be saved here." + +"My mare is from the stables of the Comte d'Artois,--she is the daughter +of his finest English horse," said Laurence; "but she has already gone +sixty miles, she would drop dead before you reached them." + +"Mine is in good condition," replied Michu; "and if you did sixty miles +I shall have only thirty to do." + +"Nearer forty," she said, "they have been walking since dark. You will +overtake them beyond Lagny, at Coupvrai, where they expected to be at +daybreak. They are disguised as sailors, and will enter Paris by the +river on some vessel. This," she added, taking half of her mother's +wedding-ring from her finger, "is the only thing which will make them +trust you; they have the other half. The keeper of Couvrai is the father +of one of their soldiers; he has hidden them tonight in a hut in the +forest deserted by charcoal-burners. They are eight in all, Messieurs +d'Hauteserre and four others are with my cousins." + +"Mademoiselle, no one is looking for the others! let them save +themselves as they can; we must think only of the Messieurs de Simeuse. +It is enough just to warn the rest." + +"What! abandon the Hauteserres? never!" she said. "They must all perish +or be saved together!" + +"Only petty noblemen!" remarked Michu. + +"They are only chevaliers, I know that," she replied, "but they are +related to the Cinq-Cygne and Simeuse blood. Save them all, and advise +them how best to regain this forest." + +"The gendarmes are here,--don't you hear them? they are holding a +council of war." + +"Well, you have twice had luck to-night; go! bring my cousins here and +hide them in these vaults; they'll be safe from all pursuit--Alas! I am +good for nothing!" she cried, with rage; "I should be only a beacon to +light the enemy--but the police will never imagine that my cousins are +in the forest if they see me at my ease. So the question resolves itself +into this: how can we get five good horses to bring them in six hours +from Lagny to the forest,--five horses to be killed and hidden in some +thicket." + +"And the money?" said Michu, who was thinking deeply as he listened to +the young countess. + +"I gave my cousins a hundred louis this evening," she replied. + +"I'll answer for them!" cried Michu. "But once hidden here you must not +attempt to see them. My wife, or the little one, shall bring them +food twice a week. But, as I can't be sure of what may happen to me, +remember, mademoiselle, in case of trouble, that the main beam in my +hay-loft has been bored with an auger. In the hole, which is plugged +with a bit of wood, you will find a plan showing how to reach this spot. +The trees which you will find marked with a red dot on the plan have a +black mark at their foot close to the earth. Each of these trees is a +sign-post. At the foot of the third old oak which stands to the left +of each sign-post, two feet in front of it and buried seven feet in the +ground, you will find a large metal tube; in each tube are one +hundred thousand francs in gold. These eleven trees--there are only +eleven--contain the whole fortune of the Simeuse brothers, now that +Gondreville has been taken from them." + +"It will take a hundred years for the nobility to recover from such +blows," said Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne, slowly. + +"Is there a pass-word?" asked Michu. + +"'France and Charles' for the soldiers, 'Laurence and Louis' for the +Messieurs d'Hauteserre and Simeuse. Good God! to think that I saw them +yesterday for the first time in eleven years, and that now they are in +danger of death--and what a death! Michu," she said, with a melancholy +look, "be as prudent during the next fifteen hours as you have been +grand and devoted during the last twelve years. If disaster were to +overtake my cousins now I should die of it--No," she added, quickly, "I +would live long enough to kill Bonaparte." + +"There will be two of us to do that when all is lost," said Michu. + +Laurence took his rough hand and wrung it warmly, as the English do. +Michu looked at his watch; it was midnight. + +"We must leave here at any cost," he said. "Death to the gendarme who +attempts to stop me! And you, madame la comtesse, without presuming +to dictate, ride back to Cinq-Cygne as fast as you can. The police are +there by this time; fool them! delay them!" + +The hole once opened, Michu flung himself down with his ear to the +earth; then he rose precipitately. "The gendarmes are at the edge of the +forest towards Troyes!" he said. "Ha, I'll get the better of them yet!" + +He helped the countess to come out, and replaced the stones. When this +was done he heard her soft voice telling him she must see him mounted +before mounting herself. Tears came to the eyes of the stern man as +he exchanged a last look with his young mistress, whose own eyes were +tearless. + +"Fool them! yes, he is right!" she said when she heard him no longer. +Then she darted towards Cinq-Cygne at full gallop. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII. TRIALS OF THE POLICE + +Madame d'Hauteserre, roused by the danger of her sons, and not believing +that the Revolution was over, but still fearing its summary justice, +recovered her senses by the violence of the same distress which made +her lose them. Led by an agonizing curiosity she returned to the salon, +which presented a picture worthy of the brush of a genre painter. The +abbe, still seated at the card-table and mechanically playing with the +counters, was covertly observing Corentin and Peyrade, who were standing +together at a corner of the fireplace and speaking in a low voice. +Several times Corentin's keen eye met the not less keen glance of the +priest; but, like two adversaries who knew themselves equally strong, +and who return to their guard after crossing their weapons, each averted +his eyes the instant they met. The worthy old d'Hauteserre, poised on +his long thin legs like a heron, was standing beside the stout form of +the mayor, in an attitude expressive of utter stupefaction. The mayor, +though dressed as a bourgeois, always looked like a servant. Each gazed +with a bewildered eye at the gendarmes, in whose clutches Gothard was +still sobbing, his hands purple and swollen from the tightness of the +cord that bound them. Catherine maintained her attitude of artless +simplicity, which was quite impenetrable. The corporal, who, according +to Corentin, had committed a great blunder in arresting these smaller +fry, did not know whether to stay where he was or to depart. He stood +pensively in the middle of the salon, his hand on the hilt of his sabre, +his eye on the two Parisians. The Durieus, also stupefied, and the +other servants of the chateau made an admirable group of expressive +uneasiness. If it had not been for Gothard's convulsive snifflings those +present could have heard the flies fly. + +When Madame d'Hauteserre, pale and terrified, opened the door and +entered the room, almost carried by Mademoiselle Goujet, whose red eyes +had evidently been weeping, all faces turned to her at once. The two +agents hoped as much as the household feared to see Laurence enter. This +spontaneous movement of both masters and servants seemed produced by +the sort of mechanism which makes a number of wooden figures perform the +same gesture or wink the same eye. + +Madame d'Hauteserre advanced by three rapid strides towards Corentin and +said, in a broken voice but violently: "For pity's sake, monsieur, +tell me what my sons are accused of. Do you really think they have been +here?" + +The abbe, who seemed to be saying to himself when he saw the old lady, +"She will certainly commit some folly," lowered his eyes. + +"My duty and the mission I am engaged in forbid me to tell you," +answered Corentin, with a gracious but rather mocking air. + +This refusal, which the detestable politeness of the vulgar fop seemed +to make all the more emphatic, petrified the poor mother, who fell into +a chair beside the Abbe Goujet, clasped her hands and began to pray. + +"Where did you arrest that blubber?" asked Corentin, addressing the +corporal and pointing to Laurence's little henchman. + +"On the road that leads to the farm along the park walls; the little +scamp had nearly reached the Closeaux woods," replied the corporal. + +"And that girl?" + +"She? oh, it was Oliver who caught her." + +"Where was she going?" + +"Towards Gondreville." + +"They were going in opposite directions?" said Corentin. + +"Yes," replied the gendarme. + +"Is that boy the groom, and the girl the maid of the citizeness +Cinq-Cygne?" said Corentin to the mayor. + +"Yes," replied Goulard. + +After Corentin had exchanged a few words with Peyrade in a whisper, the +latter left the room, taking the corporal of gendarmes with him. + +Just then the corporal of Arcis made his appearance. He went up to +Corentin and spoke to him in a low voice: "I know these premises well," +he said; "I have searched everywhere; unless those young fellows are +buried, they are not here. We have sounded all the floors and walls with +the butt end of our muskets." + +Peyrade, who presently returned, signed to Corentin to come out, and +then took him to the breach in the moat and showed him the sunken way. + +"We have guessed the trick," said Peyrade. + +"And I'll tell you how it was done," added Corentin. "That little scamp +and the girl decoyed those idiots of gendarmes and thus made time for +the game to escape." + +"We can't know the truth till daylight," said Peyrade. "The road is +damp; I have ordered two gendarmes to barricade it top and bottom. We'll +examine it after daylight, and find out by the footsteps who went that +way." + +"I see a hoof-mark," said Corentin; "let us go to the stables." + +"How many horses do you keep?" said Peyrade, returning to the salon with +Corentin, and addressing Monsieur d'Hauteserre and Goulard. + +"Come, monsieur le maire, you know, answer," cried Corentin, seeing that +that functionary hesitated. + +"Why, there's the countess's mare, Gothard's horse, and Monsieur +d'Hauteserre's." + +"There is only one in the stable," said Peyrade. + +"Mademoiselle is out riding," said Durieu. + +"Does she often ride about at this time of night?" said the libertine +Peyrade, addressing Monsieur d'Hauteserre. + +"Often," said the good man, simply. "Monsieur le maire can tell you +that." + +"Everybody knows she has her freaks," remarked Catherine; "she looked at +the sky before she went to bed, and I think the glitter of your bayonets +in the moonlight puzzled her. She told me she wanted to know if there +was going to be another revolution." + +"When did she go?" asked Peyrade. + +"When she saw your guns." + +"Which road did she take?" + +"I don't know." + +"There's another horse missing," said Corentin. + +"The gendarmes--took it--away from me," said Gothard. + +"Where were you going?" said one of them. + +"I was--following--my mistress to the farm," sobbed the boy. + +The gendarme looked towards Corentin as if expecting an order. But +Gothard's speech was evidently so true and yet so false, so perfectly +innocent and so artful that the two Parisians again looked at each other +as if to echo Peyrade's former words: "They are not ninnies." + +Monsieur d'Hauteserre seemed incapable of a word; the mayor was +bewildered; the mother, imbecile from maternal fears, was putting +questions to the police agents that were idiotically innocent; the +servants had been roused from their sleep. Judging by these trifling +signs, and these diverse characters, Corentin came to the conclusion +that his only real adversary was Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne. Shrewd +and dexterous as the police may be, they are always under certain +disadvantages. Not only are they forced to discover all that is known +to a conspirator, but they must also suppose and test a great number +of things before they hit upon the right one. The conspirator is always +thinking of his own safety, whereas the police is only on duty at +certain hours. Were it not for treachery and betrayals, nothing would +be easier than to conspire successfully. The conspirator has more mind +concentrated upon himself than the police can bring to bear with all its +vast facilities of action. Finding themselves stopped short morally, +as they might be physically by a door which they expected to find open +being shut in their faces, Corentin and Peyrade saw they were tricked +and misled, without knowing by whom. + +"I assert," said the corporal of Arcis, in their ear, "that if the four +young men slept here last night it must have been in the beds of their +father and mother, and Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne, or those of the +servants; or they must have spent the night in the park. There is not a +trace of their presence." + +"Who could have warned them?" said Corentin, to Peyrade. "No one but the +First Consul, Fouche, the ministers, the prefect of police, and Malin +knew anything about it." + +"We must set spies in the neighborhood," whispered Peyrade. + +"And watch the spies," said the abbe, who smiled as he overheard the +word and guessed all. + +"Good God!" thought Corentin, replying to the abbe's smile with one of +his own; "there is but one intelligent being here,--he's the one to come +to an understanding with; I'll try him." + +"Gentlemen--" said the mayor, anxious to give some proof of devotion to +the First Consul and addressing the two agents. + +"Say 'citizens'; the Republic still exists," interrupted Corentin, +looking at the priest with a quizzical air. + +"Citizens," resumed the mayor, "just as I entered this salon and before +I had opened my mouth Catherine rushed in and took her mistress's hat, +gloves, and whip." + +A low murmur of horror came from the breasts of all the household except +Gothard. All eyes but those of the agent and the gendarmes were turned +threateningly on Goulard, the informer, seeming to dart flames at him. + +"Very good, citizen mayor," said Peyrade. "We see it all plainly. Some +one" (this with a glance of evident distrust at Corentin) "warned the +citizeness Cinq-Cygne in time." + +"Corporal, handcuff that boy," said Corentin, to the gendarme, "and take +him away by himself. And shut up that girl, too," pointing to Catherine. +"As for you, Peyrade, search for papers," adding in his ear, "Ransack +everything, spare nothing.--Monsieur l'abbe," he said, confidentially, +"I have an important communication to make to you"; and he took him into +the garden. + +"Listen to me attentively, monsieur," he went on; "you seem to have the +mind of a bishop, and (no one can hear us) you will understand me. I +have no longer any hope except through you of saving these families, +who, with the greatest folly, are letting themselves roll down a +precipice where no one can save them. The Messieurs Simeuse and +d'Hauteserre have been betrayed by one of those infamous spies whom +governments introduce into all conspiracies to learn their objects, +means, and members. Don't confound me, I beg of you, with the wretch who +is with me. He belongs to the police; but I am honorably attached to +the Consular cabinet, I am therefore behind the scenes. The ruin of the +Simeuse brothers is not desired. Though Malin would like to see them +shot, the First Consul, if they are here and have come without evil +intentions, wishes them to be warned out of danger, for he likes +good soldiers. The agent who accompanies me has all the powers, I, +apparently, am nothing. But I see plainly what is hatching. The agent +is pledged to Malin, who has doubtless promised him his influence, an +office, and perhaps money if he finds the Simeuse brothers and delivers +them up. The First Consul, who is a really great man, never favors +selfish schemes--I don't want to know if those young men are here," he +added, quickly, observing the abbe's gesture, "but I wish to tell you +that there is only one way to save them. You know the law of the 6th +Floreal, year X., which amnestied all the _emigres_ who were still in +foreign countries on condition that they returned home before the 1st +Vendemiaire of the year XI., that is to say, in September of last year. +But the Messieurs Simeuse having, like the Messieurs d'Hauteserre, +served in the army of Conde, they come into the category of exceptions +to this law. Their presence in France is therefore criminal, and +suffices, under the circumstances in which we are, to make them +suspected of collusion in a horrible plot. The First Consul saw the +error of this exception which has made enemies for his government, and +he wishes the Messieurs Simeuse to know that no steps will be taken +against them, if they will send him a petition saying that they have +re-entered France intending to submit to the laws, and agreeing to take +oath to the Constitution. You can understand that the document ought to +be in my hands before they are arrested, and be dated some days earlier. +I would then be the bearer of it--I do not ask you where those young men +are," he said again, seeing another gesture of denial from the priest. +"We are, unfortunately, sure of finding them; the forest is guarded, the +entrances to Paris and the frontiers are all watched. Pray listen to me; +if these gentlemen are between the forest and Paris they must be taken; +if they are in Paris they will be found; if they retreat to the frontier +they will still be arrested. The First Consul likes the _ci-devants_, +and cannot endure the republicans--simple enough; if he wants a throne +he must needs strangle Liberty. Keep the matter a secret between us. +This is what I will do; I will stay here till to-morrow and _be blind_; +but beware of the agent; that cursed Provencal is the devil's own valet; +he has the ear of Fouche just as I have that of the First Consul." + +"If the Messieurs Simeuse are here," said the abbe, "I would give ten +pints of my blood and my right arm to save them; but if Mademoiselle de +Cinq-Cygne is in the secret she has not--and this I swear on my eternal +salvation--betrayed it in any way, neither has she done me the honor to +consult me. I am now very glad of her discretion, if discretion there +be. We played cards last night as usual, at boston, in almost complete +silence, until half-past ten o'clock, and we neither saw nor heard +anything. Not a child can pass through this solitary valley without the +whole community knowing it, and for the last two weeks no one has come +from other places. Now the d'Hauteserre and the Simeuse brothers would +make a party of four. Old d'Hauteserre and his wife have submitted to +the present government, and they have made all imaginable efforts +to persuade their sons to return to France; they wrote to them again +yesterday. I can only say, upon my soul and conscience, that your visit +has alone shaken my firm belief that these young men are living in +Germany. Between ourselves, there is no one here, except the young +countess, who does not do justice to the eminent qualities of the First +Consul." + +"Fox!" thought Corentin. "Well, if those young men are shot," he said, +aloud; "it is because their friends have willed it--I wash my hands of +the affair." + +He had led the abbe to a part of the garden which lay in the moonlight, +and as he said the last words he looked at him suddenly. The priest +was greatly distressed, but his manner was that of a man surprised and +wholly ignorant. + +"Understand this, monsieur l'abbe," resumed Corentin; "the right of +these young men to the estate of Gondreville will render them doubly +criminal in the eyes of the middle class. I'd like to see them put faith +in God and not in his saints--" + +"Is there really a plot?" asked the abbe, simply. + +"Base, odious, cowardly, and so contrary to the generous spirit of +the nation," replied Corentin, "that it will meet with universal +opprobrium." + +"Well! Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne is incapable of baseness," cried the +abbe. + +"Monsieur l'abbe," replied Corentin, "let me tell you this; there is for +us (meaning you and me) proof positive of her guilt; but there is not +enough for the law. You see she took flight when we came; I sent the +mayor to warn her." + +"Yes, but for one who is so anxious to save them, you followed rather +closely on his heels," said the abbe. + +At those words the two men looked at each other, and all was said. +Each belonged to those profound anatomists of thought to whom a mere +inflexion of the voice, a look, a word suffices to reveal a soul, just +as the Indians track their enemies by signs invisible to European eyes. + +"I expected to draw something out of him, and I have only betrayed +myself," thought Corentin. + +"Ha! the sly rogue!" thought the priest. + +Midnight rang from the old church clock just as Corentin and the abbe +re-entered the salon. The opening and shutting of doors and closets +could be heard from the bedrooms above. The gendarmes pulled open the +beds; Peyrade, with the quick perception of a spy, handled and sounded +everything. Such desecration excited both fear and indignation among +the faithful servants of the house, who still stood motionless about the +salon. Monsieur d'Hauteserre exchanged looks of commiseration with his +wife and Mademoiselle Goujet. A species of horrible curiosity kept every +one on the qui vive. Peyrade at length came down, holding in his hand a +sandal-wood box which had probably been brought from China by Admiral +de Simeuse. This pretty casket was flat and about the size of a quarto +volume. + +Peyrade made a sign to Corentin and took him into the embrasure of a +window. + +"I've an idea!" he said, "that Michu, who was ready to pay Marion eight +hundred thousand francs in gold for Gondreville, and who evidently +meant to shoot Malin yesterday, is the man who is helping the Simeuse +brothers. His motive in threatening Marion and aiming at Malin must +be the same. I thought when I saw him that he was capable of ideas; +evidently he has but one; he discovered what was going on and he must +have come here to warn them." + +"Probably Malin talked about the conspiracy to his friend the notary, +and Michu from his ambush overheard what was said," remarked Corentin, +continuing the inductions of his colleague. "No doubt he has only +postponed his shot to prevent an evil he thinks worse than the loss of +Gondreville." + +"He knew what we were the moment he laid eyes on us," said Peyrade. "I +thought then that he was amazingly intelligent for a peasant." + +"That proves that he is always on his guard," replied Corentin. "But, +mind you, my old man, don't let us make a mistake. Treachery stinks in +the nostrils, and primitive folks do scent it from afar." + +"But that's our strength," said the Provencal. + +"Call the corporal of Arcis," cried Corentin to one of the gendarmes. "I +shall send him at once to Michu's house," he added to Peyrade. + +"Our ear, Violette, is there," said Peyrade. + +"We started without getting news from him. Two of us are not enough; +we ought to have had Sabatier with us--Corporal," he said, when the +gendarme appeared, taking him aside with Peyrade, "don't let them fool +you as they did the Troyes corporal just now. We think Michu is in this +business. Go to his house, put your eye on everything, and bring word of +the result." + +"One of my men heard horses in the forest just as they arrested the +little groom; I've four fine fellows now on the track of whoever is +hiding there," replied the gendarme. + +He left the room, and the gallop of his horse which echoed on the paved +courtyard died rapidly away. + +"One thing is certain," said Corentin to himself, "either they have gone +to Paris or they are retreating to Germany." + +He sat down, pulled a note-book from the pocket of his spencer, wrote +two orders in pencil, sealed them, and made a sign to one of the +gendarmes to come to him. + +"Be off at full gallop to Troyes, wake up the prefect, and tell him to +start the telegraph as soon as there's light enough." + +The gendarme departed. The meaning of this movement and Corentin's +intentions were so evident that the hearts of the household sank within +them; but this new anxiety was additional to another that was now +martyrizing them; their eyes were fixed on the sandal-wood box! All the +while the two agents were talking together they were each taking note of +those eager looks. A sort of cold anger stirred the unfeeling hearts of +these men who relished the power of inspiring terror. The police man has +the instincts and emotions of a hunter: but where the one employs his +powers of mind and body in killing a hare, a partridge, or a deer, the +other is thinking of saving the State, or a king, and of winning a large +reward. So the hunt for men is superior to the other class of hunting +by all the distance that there is between animals and human beings. +Moreover, a spy is forced to lift the part he plays to the level and +the importance of the interests to which he is bound. Without looking +further into this calling, it is easy to see that the man who follows +it puts as much passionate ardor into his chase as another man does into +the pursuit of game. Therefore the further these men advanced in their +investigations the more eager they became; but the expression of their +faces and their eyes continued calm and cold, just as their ideas, +their suspicions, and their plans remained impenetrable. To any one who +watched the effects of the moral scent, if we may so call it, of these +bloodhounds on the track of hidden facts, and who noted and understood +the movements of canine agility which led them to strike the truth in +their rapid examination of probabilities, there was in it all something +actually horrifying. How and why should men of genius fall so low when +it was in their power to be so high? What imperfection, what vice, what +passion debases them? Does a man become a police-agent as he becomes +a thinker, writer, statesmen, painter, general, on the condition of +knowing nothing but how to spy, as the others speak, write, govern, +paint, and fight? The inhabitants of the chateau had but one wish,--that +the thunderbolts of heaven might fall upon these miscreants; they were +athirst for vengeance; and had it not been for the presence, up to this +time, of the gendarmes there would undoubtedly have been an outbreak. + +"No one, I suppose, has the key of this box?" said the cynical Peyrade, +questioning the family as much by the movement of his huge red nose as +by his words. + +The Provencal noticed, not without fear, that the guards were no longer +present; he and Corentin were alone with the family. The younger man +drew a small dagger from his pocket, and began to force the lock of the +box. Just then the desperate galloping of a horse was heard upon the +road and then upon the pavement by the lawn; but most horrible of all +was the fall and sighing of the animal, which seemed to drop all at +once at the door of the middle tower. A convulsion like that which +a thunderbolt might produce shook the spectators when Laurence, the +trailing of whose riding-habit announced her coming, entered the room. +The servants hastily formed into two lines to let her pass. + +In spite of her rapid ride, the girl had felt the full anguish the +discovery of the conspiracy must needs cause her. All her hopes were +overthrown! she had galloped through ruins as her thoughts turned to the +necessity of submission to the Consular government. Were it not for the +danger which threatened the four gentlemen, and which served as a tonic +to conquer her weariness and her despair, she would have dropped +asleep on the way. The mare was almost killed in her haste to reach the +chateau, and stand between her cousins and death. As all present looked +at the heroic girl, pale, her features drawn, her veil aside, her whip +in her hand, standing on the threshold of the door, whence her burning +glance grasped the whole scene and comprehended it, each knew from the +almost imperceptible motion which crossed the soured and bittered face +of Corentin, that the real adversaries had met. A terrible duel was +about to begin. + +Noticing the box, now in the hands of Corentin, the countess raised her +whip and sprang rapidly towards him. Striking his hands with so violent +a blow that the casket fell to the ground, she seized it, flung it into +the middle of the fire, and stood with her back to the chimney in a +threatening attitude before either of the agents recovered from their +surprise. The scorn which flamed from her eyes, her pale brow, her +disdainful lips, were even more insulting than the haughty action which +treated Corentin as though he were a venomous reptile. Old d'Hauteserre +felt himself once more a cavalier; all his blood rushed to his face, and +he grieved that he had no sword. The servants trembled for an instant +with joy. The vengeance they had called down upon these men had come. +But their joy was driven back within their souls by a terrible fear; the +gendarmes were still heard coming and going in the garrets. + +The _spy_--noun of strength, under which all shades of the police are +confounded, for the public has never chosen to specify in language the +varieties of those who compose this dispensary of social remedies so +essential to all governments--the spy has this curious and magnificent +quality: he never becomes angry; he possesses the Christian humility of +a priest; his eyes are stolid with an indifference which he holds as +a barrier against the world of fools who do not understand him; his +forehead is adamant under insult; he pursues his ends like a reptile +whose carapace is fractured only by a cannonball; but (like that +reptile) he is all the more furious when the blow does reach him, +because he believed his armor invulnerable. The lash of the whip upon +his fingers was to Corentin, pain apart, the cannonball that cracked +the shell. Coming from that magnificent and noble girl, this action, +emblematic of her disgust, humiliated him, not only in the eyes of the +people about him, but in his own. + +Peyrade sprang to the hearth, caught Laurence's foot, raised it, and +compelled her, out of modesty, to throw herself on the sofa, where she +had lately lain asleep. The scene, like other contrasts in human things, +was burlesque in the midst of terror. Peyrade scorched his hand as he +dashed it into the fire to seize the box; but he got it, threw it on the +floor and sat down upon it. These little actions were done with great +rapidity and without a word being uttered. Corentin, recovering from the +pain of the blow, caught Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne by both hands, and +held her. + +"Do not compel me to use force against you," he said, with withering +politeness. + +Peyrade's action had extinguished the fire by the natural process of +suppressing the air. + +"Gendarmes! here!" he cried, still occupying his ridiculous position. + +"Will you promise to behave yourself?" said Corentin, insolently, +addressing Laurence, and picking up his dagger, but not committing the +great fault of threatening her with it. + +"The secrets of that box do not concern the government," she answered, +with a tinge of melancholy in her tone and manner. "When you have read +the letters it contains you will, in spite of your infamy, feel ashamed +of having read them--that is, if you can still feel shame at anything," +she added, after a pause. + +The abbe looked at her as if to say, "For God's sake, be calm!" + +Peyrade rose. The bottom of the box, which had been nearly burned +through, left a mark upon the floor; the lid was scorched and the sides +gave way. The grotesque Scaevola, who had offered to the god of the +Police and Terror the seat of his apricot breeches, opened the two sides +of the box as if it had been a book, and slid three letters and two +locks of hair upon the card-table. He was about to smile at Corentin +when he perceived that the locks were of two shades of gray. Corentin +released Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne's hands and went up to the table to +read the letter from which the hair had fallen. + +Laurence rose, moved to the table beside the spies, and said:--"Read it +aloud; that shall be your punishment." + +As the two men continued to read to themselves, she herself read out the +following words:-- + + Dear Laurence,--My husband and I have heard of your noble conduct + on the day of our arrest. We know that you love our dear twins as + much, almost, as we love them ourselves. Therefore it is with you + that we leave a token which will be both precious and sad to them. + The executioner has come to cut our hair, for we are to die in a + few moments; he has promised to put into your hands the only + remembrance we are able to leave to our beloved orphans. Keep + these last remains of us and give them to our sons in happier + days. We have kissed these locks of hair and have laid our + blessing upon them. Our last thought will be of our sons, of you, + and of God. Love them, Laurence. + +Berthe de Cinq-Cygne. Jean de Simeuse. + + +Tears came to the eyes of all the household as they listened to the +letter. + +Laurence looked at the agents with a petrifying glance and said, in a +firm voice:-- + +"You have less pity than the executioner." + +Corentin quietly folded the hair in the letter, laid the letter aside on +the table, and put a box of counters on the top of it as if to prevent +its blowing away. His coolness in the midst of the general emotion was +horrible. + +Peyrade unfolded the other letters. + +"Oh, as for those," said Laurence, "they are very much alike. You hear +the will; you can now hear of its fulfilment. In future I shall have no +secrets from any one." + + + 1794, Andernach. Before the battle. + + My dear Laurence,--I love you for life, and I wish you to know it. + But you ought also to know, in case I die, that my brother, + Paul-Marie, loves you as much as I love you. My only consolation in + dying would be the thought that you might some day make my brother + your husband without being forced to see me die of jealousy--which + must surely happen if, both of us being alive, you preferred him + to me. After all, that preference seems natural, for he is, + perhaps, more worthy of your love than I-- + + Marie-Paul. + + +"Here is the other letter," she said, with the color in her cheeks. + + + Andernach. Before the battle. + + My kind Laurence,--My heart is sad; but Marie-Paul has a gayer + nature, and will please you more than I am able to do. Some day + you will have to choose between us--well, though I love you + passionately-- + + +"You are corresponding with _emigres_," said Peyrade, interrupting +Laurence, and holding the letters between himself and the light to +see if they contained between the lines any treasonable writing with +invisible ink. + +"Yes," replied Laurence, folding the precious letters, the paper of +which was already yellow with time. "But by virtue of what right do you +presume to violate my dwelling and my personal liberty?" + +"Ah, that's the point!" cried Peyrade. "By what right, indeed!--it +is time to let you know it, beautiful aristocrat," he added, taking a +warrant from his pocket, which came from the minister of justice and +was countersigned by the minister of the interior. "See, the authorities +have their eye upon you." + +"We might also ask you," said Corentin, in her ear, "by what right you +harbor in this house the assassins of the First Consul. You have applied +your whip to my hands in a manner that authorizes me to take my revenge +upon your cousins, whom I came here to save." + +At the mere movement of her lips and the glance which Laurence cast upon +Corentin, the abbe guessed what that great artist was saying, and he +made her a sign to be distrustful, which no one intercepted but Goulard. +Peyrade struck the cover of the box to see if there were a double top. + +"Don't break it!" she exclaimed, taking the cover from him. + +She took a pin, pushed the head of one of the carved figures, and the +two halves of the top, joined by a spring, opened. In the hollow half +lay miniatures of the Messieurs de Simeuse, in the uniform of the army +of Conde, two portraits on ivory done in Germany. Corentin, who felt +himself in presence of an adversary worthy of his efforts, called +Peyrade aside into a corner of the room and conferred with him. + +"How could you throw _that_ into the fire?" said the abbe, speaking to +Laurence and pointing to the letter of the marquise which enclosed the +locks of hair. + +For all answer the young girl shrugged her shoulders significantly. The +abbe comprehended then that she had made the sacrifice to mislead the +agents and gain time; he raised his eyes to heaven with a gesture of +admiration. + +"Where did they arrest Gothard, whom I hear crying?" she asked him, loud +enough to be overheard. + +"I don't know," said the abbe. + +"Did he reach the farm?" + +"The farm!" whispered Peyrade to Corentin. "Let us send there." + +"No," said Corentin; "that girl never trusted her cousins' safety to a +farmer. She is playing with us. Do as I tell you, so that we mayn't have +to leave here without detecting something, after committing the great +blunder of coming here at all." + +Corentin stationed himself before the fire, lifting the long pointed +skirts of his coat to warm himself and assuming the air, manner, and +tone of a gentleman who was paying a visit. + +"Mesdames, you can go to bed, and the servants also. Monsieur le maire, +your services are no longer needed. The sternness of our orders does +not permit us to act otherwise than as we have done; but as soon as the +walls, which seem to me rather thick, have been thoroughly examined, we +shall take our departure." + +The mayor bowed to the company and retired; but neither the abbe nor +Mademoiselle Goujet stirred. The servants were too uneasy not to watch +the fate of their young mistress. Madame d'Hauteserre, who, from the +moment of Laurence's entrance, had studied her with the anxiety of a +mother, rose, took her by the arm, led her aside, and said in a low +voice, "Have you seen them?" + +"Do you think I could have let your sons be under this roof without +your knowing it?" replied Laurence. "Durieu," she added, "see if it is +possible to save my poor Stella; she is still breathing." + +"She must have gone a great distance," said Corentin. + +"Forty miles in three hours," she answered, addressing the abbe, who +watched her with amazement. "I started at half-past nine, and it was +well past one when I returned." + +She looked at the clock which said half-past two. + +"So you don't deny that you have ridden forty miles?" said Corentin. + +"No," she said. "I admit that my cousins, in their perfect innocence, +expected not to be excluded from the amnesty, and were on their way to +Cinq-Cygne. When I found that the Sieur Malin was plotting to injure +them, I went to warn them to return to Germany, where they will be +before the telegraph can have guarded the frontier. If I have done wrong +I shall be punished for it." + +This answer, which Laurence had carefully considered, was so probable in +all its parts that Corentin's convictions were shaken. In that decisive +moment, when every soul present hung suspended, as it were, on the faces +of the two adversaries, and all eyes turned from Corentin to Laurence +and from Laurence to Corentin, again the gallop of a horse, coming from +the forest, resounded on the road and from there through the gates to +the paved courtyard. Frightful anxiety was stamped on every face. + +Peyrade entered, his eyes gleaming with joy. He went hastily to Corentin +and said, loud enough for the countess to hear him: "We have caught +Michu." + +Laurence, to whom the agony, fatigue, and tension of all her +intellectual faculties had given an unusual color, turned white and fell +back almost fainting on a chair. Madame Durieu, Mademoiselle Goujet, +and Madame d'Hauteserre sprang to help her, for she was suffocating. She +signed to cut the frogging of her habit. + +"Duped!" said Corentin to Peyrade. "I am certain now they are on their +way to Paris. Change the orders." + +They left the room and the house, placing one gendarme on guard at the +door of the salon. The infernal cleverness of the two men had gained +a terrible advantage by taking Laurence in the trap of a not uncommon +trick. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. FOILED + +At six o'clock in the morning, as day was dawning, Corentin and Peyrade +returned. Having explored the covered way they were satisfied that +horses had passed through it to reach the forest. They were now awaiting +the report of the captain of gendarmerie sent to reconnoitre the +neighborhood. Leaving the chateau in charge of a corporal, they went +to the tavern at Cinq-Cygne to get their breakfast, giving orders that +Gothard, who never ceased to reply to all questions with a burst of +tears, should be set at liberty, also Catherine, who still continued +silent and immovable. Catherine and Gothard went to the salon to kiss +the hands of their mistress, who lay exhausted on the sofa; Durieu also +went in to tell her that Stella would recover, but needed great care. + +The mayor, uneasy and inquisitive, met Peyrade and Corentin in the +village. He declared that he could not allow such important officials to +breakfast in a miserable tavern, and he took them to his own house. The +abbey was only three quarters of a mile distant. On the way, Peyrade +remarked that the corporal of Arcis had sent no news of Michu or of +Violette. + +"We are dealing with very able people," said Corentin; "they are +stronger than we. The priest no doubt has a finger in all this." + +Just as the mayor's wife was ushering her guests into a vast dining-room +(without any fire) the lieutenant of gendarmes arrived with an anxious +air. + +"We met the horse of the corporal of Arcis in the forest without his +master," he said to Peyrade. + +"Lieutenant," cried Corentin, "go instantly to Michu's house and find +out what is going on there. They must have murdered the corporal." + +This news interfered with the mayor's breakfast. Corentin and Peyrade +swallowed their food with the rapidity of hunters halting for a meal, +and drove back to the chateau in their wicker carriage, so as to be +ready to start at the first call for any point where their presence +might be necessary. When the two men reappeared in the salon into which +they had brought such trouble, terror, grief, and anxiety, they found +Laurence, in a dressing-gown, Monsieur d'Hauteserre and his wife, the +abbe and his sister, sitting round the fire, to all appearance tranquil. + +"If they had caught Michu," Laurence told herself, "they would have +brought him with them. I have the mortification of knowing that I was +not the mistress of myself, and that I threw some light upon the matter +for those wretches; but the harm can be undone--How long are we to be +your prisoners?" she asked sarcastically, with an easy manner. + +"How can she know anything about Michu? No one from the outside has got +near the chateau; she is laughing at us," said the two agents to each +other by a look. + +"We shall not inconvenience you long," replied Corentin. "In three hours +from now we shall offer our regrets for having troubled your solitude." + +No one replied. This contemptuous silence redoubled Corentin's inward +rage. Laurence and the abbe (the two minds of their little world) had +talked the man over and drawn their conclusions. Gothard and Catherine +had set the breakfast-table near the fire and the abbe and his sister +were sharing the meal. Neither masters nor servants paid the slightest +attention to the two spies, who walked up and down the garden, the +courtyard or the lawn, returning every now and then to the salon. + +At half-past two the lieutenant reappeared. + +"I found the corporal," he said to Corentin, "lying in the road which +leads from the pavilion of Cinq-Cygne to the farm at Bellache. He has +no wound, only a bad contusion of the head, caused, apparently, by his +fall. He told me he had been lifted suddenly off his horse and flung +so violently to the ground that he could not discover how the thing was +done. His feet left the stirrups, which was lucky, for he might have +been killed by the horse dragging him. We put him in charge of Michu and +Violette--" + +"Michu! is Michu in his own house?" said Corentin, glancing at Laurence. + +The countess smiled ironically, like a woman obtaining her revenge. + +"He is bargaining with Violette about the sale of some land," said the +lieutenant. "They seemed to me drunk; and it's no wonder, for they have +been drinking all night and discussing the matter, and they haven't come +to terms yet." + +"Did Violette tell you so?" cried Corentin. + +"Yes," said the lieutenant. + +"Nothing is right if we don't attend to it ourselves!" cried Peyrade, +looking at Corentin, who doubted the lieutenant's news as much as the +other did. + +"At what hour did you get to Michu's house?" asked Corentin, noticing +that the countess had glanced at the clock. + +"About two," replied the lieutenant. + +Laurence covered Monsieur and Madame d'Hauteserre and the abbe and his +sister in one comprehensive glance, which made them fancy they were +wrapped in an azure mantle; triumph sparkled in her eyes, she blushed, +and the tears welled up beneath her lids. Strong under all misfortunes, +the girl knew not how to weep except from joy. At this moment she was +all glorious, especially to the priest, who was sometimes distressed +by the virility of her character, and who now caught a glimpse of the +infinite tenderness of her woman's nature. But such feelings lay in her +soul like a treasure hidden at a great depth beneath a block of granite. + +Just then a gendarme entered the salon to ask if he might bring in +Michu's son, sent by his father to speak to the gentlemen from Paris. +Corentin gave an affirmative nod. Francois Michu, a sly little chip of +the old block, was in the courtyard, where Gothard, now at liberty, got +a chance to speak to him for an instant under the eyes of a gendarme. +The little fellow managed to slip something into Gothard's hand without +being detected, and the latter glided into the salon after him till he +reached his mistress, to whom he stealthily conveyed both halves of +the wedding-ring, a sure sign, she knew, that Michu had met the four +gentlemen and put them in safety. + +"My papa wants to know what he's to do with the corporal, who ain't +doing well," said Francois. + +"What's the matter with him?" asked Peyrade. + +"It's his head--he pitched down hard on the ground," replied the boy. +"For a gindarme who knows how to ride it was bad luck--I suppose the +horse stumbled. He's got a hole--my! as big as your fist--in the back of +his head. Seems as if he must have hit some big stone, poor man! He may +be a gindarme, but he suffers all the same--you'd pity him." + +The captain of the gendarmerie now arrived and dismounted in the +courtyard. Corentin threw up the window, not to lose time. + +"What has been done?" + +"We are back like the Dutchmen! We found nothing but five dead horses, +their coats stiff with sweat, in the middle of the forest. I have kept +them to find out where they came from and who owns them. The forest is +surrounded; whoever is in it can't get out." + +"At what hour do you suppose those horsemen entered the forest?" + +"About half-past twelve." + +"Don't let a hare leave that forest without your seeing it," whispered +Corentin. "I'll station Peyrade at the village to help you; I am going +to see the corporal myself--Go to the mayor's house," he added, still +whispering, to Peyrade. "I'll send some able man to relieve you. We +shall have to make use of the country-people; examine all faces." He +turned towards the family and said in a threatening tone, "Au revoir!" + +No one replied, and the two agents left the room. + +"What would Fouche say if he knew we had made a domiciliary visit +without getting any results?" remarked Peyrade as he helped Corentin +into the osier vehicle. + +"It isn't over yet," replied the other, "those four young men are in the +forest. Look there!" and he pointed to Laurence who was watching them +from a window. "I once revenged myself on a woman who was worth a dozen +of that one and had stirred my bile a good deal less. If this girl comes +in the way of my hatchet I'll pay her for the lash of that whip." + +"The other was a strumpet," said Peyrade; "this one has rank." + +"What difference is that to me? All's fish that swims in the sea," +replied Corentin, signing to the gendarme who drove him to whip up. + +Ten minutes later the chateau de Cinq-Cygne was completely evacuated. + +"How did they get rid of the corporal?" said Laurence to Francois Michu, +whom she had ordered to sit down and eat some breakfast. + +"My father told me it was a matter of life and death and I mustn't let +anybody get into our house," replied the boy. "I knew when I heard the +horses in the forest that I'd got to do with them hounds of gindarmes, +and I meant to keep 'em from getting in. So I took some big ropes that +were in my garret and fastened one of 'em to a tree at the corner of +the road. Then I drew the rope high enough to hit the breast of a man +on horseback, and tied it to the tree on the opposite side of the way in +the direction where I heard the horses. That barred the road. It didn't +miss fire, I can tell you! There was no moon, and the corporal just +pitched!--but he wasn't killed; they're tough, them gindarmes! I did +what I could." + +"You have saved us!" said Laurence, kissing him as she took him to +the gate. When there, she looked about her and seeing no one she said +cautiously, "Have they provisions?" + +"I have just taken them twelve pounds of bread and four bottles of +wine," said the boy. "They'll be snug for a week." + +Returning to the salon, the girl was beset with mute questions in the +eyes of all, each of whom looked at her with as much admiration as +eagerness. + +"But have you really seen them?" cried Madame d'Hauteserre. + +The countess put a finger on her lips and smiled; then she left the room +and went to bed; her triumph sure, utter weariness had overtaken her. + +The shortest road from Cinq-Cygne to Michu's lodge was that which led +from the village past the farm at Bellache to the _rond-point_ where +the Parisian spies had first seen Michu on the preceding evening. The +gendarme who was driving Corentin took this way, which was the one the +corporal of Arcis had taken. As they drove along, the agent was on the +look-out for signs to show why the corporal had been unhorsed. He blamed +himself for having sent but one man on so important an errand, and he +drew from this mistake an axiom for the police Code, which he afterwards +applied. + +"If they have got rid of the corporal," he said to himself, "they have +done as much by Violette. Those five horses have evidently brought +the four conspirators and Michu from the neighborhood of Paris to the +forest. Has Michu a horse?" he inquired of the gendarme who was driving +him and who belonged to the squad from Arcis. + +"Yes, and a famous little horse it is," answered the man, "a hunter +from the stables of the ci-devant Marquis de Simeuse. There's no better +beast, though it is nearly fifteen years old. Michu can ride him fifty +miles and he won't turn a hair. He takes mighty good care of him and +wouldn't sell him at any price." + +"What does the horse look like?" + +"He's brown, turning rather to black; white stockings above the hoofs, +thin, all nerves like an Arab." + +"Did you ever see an Arab?" + +"In Egypt--last year. I've ridden the horses of the mamelukes. We have +to serve twelve years in the cavalry, and I was on the Rhine under +General Steingel, after that in Italy, and then I followed the First +Consul to Egypt. I'll be a corporal soon." + +"When I get to Michu's house go to the stable; if you have served twelve +years in the cavalry you know when a horse is blown. Let me know the +condition of Michu's beast." + +"See! that's where our corporal was thrown," said the man, pointing to a +spot where the road they were following entered the _rond-point_. + +"Tell the captain to come and pick me up at Michu's, and I'll go with +him to Troyes." + +So saying Corentin got down, and stood about for a few minutes examining +the ground. He looked at the two elms which faced each other,--one +against the park wall, the other on the bank of the _rond-point_; then +he saw (what no one had yet noticed) the button of a uniform lying in +the dust, and he picked it up. Entering the lodge he saw Violette and +Michu sitting at the table in the kitchen and talking eagerly. Violette +rose, bowed to Corentin, and offered him some wine. + +"Thank you, no; I came to see the corporal," said the young man, who saw +with half a glance that Violette had been drunk all night. + +"My wife is nursing him upstairs," said Michu. + +"Well, corporal, how are you?" said Corentin who had run up the stairs +and found the gendarme with his head bandaged, and lying on Madame +Michu's bed; his hat, sabre, and shoulder-belt on a chair. + +Marthe, faithful in her womanly instincts, and knowing nothing of her +son's prowess, was giving all her care to the corporal, assisted by her +mother. + +"We expect Monsieur Varlet the doctor from Arcis," she said to Corentin; +"our servant-lad has gone to fetch him." + +"Leave us alone for a moment," said Corentin, a good deal surprised at +the scene, which amply proved the innocence of the two women. "Where +were you struck?" he asked the man, examining his uniform. + +"On the breast," replied the corporal. + +"Let's see your belt," said Corentin. + +On the yellow band with a white edge, which a recent regulation had +made part of the equipment of the guard now called National, was a metal +plate a good deal like that of the foresters, on which the law required +the inscription of these remarkable words: "Respect to persons and +to properties." Francois's rope had struck the belt and defaced it. +Corentin took up the coat and found the place where the button he had +picked up upon the road belonged. + +"What time did they find you?" asked Corentin. + +"About daybreak." + +"Did they bring you up here at once?" said Corentin, noticing that the +bed had not been slept in. + +"Yes." + +"Who brought you up?" + +"The women and little Michu, who found me unconscious." + +"So!" thought Corentin: "evidently they didn't go to bed. The corporal +was not shot at, nor struck by any weapon, for an assailant must have +been at his own height to strike a blow. Something, some obstacle, was +in his way and that unhorsed him. A piece of wood? not possible! an iron +chain? that would have left marks. What did you feel?" he said aloud. + +"I was knocked over so suddenly--" + +"The skin is rubbed off under your chin," said Corentin quickly. + +"I think," said the corporal, "that a rope did go over my face." + +"I have it!" cried Corentin; "somebody tied a rope from tree to tree to +bar the way." + +"Like enough," replied the corporal. + +Corentin went downstairs to the kitchen. + +"Come, you old rascal," Michu was saying to Violette, "let's make an end +of this. One hundred thousand francs for the place, and you are master +of my whole property. I shall retire on my income." + +"I tell you, as there's a God in heaven, I haven't more than sixty +thousand." + +"But don't I offer you time to pay the rest? You've kept me here since +yesterday, arguing it. The land is in prime order." + +"Yes, the soil is good," said Violette. + +"Wife, some more wine," cried Michu. + +"Haven't you drunk enough?" called down Marthe's mother. "This is the +fourteenth bottle since nine o'clock yesterday." + +"You have been here since nine o'clock this morning, haven't you?" said +Corentin to Violette. + +"No, beg your pardon, since last night I haven't left the place, and +I've gained nothing after all; the more he makes me drink the more he +puts up the price." + +"In all markets he who raises his elbow raises a price," said Corentin. + +A dozen empty bottles ranged along the table proved the truth of the old +woman's words. Just then the gendarme who had driven him made a sign to +Corentin, who went to the door to speak to him. + +"There is no horse in the stable," said the man. + +"You sent your boy on horseback to the chateau, didn't you?" said +Corentin, returning to the kitchen. "Will he be back soon?" + +"No, monsieur," said Michu, "he went on foot." + +"What have you done with your horse, then?" + +"I have lent him," said Michu, curtly. + +"Come out here, my good fellow," said Corentin; "I've a word for your +ear." + +Corentin and Michu left the house. + +"The gun which you were loading yesterday at four o'clock you meant to +use in murdering the Councillor of State; but we can't take you up for +that--plenty of intention, but no witnesses. You managed, I don't know +how, to stupefy Violette, and you and your wife and that young rascal +of yours spent the night out of doors to warn Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne +and save her cousins, whom you are hiding here,--though I don't as +yet know where. Your son or your wife threw the corporal off his horse +cleverly enough. Well, you've got the better of us just now; you're a +devil of a fellow. But the end is not yet, and you won't have the last +word. Hadn't you better compromise? your masters would be the better for +it." + +"Come this way, where we can talk without being overheard," said Michu, +leading the way through the park to the pond. + +When Corentin saw the water he looked fixedly at Michu, who was no doubt +reckoning on his physical strength to fling the spy into seven feet of +mud below three feet of water. Michu replied with a look that was +not less fixed. The scene was absolutely as if a cold and flabby boa +constrictor had defied one of those tawny, fierce leopards of Brazil. + +"I am not thirsty," said Corentin, stopping short at the edge of the +field and putting his hand into his pocket to feel for his dagger. + +"We shall never come to terms," said Michu, coldly. + +"Mind what you're about, my good fellow; the law has its eye upon you." + +"If the law can't see any clearer than you, there's danger to every +one," said the bailiff. + +"Do you refuse?" said Corentin, in a significant tone. + +"I'd rather have my head cut off a thousand times, if that could be +done, than come to an agreement with such a villain as you." + +Corentin got into his vehicle hastily, after one more comprehensive look +at Michu, the lodge, and Couraut, who barked at him. He gave certain +orders in passing through Troyes, and then returned to Paris. All the +brigades of gendarmerie in the neighborhood received secret instructions +and special orders. + +During the months of December, January, and February the search was +active and incessant, even in remote villages. Spies were in all the +taverns. Corentin learned some important facts: a horse like that of +Michu had been found dead in the neighborhood of Lagny; the five horses +burned in the forest of Nodesme had been sold, for five hundred francs +each, by farmers and millers to a man who answered to the description of +Michu. When the decree against the accomplices and harborers of Georges +was put in force Corentin confined his search to the forest of Nodesme. +After Moreau, the royalists, and Pichegru were arrested no strangers +were ever seen about the place. + +Michu lost his situation at that time; the notary of Arcis brought him a +letter in which Malin, now made senator, requested Grevin to settle all +accounts with the bailiff and dismiss him. Michu asked and obtained a +formal discharge and became a free man. To the great astonishment of the +neighborhood he went to live at Cinq-Cygne, where Laurence made him +the farmer of all the reserved land about the chateau. The day of his +installation as farmer coincided with the fatal day of the death of the +Duc d'Enghien, when nearly the whole of France heard at the same time +of the arrest, trial, condemnation, and death of the prince,--terrible +reprisals, which preceded the trial of Polignac, Riviere, and Moreau. + + + + + +PART II. + +CHAPTER X. ONE AND THE SAME, YET A TWO-FOLD LOVE + +While the new farm-house was being built Michu the Judas, so-called, and +his family occupied the rooms over the stables at Cinq-Cygne on the side +of the chateau next to the famous breach. He bought two horses, one +for himself and one for Francois, and they both joined Gothard in +accompanying Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne in her many rides, which had for +their object, as may well be imagined, the feeding of the four gentlemen +and perpetual watching that they were still in safety. Francois and +Gothard, assisted by Couraut and the countess's dogs, went in front and +beat the woods all around the hiding-place to make sure that there was +no one within sight. Laurence and Michu carried the provisions which +Marthe, her mother, and Catherine prepared, unknown to the other +servants of the household so as to restrict the secret to themselves, +for all were sure that there were spies in the village. These +expeditions were never made oftener than twice a week and on different +days and at different hours, sometimes by day, sometimes by night. + +These precautions lasted until the trial of Riviere, Polignac, and +Moreau ended. When the senatus-consultum, which called the dynasty of +Bonaparte to the throne and nominated Napoleon as Emperor of the French, +was submitted to the French people for acceptance Monsieur d'Hauteserre +signed the paper Goulard brought him. When it was made known that +the Pope would come to France to crown the Emperor, Mademoiselle de +Cinq-Cygne no longer opposed the general desire that her cousins and the +young d'Hauteserres should petition to have their names struck off +the list of _emigres_, and be themselves reinstated in their rights +as citizens. On this, old d'Hauteserre went to Paris and consulted the +ci-devant Marquis de Chargeboeuf who knew Talleyrand. That minister, +then in favor, conveyed the petition to Josephine, and Josephine gave it +to her husband, who was addressed as Emperor, Majesty, Sire, before the +result of the popular vote was known. Monsieur de Chargeboeuf, Monsieur +d'Hauteserre, and the Abbe Goujet, who also went to Paris, obtained an +interview with Talleyrand, who promised them his support. Napoleon had +already pardoned several of the principal actors in the great royalist +conspiracy; and yet, though the four gentlemen were merely suspected of +complicity, the Emperor, after a meeting of the Council of State, called +the senator Malin, Fouche, Talleyrand, Cambaceres, Lebrun, and Dubois, +prefect of police, into his cabinet. + +"Gentlemen," said the future Emperor, who still wore the dress of +the First Consul, "we have received from the Sieurs de Simeuse and +d'Hauteserre, officers in the army of the Prince de Conde, a request to +be allowed to re-enter France." + +"They are here now," said Fouche. + +"Like many others whom I meet in Paris," remarked Talleyrand. + +"I think you have not met these gentlemen," said Malin, "for they are +hidden in the forest of Nodesme, where they consider themselves at +home." + +He was careful not to tell the First Consul and Fouche how he himself +had given them warning, by talking with Grevin within hearing of Michu, +but he made the most of Corentin's reports and convinced Napoleon that +the four gentlemen were sharers in the plot of Riviere and Polignac, +with Michu for an accomplice. The prefect of police confirmed these +assertions. + +"But how could that bailiff know that the conspiracy was discovered?" +said the prefect, "for the Emperor and the council and I were the only +persons in the secret." + +No one paid attention to this remark. + +"If they have been hidden in that forest for the last seven months and +you have not been able to find them," said the Emperor to Fouche, "they +have expiated their misdeeds." + +"Since they are my enemies as well," said Malin, frightened by the +Emperor's clear-sightedness, "I desire to follow the magnanimous example +of your Majesty; I therefore make myself their advocate and ask that +their names be stricken from the list of _emigres_." + +"They will be less dangerous to you here than if they are exiled; for +they will now have to swear allegiance to the Empire and the laws," said +Fouche, looking at Malin fixedly. + +"In what way are they dangerous to the senator?" asked Napoleon. + +Talleyrand spoke to the Emperor for some minutes in a low voice. The +reinstatement of the Messieurs de Simeuse and d'Hauteserre appeared to +be granted. + +"Sire," said Fouche, "rely upon it, you will hear of those men again." + +Talleyrand, who had been urged by the Duc de Grandlieu, gave the Emperor +pledges in the name of the young men on their honor as gentlemen (a term +which had great fascination for Napoleon), to abstain from all attacks +upon his Majesty and to submit themselves to his government in good +faith. + +"Messieurs d'Hauteserre and de Simeuse are not willing to bear arms +against France, now that events have taken their present course," he +said, aloud; "they have little sympathy, it is true, with the Imperial +government, but they are just the men that your Majesty ought to +conciliate. They will be satisfied to live on French soil and obey the +laws." + +Then he laid before the Emperor a letter he had received from the +brothers in which these sentiments were expressed. + +"Anything so frank is likely to be sincere," said the Emperor, returning +the letter and looking at Lebrun and Cambaceres. "Have you any further +suggestions?" he asked of Fouche. + +"In your Majesty's interests," replied the future minister of police, "I +ask to be allowed to inform these gentlemen of their reinstatement--when +it is _really granted_," he added, in a louder tone. + +"Very well," said Napoleon, noticing an anxious look on Fouche's face. + +The matter did not seem positively decided when the Council rose; but it +had the effect of putting into Napoleon's mind a vague distrust of the +four young men. Monsieur d'Hauteserre, believing that all was gained, +wrote a letter announcing the good news. The family at Cinq-Cygne were +therefore not surprised when, a few days later, Goulard came to inform +the countess and Madame d'Hauteserre that they were to send the four +gentlemen to Troyes, where the prefect would show them the decree +reinstating them in their rights and administer to them the oath of +allegiance to the Empire and the laws. Laurence replied that she would +send the notification to her cousins and the Messieurs d'Hauteserre. + +"Then they are not here?" said Goulard. + +Madame d'Hauteserre looked anxiously after Laurence, who left the room +to consult Michu. Michu saw no reason why the young men should not be +released at once from their hiding-place. Laurence, Michu, his son, and +Gothard therefore started as soon as possible for the forest, taking +an extra horse, for the countess resolved to accompany her cousins to +Troyes and return with them. The whole household, made aware of the +good news, gathered on the lawn to witness the departure of the happy +cavalcade. The four young men issued from their long confinement, +mounted their horses, and took the road to Troyes, accompanied by +Mademoiselle Cinq-Cygne. Michu, with the help of his son and Gothard, +closed the entrance to the cellar, and started to return home on foot. +On the way he recollected that he had left the forks and spoons and a +silver cup, which the young men had been using, in the cave, and he +went back for them alone. When he reached the edge of the pond he +heard voices, and went straight to the entrance of the cave through the +brushwood. + +"Have you come for your silver?" said Peyrade, showing his big red nose +through the branches. + +Without knowing why, for at any rate his young masters were safe, Michu +felt a sharp agony in all his joints, so keen was the sense of vague, +indefinable coming evil which took possession of him; but he went +forward at once, and found Corentin on the stairs with a taper in his +hand. + +"We are not very harsh," he said to Michu; "we might have seized +your ci-devants any day for the last week; but we knew they were +reinstated--You're a tough fellow to deal with, and you gave us too +much trouble not to make us anxious to satisfy our curiosity about this +hiding-place of yours." + +"I'd give something," cried Michu, "to know how and by whom we have been +sold." + +"If that puzzles you, old fellow," said Peyrade, laughing, "look at your +horses' shoes, and you'll see that you betrayed yourselves." + +"Well, there need be no rancor!" said Corentin, whistling for the +captain of gendarmerie and their horses. + +"So that rascally Parisian blacksmith who shoed the horses in the +English fashion and left Cinq-Cygne only the other day was their spy!" +thought Michu. "They must have followed our tracks when the ground was +damp. Well, we're quits now!" + +Michu consoled himself by thinking that the discovery was of no +consequence, as the young men were now safe, Frenchmen once more, and at +liberty. Yet his first presentiment was a true one. The police, like the +Jesuits, have the one virtue of never abandoning their friends or their +enemies. + +Old d'Hauteserre returned from Paris and was more than surprised not to +be the first to bring the news. Durieu prepared a succulent dinner, +the servants donned their best clothes, and the household impatiently +awaited the exiles, who arrived about four o'clock, happy,--and yet +humiliated, for they found they were to be under police surveillance for +two years, obliged to present themselves at the prefecture every month +and ordered to remain in the commune of Cinq-Cygne during the said two +years. "I'll send you the papers for signature," the prefect said to +them. "Then, in the course of a few months, you can ask to be relieved +of these conditions, which are imposed on all of Pichegru's accomplices. +I will back your request." + +These restrictions, fairly deserved, rather dispirited the young men, +but Laurence laughed at them. + +"The Emperor of the French," she said, "was badly brought up; he has not +yet acquired the habit of bestowing favors graciously." + +The party found all the inhabitants of the chateau at the gates, and a +goodly proportion of the people of the village waiting on the road to +see the young men, whose adventures had made them famous throughout the +department. Madame d'Hauteserre held her sons to her breast for a long +time, her face covered with tears; she was unable to speak and remained +silent, though happy, through a part of the evening. No sooner had the +Simeuse twins dismounted than a cry of surprise arose on all sides, +caused by their amazing resemblance,--the same look, the same voice, +the same actions. They both had the same movement in rising from their +saddles, in throwing their leg over the crupper of their horses when +dismounting, in flinging the reins upon the animal's neck. Their dress, +precisely the same, contributed to this likeness. They wore boots _a la_ +Suwaroff, made to fit the instep, tight trousers of white leather, green +hunting-jackets with metal buttons, black cravats, and buckskin gloves. +The two young men, just thirty-one years of age, were--to use a term in +vogue in those days--charming cavaliers, of medium height but well set +up, brilliant eyes with long lashes, floating in liquid like those of +children, black hair, noble brows, and olive skin. Their speech, gentle +as that of a woman, fell graciously from their fresh red lips; their +manners, more elegant and polished than those of the provincial +gentlemen, showed that knowledge of men and things had given them that +supplementary education which makes its possessor a man of the world. + +Not lacking money, thanks to Michu, during their emigration, they had +been able to travel and be received at foreign courts. Old d'Hauteserre +and the abbe thought them rather haughty; but in their present position +this may have been the sign of nobility of character. They possessed all +the eminent little marks of a careful education, to which they added a +wonderful dexterity in bodily exercises. Their only dissimilarity was +in the region of ideas. The youngest charmed others by his gaiety, the +eldest by his melancholy; but the contrast, which was purely spiritual, +was not at first observable. + +"Ah, wife," whispered Michu in Marthe's ear, "how could one help +devoting one's self to those young fellows?" + +Marthe, who admired them as a wife and mother, nodded her head prettily +and pressed her husband's hand. The servants were allowed to kiss their +new masters. + +During their seven months' seclusion in the forest (which the young +men had brought upon themselves) they had several times committed the +imprudence of taking walks about their hiding-place, carefully guarded +by Michu, his son, and Gothard. During these walks, taken usually on +starlit nights, Laurence, reuniting the thread of their past and present +lives, felt the utter impossibility of choosing between the brothers. A +pure and equal love for each divided her heart. She fancied indeed +that she had two hearts. On their side, the brothers dared not speak to +themselves of their impending rivalry. Perhaps all three were trusting +to time and accident. The condition of her mind on this subject acted +no doubt upon Laurence as they entered the house, for she hesitated a +moment, and then took an arm of each as she entered the salon followed +by Monsieur and Madame d'Hauteserre, who were occupied with their sons. +Just then a cheer burst from the servants, "Long live the Cinq-Cygne +and the Simeuse families!" Laurence turned round, still between the +brothers, and made a charming gesture of acknowledgement. + +When these nine persons came to actually observe each other,--for in +all meetings, even in the bosom of families, there comes a moment when +friends observe those from whom they have been long parted,--the first +glance which Adrien d'Hauteserre cast upon Laurence seemed to his +mother and to the abbe to betray love. Adrien, the youngest of the +d'Hauteserres, had a sweet and tender soul; his heart had remained +adolescent in spite of the catastrophes which had nerved the man. Like +many young heroes, kept virgin in spirit by perpetual peril, he was +daunted by the timidities of youth. In this he was very different +from his brother, a man of rough manners, a great hunter, an intrepid +soldier, full of resolution, but coarse in fibre and without activity +of mind or delicacy in matters of the heart. One was all soul, the other +all action; and yet they both possessed in the same degree that sense of +honor which is the vital essence of a gentleman. Dark, short, slim +and wiry, Adrien d'Hauteserre gave an impression of strength; whereas +Robert, who was tall, pale and fair, seemed weakly. Adrien, nervous in +temperament, was stronger in soul; while his brother though +lymphatic, was fonder of bodily exercise. Families often present these +singularities of contrast, the causes of which it might be interesting +to examine; but they are mentioned here merely to explain how it was +that Adrien was not likely to find a rival in his brother. Robert's +affection for Laurence was that of a relation, the respect of a +noble for a girl of his own caste. In matters of sentiment the elder +d'Hauteserre belonged to the class of men who consider woman as +an appendage to man, limiting her sphere to the physical duties of +maternity; demanding perfection in that respect, but regarding her +mentally as of no account. To such men the admittance of woman as an +actual sharer in society, in the body politic, in the family, meant the +subversion of the social system. In these days we are so far removed +from this theory of primitive people that almost all women, even those +who do not desire the fatal emancipation offered by the new sects, will +be shocked in merely hearing of it; but it must be owned that Robert +d'Hauteserre had the misfortune to think in that way. Robert was a man +of the middle-ages, Adrien a man of to-day. These differences instead of +hindering their affection had drawn its bonds the closer. On the first +evening after the return of the young men these shades of character +were caught and understood by the abbe, Mademoiselle Goujet, and Madame +d'Hauteserre, who, while playing their boston, were secretly foreseeing +the difficulties of the future. + +At twenty-three years of age, having passed through the many reflections +of a long solitude and the anguish of a defeated enterprise, Laurence +had become a woman, and felt within her an absorbing desire for +affection. She now put forth all her graces of her mind and was +charming; she revealed the hidden beauties of her tender heart with the +simple candor of a child. For the last thirteen years she had been a +woman only through suffering; she longed to obtain amends for it, and +she showed herself as loving and winning as she had been, up to this +time, strong and great. + +The four elders, who were the last to leave the salon that night, +admitted to each other that they felt uneasy at the new position of this +charming girl. What power might not passion have on a young woman of +her character and with her nobility of soul? The twin brothers loved her +with one and the same love and a blind devotion; which of the two would +Laurence choose? To choose one was to kill the other. Countess in her +own right, she could bring her husband a title and certain prerogatives, +together with a long lineage. Perhaps in thinking of these advantages +the elder of the twins, the Marquis de Simeuse, would sacrifice himself +to give Laurence to his brother, who, according to the old laws, was +poor and without a title. But would the younger brother deprive the +elder of the happiness of having Laurence for a wife? At a distance, +this strife of love and generosity might do no harm,--in fact, so long +as the brothers were facing danger the chances of war might end +the difficulty; but what would be the result of this reunion? When +Marie-Paul and Paul-Marie reached the age when passions rise to their +greatest height could they share, as now, the looks and words and +attentions of their cousin? must there not inevitably arise a jealousy +between them the consequences of which might be horrible? What would +then become of the unity of those beautiful lives, one in heart though +twain in body? To these questionings, passed from one to another as they +finished their game, Madame d'Hauteserre replied that in her opinion +Laurence would not marry either of her cousins. The poor lady had +experienced that evening one of those inexplicable presentiments which +are secrets between the mother's heart and God. + +Laurence, in her inward consciousness, was not less alarmed at finding +herself tete-a-tete with her cousins. To the active drama of conspiracy, +to the dangers which the brothers had incurred, to the pain and +penalties of their exile, was now succeeding another sort of drama, of +which she had never thought. This noble girl could not resort to the +violent means of refusing to marry either of the twins; and she was too +honest a woman to marry one and keep an irresistible passion for the +other in her heart. To remain unmarried, to weary her cousins' love by +no decision, and then to take the one who was faithful to her in spite +of her caprices, was a solution of the difficulty not so much sought +for by her as vaguely admitted. As she fell asleep that night she told +herself the wisest course to follow was to let things take their chance. +Chance is, in love, the providence of women. + +The next morning Michu went to Paris, whence he returned a few days +later with four fine horses for his new masters. In six weeks' time the +hunting would begin, and the young countess sagely reflected that +the violent excitements of that exercise would be a help against the +tete-a-tetes of the chateau. At first, however, an unexpected result +surprised the spectators of these strange loves and roused their +admiration. Without any premeditated agreement the brothers rivalled +each other in attentions to Laurence, with a sense of pleasure in so +doing which appeared to suffice them. The relation between themselves +and Laurence was just as fraternal as that between themselves. What +could be more natural? After so long an absence they felt the necessity +of studying her, of knowing her well and letting her know them, leaving +to her the right of choice. They were sustained in this first trial by +the mutual affection which made their double life one and the same life. + +Love, like their own mother, was unable to distinguish between the +brothers. Laurence was obliged (in order to know them apart and make no +mistakes) to give them different cravats--to the elder a white one, to +the younger black. Without this perfect resemblance, this identity of +life, which misled all about them, such a situation would be justly +thought impossible. It can, indeed, be explained only by the fact +itself, which is one of those which men do not believe in unless they +see them; and then the mind is more bewildered by having to explain them +than by the actual sight which caused belief. If Laurence spoke, her +voice echoed in two hearts equally faithful and loving with one tone. +Did she give utterance to an intelligent, or witty, or noble thought, +her glance encountered the delight expressed in two glances which +followed her every movement, interpreted her slightest wish, and +beamed upon her ever with a new expression, gaiety in the one, tender +melancholy in the other. In any matter that concerned their mistress +the brothers showed an admirable quick-wittedness of heart coupled with +instant action which (to use the abbe's own expression) approached the +sublime. Often, if something had to be fetched, if it was a question of +some little attention which men delight to pay to a beloved woman, the +elder would leave that pleasure to the younger with a look at Laurence +that was proud and tender. The younger, on the other hand, put all his +own pride into paying such debts. This rivalry of noble natures in a +feeling which leads men often to the jealous ferocity of the beasts +amazed the old people who were watching it, and bewildered their ideas. + +Such little details often drew tears to the eyes of the countess. +A single sensation, which is perhaps all-powerful in some rare +organizations, will give an idea of Laurence's emotions; it may be +perceived by recalling the perfect unison of two fine voices (like those +of Malibran and Sontag) in some harmonious _duo_, or the blending of +two instruments touched by the hand of genius, their melodious tones +entering the soul like the passionate sighing of one heart. Sometimes, +seeing the Marquis de Simeuse buried in an arm-chair and glancing from +time to time with deepest melancholy at his brother and Laurence who +were talking and laughing, the abbe believed him capable of making the +great sacrifice; presently, however, the priest would see in the young +man's eyes the flash of an unconquerable passion. Whenever either of the +brothers found himself alone with Laurence he might reasonably suppose +himself the one preferred. + +"I fancy then that there is but one of them," explained the countess to +the abbe when he questioned her. That answer showed the priest her total +want of coquetry. Laurence did not conceive that she was loved by two +men. + +"But, my dear child," said Madame d'Hauteserre one evening (her own son +silently dying of love for Laurence), "you must choose!" + +"Oh, let us be happy," she replied; "God will save us from ourselves." + +Adrien d'Hauteserre buried within his breast the jealousy that was +consuming him; he kept the secret of his torture, aware of how little +he could hope. He tried to be content with the happiness of seeing the +charming woman who during the few months this struggle lasted shone in +all her brilliancy. In one sense Laurence had become coquettish, taking +that dainty care of her person which women who are loved delight in. +She followed the fashions, and went more than once to Paris to deck her +beauty with _chiffons_ or some choice novelty. Desirous of giving her +cousins a sense of home and its every enjoyment, from which they had so +long been severed, she made her chateau, in spite of the remonstrances +of her late guardian, the most completely comfortable house in +Champagne. + +Robert d'Hauteserre saw nothing of this hidden drama; he never noticed +his brother's love for Laurence. As to the girl herself, he liked to +tease her about her coquetry,--for he confounded that odious defect +with the natural desire to please; he was always mistaken in matters +of feeling, taste, and the higher ethics. So, whenever this man of +the middle-ages appeared on the scene, Laurence immediately made him, +unknown to himself, the clown of the play; she amused her cousins by +arguing with Robert, and leading him, step by step, into some bog of +ignorance and stupidity. She excelled in such clever mischief, which, +to be really successful, must leave the victim content with himself. +And yet, though his nature was a coarse one, Robert never, during those +delightful months (the only happy period in the lives of the three +young people) said one virile word which might have brought matters to +a crisis between Laurence and her cousins. He was struck with the +sincerity of the brothers; he saw how the one could be glad at the +happiness of the other and yet suffer anguish in the depths of his +heart, and he did perceive how a woman might shrink from showing +tenderness to one which would grieve the other. This perception on +Robert's part was a just one; it explains a situation which, in times +of faith, when the sovereign pontiff had power to intervene and cut +the Gordian knot of such phenomena (allied to the deepest and most +impenetrable mysteries), would have found its solution. The Revolution +had deepened the Catholic faith in these young hearts, and religion now +rendered this crisis in their lives the more severe, because nobility of +character is ever heightened by the grandeur of circumstances. A sense +of this truth kept Monsieur and Madame d'Hauteserre and the abbe from +the slightest fear of any unworthy result on the part of the brothers or +of Laurence. + +This private drama, secretly developing within the limits of the family +life where each member watched it silently, ran its course so rapidly +and withal so slowly, it carried with it so many unhoped-for pleasures, +trifling jars, frustrated fancies, hopes reversed, anxious waitings, +delayed explanations and mute avowals that the dwellers at Cinq-Cygne +paid no attention to the public drama of the Emperor's coronation. At +times these passions made a truce and sought distraction in the violent +enjoyment of hunting, when weariness of body took from the soul all +occasions to wander in the dangerous meadows of reverie. Neither +Laurence nor her cousins had a thought now for public affairs; each day +brought its palpitating and absorbing interests for their hearts. + +"Really," said Mademoiselle Goujet one evening, "I don't know which of +all the lovers loves the most." + +Adrien, who happened to be alone in the salon with the four +card-players, raised his eyes and turned pale. For the last few days +his only hold on life had been the pleasure of seeing Laurence and of +listening to her. + +"I think," said the abbe, "that the countess, being a woman, loves with +the greater abandonment to love." + +Laurence, the twins, and Robert entered the room soon after. The +newspapers had just arrived. England, seeing the failure of all +conspiracies attempted within the borders of France, was now arming +all Europe against their common enemy. The disaster at Trafalgar +had overthrown one of the most amazing plans which human genius ever +conceived; by which, if it had succeeded, the Emperor would have paid +the nation for his election by the ruin of the British power. The camp +at Boulogne had just been raised. Napoleon, whose solders were, as +always, inferior in numbers to the enemy, was about to carry the war +into parts of Europe where he had not before waged it. The whole world +was breathless, awaiting the results of the campaign. + +"He'll surely be defeated this time," said Robert, laying down the +paper. + +"The armies of Austria and of Russia are before him," said Marie-Paul. + +"He has never fought in Germany," added Paul-Marie. + +"Of whom are you speaking?" asked Laurence. + +"The Emperor," answered the three gentlemen. + +The jealous girl threw a disdainful look at her twin lovers, which +humiliated them while it rejoiced the heart of Adrien, who made a +gesture of admiration and gave her one proud look, which said plainly +that _he_ thought only of her,--of Laurence. + +"I told you," said the abbe in a low voice, "that love would some day +cause her to forget her animosity." + +It was the first, last, and only reproach the brothers ever received +from her; but certainly at that moment their love, which could still be +distracted by national events, was inferior to that of Laurence, which, +absorbed her mind so completely that she only knew of the amazing +triumph at Austerlitz by overhearing a discussion between Monsieur +d'Hauteserre and his sons. + +Faithful to his ideas of submission, the old man wished both Robert and +Adrien to re-enter the French army and apply for service; they could, +he thought, be reinstated in their rank and soon find an opening +to military honors. But royalist opinions were now all-powerful at +Cinq-Cygne. The four young men and Laurence laughed at their prudent +elder, who seemed to foresee a coming evil. Possibly, prudence is less +virtue than the exercise of some instinct, or _sense_ of the mind (if it +is allowable to couple those two words). A day will come, no doubt, when +physiologists and philosophers will both admit that the senses are, in +some way, the sheath or vehicle of a keen and penetrative active power +which issues from the mind. + + + + +CHAPTER XI. WISE COUNSEL + +After peace was concluded between France and Austria, towards the end +of the month of February, 1806, a relative, whose influence had been +employed for the reinstatement of the Simeuse brothers, and who was +destined later to give them signal proofs of family attachment, the +ci-devant Marquis de Chargeboeuf, whose estates extended from the +department of the Seine-et-Marne to that of the Aube, arrived one +morning at Cinq-Cygne in a species of caleche which was then named in +derision a _berlingot_. When this shabby carriage was driven past the +windows the inhabitants of the chateau, who were at breakfast, were +convulsed with laughter; but when the bald head of the old man was +seen issuing from behind the leather curtain of the vehicle Monsieur +d'Hauteserre told his name, and all present rose instantly to receive +and do honor to the head of the house of Chargeboeuf. + +"We have done wrong to let him come to us," said the Marquis de Simeuse +to his brother and the d'Hauteserres; "we ought to have gone to him and +made our acknowledgements." + +A servant, dressed as a peasant, who drove the horses from a seat on a +level with the body of the carriage, slipped his cartman's whip into a +coarse leather socket, and got down from the box to assist the marquis +from the carriage; but Adrien and the younger de Simeuse prevented him, +unbuttoned the leather apron, and helped the old man out in spite of his +protestations. This gentleman of the old school chose to consider his +yellow _berlingot_ with its leather curtains a most convenient and +excellent equipage. The servant, assisted by Gothard, unharnessed the +stout horses with shining flanks, accustomed no doubt to do as much duty +at the plough as in a carriage. + +"In spite of this cold weather! Why, you are a knight of the olden +time," said Laurence, to her visitor, taking his arm and leading him +into the salon. + +"What has he come for?" thought old d'Hauteserre. + +Monsieur de Chargeboeuf, a handsome old gentleman of sixty-six, +in light-colored breeches, his small weak legs encased in colored +stockings, wore powder, pigeon-wings and a queue. His green cloth +hunting-coat with gold buttons was braided and frogged with gold. His +white waistcoat glittered with gold embroidery. This apparel, still in +vogue among old people, became his face, which was not unlike that of +Frederick the Great. He never put on his three-cornered hat lest he +should destroy the effect of the half-moon traced upon his cranium by +a layer of powder. His right hand, resting on a hooked cane, held both +cane and hat in a manner worthy of Louis XIV. The fine old gentleman +took off his wadded silk pelisse and seated himself in an armchair, +holding the three-cornered hat and the cane between his knees in an +attitude the secret of which has never been grasped by any but the roues +of Louis XV.'s court, an attitude which left the hands free to play with +a snuff-box, always a precious trinket. Accordingly the marquis drew +from the pocket of his waistcoat, which was closed by a flap embroidered +in gold arabesques, a sumptuous snuff-box. While fingering his own +pinch and offering the box around him with another charming gesture +accompanied with kindly smiles, he noticed the pleasure which his visit +gave. He seemed then to comprehend why these young _emigres_ had been +remiss in their duty towards him, and to be saying to himself, "When we +are making love we can't make visits." + +"You will stay with us some days?" said Laurence. + +"Impossible," he replied. "If we were not so separated by events (for as +to distance, you go farther than that which lies between us) you would +know, my dear child, that I have daughters, daughters-in-law, and +grand-children. All these dear creatures would be very uneasy if I did +not return to them to-night, and I have forty-five miles to go." + +"Your horses are in good condition," said the Marquis de Simeuse. + +"Oh! I am just from Troyes, where I had business yesterday." + +After the customary polite inquiries for the Marquise de Chargeboeuf and +other matters really uninteresting but about which politeness assumes +that we are keenly interested, it dawned on Monsieur d'Hauteserre +that the old gentleman had come to warn his young relatives against +imprudence. He remarked that times were changed and no one could tell +what the Emperor might now become. + +"Oh!" said Laurence, "he'll make himself God." + +The Marquis spoke of the wisdom of concession. When he stated, with more +emphasis and authority than he put into his other remarks, the necessity +of submission, Monsieur d'Hauteserre looked at his sons with an almost +supplicating air. + +"Would you serve that man?" asked the Marquis de Simeuse. + +"Yes, I would, if the interests of my family required it," replied +Monsieur de Chargeboeuf. + +Gradually the old man made them aware, though vaguely, of some +threatened danger. When Laurence begged him to explain the nature of +it, he advised the four young men to refrain from hunting and to keep +themselves as much in retirement as possible. + +"You treat the domain of Gondreville as if it were your own," he said to +the Messieurs de Simeuse, "and you are keeping alive a deadly hatred. I +see, by the surprise upon your faces, that you are quite unaware of +the ill-will against you at Troyes, where your late brave conduct is +remembered. They tell of how you foiled the police of the Empire; some +praise you for it, but others regard you as enemies of the Emperor; +partisans declare that Napoleon's clemency is inexplicable. That, +however, is nothing. The real danger lies here; you foiled men who +thought themselves cleverer than you; and low-bred men never forgive. +Sooner or later justice, which in your department emanates from your +enemy, Senator Malin (who has his henchmen everywhere, even in the +ministerial offices),--_his_ justice will rejoice to see you involved in +some annoying scrape. A peasant, for instance, will quarrel with you +for riding over his field; your guns are in your hands, you are +hot-tempered, and something happens. In your position it is absolutely +essential that you should not put yourselves in the wrong. I do +not speak to you thus without good reason. The police keep this +arrondissement under strict surveillance; they have an agent in that +little hole of Arcis expressly to protect the Imperial senator Malin +against your attacks. He is afraid of you, and says so openly." + +"It is a calumny!" cried the younger Simeuse. + +"A calumny,--I am sure of it myself, but will the public believe it? +Michu certainly did aim at the senator, who does not forget the danger +he was in; and since your return the countess has taken Michu into her +service. To many persons, in fact to the majority, Malin will seem to +be in the right. You do not understand how delicate the position of an +_emigre_ is towards those who are now in possession of his property. The +prefect, a very intelligent man, dropped a word to me yesterday about +you which has made me uneasy. In short, I sincerely wish you would not +remain here." + +This speech was received in dumb amazement. Marie-Paul rang the bell. + +"Gothard," he said, to the little page, "send Michu here." + +"Michu, my friend," said the Marquis de Simeuse when the man appeared, +"is it true that you intended to kill Malin?" + +"Yes, Monsieur le marquis; and when he comes here again I shall lie in +wait for him." + +"Do you know that we are suspected of instigating it, and that our +cousin, by taking you as her farmer is supposed to be furthering your +scheme?" + +"Good God!" cried Michu, "am I accursed? Shall I never be able to rid +you of that villain?" + +"No, my man, no!" said Paul-Marie. "But we will always take care of you, +though you will have to leave our service and the country too. Sell your +property here; we will send you to Trieste to a friend of ours who has +immense business connections, and he'll employ you until things are +better in this country for all of us." + +Tears came into Michu's eyes; he stood rooted to the floor. + +"Were there any witnesses when you aimed at Malin?" asked the Marquis de +Chargeboeuf. + +"Grevin the notary was talking with him, and that prevented my killing +him--very fortunately, as Madame la Comtesse knows," said Michu, looking +at his mistress. + +"Grevin is not the only one who knows it?" said Monsieur de Chargeboeuf, +who seemed annoyed at what was said, though none but the family were +present. + +"That police spy who came here to trap my masters, he knew it too," said +Michu. + +Monsieur de Chargeboeuf rose as if to look at the gardens, and said, +"You have made the most of Cinq-Cygne." Then he left the house, followed +by the two brothers and Laurence, who now saw the meaning of his visit. + +"You are frank and generous, but most imprudent," said the old man. "It +was natural enough that I should warn you of a rumor which was certain +to be a slander; but what have you done now? you have let such weak +persons as Monsieur and Madame d'Hauteserre and their sons see that +there was truth in it. Oh, young men! young men! You ought to keep Michu +here and go away yourselves. But if you persist in remaining, at least +write a letter to the senator and tell him that having heard the rumors +about Michu you have dismissed him from your employ." + +"We!" exclaimed the brothers; "what, write to Malin,--to the murderer of +our father and our mother, to the insolent plunderer of our property!" + +"All true; but he is one of the chief personages at the Imperial court, +and the king of your department." + +"He, who voted for the death of Louis XVI. in case the army of Conde +entered France!" cried Laurence. + +"He, who probably advised the murder of the Duc d'Enghien!" exclaimed +Paul-Marie. + +"Well, well, if you want to recapitulate his titles of nobility," cried +Monsieur de Chargeboeuf, "say he who pulled Robespierre by the skirts +of his coat to make him fall when he saw that his enemies were stronger +than he; he who would have shot Bonaparte if the 18th Brumaire had +missed fire; he who manoeuvres now to bring back the Bourbons if +Napoleon totters; he whom the strong will ever find on their side to +handle either sword or pistol and put an end to an adversary whom they +fear! But--all that is only reason the more for what I urge upon you." + +"We have fallen very low," said Laurence. + +"Children," said the old marquis, taking them by the hand and going to +the lawn, then covered by a slight fall of snow; "you will be angry at +the prudent advice of an old man, but I am bound to give it, and here +it is: If I were you I would employ as go-between some trustworthy old +fellow--like myself, for instance; I would commission him to ask Malin +for a million of francs for the title-deeds of Gondreville; he would +gladly consent if the matter were kept secret. You will then have +capital in hand, an income of a hundred thousand francs, and you can +buy a fine estate in another part of France. As for Cinq-Cygne, it can +safely be left to the management of Monsieur d'Hauteserre, and you +can draw lots as to which of you shall win the hand of this dear +heiress--But ah! I know the words of an old man in the ears of the young +are like the words of the young in the ears of the old, a sound without +meaning." + +The old marquis signed to his three relatives that he wished no answer, +and returned to the salon, where, during their absence, the abbe and his +sister had arrived. + +The proposal to draw lots for their cousin's hand had offended the +brothers, while Laurence revolted in her soul at the bitterness of the +remedy the old marquis counselled. All three were now less gracious to +him, though they did not cease to be polite. The warmth of their feeling +was chilled. Monsieur de Chargeboeuf, who felt the change, cast +frequent looks of kindly compassion on these charming young people. +The conversation became general, but the old marquis still dwelt on +the necessity of submitting to events, and he applauded Monsieur +d'Hauteserre for his persistence in urging his sons to take service +under the Empire. + +"Bonaparte," he said, "makes dukes. He has created Imperial fiefs, +he will therefore make counts. Malin is determined to be Comte de +Gondreville. That is a fancy," he added, looking at the Simeuse +brothers, "which might be profitable to you--" + +"Or fatal," said Laurence. + +As soon as the horses were put-to the marquis took leave, accompanied to +the door by the whole party. When fairly in the carriage he made a sign +to Laurence to come and speak to him, and she sprang upon the foot-board +with the lightness of a swallow. + +"You are not an ordinary woman, and you ought to understand me," he said +in her ear. "Malin's conscience will never allow him to leave you in +peace; he will set some trap to injure you. I implore you to be careful +of all your actions, even the most unimportant. Compromise, negotiate; +those are my last words." + +The brothers stood motionless behind their cousin and watched the +_berlingot_ as it turned through the iron gates and took the road to +Troyes. Laurence repeated the old man's last words. But sage experience +should not present itself to the eyes of youth in a _berlingot_, colored +stockings, and a queue. These ardent young hearts had no conception +of the change that had passed over France; indignation crisped their +nerves, honor boiled with their noble blood through every vein. + +"He, the head of the house of Chargeboeuf!" said the Marquis de Simeuse. +"A man who bears the motto _Adsit fortior_, the noblest of warcries!" + +"We are no longer in the days of Saint-Louis," said the younger Simeuse. + +"But 'We die singing,'" said the countess. "The cry of the five young +girls of my house is mine!" + +"And ours, 'Cy meurs,'" said the elder Simeuse. "Therefore, no quarter, +I say; for, on reflection, we shall find that our relative had pondered +well what he told us--Gondreville to be the title of a Malin!" + +"And his seat!" said the younger. + +"Mansart designed it for noble stock, and the populace will get their +children in it!" exclaimed the elder. + +"If that were to come to pass, I'd rather see Gondreville in ashes!" +cried Mademoiselle Cinq-Cygne. + +One of the villagers, who had entered the grounds to examine a calf +Monsieur d'Hauteserre was trying to sell him, overheard these words as +he came from the cow-sheds. + +"Let us go in," said Laurence, laughing; "this is very imprudent; we are +giving the old marquis a right to blame us. My poor Michu," she added, +as she entered the salon, "I had forgotten your adventure; as we are +not in the odor of sanctity in these parts you must be careful not +to compromise us in future. Have you any other peccadilloes on your +conscience?" + +"I blame myself for not having killed the murderer of my old masters +before I came to the rescue of my present ones--" + +"Michu!" said the abbe in a warning tone. + +"But I'll not leave the country," Michu continued, paying no heed to +the abbe's exclamation, "till I am certain you are safe. I see fellows +roaming about here whom I distrust. The last time we hunted in the +forest, that keeper who took my place at Gondreville came to me and +asked if we supposed we were on our own property. 'Ho! my lad,' I said, +'we can't get rid in two weeks of ideas we've had for centuries.'" + +"You did wrong, Michu," said the Marquis de Simeuse, smiling with +satisfaction. + +"What answer did he make?" asked Monsieur d'Hauteserre. + +"He said he would inform the senator of our claims," replied Michu. + +"Comte de Gondreville!" repeated the elder Simeuse; "what a masquerade! +But after all, they say 'your Majesty' to Bonaparte!" + +"And to the Grand Duc de Berg, 'your Highness!'" said the abbe. + +"Who is he?" asked the Marquis de Simeuse. + +"Murat, Napoleon's brother-in-law," replied old d'Hauteserre. + +"Delightful!" remarked Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne. "Do they also say +'your Majesty' to the widow of Beauharnais?" + +"Yes, mademoiselle," said the abbe. + +"We ought to go to Paris and see it all," cried Laurence. + +"Alas, mademoiselle," said Michu, "I was there to put Francois at +school, and I swear to you there's no joking with what they call the +Imperial Guard. If the rest of the army are like them, the thing may +last longer than we." + +"They say many of the noble families are taking service," said Monsieur +d'Hauteserre. + +"According to the present law," added the abbe, "you will be compelled +to serve. The conscription makes no distinction of ranks or names." + +"That man is doing us more harm with his court than the Revolution did +with its axe!" cried Laurence. + +"The Church prays for him," said the abbe. + +These remarks, made rapidly one after another, were so many commentaries +on the wise counsel of the old Marquis de Chargeboeuf; but the young +people had too much faith, too much honor, to dream of resorting to a +compromise. They told themselves, as all vanquished parties in all times +have declared, that the luck of the conquerors would soon be at an end, +that the Emperor had no support but that of the army, that the power _de +facto_ must sooner or later give way to the Divine Right, etc. So, in +spite of the wise counsel given to them, they fell into the pitfall, +which others, like old d'Hauteserre, more prudent and more amenable +to reason, would have been able to avoid. If men were frank they might +perhaps admit that misfortunes never overtake them until after they have +received either an actual or an occult warning. Many do not perceive the +deep meaning of such visible or invisible signs until after the disaster +is upon them. + +"In any case, Madame la comtesse knows that I cannot leave the country +until I have given up a certain trust," said Michu in a low voice to +Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne. + +For all answer she made him a sign of acquiescence, and he left the +room. + + + + +CHAPTER XII. THE FACTS OF A MYSTERIOUS AFFAIR + +Michu sold his farm at once to Beauvisage, a farmer at Bellache, but he +was not to receive the money for twenty days. A month after the Marquis +de Chargeboeuf's visit, Laurence, who had told her cousins of their +buried fortune, proposed to them to take the day of the Mi-careme to +disinter it. The unusual quantity of snow which fell that winter had +hitherto prevented Michu from obtaining the treasure, and it now +gave him pleasure to undertake the operation with his masters. He was +determined to leave the neighborhood as soon as it was over, for he +feared himself. + +"Malin has suddenly arrived at Gondreville, and no one knows why," +he said to his mistress. "I shall never be able to resist putting the +property into the market by the death of its owner. I feel I am guilty +in not following my inspirations." + +"Why should he leave Paris at this season?" said the countess. + +"All Arcis is talking about it," replied Michu; "he has left his family +in Paris, and no one is with him but his valet. Monsieur Grevin, the +notary of Arcis, Madame Marion, the wife of the receiver-general, and +her sister-in-law are staying at Gondreville." + +Laurence had chosen the mid-lent day for their purpose because it +enabled her to give her servants a holiday and so get them out of the +way. The usual masquerade drew the peasantry to the town and no one +was at work in the fields. Chance made its calculations with as much +cleverness as Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne made hers. The uneasiness of +Monsieur and Madame d'Hauteserre at the idea of keeping eleven hundred +thousand francs in gold in a lonely chateau on the borders of a forest +was likely to be so great that their sons advised they should know +nothing about it. The secret of the expedition was therefore confined to +Gothard, Michu, Laurence, and the four gentlemen. + +After much consultation it seemed possible to put forty-eight thousand +francs in a long sack on the crupper of each of their horses. Three +trips would therefore bring the whole. It was agreed to send all the +servants, whose curiosity might be troublesome, to Troyes to see the +shows. Catherine, Marthe, and Durieu, who could be relied on, stayed +at home in charge of the house. The other servants were glad of their +holiday and started by daybreak. Gothard, assisted by Michu, saddled the +horses as soon as they were gone, and the party started by way of the +gardens to reach the forest. Just as they were mounting--for the park +gate was so low on the garden side that they led their horses until they +were through it--old Beauvisage, the farmer at Bellache, happened to +pass. + +"There!" cried Gothard, "I hear some one." + +"Oh, it is only I," said the worthy man, coming toward them. "Your +servant, gentleman; are you off hunting, in spite of the new decrees? +_I_ don't complain of you; but do take care! though you have friends you +have also enemies." + +"Oh, as for that," said the elder Hauteserre, smiling, "God grant that +our hunt may be lucky to-day,--if so, you will get your masters back +again." + +These words, to which events were destined to give a totally different +meaning, earned a severe look from Laurence. The elder Simeuse was +confident that Malin would restore Gondreville for an indemnity. These +rash youths were determined to do exactly the contrary of what the +Marquis de Chargeboeuf had advised. Robert, who shared these hopes, was +thinking of them when he gave utterance to the fatal words. + +"Not a word of this, old friend," said Michu to Beauvisage, waiting +behind the others to lock the gate. + +It was one of those fine mornings in March when the air is dry, the +earth pure, the sky clear, and the atmosphere a contradiction to the +leafless trees; the season was so mild that the eye caught glimpses here +and there of verdure. + +"We are seeking treasure when all the while you are the real treasure of +our house, cousin," said the elder Simeuse, gaily. + +Laurence was in front, with a cousin on each side of her. The +d'Hauteserres were behind, followed by Michu. Gothard had gone forward +to clear the way. + +"Now that our fortune is restored, you must marry my brother," said the +younger in a low voice. "He adores you; together you will be as rich as +nobles ought to be in these days." + +"No, give the whole fortune to him and I will marry you," said Laurence; +"I am rich enough for two." + +"So be it," cried the Marquis; "I will leave you, and find a wife worthy +to be your sister." + +"So you really love me less than I thought you did?" said Laurence +looking at him with a sort of jealousy. + +"No; I love you better than either of you love me," replied the marquis. + +"And therefore you would sacrifice yourself?" asked Laurence with a +glance full of momentary preference. + +The marquis was silent. + +"Well, then, I shall think only of you, and that will be intolerable to +my husband," exclaimed Laurence, impatient at his silence. + +"How could I live without you?" said the younger twin to his brother. + +"But, after all, you can't marry us both," said the marquis, replying to +Laurence; "and the time has come," he continued, in the brusque tone of +a man who is struck to the heart, "to make your decision." + +He urged his horse in advance so that the d'Hauteserres might not +overhear them. His brother's horse and Laurence's followed him. When +they had put some distance between themselves and the rest of the party +Laurence attempted to speak, but tears were at first her only language. + +"I will enter a cloister," she said at last. + +"And let the race of Cinq-Cygne end?" said the younger brother. "Instead +of one unhappy man, would you make two? No, whichever of us must be your +brother only, will resign himself to that fate. It is the knowledge +that we are no longer poor that has brought us to explain ourselves," +he added, glancing at the marquis. "If I am the one preferred, all this +money is my brother's. If I am rejected, he will give it to me with +the title of de Simeuse, for he must then take the name and title of +Cinq-Cygne. Whichever way it ends, the loser will have a chance of +recovery--but if he feels he must die of grief, he can enter the army +and die in battle, not to sadden the happy household." + +"We are true knights of the olden time, worthy of our fathers," cried +the elder. "Speak, Laurence; decide between us." + +"We cannot continue as we are," said the younger. + +"Do not think, Laurence, that self-denial is without its joys," said the +elder. + +"My dear loved ones," said the girl, "I am unable to decide. I love you +both as though you were one being--as your mother loved you. God will +help us. I cannot choose. Let us put it to chance--but I make one +condition." + +"What is it?" + +"Whichever one of you becomes my brother must stay with me until I +suffer him to leave me. I wish to be sole judge of when to part." + +"Yes, yes," said the brothers, without explaining to themselves her +meaning. + +"The first of you to whom Madame d'Hauteserre speaks to-night at table +after the Benedicite, shall be my husband. But neither of you must +practise fraud or induce her to answer a question." + +"We will play fair," said the younger, smiling. + +Each kissed her hand. The certainty of some decision which both could +fancy favorable made them gay. + +"Either way, dear Laurence, you create a Comte de Cinq-Cygne--" + +"I believe," thought Michu, riding behind them, "that mademoiselle will +not long be unmarried. How gay my masters are! If my mistress makes her +choice I shall not leave; I must stay and see that wedding." + +Just then a magpie flew suddenly before his face. Michu, superstitious +like all primitive beings, fancied he heard the muffled tones of a +death-knell. The day, however, began brightly enough for lovers, who +rarely see magpies when together in the woods. Michu, armed with his +plan, verified the spots; each gentleman had brought a pickaxe, and the +money was soon found. The part of the forest where it was buried was +quite wild, far from all paths or habitations, so that the cavalcade +bearing the gold returned unseen. This proved to be a great misfortune. +On their way from Cinq-Cygne to fetch the last two hundred thousand +francs, the party, emboldened by success, took a more direct way than +on their other trips. The path passed an opening from which the park of +Gondreville could be seen. + +"What is that?" cried Laurence, pointing to a column of blue flame. + +"A bonfire, I think," replied Michu. + +Laurence, who knew all the by-ways of the forest, left the rest of the +party and galloped towards the pavilion, Michu's old home. Though the +building was closed and deserted, the iron gates were open, and traces +of the recent passage of several horses struck Laurence instantly. The +column of blue smoke was rising from a field in what was called the +English park, where, as she supposed, they were burning brush. + +"Ah! so you are concerned in it, too, are you, mademoiselle?" cried +Violette, who came out of the park at top speed on his pony, and pulled +up to meet Laurence. "But, of course, it is only a carnival joke? They +surely won't kill him?" + +"Who?" + +"Your cousins wouldn't put him to death?" + +"Death! whose death?" + +"The senator's." + +"You are crazy, Violette!" + +"Well, what are you doing here, then?" he demanded. + +At the idea of a danger which was threatening her cousins, Laurence +turned her horse and galloped back to them, reaching the ground as the +last sacks were filled. + +"Quick, quick!" she cried. "I don't know what is going on, but let us +get back to Cinq-Cygne." + +While the happy party were employed in recovering the fortune saved +by the old marquis, and guarded for so many years by Michu, an +extraordinary scene was taking place in the chateau of Gondreville. + +About two o'clock in the afternoon Malin and his friend Grevin were +playing chess before the fire in the great salon on the ground-floor. +Madame Grevin and Madame Marion were sitting on a sofa and talking +together at a corner of the fireplace. All the servants had gone to see +the masquerade, which had long been announced in the arrondissement. The +family of the bailiff who had replaced Michu had gone too. The senator's +valet and Violette were the only persons beside the family at the +chateau. The porter, two gardeners, and their wives were on the place, +but their lodge was at the entrance of the courtyards at the farther end +of the avenue to Arcis, and the distance from there to the chateau +is beyond the sound of a pistol-shot. Violette was waiting in the +antechamber until the senator and Grevin could see him on business, to +arrange a matter relating to his lease. At that moment five men, masked +and gloved, who in height, manner, and bearing strongly resembled +the Simeuse and d'Hauteserre brothers and Michu, rushed into the +antechamber, seized and gagged the valet and Violette, and fastened them +to their chairs in a side room. In spite of the rapidity with which this +was done, Violette and the servant had time to utter one cry. It was +heard in the salon. The two ladies thought it a cry of fear. + +"Listen!" said Madame Grevin, "can there be robbers?" + +"No, nonsense!" said Grevin, "only carnival cries; the masqueraders must +be coming to pay us a visit." + +This discussion gave time for the four strangers to close the doors +towards the courtyards and to lock up Violette and the valet. Madame +Grevin, who was rather obstinate, insisted on knowing what the noise +meant. She rose, left the room, and came face to face with the five +masked men, who treated her as they had treated the farmer and the +valet. Then they rushed into the salon, where the two strongest seized +and gagged Malin, and carried him off into the park, while the three +others remained behind to gag Madame Marion and Grevin and lash them to +their armchairs. The whole affair did not take more than half an hour. +The three unknown men, who were quickly rejoined by the two who had +carried off the senator, then proceeded to ransack the chateau from +cellar to garret. They opened all closets and doors, and sounded the +walls; until five o'clock they were absolute masters of the place. By +that time the valet had managed to loosen with his teeth the rope that +bound Violette. Violette, able then to get the gag from his mouth, +began to shout for help. Hearing the shouts the five men withdrew to +the gardens, where they mounted horses closely resembling those at +Cinq-Cygne and rode away, but not so rapidly that Violette was unable to +catch sight of them. After releasing the valet, the two ladies, and the +notary, Violette mounted his pony and rode after help. When he reached +the pavilion he was amazed to see the gates open and Mademoiselle de +Cinq-Cygne apparently on the watch. + +Directly after the young countess had ridden off, Violette was overtaken +by Grevin and the forester of the township of Gondreville, who had taken +horses from the stables at the chateau. The porter's wife was on her way +to summon the gendarmerie from Arcis. Violette at once informed Grevin +of his meeting with Laurence and the sudden flight of the daring girl, +whose strong and decided character was known to all of them. + +"She was keeping watch," said Violette. + +"Is it possible that those Cinq-Cygne people have done this thing?" +cried Grevin. + +"Do you mean to say you didn't recognize that stout Michu?" exclaimed +Violette. "It was he who attacked me; I knew his fist. Besides, they +rode the Cinq-Cygne horses." + +Noticing the hoof-marks on the sand of the _rond-point_ and along the +park road the notary stationed the forester at the gateway to see to +the preservation of these precious traces until the justice of peace +of Arcis (for whom he now sent Violette) could take note of them. +He himself returned hastily to the chateau, where the lieutenant +and sub-lieutenant of the Imperial gendarmerie at Arcis had arrived, +accompanied by four men and a corporal. The lieutenant was the same +man whose head Francois Michu had broken two years earlier, and who had +heard from Corentin the name of his mischievous assailant. This man, +whose name was Giguet (his brother was in the army, and became one of +the finest colonels of artillery), was an extremely able officer +of gendarmerie. Later he commanded the squadron of the Aube. The +sub-lieutenant, named Welff, had formerly driven Corentin from +Cinq-Cygne to the pavilion, and from the pavilion to Troyes. On the +way, the spy had fully informed him as to what he called the trickery +of Laurence and Michu. The two officers were therefore well inclined to +show, and did show, great eagerness against the family at Cinq-Cygne. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. THE CODE OF BRUMAIRE, YEAR IV. + +Malin and Grevin had both, the latter working for the former, taken part +in the construction of the Code called that of Brumaire, year IV., the +judicial work of the National Convention, so-called, and promulgated by +the Directory. Grevin knew its provisions thoroughly, and was able to +apply them in this affair with terrible celerity, under a theory, now +converted into a certainty, of the guilt of Michu and the Messieurs +de Simeuse and d'Hauteserre. No one in these days, unless it be some +antiquated magistrates, will remember this system of justice, which +Napoleon was even then overthrowing by the promulgation of his own +Codes, and by the institution of his magistracy under the form in which +it now rules France. + +The Code of Brumaire, year IV., gave to the director of the jury of +the department the duty of discovering, indicting, and prosecuting the +persons guilty of the delinquency committed at Gondreville. Remark, by +the way, that the Convention had eliminated from its judicial vocabulary +the word "crime"; _delinquencies_ and _misdemeanors_ were alone +admitted; and these were punished with fines, imprisonment, and +penalties "afflictive or infamous." Death was an afflictive punishment. +But the penalty of death was to be done away with after the restoration +of peace, and twenty-four years of hard labor were to take its place. +Thus the Convention estimated twenty-four years of hard labor as +the equivalent of death. What therefore can be said for a code which +inflicts the punishment of hard labor for life? The system then in +process of preparation by the Napoleonic Council of State suppressed the +function of the directors of juries, which united many enormous powers. +In relation to the discovery of delinquencies and their prosecution the +director of the jury was, in fact, agent of police, public prosecutor, +municipal judge, and the court itself. His proceedings and his +indictments were, however, submitted for signature to a commissioner of +the executive power and to the verdict of eight jurymen, before whom +he laid the facts of the case, and who examined the witnesses and the +accused and rendered the preliminary verdict, called the indictment. The +director was, however, in a position to exercise such influence over the +jurymen, who met in his private office, that they could not well avoid +agreeing with him. These jurymen were called the jury of indictment. +There were others who formed the juries of the criminal tribunals +whose duty it was to judge the accused; these were called, in +contradistinction to the jury of indictment, the judgment jury. The +criminal tribunal, to which Napoleon afterwards gave the name of +criminal court, was composed of one President or chief justice, four +judges, the public prosecutor, and a government commissioner. + +Nevertheless, from 1799 to 1806 there were special courts (so-called) +which judged without juries certain misdemeanors in certain departments; +these were composed of judges taken from the civil courts and formed +into a special court. This conflict of special justice and criminal +justice gave rise to questions of competence which came before the +courts of appeal. If the department of the Aube had had a special court, +the verdict on the outrage committed on a senator of the Empire would no +doubt have been referred to it; but this tranquil department had +never needed unusual jurisdiction. Grevin therefore despatched the +sub-lieutenant to Troyes to bring the director of the jury of that town. +The emissary went at full gallop, and soon returned in a post-carriage +with the all-powerful magistrate. + +The director of the Troyes jury was formerly secretary of one of the +committees of the Convention, a friend of Malin, to whom he owed his +present place. This magistrate, named Lechesneau, had helped Malin, as +Grevin had done, in his work on the Code during the Convention. Malin in +return recommended him to Cambaceres, who appointed him attorney-general +for Italy. Unfortunately for him, Lechesneau had a liaison with a +great lady in Turin, and Napoleon removed him to avoid a criminal trial +threatened by the husband. Lechesneau, bound in gratitude to Malin, felt +the importance of this attack upon his patron, and brought with him a +captain of gendarmerie and twelve men. + +Before starting he laid his plans with the prefect, who was unable +at that late hour, it being after dark, to use the telegraph. They +therefore sent a mounted messenger to Paris to notify the minister of +police, the chief justice and the Emperor of this extraordinary crime. +In the salon of Gondreville, Lechesneau found Mesdames Marion and +Grevin, Violette, the senator's valet, and the justice of peace with his +clerk. The chateau had already been examined; the justice, assisted by +Grevin, had carefully collected the first testimony. The first thing +that struck him was the obvious intention shown in the choice of the +day and hour for the attack. The hour prevented an immediate search for +proofs and traces. At this season it was nearly dark by half-past five, +the hour at which Violette gave the alarm, and darkness often means +impunity to evil-doers. The choice of a holiday, when most persons had +gone to the masquerade at Arcis, and the senator was comparatively alone +in the house, showed an obvious intention to get rid of witnesses. + +"Let us do justice to the intelligence of the prefecture of police," +said Lechesneau; "they have never ceased to warn us to be on our guard +against the nobles at Cinq-Cygne; they have always declared that sooner +or later those people would play us some dangerous trick." + +Sure of the active co-operation of the prefect of the Aube, who sent +messengers to all the surrounding prefectures asking them to search +for the five abductors and the senator, Lechesneau began his work by +verifying the first facts. This was soon done by the help of two such +legal heads as those of Grevin and the justice of peace. The latter, +named Pigoult, formerly head-clerk in the office where Malin and Grevin +had first studied law in Paris, was soon after appointed judge of the +municipal court at Arcis. In relation to Michu, Lechesneau knew of the +threats the man had made about the sale of Gondreville to Marion, and +the danger Malin had escaped in his own park from Michu's gun. These +two facts, one being the consequence of the other, were no doubt +the precursors of the present successful attack, and they pointed so +obviously to the late bailiff as the instigator of the outrage that +Grevin, his wife, Violette, and Madame Marion declared that they had +recognized among the five masked men one who exactly resembled Michu. +The color of the hair and whiskers and the thick-set figure of the man +made the mask he wore useless. Besides, who but Michu could have opened +the iron gates of the park with a key? The present bailiff and his wife, +now returned from the masquerade, deposed to have locked both gates +before leaving the pavilion. The gates when examined showed no sign of +being forced. + +"When we turned him off he must have taken some duplicate keys with +him," remarked Grevin. "No doubt he has been meditating a desperate +step, for he has lately sold his whole property, and he received the +money for it in my office day before yesterday." + +"The others have followed his lead!" exclaimed Lechesneau, struck with +the circumstances. "He has been their evil genius." + +Moreover, who could know as well as the Messieurs de Simeuse the ins and +outs of the chateau. None of the assailants seemed to have blundered in +their search; they had gone through the house in a confident way which +showed that they knew what they wanted to find and where to find it. +The locks of none of the opened closets had been forced; therefore the +delinquents had keys. Strange to say, however, nothing had been taken; +the motive, therefore, was not robbery. More than all, when Violette +had followed the tracks of the horses as far as the _rond-point_, he +had found the countess, evidently on guard, at the pavilion. From such a +combination of facts and depositions arose a presumption as to the guilt +of the Messieurs de Simeuse, d'Hauteserre, and Michu, which would have +been strong to unprejudiced minds, and to the director of the jury had +the force of certainty. What were they likely to do to the future Comte +de Gondreville? Did they mean to force him to make over the estate for +which Michu declared in 1799 he had the money to pay? + +But there was another aspect of the cast to the knowing criminal lawyer. +He asked himself what could be the object of the careful search made of +the chateau. If revenge were at the bottom of the matter, the assailants +would have killed the senator. Perhaps he had been killed and buried. +The abduction, however, seemed to point to imprisonment. But why keep +their victim imprisoned after searching the castle? It was folly to +suppose that the abduction of a dignitary of the Empire could long +remain secret. The publicity of the matter would prevent any benefit +from it. + +To these suggestions Pigoult replied that justice was never able to make +out all the motives of scoundrels. In every criminal case there +were obscurities, he said, between the judge and the guilty person; +conscience had depths into which no human mind could enter unless by the +confession of the criminal. + +Grevin and Lechesneau nodded their assent, without, however, relaxing +their determination to see to the bottom of the present mystery. + +"The Emperor pardoned those young men," said Pigoult to Grevin. "He +removed their names from the list of _emigres_, though they certainly +took part in that last conspiracy against him." + +Lechesneau make no delay in sending his whole force of gendarmerie to +the forest and to the valley of Cinq-Cygne; telling Giguet to take with +him the justice of peace, who, according to the terms of the Code, would +then become an auxiliary police-officer. He ordered them to make +all preliminary inquiries in the township of Cinq-Cygne, and to take +testimony if necessary; and to save time, he dictated and signed a +warrant for the arrest of Michu, against whom the charge was evident on +the positive testimony of Violette. After the departure of the gendarmes +Lechesneau returned to the important question of issuing warrants for +the arrest of the Simeuse and d'Hauteserre brothers. According to +the Code these warrants would have to contain the charges against the +delinquents. + +Giguet and the justice of peace rode so rapidly to Cinq-Cygne that +they met Laurence's servants returning from the festivities at Troyes. +Stopped, and taken before the mayor where they were interrogated, they +all stated, being ignorant of the importance of the answer, that their +mistress had given them permission to spend the whole day at Troyes. +To a question put by the justice of the peace, each replied that +Mademoiselle had offered them the amusement which they had not thought +of asking for. This testimony seemed so important to the justice of the +peace that he sent back a messenger to Gondreville to advise Lechesneau +to proceed himself to Cinq-Cygne and arrest the four gentlemen, while +he went to Michu's farm, so that the five arrests might be made +simultaneously. + +This new element was so convincing that Lechesneau started at once for +Cinq-Cygne. He knew well what pleasure would be felt in Troyes at such +proceedings against the old nobles, the enemies of the people, now +become the enemies of the Emperor. In such circumstances a magistrate +is very apt to take mere presumptive evidence for actual proof. +Nevertheless, on his way from Gondreville to Cinq-Cygne, in the +senator's own carriage, it did occur to Lechesneau (who would certainly +have made a fine magistrate had it not been for his love-affair, and the +Emperor's sudden morality to which he owed his disgrace) to think the +audacity of the young men and Michu a piece of folly which was not in +keeping with what he knew of the judgment and character of Mademoiselle +de Cinq-Cygne. He imagined in his own mind some other motives for the +deed than the restitution of Gondreville. In all things, even in the +magistracy, there is what may be called the conscience of a calling. +Lechesneau's perplexities came from this conscience, which all men put +into the proper performance of the duties they like--scientific men into +science, artists into art, judges into the rendering of justice. Perhaps +for this reason judges are really greater safeguards for persons accused +of wrong-doing than are juries. A magistrate relies only on reason and +its laws; juries are floated to and fro by the waves of sentiment. The +director of the jury accordingly set several questions before his mind, +resolving to find in their solution satisfactory reasons for making the +arrests. + +Though the news of the abduction was already agitating the town of +Troyes, it was still unknown at Arcis, where the inhabitants were +supping when the messenger arrived to summon the gendarmes. No one, of +course, knew it in the village of Cinq-Cygne, the valley and the chateau +of which were now, for the second time, encircled by gendarmes. + +Laurence had only to tell Marthe, Catherine, and the Durieus not to +leave the chateau, to be strictly obeyed. After each trip to fetch the +gold, the horses were fastened in the covered way opposite to the breach +in the moat, and from there Robert and Michu, the strongest of the +party, carried the sacks through the breach to a cellar under the +staircase in the tower called Mademoiselle's. Reaching the chateau with +the last load about half-past five o'clock, the four gentlemen and Michu +proceeded to bury the treasure in the floor of the cellar and then to +wall up the entrance. Michu took charge of the matter with Gothard to +help him; the lad was sent to the farm for some sacks of plaster left +over when the new buildings were put up, and Marthe went with him to +show him where they were. Michu, very hungry, made such haste that by +half-past seven o'clock the work was done; and he started for home at +a quick pace to stop Gothard, who had been sent for another sack of +plaster which he thought he might want. The farm was already watched +by the forester of Cinq-Cygne, the justice of peace, his clerk and four +gendarmes who, however, kept out of sight and allowed him to enter the +house without seeing them. + +Michu saw Gothard with the sack on his shoulder and called to him from a +distance: "It is all finished, my lad; take that back and stay and dine +with us." + +Michu, his face perspiring, his clothes soiled with plaster and covered +with fragments of muddy stone from the breach, reached home joyfully and +entered the kitchen where Marthe and her mother were serving the soup in +expectation of his coming. + +Just as Michu was turning the faucet of the water-pipe intending to wash +his hands, the justice of peace entered the house accompanied by his +clerk and the forester. + +"What have you come for, Monsieur Pigoult?" asked Michu. + +"In the name of the Emperor and the laws, I arrest you," replied the +justice. + +The three gendarmes entered the kitchen leading Gothard. Seeing the +silver lace on their hats Marthe and her mother looked at each other in +terror. + +"Pooh! why?" asked Michu, who sat down at the table and called to his +wife, "Give me something to eat; I'm famished." + +"You know why as well as we do," said the justice, making a sign to his +clerk to begin the _proces-verbal_ and exhibiting the warrant of arrest. + +"Well, well, Gothard, you needn't stare so," said Michu. "Do you want +some dinner, yes or no? Let them write down their nonsense." + +"You admit, of course, the condition of your clothes?" said the justice +of peace; "and you can't deny the words you said just now to Gothard?" + +Michu, supplied with food by his wife, who was amazed at his coolness, +was eating with the avidity of a hungry man. He made no answer to +the justice, for his mouth was full and his heart innocent. Gothard's +appetite was destroyed by fear. + +"Look here," said the forester, going up to Michu and whispering in his +ear: "What have you done with the senator? You had better make a clean +breast of it, for if we are to believe these people it is a matter of +life or death to you." + +"Good God!" cried Marthe, who overheard the last words and fell into a +chair as if annihilated. + +"Violette must have played us some infamous trick," cried Michu, +recollecting what Laurence had said in the forest. + +"Ha! so you do know that Violette saw you?" said the justice of peace. + +Michu bit his lips and resolved to say no more. Gothard imitated him. +Seeing the uselessness of all attempts to make them talk, and knowing +what the neighborhood chose to call Michu's perversity, the justice +ordered the gendarmes to bind his hands and those of Gothard, and take +them both to the chateau, whither he now went himself to rejoin the +director of the jury. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. THE ARRESTS + +The four young men and Laurence were so hungry and the dinner so +acceptable that they would not delay it by changing their dress. They +entered the salon, she in her riding-habit, they in their white leather +breeches, high-top boots and green-cloth jackets, where they found +Monsieur d'Hauteserre and his wife, not a little uneasy at their long +absence. The goodman had noticed their goings and comings, and, above +all, their evident distrust of him, for Laurence had been unable to get +rid of him as she had of her servants. Once when his own sons evidently +avoided making any reply to his questions, he went to his wife and said, +"I am afraid that Laurence may still get us into trouble!" + +"What sort of game did you hunt to-day?" said Madame d'Hauteserre to +Laurence. + +"Ah!" replied the young girl, laughing, "you'll hear some day what a +strange hunt your sons have joined in to-day." + +Though said in jest the words made the old lady tremble. Catherine +entered to announce dinner. Laurence took Monsieur d'Hauteserre's arm, +smiling for a moment at the necessity she thus forced upon her cousins +to offer an arm to Madame d'Hauteserre, who, according to agreement, was +now to be the arbiter of their fate. + +The Marquis de Simeuse took in Madame d'Hauteserre. The situation was so +momentous that after the Benedicite was said Laurence and the young +men trembled from the violent palpitation of their hearts. Madame +d'Hauteserre, who carved, was struck by the anxiety on the faces of +the Simeuse brothers and the great alteration that was noticeable in +Laurence's lamb-like features. + +"Something extraordinary is going on, I am sure of it!" she exclaimed, +looking at all of them. + +"To whom are you speaking?" asked Laurence. + +"To all of you," said the old lady. + +"As for me, mother," said Robert, "I am frightfully hungry, and that is +not extraordinary." + +Madame d'Hauteserre, still troubled, offered the Marquis de Simeuse a +plate intended for his brother. + +"I am like your mother," she said. "I don't know you apart even by your +cravats. I thought I was helping your brother." + +"You have helped me better than you thought for," said the youngest, +turning pale; "you have made him Comte de Cinq-Cygne." + +"What! do you mean to tell me the countess has made her choice?" cried +Madame d'Hauteserre. + +"No," said Laurence; "we left the decision to fate and you are its +instrument." + +She told of the agreement made that morning. The elder Simeuse, watching +the increasing pallor of his brother's face, was momentarily on the +point of crying out, "Marry her; I will go away and die!" Just then, as +the dessert was being served, all present heard raps upon the window of +the dining-room on the garden side. The eldest d'Hauteserre opened it +and gave entrance to the abbe, whose breeches were torn in climbing over +the walls of the park. + +"Fly! they are coming to arrest you," he cried. + +"Why?" + +"I don't know yet; but there's a warrant against you." + +The words were greeted with general laughter. + +"We are innocent," said the young men. + +"Innocent or guilty," said the abbe, "mount your horses and make for +the frontier. There you can prove your innocence. You could overcome +a sentence by default; you will never overcome a sentence rendered +by popular passion and instigated by prejudice. Remember the words of +President de Harlay, 'If I were accused of carrying off the towers of +Notre-Dame the first thing I should do would be to run away.'" + +"To run away would be to admit we were guilty," said the Marquis de +Simeuse. + +"Don't do it!" cried Laurence. + +"Always the same sublime folly!" exclaimed the abbe, in despair. "If I +had the power of God I would carry you away. But if I am found here +in this state they will turn my visit against you, and against me too; +therefore I leave you by the way I came. Consider my advice; you have +still time. The gendarmes have not yet thought of the wall which adjoins +the parsonage; but you are hemmed in on the other sides." + +The sound of many feet and the jangle of the sabres of the gendarmerie +echoed through the courtyard and reached the dining-room a few moments +after the departure of the poor abbe, whose advice had met the same fate +as that of the Marquis de Chargeboeuf. + +"Our twin existence," said the younger Simeuse, speaking to Laurence, +"is an anomaly--our love for you is anomalous; it is that very quality +which was won your heart. Possibly, the reason why all twins known to +us in history have been unfortunate is that the laws of nature are +subverted in them. In our case, see how persistently an evil fate +follows us! your decision is now postponed." + +Laurence was stupefied; the fatal words of the director of the jury +hummed in her ears:--"In the name of the Emperor and the laws, I +arrest the Sieurs Paul-Marie and Marie-Paul Simeuse, Adrien and Robert +d'Hauteserre--These gentlemen," he added, addressing the men who +accompanied him and pointing to the mud on the clothing of the +prisoners, "cannot deny that they have spent the greater part of this +day on horseback." + +"Of what are they accused?" asked Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne, haughtily. + +"Don't you mean to arrest Mademoiselle?" said Giguet. + +"I shall leave her at liberty under bail, until I can carefully examine +the charges against her," replied the director. + +The mayor offered bail, asking the countess to merely give her word of +honor that she would not escape. Laurence blasted him with a look which +made him a mortal enemy; a tear started from her eyes, one of those +tears of rage which reveal a hell of suffering. The four gentlemen +exchanged a terrible look, but remained motionless. Monsieur and Madame +d'Hauteserre, dreading lest the young people had practised some deceit, +were in a state of indescribable stupefaction. Clinging to their chairs +these unfortunate parents, finding their sons torn from them after +so many fears and their late hopes of safety, sat gazing before them +without seeing, listening without hearing. + +"Must I ask you to bail me, Monsieur d'Hauteserre?" cried Laurence to +her former guardian, who was roused by the cry, clear and agonizing to +his ear as the sound of the last trumpet. + +He tried to wipe the tears which sprang to his eyes; he now understood +what was passing, and said to his young relation in a quivering voice, +"Forgive me, countess; you know that I am yours, body and soul." + +Lechesneau, who at first was much struck by the evident tranquillity in +which the whole party were dining, now returned to his former opinion +of their guilt as he noticed the stupefaction of the old people and the +evident anxiety of Laurence, who was seeking to discover the nature of +the trap which was set for them. + +"Gentlemen," he said, politely, "you are too well-bred to make a useless +resistance; follow me to the stables, where I must, in your presence, +have the shoes of your horses taken off; they afford important proof of +either guilt or innocence. Come, too, mademoiselle." + +The blacksmith of Cinq-Cygne and his assistant had been summoned by +Lechesneau as experts. While the operation at the stable was going on +the justice of peace brought in Gothard and Michu. The work of detaching +the shoes of each horse, putting them together and ticketing them, so as +to compare them with the hoof-prints in the park, took time. Lechesneau, +notified of the arrival of Pigoult, left the prisoners with the +gendarmes and returned to the dining-room to dictate the indictment. +The justice of peace called his attention to the condition of Michu's +clothes and related the circumstances of his arrest. + +"They must have killed the senator and plastered the body up in some +wall," said Pigoult. + +"I begin to fear it," answered Lechesneau. "Where did you carry that +plaster?" he said to Gothard. + +The boy began to cry. + +"The law frightens him," said Michu, whose eyes were darting flames like +those of a lion in the toils. + +The servants, who had been detained at the village by order of the +mayor, now arrived and filled the antechamber where Catherine and +Gothard were weeping. To all the questions of the director of the jury +and the justice of peace Gothard replied by sobs; and by dint of weeping +he brought on a species of convulsion which alarmed them so much that +they let him alone. The little scamp, perceiving that he was no longer +watched, looked at Michu with a grin, and Michu signified his approval +by a glance. Lechesneau left the justice of peace and returned to the +stables. + +"Monsieur," said Madame d'Hauteserre, at last, addressing Pigoult; "can +you explain these arrests?" + +"The gentlemen are accused of abducting the senator by armed force and +keeping him a prisoner; for we do not think they have murdered him--in +spite of appearances," replied Pigoult. + +"What penalties are attached to the crime?" asked Monsieur d'Hauteserre. + +"Well, as the old law continues in force, and they are not amenable +under the Code, the penalty is death," replied the justice. + +"Death!" cried Madame d'Hauteserre, fainting away. + +The abbe now came in with his sister, who stopped to speak to Catherine +and Madame Durieu. + +"We haven't even seen your cursed senator!" said Michu. + +"Madame Marion, Madame Grevin, Monsieur Grevin, the senator's valet, and +Violette all tell another tale," replied Pigoult, with the sour smile of +magisterial conviction. + +"I don't understand a thing about it," said Michu, dumbfounded by his +reply, and beginning now to believe that his masters and himself were +entangled in some plot which had been laid against them. + +Just then the party from the stables returned. Laurence went up to +Madame d'Hauteserre, who recovered her senses enough to say: "The +penalty is death!" + +"Death!" repeated Laurence, looking at the four gentlemen. + +The word excited a general terror, of which Giguet, formerly instructed +by Corentin, took immediate advantage. + +"Everything can be arranged," he said, drawing the Marquis de Simeuse +into a corner of the dining-room. "Perhaps after all it is nothing but a +joke; you've been a soldier and soldiers understand each other. Tell me, +what have you really done with the senator? If you have killed him--why, +that's the end of it! But if you have only locked him up, release him, +for you see for yourself your game is balked. Do this and I am certain +the director of the jury and the senator himself will drop the matter." + +"We know absolutely nothing about it," said the marquis. + +"If you take that tone the matter is likely to go far," replied the +lieutenant. + +"Dear cousin," said the Marquis de Simeuse, "we are forced to go to +prison; but do not be uneasy; we shall return in a few hours, for there +is some misunderstanding in all this which can be explained." + +"I hope so, for your sakes, gentlemen," said the magistrate, signing to +the gendarmes to remove the four gentlemen, Michu, and Gothard. "Don't +take them to Troyes; keep them in your guardhouse at Arcis," he said to +the lieutenant; "they must be present to-morrow, at daybreak, when we +compare the shoes of their horses with the hoof-prints in the park." + +Lechesneau and Pigoult did not follow until they had closely questioned +Catherine, Monsieur and Madame d'Hauteserre, and Laurence. The Durieus, +Catherine, and Marthe declared they had only seen their masters at +breakfast-time; Monsieur d'Hauteserre said he had seen them at three +o'clock. + +When, at midnight, Laurence found herself alone with Monsieur and Madame +d'Hauteserre, the abbe and his sister, and without the four young men +who for the last eighteen months had been the life of the chateau and +the love and joy of her own life, she fell into a gloomy silence which +no one present dared to break. No affliction was ever deeper or more +complete than hers. At last a deep sigh broke the stillness, and all +eyes turned towards the sound. + +Marthe, forgotten in a corner, rose, exclaiming, "Death! They will kill +them in spite of their innocence!" + +"Mademoiselle, what is the matter with you?" said the abbe. + +Laurence left the room without replying. She needed solitude to recover +strength in presence of this terrible unforeseen disaster. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. DOUBTS AND FEARS OF COUNSEL + +At a distance of thirty-four years, during which three great revolutions +have taken place, none but elderly persons can recall the immense +excitement produced in Europe by the abduction of a senator of the +French Empire. No trial, if we except that of Trumeaux, the grocer of +the Place Saint-Michel, and that of the widow Morin, under the Empire; +those of Fualdes and de Castaing, under the Restoration; those of Madame +Lafarge and Fieschi, under the present government, ever roused so much +curiosity or so deep an interest as that of the four young men accused +of abducting Malin. Such an attack against a member of his Senate +excited the wrath of the Emperor, who was told of the arrest of the +delinquents almost at the moment when he first heard of the crime and +the negative results of the inquiries. The forest, searched throughout, +the department of the Aube, ransacked from end to end, gave not the +slightest indication of the passage of the Comte de Gondreville nor +of his imprisonment. Napoleon sent for the chief justice, who, after +obtaining certain information from the ministry of police, explained to +his Majesty the position of Malin in regard to the Simeuse brothers +and the Gondreville estate. The Emperor, at that time pre-occupied +with serious matters, considered the affair explained by these anterior +facts. + +"Those young men are fools," he said. "A lawyer like Malin will escape +any deed they may force him to sign under violence. Watch those nobles, +and discover the means they take to set the Comte de Gondreville at +liberty." + +He ordered the affair to be conducted with the utmost celerity, +regarding it as an attack on his own institutions, a fatal example of +resistance to the results of the Revolution, an effort to open the great +question of the sales of "national property," and a hindrance to that +fusion of parties which was the constant object of his home policy. +Besides all this, he thought himself tricked by these young nobles, who +had given him their promise to live peaceably. + +"Fouche's prediction has come true," he cried, remembering the words +uttered two years earlier by his present minister of police, who said +them under the impressions conveyed to him by Corentin's report as to +the character and designs of Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne. + +It is impossible for persons living under a constitutional government, +where no one really cares for that cold and thankless, blind, deaf Thing +called public interest, to imagine the zeal which a mere word of the +Emperor was able to inspire in his political or administrative machine. +That powerful will seemed to impress itself as much upon things as upon +men. His decision once uttered, the Emperor, overtaken by the coalition +of 1806, forgot the whole matter. He thought only of new battles to +fight, and his mind was occupied in massing his regiments to strike the +great blow at the heart of the Prussian monarchy. His desire for prompt +justice in the present case found powerful assistance in the great +uncertainty which affected the position of all magistrates of the +Empire. Just at this time Cambaceres, as arch-chancellor, and Regnier, +chief justice, were preparing to organize _tribunaux de premiere +instance_ (lower civil courts), imperial courts, and a court of appeal +or supreme court. They were agitating the question of a legal garb or +costume; to which Napoleon attached, and very justly, so much importance +in all official stations; and they were also inquiring into the +character of the persons composing the magistracy. Naturally, therefore, +the officials of the department of the Aube considered they could have +no better recommendation than to give proofs of their zeal in the matter +of the abduction of the Comte de Gondreville. Napoleon's suppositions +became certainties to these courtiers and also to the populace. + +Peace still reigned on the continent; admiration for the Emperor was +unanimous in France; he cajoled all interests, persons, vanities, and +things, in short, everything, even memories. This attack, therefore, +directed against his senator, seemed in the eyes of all an assault upon +the public welfare. The luckless and innocent gentlemen were the objects +of general opprobrium. A few nobles living quietly on their estates +deplored the affair among themselves but dared not open their lips; +in fact, how was it possible for them to oppose the current of public +opinion. Throughout the department the deaths of the eleven persons +killed by the Simeuse brothers in 1792 from the windows of the hotel +Cinq-Cygne were brought up against them. It was feared that other +returned and now emboldened _emigres_ might follow this example of +violence against those who had bought their estates from the "national +domain," as a method of protesting against what they might call an +unjust spoliation. + +The unfortunate young nobles were therefore considered as robbers, +brigands, murderers; and their connection with Michu was particularly +fatal to them. Michu, who was declared, either he or his father-in-law, +to have cut off all the heads that fell under the Terror in that +department, was made the subject of ridiculous tales. The exasperation +of the public mind was all the more intense because nearly all the +functionaries of the department owed their offices to Malin. No generous +voice uplifted itself against the verdict of the public. Besides all +this, the accused had no legal means with which to combat prejudice; for +the Code of Brumaire, year IV., giving as it did both the prosecution of +a charge and the verdict upon it into the hands of a jury, deprived the +accused of the vast protection of an appeal against legal suspicion. + +The day after the arrest all the inhabitants of the chateau of +Cinq-Cygne, both masters and servants, were summoned to appear before +the prosecuting jury. Cinq-Cygne was left in charge of a farmer, +under the supervision of the abbe and his sister who moved into it. +Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne, with Monsieur and Madame d'Hauteserre, went +to Troyes and occupied a small house belonging to Durieu in one of the +long and wide faubourgs which lead from the little town. Laurence's +heart was wrung when she at last comprehended the temper of the +populace, the malignity of the bourgeoisie, and the hostility of the +administration, from the many little events which happened to them as +relatives of prisoners accused of criminal wrong-doing and about to +be judged in a provincial town. Instead of hearing encouraging or +compassionate words they heard only speeches which called for vengeance; +proofs of hatred surrounded them in place of the strict politeness or +the reserve required by mere decency; but above all they were conscious +of an isolation which every mind must feel, but more particularly those +which are made distrustful by misfortune. + +Laurence, who had recovered her vigor of mind, relied upon the innocence +of the accused, and despised the community too much to be frightened by +the stern and silent disapproval they met with everywhere. She sustained +the courage of Monsieur and Madame d'Hauteserre, all the while thinking +of the judicial struggle which was now being hurried on. She was, +however, to receive a blow she little expected, which, undoubtedly, +diminished her courage. + +In the midst of this great disaster, at the moment when this afflicted +family were made to feel themselves, as it were, in a desert, a man +suddenly became exalted in Laurence's eyes and showed the full beauty of +his character. The day after the indictment was found by the jury, +and the prisoners were finally committed for trial, the Marquis de +Chargeboeuf courageously appeared, still in the same old caleche, to +support and protect his young cousin. Foreseeing the haste with which +the law would be administered, this chief of a great family had already +gone to Paris and secured the services of the most able as well as the +most honest lawyer of the old school, named Bordin, who was for ten +years counsel of the nobility in Paris, and was ultimately succeeded by +the celebrated Derville. This excellent lawyer chose for his assistant +the grandson of a former president of the parliament of Normandy, whose +studies had been made under his tuition. This young lawyer, who was +destined to be appointed deputy-attorney-general in Paris after the +conclusion of the present trial, became eventually one of the most +celebrated of French magistrates. Monsieur de Grandville, for that was +his name, accepted the defence of the four young men, being glad of +an opportunity to make his first appearance as an advocate with +distinction. + +The old marquis, alarmed at the ravages which troubles had wrought in +Laurence's appearance, was charmingly kind and considerate. He made no +allusion to his neglected advice; he presented Bordin as an oracle whose +counsel must be followed to the letter, and young de Grandville as a +defender in whom the utmost confidence might be placed. + +Laurence held out her hand to the kind old man, and pressed his with an +eagerness which delighted him. + +"You were right," she said. + +"Will you now take my advice?" he asked. + +The young countess bowed her head in assent, as did Monsieur and Madame +d'Hauteserre. + +"Well, then, come to my house; it is in the middle of town, close to +the courthouse. You and your lawyers will be better off there than here, +where you are crowded and too far from the field of battle. Here, you +would have to cross the town twice a day." + +Laurence, accepted, and the old man took her with Madame d'Hauteserre +to his house, which became the home of the Cinq-Cygne household and the +lawyers of the defence during the whole time the trial lasted. After +dinner, when the doors were closed, Bordin made Laurence relate every +circumstance of the affair, entreating her to omit nothing, not the most +trifling detail. Though many of the facts had already been told to him +and his young assistant by the marquis on their journey from Paris +to Troyes, Bordin listened, his feet on the fender, without obtruding +himself into the recital. The young lawyer, however, could not help +being divided between his admiration for Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne, and +the attention he was bound to give to the facts of his case. + +"Is that really all?" asked Bordin when Laurence had related the events +of the drama just as the present narrative has given them up to the +present time. + +"Yes," she answered. + +Profound silence reigned for several minutes in the salon of the +Chargeboeuf mansion where this scene took place,--one of the most +important which occur in life. All cases are judged by the counsellors +engaged in them, just as the death or life or a patient is foreseen by +a physician, before the final struggle which the one sustains +against nature, the other against law. Laurence, Monsieur and Madame +d'Hauteserre, and the marquis sat with their eyes fixed on the swarthy +and deeply pitted face of the old lawyer, who was now to pronounce the +words of life or death. Monsieur d'Hauteserre wiped the sweat from his +brow. Laurence looked at the younger man and noted his saddened face. + +"Well, my dear Bordin?" said the marquis at last, holding out his +snuffbox, from which the old lawyer took a pinch in an absent-minded +way. + +Bordin rubbed the calf of his leg, covered with thick stockings of +black raw silk, for he always wore black cloth breeches and a coat made +somewhat in the shape of those which are now termed _a la Francaise_. +He cast his shrewd eyes upon his clients with an anxious expression, the +effect of which was icy. + +"Must I analyze all that?" he said; "am I to speak frankly?" + +"Yes; go on, monsieur," said Laurence. + +"All that you have innocently done can be converted into proof against +you," said the old lawyer. "We cannot save your friends; we can only +reduce the penalty. The sale which you induced Michu to make of his +property will be taken as evident proof of your criminal intentions +against the senator. You sent your servants to Troyes so that you might +be alone; that is all the more plausible because it is actually true. +The elder d'Hauteserre made an unfortunate speech to Beauvisage, which +will be your ruin. You yourself, mademoiselle, made another in your +own courtyard, which proves that you have long shown ill-will to +the possessor of Gondreville. Besides, you were at the gate of the +_rond-point_, apparently on the watch, about the time when the abduction +took place; if they have not arrested you, it is solely because they +fear to bring a sentimental element into the affair." + +"The case cannot be successfully defended," said Monsieur de Grandville. + +"The less so," continued Bordin, "because we cannot tell the whole +truth. Michu and the Messieurs de Simeuse and d'Hauteserre must hold to +the assertion that you merely went for an excursion into the forest and +returned to Cinq-Cygne for luncheon. Allowing that we can show you were +in the house at three o'clock (the exact hour at which the attack was +made), who are our witnesses? Marthe, the wife of one of the accused, +the Durieus, and Catherine, your own servants, and Monsieur and Madame +d'Hauteserre, father and mother of two of the accused. Such testimony +is valueless; the law does not admit it against you, and commonsense +rejects it when given in your favor. If, on the other hand, you were to +say you went to the forest to recover eleven hundred thousand francs in +gold, you would send the accused to the galleys as robbers. Judge, jury, +audience, and the whole of France would believe that you took that gold +from Gondreville, and abducted the senator that you might ransack his +house. The accusation as it now stands is not wholly clear, but tell +the truth about the matter and it would become as plain as day; the jury +would declare that the robbery explained the mysterious features,--for +in these days, you must remember, a royalist means a thief. This very +case is welcomed as a legitimate political vengeance. The prisoners are +now in danger of the death penalty; but that is not dishonoring under +some circumstances. Whereas, if they can be proved to have stolen money, +which can never be made to seem excusable, you lose all benefit of +whatever interest may attach to persons condemned to death for other +crimes. If, at the first, you had shown the hiding-places of the +treasure, the plan of the forest, the tubes in which the gold was +buried, and the gold itself, as an explanation of your day's work, it is +possible you might have been believed by an impartial magistrate, but as +it is we must be silent. God grant that none of the prisoners may reveal +the truth and compromise the defence; if they do, we must rely on our +cross-examinations." + +Laurence wrung her hands in despair and raised her eyes to heaven with +a despondent look, for she saw at last in all its depths the gulf into +which her cousins had fallen. The marquis and the young lawyer agreed +with the dreadful view of Bordin. Old d'Hauteserre wept. + +"Ah! why did they not listen to the Abbe Goujet and fly!" cried Madame +d'Hauteserre, exasperated. + +"If they could have escaped, and you prevented them," said Bordin, +"you have killed them yourselves. Judgment by default gains time; time +enables the innocent to clear themselves. This is the most mysterious +case I have ever known in my life, in the course of which I have +certainly seen and known many strange things." + +"It is inexplicable to every one, even to us," said Monsieur de +Grandville. "If the prisoners are innocent some one else has committed +the crime. Five persons do not come to a place as if by enchantment, +obtain five horses shod precisely like those of the accused, imitate the +appearance of some of them, and put Malin apparently underground for the +sole purpose of casting suspicion on Michu and the four gentlemen. The +unknown guilty parties must have had some strong reason for wearing the +skin, as it were, of five innocent men. To discover them, even to get +upon their traces, we need as much power as the government itself, as +many agents and as many eyes as there are townships in a radius of fifty +miles." + +"The thing is impossible," said Bordin. "There's no use thinking of it. +Since society invented law it has never found a way to give an innocent +prisoner an equal chance against a magistrate who is pre-disposed +against him. Law is not bilateral. The defence, without spies or +police, cannot call social power to the rescue of its innocent clients. +Innocence has nothing on her side but reason, and reasoning which may +strike a judge is often powerless on the narrow minds of jurymen. The +whole department is against you. The eight jurors who have signed the +indictment are each and all purchasers of national domain. Among the +trial jurors we are certain to have some who have either sold or bought +the same property. In short, we can get nothing but a Malin jury. You +must therefore set up a consistent defence, hold fast to it, and perish +in your innocence. You will certainly be condemned. But there's a court +of appeal; we will go there and try to remain there as long as possible. +If in the mean time we can collect proofs in your favor you must apply +for pardon. That's the anatomy of the business, and my advice. If we +triumph (for everything is possible in law) it will be a miracle; but +your advocate Monsieur de Grandville is the most likely man among all I +know to produce that miracle, and I'll do my best to help him." + +"The senator has the key to the mystery," said Monsieur de Grandville; +"for a man knows his enemies and why they are so. Here we find him +leaving Paris at the close of the winter, coming to Gondreville alone, +shutting himself up with his notary, and delivering himself over, as one +might say, to five men who seize him." + +"Certainly," said Bordin, "his conduct seems inexplicable. But how +could we, in the face of a hostile community, become accusers when we +ourselves are the accused? We should need the help and good-will of the +government and a thousand times more proof than is wanted in ordinary +circumstances. I am convinced there was premeditation, and subtle +premeditation, on the part of our mysterious adversaries, who must have +known the situation of Michu and the Messieurs de Simeuse towards Malin. +Not to utter one word; not to steal one thing!--remarkable prudence! +I see something very different from ordinary evil-doers behind those +masks. But what would be the use of saying so to the sort of jurors we +shall have to face?" + +This insight into hidden matters which gives such power to certain +lawyers and certain magistrates astonished and confounded Laurence; her +heart was wrung by that inexorable logic. + +"Out of every hundred criminal cases," continued Bordin, "there are not +ten where the law really lays bare the truth to its full extent; and +there is perhaps a good third in which the truth is never brought to +light at all. Yours is one of those cases which are inexplicable to all +parties, to accused and accusers, to the law and to the public. As for +the Emperor, he has other fish to fry than to consider the case of these +gentlemen, supposing even that they had not conspired against him. But +who the devil _is_ Malin's enemy? and what has really been done with +him?" + +Bordin and Monsieur de Grandville looked at each other; they seemed in +doubt as to Laurence's veracity. This evident suspicion was the most +cutting of all the many pangs the girl had suffered in the affair; and +she turned upon the lawyers a look which effectually put an end to their +distrust. + +The next day the indictment was handed over to the defence, and the +lawyers were then enabled to communicate with the prisoners. +Bordin informed the family that the six accused men were "well +supported,"--using a professional term. + +"Monsieur de Grandville will defend Michu," said Bordin. + +"Michu!" exclaimed the Marquis de Chargeboeuf, amazed at the change. + +"He is the pivot of the affair--the danger lies there," replied the old +lawyer. + +"If he is more in danger than the others, I think that is just," cried +Laurence. + +"We see certain chances," said Monsieur de Grandville, "and we shall +study them carefully. If we are able to save these gentlemen it will be +because Monsieur d'Hauteserre ordered Michu to repair one of the stone +posts in the covered way, and also because a wolf has been seen in +the forest; in a criminal court everything depends on discussions, and +discussions often turn on trivial matters which then become of immense +importance." + +Laurence sank into that inward dejection which humiliates the soul of +all thoughtful and energetic persons when the uselessness of thought +and action is made manifest to them. It was no longer a matter +of overthrowing a usurper, or of coming to the help of devoted +friends,--fanatical sympathies wrapped in a shroud of mystery. She now +saw all social forces full-armed against her cousins and herself. There +was no taking a prison by assault with her own hands, no deliverance of +prisoners from the midst of a hostile population and beneath the eyes of +a watchful police. So, when the young lawyer, alarmed at the stupor of +the generous and noble girl, which the natural expression of her face +made still more noticeable, endeavored to revive her courage, she turned +to him and said: "I must be silent; I suffer,--I wait." + +The accent, gesture, and look with which the words were said made this +answer one of those sublime things which only need a wider stage to make +them famous. + +A few moments later old d'Hauteserre was saying to the Marquis de +Chargeboeuf: "What efforts I have made for my two unfortunate sons! I +have already laid by in the Funds enough to give them eight thousand +francs a year. If they had only been willing to serve in the army they +would have reached the higher grades by this time, and could now have +married to advantage. Instead of that, all my plans are scattered to the +winds!" + +"How can you," said his wife, "think of their interests when it is a +question of their honor and their lives?" + +"Monsieur d'Hauteserre thinks of everything," said the marquis. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. MARTHE INVEIGLED + +While the masters of Cinq-Cygne were waiting at Troyes for the opening +of the trial before the Criminal court and vainly soliciting permission +to see the prisoners, an event of the utmost importance had taken place +at the chateau. + +Marthe returned to Cinq-Cygne as soon as she had given her testimony +before the indicting jury. This testimony was so insignificant that it +was not thought necessary to summon her before the Criminal court. Like +all persons of extreme sensibility, the poor woman sat silent in the +salon, where she kept company with Mademoiselle Goujet, in a pitiable +state of stupefaction. To her, as to the abbe, and indeed to all others +who did not know how the accused had been employed on that day, their +innocence seemed doubtful. There were moments when Marthe believed +that Michu and his masters and Laurence had executed vengeance on the +senator. The unhappy woman now knew Michu's devotion well enough to +be certain that he was the one who would be most in danger, not only +because of his antecedents, but because of the part he was sure to have +taken in the execution of the scheme. + +The Abbe Goujet and his sister and Marthe were bewildered among the +possibilities to which this opinion gave rise; and yet, in the process +of thinking them over, their minds insensibly took hold of them in a +certain way. The absolute doubt which Descartes demands can no more +exist in the brain of a man than a vacuum can exist in nature, and the +mental operation required to produce it would, like the effect of a +pneumatic machine, be exceptional and anomalous. Whatever a case may +be, the mind believes in something. Now Marthe was so afraid that the +accused were guilty that her fear became equivalent to belief; and this +condition of her mind proved fatal to her. + +Five days after the arrests, just as she was in the act of going to bed +about ten o'clock at night, she was called from the courtyard by her +mother, who had come from the farm on foot. + +"A laboring man from Troyes wants to speak to you; he is sent by Michu, +and is waiting in the covered way," she said to Marthe. + +They passed through the breach so as to take the shortest path. In the +darkness it was impossible for Marthe to distinguish anything more than +the form of a person which loomed through the shadows. + +"Speak, madame; so that I may be certain you are really Madame Michu," +said the person, in a rather anxious voice. + +"I am Madame Michu," said Marthe; "what do you want of me?" + +"Very good," said the unknown, "give me your hand; do not fear me. I +come," he added, leaning towards her and speaking low, "from Michu +with a note for you. I am employed at the prison, and if my superiors +discover my absence we shall all be lost. Trust me; your good father +placed me where I am. For that reason Michu counted on my helping him." + +He put the letter into Marthe's hand and disappeared toward the forest +without waiting for an answer. Marthe trembled at the thought that she +was now to hear the secret of the mystery. She ran to the farm with her +mother and shut herself up to read the following letter:-- + + My dear Marthe,--You can rely on the discretion of the man who + will give you this letter; he does not know how to read or to + write. He is a stanch Republican, and shared in Baboeuf's + conspiracy; your father often made use of him, and he regards the + senator as a traitor. Now, my dear wife, attend to my directions. + The senator has been shut up by us in the cave where our masters + were hidden. The poor creature had provisions for only five days, + and as it is our interest that he should live, I wish you, as soon + as you receive this letter, to take him food for at least five + days more. The forest is of course watched; therefore take as many + precautions as we formerly did for our young masters. Don't say a + word to Malin; don't speak to him; and put on one of our masks + which you will find on the steps which lead down to the cave. + Unless you wish to compromise our heads you must be absolutely + silent about this letter and the secret I have now confided to + you. Don't say a word to Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne, who might + tell of it. Don't fear for me. We are certain that the matter will + turn out well; when the time comes Malin himself will save us. I + don't need to tell you to burn this letter as soon as you have + read it, for it would cost me my head if a line of it were seen. I + kiss you for now and always, + + + Michu. + + +The existence of the cave was known only to Marthe, her son, Michu, the +four gentlemen, and Laurence; or rather, Marthe, to whom her husband +had not related the incident of his meeting with Peyrade and Corentin, +believed it was known only to them. Had she consulted her mistress and +the two lawyers, who knew the innocence of the prisoners, the shrewd +Bordin would have gained some light upon the perfidious trap which was +evidently laid for his clients. But Marthe, acting like most women under +a first impulse, was convinced by this proof which came to her own eyes, +and flung the letter into the fire as directed. Nevertheless, moved by +a singular gleam of caution, she caught a portion of it from the flames, +tore off the five first lines, which compromised no one, and sewed them +into the hem of her dress. Terrified at the thought that the prisoner +had been without food for twenty-four hours, she resolved to carry +bread, meat, and wine to him at once; curiosity was well as humanity +permitting no delay. Accordingly, she heated her oven and made, with +her mother's help, a _pate_ of hare and ducks, a rice cake, roasted two +fowls, selected three bottles of wine, and baked two loaves of bread. +About two in the morning she started for the forest, carrying the load +on her back, accompanied by Couraut, who in all such expeditions +showed wonderful sagacity as a guide. He scented strangers at immense +distances, and as soon as he was certain of their presence he returned +to his mistress with a low growl, looking at her fixedly and turning his +muzzle in the direction of the danger. + +Marthe reached the pond about three in the morning, and left the dog +as sentinel on the bank. After half an hour's labor in clearing the +entrance she came with a dark lantern to the door of the cave, her face +covered with a mask, which she had found, as directed, on the steps. +The imprisonment of the senator seemed to have been long premeditated. +A hole about a foot square, which Marthe had never seen before, was +roughly cut in the upper part of the iron door which closed the cave; +but in order to prevent Malin from using the time and patience all +prisoners have at their command in loosening the iron bar which held the +door, it was securely fastened with a padlock. + +The senator, who had risen from his bed of moss, sighed when he saw the +masked face and felt that there was no chance then of his deliverance. +He examined Marthe, as much as he could by the unsteady light of her +dark lantern, and he recognized her by her clothes, her stoutness, and +her motions. When she passed the _pate_ through the door he dropped it +to seize her hand and then, with great swiftness, he tried to pull the +rings from her fingers,--one her wedding-ring, the other a gift from +Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne. + +"You cannot deny that it is you, my dear Madame Michu," he said. + +Marthe closed her fist the moment she felt his fingers, and gave him a +vigorous blow in the chest. Then, without a word, she turned away and +cut a stick, at the end of which she held out to the senator the rest of +the provisions. + +"What do they want of me?" he asked. + +Marthe departed giving him no answer. By five o'clock she had reached +the edge of the forest and was warned by Couraut of the presence of +strangers. She retraced her steps and made for the pavilion where she +had lived so long; but just as she entered the avenue she was seen from +afar by the forester of Gondreville, and she quickly reflected that her +best plan was to go straight up to him. + +"You are out early, Madame Michu," he said, accosting her. + +"We are so unfortunate," she replied, "that I am obliged to do a +servant's work myself. I am going to Bellache for some grain." + +"Haven't you any at Cinq-Cygne?" said the forester. + +Marthe made no answer. She continued on her way and reached the farm at +Bellache, where she asked Beauvisage to give her some seed-grain, saying +that Monsieur d'Hauteserre advised her to get it from him to renew her +crop. As soon as Marthe had left the farm, the forester went there to +find out what she asked for. + +Six days later, Marthe, determined to be prudent, went at midnight with +her provisions so as to avoid the keepers who were evidently patrolling +the forest. After carrying a third supply to the senator she suddenly +became terrified on hearing the abbe read aloud the public examination +of the prisoners,--for the trial was by that time begun. She took the +abbe aside, and after obliging him to swear that he would keep the +secret she was about to reveal as though it was said to him in the +confessional, she showed him the fragments of Michu's letter, told him +the contents of it, and also the secret of the hiding-place where the +senator then was. + +The abbe at once inquired if she had other letters from her husband that +he might compare the writing. Marthe went to her home to fetch them and +there found a summons to appear in court. By the time she returned to +the chateau the abbe and his sister had received a similar summons on +behalf of the defence. They were obliged therefore to start for Troyes +immediately. Thus all the personages of our drama, even those who were +only, as it were, supernumeraries, were collected on the spot where the +fate of the two families was about to be decided. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. THE TRIAL + +There are but few localities in France where Law derives from outward +appearance the dignity which ought always to accompany it. Yet it +surely is, after religion and royalty, the greatest engine of society. +Everywhere, even in Paris, the meanness of its surroundings, the +wretched arrangement of the courtrooms, their barrenness and want of +decoration in the most ornate and showy nation upon earth in the matter +of its public monuments, lessens the action of the law's mighty power. +At the farther end of some oblong room may be seen a desk with a green +baize covering raised on a platform; behind it sit the judges on +the commonest of arm-chairs. To the left, is the seat of the public +prosecutor, and beside him, close to the wall, is a long pen filled with +chairs for the jury. Opposite to the jury is another pen with a bench +for the prisoners and the gendarmes who guard them. The clerk of the +court sits below the platform at a table covered with the papers of the +case. Before the imperial changes in the administration of justice were +instituted, a commissary of the government and the director of the jury +each had a seat and a table, one to the right, the other to the left of +the baize-covered desk. Two sheriffs hovered about in the space left in +front of the desk for the station of witnesses. Facing the judges and +against the wall above the entrance, there is always a shabby gallery +reserved for officials and for women, to which admittance is granted +only by the president of the court, to whom the proper management of the +courtroom belongs. The non-privileged public are compelled to stand in +the empty space between the door of the hall and the bar. This normal +appearance of all French law courts and assize-rooms was that of the +Criminal court of Troyes. + +In April, 1806, neither the four judges nor the president (or +chief-justice) who made up the court, nor the public prosecutor, the +director of the jury, the commissary of the government, nor the sheriffs +or lawyers, in fact no one except the gendarmes, wore any robes or +other distinctive sign which might have relieved the nakedness of the +surroundings and the somewhat meagre aspect of the figures. The crucifix +was suppressed; its example was no longer held up before the eyes of +justice and of guilt. All was dull and vulgar. The paraphernalia +so necessary to excite social interest is perhaps a consolation to +criminals. On this occasion the eagerness of the public was what it has +ever been and ever will be in trials of this kind, so long as France +refuses to recognize that the admission of the public to the courts +involves publicity, and that the publicity given to trials is a terrible +penalty which would never have been inflicted had legislators reflected +on it. Customs are often more cruel than laws. Customs are the deeds of +men, but laws are the judgment of a nation. Customs in which there is +often no judgment are stronger than laws. + +Crowds surrounded the courtroom; the president was obliged to station +squads of soldiers to guard the doors. The audience, standing below the +bar, was so crowded that persons suffocated. Monsieur de Grandville, +defending Michu, Bordin, defending the Simeuse brothers, and a lawyer +of Troyes who appeared for the d'Hauteserres, were in their seats before +the opening of the court; their faces wore a look of confidence. When +the prisoners were brought in, sympathetic murmurs were heard at the +appearance of the young men, whose faces, in twenty days' imprisonment +and anxiety, had somewhat paled. The perfect likeness of the twins +excited the deepest interest. Perhaps the spectators thought that Nature +would exercise some special protection in the case of her own anomalies, +and felt ready to join in repairing the harm done to them by destiny. +Their noble, simple faces, showing no signs of shame, still less of +bravado, touched the women's hearts. The four gentlemen and Gothard wore +the clothes in which they had been arrested; but Michu, whose coat and +trousers were among the "articles of testimony," so-called, had put +on his best clothes,--a blue surtout, a brown velvet waistcoat _a la_ +Robespierre, and a white cravat. The poor man paid the penalty of his +dangerous-looking face. When he cast a glance of his yellow eye, so +clear and so profound upon the audience, a murmur of repulsion answered +it. The assembly chose to see the finger of God bringing him to the dock +where his father-in-law had sacrificed so many victims. This man, truly +great, looked at his masters, repressing a smile of scorn. He seemed to +say to them, "I am injuring your cause." Five of the prisoners exchanged +greetings with their counsel. Gothard still played the part of an idiot. + +After several challenges, made with much sagacity by the defence under +advice of the Marquis de Chargeboeuf, who boldly took a seat beside +Bordin and de Grandville, the jury were empanelled, the indictment was +read, and the prisoners were brought up separately to be examined. They +answered every question with remarkable unanimity. After riding about +the forest all the morning they had returned to Cinq-Cygne for breakfast +at one o'clock. After that meal, from three to half-past five in the +afternoon, they had returned to the forest. That was the basis of each +testimony; any variations were merely individual circumstances. When +the president asked the Messieurs de Simeuse why they had ridden out so +early, they both declared that wishing, since their return, to buy back +Gondreville and intending to make an offer to Malin who had arrived the +night before, they had gone out early with their cousin and Michu to +make certain examinations of the property on which to base their offer. +During that time the Messieurs d'Hauteserre, their cousin, and Gothard +had chased a wolf which was reported in the forest by the peasantry. If +the director of the jury had sought for the prints of their horses' feet +in the forest as carefully as in the park of Gondreville, he would have +found proof of their presence at long distances from the house. + +The examination of the Messieurs d'Hauteserre corroborated this +testimony, and was in harmony with their preliminary dispositions. The +necessity of some reason for their ride suggested to each of them the +excuse of hunting. The peasants had given warning, a few days earlier, +of a wolf in the forest, and on that they had fastened as a pretext. + +The public prosecutor, however, pointed out a discrepancy between the +first statements of the Messieurs d'Hauteserre, in which they mentioned +that the whole party hunted together, and the defence now made by the +Messieurs de Simeuse that their purpose on that day was the valuation of +the forest. + +Monsieur de Grandville here called attention to the fact that as the +crime was not committed until after two o'clock in the afternoon, the +prosecution had no ground to question their word when they stated the +manner in which they had employed their morning. + +The prosecutor replied that the prisoners had an interest in concealing +their preparations for the abduction of the senator. + +The remarkable ability of the defence was now felt. Judges, jurors, and +audience became aware that victory would be hotly contested. Bordin and +Monsieur de Grandville had studied their ground and foreseen everything. +Innocence is required to render a clear and plausible account of its +actions. The duty of the defence is to present a consistent and probable +tale in opposition to an insufficient and improbable accusation. To +counsel who regard their client as innocent, an accusation is false. +The public examination of the four gentlemen sufficiently explained the +matter in their favor. So far all was well. But the examination of Michu +was more serious; there the real struggle began. It was now clear to +every one why Monsieur de Grandville had preferred to take charge of the +servant's defence rather than that of his masters. + +Michu admitted his threats against Marion; but denied that he had made +them violently. As for the ambush in which he was supposed to have +watched for his enemy, he said he was merely making his rounds in his +park; the senator and Monsieur Grevin might perhaps have been alarmed at +the sight of his gun and have thought his intentions hostile when they +were really inoffensive. He called attention to the fact that in the +dusk a man who was not in the habit of hunting might easily fancy a gun +was pointed at him, whereas, in point of fact, it was held in his hand +at half-cock. To explain the condition of his clothes when arrested, he +said he had slipped and fallen in the breach on his way home. "I could +scarcely see my way," he said, "and the loose stones slipped from under +me as I climbed the bank." As for the plaster which Gothard was bringing +him, he replied as he had done in all previous examinations, that he +wanted it to secure one of the stone posts of the covered way. + +The public prosecutor and the president asked him to explain how he +could have been at the top of the covered way engaged in mending a +stone post and at the same time in the breach of the moat leading to the +chateau; more especially as the justice of peace, the gendarmes and the +forester all declared they had heard him approach them from the lower +road. To this Michu replied that Monsieur d'Hauteserre had blamed him +for not having mended the post,--which he was anxious to have finished +because there were difficulties about that road with the township,--and +he had therefore gone up to the chateau to report that the work was +done. + +Monsieur d'Hauteserre had, in fact, put up a fence above the covered way +to prevent the township from taking possession of it. Michu seeing +the important part which the state of his clothes was likely to play, +invented this subterfuge. If, in law, truth is often like falsehood, +falsehood on the other hand has a very great resemblance to truth. +The defence and the prosecution both attached much importance to this +testimony, which became one of the leading points of the trial +on account of the vigor of the defence and the suspicions of the +prosecution. + +Gothard, instructed no doubt by Monsieur de Grandville, for up to that +time he had only wept when they questioned him, admitted that Michu had +told him to carry the plaster. + +"Why did neither you nor Gothard take the justice of peace and the +forester to the stone post and show them your work?" said the public +prosecutor, addressing Michu. + +"Because," replied the man, "I didn't believe there was any serious +accusation against us." + +All the prisoners except Gothard were now removed from the courtroom. +When Gothard was left alone the president adjured him to speak the truth +for his own sake, pointing out that his pretended idiocy had come to an +end; none of the jurors believed him imbecile; if he refused to answer +the court he ran the risk of serious penalty; whereas by telling the +truth at once he would probably be released. Gothard wept, hesitated, +and finally ended by saying that Michu had told him to carry several +sacks of plaster; but that each time he had met him near the farm. He +was asked how many sacks he had carried. + +"Three," he replied. + +An argument hereupon ensued as to whether the three sacks included the +one which Gothard was carrying at the time of the arrest (which reduced +the number of the other sacks to two) or whether there were three +without the last. The debate ended in favor of the first proposition, +the jury considering that only two sacks had been used. They appeared +to have a foregone conviction on that point, but Bordin and Monsieur de +Grandville judged it best to surfeit them with plaster, and weary them +so thoroughly with the argument that they would no longer comprehend the +question. Monsieur de Grandville made it appear that experts ought to +have been sent to examine the stone posts. + +"The director of the jury," he said, "has contented himself with merely +visiting the place, less for the purpose of making a careful examination +than to trap Michu in a lie; this, in our opinion, was a failure of +duty, but the blunder is to our advantage." + +On this the Court appointed experts to examine the posts and see if one +of them had been really mended and reset. The public prosecutor, on his +side, endeavored to make capital of the affair before the experts could +testify. + +"You seem to have chosen," he said to Michu, who was now brought +back into the courtroom, "an hour when the daylight was waning, from +half-past five to half-past six o'clock, to mend this post and to cement +it all alone." + +"Monsieur d'Hauteserre had blamed me for not doing it," replied Michu. + +"But," said the prosecutor, "if you used that plaster on the post you +must have had a trough and a trowel. Now, if you went to the chateau +to tell Monsieur d'Hauteserre that you had done the work, how do you +explain the fact that Gothard was bringing you more plaster. You +must have passed your farm on your way to the chateau, and you would +naturally have left your tools at home and stopped Gothard." + +This overwhelming argument produced a painful silence in the courtroom. + +"Come," said the prosecutor, "you had better admit at once that what you +buried was _not a stone post_." + +"Do you think it was the senator?" said Michu, sarcastically. + +Monsieur de Grandville hereupon demanded that the public prosecutor +should explain his meaning. Michu was accused of abduction and the +concealment of a person, but not of murder. Such an insinuation was +a serious matter. The code of Brumaire, year IV., forbade the public +prosecutor from presenting any fresh count at the trial; he must keep +within the indictment or the proceedings would be annulled. + +The public prosecutor replied that Michu, the person chiefly concerned +in the abduction and who, in the interests of his masters, had taken the +responsibility on his own shoulders, might have thought it necessary to +plaster up the entrance of the hiding-place, still undiscovered, where +the senator was now immured. + +Pressed with questions, hampered by the presence of Gothard, and brought +into contradiction with himself, Michu struck his fist upon the edge of +the dock with a resounding blow and said: "I have had nothing whatever +to do with the abduction of the senator. I hope and believe his enemies +have merely imprisoned him; when he reappears you'll find out that the +plaster was put to no such use." + +"Good!" said de Grandville, addressing the public prosecutor; "you have +done more for my client's cause than anything I could have said." + +The first day's session ended with this bold declaration, which +surprised the judges and gave an advantage to the defence. The lawyers +of the town and Bordin himself congratulated the young advocate. The +prosecutor, uneasy at the assertion, feared that he had fallen into some +trap; in fact he was really caught in a snare that was cleverly set for +him by the defence and admirably played off by Gothard. The wits of the +town declared that he had white-washed the affair and splashed his own +cause, and had made the accused as white as the plaster itself. France +is the domain of satire, which reigns supreme in our land; Frenchmen +jest on a scaffold, at the Beresina, at the barricades, and some will +doubtless appear with a quirk upon their lips at the grand assizes of +the Last Judgment. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. TRIAL CONTINUED: CRUEL VICISSITUDES + +On the morrow the witnesses for the prosecution were examined,--Madame +Marion, Madame Grevin, Grevin himself, the senator's valet, and +Violette, whose testimony can readily be imagined from the facts +already told. They all identified the five prisoners, with more or less +hesitation as to the four gentlemen, but with absolute certainty as to +Michu. Beauvisage repeated Robert d'Hauteserre's speech when he met +them at daybreak in the park. The peasant who had bought Monsieur +d'Hauteserre's calf testified to overhearing that of Mademoiselle de +Cinq-Cygne. The experts, who had compared the hoof-prints with the shoes +on the horses ridden by the five prisoners and found them absolutely +alike, confirmed their previous depositions. This point was naturally +one of vehement contention between Monsieur de Grandville and the +prosecuting officer. The defence called the blacksmith at Cinq-Cygne +and succeeded in proving that he had sold several horseshoes of the same +pattern to strangers who were not known in the place. The blacksmith +declared, moreover, that he was in the habit of shoeing in this +particular manner not only the horses of the chateau de Cinq-Cygne, but +those from other places in the canton. It was also proved that the horse +which Michu habitually rode was always shod at Troyes, and the mark of +that shoe was not among the hoof-prints found in the park. + +"Michu's double was not aware of this circumstance, or he would have +provided for it," said Monsieur de Grandville, looking at the jury. +"Neither has the prosecution shown what horses our clients rode." + +He ridiculed the testimony of Violette so far as it concerned a +recognition of the horses, seen from a long distance, from behind, and +after dusk. Still, in spite of all his efforts, the body of the evidence +was against Michu; and the prosecutor, judge, jury, and audience were +impressed with a feeling (as the lawyers for the defence had foreseen) +that the guilt of the servant carried with it that of the masters. So +the vital interest centred on all that concerned Michu. His bearing +was noble. He showed in his answers the sagacity with which nature had +endowed him; and the public, seeing him on his mettle, recognized his +superiority. And yet, strange to say, the more they understood him the +more certainty they felt that he was the instigator of the outrage. + +The witnesses for the defence, always less important in the eyes of a +jury and of the law than the witnesses for the prosecution, seemed to +testify as in duty bound, and were listened to with that allowance. In +the first place neither Marthe, nor Monsieur and Madame d'Hauteserre +took the oath. Catherine and the Durieus, in their capacity as servants, +did not take it. Monsieur d'Hauteserre stated that he had ordered Michu +to replace and mend the stone post which had been thrown down. The +deposition of the experts sent to examine the fence, which was now read, +confirmed his testimony; but they helped the prosecution by declaring +they could not fix the exact time at which the repairs had been made; it +might have been several weeks or no more than twenty days. + +The appearance of Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne excited the liveliest +curiosity; but the sight of her cousins in the prisoners' dock after +three weeks' separation affected her so much that her emotions gave +the audience an impression of guilt. She felt an overwhelming desire to +stand beside the twins, and was obliged, as she afterwards admitted, to +use all her strength to repress the longing that came into her mind +to kill the prosecutor so as to stand in the eyes of the world as a +criminal beside them. She testified, with simplicity, that riding from +Cinq-Cygne and seeing smoke in the park of Gondreville, she had supposed +there was a fire; at first she thought they were burning weeds or brush; +"but later," she added, "I observed a circumstance which I offer to the +attention of the Court. I found in the frogging of my habit and in the +folds of my collar small fragments of what appeared to be burned paper +which were floating in the air." + +"Was there much smoke?" asked Bordin. + +"Yes," replied Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne, "I feared a conflagration." + +"This is enough to change the whole inquiry," remarked Bordin. "I +request the Court to order an immediate examination of that region of +the park where the fire occurred." + +The president ordered the inquiry. + +Grevin, recalled by the defence and questioned on this circumstance, +declared he knew nothing about it. But Bordin and he exchanged looks +which mutually enlightened them. + +"The gist of the case is there," thought the old notary. + +"They've laid their finger on it," thought the notary. + +But each shrewd head considered the following up of this point useless. +Bordin reflected that Grevin would be silent as the grave; and Grevin +congratulated himself that every sign of the fire had been effaced. + +To settle this point, which seemed a mere accessory to the trial and +somewhat puerile (but which is really essential in the justification +which history owes to these young men), the experts and Pigoult, who +were despatched by the president to examine the park, reported that they +could find no traces of a bonfire. + +Bordin summoned two laborers, who testified to having dug over, under +the direction of the forester, a tract of ground in the park where +the grass had been burned; but they declared they had not observed the +nature of the ashes they had buried. + +The forester, recalled by the defence, said he had received from the +senator himself, as he was passing the chateau of Gondreville on his way +to the masquerade at Arcis, an order to dig over that particular piece +of ground which the senator had remarked as needing it. + +"Had papers, or herbage been burned there?" + +"I could not say. I saw nothing that made me think that papers had been +burned there," replied the forester. + +"At any rate," said Bordin, "if, as it appears, a fire was kindled on +that piece of ground some one brought to the spot whatever was burned +there." + +The testimony of the abbe and that of Mademoiselle Goujet made a +favorable impression. They said that as they left the church after +vespers and were walking towards home, they met the four gentlemen +and Michu leaving the chateau on horseback and making their way to +the forest. The character, position, and known uprightness of the Abbe +Goujet gave weight to his words. + +The summing up of the public prosecutor, who felt sure of obtaining a +verdict, was in the nature of all such speeches. The prisoners were the +incorrigible enemies of France, her institutions and laws. They thirsted +for tumult and conspiracy. Though they had belonged to the army of Conde +and had shared in the late attempts against the life of the Emperor, +that magnanimous sovereign had erased their names from the list of +_emigres_. This was the return they made for his clemency! In short, all +the oratorical declamations of the Bourbons against the Bonapartists, +which in our day are repeated against the republicans and the +legitimists by the Younger Branch, flourished in the speech. These trite +commonplaces, which might have some meaning under a fixed government, +seem farcical in the mouth of administrators of all epochs and opinions. +A saying of the troublous times of yore is still applicable: "The label +is changed, but the wine is the same as ever." The public prosecutor, +one of the most distinguished legal men under the Empire, attributed +the crime to a fixed determination on the part of returned _emigres_ to +protest against the sale of their estates. He made the audience shudder +at the probable condition of the senator; then he massed together +proofs, half-proofs, and probabilities with a cleverness stimulated by +a sense that his zeal was certain of its reward, and sat down tranquilly +to await the fire of his opponents. + +Monsieur de Grandville never argued but this one criminal case; and it +made his reputation. In the first place, he spoke with the same glowing +eloquence which to-day we admire in Berryer. He was profoundly convinced +of the innocence of his clients, and that in itself is a most powerful +auxiliary of speech. The following are the chief points of his defence, +which was reported in full by all the leading newspapers of the period. +In the first place he exhibited the character and life of Michu in its +true light. He made it a noble tale, ringing with lofty sentiments, and +it awakened the sympathies of many. When Michu heard himself vindicated +by that eloquent voice, tears sprang from his yellow eyes and rolled +down his terrible face. He appeared then for what he really was,--a man +as simple and as wily as a child; a being whose whole existence had +but one thought, one aim. He was suddenly explained to the minds of all +present, more especially by his tears, which produced a great effect +upon the jury. His able defender seized that moment of strong interest +to enter upon a discussion of the charges:-- + +"Where is the body of the person abducted? Where is the senator?" he +asked. "You accuse us of walling him up with stones and plaster. If so, +we alone know where he is; you have kept us twenty-three days in prison, +and the senator must be dead by this time for want of food. We are +therefore murderers, but you have not accused us of murder. On the other +hand, if he still lives, we must have accomplices. If we have them, and +if the senator is living, we should assuredly have set him at liberty. +The scheme in relation to Gondreville which you attribute to us is a +failure, and only aggravates our position uselessly. We might perhaps +obtain a pardon for an abortive attempt by releasing our victim; instead +of that we persist in detaining a man from whom we can obtain no +benefit whatever. It is absurd! Take away your plaster; the effect is +a failure," he said, addressing the public prosecutor. "We are either +idiotic criminals (which you do not believe) or the innocent victims of +circumstances as inexplicable to us as they are to you. You ought rather +to search for the mass of papers which were burned at Gondreville, which +will reveal motives stronger far than yours or ours and put you on the +track of the causes of this abduction." + +The speaker discussed these hypotheses with marvellous ability. He dwelt +on the moral character of the witnesses for the defence, whose religious +faith was a living one, who believed in a future life and in eternal +punishment. He rose to grandeur in this part of his speech and moved his +hearers deeply:-- + +"Remember!" he said; "these criminals were tranquilly dining when told +of the abduction of the senator. When the officer of gendarmes intimated +to them the best means of ending the whole affair by giving up the +senator, they refused, for they did not understand what was asked of +them!" + +Then, reverting to the mystery of the matter, he declared that its +solution was in the hands of time, which would eventually reveal the +injustice of the charge. Once on this ground, he boldly and ingeniously +supposed himself a juror; related his deliberations with his colleagues; +imagined his distress lest, having condemned the innocent, the error +should be known too late, and drew such a picture of his remorse, +dwelling on the grave doubts which the case presented, that he brought +the jury to a condition of intense anxiety. + +Juries were not in those days so blase to this sort of allocution as +they are now; Monsieur de Grandville's appeal had the power of things +new, and the jurors were evidently shaken. After this passionate +outburst they had to listen to the wily and specious prosecutor, who +went over the whole case, brought out the darkest points against the +prisoners and made the rest inexplicable. His aim was to reach the +minds and the reasoning faculties of his hearers just as Monsieur de +Grandville had aimed at the heart and the imagination. The latter, +however, had seriously entangled the convictions of the jury, and the +public prosecutor found his well-laid arguments ineffectual. This was +so plain that the counsel for the Messieurs d'Hauteserre and Gothard +appealed to the judgment of the jury, asking that the case against their +clients be abandoned. The prosecutor demanded a postponement till the +next day in order that he might prepare an answer. Bordin, who saw +acquittal in the eyes of the jury if they deliberated on the case at +once, opposed the delay of even one night by arguments of legal right +and justice to his innocent clients; but in vain,--the court allowed it. + +"The interests of society are as great as those of the accused," said +the president. "The court would be lacking in equity if it denied a like +request when made by the defence; it ought therefore to grant that of +the prosecution." + +"All is luck or ill-luck!" said Bordin to his clients when the session +was over. "Almost acquitted tonight you may be condemned to-morrow." + +"In either case," said the elder de Simeuse, "we can only admire your +skill." + +Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne's eyes were full of tears. After the doubts +and fears of the counsel for the defence, she had not expected this +success. Those around her congratulated her and predicted the acquittal +of her cousins. But alas! the matter was destined to end in a startling +and almost theatrical event, the most unexpected and disastrous +circumstance which ever changed the face of a criminal trial. + +At five in the morning of the day after Monsieur de Grandville's +speech, the senator was found on the high road to Troyes, delivered from +captivity during his sleep, unaware of the trial that was going on or +of the excitement attaching to his name in Europe, and simply happy in +being once more able to breathe the fresh air. The man who was the pivot +of the drama was quite as amazed at what was now told to him as +the persons who met him on his way to Troyes were astounded at his +reappearance. A farmer lent him a carriage and he soon reached the house +of the prefect at Troyes. The prefect notified the director of the jury, +the commissary of the government, and the public prosecutor, who, after +a statement made to them by Malin, arrested Marthe, while she was still +in bed at the Durieu's house in the suburbs. Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne, +who was only at liberty under bail, was also snatched from one of the +few hours of slumber she had been able to obtain at rare intervals in +the course of her ceaseless anxiety, and taken to the prefecture to +undergo an examination. An order to keep the accused from holding any +communication with each other or with their counsel was sent to the +prison. At ten o'clock the crowd which assembled around the courtroom +were informed that the trial was postponed until one o'clock in the +afternoon of the same day. + +This change of hour, following on the news of the senator's deliverance, +Marthe's arrest, and that of Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne, together with +the denial of the right to communicate with the prisoners carried terror +to the hotel de Chargeboeuf. The whole town and the spectators who had +come to Troyes to be present at the trial, the short-hand writers +for the daily journals, even the populace were in a ferment which can +readily be imagined. The Abbe Goujet came at ten o'clock to see Monsieur +and Madame d'Hauteserre and the counsel for the defence, who were +breakfasting--as well as they could under the circumstances. The abbe +took Bordin and Monsieur Grandville apart, told them what Marthe had +confided to him the day before, and gave them the fragment of the letter +she had received. The two lawyers exchanged a look, after which Bordin +said to the abbe: "Not a word of all this! The case is lost; but at any +rate let us show a firm front." + +Marthe was not strong enough to evade the cross-questioning of the +director of the jury and the public prosecutor. Moreover the proof +against her was too overwhelming. Lechesneau had sent for the under +crust of the last loaf of bread she had carried to the cavern, also for +the empty bottles and various other articles. During the senator's long +hours of captivity he had formed conjectures in his own mind and had +looked for indications which might put him on the track of his enemies. +These he now communicated to the authorities. Michu's farmhouse, lately +built, had, he supposed, a new oven; the tiles or bricks on which the +bread was baked would show their jointed lines on the bottom of the +loaves, and thus afford a proof that the bread supplied to him was baked +on that particular oven. So with the wine brought in bottles sealed with +green wax, which would probably be found identical with other bottles in +Michu's cellar. These shrewd observations, which Malin imparted to the +justice of peace, who made the first examination (taking Marthe with +him), led to the results foreseen by the senator. + +Marthe, deceived by the apparent friendliness of Lechesneau and the +public prosecutor, who assured her that complete confession could alone +save her husband's life, admitted that the cavern where the senator had +been hidden was known only to her husband and the Messieurs de Simeuse +and d'Hauteserre, and that she herself had taken provisions to the +senator on three separate occasions at midnight. + +Laurence, questioned about the cavern, was forced to acknowledge that +Michu had discovered it and had shown it to her at the time when the +four young men evaded the police and were hidden in it. + +As soon as these preliminary examinations were ended, the jury, lawyers, +and audience were notified that the trial would be resumed. At three +o'clock the president opened the session by announcing that the case +would be continued under a new aspect. He exhibited to Michu three +bottles of wine and asked him if he recognized them as bottles from his +own cellar, showing him at the same time the identity between the green +wax on two empty bottles with the green wax on a full bottle taken from +his cellar that morning by the justice of peace in presence of his wife. +Michu refused to recognize anything as his own. But these proofs for +the prosecution were understood by the jurors, to whom the president +explained that the empty bottles were found in the place where the +senator was imprisoned. + +Each prisoner was questioned as to the cavern or cellar beneath the +ruins of the old monastery. It was proved by all witnesses for the +prosecution, and also for the defence, that the existence of this +hiding-place discovered by Michu was known only to him and his wife, and +to Laurence and the four gentlemen. We may judge of the effect in the +courtroom when the public prosecutor made known the fact that this +cavern, known only to the accused and to their two witnesses, was the +place where the senator had been imprisoned. + +Marthe was summoned. Her appearance caused much excitement among the +spectators and keen anxiety to the prisoners. Monsieur de Grandville +rose to protest against the testimony of a wife against her husband. +The public prosecutor replied that Marthe by her own confession was an +accomplice in the outrage; that she had neither sworn nor testified, and +was to be heard solely in the interests of truth. + +"We need only submit her preliminary examination to the jury," remarked +the president, who now ordered the clerk of the court to read the said +testimony aloud. + +"Do you now confirm your own statement?" said the president, addressing +Marthe. + +Michu looked at his wife, and Marthe, who saw her fatal error, fainted +away and fell to the floor. It may be truly said that a thunderbolt had +fallen upon the prisoners and their counsel. + +"I never wrote to my wife from prison, and I know none of the persons +employed there," said Michu. + +Bordin passed to him the fragments of the letter Marthe had received. +Michu gave but one glance at it. "My writing has been imitated," he +said. + +"Denial is your last resource," said the public prosecutor. + +The senator was introduced into the courtroom with all the ceremonies +due to his position. His entrance was like a stage scene. Malin (now +called Comte de Gondreville, without regard to the feelings of the late +owners of the property) was requested by the president to look at the +prisoners, and did so with great attention and for a long time. He +stated that the clothing of his abductors was exactly like that worn +by the four gentlemen; but he declared that the trouble of his mind had +been such that he could not be positive that the accused were really the +guilty parties. + +"More than that," he said, "it is my conviction that these four +gentlemen had nothing to do with it. The hands that blindfolded me in +the forest were coarse and rough. I should rather suppose," he added, +looking at Michu, "that my old enemy took charge of that duty; but I beg +the gentlemen of the jury not to give too much weight to this remark. My +suspicions are very slight, and I feel no certainty whatever--for this +reason. The two men who seized me put me on horseback behind the man who +blindfolded me, and whose hair was red like Michu's. However singular +you may consider the observation I am about to make, it is necessary +to make it because it is the ground of an opinion favorable to the +accused--who, I hope, will not feel offended by it. Fastened to the +man's back I would naturally have been affected by his odor--yet I +did not perceive that which is peculiar to Michu. As to the person who +brought me provisions on three several occasions, I am certain it was +Marthe, the wife of Michu. I recognized her the first time she came by +a ring she always wore, which she had forgotten to remove. The Court and +jury will please allow for the contradictions which appear in the facts +I have stated, which I myself am wholly unable to reconcile." + +A murmur of approval followed this testimony. Bordin asked permission of +the Court to address a few questions to the witness. + +"Does the senator think that his abduction was due to other causes than +the interests respecting property which the prosecution attributes to +the prisoners?" + +"I do," replied the senator, "but I am wholly ignorant of what the real +motives were; for during a captivity of twenty days I saw and heard no +one." + +"Do you think," said the public prosecutor, "that your chateau at +Gondreville contains information, title-deeds, or other papers of value +which would induce a search on the part of the Messieurs de Simeuse?" + +"I do not think so," replied Malin; "I believe those gentlemen to be +incapable of attempting to get possession of such papers by violence. +They had only to ask me for them to obtain them." + +"You burned certain papers in the park, did you not?" said Monsieur de +Gondreville, abruptly. + +Malin looked at Grevin. After exchanging a rapid glance with the notary, +which Bordin intercepted, he replied that he had not burned any papers. +The public prosecutor having asked him to describe the ambush to which +he had so nearly fallen a victim two years earlier, the senator replied +that he had seen Michu watching him from the fork of a tree. This +answer, which agreed with Grevin's testimony, produced a great +impression. + +The four gentlemen remained impassible during the examination of their +enemy, who seemed determined to overwhelm them with generosity. Laurence +suffered horrible agony. From time to time the Marquis de Chargeboeuf +held her by the arm, fearing she might dart forward to the rescue. The +Comte de Gondreville retired from the courtroom and as he did so he +bowed to the four gentlemen, who did not return the salutation. This +trifling matter made the jury indignant. + +"They are lost now," whispered Bordin to the Marquis de Chargeboeuf. + +"Alas, yes! and always through the nobility of their sentiments," +replied the marquis. + +"My task is now only too easy, gentlemen," said the prosecutor, rising +to address the jury. + +He explained the use of the cement by the necessity of securing an iron +frame on which to fasten a padlock which held the iron bar with which +the gate of the cavern was closed; a description of which was given in +the _proces-verbal_ made that morning by Pigoult. He put the falsehoods +of the accused into the strongest light, and pulverized the arguments +of the defence with the new evidence so miraculously obtained. In 1806 +France was still too near the Supreme Being of 1793 to talk about divine +justice; he therefore spared the jury all reference to the intervention +of heaven; but he said that earthly justice would be on the watch for +the mysterious accomplices who had set the senator at liberty, and he +sat down, confidently awaiting the verdict. + +The jury believed there was a mystery, but they were all persuaded that +it came from the prisoners, who were probably concealing some matter of +a private interest of great importance to them. + +Monsieur de Grandville, to whom a plot or machination of some kind was +quite evident, rose; but he seemed discouraged,--less, however, by the +new evidence than by the manifest opinion of the jury. He surpassed, +if anything, his speech of the previous evening; his argument was more +compact and logical; but he felt his fervor repelled by the coldness of +the jury; he spoke ineffectually, and he knew it,--a chilling situation +for an advocate. He called attention to the fact that the release of +the senator, as if by magic and clearly without the aid of any of the +accused or of Marthe, corroborated his previous argument. Yesterday the +prisoners could most surely rely on acquittal, and if they had, as the +prosecution claimed, the power to hold or to release the senator, they +certainly would not have released him until after their acquittal. He +endeavored to bring before the minds of the Court and jury the fact that +mysterious enemies, undiscovered as yet, could alone have struck the +accused this final blow. + +Strange to say, the only minds Monsieur de Grandville reached with this +argument were those of the public prosecutor and the judges. The jury +listened perfunctorily; the audience, usually so favorable to prisoners, +were convinced of their guilt. In a court of justice the sentiments +of the crowd do unquestionably weigh upon the judges and the jury, and +_vice versa_. Seeing this condition of the minds about him, which could +be felt if not defined, the counsel uttered his last words in a tone of +passionate excitement caused by his conviction:-- + +"In the name of the accused," he cried, "I forgive you for the fatal +error you are about to commit, and which nothing can repair! We are the +victims of some mysterious and Machiavellian power. Marthe Michu was +inveigled by vile perfidy. You will discover this too late, when the +evil you now do will be irreparable." + +Bordin simply claimed the acquittal of the prisoners on the testimony of +the senator himself. + +The president summed up the case with all the more impartiality because +it was evident that the minds of the jurors were already made up. He +even turned the scales in favor of the prisoners by dwelling on the +senator's evidence. This clemency, however, did not in the least +endanger the success of the prosecution. At eleven o'clock that night, +after the jury had replied through their foreman to the usual questions, +the Court condemned Michu to death, the Messieurs de Simeuse to +twenty-four years' and the Messieurs d'Hauteserre to ten years, penal +servitude at hard labor. Gothard was acquitted. + +The whole audience was eager to observe the bearing of the five guilty +men in this supreme moment of their lives. The four gentlemen looked +at Laurence, who returned them, with dry eyes, the ardent look of the +martyrs. + +"She would have wept had we been acquitted," said the younger de Simeuse +to his brother. + +Never did convicted men meet an unjust fate with serener brows or +countenances more worthy of their manhood than these five victims of a +cruel plot. + +"Our counsel has forgiven you," said the eldest de Simeuse to the Court. + + * * * * * + +Madame d'Hauteserre fell ill, and was three months in her bed at the +hotel de Chargeboeuf. Monsieur d'Hauteserre returned patiently to +Cinq-Cygne, inwardly gnawed by one of those sorrows of old age which +have none of youth's distractions; often he was so absent-minded that +the abbe, who watched him, knew the poor father was living over again +the scene of the fatal verdict. Marthe passed away from all blame; she +died three weeks after the condemnation of her husband, confiding her +son to Laurence, in whose arms she died. + +The trial once over, political events of the utmost importance effaced +even the memory of it, and nothing further was discovered. Society is +like the ocean; it returns to its level and its specious calmness +after a disaster, effacing all traces of it in the tide of its eager +interests. + +Without her natural firmness of mind and her knowledge of her cousins' +innocence, Laurence would have succumbed; but she gave fresh proof of +the grandeur of her character; she astonished Monsieur de Grandville and +Bordin by the apparent serenity which these terrible misfortunes called +forth in her noble soul. She nursed Madame d'Hauteserre and went daily +to the prison, saying openly that she would marry one of the cousins +when they were taken to the galleys. + +"To the galleys!" cried Bordin, "Mademoiselle! our first endeavor must +be to wring their pardon from the Emperor." + +"Their pardon!--_from a Bonaparte_?" cried Laurence in horror. + +The spectacles of the old lawyer jumped from his nose; he caught them +as they fell and looked at the young girl who was now indeed a woman; he +understood her character at last in all its bearings; then he took the +arm of the Marquis de Chargeboeuf, saying:-- + +"Monsieur le Marquis, let us go to Paris instantly and save them without +her!" + +The appeal of the Messieurs de Simeuse and d'Hauteserre and that +of Michu was the first case to be brought before the new court. Its +decision was fortunately delayed by the ceremonies attending its +installation. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. THE EMPEROR'S BIVOUAC + +Towards the end of September, after three sessions of the Court +of Appeals in which the lawyers for the defence pleaded, and the +attorney-general Merlin himself spoke for the prosecution, the appeal +was rejected. The Imperial Court of Paris was by this time instituted. +Monsieur de Grandville was appointed assistant attorney-general, and the +department of the Aube coming under the jurisdiction of this court, it +became possible for him to take certain steps in favor of the convicted +prisoners, among them that of importuning Cambaceres, his protector. +Bordin and Monsieur de Chargeboeuf came to his house in the Marais the +day after the appeal was rejected, where they found him in the midst of +his honeymoon, for he had married in the interval. In spite of all these +changes in his condition, Monsieur de Chargeboeuf saw very plainly that +the young lawyer was faithful to his late clients. Certain lawyers, the +artists of their profession, treat their causes like mistresses. This is +rare, however, and must not be depended on. + +As soon as they were alone in his study, Monsieur de Grandville said to +the marquis: "I have not waited for your visit; I have already employed +all my influence. Don't attempt to save Michu; if you do, you cannot +obtain the pardon of the Messieurs de Simeuse. The law will insist on +one victim." + +"Good God!" cried Bordin, showing the young magistrate the three +petitions for mercy; "how can I take upon myself to withdraw the +application for that man. If I suppress the paper I cut off his head." + +He held out the petition; de Grandville took it, looked it over, and +said:-- + +"We can't suppress it; but be sure of one thing, if you ask all you will +obtain nothing." + +"Have we time to consult Michu?" asked Bordin. + +"Yes. The order for execution comes from the office of the +attorney-general; I will see that you have some days. We kill men," he +said with some bitterness, "but at least we do it formally, especially +in Paris." + +Monsieur de Chargeboeuf had already received from the chief justice +certain information which added weight to these sad words of Monsieur de +Grandville. + +"Michu is innocent, I know," continued the young lawyer, "but what can +we do against so many? Remember, too, that my present influence depends +on my keeping silent. I must order the scaffold to be prepared, or my +late client is certain to be beheaded." + +Monsieur de Chargeboeuf knew Laurence well enough to be certain she +would never consent to save her cousins at the expense of Michu; he +therefore resolved on making one more effort. He asked an audience of +the minister of foreign affairs to learn if salvation could be looked +for through the influence of the great diplomat. He took Bordin with +him, for the latter knew the minister and had done him some service. +The two old men found Talleyrand sitting with his feet stretched out, +absorbed in contemplation of his fire, his head resting on his hand, his +elbow on the table, a newspaper lying at his feet. The minister had just +read the decision of the Court of Appeals. + +"Pray sit down, Monsieur le marquis," said Talleyrand, "and you, +Bordin," he added, pointing to a place at the table, "write as +follows:--" + + Sire,--Four innocent gentlemen, declared guilty by a jury have + just had their condemnation confirmed by your Court of Appeals. + + Your Imperial Majesty can now only pardon them. These gentlemen + ask this pardon of your august clemency, in the hope that they may + enter your army and meet their death in battle before your eyes; + and thus praying, they are, of your Imperial and Royal Majesty, + with reverence, etc. + +"None but princes can do such prompt and graceful kindness," said the +Marquis de Chargeboeuf, taking the precious draft of the petition from +the hands of Bordin that he might have it signed by the four gentlemen; +resolving in his own mind that he would also obtain the signatures of +several august names. + +"The life of your young relatives, Monsieur le marquis," said the +minister, "now depends on the turn of a battle. Endeavor to reach the +Emperor on the morning after a victory and they are saved." + +He took a pen and himself wrote a private and confidential letter to the +Emperor, and another of ten lines to Marechal Duroc. Then he rang the +bell, asked his secretary for a diplomatic passport, and said tranquilly +to the old lawyer, "What is your honest opinion of that trial?" + +"Do you know, monseigneur, who was at the bottom of this cruel wrong?" + +"I presume I do; but I have reasons to wish for certainty," replied +Talleyrand. "Return to Troyes; bring me the Comtesse de Cinq-Cygne, +here, to-morrow at the same hour, but secretly; ask to be ushered +into Madame de Talleyrand's salon; I will tell her you are coming. If +Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne, who shall be placed where she can see a man +who will be standing before me, recognizes that man as an individual who +came to her house during the conspiracy of de Polignac and Riviere, tell +her to remember that, no matter what I say or what he answers me, she +must not utter a word nor make a gesture. One thing more, think only +of saving the de Simeuse brothers; don't embarrass yourself with that +scoundrel of a bailiff--" + +"A sublime man, monseigneur!" exclaimed Bordin. + +"Enthusiasm! in you, Bordin! The man must be remarkable. Our sovereign +has an immense self-love, Monsieur le marquis," he said, changing the +conversation. "He is about to dismiss me that he may commit follies +without warning. The Emperor is a great soldier who can change the +laws of time and distance, but he cannot change men; yet he persists in +trying to run them in his own mould! Now, remember this; the young men's +pardon can be obtained by one person only--Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne." + +The marquis went alone to Troyes and told the whole matter to Laurence. +She obtained permission from the authorities to see Michu, and the +marquis accompanied her to the gates of the prison, where he waited for +her. When she came out her face was bathed in tears. + +"Poor man!" she said; "he tried to kneel to me, praying that I would +not think of him, and forgetting the shackles that were on his feet! +Ah, marquis, I _will_ plead his cause. Yes, I'll kiss the boot of their +Emperor. If I fail--well, the memory of that man shall live eternally +honored in our family. Present his petition for mercy so as to gain +time; meantime I am resolved to have his portrait. Come, let us go." + +The next day, when Talleyrand was informed by a sign agreed upon that +Laurence was at her post, he rang the bell; his orderly came to him, and +received orders to admit Monsieur Corentin. + +"My friend, you are a very clever fellow," said Talleyrand, "and I wish +to employ you." + +"Monsiegneur--" + +"Listen. In serving Fouche you will get money, but never honor nor any +position you can acknowledge. But in serving me, as you have lately done +at Berlin, you can win credit and repute." + +"Monseigneur is very good." + +"You displayed genius in that late affair at Gondreville." + +"To what does Monseigneur allude?" said Corentin, with a manner that was +neither too reserved nor too surprised. + +"Ah, Monsieur!" observed the minister, dryly, "you will never make a +successful man; you fear--" + +"What, monseigneur?" + +"Death!" replied Talleyrand, in his fine, deep voice. "Adieu, my good +friend." + +"That is the man," said the Marquis de Chargeboeuf entering the room +after Corentin was dismissed; "but we have nearly killed the countess." + +"He is the only man I know capable of playing such a trick," replied the +minister. "Monsieur le marquis, you are in danger of not succeeding +in your mission. Start ostensibly for Strasburg; I'll send you double +passports in blank to be filled out. Provide yourself with substitutes; +change your route and above all your carriage; let your substitutes +go on to Strasburg, and do you reach Prussia through Switzerland and +Bavaria. Not a word--prudence! The police are against you; and you do +not know what the police are--" + +Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne offered the then celebrated Robert Lefebvre a +sufficient sum to induce him to go to Troyes and take Michu's portrait. +Monsieur de Grandville promised to afford the painter every possible +facility. Monsieur de Chargeboeuf then started in the old _berlingot_, +with Laurence and a servant who spoke German. Not far from Nancy they +overtook Mademoiselle Goujet and Gothard, who had preceded them in an +excellent carriage, which the marquis took, giving them in exchange the +_berlingot_. + +Talleyrand was right. At Strasburg the commissary-general of police +refused to countersign the passport of the travellers, and gave them +positive orders to return. By that time the marquis and Laurence were +leaving France by way of Besancon with the diplomatic passport. + +Laurence crossed Switzerland in the first days of October, without +paying the slightest attention to that glorious land. She lay back in +the carriage in the torpor which overtakes a criminal on the eve of his +execution. To her eyes all nature was shrouded in a seething vapor; even +common things assumed fantastic shapes. The one thought, "If I do not +succeed they will kill themselves," fell upon her soul with reiterated +blows, as the bar of the executioner fell upon the victim's members when +tortured on the wheel. She felt herself breaking; she lost her energy in +this terrible waiting for the cruel moment, short and decisive, when she +should find herself face to face with that man on whom the fate of the +condemned depended. She chose to yield to her depression rather +than waste her strength uselessly. The marquis, who was incapable of +understanding this resolve of firm minds, which often assumes quite +diverse aspects (for in such moments of tension certain superior minds +give way to surprising gaiety), began to fear that he might never bring +Laurence alive to the momentous interview, solemn to them only, and yet +beyond the ordinary limits of private life. To Laurence, the necessity +of humiliating herself before that man, the object of her hatred and +contempt, meant the sacrifice of all her noblest feelings. + +"After this," she said, "the Laurence who survives will bear no likeness +to her who is now to perish." + +The travellers could not fail to be aware of the vast movement of men +and material which surrounded them the moment they entered Prussia. The +campaign of Jena had just begun. Laurence and the marquis beheld the +magnificent divisions of the French army deploying and parading as if +at the Tuileries. In this display of military power, which can be +adequately described only with the words and images of the Bible, the +proportions of the Man whose spirit moved these masses grew gigantic to +Laurence's imagination. Soon, the cry of victory resounded in her ears. +The Imperial arms had just obtained two signal advantages. The Prince +of Prussia had been killed the evening before the day on which the +travellers arrived at Saalfeld on their endeavor to overtake Napoleon, +who was marching with the rapidity of lightning. + +At last, on the 13th of October (date of ill-omen) Mademoiselle de +Cinq-Cygne was skirting a river in the midst of the Grand Army, seeing +nought but confusion, sent hither and thither from one village to +another, from division to division, frightened at finding herself +alone with one old man tossed about in an ocean of a hundred and fifty +thousand armed men facing a hundred and fifty thousand more. Weary of +watching the river through the hedges of the muddy road which she was +following along a hillside, she asked its name of a passing soldier. + +"That's the Saale," he said, showing her the Prussian army, grouped in +great masses on the other side of the stream. + +Night came on. Laurence beheld the camp-fires lighted and the glitter +of stacked arms. The old marquis, whose courage was chivalric, drove +the horses himself (two strong beasts bought the evening before), his +servant sitting beside him. He knew very well he should find neither +horses nor postilions within the lines of the army. Suddenly the bold +equipage, an object of great astonishment to the soldiers, was stopped +by a gendarme of the military gendarmerie, who galloped up to the +carriage, calling out to the marquis: "Who are you? where are you going? +what do you want?" + +"The Emperor," replied the Marquis de Chargeboeuf; "I have an important +dispatch for the Grand-marechal Duroc." + +"Well, you can't stay here," said the gendarme. + +Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne and the marquis were, however, compelled to +remain where they were on account of the darkness. + +"Where are we?" she asked, stopping two officers whom she saw passing, +whose uniforms were concealed by cloth overcoats. + +"You are among the advanced guard of the French army," answered one of +the officers. "You cannot stay here, for if the enemy makes a movement +and the artillery opens you will be between two fires." + +"Ah!" she said, with an indifferent air. + +Hearing that "Ah!" the other officer turned and said: "How did that +woman come here?" + +"We are waiting," said Laurence, "for a gendarme who has gone to find +General Duroc, a protector who will enable us to speak to the Emperor." + +"Speak to the Emperor!" exclaimed the first officer; "how can you think +of such a thing--on the eve of a decisive battle?" + +"True," she said; "I ought to speak to him on the morrow--victory would +make him kind." + +The two officers stationed themselves at a little distance and sat +motionless on their horses. The carriage was now surrounded by a mass +of generals, marshals, and other officers, all extremely brilliant in +appearance, who appeared to pay deference to the carriage merely because +it was there. + +"Good God!" said the marquis to Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne; "I am afraid +you spoke to the Emperor." + +"The Emperor?" said a colonel, beside them, "why there he is!" pointing +to the officer who had said, "How did that woman get here?" He was +mounted on a white horse, richly caparisoned, and wore the celebrated +gray top-coat over his green uniform. He was scanning with a field-glass +the Prussian army massed beyond the Saale. Laurence understood then why +the carriage remained there, and why the Emperor's escort respected it. +She was seized with a convulsive tremor--the hour had come! She heard +the heavy sound of the tramp of men and the clang of their arms as they +arrived at a quick step on the plateau. The batteries had a language, +the caissons thundered, the brass glittered. + +"Marechal Lannes will take position with his whole corps in the advance; +Marechal Lefebvre and the Guard will occupy this hill," said the other +officer, who was Major-general Berthier. + +The Emperor dismounted. At his first motion Roustan, his famous +mameluke, hastened to hold his horse. Laurence was stupefied with +amazement; she had never dreamed of such simplicity. + +"I shall pass the night on the plateau," said the Emperor. + +Just then the Grand-marechal Duroc, whom the gendarme had finally +found, came up to the Marquis de Chargeboeuf and asked the reason of his +coming. The marquis replied that a letter from the Prince de Talleyrand, +of which he was the bearer, would explain to the marshal how urgent +it was that Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne and himself should obtain an +audience of the Emperor. + +"His Majesty will no doubt dine at his bivouac," said Duroc, taking the +letter, "and when I find out what your object is, I will let you know +if you can see him. Corporal," he said to the gendarme, "accompany this +carriage, and take it close to that hut at the rear." + +Monsieur de Chargeboeuf followed the gendarme and stopped his horses +behind a miserable cabin, built of mud and branches, surrounded by a few +fruit-trees, and guarded by pickets of infantry and cavalry. + +It may be said that the majesty of war appeared here in all its +grandeur. From this height the lines of the two armies were visible in +the moonlight. After an hour's waiting, the time being occupied by the +incessant coming and going of the aides-de-camp, Duroc himself came for +Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne and the marquis, and made them enter the hut, +the floor of which was of battened earth like that of a stable. + +Before a table with the remains of dinner, and before a fire made of +green wood which smoked, Napoleon was seated in a clumsy chair. His +muddy boots gave evidence of a long tramp across country. He had taken +off the famous top-coat; and his equally famous green uniform, crossed +by the red cordon of the Legion of honor and heightened by the white of +his kerseymere breeches and of his waistcoat, brought out vividly +his pale and terrible Caesarian face. One hand was on a map which lay +unfolded on his knees. Berthier stood near him in the brilliant uniform +of the vice-constable of the Empire. Constant, the valet, was offering +the Emperor his coffee from a tray. + +"What do you want?" said Napoleon, with a show of roughness, darting his +eye like a flash through Laurence's head. "You are no longer afraid to +speak to me before the battle? What is it about?" + +"Sire," she said, looking at him with as firm an eye, "I am Mademoiselle +de Cinq-Cygne." + +"Well?" he replied, in an angry voice, thinking her look braved him. + +"Do you not understand? I am the Comtesse de Cinq-Cygne, come to ask +mercy," she said, falling on her knees and holding out to him the +petition drawn up by Talleyrand, endorsed by the Empress, by Cambaceres +and by Malin. + +The Emperor raised her graciously, and said with a keen look: "Have you +come to your senses? Do you now understand what the French Empire is and +must be?" + +"Ah! at this moment I understand only the Emperor," she said, vanquished +by the kindly manner with which the man of destiny had said the words +that foretold to her ears success. + +"Are they innocent?" asked the Emperor. + +"Yes, all of them," she said with enthusiasm. + +"All? No, that bailiff is a dangerous man, who would have killed my +senator without taking your advice." + +"Ah, Sire," she said, "if you had a friend devoted to you, would you +abandon him? Would you not rather--" + +"You are a woman," he said, interrupting her in a faint tone of +ridicule. + +"And you, a man of iron!" she replied with a passionate sternness which +pleased him. + +"That man has been condemned to death by the laws of his country," he +continued. + +"But he is innocent!" + +"Child!" he said. + +He took Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne by the hand and led her from the hut +to the plateau. + +"See," he continued, with that eloquence of his which changed even +cowards to brave men, "see those three hundred thousand men--all +innocent. And yet to-morrow thirty thousand of them will be lying dead, +dead for their country! Among those Prussians there is, perhaps, some +great mathematician, a man of genius, an idealist, who will be mown +down. On our side we shall assuredly lose many a great man never known +to fame. Perhaps even I shall see my best friend die. Shall I blame God? +No. I shall bear it silently. Learn from this, mademoiselle, that a +man must die for the laws of his country just as men die here for her +glory." So saying, he led her back into the hut. "Return to France," he +said, looking at the marquis; "my orders shall follow you." + +Laurence believed in a commutation of Michu's punishment, and in her +gratitude she knelt again before the Emperor and kissed his hand. + +"You are the Marquis de Chargeboeuf?" said Napoleon, addressing the +marquis. + +"Yes, Sire." + +"You have children?" + +"Many children." + +"Why not give me one of your grandsons? he shall be my page." + +"Ah!" thought Laurence, "there's the sub-lieutenant after all; he wants +to be paid for his mercy." + +The marquis bowed without replying. Happily at this moment General Rapp +rushed into the hut. + +"Sire, the cavalry of the Guard, and that of the Grand-duc de Berg +cannot be set up before midday to-morrow." + +"Never mind," said Napoleon, turning to Berthier, "we, too, get our +reprieves; let us profit by them." + +At a sign of his hand the marquis and Laurence retired and again entered +their carriage; the corporal showed them their road and accompanied them +to a village where they passed the night. The next day they left +the field of battle behind them, followed by the thunder of the +cannon,--eight hundred pieces,--which pursued them for ten hours. While +still on their way they learned of the amazing victory of Jena. + +Eight days later, they were driving through the faubourg of Troyes, +where they learned that an order of the chief justice, transmitted +through the _procureur imperial_ of Troyes, commanded the release of +the four gentlemen on bail during the Emperor's pleasure. But Michu's +sentence was confirmed, and the warrant for his execution had been +forwarded from the ministry of police. These orders had reached Troyes +that very morning. Laurence went at once to the prison, though it was +two in the morning, and obtained permission to stay with Michu, who was +about to undergo the melancholy ceremony called "the toilet." The good +abbe, who had asked permission to accompany him to the scaffold, had +just given absolution to the man, whose only distress in dying was his +uncertainty as to the fate of his young masters. When Laurence entered +his cell he uttered a cry of joy. + +"I can die now," he said. + +"They are pardoned," she said; "I do not know on what conditions, but +they are pardoned. I did all I could for you, dear friend--against the +advice of others. I thought I had saved you; but the Emperor deceived me +with his graciousness." + +"It was written above," said Michu, "that the watch-dog should be killed +on the spot where his old masters died." + +The last hour passed rapidly. Michu, at the moment of parting, asked +to kiss her hand, but Laurence held her cheek to the lips of the noble +victim that he might sacredly kiss it. Michu refused to mount the cart. + +"Innocent men should go afoot," he said. + +He would not let the abbe give him his arm; resolutely and with dignity +he walked alone to the scaffold. As he laid his head on the plank he +said to the executioner, after asking him to turn down the collar of his +coat, "My clothes belong to you; try not to spot them." + + * * * * * + +The four gentlemen had hardly time to even see Mademoiselle de +Cinq-Cygne. An orderly of the general commanding the division to which +they were assigned, brought them their commissions as sub-lieutenants in +the same regiment of cavalry, with orders to proceed at once to Bayonne, +the base of supplies for its particular army-corps. After a scene of +heart-rending farewells, for they all foreboded what the future should +bring forth, Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne returned to her desolate home. + +The two brothers were killed together under the eyes of the Emperor at +Sommo-Sierra, the one defending the other, both being already in command +of their troop. The last words of each were, "Laurence, _cy meurs_!" + +The elder d'Hauteserre died a colonel at the attack on the redoubt at +Moscow, where his brother took his place. + +Adrien d'Hauteserre, appointed brigadier-general at the battle of +Dresden, was dangerously wounded there and was sent to Cinq-Cygne +for proper nursing. While endeavoring to save this relic of the four +gentlemen who for a few brief months had been so happy around her, +Laurence, then thirty-two years of age, married him. She offered him a +withered heart, but he accepted it; those who truly love doubt nothing +or doubt all. + +The Restoration found Laurence without enthusiasm. The Bourbons returned +too late for her. Nevertheless, she had no cause for complaint. Her +husband, made peer of France with the title of Marquis de Cinq-Cygne, +became lieutenant-general in 1816, and was rewarded with the blue ribbon +for the eminent services which he then performed. + +Michu's son, of whom Laurence took care as though he were her own child, +was admitted to the bar in 1817. After practising two years he was +made assistant-judge at the court of Alencon, and from there he became +_procureur-du-roi_ at Arcis in 1827. Laurence, who had also taken +charge of Michu's property, made over to the young man on the day of his +majority an investment in the public Funds which yielded him an income +of twelve thousand francs a year. Later, she arranged a marriage for him +with Mademoiselle Girel, an heiress at Troyes. + +The Marquis de Cinq-Cygne died in 1829, in the arms of his wife, +surrounded by his father and mother, and his children who adored him. +At the time of his death no one had ever fathomed the mystery of the +senator's abduction. Louis XVIII. did not neglect to repair, as far as +possible, the wrongs done by that affair; but he was silent as to the +causes of the disaster. From that time forth the Marquise de Cinq-Cygne +believed him to have been an accomplice in the catastrophe. + + + + +CHAPTER XX. THE MYSTERY SOLVED + +The late Marquis de Cinq-Cygne had used his savings, as well as those +of his father and mother, in the purchase of a fine house in the rue +de Faubourg-du-Roule, entailing it on heirs male for the support of +the title. The sordid economy of the marquis and his parents, which had +often troubled Laurence, was then explained. After this purchase the +marquise, who lived at Cinq-Cygne and economized on her own account +for her children, spent her winters in Paris,--all the more willingly +because her daughter Berthe and her son Paul were now of an age when +their education required the resources of Paris. + +Madame de Cinq-Cygne went but little into society. Her husband could not +be ignorant of the regrets which lay in her tender heart; but he showed +her always the most exquisite delicacy, and died having loved no other +woman. This noble soul, not fully understood for a period of time but +to which the generous daughter of the Cinq-Cygnes returned in his last +years as true a love as that he gave to her, was completely happy in +his married life. Laurence lived for the joys of home. No woman has ever +been more cherished by her friends or more respected. To be received in +her house is an honor. Gentle, indulgent, intellectual, above all things +simple and natural, she pleases choice souls and draws them to her in +spite of her saddened aspect; each longs to protect this woman, inwardly +so strong, and that sentiment of secret protection counts for much in +the wondrous charm of her friendship. Her life, so painful during her +youth, is beautiful and serene towards evening. Her sufferings are +known, and no one asks who was the original of that portrait by Lefebvre +which is the chief and sacred ornament of her salon. Her face has the +maturity of fruits that have ripened slowly; a hallowed pride dignifies +that long-tried brow. + +At the period when the marquise came to Paris to open the new house, her +fortune, increased by the law of indemnities, gave her some two hundred +thousand francs a year, not counting her husband's salary; besides this, +Laurence had inherited the money guarded by Michu for his young masters. +From that time forth she made a practice of spending half her income and +of laying by the rest for her daughter Berthe. + +Berthe is the living image of her mother, but without her warrior nerve; +she is her mother in delicacy, in intellect,--"more a woman," Laurence +says, sadly. The marquise was not willing to marry her daughter until +she was twenty years of age. Her savings, judiciously invested in the +Funds by old Monsieur d'Hauteserre at the moment when consols fell in +1830, gave Berthe a dowry of eighty thousand francs a year in 1833, when +she was twenty. + +About that time the Princesse de Cadignan, who was seeking to marry her +son, the Duc de Maufrigneuse, brought him into intimate relations with +Madame de Cinq-Cygne. Georges de Maufrigneuse dined with the marquise +three times a week, accompanied the mother and daughter to the Opera, +and curvetted in the Bois around their carriage when they drove out. It +was evident to all the world of the Faubourg Saint-Germain that Georges +loved Berthe. But no one could discover to a certainty whether Madame +de Cinq-Cygne was desirous of making her daughter a duchess, to become a +princess later, or whether it was only the princess who coveted for +her son the splendid dowry. Did the celebrated Diane court the noble +provincial house? and was the daughter of the Cinq-Cygnes frightened +by the celebrity of Madame de Cadignan, her tastes and her ruinous +extravagance? In her strong desire not to injure her son's prospects the +princess grew devout, shut the door on her former life, and spent the +summer season at Geneva in a villa on the lake. + +One evening there were present in the salon of the Princesse de +Cadignan, the Marquise d'Espard, and de Marsay, then president of the +Council (on this occasion the princess saw her former lover for the +last time, for he died the following year), Eugene de Rastignac, +under-secretary of State attached to de Marsay's ministry, two +ambassadors, two celebrated orators from the Chamber of Peers, the old +dukes of Lenoncourt and de Navarreins, the Comte de Vandenesse and his +young wife, and d'Arthez,--who formed a rather singular circle, the +composition of which can be thus explained. The princess was anxious to +obtain from the prime minister of the crown a permit for the return +of the Prince de Cadignan. De Marsay, who did not choose to take upon +himself the responsibility of granting it came to tell the princess the +matter had been entrusted to safe hands, and that a certain political +manager had promised to bring her the result in the course of that +evening. + +Madame and Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne were announced. Laurence, whose +principles were unyielding, was not only surprised but shocked to see +the most illustrious representatives of Legitimacy talking and laughing +in a friendly manner with the prime minister of the man whom she never +called anything but Monsieur le Duc d'Orleans. De Marsay, like an +expiring lamp, shone with a last brilliancy. He laid aside for the +moment his political anxieties, and Madame de Cinq-Cygne endured him, as +they say the Court of Austria endured de Saint-Aulaire; the man of the +world effaced the minister of the citizen-king. But she rose to her feet +as though her chair were of red-hot iron when the name was announced of +"Monsieur le Comte de Gondreville." + +"Adieu, madame," she said to the princess in a curt tone. + +She left the room with Berthe, measuring her steps to avoid encountering +that fatal being. + +"You may have caused the loss of Georges' marriage," said the princess +to de Marsay, in a low voice. "Why did you not tell me your agent's +name?" + +The former clerk of Arcis, former Conventional, former Thermidorien, +tribune, Councillor of State, count of the Empire and senator, peer of +the Restoration, and now peer of the monarchy of July, made a servile +bow to the princess. + +"Fear nothing, madame," he said; "we have ceased to make war on princes. +I bring you an assurance of the permit," he added, seating himself +beside her. + +Malin was long in the confidence of Louis XVIII., to whom his varied +experience was useful. He had greatly aided in overthrowing Decazes, and +had given much good advice to the ministry of Villele. Coldly received +by Charles X., he had adopted all the rancors of Talleyrand. He was now +in high favor under the twelfth government he had served since 1789, and +which in turn he would doubtless betray. For the last fifteen months he +had broken the long friendship which had bound him for thirty-six years +to our greatest diplomat, the Prince de Talleyrand. It was in the course +of this very evening that he made answer to some one who asked why the +Prince showed such hostility to the Duc de Bordeaux, "The Pretender is +too young!" + +"Singular advice to give young men," remarked Rastignac. + +De Marsay, who grew thoughtful after Madame de Cadignan's reproachful +speech, took no notice of these jests. He looked askance at Gondreville +and was evidently biding his time until that now old man, who went to +bed early, had taken leave. All present, who had witnessed the abrupt +departure of Madame de Cinq-Cygne (whose reasons were well-known to +them), imitated de Marsay's conduct and kept silence. Gondreville, +who had not recognized the marquise, was ignorant of the cause of the +general reticence, but the habit of dealing with public matters had +given him a certain tact; he was moreover a clever man; he saw that his +presence was embarrassing to the company and he took leave. De Marsay, +standing with his back to the fire, watched the slow departure of the +old man in a manner which revealed the gravity of his thoughts. + +"I did wrong, madame, not to tell you the name of my negotiator," said +the prime minister, listening for the sound of Malin's wheels as they +rolled away. "But I will redeem my fault and give you the means of +making your peace with the Cinq-Cygnes. It is now thirty years since the +affair I am about to speak of took place; it is as old to the present +day as the death of Henri IV. (which between ourselves and in spite +of the proverb is still a mystery, like so many other historical +catastrophes). I can, however, assure you that even if this affair did +not concern Madame de Cinq-Cygne it would be none the less curious and +interesting. Moreover, it throws light on a celebrated exploit in our +modern annals,--I mean that of the Mont Saint-Bernard. Messieurs les +Ambassadeurs," he added, bowing to the two diplomats, "will see that in +the element of profound intrigue the political men of the present day +are far behind the Machiavellis whom the waves of the popular will +lifted, in 1793, above the storm,--some of whom have 'found,' as the old +song says, 'a haven.' To be anything in France in these days a man must +have been tossed in those tempests." + +"It seems to me," said the princess, smiling, "that from that point of +view the present state of things under your regime leaves nothing to be +desired." + +A well-bred laugh went round the room, and even the prime minister +himself could not help smiling. The ambassadors seemed impatient for the +tale; de Marsay coughed dryly and silence was obtained. + +"On a June night in 1800," began the minister, "about three in the +morning, just as daylight was beginning to pale the brilliancy of the +wax candles, two men tired of playing at _bouillotte_ (or who were +playing merely to keep others employed) left the salon of the ministry +of foreign affairs, then situated in the rue du Bac, and went apart into +a boudoir. These two men, of whom one is dead and the other has _one_ +foot in the grave, were, each in his own way, equally extraordinary. +Both had been priests; both had abjured religion; both were married. One +had been merely an Oratorian, the other had worn the mitre of a bishop. +The first was named Fouche; I shall not tell you the name of the +second;[*] both were then mere simple citizens--with very little +simplicity. When they were seen to leave the salon and enter the +boudoir, the rest of the company present showed a certain curiosity. A +third person followed them,--a man who thought himself far stronger than +the other two. His name was Sieyes, and you all know that he too +had been a priest before the Revolution. The one who _walked with +difficulty_ was then the minister of foreign affairs; Fouche was +minister of police; Sieyes had resigned the consulate. + + [*] Talleyrand was still living when de Marsay related these + circumstances. + + +"A small man, cold and stern in appearance, left his seat and followed +the three others, saying aloud in the hearing of the person from whom I +have the information, 'I mistrust the gambling of priests.' This man was +Carnot, minister of war. His remark did not trouble the two consuls who +were playing cards in the salon. Cambaceres and Lebrun were then at the +mercy of their ministers, men who were infinitely stronger than they. + +"Nearly all these statesmen are dead, and no secrecy is due to +them. They belong to history; and the history of that night and its +consequences has been terrible. I tell it to you now because I alone +know it; because Louis XVIII. never revealed the truth to that poor +Madame de Cinq-Cygne; and because the present government which I serve +is wholly indifferent as to whether the truth be known to the world or +not. + +"All four of these personages sat down in the boudoir. The lame man +undoubtedly closed the door before a word was said; it is even thought +that he ran the bolt. It is only persons of high rank who pay attention +to such trifles. The three priests had the livid, impassible faces which +you all remember. Carnot alone was ruddy. He was the first to speak. +'What is the point to be discussed?' he asked. 'France,' must have been +the answer of the Prince (whom I admire as one of the most extraordinary +men of our time). 'The Republic,' undoubtedly said Fouche. 'Power,' +probably said Sieyes." + +All present looked at each other. With voice, look, and gesture de +Marsay had wonderfully represented the three men. + +"The three priests fully understood one another," he continued, resuming +his narrative. "Carnot no doubt looked at his colleagues and the +ex-consul in a dignified manner. He must, however, have felt bewildered +in his own mind. + +"'Do you believe in the success of the army?' Sieyes said to him. + +"'We may expect everything from Bonaparte,' replied the minister of war; +'he has crossed the Alps.' + +"'At this moment,' said the minister of foreign affairs, with deliberate +slowness, 'he is playing his last stake.' + +"'Come, let's speak out,' said Fouche; 'what shall we do if the First +Consul is defeated? Is it possible to collect another army? Must we +continue his humble servants?' + +"'There is no republic now,' remarked Sieyes; 'Bonaparte is consul for +ten years.' + +"'He has more power than ever Cromwell had,' said the former bishop, +'and he did not vote for the death of the king.' + +"'We have a master,' said Fouche; 'the question is, shall we continue to +keep him if he loses the battle or shall we return to a pure republic?' + +"'France,' replied Carnot, sententiously, 'cannot resist except she +reverts to the old Conventional _energy_.' + +"'I agree with Carnot,' said Sieyes; 'if Bonaparte returns defeated we +must put an end to him; he has let us know him too well during the last +seven months.' + +"'The army is for him,' remarked Carnot, thoughtfully. + +"'And the people for us!' cried Fouche. + +"'You go fast, monsieur,' said the Prince, in that deep bass voice which +he still preserves and which now drove Fouche back into himself. + +"'Be frank,' said a voice, as a former Conventional rose from a corner +of the boudoir and showed himself; 'if Bonaparte returns a victor, we +shall adore him; if vanquished, we'll bury him!' + +"'So you were there, Malin, were you?' said the Prince, without +betraying the least feeling. 'Then you must be one of us; sit down'; and +he made him a sign to be seated. + +"It is to this one circumstance that Malin, a Conventional of small +repute, owes the position he afterwards obtained and, ultimately, that +in which we see him at the present moment. He proved discreet, and +the ministers were faithful to him; but they made him the pivot of the +machine and the cat's-paw of the machination. To return to my tale. + +"'Bonaparte has never yet been vanquished,' cried Carnot, in a tone of +conviction, 'and he has just surpassed Hannibal.' + +"'If the worst happens, here is the Directory,' said Sieyes, artfully, +indicating with a wave of his hand the five persons present. + +"'And,' added the Prince, 'we are all committed to the maintenance +of the French republic; we three priests have literally unfrocked +ourselves; the general, here, voted for the death of the king; and +you,' he said, turning to Malin, 'have got possession of the property of +_emigres_.' + +"'Yes, we have all the same interests,' said Sieyes, dictatorially, 'and +our interests are one with those of the nation.' + +"'A rare thing,' said the Prince, smiling. + +"'We must act,' interrupted Fouche. 'In all probability the battle is +now going on; the Austrians outnumber us; Genoa has surrendered; Massena +has committed the great mistake of embarking for Antibes; it is very +doubtful if he can rejoin Bonaparte, who will then be reduced to his own +resources.' + +"'Who gave you that news?' asked Carnot. + +"'It is sure,' replied Fouche. 'You will have the courier when the +Bourse opens.' + +"Those men didn't mince their words," said de Marsay, smiling, and +stopping short for a moment. + +"'Remember,' continued Fouche, 'it is not when the news of a disaster +comes that we can organize clubs, rouse the patriotism of the people, +and change the constitution. Our 18th Brumaire ought to be prepared +beforehand.' + +"'Let us leave the care of that to the minister of police,' said the +Prince, bowing to Fouche, 'and beware ourselves of Lucien.' (Lucien +Bonaparte was then minister of the interior.) + +"'I'll arrest him,' said Fouche. + +"'Messieurs!' cried Sieyes, 'our Directory ought not to be subject to +anarchical changes. We must organize a government of the few, a Senate +for life, and an elective chamber the control of which shall be in our +hands; for we ought to profit by the blunders of the past.' + +"'With such a system, there would be peace for me,' remarked the +ex-bishop. + +"'Find me a sure man to negotiate with Moreau; for the Army of the +Rhine will be our sole resource,' cried Carnot, who had been plunged in +meditation. + +"Ah!" said de Marsay, pausing, "those men were right. They were grand +in this crisis. I should have done as they did"; then he resumed his +narrative. + +"'Messieurs!' cried Sieyes, in a grave and solemn tone. + +"That word 'Messieurs!' was perfectly understood by all present; all +eyes expressed the same faith, the same promise, that of absolute +silence, and unswerving loyalty to each other in case the First Consul +returned triumphant. + +"'We all know what we have to do,' added Fouche. + +"Sieyes softly unbolted the door; his priestly ear had warned him. +Lucien entered the room. + +"'Good news!' he said. 'A courier has just brought Madame Bonaparte a +line from the First Consul. The campaign has opened with a victory at +Montebello.' + +"The three ministers exchanged looks. + +"'Was it a general engagement?' asked Carnot. + +"'No, a fight, in which Lannes has covered himself with glory. The +affair was bloody. Attacked with ten thousand men by eighteen thousand, +he was only saved by a division sent to his support. Ott is in full +retreat. The Austrian line is broken.' + +"'When did the fight take place?' asked Carnot. + +"'On the 8th,' replied Lucien. + +"'And this is the 13th,' said the sagacious minister. 'Well, if that is +so, the destinies of France are in the scale at the very moment we are +speaking.'" + +(In fact, the battle of Marengo did begin at dawn of the 14th.) + +"'Four days of fatal uncertainty!' said Lucien. + +"'Fatal?' said the minister of foreign affairs, coldly and +interrogatively. + +"'Four days,' echoed Fouche. + +"An eye-witness told me," said de Marsay, continuing the narrative in +his own person, "that the consuls, Cambaceres and Lebrun, knew nothing +of this momentous news until after the six personages returned to the +salon. It was then four in the morning. Fouche left first. That man +of dark and mysterious genius, extraordinary, profound, and little +understood, but who undoubtedly had the gifts of a Philip the Second, a +Tiberius and a Borgia, went at once to work with an infernal and secret +activity. His conduct at the time of the affair at Walcheren was that of +a consummate soldier, a great politician, a far-seeing administrator. He +was the only real minister that Napoleon ever had. And you all know how +he then alarmed him. + +"Fouche, Massena and the Prince," continued de Marsay, reflectively, +"are the three greatest men, the wisest heads in diplomacy, war, and +government, that I have ever known. If Napoleon had frankly allied them +with his work there would no longer be a Europe, only a vast French +Empire. Fouche did not finally detach himself from Napoleon until he saw +Sieyes and the Prince de Talleyrand shoved aside. + +"He now went to work, and in three days (all the while hiding the hand +that stirred the ashes of the Montagne) he had organized that general +agitation which then arose all over France and revived the republicanism +of 1793. As it is necessary that I should explain this obscure corner of +our history, I must tell you that this agitation, starting from Fouche's +own hand (which held the wires of the former Montagne), produced +republican plots against the life of the First Consul, which was in +peril from this cause long after the victory of Marengo. It was Fouche's +sense of the evil he had thus brought about which led him to warn +Napoleon, who held a contrary opinion, that republicans were more +concerned than royalists in the various conspiracies. + +"Fouche was an admirable judge of men; he relied on Sieyes because of +his thwarted ambition, on Talleyrand because he was a great _seigneur_, +on Carnot for his perfect honesty; but the man he dreaded was the one +whom you have seen here this evening. I will now tell how he entangled +that man in his meshes. + +"Malin was only Malin in those days,--a secret agent and correspondent +of Louis XVIII. Fouche now compelled him to reduce to writing all the +proclamations of the proposed revolutionary government, its warrants and +edicts against the factions of the 18th Brumaire. An accomplice against +his own will, Malin was required to have these documents secretly +printed, and the copies held ready in his own house for distribution +if Bonaparte were defeated. The printer was subsequently imprisoned and +detained two months; he died in 1816, and always believed he had been +employed by a Montagnard conspiracy. + +"One of the most singular scenes ever played by Fouche's police was +caused by the blunder of an agent, who despatched a courier to a famous +banker of that day with the news of a defeat at Marengo. Victory, you +will remember, did not declare itself for Napoleon until seven o'clock +in the evening of the battle. At midday the banker's agent, considering +the day lost and the French army about to be annihilated, hastened to +despatch the courier. On receipt of that news Fouche was about to put +into motion a whole army of bill-posters and cries, with a truck full +of proclamations, when the second courier arrived with the news of the +triumph which put all France beside itself with joy. There were heavy +losses at the Bourse, of course. But the criers and posters who were +gathered to announce the political death of Bonaparte and to post up +the new proclamations were only kept waiting awhile till the news of the +victory could be struck off! + +"Malin, on whom the whole responsibility of the plot of which he had +been the working agent was likely to fall if it ever became known, was +so terrified that he packed the proclamations and other papers in carts +and took them down to Gondreville in the night-time, where no doubt they +were hidden in the cellars of that chateau, which he had bought in +the name of another man--who was it, by the bye? he had him made +chief-justice of an Imperial court--Ah! Marion. Having thus disposed +of these damning proofs he returned to Paris to congratulate the First +Consul on his victory. Napoleon, as you know, rushed from Italy to Paris +after the battle of Marengo with alarming celerity. Those who know the +secret history of that time are well aware that a message from Lucien +brought him back. The minister of the interior had foreseen the attitude +of the Montagnard party, and though he had no idea of the quarter from +which the wind really blew, he feared a storm. Incapable of suspecting +the three ministers and Carnot, he attributed the movement which stirred +all France to the hatred his brother had excited by the 18th Brumaire, +and to the confident belief of the men of 1793 that defeat was certain +in Italy. + +"The battle of Marengo detained Napoleon on the plains of Lombardy until +the 25th of June, but he reached Paris on the 2nd of July. Imagine +the faces of the five conspirators as they met the First Consul at the +Tuileries, and congratulated him on the victory. Fouche on that very +occasion at the palace told Malin to have patience, for _all was not +over yet_. The truth was, Talleyrand and Fouche both held that Bonaparte +was not as much bound to the principles of the Revolution as they were, +and as he ought to be; and for this reason, as well as for their own +safety, they subsequently, in 1804, buckled him irrevocably, as they +believed, to its cause by the affair of the Duc d'Enghien. The execution +of that prince is connected by a series of discoverable ramifications +with the plot which was laid on that June evening in the boudoir of the +ministry of foreign affairs, the night before the battle of Marengo. +Those who have the means of judging, and who have known persons who were +well-informed, are fully aware that Bonaparte was handled like a +child by Talleyrand and Fouche, who were determined to alienate him +irrevocably from the House of Bourbon, whose agents were even then, at +the last moment, endeavoring to negotiate with the First Consul." + +"Talleyrand was playing whist in the salon of Madame de Luynes," said a +personage who had been listening attentively to de Marsay's narrative. +"It was about three o'clock in the morning, when he pulled out his +watch, looked at it, stopped the game, and asked his three companions +abruptly and without any preface whether the Prince de Conde had any +other children than the Duc d'Enghien. Such an absurd inquiry from the +lips of Talleyrand caused the utmost surprise. 'Why do you ask us what +you know perfectly well yourself?' they said to him. 'Only to let +you know that the House of Conde comes to an end at this moment.' +Now Monsieur de Talleyrand had been at the hotel de Luynes the entire +evening, and he must have known that Bonaparte was absolutely unable to +grant the pardon." + +"But," said Eugene de Rastignac, "I don't see in all this any connection +with Madame de Cinq-Cygnes and her troubles." + +"Ah, you were so young at that time, my dear fellow; I forgot to explain +the conclusion. You all know the affair of the abduction of the Comte de +Gondreville, then senator of the Empire, for which the Simeuse brothers +and the two d'Hauteserres were condemned to the galleys,--an affair +which did, in fact, lead to their death." + +De Marsay, entreated by several persons present to whom the +circumstances were unknown, related the whole trial, stating that the +mysterious abductors were five sharks of the secret service of the +ministry of the police, who were ordered to obtain the proclamations of +the would-be Directory which Malin had surreptitiously taken from his +house in Paris, and which he had himself come to Gondreville for the +express purpose of destroying, being convinced at last that the Empire +was on a sure foundation and could not be overthrown. "I have no doubt," +added de Marsay, "that Fouche took the opportunity to have the house +searched for the correspondence between Malin and Louis XVIII., which +was always kept up, even during the Terror. But in this cruel affair +there was a private element, a passion of revenge in the mind of the +leader of the party, a man named Corentin, who is still living, and who +is one of those subaltern agents whom nothing can replace and who +makes himself felt by his amazing ability. It appears that Madame, then +Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne, had ill-treated him on a former occasion +when he attempted to arrest the Simeuse brothers. What happened +afterwards in connection with the senator's abduction was the result of +his private vengeance. + +"These facts were known, of course, to Malin, and through him to Louis +XVIII. You may therefore," added de Marsay, turning to the Princesse de +Cadignan, "explain the whole matter to the Marquise de Cinq-Cygne, and +show her why Louis XVIII. thought fit to keep silence." ADDENDUM + +The following personages appear in other stories of the Human Comedy. + +Beauvisage The Member for Arcis + + Berthier, Alexandre + The Chouans + + Bonaparte, Lucien + The Vendetta + + Bordin + The Seamy Side of History + The Commission in Lunacy + Jealousies of a Country Town + + Cinq-Cygne, Laurence, Comtesse (afterwards Marquise de) + The Secrets of a Princess + The Seamy Side of History + The Member for Arcis + + Corentin + The Chouans + Scenes from a Courtesan's Life + The Middle Classes + + Derville + Gobseck + A Start in Life + Father Goriot + Colonel Chabert + Scenes from a Courtesan's Life + + Duroc, Gerard-Christophe-Michel + A Woman of Thirty + + Espard, Jeanne-Clementine-Athenais de Blamont-Chauvry, Marquise d' + The Commission in Lunacy + A Distinguished Provincial at Paris + Scenes from a Courtesan's Life + Letters of Two Brides + Another Study of Woman + The Secrets of a Princess + A Daughter of Eve + Beatrix + + Fouche, Joseph + The Chouans + Scenes from a Courtesan's Life + + Giguet, Colonel + The Member for Arcis + + Gondreville, Malin, Comte de + A Start in Life + Domestic Peace + The Member for Arcis + + Gothard + The Member for Arcis + + Goujet, Abbe + The Member for Arcis + + Grandlieu, Duc Ferdinand de + The Thirteen + A Bachelor's Establishment + Modeste Mignon + Scenes from a Courtesan's Life + + Granville, Vicomte de + A Second Home + Farewell (Adieu) + Cesar Birotteau + Scenes from a Courtesan's Life + A Daughter of Eve + Cousin Pons + + Grevin + A Start in Life + The Member for Arcis + + Hauteserre, D' + The Member for Arcis + + Lefebvre, Robert + Cousin Betty + + Lenoncourt, Duc de + The Lily of the Valley + Cesar Birotteau + Jealousies of a Country Town + Beatrix + + Louis XVIII., Louis-Stanislas-Xavier + The Chouans + The Seamy Side of History + Scenes from a Courtesan's Life + The Ball at Sceaux + The Lily of the Valley + Colonel Chabert + The Government Clerks + + Marion (of Arcis) + The Member for Arcis + + Marion (brother) + The Member for Arcis + + Marsay, Henri de + The Thirteen + The Unconscious Humorists + Another Study of Woman + The Lily of the Valley + Father Goriot + Jealousies of a Country Town + Ursule Mirouet + A Marriage Settlement + Lost Illusions + A Distinguished Provincial at Paris + Letters of Two Brides + The Ball at Sceaux + Modeste Mignon + The Secrets of a Princess + A Daughter of Eve + + Maufrigneuse, Duchesse de + The Secrets of a Princess + Modeste Mignon + Jealousies of a Country Town + The Muse of the Department + Scenes from a Courtesan's Life + Letters of Two Brides + Another Study of Woman + The Member for Arcis + + Maufrigneuse, Georges de + The Secrets of a Princess + Beatrix + The Member for Arcis + + Maufrigneuse, Berthe de + Beatrix + The Member for Arcis + + Michu, Francois + Jealousies of a Country Town + The Member for Arcis + + Michu, Madame Francois + The Member for Arcis + + Murat, Joachim, Prince + The Vendetta + Colonel Chabert + Domestic Peace + The Country Doctor + + Navarreins, Duc de + A Bachelor's Establishment + Colonel Chabert + The Muse of the Department + The Thirteen + Jealousies of a Country Town + The Peasantry + Scenes from a Courtesan's Life + The Country Parson + The Magic Skin + The Secrets of a Princess + Cousin Betty + + Peyrade + Scenes from a Courtesan's Life + + Rapp + The Vendetta + + Rastignac, Eugene de + Father Goriot + A Distinguished Provincial at Paris + Scenes from a Courtesan's Life + The Ball at Sceaux + The Commission in Lunacy + A Study of Woman + Another Study of Woman + The Magic Skin + The Secrets of a Princess + A Daughter of Eve + The Firm of Nucingen + Cousin Betty + The Member for Arcis + The Unconscious Humorists + + Regnier, Claude-Antoine + A Second Home + + Simeuse, Admiral de + Beatrix + Jealousies of a Country Town + + Steingel + The Peasantry + + Talleyrand-Perigord, Charles-Maurice de + The Chouans + The Thirteen + Letters of Two Brides + Gaudissart II. + + Vandenesse, Comte Felix de + The Lily of the Valley + Lost Illusions + A Distinguished Provincial at Paris + Cesar Birotteau + Letters of Two Brides + A Start in Life + The Marriage Settlement + The Secrets of a Princess + Another Study of Woman + A Daughter of Eve + + Varlet + The Gondreville Mystery + The Member for Arcis + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's An Historical Mystery, by Honore de Balzac + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AN HISTORICAL MYSTERY *** + +***** This file should be named 1678.txt or 1678.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/1/6/7/1678/ + +Produced by John Bickers, Dagny, and Bonnie Sala + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying 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Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..65c497f --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #1678 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1678) diff --git a/old/20041106-1678.txt b/old/20041106-1678.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..347efc6 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/20041106-1678.txt @@ -0,0 +1,8941 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of An Historical Mystery, by Honore de Balzac + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.net + + +Title: An Historical Mystery + +Author: Honore de Balzac + +Release Date: November 6, 2004 [EBook #1678] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AN HISTORICAL MYSTERY *** + + + + +Produced by John Bickers and Dagny + + + + + + AN HISTORICAL MYSTERY + (The Gondreville Mystery) + + BY + + HONORE DE BALZAC + + + + Translated By + Katharine Prescott Wormeley + + + + + DEDICATION + + To Monsieur de Margone. + + In grateful remembrance, from his guest at the Chateau de Sache. + + De Balzac. + + + + + AN HISTORICAL MYSTERY + + + + + PART I + + + + CHAPTER I + + JUDAS + +The autumn of the year 1803 was one of the finest in the early part of +that period of the present century which we now call "Empire." Rain +had refreshed the earth during the month of October, so that the trees +were still green and leafy in November. The French people were +beginning to put faith in a secret understanding between the skies and +Bonaparte, then declared Consul for life,--a belief in which that man +owes part of his prestige; strange to say, on the day the sun failed +him, in 1812, his luck ceased! + +About four in the afternoon on the fifteenth of November, 1803, the +sun was casting what looked like scarlet dust upon the venerable tops +of four rows of elms in a long baronial avenue, and sparkling on the +sand and grassy places of an immense _rond-point_, such as we often +see in the country where land is cheap enough to be sacrificed to +ornament. The air was so pure, the atmosphere so tempered that a +family was sitting out of doors as if it were summer. A man dressed in +a hunting-jacket of green drilling with green buttons, and breeches of +the same stuff, and wearing shoes with thin soles and gaiters to the +knee, was cleaning a gun with the minute care a skilful huntsman gives +to the work in his leisure hours. This man had neither game nor +game-bag, nor any of the accoutrements which denote either departure for +a hunt or the return from it; and two women sitting near were looking at +him as though beset by a terror they could ill-conceal. Any one +observing the scene taking place in this leafy nook would have +shuddered, as the old mother-in-law and the wife of the man we speak +of were now shuddering. A huntsman does not take such minute +precautions with his weapon to kill small game, neither does he use, +in the department of the Aube, a heavy rifled carbine. + +"Shall you kill a roe-buck, Michu?" said his handsome young wife, +trying to assume a laughing air. + +Before replying, Michu looked at his dog, which had been lying in the +sun, its paws stretched out and its nose on its paws, in the charming +attitude of a trained hunter. The animal had just raised its head and +was snuffing the air, first down the avenue nearly a mile long which +stretched before them, and then up the cross road where it entered the +_rond-point_ to the left. + +"No," answered Michu, "but a brute I do not wish to miss, a lynx." + +The dog, a magnificent spaniel, white with brown spots, growled. + +"Hah!" said Michu, talking to himself, "spies! the country swarms with +them." + +Madame Michu looked appealingly to heaven. A beautiful fair woman with +blue eyes, composed and thoughtful in expression and made like an +antique statue, she seemed to be a prey to some dark and bitter grief. +The husband's appearance may explain to a certain extent the evident +fear of the two women. The laws of physiognomy are precise, not only +in their application to character, but also in relation to the +destinies of life. There is such a thing as prophetic physiognomy. If +it were possible (and such a vital statistic would be of value to +society) to obtain exact likenesses of those who perish on the +scaffold, the science of Lavatar and also that of Gall would prove +unmistakably that the heads of all such persons, even those who are +innocent, show prophetic signs. Yes, fate sets its mark on the faces +of those who are doomed to die a violent death of any kind. Now, this +sign, this seal, visible to the eye of an observer, was imprinted on +the expressive face of the man with the rifled carbine. Short and +stout, abrupt and active in his motions as a monkey, though calm in +temperament, Michu had a white face injected with blood, and features +set close together like those of a Tartar,--a likeness to which his +crinkled red hair conveyed a sinister expression. His eyes, clear and +yellow as those of a tiger, showed depths behind them in which the +glance of whoever examined the man might lose itself and never find +either warmth or motion. Fixed, luminous, and rigid, those eyes +terrified whoever gazed into them. The singular contrast between the +immobility of the eyes and the activity of the body increased the +chilling impression conveyed by a first sight of Michu. Action, always +prompt in this man, was the outcome of a single thought; just as the +life of animals is, without reflection, the outcome of instinct. Since +1793 he had trimmed his red beard to the shape of a fan. Even if he +had not been (as he was during the Terror) president of a club of +Jacobins, this peculiarity of his head would in itself have made him +terrible to behold. His Socratic face with its blunt nose was +surmounted by a fine forehead, so projecting, however, that it +overhung the rest of the features. The ears, well detached from the +head, had the sort of mobility which we find in those of wild animals, +which are ever on the qui-vive. The mouth, half-open, as the custom +usually is among country-people, showed teeth that were strong and +white as almonds, but irregular. Gleaming red whiskers framed this +face, which was white and yet mottled in spots. The hair, cropped +close in front and allowed to grow long at the sides and on the back +of the head, brought into relief, by its savage redness, all the +strange and fateful peculiarities of this singular face. The neck +which was short and thick, seemed to tempt the axe. + +At this moment the sunbeams, falling in long lines athwart the group, +lighted up the three heads at which the dog from time to time glanced +up. The spot on which this scene took place was magnificently fine. +The _rond-point_ is at the entrance of the park of Gondreville, one of +the finest estates in France, and by far the finest in the departments +of the Aube; it boasts of long avenues of elms, a castle built from +designs by Mansart, a park of fifteen hundred acres enclosed by a +stone wall, nine large farms, a forest, mills, and meadows. This +almost regal property belonged before the Revolution to the family of +Simeuse. Ximeuse was a feudal estate in Lorraine; the name was +pronounced Simeuse, and in course of time it came to be written as +pronounced. + +The great fortune of the Simeuse family, adherents of the House of +Burgundy, dates from the time when the Guises were in conflict with +the Valois. Richelieu first, and afterwards Louis XIV. remembered +their devotion to the factious house of Lorraine, and rebuffed them. +Then the Marquis de Simeuse, an old Burgundian, old Guiser, old +leaguer, old _frondeur_ (he inherited the four great rancors of the +nobility against royalty), came to live at Cinq-Cygne. The former +courtier, rejected at the Louvre, married the widow of the Comte de +Cinq-Cygne, younger branch of the famous family of Chargeboeuf, one of +the most illustrious names in Champagne, and now as celebrated and +opulent as the elder. The marquis, among the richest men of his day, +instead of wasting his substance at court, built the chateau of +Gondreville, enlarged the estate by the purchase of others, and united +the several domains, solely for the purposes of a hunting-ground. He +also built the Simeuse mansion at Troyes, not far from that of the +Cinq-Cygnes. These two old houses and the bishop's palace were long +the only stone mansions at Troyes. The marquis sold Simeuse to the Duc +de Lorraine. His son wasted the father's savings and some part of his +great fortune under the reign of Louis XV., but he subsequently +entered the navy, became a vice-admiral, and redeemed the follies of +his youth by brilliant services. The Marquis de Simeuse, son of this +naval worthy, perished with his wife on the scaffold at Troyes, +leaving twin sons, who emigrated and were, at the time our history +opens, still in foreign parts following the fortunes of the house of +Conde. + +The _rond-point_ was the scene of the meet in the time of the "Grand +Marquis"--a name given in the family to the Simeuse who built +Gondreville. Since 1789 Michu lived in the hunting lodge at the +entrance to the park, built in the reign of Louis XIV., and called the +pavilion of Cinq-Cygne. The village of Cinq-Cygne is at the end of the +forest of Nodesme (a corruption of Notre-Dame) which was reached +through the fine avenue of four rows of elms where Michu's dog was now +suspecting spies. After the death of the Grand Marquis this pavilion +fell into disuse. The vice-admiral preferred the court and the sea to +Champagne, and his son gave the dilapidated building to Michu for a +dwelling. + +This noble structure is of brick, with vermiculated stone-work at the +angles and on the casings of the doors and windows. On either side is +a gateway of finely wrought iron, eaten with rust and connected by a +railing, beyond which is a wide and deep ha-ha, full of vigorous +trees, its parapets bristling with iron arabesques, the innumerable +sharp points of which are a warning to evil-doers. + +The park walls begin on each side of the circumference of the +_rond-point_; on the one hand the fine semi-circle is defined by slopes +planted with elms; on the other, within the park, a corresponding +half-circle is formed by groups of rare trees. The pavilion, +therefore, stands at the centre of this round open space, which +extends before it and behind it in the shape of two horseshoes. Michu +had turned the rooms on the lower floor into a stable, a kitchen, and +a wood-shed. The only trace remaining of their ancient splendor was an +antechamber paved with marble in squares of black and white, which was +entered on the park side through a door with small leaded panes, such +as might still be seen at Versailles before Louis-Philippe turned that +Chateau into an asylum for the glories of France. The pavilion is +divided inside by an old staircase of worm-eaten wood, full of +character, which leads to the first story. Above that is an immense +garret. This venerable edifice is covered by one of those vast roofs +with four sides, a ridgepole decorated with leaden ornaments, and a +round projecting window on each side, such as Mansart very justly +delighted in; for in France, the Italian attics and flat roofs are a +folly against which our climate protests. Michu kept his fodder in +this garret. That portion of the park which surrounds the old pavilion +is English in style. A hundred feet from the house a former lake, now +a mere pond well stocked with fish, makes known its vicinity as much +by a thin mist rising above the tree-tops as by the croaking of a +thousand frogs, toads, and other amphibious gossips who discourse at +sunset. The time-worn look of everything, the deep silence of the +woods, the long perspective of the avenue, the forest in the distance, +the rusty iron-work, the masses of stone draped with velvet mosses, +all made poetry of this old structure, which still exists. + +At the moment when our history begins Michu was leaning against a +mossy parapet on which he had laid his powder-horn, cap, handkerchief, +screw-driver, and rags,--in fact, all the utensils needed for his +suspicious occupation. His wife's chair was against the wall beside +the outer door of the house, above which could still be seen the arms +of the Simeuse family, richly carved, with their noble motto, "Cy +meurs." The old mother, in peasant dress, had moved her chair in front +of Madame Michu, so that the latter might put her feet upon the rungs +and keep them from dampness. + +"Where's the boy?" said Michu to his wife. + +"Round the pond; he is crazy about the frogs and the insects," +answered the mother. + +Michu whistled in a way that made his hearers tremble. The rapidity +with which his son ran up to him proved plainly enough the despotic +power of the bailiff of Gondreville. Since 1789, but more especially +since 1793, Michu had been well-nigh master of the property. The +terror he inspired in his wife, his mother-in-law, a servant-lad named +Gaucher, and the cook named Marianne, was shared throughout a +neighborhood of twenty miles in circumference. It may be well to give, +without further delay, the reasons for this fear,--all the more +because an account of them will complete the moral portrait of the +man. + +The old Marquis de Simeuse transferred the greater part of his +property in 1790; but, overtaken by circumstances, he had not been +able to put the estate of Gondreville into sure hands. Accused of +corresponding with the Duke of Brunswick and the Prince of Cobourg, +the marquis and his wife were thrust into prison and condemned to +death by the revolutionary tribunal of Troyes, of which Madame Michu's +father was then president. The fine domain of Gondreville was sold as +national property. The head-keeper, to the horror of many, was present +at the execution of the marquis and his wife in his capacity as +president of the club of Jacobins at Arcis. Michu, the orphan son of a +peasant, showered with benefactions by the marquise, who brought him +up in her own home and gave him his place as keeper, was regarded as a +Brutus by excited demagogues; but the people of the neighborhood +ceased to recognize him after this act of base ingratitude. The +purchaser of the estate was a man from Arcis named Marion, grandson of +a former bailiff in the Simeuse family. This man, a lawyer before and +after the Revolution, was afraid of the keeper; he made him his +bailiff with a salary of three thousand francs, and gave him an +interest in the sales of timber; Michu, who was thought to have some +ten thousand francs of his own laid by, married the daughter of a +tanner at Troyes, an apostle of the Revolution in that town, where he +was president of the revolutionary tribunal. This tanner, a man of +profound convictions, who resembled Saint-Just as to character, was +afterwards mixed up in Baboeuf's conspiracy and killed himself to +escape execution. Marthe was the handsomest girl in Troyes. In spite +of her shrinking modesty she had been forced by her formidable father +to play the part of Goddess of Liberty in some republican ceremony. + +The new proprietor came only three times to Gondreville in the course +of seven years. His grandfather had been bailiff of the estate under +the Simeuse family, and all Arcis took for granted that the citizen +Marion was the secret representative of the present Marquis and his +twin brother. As long as the Terror lasted, Michu, still bailiff of +Gondreville, a devoted patriot, son-in-law of the president of the +revolutionary tribunal of Troyes and flattered by Malin, +representative from the department of the Aube, was the object of a +certain sort of respect. But when the Mountain was overthrown and +after his father-in-law committed suicide, he found himself a +scape-goat; everybody hastened to accuse him, in common with his +father-in-law, of acts to which, so far as he was concerned, he was a +total stranger. The bailiff resented the injustice of the community; +he stiffened his back and took an attitude of hostility. He talked +boldly. But after the 18th Brumaire he maintained an unbroken silence, +the philosophy of the strong; he struggled no longer against public +opinion, and contented himself with attending to his own affairs, +--wise conduct, which led his neighbors to pronounce him sly, for he +owned, it was said, a fortune of not less than a hundred thousand +francs in landed property. In the first place, he spent nothing; next, +this property was legitimately acquired, partly from the inheritance +of his father-in-law's estate, and partly from the savings of +six-thousand francs a year, the salary he derived from his place with +its profits and emoluments. He had been bailiff of Gondreville for the +last twelve years and every one had estimated the probable amount of +his savings, so that when, after the Consulate was proclaimed, he +bought a farm for fifty thousand francs, the suspicions attaching to +his former opinions lessened, and the community of Arcis gave him +credit for intending to recover himself in public estimation. +Unfortunately, at the very moment when public opinion was condoning +his past a foolish affair, envenomed by the gossip of the +country-side, revived the latent and very general belief in the +ferocity of his character. + +One evening, coming away from Troyes in company with several peasants, +among whom was the farmer at Cinq-Cygne, he let fall a paper on the +main road; the farmer, who was walking behind him, stooped and picked +it up. Michu turned round, saw the paper in the man's hands, pulled a +pistol from his belt and threatened the farmer (who knew how to read) +to blow his brains out if he opened the paper. Michu's action was so +sudden and violent, the tone of his voice so alarming, his eyes blazed +so savagely, that the men about him turned cold with fear. The farmer +of Cinq-Cygne was already his enemy. Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne, the +man's employer, was a cousin of the Simeuse brothers; she had only one +farm left for her maintenance and was now residing at her chateau of +Cinq-Cygne. She lived for her cousins the twins, with whom she had +played in childhood at Troyes and at Gondreville. Her only brother, +Jules de Cinq-Cygne, who emigrated before the twins, died at Mayence, +but by a privilege which was somewhat rare and will be mentioned +later, the name of Cinq-Cygne was not to perish through lack of male +heirs. + +This affair between Michu and the farmer made a great noise in the +arrondissement and darkened the already mysterious shadows which +seemed to veil him. Nor was it the only circumstance which made him +feared. A few months after this scene the citizen Marion, present +owner of the Gondreville estate, came to inspect it with the citizen +Malin. Rumor said that Marion was about to sell the property to his +companion, who had profited by political events and had just been +appointed on the Council of State by the First Consul, in return for +his services on the 18th Brumaire. The shrewd heads of the little town +of Arcis now perceived that Marion had been the agent of Malin in the +purchase of the property, and not of the brothers Simeuse, as was +first supposed. The all-powerful Councillor of State was the most +important personage in Arcis. He had obtained for one of his political +friends the prefecture of Troyes, and for a farmer at Gondreville the +exemption of his son from the draft; in fact, he had done services to +many. Consequently, the sale met with no opposition in the +neighborhood where Malin then reigned, and where he still reigns +supreme. + +The Empire was just dawning. Those who in these days read the +histories of the French Revolution can form no conception of the vast +spaces which public thought traversed between events which now seem to +have been so near together. The strong need of peace and tranquillity +which every one felt after the violent tumults of the Revolution +brought about a complete forgetfulness of important anterior facts. +History matured rapidly under the advance of new and eager interests. +No one, therefore, except Michu, looked into the past of this affair, +which the community accepted as a simple matter. Marion, who had +bought Gondreville for six hundred thousand francs in assignats, sold +it for the value of a couple of million in coin; but the only payments +actually made by Malin were for the costs of registration. Grevin, a +seminary comrade of Malin, assisted the transaction, and the +Councillor rewarded his help with the office of notary at Arcis. When +the news of the sale reached the pavilion, brought there by a farmer +whose farm, at Grouage, was situated between the forest and the park +on the left of the noble avenue, Michu turned pale and left the house. +He lay in wait for Marion, and finally met him alone in one of the +shrubberies of the park. + +"Is monsieur about to sell Gondreville?" asked the bailiff. + +"Yes, Michu, yes. You will have a man of powerful influence for your +master. He is the friend of the First Consul, and very intimate with +all the ministers; he will protect you." + +"Then you were holding the estate for him?" + +"I don't say that," replied Marion. "At the time I bought it I was +looking for a place to put my money, and I invested in national +property as the best security. But it doesn't suit me to keep an +estate once belonging to a family in which my father was--" + +"--a servant," said Michu, violently. "But you shall not sell it! I +want it; and I can pay for it." + +"You?" + +"Yes, I; seriously, in good gold,--eight hundred thousand francs." + +"Eight hundred thousand francs!" exclaimed Marion. "Where did you get +them?" + +"That's none of your business," replied Michu; then, softening his +tone, he added in a low voice: "My father-in-law saved the lives of +many persons." + +"You are too late, Michu; the sale is made." + +"You must put it off, monsieur!" cried the bailiff, seizing his master +by the hand which he held as in a vice. "I am hated, but I choose to +be rich and powerful, and I must have Gondreville. Listen to me; I +don't cling to life; sell me that place or I'll blow your brains +out!--" + +"But do give me time to get off my bargain with Malin; he's +troublesome to deal with." + +"I'll give you twenty-four hours. If you say a word about this matter +I'll chop your head off as I would chop a turnip." + +Marion and Malin left the chateau in the course of the night. Marion +was frightened; he told Malin of the meeting and begged him to keep an +eye on the bailiff. It was impossible for Marion to avoid delivering +the property to the man who had been the real purchaser, and Michu did +not seem likely to admit any such reason. Moreover, this service done +by Marion to Malin was to be, and in fact ended by being, the origin +of the former's political fortune, and also that of his brother. In +1806 Malin had him appointed chief justice of an imperial court, and +after the creation of tax-collectors his brother obtained the post of +receiver-general for the department of the Aube. The State Councillor +told Marion to stay in Paris, and he warned the minister of police, +who gave orders that Michu should be secretly watched. Not wishing to +push the man to extremes, Malin kept him on as bailiff, under the iron +rule of Grevin the notary of Arcis. + +From that moment Michu became more absorbed and taciturn than ever, +and obtained the reputation of a man who was capable of committing a +crime. Malin, the Councillor of State (a function which the First +Consul raised to the level of a ministry), and a maker of the Code, +played a great part in Paris, where he bought one of the finest +mansions in the Faubuorg Saint-Germain after marrying the only +daughter of a rich contractor named Sibuelle. He never came to +Gondreville; leaving all matters concerning the property to the +management of Grevin, the Arcis notary. After all, what had he to +fear?--he, a former representative of the Aube, and president of a +club of Jacobins. And yet, the unfavorable opinion of Michu held by +the lower classes was shared by the bourgeoisie, and Marion, Grevin, +and Malin, without giving any reason or compromising themselves on the +subject, showed that they regarded him as an extremely dangerous man. +The authorities, who were under instructions from the minister of +police to watch the bailiff, did not of course lessen this belief. The +neighborhood wondered that he kept his place, but supposed it was in +consequence of the terror he inspired. It is easy now, after these +explanations, to understand the anxiety and sadness expressed in the +face of Michu's wife. + +In the first place, Marthe had been piously brought up by her mother. +Both, being good Catholics, had suffered much from the opinions and +behavior of the tanner. Marthe could never think without a blush of +having marched through the street of Troyes in the garb of a goddess. +Her father had forced her to marry Michu, whose bad reputation was +then increasing, and she feared him too much to be able to judge him. +Nevertheless, she knew that he loved her, and at the bottom of her +heart lay the truest affection for this awe-inspiring man; she had +never known him to do anything that was not just; never did he say a +brutal word, to her at least; in fact, he endeavored to forestall her +every wish. The poor pariah, believing himself disagreeable to his +wife, spent most of his time out of doors. Marthe and Michu, +distrustful of each other, lived in what is called in these days an +"armed peace." Marthe, who saw no one, suffered keenly from the +ostracism which for the last seven years had surrounded her as the +daughter of a revolutionary butcher, and the wife of a so-called +traitor. More than once she had overheard the laborers of the +adjoining farm (held by a man named Beauvisage, greatly attached to +the Simeuse family) say as they passed the pavilion, "That's where +Judas lives!" The singular resemblance between the bailiff's head and +that of the thirteenth apostle, which his conduct appeared to carry +out, won him that odious nickname throughout the neighborhood. It was +this distress of mind, added to vague but constant fears for the +future, which gave Marthe her thoughtful and subdued air. Nothing +saddens so deeply as unmerited degradation from which there seems no +escape. A painter could have made a fine picture of this family of +pariahs in the bosom of their pretty nook in Champagne, where the +landscape is generally sad. + +"Francois!" called the bailiff, to hasten his son. + +Francois Michu, a child of ten, played in the park and forest, and +levied his little tithes like a master; he ate the fruits; he chased +the game; he at least had neither cares nor troubles. Of all the +family, Francois alone was happy in a home thus isolated from the +neighborhood by its position between the park and the forest, and by +the still greater moral solitude of universal repulsion. + +"Pick up these things," said his father, pointing to the parapet, "and +put them away. Look at me! You love your father and your mother, don't +you?" The child flung himself on his father as if to kiss him, but +Michu made a movement to shift the gun and pushed him back. "Very +good. You have sometimes chattered about things that are done here," +continued the father, fixing his eyes, dangerous as those of a +wild-cat, on the boy. "Now remember this; if you tell the least little +thing that happens here to Gaucher, or to the Grouage and Bellache +people, or even to Marianne who loves us, you will kill your father. +Never tattle again, and I will forgive what you said yesterday." The +child began to cry. "Don't cry; but when any one questions you, say, +as the peasants do, 'I don't know.' There are persons roaming about +whom I distrust. Run along! As for you two," he added, turning to the +women, "you have heard what I said. Keep a close mouth, both of you." + +"Husband, what are you going to do?" + +Michu, who was carefully measuring a charge of powder, poured it into +the barrel of his gun, rested the weapon against the parapet and said +to Marthe:-- + +"No one knows I own that gun. Stand in front of it." + +Couraut, who had sprung to his feet, was barking furiously. + +"Good, intelligent fellow!" cried Michu. "I am certain there are spies +about--" + +Man and beast feel a spy. Couraut and Michu, who seemed to have one +and the same soul, lived together as the Arab and his horse in the +desert. The bailiff knew the modulations of the dog's voice, just as +the dog read his master's meaning in his eyes, or felt it exhaling in +the air from his body. + +"What do you say to that?" said Michu, in a low voice, calling his +wife's attention to two strangers who appeared in a by-path making for +the _rond-point_. + +"What can it mean?" cried the old mother. "They are Parisians." + +"Here they come!" said Michu. "Hide my gun," he whispered to his wife. + +The two men who now crossed the wide open space of the _rond-point_ +were typical enough for a painter. One, who appeared to be the +subaltern, wore top-boots, turned down rather low, showing well-made +calves, and colored silk stockings of doubtful cleanliness. The +breeches, of ribbed cloth, apricot color with metal buttons, were too +large; they were baggy about the body, and the lines of their creases +seemed to indicate a sedentary man. A marseilles waistcoat, overloaded +with embroidery, open, and held together by one button only just above +the stomach, gave to the wearer a dissipated look,--all the more so, +because his jet black hair, in corkscrew curls, hid his forehead and +hung down his cheeks. Two steel watch-chains were festooned upon his +breeches. The shirt was adorned with a cameo in white and blue. The +coat, cinnamon-colored, was a treasure to caricaturists by reason of +its long tails, which, when seen from behind, bore so perfect a +resemblance to a cod that the name of that fish was given to them. The +fashion of codfish tails lasted ten years; almost the whole period of +the empire of Napoleon. The cravat, loosely fastened, and with +numerous small folds, allowed the wearer to bury his face in it up to +the nostrils. His pimpled skin, his long, thick, brick-dust colored +nose, his high cheek-bones, his mouth, lacking half its teeth but +greedy for all that and menacing, his ears adorned with huge gold +rings, his low forehead,--all these personal details, which might have +seemed grotesque in many men, were rendered terrible in him by two +small eyes set in his head like those of a pig, expressive of +insatiable covetousness, and of insolent, half-jovial cruelty. These +ferreting and perspicacious blue eyes, glassy and glacial, might be +taken for the model of that famous Eye, the formidable emblem of the +police, invented during the Revolution. Black silk gloves were on his +hands and he carried a switch. He was certainly some official +personage, for he showed in his bearing, in his way of taking snuff +and ramming it into his nose, the bureaucratic importance of an office +subordinate, one who signs for his superiors and acquires a passing +sovereignty by enforcing their orders. + +The other man, whose dress was in the same style, but elegant and +elegantly put on and careful in its smallest detail, wore boots _a la_ +Suwaroff which came high upon the leg above a pair of tight trousers, +and creaked as he walked. Above his coat he wore a spencer, an +aristocratic garment adopted by the Clichiens and the young bloods of +Paris, which survived both the Clichiens and the fashionable youths. +In those days fashions sometimes lasted longer than parties,--a +symptom of anarchy which the year of our Lord 1830 has again presented +to us. This accomplished dandy seemed to be thirty years of age. His +manners were those of good society; he wore jewels of value; the +collar of his shirt came to the tops of his ears. His conceited and +even impertinent air betrayed a consciousness of hidden superiority. +His pallid face seemed bloodless, his thin flat nose had the sardonic +expression which we see in a death's head, and his green eyes were +inscrutable; their glance was discreet in meaning just as the thin +closed mouth was discreet in words. The first man seemed on the whole +a good fellow compared with this younger man, who was slashing the air +with a cane, the top of which, made of gold, glittered in the +sunshine. The first man might have cut off a head with his own hand, +but the second was capable of entangling innocence, virtue, and beauty +in the nets of calumny and intrigue, and then poisoning them or +drowning them. The rubicund stranger would have comforted his victim +with a jest; the other was incapable of a smile. The first was +forty-five years old, and he loved, undoubtedly, both women and good +cheer. Such men have passions which keep them slaves to their calling. +But the young man was plainly without passions and without vices. If he +was a spy he belonged to diplomacy, and did such work from a pure love +of art. He conceived, the other executed; he was the idea, the other +was the form. + +"This must be Gondreville, is it not, my good woman?" said the young +man. + +"We don't say 'my good woman' here," said Michu. "We are still simple +enough to say 'citizen' and 'citizeness' in these parts." + +"Ah!" exclaimed the young man, in a natural way, and without seeming +at all annoyed. + +Players of ecarte often have a sense of inward disaster when some +unknown person sits down at the same table with them, whose manners, +look, voice, and method of shuffling the cards, all, to their fancy, +foretell defeat. The instant Michu looked at the young man he felt an +inward and prophetic collapse. He was struck by a fatal presentiment; +he had a sudden confused foreboding of the scaffold. A voice told him +that that dandy would destroy him, although there was nothing whatever +in common between them. For this reason his answer was rude; he was +and he wished to be forbidding. + +"Don't you belong to the Councillor of State, Malin?" said the younger +man. + +"I am my own master," answered Malin. + +"Mesdames," said the young man, assuming a most polite air, "are we +not at Gondreville? We are expected there by Monsieur Malin." + +"There's the park," said Michu, pointing to the open gate. + +"Why are you hiding that gun, my fine girl?" said the elder, catching +sight of the carbine as he passed through the gate. + +"You never let a chance escape you, even in the country!" cried his +companion. + +They both turned back with a sense of distrust which the bailiff +understood at once in spite of their impassible faces. Marthe let them +look at the gun, to the tune of Couraut's bark; she was so convinced +that her husband was meditating some evil deed that she was thankful +for the curiosity of the strangers. + +Michu flung a look at his wife which made her tremble; he took the gun +and began to load it, accepting quietly the fatal ill-luck of this +encounter and the discovery of the weapon. He seemed no longer to care +for life, and his wife fathomed his inward feeling. + +"So you have wolves in these parts?" said the young man, watching him. + +"There are always wolves where there are sheep. You are in Champagne, +and there's a forest; we have wild-boars, large and small game both, a +little of everything," replied Michu, in a truculent manner. + +"I'll bet, Corentin," said the elder of the two men, after exchanging +a glance with his companion, "that this is my friend Michu--" + +"We never kept pigs together that I know of," said the bailiff. + +"No, but we both presided over Jacobins, citizen," replied the old +cynic,--"you at Arcis, I elsewhere. I see you've kept your Carmagnole +civility, but it's no longer in fashion, my good fellow." + +"The park strikes me as rather large; we might lose our way. If you +are really the bailiff show us the path to the chateau," said +Corentin, in a peremptory tone. + +Michu whistled to his son and continued to load his gun. Corentin +looked at Marthe with indifference, while his companion seemed charmed +by her; but the young man noticed the signs of her inward distress, +which escaped the old libertine, who had, however, noticed and feared +the gun. The natures of the two men were disclosed in this trifling +yet important circumstance. + +"I've an appointment the other side of the forest," said the bailiff. +"I can't go with you, but my son here will take you to the chateau. +How did you get to Gondreville? did you come by Cinq-Cygne?" + +"We had, like yourself, business in the forest," said Corentin, +without apparent sarcasm. + +"Francois," cried Michu, "take these gentlemen to the chateau by the +wood path, so that no one sees them; they don't follow the beaten +tracks. Come here," he added, as the strangers turned to walk away, +talking together as they did so in a low voice. Michu caught the boy +in his arms, and kissed him almost solemnly with an expression which +confirmed his wife's fears; cold chills ran down her back; she glanced +at her mother with haggard eyes, for she could not weep. + +"Go," said Michu; and he watched the boy until he was entirely out of +sight. Couraut was barking on the other side of the road in the +direction of Grouage. "Oh, that's Violette," remarked Michu. "This is +the third time that old fellow has passed here to-day. What's in the +wind? Hush, Couraut!" + +A few moments later the trot of a pony was heard approaching. + + + + CHAPTER II + + A CRIME RELINQUISHED + +Violette, mounted on one of those little nags which the farmers in the +neighborhood of Paris use so much, soon appeared, wearing a round hat +with a broad brim, beneath which his wood-colored face, deeply +wrinkled, appeared in shadow. His gray eyes, mischievous and lively, +concealed in a measure the treachery of his nature. His skinny legs, +covered with gaiters of white linen which came to the knee, hung +rather than rested in the stirrups, seemingly held in place by the +weight of his hob-nailed shoes. Above his jacket of blue cloth he wore +a cloak of some coarse woollen stuff woven in black and white stripes. +His gray hair fell in curls behind his ears. This dress, the gray +horse with its short legs, the manner in which Violette sat him, +stomach projecting and shoulders thrown back, the big chapped hands +which held the shabby bridle, all depicted him plainly as the +grasping, ambitious peasant who desires to own land and buys it at any +price. His mouth, with its bluish lips parted as if a surgeon had +pried them open with a scalpel, and the innumerable wrinkles of his +face and forehead hindered the play of features which were expressive +only in their outlines. Those hard, fixed lines seemed menacing, in +spite of the humility which country-folks assume and beneath which +they conceal their emotions and schemes, as savages and Easterns hide +theirs behind an imperturbable gravity. First a mere laborer, then the +farmer of Grouage through a long course of persistent ill-doing, he +continued his evil practices after conquering a position which +surpassed his early hopes. He wished harm to all men and wished it +vehemently. When he could assist in doing harm he did it eagerly. He +was openly envious; but, no matter how malignant he might be, he kept +within the limits of the law,--neither beyond it nor behind it, like a +parliamentary opposition. He believed his prosperity depended on the +ruin of others, and that whoever was above him was an enemy against +whom all weapons were good. A character like this is very common among +the peasantry. + +Violette's present business was to obtain from Malin an extension of +the lease of his farm, which had only six years longer to run. Jealous +of the bailiff's means, he watched him narrowly. The neighbors +reproached him for his intimacy with "Judas"; but the sly old farmer, +wishing to obtain a twelve years' lease, was really lying in wait for +an opportunity to serve either the government or Malin, who distrusted +Michu. Violette, by the help of the game-keeper of Gondreville and +others belonging to the estate, kept Malin informed of all Michu's +actions. Malin had endeavored, fruitlessly, to win over Marianne, the +Michus' servant-woman; but Violette and his satellites heard +everything from Gaucher,--a lad on whose fidelity Michu relied, but +who betrayed him for cast-off clothing, waistcoats, buckles, cotton +socks and sugar-plums. The boy had no suspicion of the importance of +his gossip. Violette in his reports blackened all Michu's actions and +gave them a criminal aspect by absurd suggestions,--unknown, of +course, to the bailiff, who was aware, however, of the base part +played by the farmer, and took delight in mystifying him. + +"You must have a deal of business at Bellache to be here again," said +Michu. + +"Again! is that meant as a reproach, Monsieur Michu?--Hey! I did not +know you had that gun. You are not going to whistle for the sparrows +on that pipe, I suppose--" + +"It grew in a field of mine which bears guns," replied Michu. "Look! +this is how I sow them." + +The bailiff took aim at a viper thirty feet away and cut it in two. + +"Have you got that bandit's weapon to protect your master?" said +Violette. "Perhaps he gave it to you." + +"He came from Paris expressly to bring it to me," replied Michu. + +"People are talking all round the neighborhood of this journey of his; +some say he is in disgrace and has to retire from office; others that +he wants to see things for himself down here. But anyway, why does he +come, like the First Consul, without giving warning? Did you know he +was coming?" + +"I am not on such terms with him as to be in his confidence." + +"Then you have not seen him?" + +"I did not know he was here till I got back from my rounds in the +forest," said Michu, reloading his gun. + +"He has sent to Arcis for Monsieur Grevin," said Violette; "they are +scheming something." + +"If you are going round by Cinq-Cygne, take me up behind you," said +the bailiff. "I'm going there." + +Violette was too timid to have a man of Michu's strength on his +crupper, and he spurred his beast. Judas slung his gun over his +shoulder and walked rapidly up the avenue. + +"Who can it be that Michu is angry with?" said Marthe to her mother. + +"Ever since he heard of Monsieur Malin's arrival he has been gloomy," +replied the old woman. "But it is getting damp here, let us go in." + +After the two women had settled themselves in the chimney corner they +heard Couraut's bark. + +"There's my husband returning!" cried Marthe. + +Michu passed up the stairs; his wife, uneasy, followed him to their +bedroom. + +"See if any one is about," he said to her, in a voice of some emotion. + +"No one," she replied. "Marianne is in the field with the cow, and +Gaucher--" + +"Where is Gaucher?" he asked. + +"I don't know." + +"I distrust that little scamp. Go up in the garret, look in the +hay-loft, look everywhere for him." + +Marthe left the room to obey the order. When she returned she found +Michu on his knees, praying. + +"What is the matter?" she said, frightened. + +The bailiff took his wife round the waist and drew her to him, saying +in a voice of deep feeling: "If we never see each other again +remember, my poor wife, that I loved you well. Follow minutely the +instructions which you will find in a letter buried at the foot of the +larch in that copse. It is enclosed in a tin tube. Do not touch it +until after my death. And remember, Marthe, whatever happens to me, +that in spite of man's injustice, my arm has been the instrument of +the justice of God." + +Marthe, who turned pale by degrees, became white as her own linen; she +looked at her husband with fixed eyes widened by fear; she tried to +speak, but her throat was dry. Michu disappeared like a shadow, having +tied Couraut to the foot of his bed where the dog, after the manner of +all dogs, howled in despair. + +Michu's anger against Monsieur Marion had serious grounds, but it was +now concentrated on another man, far more criminal in his eyes,--on +Malin, whose secrets were known to the bailiff, he being in a better +position than others to understand the conduct of the State +Councillor. Michu's father-in-law had had, politically speaking, the +confidence of the former representative to the Convention, through +Grevin. + +Perhaps it would be well here to relate the circumstances which +brought the Simeuse and the Cinq-Cygne families into connection with +Malin,--circumstances which weighed heavily on the fate of +Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne's twin cousins, but still more heavily on +that of Marthe and Michu. + +The Cinq-Cygne mansion at Troyes stands opposite to that of Simeuse. +When the populace, incited by minds that were as shrewd as they were +cautious, pillaged the hotel Simeuse, discovered the marquis and +marchioness, who were accused of corresponding with the nation's +enemies, and delivered them to the national guards who took them to +prison, the crowd shouted, "Now for the Cinq-Cygnes!" To their minds +the Cinq-Cygnes were as guilty as other aristocrats. The brave and +worthy Monsieur de Simeuse in the endeavor to save his two sons, then +eighteen years of age, whose courage was likely to compromise them, +had confided them, a few hours before the storm broke, to their aunt, +the Comtesse de Cinq-Cygne. Two servants attached to the Simeuse +family accompanied the young men to her house. The old marquis, who +was anxious that his name should not die out, requested that what was +happening might be concealed from his sons, even in the event of dire +disaster. Laurence, the only daughter of the Comtesse de Cinq-Cygne, +was then twelve years of age; her cousins both loved her and she loved +them equally. Like other twins the Simeuse brothers were so alike that +for a long while their mother dressed them in different colors to know +them apart. The first comer, the eldest, was named Paul-Marie, the +other Marie-Paul. Laurence de Cinq-Cygne, to whom their danger was +revealed, played her woman's part well though still a mere child. She +coaxed and petted her cousins and kept them occupied until the very +moment when the populace surrounded the Cinq-Cygne mansion. The two +brothers then knew their danger for the first time, and looked at each +other. Their resolution was instantly taken; they armed their own +servants and those of the Comtesse de Cinq-Cygne, barricaded the +doors, and stood guard at the windows, after closing the wooden +blinds, with the five men-servants and the Abbe d'Hauteserre, a +relative of the Cinq-Cygnes. These eight courageous champions poured a +deadly fire into the crowd. Every shot killed or wounded an assailant. +Laurence, instead of wringing her hands, loaded the guns with +extraordinary coolness, and passed the balls and powder to those who +needed them. The Comtesse de Cinq-Cygne was on her knees. + +"What are you doing, mother?" said Laurence. + +"I am praying," she answered, "for them and for you." + +Sublime words,--said also by the mother of Godoy, prince of the Peace, +in Spain, under similar circumstances. + +In a moment eleven persons were killed and lying on the ground among a +number of wounded. Such results either cool or excite a populace; +either it grows savage at the work or discontinues it. On the present +occasion those in advance recoiled; but the crowd behind them were +there to kill and rob, and when they saw their own dead, they cried +out: "Murder! Murder! Revenge!" The wiser heads went in search of the +representative to the Convention, Malin. The twins, by this time aware +of the disastrous events of the day, suspected Malin of desiring the +ruin of their family, and of causing the arrest of their parents, and +the suspicion soon became a certainty. They posted themselves beneath +the porte-cochere, gun in hand, intending to kill Malin as soon as he +made his appearance; but the countess lost her head; she imagined her +house in ashes and her daughter assassinated, and she blamed the young +men for their heroic defence and compelled them to desist. It was +Laurence who opened the door slightly when Malin summoned the +household to admit him. Seeing her, the representative relied upon the +awe he expected to inspire in a mere child, and he entered the house. +To his first words of inquiry as to why the family were making such a +resistance, the girl replied: "If you really desire to give liberty to +France how is it that you do not protect us in our homes? They are +trying to tear down this house, monsieur, to murder us, and you say we +have no right to oppose force to force!" + +Malin stood rooted to the ground. + +"You, the son of a mason employed by the Grand Marquis to build his +castle!" exclaimed Marie-Paul, "you have let them drag our father to +prison--you have believed calumnies!" + +"He shall be released at once," said Malin, who thought himself lost +when he saw each youth clutch his weapon convulsively. + +"You owe your life to that promise," said Marie-Paul, solemnly. "If it +is not fulfilled to-night we shall find you again." + +"As to that howling populace," said Laurence, "If you do not send them +away, the next blood will be yours. Now, Monsieur Malin, leave this +house!" + +The Conventionalist did leave it, and he harangued the crowd, dwelling +on the sacred rights of the domestic hearth, the habeas corpus and the +English "home." He told them that the law and the people were +sovereigns, that the law _was_ the people, and that the people could +only act through the law, and that power was vested in the law. The +particular law of personal necessity made him eloquent, and he managed +to disperse the crowd. But he never forgot the contemptuous expression +of the two brothers, nor the "Leave this house!" of Mademoiselle de +Cinq-Cygne. Therefore, when it was a question of selling the estates +of the Comte de Cinq-Cygne, Laurence's brother, as national property, +the sale was rigorously made. The agents left nothing for Laurence but +the chateau, the park and gardens, and one farm called that of +Cinq-Cygne. Malin instructed the appraisers that Laurence had no rights +beyond her legal share,--the nation taking possession of all that +belonged to her brother, who had emigrated and, above all, had borne +arms against the Republic. + +The evening after this terrible tumult, Laurence so entreated her +cousins to leave the country, fearing treachery on the part of Malin, +or some trap into which they might fall, that they took horse that +night and gained the Prussian outposts. They had scarcely reached the +forest of Gondreville before the hotel Cinq-Cygne was surrounded; +Malin came himself to arrest the heirs of the house of Simeuse. He +dared not lay hands on the Comtesse de Cinq-Cygne, who was in bed with +a nervous fever, nor on Laurence, a child of twelve. The servants, +fearing the severity of the Republic, had disappeared. The next day +the news of the resistance of the brothers and their flight to Prussia +was known to the neighborhood. A crowd of three thousand persons +assembled before the hotel de Cinq-Cygne, which was demolished with +incredible rapidity. Madame de Cinq-Cygne, carried to the hotel +Simeuse, died there from the effects of the fever aggravated by +terror. + +Michu did not appear in the political arena until after these events, +for the marquis and his wife remained in prison over five months. +During this time Malin was away on a mission. But when Monsieur Marion +sold Gondreville to the Councillor of State, Michu understood the +latter's game,--or rather, he thought he did; for Malin was, like +Fouche, one of those personages who are of such depth in all their +different aspects that they are impenetrable when they play a part, +and are never understood until long after their drama is ended. + +In all the chief circumstances of Malin's life he had never failed to +consult his faithful friend Grevin, the notary of Arcis, whose +judgment on men and things was, at a distance, clear-cut and precise. +This faculty is the wisdom and makes the strength of second-rate men. +Now, in November, 1803, a combination of events (already related in +the "Depute d'Arcis") made matters so serious for the Councillor of +State that a letter might have compromised the two friends. Malin, who +hoped to be appointed senator, was afraid to offer his explanations in +Paris. He came to Gondreville, giving the First Consul only one of the +reasons that made him wish to be there; that reason gave him an +appearance of zeal in the eyes of Bonaparte; whereas his journey, far +from concerning the interests of the State, related to his own +interests only. On this particular day, as Michu was watching the park +and expecting, after the manner of a red Indian, a propitious moment +for his vengeance, the astute Malin, accustomed to turn all events to +his own profit, was leading his friend Grevin to a little field in the +English garden, a lonely spot in the park, favorable for a secret +conference. There, standing in the centre of the grass plot and +speaking low, the friends were at too great a distance to be overheard +if any one were lurking near enough to listen to them; they were also +sure of time to change the conversation if others unwarily approached. + +"Why couldn't we have stayed in a room in the chateau?" asked Grevin. + +"Didn't you take notice of those two men whom the prefect of police +has sent here to me?" + +Though Fouche made himself in the matter of the Pichegru, Georges, +Moreau, and Polignac conspiracy the soul of the Consular cabinet, he +did not at this time control the ministry of police, but was merely a +councillor of State like Malin. + +"Those men," continued Malin, "are Fouche's two arms. One, that dandy +Corentin, whose face is like a glass of lemonade, vinegar on his lips +and verjuice in his eyes, put an end to the insurrection at the West +in the year VII. in less than fifteen days. The other is a disciple of +Lenoir; he is the only one who preserves the great traditions of the +police. I had asked for an agent of no great account, backed by some +official personage, and they send me those past-masters of the +business! Ah, Grevin, Fouche wants to pry into my game. That's why I +left those fellows dining at the chateau; they may look into +everything for all I care; they won't find Louis XVIII. nor any sign +of him." + +"But see here, my dear fellow, what game are you playing?" cried +Grevin. + +"Ha, my friend, a double game is a dangerous one, but this, taking +Fouche into account, is a triple one. He may have nosed the fact that +I am in the secrets of the house of Bourbon." + +"You?" + +"I," replied Malin. + +"Have you forgotten Favras?" + +The words made an impression on the councillor. + +"Since when?" asked Grevin, after a pause. + +"Since the Consulate for life." + +"I hope there's no proof of it?" + +"Not that!" said Malin, clicking his thumb-nail against his teeth. + +In few words the Councillor of State gave a clear and succinct account +of the critical position in which Bonaparte was about to hold England, +by threatening her with invasion from the camp at Boulogne; he +explained to Grevin the bearings of that project, which was unobserved +by France and Europe but suspected by Pitt; also the critical position +in which England was about to put Bonaparte. A powerful coalition, +Prussia, Austria, and Russia, paid by English gold, was pledged to +furnish seven hundred thousand men under arms. At the same time a +formidable conspiracy was throwing a network over the whole of France, +including among its members montagnards, chouans, royalists, and their +princes. + +"Louis XVIII. held that as long as there were three Consuls anarchy +was certain, and that he could at some opportune moment take his +revenge for the 13th Vendemiaire and the 18th Fructidor," said Malin, +"but the Consulate for life has unmasked Bonaparte's intentions--he +will soon be emperor. The late sub-lieutenant means to create a +dynasty! This time his life is in actual danger; and the plot is far +better laid than that of the Rue Saint-Nicaise. Pichegru, Georges, +Moreau, the Duc d'Enghien, Polignac and Riviere, the two friends of +the Comte d'Artois are in it." + +"What an amalgamation!" cried Grevin. + +"France is being silently invaded; no stone is left unturned; the +thing will be carried with a rush. A hundred picked men, commanded by +Georges, are to attack the Consular guard and the Consul hand to +hand." + +"Well then, denounce them." + +"For the last two months the Consul, his minister of police, the +prefect and Fouche, hold some of the clues of this vast conspiracy; +but they don't know its full extent, and at this particular moment +they are leaving nearly all the conspirators free, so as to discover +more about it." + +"As to rights," said the notary, "the Bourbons have much more right to +conceive, plan, and execute a scheme against Bonaparte, than Bonaparte +had on the 18th Brumaire against the Republic, whose product he was. +He murdered his mother on that occasion, but these royalists only seek +to recover what was theirs. I can understand that the princes and +their adherents, seeing the lists of the _emigres_ closed, mortgages +suppressed, the Catholic faith restored, anti-revolutionary decrees +accumulating, should begin to see that their return is becoming +difficult, not to say impossible. Bonaparte being the sole obstacle +now in their way, they want to get rid of him--nothing simpler. +Conspirators if defeated are brigands, if successful, heroes; and your +perplexity seems to me very natural." + +"The matter now is," said Malin, "to make Bonaparte fling the head of +the Duc d'Enghien at the Bourbons, just as the Convention flung the +head of Louis XVI. at the kings, so as to commit him as fully as we +are to the Revolution; _or else_, we must upset the idol of the French +people and their future emperor, and seat the true throne upon his +ruins. I am at the mercy of some event, some fortunate pistol-shot, +some infernal machine which does its work. Even I don't know the whole +conspiracy; they don't tell me all; but they have asked me to call the +Council of State at the critical moment and direct its action towards +the restoration of the Bourbons." + +"Wait," said the notary. + +"Impossible! I am compelled to make my decision at once." + +"Why?" + +"Well, the Simeuse brothers are in the conspiracy; they are here in +the neighborhood; I must either have them watched, let them compromise +themselves, and so be rid of them, or else I must privately protect +them. I asked the prefect for underlings and he has sent me lynxes, +who came through Troyes and have got the gendarmerie to support them." + +"Gondreville is your real object," said Grevin, "and this conspiracy +your best chance of keeping it. Fouche, Talleyrand, and those two +fellows have nothing to do with that. Therefore play fair with them. +What nonsense! those who cut Louis XVI.'s head off are in the +government; France is full of men who have bought national property, +and yet you talk of bringing back those who would require you to give +up Gondreville! If the Bourbons were not imbeciles they would pass a +sponge over all we have done. Warn Bonaparte, that's my advice." + +"A man of my rank can't denounce," said Malin, quickly. + +"Your rank!" exclaimed Grevin, smiling. + +"They have offered to make me Keeper of the Seals." + +"Ah! Now I understand your bewilderment, and it is for me to see clear +in this political darkness and find a way out for you. Now, it is +quite impossible to foresee what events may happen to bring back the +Bourbons when a General Bonaparte is in possession of eighty line of +battle ships and four hundred thousand men. The most difficult thing +of all in expectant politics is to know when a power that totters will +fall; but, my old man, Bonaparte's power is not tottering, it is in +the ascendant. Don't you think that Fouche may be sounding you so as +to get to the bottom of your mind, and then get rid of you?" + +"No; I am sure of my go-between. Besides, Fouche would never, under +those circumstances, send me such fellows as these; he would know they +would make me suspicious." + +"They alarm me," said Grevin. "If Fouche does not distrust you, and is +not seeking to probe you, why does he send them? Fouche doesn't play +such a trick as that without a motive; what is it?" + +"What decides me," said Malin, "is that I should never be easy with +those two Simeuse brothers in France. Perhaps Fouche, who knows how I +am placed towards them, wants to make sure they don't escape him, and +hopes through them to reach the Condes." + +"That's right, old fellow; it is not under Bonaparte that the present +possessor of Gondreville can be ousted." + +Just then Malin, happening to look up, saw the muzzle of a gun through +the foliage of a tall linden. + +"I was not mistaken, I thought I heard the click of a trigger," he +said to Grevin, after getting behind the trunk of a large tree, where +the notary, uneasy at his friend's sudden movement, followed him. + +"It is Michu," said Grevin; "I see his red beard." + +"Don't let us seem afraid," said Malin, who walked slowly away, saying +at intervals: "Why is that man so bitter against the owners of this +property? It was not you he was covering. If he overheard us he had +better ask the prayers of the congregation! Who the devil would have +thought of looking up into the trees!" + +"There's always something to learn," said the notary. "But he was a +good distance off, and we spoke low." + +"I shall tell Corentin about it," replied Malin. + + + + CHAPTER III + + THE MASK THROWN OFF + +A few moments later Michu returned home, his face pale, his features +contracted. + +"What is the matter?" said his wife, frightened. + +"Nothing," he replied, seeing Violette whose presence silenced him. + +Michu took a chair and sat down quietly before the fire, into which he +threw a letter which he drew from a tin tube such as are given to +soldiers to hold their papers. This act, which enabled Marthe to draw +a long breath like one relieved of a great burden, greatly puzzled +Violette. The bailiff laid his gun on the mantel-shelf with admirable +composure. Marianne the servant, and Marthe's mother were spinning by +the light of a lamp. + +"Come, Francois," said the father, presently, "it is time to go to +bed." + +He lifted the boy roughly by the middle of his body and carried him +off. + +"Run down to the cellar," he whispered, when they reached the stairs. +"Empty one third out of two bottles of the Macon wine, and fill them +up with the Cognac brandy which is on the shelf. Then mix a bottle of +white wine with one half brandy. Do it neatly, and put the three +bottles on the empty cask which stands by the cellar door. When you +hear me open the window in the kitchen come out of the cellar, run to +the stable, saddle my horse, mount it, and go and wait for me at +Poteaudes-Gueux--That little scamp hates to go to bed," said Michu, +returning; "he likes to do as grown people do, see all, hear all, and +know all. You spoil my people, pere Violette." + +"Goodness!" cried Violette, "what has loosened your tongue? I never +heard you say as much before." + +"Do you suppose I let myself be spied upon without taking notice of +it? You are on the wrong side, pere Violette. If, instead of serving +those who hate me, you were on my side I could do better for you than +renew that lease of yours." + +"How?" said the peasant, opening wide his avaricious eyes. + +"I'll sell you my property cheap." + +"Nothing is cheap when we have to pay," said Violette, sententiously. + +"I want to leave the neighborhood, and I'll let you have my farm of +Mousseau, the buildings, granary, and cattle for fifty thousand +francs." + +"Really?" + +"Does that suit you?" + +"Hang it! I must think--" + +"We'll talk about it--I shall want earnest money." + +"I have no money." + +"Well, a note." + +"Can't give it." + +"Tell me who sent you here to-day." + +"I am on my way back from where I spent this afternoon, and I only +stopped in to say good-evening." + +"Back without your horse? What a fool you must take me for! You are +lying, and you shall not have my farm." + +"Well, to tell you the truth, it was monsieur Grevin who sent me. He +said 'Violette, we want Michu; do you go and get him; if he isn't at +home, wait for him.' I saw I should have to stay here all this +evening." + +"Are those sharks from Paris still at the chateau?" + +"Ah! that I don't know; but there were people in the salon." + +"You shall have my farm; we'll settle the terms now. Wife, go and get +some wine to wash down the contract. Take the best Roussillon, the +wine of the ex-marquis,--we are not babes. You'll find a couple of +bottles on the empty cask near the door, and a bottle of white wine." + +"Very good," said Violette, who never got drunk. "Let us drink." + +"You have fifty thousand francs beneath the floor of your bedroom +under your bed, pere Violette; you will give them to me two weeks +after we sign the deed of sale before Grevin--" Violette stared at +Michu and grew livid. "Ah! you came here to spy upon a Jacobin who had +the honor to be president of the club at Arcis, and you imagine he +will let you get the better of him! I have eyes, I saw where your +tiles have been freshly cemented, and I concluded that you did not pry +them up to plant wheat there. Come, drink." + +Violette, much troubled, drank a large glass of wine without noticing +the quality; terror had put a hot iron in his stomach, the brandy was +not hotter than his cupidity. He would have given many things to be +safely home and able to change the hiding-place of his treasure. The +three women smiled. + +"Do you like that wine?" said Michu, refilling his glass. + +"Yes, I do." + +After a good half-hour's decision on the time when the buyer might +take possession, and on the various punctilios which the peasantry +bring forward when concluding a bargain,--in the midst of assertions +and counter-assertions, the filling and emptying of glasses, the +giving of promises and denials, Violette suddenly fell forward with +his head on the table, not tipsy, but dead-drunk. The instant that +Michu saw his eyes blur he opened the window. + +"Where's that scamp, Gaucher?" he said to his wife. + +"In bed." + +"You, Marianne," said the bailiff to his faithful servant, "stand in +front of his door and watch him. You, mother, stay down here, and keep +an eye on this spy; keep your eyes and ears open and don't unfasten +the door to any one but Francois. It is a question of life or death," +he added, in a deep voice. "Every creature beneath my roof must +remember that I have not quitted it this night; all of you must assert +that--even though your heads were on the block. Come," he said to +Marthe, "come, wife, put on your shoes, take your coat, and let us be +off! No questions--I go with you." + +For the last three quarters of an hour the man's demeanor and glance +were of despotic authority, all-powerful, irresistible, drawn from the +same mysterious source from which great generals on fields of battle +who inflame an army, great orators inspiring vast audiences, and (it +must be said) great criminals perpetrating bold crimes derive their +inspiration. At such times invincible influence seems to exhale from +the head and issue from the tongue; the gesture even can inject the +will of the one man into others. The three women knew that some +dreadful crisis was at hand; without warning of its nature they felt +it in the rapid actions of the man, whose countenance shone, whose +forehead spoke, whose brilliant eyes glittered like stars; they saw it +in the sweat that covered his brow to the roots of his hair, while +more than once his voice vibrated with impatience and fury. Marthe +obeyed passively. Armed to the teeth and with his gun over his +shoulder Michu dashed into the avenue, followed by his wife. They soon +reached the cross-roads where Francois was in waiting hidden among the +bushes. + +"The boy is intelligent," said Michu, when he caught sight of him. + +These were his first words. His wife had rushed after him, unable to +speak. + +"Go back to the house, hide in a thick tree, and watch the country and +the park," he said to his son. "We have all gone to bed, no one is +stirring. Your grandmother will not open the door until you ask her to +let you in. Remember every word I say to you. The life of your father +and mother depends on it. No one must know we did not sleep at home." + +After whispering these words to the boy, who instantly disappeared in +the forest like an eel in the mud, Michu turned to his wife. + +"Mount behind me," he said, "and pray that God be with us. Sit firm, +the beast may die of it." So saying he kicked the horse with both +heels, pressing him with his powerful knees, and the animal sprang +forward with the rapidity of a hunter, seeming to understand what his +master wanted of him, and crossed the forest in fifteen minutes. Then +Michu, who had not swerved from the shortest way, pulled up, found a +spot at the edge of the woods from which he could see the roofs of the +chateau of Cinq-Cygne lighted by the moon, tied his horse to a tree, +and followed by his wife, gained a little eminence which overlooked +the valley. + +The chateau, which Marthe and Michu looked at together for a moment, +makes a charming effect in the landscape. Though it has little extent +and is of no importance whatever as architecture, yet archaeologically +it is not without a certain interest. This old edifice of the +fifteenth century, placed on an eminence, surrounded on all sides by a +moat, or rather by deep, wide ditches always full of water, is built +in cobble-stones buried in cement, the walls being seven feet thick. +Its simplicity recalls the rough and warlike life of feudal days. The +chateau, plain and unadorned, has two large reddish towers at either +end, connected by a long main building with casement windows, the +stone mullions of which, being roughly carved, bear some resemblance +to vine-shoots. The stairway is outside the house, at the middle, in a +sort of pentagonal tower entered through a small arched door. The +interior of the ground-floor together with the rooms on the first +storey were modernized in the time of Louis XIV., and the whole +building is surmounted by an immense roof broken by casement windows +with carved triangular pediments. Before the castle lies a vast green +sward the trees of which had recently been cut down. On either side of +the entrance bridge are two small dwellings where the gardeners live, +connected across the road by a paltry iron railing without character, +evidently modern. To right and left of the lawn, which is divided in +two by a paved road-way, are the stables, cow-sheds, barns, +wood-house, bakery, poultry-yard, and the offices, placed in what were +doubtless the remains of two wings of the old building similar to +those that were still standing. The two large towers, with their +pepper-pot roofs which had not been rased, and the belfry of the +middle tower, gave an air of distinction to the village. The church, +also very old, showed near by its pointed steeple, which harmonized +well with the solid masses of the castle. The moon brought out in full +relief the various roofs and towers on which it played and sparkled. + +Michu gazed at this baronial structure in a manner that upset all his +wife's ideas about him; his face, now calm, wore a look of hope and +also a sort of pride. His eyes scanned the horizon with a glance of +defiance; he listened for sounds in the air. It was now nine o'clock; +the moon was beginning to cast its light upon the margin of the forest +and to illumine the little bluff on which they stood. The position +struck him as dangerous and he left it, fearful of being seen. But no +suspicious noise troubled the peace of the beautiful valley encircled +on this side by the forest of Nodesme. Marthe, exhausted and +trembling, was awaiting some explanation of their hurried ride. What +was she engaged in? Was she to aid in a good deed or an evil one? At +that instant Michu bent to his wife's ear and whispered:-- + +"Go the house and ask to speak to the Comtesse de Cinq-Cygne; when you +see her beg her to speak to you alone. If no one can overhear you, say +to her: 'Mademoiselle, the lives of your two cousins are in danger, +and he who can explain the how and why is waiting to speak to you.' If +she seems afraid, if she distrusts you, add these words: 'They are +conspiring against the First Consul and the conspiracy is discovered.' +Don't give your name; they distrust us too much." + +Marthe raised her face towards her husband and said:-- + +"Can it be that you serve them?" + +"What if I do?" he said, frowning, taking her words as a reproach. + +"You don't understand me," cried Marthe, seizing his large hand and +falling on her knees beside him as she kissed it and covered it with +her tears. + +"Go, go, you shall cry later," he said, kissing her vehemently. + +When he no longer heard her step his eyes filled with tears. He had +distrusted Marthe on account of her father's opinions; he had hidden +the secrets of his life from her; but the beauty of her simple nature +had suddenly appeared to him, just as the grandeur of his had, as +suddenly, revealed itself to her. Marthe had passed in a moment from +the deep humiliation caused by the degradation of the man whose name +she bore, to the exaltation given by a sense of his nobleness. The +change was instantaneous, without transition; it was enough to make +her tremble. She told him later that she went, as it were, through +blood from the pavilion to the edge of the forest, and there was +lifted to heaven, in a moment, among the angels. Michu, who had known +he was not appreciated, and who mistook his wife's grieved and +melancholy manner for lack of affection, and had left her to herself, +living chiefly out of doors and reserving all his tenderness for his +boy, instantly understood the meaning of her tears. She had cursed the +part which her beauty and her father's will had forced her to take; +but now happiness, in the midst of this great storm, played, with a +beautiful flame like a vivid lightning about them. And it was +lightning! Each thought of the last ten years of misconception, and +they blamed themselves only. Michu stood motionless, his elbow on his +gun, his chin on his hand, lost in deep reverie. Such a moment in a +man's life makes him willing to accept the saddest moments of a +painful past. + +Marthe, agitated by the same thoughts as those of her husband, was +also troubled in heart by the danger of the Simeuse brothers; for she +now understood all, even the faces of the two Parisians, though she +still could not explain to herself her husband's gun. She darted +forward like a doe, and soon reached the road to the chateau. There +she was surprised by the steps of a man following behind her; she +turned, with a cry, and her husband's large hand closed her mouth. + +"From the hill up there I saw the silver lace of the gendarmes' hats. +Go in by the breach in the moat between Mademoiselle's tower and the +stables. The dogs won't bark at you. Go through the garden and call +the countess by the window; order them to saddle her horse, and ask +her to come out through the breach. I'll be there, after discovering +what the Parisians are planning, and how to escape them." + +Danger, which seemed to be rolling like an avalanche upon them, gave +wings to Marthe's feet. + + + + CHAPTER IV + + LAURENCE DE CINQ-CYGNE + +The old Frank name of the Cinq-Cygnes and the Chargeboeufs was +Duineff. Cinq-Cygne became that of the younger branch of the +Chargeboeufs after the defence of a castle made, during their father's +absence, by five daughters of that race, all remarkably fair, and of +whom no one expected such heroism. One of the first Comtes de +Champagne wished, by bestowing this pretty name, to perpetuate the +memory of their deed as long as the family existed. Laurence, the last +of her race, was, contrary to Salic law, heiress of the name, the +arms, and the manor. She was therefore Comtesse de Cinq-Cygne in her +own right; her husband would have to take both her name and her +blazon, which bore for device the glorious answer made by the elder of +the five sisters when summoned to surrender the castle, "We die +singing." Worthy descendant of these noble heroines, Laurence was fair +and lily-white as though nature had made her for a wager. The lines of +her blue veins could be seen through the delicate close texture of her +skin. Her beautiful golden hair harmonized delightfully with eyes of +the deepest blue. Everything about her belonged to the type of +delicacy. Within that fragile though active body, and in defiance as +it were of its pearly whiteness, lived a soul like that of a man of +noble nature; but no one, not even a close observer, would have +suspected it from the gentle countenance and rounded features which, +when seen in profile, bore some slight resemblance to those of a lamb. +This extreme gentleness, though noble, had something of the stupidity +of the little animal. "I look like a dreamy sheep," she would say, +smiling. Laurence, who talked little, seemed not so much dreamy as +dormant. But, did any important circumstance arise, the hidden Judith +was revealed, sublime; and circumstances had, unfortunately, not been +wanting. + +At thirteen years of age, Laurence, after the events already related, +was an orphan living in a house opposite to the empty space where so +recently had stood one of the most curious specimens in France of +sixteenth-century architecture, the hotel Cinq-Cygne. Monsieur +d'Hauteserre, her relation, now her guardian, took the young heiress +to live in the country at her chateau of Cinq-Cygne. That brave +provincial gentleman, alarmed at the death of his brother, the Abbe +d'Hauteserre, who was shot in the open square as he was about to +escape in the dress of a peasant, was not in a position to defend the +interests of his ward. He had two sons in the army of the princes, and +every day, at the slightest unusual sound, he believed that the +municipals of Arcis were coming to arrest him. Laurence, proud of +having sustained a siege and of possessing the historic whiteness of +her swan-like ancestors, despised the prudent cowardice of the old man +who bent to the storm, and dreamed only of distinguishing herself. So, +she boldly hung the portrait of Charlotte Corday on the walls of her +poor salon at Cinq-Cygne, and crowned it with oak-leaves. She +corresponded by messenger with her twin cousins, in defiance of the +law, which punished the act, when discovered, with death. The +messenger, who risked his life, brought back the answers. Laurence +lived only, after the catastrophes at Troyes, for the triumph of the +royal cause. After soberly judging Monsieur and Madame d'Hauteserre +(who lived with her at the chateau de Cinq-Cygne), and recognizing +their honest, but stolid natures, she put them outside the lines of +her own life. She had, moreover, too good a mind and too sound a +judgment to complain of their natures; always kind, amiable, and +affectionate towards them, she nevertheless told them none of her +secrets. Nothing forms a character so much as the practice of constant +concealment in the bosom of a family. + +After she attained her majority Laurence allowed Monsieur d'Hauteserre +to manage her affairs as in the past. So long as her favorite mare was +well-groomed, her maid Catherine dressed to please her, and Gothard +the little page was suitably clothed, she cared for nothing else. Her +thoughts were aimed too high to come down to occupations and interests +which in other times than these would doubtless have pleased her. +Dress was a small matter to her mind; moreover her cousins were not +there to see her. She wore a dark-green habit when she rode, and a +gown of some common woollen stuff with a cape trimmed with braid when +she walked; in the house she was always seen in a silk wrapper. +Gothard, the little groom, a brave and clever lad of fifteen, attended +her wherever she went, and she was nearly always out of doors, riding +or hunting over the farms of Gondreville, without objection being made +by either Michu or the farmers. She rode admirably well, and her +cleverness in hunting was thought miraculous. In the country she was +never called anything but "Mademoiselle" even during the Revolution. + +Whoever has read the fine romance of "Rob Roy" will remember that rare +woman for whose making Walter Scott's imagination abandoned its +customary coldness,--Diana Vernon. The recollection will serve to make +Laurence understood if, to the noble qualities of the Scottish +huntress you add the restrained exaltation of Charlotte Corday, +surpassing, however, the charming vivacity which rendered Diana so +attractive. The young countess had seen her mother die, the Abbe +d'Hauteserre shot down, the Marquis de Simeuse and his wife executed; +her only brother had died of his wounds; her two cousins serving in +Conde's army might be killed at any moment; and, finally, the fortunes +of the Simeuse and the Cinq-Cygne families had been seized and wasted +by the Republic without being of any benefit to the nation. Her grave +demeanor, now lapsing into apparent stolidity, can be readily +understood. + +Monsieur d'Hauteserre proved an upright and most careful guardian. +Under his administration Cinq-Cygne became a sort of farm. The good +man, who was far more of a close manager than a knight of the old +nobility, had turned the park and gardens to profit, and used their +two hundred acres of grass and woodland as pasturage for horses and +fuel for the family. Thanks to his severe economy the countess, on +coming of age, had recovered by his investments in the State funds a +competent fortune. In 1798 she possessed about twenty thousand francs +a year from those sources, on which, in fact, some dividends were +still due, and twelve thousand francs a year from the rentals at +Cinq-Cygne, which had lately been renewed at a notable increase. +Monsieur and Madame d'Hauteserre had provided for their old age by +the purchase of an annuity of three thousand francs in the Tontines +Lafarge. That fragment of their former means did not enable them to +live elsewhere than at Cinq-Cygne, and Laurence's first act on coming +to her majority was to give them the use for life of the wing of the +chateau which they occupied. + +The Hauteserres, as niggardly for their ward as they were for +themselves, laid up every year nearly the whole of their annuity for +the benefit of their sons, and kept the young heiress on miserable +fare. The whole cost of the Cinq-Cygne household never exceeded five +thousand francs a year. But Laurence, who condescended to no details, +was satisfied. Her guardian and his wife, unconsciously ruled by the +imperceptible influence of her strong character, which was felt even +in little things, had ended by admiring her whom they had known and +treated as a child,--a sufficiently rare feeling. But in her manner, +her deep voice, her commanding eye, Laurence held that inexplicable +power which rules all men,--even when its strength is mere appearance. +To vulgar minds real depth is incomprehensible; it is perhaps for that +reason that the populace is so prone to admire what it cannot +understand. Monsieur and Madame d'Hauteserre, impressed by the +habitual silence and erratic habits of the young girl, were constantly +expecting some extraordinary thing of her. + +Laurence, who did good intelligently and never allowed herself to be +deceived, was held in the utmost respect by the peasantry although she +was an aristocrat. Her sex, name, and great misfortunes, also the +originality of her present life, contributed to give her authority +over the inhabitants of the valley of Cinq-Cygne. She was sometimes +absent for two days, attended by Gothard, but neither Monsieur nor +Madame d'Hauteserre questioned her, on her return, as to the reasons +of her absence. Please observe, however, that there was nothing odd or +eccentric about Laurence. What she was and what she did was masked, as +it were, by a feminine and even fragile appearance. Her heart was full +of extreme sensibility, though her head contained a stoical firmness +and the virile gift of resolution. Her clear-seeing eyes knew not how +to weep; but no one would have imagined that the delicate white wrist +with its tracery of blue veins could defy that of the boldest +horseman. Her hand, so noble, so flexible, could handle gun or pistol +with the ease of a practised marksman. She always wore when out of +doors the coquettish little cap with visor and green veil which women +wear on horseback. Her delicate fair face, thus protected, and her +white throat tied with a black cravat, were never injured by her long +rides in all weathers. + +Under the Directory and at the beginning of the Consulate, Laurence +had been able to escape the observation of others; but since the +government had become a more settled thing, the new authorities, the +prefect of the Aube, Malin's friends, and Malin himself had endeavored +to undermine her in the community. Her preoccupying thought was the +overthrow of Bonaparte, whose ambition and its triumphs excited the +anger of her soul,--a cold, deliberate anger. The obscure and hidden +enemy of a man at the pinnacle of glory, she kept her gaze upon him +from the depths of her valley and her forests, with relentless fixity; +there were times when she thought of killing him in the roads about +Malmaison or Saint-Cloud. Plans for the execution of this idea may +have been the cause of many of her past actions, but having been +initiated, after the peace of Amiens, into the conspiracy of the men +who expected to make the 18th Brumaire recoil upon the First Consul, +she had thenceforth subordinated her faculties and her hatred to their +vast and well laid scheme, which was to strike at Bonaparte externally +by the vast coalition of Russia, Austria, and Prussia (vanquished at +Austerlitz) and internally by the coalition of men politically opposed +to each other, but united by their common hatred of a man whose death +some of them were meditating, like Laurence herself, without shrinking +from the word assassination. This young girl, so fragile to the eye, +so powerful to those who knew her well, was at the present moment the +faithful guide and assistant of the exiled gentlemen who came from +England to take part in this deadly enterprise. + +Fouche relied on the co-operation of the _emigres_ everywhere beyond +the Rhine to lure the Duc d'Enghien into the plot. The presence of +that prince in the Baden territory, not far from Strasburg, gave much +weight later to the accusation. The great question of whether the +prince really knew of the enterprise, and was waiting on the frontier +to enter France on its success, is one of those secrets about which, +as about several others, the house of Bourbon has maintained an +unbroken silence. As the history of that period recedes into the past, +impartial historians will declare the imprudence, to say the least, of +the Duc d'Enghien in placing himself close to the frontier at a time +when a vast conspiracy was about to break forth, the secret of which +was undoubtedly known to every member of the Bourbon family. + +The caution which Malin displayed in talking with Grevin in the open +air, Laurence applied to her every action. She met the emissaries and +conferred with them either at various points in the Nodesme forest, or +beyond the valley of the Cinq-Cygne, between the villages of Sezanne +and Brienne. Often she rode forty miles on a stretch with Gothard, and +returned to Cinq-Cygne without the least sign of weariness or +pre-occupation on her fair young face. + +Some years earlier, Laurence had seen in the eyes of a little cow-boy, +then nine years old, the artless admiration which children feel for +everything that is out of the common way. She made him her page, and +taught him to groom a horse with the nicety and care of an Englishman. +She saw in the lad a desire to do well, a bright intelligence, and a +total absence of sly motives; she tested his devotion and found he had +not only mind but nobility of character; he never dreamed of reward. +The young girl trained this soul that was still so young; she was good +to him, good with dignity; she attached him to her by attaching +herself to him, and by herself polishing a nature that was half wild, +without destroying its freshness or its simplicity. When she had +sufficiently tested the almost canine fidelity she had nurtured, +Gothard became her intelligent and ingenuous accomplice. The little +peasant, whom no one could suspect, went from Cinq-Cygne to Nancy, and +often returned before any one had missed him from the neighborhood. He +knew how to practise all the tricks of a spy. The extreme distrust and +caution his mistress had taught him did not change his natural self. +Gothard, who possessed all the craft of a woman, the candor of a +child, and the ceaseless observation of a conspirator, hid every one +of these admirable qualities beneath the torpor and dull ignorance of +a country lad. The little fellow had a silly, weak, and clumsy +appearance; but once at work he was active as a fish; he escaped like +an eel; he understood, as the dogs do, the merest glance; he nosed a +thought. His good fat face, both round and red, his sleepy brown eyes, +his hair, cut in the peasant fashion, his clothes, and his slow growth +gave him the appearance of a child of ten. + +The two young d'Hauteserres and the twin brothers Simeuse, under the +guidance of their cousin Laurence, who had been watching over their +safety and that of the other _emigres_ who accompanied them from +Strasburg to Bar-sur-Aube, had just passed through Alsace and +Lorraine, and were now in Champagne while other conspirators, not less +bold, were entering France by the cliffs of Normandy. Dressed as +workmen the d'Hauteserres and the Simeuse twins had walked from forest +to forest, guided on their way by relays of persons, chosen by +Laurence during the last three months from among the least suspected +of the Bourbon adherents living in each neighborhood. The _emigres_ +slept by day and travelled by night. Each brought with him two +faithful soldiers; one of whom went before to warn of danger, the +other behind to protect a retreat. Thanks to these military +precautions, this valuable detachment had at last reached, without +accident, the forest of Nodesme, which was chosen as the rendezvous. +Twenty-seven other gentlemen had entered France from Switzerland and +crossed Burgundy, guided towards Paris with the same caution. + +Monsieur de Riviere counted on collecting five hundred men, one +hundred of whom were young nobles, the officers of this sacred legion. +Monsieur de Polignac and Monsieur de Riviere, whose conduct as chiefs +of this advance was most remarkable, afterwards preserved an +impenetrable secrecy as to the names of those of their accomplices who +were not discovered. It may be said, therefore, now that the +Restoration has made matters clearer, that Bonaparte never knew the +extent of the danger he then ran, any more than England knew the peril +she had escaped from the camp at Boulogne; and yet the police of +France was never more intelligently or ably managed. + +At the period when this history begins, a coward--for cowards are +always to be found in conspiracies which are not confined to a small +number of equally strong men--a sworn confederate, brought face to +face with death, gave certain information, happily insufficient to +cover the extent of the conspiracy, but precise enough to show the +object of the enterprise. The police had therefore, as Malin told +Grevin, left the conspirators at liberty, though all the while +watching them, hoping to discover the ramifications of the plot. +Nevertheless, the government found its hand to a certain extent forced +by Georges Cadoudal, a man of action who took counsel of himself only, +and who was hiding in Paris with twenty-five _chouans_ for the purpose +of attacking the First Consul. + +Laurence combined both hatred and love within her breast. To destroy +Bonaparte and bring back the Bourbons was to recover Gondreville and +make the fortune of her cousins. The two sentiments, one the +counterpart of the other, were sufficient, more especially at +twenty-three years of age, to excite all the faculties of her soul and +all the powers of her being. So, for the last two months, she had +seemed to the inhabitants of Cinq-Cygne more beautiful than at any +other period of her life. Her cheeks became rosy; hope gave pride to +her brow; but when old d'Hauteserre read the Gazette at night and +discussed the conservative course of the First Consul she lowered her +eyes to conceal her passionate hopes of the coming fall of that enemy +of the Bourbons. + +No one at the chateau had the faintest idea that the young countess +had met her cousins the night before. The two sons of Monsieur and +Madame d'Hauteserre had passed the preceding night in Laurence's own +room, under the same roof with their father and mother; and Laurence, +after knowing them safely in bed had gone between one and two o'clock +in the morning to a rendezvous with her cousins in the forest, where +she hid them in the deserted hut of a wood-dealer's agent. The +following day, certain of seeing them again, she showed no signs of +her joy; nothing about her betrayed emotion; she was able to efface +all traces of pleasure at having met them again; in fact, she was +impassible. Catherine, her pretty maid, daughter of her former nurse, +and Gothard, both in the secret, modelled their behavior upon hers. +Catherine was nineteen years old. At that age a girl is a fanatic and +would let her throat be cut before betraying a thought of one she +loves. As for Gothard, merely to inhale the perfume which the countess +used in her hair and among her clothes he would have born the rack +without a word. + + + + CHAPTER V + + ROYALIST HOMES AND PORTRAITS UNDER THE CONSULATE + +At the moment when Marthe, driven by the imminence of the peril, was +gliding with the rapidity of a shadow towards the breach of which +Michu had told her, the salon of the chateau of Cinq-Cygne presented a +peaceful sight. Its occupants were so far from suspecting the storm +that was about to burst upon them that their quiet aspect would have +roused the compassion of any one who knew their situation. In the +large fireplace, the mantel of which was adorned with a mirror with +shepherdesses in paniers painted on its frame, burned a fire such as +can be seen only in chateaus bordering on forests. At the corner of +this fireplace, on a large square sofa of gilded wood with a +magnificent brocaded cover, the young countess lay as it were +extended, in an attitude of utter weariness. Returning at six o'clock +from the confines of Brie, having played the part of scout to the four +gentlemen whom she guided safely to their last halting-place before +they entered Paris, she had found Monsieur and Madame d'Hauteserre +just finishing their dinner. Pressed by hunger she sat down to table +without changing either her muddy habit or her boots. Instead of doing +so at once after dinner, she was suddenly overcome with fatigue and +allowed her head with its beautiful fair curls to drop on the back of +the sofa, her feet being supported in front of her by a stool. The +warmth of the fire had dried the mud on her habit and on her boots. +Her doeskin gloves and the little peaked cap with its green veil and a +whip lay on the table where she had flung them. She looked sometimes +at the old Boule clock which stood on the mantelshelf between the +candelabra, perhaps to judge if her four conspirators were asleep, and +sometimes at the card-table in front of the fire where Monsieur and +Madame d'Hauteserre, the cure of Cinq-Cygne, and his sister were +playing a game of boston. + +Even if these personages were not embedded in this drama, their +portraits would have the merit of representing one of the aspects of +the aristocracy after its overthrow in 1793. From this point of view, +a sketch of the salon at Cinq-Cygne has the raciness of history seen +in dishabille. + +Monsieur d'Hauteserre, then fifty-two years of age, tall, spare, +high-colored, and robust in health, would have seemed the embodiment +of vigor if it were not for a pair of porcelain blue eyes, the glance +of which denoted the most absolute simplicity. In his face, which +ended in a long pointed chin, there was, judging by the rules of +design, an unnatural distance between his nose and mouth which gave +him a submissive air, wholly in keeping with his character, which +harmonized, in fact, with other details of his appearance. His gray +hair, flattened by his hat, which he wore nearly all day, looked much +like a skull-cap on his head, and defined its pear-shaped outline. His +forehead, much wrinkled by life in the open air and by constant +anxieties, was flat and expressionless. His aquiline nose redeemed the +face somewhat; but the sole indication of any strength of character +lay in the bushy eyebrows which retained their blackness, and in the +brilliant coloring of his skin. These signs were in some respects not +misleading, for the worthy gentlemen, though simple and very gentle, +was Catholic and monarchical in faith, and no consideration on earth +could make him change his views. Nevertheless he would have let +himself be arrested without an effort at defence, and would have gone +to the scaffold quietly. His annuity of three thousand francs kept him +from emigrating. He therefore obeyed the government _de facto_ without +ceasing to love the royal family and to pray for their return, though +he would firmly have refused to compromise himself by any effort in +their favor. He belonged to that class of royalists who ceaselessly +remembered that they were beaten and robbed; and who remained +thenceforth dumb, economical, rancorous, without energy; incapable of +abjuring the past, but equally incapable of sacrifice; waiting to +greet triumphant royalty; true to religion and true to the priesthood, +but firmly resolved to bear in silence the shocks of fate. Such an +attitude cannot be considered that of maintaining opinions, it becomes +sheer obstinacy. Action is the essence of party. Without intelligence, +but loyal, miserly as a peasant yet noble in demeanor, bold in his +wishes but discreet in word and action, turning all things to profit, +willing even to be made mayor of Cinq-Cygne, Monsieur d'Hauteserre was +an admirable representative of those honorable gentlemen on whose brow +God Himself has written the word _mites_,--Frenchmen who burrowed in +their country homes and let the storms of the Revolution pass above +their heads; who came once more to the surface under the Restoration, +rich with their hidden savings, proud of their discreet attachment to +the monarchy, and who, after 1830, recovered their estates. + +Monsieur d'Hauteserre's costume, expressive envelope of his +distinctive character, described to the eye both the man and his +period. He always wore one of those nut-colored great-coats with small +collars which the Duc d'Orleans made the fashion after his return from +England, and which were, during the Revolution, a sort of compromise +between the hideous popular garments and the elegant surtouts of the +aristocracy. His velvet waistcoat with flowered stripes, the style of +which recalled those of Robespierre and Saint-Just, showed the upper +part of a shirt-frill in fine plaits. He still wore breeches; but his +were of coarse blue cloth, with burnished steel buckles. His stockings +of black spun-silk defined his deer-like legs, the feet of which were +shod in thick shoes, held in place by gaiters of black cloth. He +retained the former fashion of a muslin cravat in innumerable folds +fastened by a gold buckle at the throat. The worthy man had not +intended an act of political eclecticism in adopting this costume, +which combined the styles of peasant, revolutionist, and aristocrat; +he simply and innocently obeyed the dictates of circumstances. + +Madame d'Hauteserre, forty years of age and wasted by emotions, had a +faded face which seemed to be always posing for its portrait. A lace +cap, trimmed with bows of white satin, contributed singularly to give +her a solemn air. She still wore powder, in spite of a white kerchief, +and a gown of puce-colored silk with tight sleeves and full skirt, the +sad last garments of Marie-Antoinette. Her nose was pinched, her chin +sharp, the whole face nearly triangular, the eyes worn-out with +weeping; but she now wore a touch of rouge which brightened their +grayness. She took snuff, and each time that she did so she employed +all the pretty precautions of the fashionable women of her early days; +the details of this snuff-taking constituted a ceremony which could be +explained by one fact--she had very pretty hands. + +For the last two years the former tutor of the Simeuse twins, a friend +of the late Abbe d'Hauteserre, named Goujet, Abbe des Minimes, had +taken charge of the parish of Cinq-Cygne out of friendship for the +d'Hauteserres and the young countess. His sister, Mademoiselle Goujet, +who possessed a little income of seven hundred francs, added that sum +to the meagre salary of her brother and kept his house. Neither church +nor parsonage had been sold during the Revolution on account of their +small value. The abbe and his sister lived close to the chateau, for +the wall of the parsonage garden and that of the park were the same in +places. Twice a week the pair dined at the chateau, but they came +every evening to play boston with the d'Hauteserres; for Laurence, +unable to play a game, did not even know one card from another. + +The Abbe Goujet, an old man with white hair and a face as white as +that of an old woman, endowed with a kindly smile and a gentle and +persuasive voice, redeemed the insipidity of his rather mincing face +by a fine intellectual brow and a pair of keen eyes. Of medium height, +and very well made, he still wore the old-fashioned black coat, silver +shoe-buckles, breeches, black silk stockings, and a black waistcoat on +which lay his clerical bands, giving him a distinguished air which +detracted nothing from his dignity. This abbe, who became bishop of +Troyes after the Restoration, had long made a study of young people +and fully understood the noble character of the young countess; he +appreciated her at her full value, and had shown her, from the first, +a respectful deference which contributed much to her independence at +Cinq-Cygne, for it led the austere old lady and the kind old gentleman +to yield to the young girl, who by rights should have yielded to them. +For the last six months the abbe had watched Laurence with the +intuition peculiar to priests, the most sagacious of men; and although +he did not know that this girl of twenty-three was thinking of +overturning Bonaparte as she lay there twisting with slender fingers +the frogged lacing of her riding-habit, he was well aware that she was +agitated by some great project. + +Mademoiselle Goujet was one of those unmarried women whose portrait +can be drawn in one word which will enable the least imaginative mind +to picture her; she was ungainly. She knew her own ugliness and was +the first to laugh at it, showing her long teeth, yellow as her +complexion and her bony hands. She was gay and hearty. She wore the +famous short gown of former days, a very full skirt with pockets full +of keys, a cap with ribbons and a false front. She was forty years of +age very early, but had, so she said, caught up with herself by +keeping at that age for twenty years. She revered the nobility; and +knew well how to preserve her own dignity by giving to persons of +noble birth the respect and deference that were due to them. + +This little company was a god-send to Madame d'Hauteserre, who had +not, like her husband, rural occupations, nor, like Laurence, the +tonic of hatred, to enable her to bear the dulness of a retired life. +Many things had happened to ameliorate that life within the last six +years. The restoration of Catholic worship allowed the faithful to +fulfil their religious duties, which play more of a part in country +life than elsewhere. Protected by the conservative edicts of the First +Consul, Monsieur and Madame d'Hauteserre had been able to correspond +with their sons, and no longer in dread of what might happen to them +could even hope for the erasure of their names from the lists of the +proscribed and their consequent return to France. The Treasury had +lately made up the arrearages and now paid its dividends promptly; so +that the d'Hauteserres received, over and above their annuity, about +eight thousand francs a year. The old man congratulated himself on the +sagacity of his foresight in having put all his savings, amounting to +twenty thousand francs, together with those of his ward, in the public +Funds before the 18th Brumaire, which, as we all know, sent those +stocks up from twelve to eighteen francs. + +The chateau of Cinq-Cygne had long been empty and denuded of +furniture. The prudent guardian was careful not to alter its aspect +during the revolutionary troubles; but after the peace of Amiens he +made a journey to Troyes and brought back various relics of the +pillaged mansions which he obtained from the dealers in second-hand +furniture. The salon was furnished for the first time since their +occupation of the house. Handsome curtains of white brocade with green +flowers, from the hotel de Simeuse, draped the six windows of the +salon, in which the family were now assembled. The walls of this vast +room were entirely of wood, with panels encased in beaded mouldings +with masks at the angles; the whole painted in two shades of gray. The +spaces over the four doors were filled with those designs, painted in +cameo of two colors, which were so much in vogue under Louis XV. +Monsieur d'Hauteserre had picked up at Troyes certain gilded +pier-tables, a sofa in green damask, a crystal chandelier, a card-table +of marquetry, among other things that served him to restore the chateau. +In 1792 all the furniture of the house had been taken or destroyed, +for the pillage of the mansions in town was imitated in the valley. +Each time that the old man went to Troyes he returned with some relic +of the former splendor, sometimes a fine carpet for the floor of the +salon, at other times part of a dinner service, or a bit of rare old +porcelain of either Sevres or Dresden. During the last six months he +had ventured to dig up the family silver, which the cook had buried in +the cellar of a little house belonging to him at the end of one of the +long faubourgs in Troyes. + +That faithful servant, named Durieu, and his wife had followed the +fortunes of their young mistress. Durieu was the factotum of the +chateau, and his wife was the housekeeper. He was helped in the +cooking by the sister of Catherine, Laurence's maid, to whom he was +teaching his art and who gave promise of becoming an excellent cook. +An old gardener, his wife, a son paid by the day, and a daughter who +served as a dairy-woman, made up the household. Madame Durieu had +lately and secretly had the Cinq-Cygne liveries made for the +gardener's son and for Gothard. Though blamed for this imprudence by +Monsieur d'Hauteserre, the housekeeper took great pleasure in seeing +the dinner served on the festival of Saint-Laurence, the countess's +fete-day, with almost as much style as in former times. + +This slow and difficult restoration of departed things was the delight +of Monsieur and Madame d'Hauteserre and the Durieus. Laurence smiled +at what she thought nonsense. But the worthy old d'Hauteserre did not +forget the more solid matters; he repaired the buildings, put up the +walls, planted trees wherever there was a chance to make them grow, +and did not leave an inch of unproductive land. The whole valley +regarded him as an oracle in the matter of agriculture. He had managed +to recover a hundred acres of contested land, not sold as national +property, being in some way confounded with that of the township. This +land he had turned into fields which afforded good pasturage for his +horses and cattle, and he planted them round with poplars, which now, +at the end of six years, were making a fine growth. He intended to buy +back some of the lost estate, and to utilize all the out-buildings of +the chateau by making a second farm and managing it himself. + +Life at the chateau had thus become during the last two years +prosperous and almost happy. Monsieur d'Hauteserre was off at +daybreaks to overlook his laborers, for he employed them in all +weathers. He came home to breakfast, mounted his farm pony as soon as +the meal was over, and made his rounds of the estate like a bailiff, +--getting home in time for dinner, and finishing the day with a game +of boston. All the inhabitants of the chateau had their stated +occupations; life was as closely regulated there as in a convent. +Laurence alone disturbed its even tenor by her sudden journeys, her +uncertain returns, and by what Madame d'Hauteserre called her pranks. +But with all this peacefulness there existed at Cinq-Cygne conflicting +interests and certain causes of dissension. In the first place Durieu +and his wife were jealous of Catherine and Gothard, who lived in +greater intimacy with their young mistress, the idol of the household, +than they did. Then the two d'Hauteserres, encouraged by Mademoiselle +Goujet and the abbe, wanted their sons as well as the Simeuse brothers +to take the oath and return to this quiet life, instead of living +miserably in foreign countries. Laurence scouted the odious compromise +and stood firmly for the monarchy, militant and implacable. The four +old people, anxious that their present peaceful existence should not +be risked, nor their spot of refuge, saved from the furious waters of +the revolutionary torrent, lost, did their best to convert Laurence to +their cautious views, believing that her influence counted for much in +the unwillingness of their sons and the Simeuse twins to return to +France. The superb disdain with which she met the project frightened +these poor people, who were not mistaken in their fears that she was +meditating what they called knight-errantry. This jarring of opinion +came to the surface after the explosion of the infernal machine in the +rue Saint-Nicaise, the first royalist attempt against the conqueror of +Marengo after his refusal to treat with the house of Bourbon. The +d'Hauteserres considered it fortunate that Bonaparte escaped that +danger, believing that the republicans had instigated it. But Laurence +wept with rage when she heard he was safe. Her despair overcame her +usual reticence, and she vehemently complained that God had deserted +the sons of Saint-Louis. + +"I," she exclaimed, "I could have succeeded! Have we no right," she +added, seeing the stupefaction her words produced on the faces about +her, and addressing the abbe, "no right to attack the usurper by every +means in our power?" + +"My child," replied the abbe, "the Church has been greatly blamed by +philosophers for declaring in former times that the same weapons might +be employed against usurpers which the usurpers themselves had +employed to succeed; but in these days the Church owes far too much to +the First Consul not to protect him against that maxim,--which, by the +by, was due to the Jesuits." + +"So the Church abandons us!" she answered, gloomily. + +From that day forth whenever the four old people talked of submitting +to the decrees of Providence, Laurence left the room. Of late, the +abbe, shrewder than Monsieur d'Hauteserre, instead of discussing +principles, drew pictures of the material advantages of the consular +rule, less to convert the countess than to detect in her eyes some +expression which might enlighten him as to her projects. Gothard's +frequent disappearances, the long rides of his mistress, and her +evident preoccupation, which, for the last few days, had appeared in +her face, together with other little signs not to be hidden in the +silence and tranquillity of such a life, had roused the fears of these +submissive royalists. Still, as no event happened, and perfect quiet +appeared to reign in the political atmosphere, the minds of the little +household were soothed into peace, and the countess's long rides were +one more attributed to her passion for hunting. + +It is easy to imagine the deep silence which reigned at nine o'clock +in the evening in the park, courtyards, and gardens of Cinq-Cygne, +where at that particular moment the persons we have described were +harmoniously grouped, where perfect peace pervaded all things, where +comfort and abundance were again enjoyed, and where the worthy and +judicious old gentleman was still hoping to convert his late ward to +his system of obedience to the ruling powers by the argument of what +we may call the continuity of prosperous results. + +These royalists continued to play their boston, a game which spread +ideas of independence under a frivolous form over the whole of France; +for it was first invented in honor of the American insurgents, its +very terms applying to the struggle which Louis XVI. encouraged. While +making their "independences" and "poverties," the players kept an eye +on the countess, who had fallen asleep, overcome by fatigue, with a +singular smile on her lips, her last waking thought having been of the +terror two words could inspire in the minds of the peaceful company by +informing the d'Hauteserres that their sons had passed the preceding +night under that roof. What young girl of twenty-three would not have +been, as Laurence was, proud to play the part of Destiny? and who +would not have felt, as she did, a sense of compassion for those whom +she felt to be so far below her in loyalty? + +"She sleeps," said the abbe. "I have never seen her so wearied." + +"Durieu tells me her mare is almost foundered," remarked Madame +d'Hauteserre. "Her gun has not been fired; the breech is clean; she +has evidently not hunted." + +"Oh! that's neither here nor there," said the abbe. + +"Bah?" cried Mademoiselle Goujet; "when I was twenty-three and saw I +should be an old maid all my life, I rushed about and fatigued myself +in a dozen ways. I understand how the countess can scour the country +for hours without thinking of the game. It is nearly twelve years now +since she has seen her cousins, and you know she loves them. Well, if +I were she, if I were as young and pretty, I'd make a straight line +for Germany! Poor darling, perhaps she is thinking of the frontier, +and that may be the reason why she rides so far towards it." + +"You are rather giddy, Mademoiselle Goujet," said the abbe, smiling. + +"Not at all," she replied. "I see you all uneasy about the goings on +of a young girl, and I am explaining them to you." + +"Her cousins will submit and return soon; they will all be rich, and +she will end by calming down," said old d'Hauteserre. + +"God grant it!" said his wife, taking out a gold snuff-box which had +again seen the light under the Consulate. + +"There is something stirring in the neighborhood," remarked Monsieur +d'Hauteserre to the abbe. "Malin has been two days at Gondreville." + +"Malin!" cried Laurence, roused by the name, though her sleep was +sound. + +"Yes," replied the abbe, "but he leaves to-night; everybody is +conjecturing the motive of this hasty visit." + +"That man," said Laurence, "is the evil genius of our two houses." + +The countess had been dreaming of her cousins and the young +Hauteserres; she saw them in peril. Her beautiful eyes grew fixed and +glassy as her mind thus warned dwelled on the dangers they were about +to incur in Paris. She rose suddenly and went to her bedroom without +speaking. Her bedroom was the best in the house; next came a +dressing-room and an oratory, in the tower which faced towards the +forest. Soon after she had left the salon the dogs barked, the bell +of the small gate rang, and Durieu rushed into the salon with a +frightened face. "Here is the mayor!" he said. "Something is the +matter." + + + + CHAPTER VI + + A DOMICILIARY VISIT + +The mayor, a former huntsman of the house of Simeuse, came +occasionally to the chateau, where the d'Hauteserres showed him out of +policy, a deference to which he attached great value. His name was +Goulard; he had married a rich woman of Troyes, whose property, which +was in the commune of Cinq-Cygne, he had further increased by the +purchase of a fine abbey and its lands, in which he invested all his +savings. The vast abbey of Val-des-Preux, standing about a mile from +the chateau, he had turned into a dwelling that was almost as splendid +as Gondreville; in it his wife and he were now living like rats in a +cathedral. "Ah! Goulard, you have been greedy," Mademoiselle had said +to him with a laugh the first time she received him at Cinq-Cygne. +Though greatly attached to the Revolution and coldly received by the +countess, the mayor always felt himself bound by ties of respect to +the Cinq-Cygne and Simeuse families. He therefore shut his eyes to +what went on at the chateau. He called shutting his eyes not seeing +the portraits of Louis XVI., Marie Antoinette, and the royal children, +and those of Monsieur, the Comte d'Artois, Cazales and Charlotte +Corday, which filled the various panels of the salon; not resenting +either the wishes freely expressed in his presence for the ruin of the +Republic, or the ridicule flung at the five directors and all the +other governmental combinations of that time. The position of this +man, who, like many parvenus, having once made his fortune, reverted +to his early faith in the old families, and sought to attach himself +to them, was now being made use of by the two members of the Paris +police whose profession had been so quickly guessed by Michu, and who, +before going to Gondreville had reconnoitred the neighborhood. + +The worthy described as the depositary of the best traditions of the +old police, and Corentin phoenix of spies, were in fact employed on a +secret mission. Malin was not mistaken in attributing a double purpose +to those stars of tragic farces. But, before seeing them at work, it +is advisable to show the head of which they were the arms. When +Bonaparte became First Consul he found Fouche at the head of the +police. The Revolution had frankly and with good reason made the +management of the police into a special ministry. But after his return +from Marengo, Bonaparte created the prefecture of police, placed +Dubois in charge of it, and called Fouche to the Council of State, +naming as his successor in the ministry a conventional named Cochon, +since known as Comte de Lapparent. Fouche, who considered the ministry +of police as by far the most important in a government of broad ideas +and fixed policy, saw disgrace or at any rate distrust in the change. +After Napoleon became aware of the immense superiority of this great +statesman, as evidenced in the affair of the infernal machine and in +the conspiracy with which we are now concerned, he returned him to the +ministry of police. Later still, becoming alarmed at the powers Fouche +displayed during his absence at the time of the affair at Walcheren, +the Emperor gave that ministry to the Duc de Rovigo, and sent Fouche +(Duc d'Otrante) as governor to the Illyrian provinces,--an appointment +which was in fact an exile. + +The singular genius of this man, Fouche, which had the power of +inspiring Napoleon with a sort of fear, did not reveal itself all at +once. This obscure conventional, one of the most extraordinary men of +our time, and the most misjudged, was moulded, as it were, by the +whirlwind of events. He raised himself under the Directory to the +height from which men of genius could see the future and judge the +past, and then, like certain commonplace actors who suddenly become +admirable through the light of some vivid perception, he gave proofs +of his dexterity during the rapid revolution of the 18th Brumaire. +This man with the pallid face, educated to monastic dissimulation, +possessing the secrets of the _montagnards_ to whom he belonged, and +those of the royalists to whom he ended by belonging, had slowly and +silently studied the men, the events, and the interests on the +political stage; he penetrated Napoleon's secrets, he gave him useful +counsel and precious information. Satisfied with having proven his +capacity and his usefulness, Fouche was careful not to disclose +himself completely. He wished to remain at the head of affairs, but +the Emperor's restless uneasiness about him cost him his place. + +The ingratitude or rather the distrust shown by Napoleon after the +affair at Walcheren, gives the key-note to the character of a man who, +unfortunately for himself, was not a great _seigneur_, and whose +conduct was modelled on that of Talleyrand. At that time neither his +former colleagues nor his present ones had suspected the amplitude of +his genius, which was purely ministerial, essentially governmental, +just in its forecasts and incredibly sagacious. To-day, every +impartial historian perceives that Napoleon's inordinate self-love was +among the chief causes of his fall, a punishment which cruelly +expiated his wrong-doing. In the mind of that distrustful sovereign +lurked a constant jealousy for his own rising power, which influenced +all his actions, and caused his secret hatred for men of talent, the +precious legacy of the Revolution, with whom he might have made +himself a cabinet capable of being a true repository for his thoughts. +Talleyrand and Fouche were not the only ones who gave him umbrage. The +misfortune of usurpers is that those who have given them a crown are +as much their enemies as those from whom they snatch it. Napoleon's +sovereignty was never convincingly felt by those who were once his +superiors or his equals, nor by those who still held to the doctrine +of rights; none of them regarded their oath of allegiance to him as +binding. + +Malin, an inferior man, incapable of comprehending Fouche's hidden +genius, or of distrusting his own perceptions, burned himself, like a +moth in a candle, by asking him confidentially to send agents to +Gondreville, where, he said, he hoped to obtain certain clues to the +conspiracy. Fouche, without alarming his friend by any questions, +asked himself why Malin was going to Gondreville, and why he did not +immediately and without loss of time, give the information he already +possessed. The ex-Oratorian, fed from his youth up on trickery, and +well aware of the double part played by a good many of the +conventionals, said to himself: "From whom is Malin likely to obtain +information when we ourselves know little or nothing?" Fouche +concluded therefore that there was some either latent or prospective +collusion, and took care to say nothing about it to the First Consul. +He preferred to make Malin his instrument rather than destroy him. It +was Fouche's habit to keep to himself a good part of the secrets he +detected, and he thus obtained for his own purposes a power over those +concerned which was even greater than that of Bonaparte. This +duplicity was one of the Emperor's charges against his minister. + +Fouche knew of the swindling transaction by which Malin became +possessed of Gondreville and which led him to keep his eyes so +anxiously on the Simeuse brothers. These gentlemen were now serving +in the army of Conde; Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne was their cousin; +possibly they were in her neighborhood, and were sharers in the +conspiracy; if so, it would implicate the house of Conde to which they +were devoted. Talleyrand and Fouche were bent on casting light into +this dark corner of the conspiracy of 1803. All these considerations +Fouche saw at a glance, rapidly and with great clearness. But between +Malin, Talleyrand, and himself there were strong ties which forced him +to the utmost circumspection, and made him anxious to know the exact +state of things within the walls of Gondreville. Corentin was +unreservedly attached to Fouche, just as Monsieur de la Besnardiere +was to Talleyrand, Gentz to Monsieur de Metternich, Dundas to Pitt, +Duroc to Napoleon, Chavigny to Cardinal Richelieu. Corentin was not +the counsellor of his master, but his instrument, the Tristan to this +Louis XI. of low estate. Fouche had kept him in the ministry of the +police when he himself left it, so as to still keep an eye and a +finger in it. It was said that Corentin belonged to Fouche by some +unavowed relationship, for he rewarded him lavishly after every +service. Corentin had a friend in Peyrade, the old pupil of the last +lieutenant of police; but he kept a good many of his secrets from him. +Fouche gave Corentin an order to explore the chateau of Gondreville, +to get the plan of it into his memory, and to know every hiding-place +within its walls. + +"We may be obliged to return there," said the ex-minister, precisely +as Napoleon told his lieutenants to explore the field of Austerlitz on +which he intended to fall back. + +Corentin was also to study Malin's conduct, discover what influence he +had in the neighborhood, and observe the men he employed. Fouche +regarded it as certain that the Simeuse brothers were in that part of +the country. By cautiously watching the two officers, who were closely +allied with the Prince de Conde, Peyrade and Corentin could obtain +precious light on the ramifications of the conspiracy beyond the +Rhine. In any case, however, Corentin received the means, the orders, +and the agents, to surround the chateau of Cinq-Cygne and watch the +whole region, from the forest of Nodesme into Paris. Fouche insisted +on the utmost caution, and would only allow a domiciliary visit to +Cinq-Cygne in case Malin gave them positive information which made it +necessary. By way of instructions he explained to Corentin the +otherwise inexplicable personality of Michu, who had been watched by +the police for the last three years. Corentin's idea was that of his +master: "Malin knows all about the conspiracy--But," he added to +himself, "perhaps Fouche does, too; who knows?" + +Corentin, having started for Troyes before Malin, had made +arrangements with the commandant of the gendarmerie in that town, who +picked out a number of his most intelligent men and placed them under +orders of an able captain. Corentin chose Gondreville as the place of +rendezvous, and directed the captain to send some of his men at night +in four detachments to different points of the valley of Cinq-Cygne at +sufficient distance from each other to cause no alarm. These four +pickets were to form a square and close in around the chateau of +Cinq-Cygne. By leaving Corentin alone at Gondreville during his +consultation in the fields with Grevin, Malin had enabled him to +fulfil part of Fouche's orders and explore the house. When the +Councillor of State returned home he told Corentin so positively that +the d'Hauteserre and Simeuse brothers were in the neighborhood and +probably at Cinq-Cygne that the two agents despatched the captain with +the rest of his company, who, fortunately for the four gentlemen, +crossed the forest on their way to the chateau during the time when +Michu was making Violette drunk. Malin had told Corentin and Peyrade +of the escape he had from lying in wait for him. The two agents +related the incident of the gun they had seen the bailiff load, and +Grevin had sent Violette to obtain information as to what was going on +at Michu's house. Corentin advised the notary to take Malin to his own +house in the little town of Arcis, and let him sleep there as a +measure of precaution. At the moment when Michu and his wife were +rushing through the forest on their way to Cinq-Cygne, Peyrade and +Corentin were starting from Gondreville for Cinq-Cygne in a shabby +wicker carriage, drawn by one post-horse driven by the corporal of +Arcis, one of the shrewdest men in the Legion, whom the commandant at +Troyes advised them to employ. + +"The surest way to seize them all is to warn them," said Peyrade to +Corentin. "At the moment when they are well frightened and are trying +to save their papers or to escape we'll fall upon them like a +thunderbolt. The gendarmes surround the chateau now and are as good +as a net. We sha'n't lose one of them!" + +"You had better send the mayor to warn them," said the corporal. "He +is friendly to them and wouldn't like to see them harmed; they won't +distrust him." + +Just as Goulard was preparing to go to bed, Corentin, who stopped the +vehicle in a little wood, went to his house and told him, +confidentially, that in a few moments an emissary from the government +would require him to enter the chateau of Cinq-Cygne and arrest the +brothers d'Hauteserre and Simeuse; and in case they had already +disappeared he would have to ascertain if they had slept there the +night before, search Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne's papers, and, +possibly, arrest both the masters and servants of the household. + +"Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne," said Corentin, "is undoubtedly protected +by some great personages, for I have received private orders to warn +her of this visit, and to do all I can to save her without +compromising myself. Once on the ground, I shall no longer be able to +do so, for I am not alone; go to the chateau yourself and warn them." + +The mayor's visit at that time of night was all the more bewildering +to the card-players when they saw the agitation of his face. + +"Where is the countess?" were his first words. + +"She has gone to bed," said Madame d'Hauteserre. + +The mayor, incredulous, listened to noises that were heard on the +upper floor. + +"What is the matter with you, Goulard?" said Monsieur d'Hauteserre. + +Goulard was dumb with surprise as he noted the tranquil ease of the +faces about him. Observing the peaceful and innocent game of cards +which he had thus interrupted, he was unable to imagine what the +Parisian police meant by their suspicions. + +At that moment Laurence, kneeling in her oratory, was praying +fervently for the success of the conspiracy. She prayed to God to send +help and succor to the murderers of Bonaparte. She implored Him +ardently to destroy that fatal being. The fanaticism of Harmodius, +Judith, Jacques Clement, Ankarstroem, of Charlotte Corday and +Limoelan, inspired this pure and virgin spirit. Catherine was +preparing the bed, Gothard was closing the blinds, when Marthe Michu +coming under the windows flung a pebble on the glass and was seen at +once. + +"Mademoiselle, here's some one," said Gothard, seeing a woman. + +"Hush!" said Marthe, in a low voice. "Come down and speak to me." + +Gothard was in the garden in less time than a bird would have taken to +fly down from a tree. + +"In a minute the chateau will be surrounded by the gendarmerie. Saddle +mademoiselle's horse without making any noise and take it down through +the breach in the moat between the stables and this tower." + +Marthe quivered when she saw Laurence, who had followed Gothard, +standing beside her. + +"What is it?" asked Laurence, quietly. + +"The conspiracy against the First Consul is discovered," replied +Marthe, in a whisper. "My husband, who seeks to save your two cousins, +sends me to ask you to come and speak to him." + +Laurence drew back and looked at Marthe. "Who are you?" she said. + +"Marthe Michu." + +"I do not know what you want of me," replied the countess, coldly. + +"Take care, you will kill them. Come with me, I implore you in the +Simeuse name," said Marthe, clasping her hands and stretching them +towards Laurence. "Have you papers here which may compromise you? If +so, destroy them. From the heights over there my husband has just seen +the silver-laced hats and the muskets of the gendarmerie." + +Gothard had already clambered to the hay-loft and seen the same sight; +he heard in the stillness of the evening the sound of their horses' +hoofs. Down he slipped into the stable and saddled his mistress's +mare, whose feet Catherine, at a word from the lad, muffled in linen. + +"Where am I to go?" said Laurence to Marthe, whose look and language +bore the unmistakable signs of sincerity. + +"Through the breach," she replied; "my noble husband is there. You +shall learn the value of a 'Judas'!" + +Catherine went quickly into the salon, picked up the hat, veil, whip, +and gloves of her mistress, and disappeared. This sudden apparition +and action were so striking a commentary on the mayor's inquiry that +Madame d'Hauteserre and the abbe exchanged glances which contained the +melancholy thought: "Farewell to all our peace! Laurence is +conspiring; she will be the death of her cousins." + +"But what do you really mean?" said Monsieur d'Hauteserre to the +mayor. + +"The chateau is surrounded. You are about to receive a domiciliary +visit. If your sons are here tell them to escape, and the Simeuse +brothers too, if they are with them." + +"My sons!" exclaimed Madame d'Hauteserre, stupefied. + +"We have seen no one," said Monsieur d'Hauteserre. + +"So much the better," said Goulard; "but I care too much for the +Cinq-Cygne and Simeuse families to let any harm come to them. Listen +to me. If you have any compromising papers--" + +"Papers!" repeated the old gentleman. + +"Yes, if you have any, burn them at once," said the mayor. "I'll go +and amuse the police agents." + +Goulard, whose object was to run with the royalist hare and hold with +the republican hounds, left the room; at that moment the dogs barked +violently. + +"There is no longer time," said the abbe, "here they come! But who is +to warn the countess? Where is she?" + +"Catherine didn't come for her hat and whip to make relics of them," +remarked Mademoiselle Goujet. + +Goulard tried to detain the two agents for a few moments, assuring +them of the perfect ignorance of the family at Cinq-Cygne. + +"You don't know these people!" said Peyrade, laughing at him. + +The two agents, insinuatingly dangerous, entered the house at once, +followed by the corporal from Arcis and one gendarme. The sight of +them paralyzed the peaceful card-players, who kept their seats at the +table, terrified by such a display of force. The noise produced by a +dozen gendarmes whose horses were stamping on the terrace, was heard +without. + +"I do not see Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne," said Corentin. + +"She is probably asleep in her bedroom," said Monsieur d'Hauteserre. + +"Come with me, ladies," said Corentin, turning to pass through the +ante-chamber and up the staircase, followed by Mademoiselle Goujet and +Madame d'Hauteserre. "Rely upon me," he whispered to the old lady. "I +am in your interests. I sent the mayor to warn you. Distrust my +colleague and look to me. I can save every one of you." + +"But what is it all about?" said Mademoiselle Goujet. + +"A matter of life and death; you must know that," replied Corentin. + +Madame d'Hauteserre fainted. To Mademoiselle Goujet's great +astonishment and Corentin's disappointment, Laurence's room was empty. +Certain that no one could have escaped from the park or the chateau, +for all the issues were guarded, Corentin stationed a gendarme in +every room and ordered others to search the farm buildings, stables, +and sheds. Then he returned to the salon, where Durieu and his wife +and the other servants had rushed in the wildest excitement. Peyrade +was studying their faces with his little blue eye, cold and calm in +the midst of the uproar. Just as Corentin reappeared alone +(Mademoiselle Goujet remaining behind to take care of Madame +d'Hauteserre) the tramp of horses was heard, and presently the sound +of a child's weeping. The horses entered by the small gate; and the +general suspense was put an end to by a corporal appearing at the door +of the salon pushing Gothard, whose hands were tied, and Catherine +whom he led to the agents. + +"Here are some prisoners," he said; "that little scamp was escaping on +horseback." + +"Fool!" said Corentin, in his ear, "why didn't you let him alone? You +could have found out something by following him." + +Gothard had chosen to burst into tears and behave like an idiot. +Catherine took an attitude of artless innocence which made the old +agent reflective. The pupil of Lenoir, after considering the two +prisoners carefully, and noting the vacant air of the old gentleman +whom he took to be sly, the intelligent eye of the abbe who was still +fingering the cards, and the utter stupefaction of the servants and +Durieu, approached Corentin and whispered in his ear, "We are not +dealing with ninnies." + +Corentin answered with a look at the card-table; then he added, "They +were playing at boston! Mademoiselle's bed was just being made for the +night; she escaped in a hurry; it is a regular surprise; we shall +catch them." + + + + CHAPTER VII + + A FOREST NOOK + +A breach has always a cause and a purpose. Here is the explanation of +how the one which led from the tower called that of Mademoiselle and +the stables came to be made. After his installation as Laurence's +guardian at Cinq-Cygne old d'Hauteserre converted a long ravine, +through which the water of the forest flowed into the moat, into a +roadway between two tracts of uncultivated land belonging to the +chateau, by merely planting out in it about a hundred walnut trees +which he found ready in the nursery. In eleven years these trees had +grown and branched so as to nearly cover the road, hidden already by +steep banks, which ran into a little wood of thirty acres recently +purchased. When the chateau had its full complement of inhabitants +they all preferred to take this covered way through the breach to the +main road which skirted the park walls and led to the farm, rather +than go round by the entrance. By dint of thus using it the breach in +the sides of the moat had gradually been widened on both sides, with +all the less scruple because in this nineteenth century of ours moats +are no longer of the slightest use, and Laurence's guardian had often +talked of putting this one to some other purpose. The constant +crumbling away of the earth and stones and gravel had ended by filling +up the ditch, so that only after heavy rains was the causeway thus +constructed covered. But the bank was still so steep that it was +difficult to make a horse descend it, and even more difficult to get +him up upon the main road. Horses, however, seem in times of peril to +share their masters' thought. + +While the young countess was hesitating to follow Marthe, and asking +explanations, Michu, from his vantage-ground watched the closing in of +the gendarmes and understood their plan. He grew desperate as time +went by and the countess did not come to him. A squad of gendarmes +were marching along the park wall and stationing themselves as +sentinels, each man being near enough to communicate with those on +either side of them, by voice and eye. Michu, lying flat on his +stomach, his ear to earth, gauged, like a red Indian, by the strength +of the sounds the time that remained to him. + +"I came too late!" he said to himself. "Violette shall pay dear for +this! what a time it took to make him drunk! What can be done?" + +He heard the detachment that was coming through the forest reach the +iron gates and turn into the main road, where before long it would +meet the squad coming up from the other direction. + +"Still five or six minutes!" he said. + +At that instant the countess appeared. Michu took her with a firm hand +and pushed her into the covered way. + +"Keep straight before you! Lead her to where my horse is," he said to +his wife, "and remember that gendarmes have ears." + +Seeing Catherine, who carried the hat and whip, and Gothard leading +the mare, the man, keen-witted in presence of danger, bethought +himself of playing the gendarmes a trick as useful as the one he had +just played Violette. Gothard had forced the mare to mount the bank. + +"Her feet muffled! I thank thee, boy," exclaimed the bailiff. + +Michu let the mare follow her mistress and took the hat, gloves, and +whip from Catherine. + +"You have sense, boy, you'll understand me," he said. "Force your own +horse up here, jump on him, and draw the gendarmes after you across +the fields towards the farm; get the whole squad to follow you--And +you," he added to Catherine, "there are other gendarmes coming up on +the road from Cinq-Cygne to Gondreville; run in the opposite direction +to the one Gothard takes, and draw them towards the forest. Manage so +that we shall not be interfered with in the covered way." + +Catherine and the boy, who were destined to give in this affair such +remarkable proofs of intelligence, executed the manoeuvre in a way to +make both detachments of gendarmes believe that they held the game. +The dim light of the moon prevented the pursuers from distinguishing +the figure, clothing, sex, or number of those they followed. The +pursuit was based on the maxim, "Always arrest those who are +escaping,"--the folly of which saying was, as we have seen, +energetically declared by Corentin to the corporal in command. Michu, +counting on this instinct of the gendarmes, was able to reach the +forest a few moments after the countess, whom Marthe had guided to the +appointed place. + +"Go home now," he said to Marthe. "The forest is watched and it is +dangerous to remain here. We need all our freedom." + +Michu unfastened his horse and asked the countess to follow him. + +"I shall not go a step further," said Laurence, "unless you give me +some proof of the interest you seem to have in us--for, after all, you +are Michu." + +"Mademoiselle," he answered, in a gentle voice; "the part I am playing +can be explained to you in two words. I am, unknown to the Marquis de +Simeuse and his brother, the guardian of their property. On this +subject I received the last instructions of their late father and +their dear mother, my protectress. I have played the part of a +virulent Jacobin to serve my dear young masters. Unhappily, I began +this course too late; I could not save their parents." Here, Michu's +voice broke down. "Since the young men emigrated I have sent them +regularly the sums they needed to live upon." + +"Through the house of Breintmayer of Strasburg?" asked the countess. + +"Yes, mademoiselle; the correspondents of Monsieur Girel of Troyes, a +royalist who, like me, made himself for good reasons, a Jacobin. The +paper which your farmer picked up one evening and which I forced him +to surrender, related to the affair and would have compromised your +cousins. My life no longer belongs to me, but to them, you understand. +I could not buy in Gondreville. In my position, I should have lost my +head had the authorities known I had the money. I preferred to wait +and buy it later. But that scoundrel of a Marion was the slave of +another scoundrel, Malin. All the same, Gondreville shall once more +belong to its rightful masters. That's my affair. Four hours ago I had +Malin sighted by my gun; ha! he was almost gone then! Were he dead, +the property would be sold and you could have bought it. In case of my +death my wife would have brought you a letter which would have given +you the means of buying it. But I overheard that villain telling his +accomplice Grevin--another scoundrel like himself--that the Marquis +and his brother were conspiring against the First Consul, that they +were here in the neighborhood, and that he meant to give them up and +get rid of them so as to keep Gondreville in peace. I myself saw the +police spies; I laid aside my gun, and I have lost no time in coming +here, thinking that you must be the one to know best how to warn the +young men. That's the whole of it." + +"You are worthy to be a noble," said Laurence, offering her hand to +Michu, who tried to kneel and kiss it. She saw his motion and +prevented it, saying: "Stand up!" in a tone of voice and with a look +which made him amends for all the scorn of the last twelve years. + +"You reward me as though I had done all that remains for me to do," he +said. "But don't you hear them, those huzzars of the guillotine? Let +us go elsewhere." + +He took the mare's bridle, and led her a little distance. + +"Think only of sitting firm," he said, "and of saving your head from +the branches of the trees which might strike you in the face." + +Then he mounted his own horse and guided the young girl for half an +hour at full gallop; making turns and half turns, and striking into +wood-paths, so as to confuse their traces, until they reached a spot +where he pulled up. + +"I don't know where I am," said the countess looking about her,--"I, +who know the forest as well as you do." + +"We are in the heart of it," he replied. "Two gendarmes are after us, +but we are quite safe." + +The picturesque spot to which the bailiff had guided Laurence was +destined to be so fatal to the principal personages of this drama, and +to Michu himself, that it becomes our duty, as an historian, to +describe it. The scene became, as we shall see hereafter, one of noted +interest in the judiciary annals of the Empire. + +The forest of Nodesme belonged to the monastery of Notre-Dame. That +monastery, seized, sacked, and demolished, had disappeared entirely, +monks and property. The forest, an object of much cupidity, was taken +into the domain of the Comtes de Champagne, who mortgaged it later and +allowed it to be sold. In the course of six centuries nature covered +its ruins with her rich and vigorous green mantle, and effaced them so +thoroughly that the existence of one of the finest convents was no +longer even indicated except by a slight eminence shaded by noble +trees and circled by thick, impenetrable shrubbery, which, since 1794, +Michu had taken great pains to make still more impenetrable by +planting the thorny acacia in all the slight openings between the +bushes. A pond was at the foot of the eminence and showed the +existence of a hidden stream which no doubt determined in former days +the site of the monastery. The late owner of the title to the forest +of Nodesme was the first to recognize the etymology of the name, which +dated back for eight centuries, and to discover that at one time a +monastery had existed in the heart of the forest. When the first +rumblings of the thunder of the Revolution were heard, the Marquis de +Simeuse, who had been forced to look into his title by a lawsuit and +so learned the above facts as it were by chance, began, with a secret +intention not difficult to conceive, to search for some remains of the +former monastery. The keeper, Michu, to whom the forest was well +known, helped his master in the search, and it was his sagacity as a +forester which led to the discovery of the site. Observing the trend +of the five chief roads of the forest, some of which were now effaced, +he saw that they all ended either at the little eminence or by the +pond at the foot of it, to which points travellers from Troyes, from +the valley of Arcis and that of Cinq-Cygne, and from Bar-sur-Aube +doubtless came. The marquis wished to excavate the hillock but he +dared not employ the people of the neighborhood. Pressed by +circumstances, he abandoned the intention, leaving in Michu's mind a +strong conviction that the eminence had either the treasure or the +foundations of the former abbey. He continued, all alone, this +archaeological enterprise; he sounded the earth and discovered a +hollowness on the level of the pond between two trees, at the foot of +the only craggy part of the hillock. + +One fine night he came to the place armed with a pickaxe, and by the +sweat of his brow uncovered a succession of cellars, which were +entered by a flight of stone steps. The pond, which was three feet +deep in the middle, formed a sort of dipper, the handle of which +seemed to come from the little eminence, and went far to prove that a +spring had once issued from the crags, and was now lost by +infiltration through the forest. The marshy shores of the pond, +covered with aquatic trees, alders, willow, and ash, were the terminus +of all the wood-paths, the remains of former roads and forest by-ways, +now abandoned. The water, flowing from a spring, though apparently +stagnant, was covered with large-leaved plants and cresses, which gave +it a perfectly green surface almost indistinguishable from the shores, +which were covered with fine close herbage. The place is too far from +human habitations for any animal, unless a wild one, to come there. +Convinced that no game was in the marsh and repelled by the craggy +sides of the hills, keepers and hunters had never explored or visited +this nook, which belonged to a part of the forest where the timber had +not been cut for many years and which Michu meant to keep in its full +growth when the time came round to fell it. + +At the further end of the first cellar was a vaulted chamber, clean +and dry, built with hewn stone, a sort of convent dungeon, such as +they called in monastic days the _in pace_. The salubrity of the +chamber and the preservation of this part of the staircase and of the +vaults were explained by the presence of the spring, which had been +enclosed at some time by a wall of extraordinary thickness built in +brick and cement like those of the Romans, and received all the +waters. Michu closed the entrance to this retreat with large stones; +then, to keep the secret of it to himself and make it impenetrable to +others, he made a rule never to enter it except from the wooded height +above, by clambering down the crag instead of approaching it from the +pond. + +Just as the fugitives arrived, the moon was casting her beautiful +silvery light on the aged tree-tops above the crag, and flickering on +the splendid foliage at the corners of the several paths, all of which +ended here, some with one tree, some with a group of trees. On all +sides the eye was irresistibly led along their vanishing perspectives, +following the curve of a wood-path or the solemn stretch of a forest +glade flanked by a wall of verdure that was nearly black. The +moonlight, filtering through the branches of the crossways, made the +lonely, tranquil waters, where they peeped between the crosses and the +lily-pads, sparkle like diamonds. The croaking of the frogs broke the +deep silence of this beautiful forest-nook, the wild odors of which +incited the soul to thoughts of liberty. + +"Are we safe?" said the countess to Michu. + +"Yes, mademoiselle. But we have each some work to do. Do you go and +fasten our horses to the trees at the top of the little hill; tie a +handkerchief round the mouth of each of them," he said, giving her his +cravat; "your beast and mine are both intelligent, they will +understand they are not to neigh. When you have done that, come down +the crag directly above the pond; but don't let your habit catch +anywhere. You will find me below." + +While the countess hid the horses and tied and gagged them, Michu +removed the stones and opened the entrance to the caverns. The +countess, who thought she knew the forest by heart, was amazed when +she descended into the vaulted chambers. Michu replaced the stones +above them with the dexterity of a mason. As he finished, the sound of +horses' feet and the voices of the gendarmes echoed in the darkness; +but he quietly struck a match, lighted a resinous bit of wood and led +the countess to the _in pace_, where there was still a piece of the +candle with which he had first explored the caves. An iron door of +some thickness, eaten in several places by rust, had been put in good +order by the bailiff, and could be fastened securely by bars slipping +into holes in the wall on either side of it. The countess, half dead +with fatigue, sat down on a stone bench, above which there still +remained an iron ring, the staple of which was embedded in the +masonry. + +"We have a salon to converse in," said Michu. "The gendarmes may prowl +as much as they like; the worst they could do would be to take our +horses." + +"If they do that," said Laurence, "it would be the death of my cousins +and the Messieurs d'Hauteserre. Tell me now, what do you know?" + +Michu related what he had overheard Malin say to Grevin. + +"They are already on the road to Paris; they were to enter it +to-morrow morning," said the countess when he had finished. + +"Lost!" exclaimed Michu. "All persons entering or leaving the barriers +are examined. Malin has strong reasons to let my masters compromise +themselves; he is seeking to get them killed out of his way." + +"And I, who don't know anything of the general plan of the affair," +cried Laurence, "how can I warn Georges, Riviere, and Moreau? Where +are they?--However, let us think only of my cousins and the +d'Hauteserres; you must catch up with them, no matter what it costs." + +"The telegraph goes faster than the best horse," said Michu; "and of +all the nobles concerned in this conspiracy your cousins are the +closest watched. If I can find them, they must be hidden here and kept +here till the affair is over. Their poor father may have had a +foreboding when he set me to search for this hiding-place; perhaps he +felt that his sons would be saved here." + +"My mare is from the stables of the Comte d'Artois,--she is the +daughter of his finest English horse," said Laurence; "but she has +already gone sixty miles, she would drop dead before you reached +them." + +"Mine is in good condition," replied Michu; "and if you did sixty +miles I shall have only thirty to do." + +"Nearer forty," she said, "they have been walking since dark. You will +overtake them beyond Lagny, at Coupvrai, where they expected to be at +daybreak. They are disguised as sailors, and will enter Paris by the +river on some vessel. This," she added, taking half of her mother's +wedding-ring from her finger, "is the only thing which will make them +trust you; they have the other half. The keeper of Couvrai is the +father of one of their soldiers; he has hidden them tonight in a hut +in the forest deserted by charcoal-burners. They are eight in all, +Messieurs d'Hauteserre and four others are with my cousins." + +"Mademoiselle, no one is looking for the others! let them save +themselves as they can; we must think only of the Messieurs de +Simeuse. It is enough just to warn the rest." + +"What! abandon the Hauteserres? never!" she said. "They must all +perish or be saved together!" + +"Only petty noblemen!" remarked Michu. + +"They are only chevaliers, I know that," she replied, "but they are +related to the Cinq-Cygne and Simeuse blood. Save them all, and advise +them how best to regain this forest." + +"The gendarmes are here,--don't you hear them? they are holding a +council of war." + +"Well, you have twice had luck to-night; go! bring my cousins here and +hide them in these vaults; they'll be safe from all pursuit--Alas! I +am good for nothing!" she cried, with rage; "I should be only a beacon +to light the enemy--but the police will never imagine that my cousins +are in the forest if they see me at my ease. So the question resolves +itself into this: how can we get five good horses to bring them in six +hours from Lagny to the forest,--five horses to be killed and hidden +in some thicket." + +"And the money?" said Michu, who was thinking deeply as he listened to +the young countess. + +"I gave my cousins a hundred louis this evening," she replied. + +"I'll answer for them!" cried Michu. "But once hidden here you must +not attempt to see them. My wife, or the little one, shall bring them +food twice a week. But, as I can't be sure of what may happen to me, +remember, mademoiselle, in case of trouble, that the main beam in my +hay-loft has been bored with an auger. In the hole, which is plugged +with a bit of wood, you will find a plan showing how to reach this +spot. The trees which you will find marked with a red dot on the plan +have a black mark at their foot close to the earth. Each of these +trees is a sign-post. At the foot of the third old oak which stands to +the left of each sign-post, two feet in front of it and buried seven +feet in the ground, you will find a large metal tube; in each tube are +one hundred thousand francs in gold. These eleven trees--there are +only eleven--contain the whole fortune of the Simeuse brothers, now +that Gondreville has been taken from them." + +"It will take a hundred years for the nobility to recover from such +blows," said Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne, slowly. + +"Is there a pass-word?" asked Michu. + +"'France and Charles' for the soldiers, 'Laurence and Louis' for the +Messieurs d'Hauteserre and Simeuse. Good God! to think that I saw them +yesterday for the first time in eleven years, and that now they are in +danger of death--and what a death! Michu," she said, with a melancholy +look, "be as prudent during the next fifteen hours as you have been +grand and devoted during the last twelve years. If disaster were to +overtake my cousins now I should die of it--No," she added, quickly, +"I would live long enough to kill Bonaparte." + +"There will be two of us to do that when all is lost," said Michu. + +Laurence took his rough hand and wrung it warmly, as the English do. +Michu looked at his watch; it was midnight. + +"We must leave here at any cost," he said. "Death to the gendarme who +attempts to stop me! And you, madame la comtesse, without presuming to +dictate, ride back to Cinq-Cygne as fast as you can. The police are +there by this time; fool them! delay them!" + +The hole once opened, Michu flung himself down with his ear to the +earth; then he rose precipitately. "The gendarmes are at the edge of +the forest towards Troyes!" he said. "Ha, I'll get the better of them +yet!" + +He helped the countess to come out, and replaced the stones. When this +was done he heard her soft voice telling him she must see him mounted +before mounting herself. Tears came to the eyes of the stern man as he +exchanged a last look with his young mistress, whose own eyes were +tearless. + +"Fool them! yes, he is right!" she said when she heard him no longer. +Then she darted towards Cinq-Cygne at full gallop. + + + + CHAPTER VIII + + TRIALS OF THE POLICE + +Madame d'Hauteserre, roused by the danger of her sons, and not +believing that the Revolution was over, but still fearing its summary +justice, recovered her senses by the violence of the same distress +which made her lose them. Led by an agonizing curiosity she returned +to the salon, which presented a picture worthy of the brush of a genre +painter. The abbe, still seated at the card-table and mechanically +playing with the counters, was covertly observing Corentin and +Peyrade, who were standing together at a corner of the fireplace and +speaking in a low voice. Several times Corentin's keen eye met the not +less keen glance of the priest; but, like two adversaries who knew +themselves equally strong, and who return to their guard after +crossing their weapons, each averted his eyes the instant they met. +The worthy old d'Hauteserre, poised on his long thin legs like a +heron, was standing beside the stout form of the mayor, in an attitude +expressive of utter stupefaction. The mayor, though dressed as a +bourgeois, always looked like a servant. Each gazed with a bewildered +eye at the gendarmes, in whose clutches Gothard was still sobbing, his +hands purple and swollen from the tightness of the cord that bound +them. Catherine maintained her attitude of artless simplicity, which +was quite impenetrable. The corporal, who, according to Corentin, had +committed a great blunder in arresting these smaller fry, did not know +whether to stay where he was or to depart. He stood pensively in the +middle of the salon, his hand on the hilt of his sabre, his eye on the +two Parisians. The Durieus, also stupefied, and the other servants of +the chateau made an admirable group of expressive uneasiness. If it +had not been for Gothard's convulsive snifflings those present could +have heard the flies fly. + +When Madame d'Hauteserre, pale and terrified, opened the door and +entered the room, almost carried by Mademoiselle Goujet, whose red +eyes had evidently been weeping, all faces turned to her at once. The +two agents hoped as much as the household feared to see Laurence +enter. This spontaneous movement of both masters and servants seemed +produced by the sort of mechanism which makes a number of wooden +figures perform the same gesture or wink the same eye. + +Madame d'Hauteserre advanced by three rapid strides towards Corentin +and said, in a broken voice but violently: "For pity's sake, monsieur, +tell me what my sons are accused of. Do you really think they have +been here?" + +The abbe, who seemed to be saying to himself when he saw the old lady, +"She will certainly commit some folly," lowered his eyes. + +"My duty and the mission I am engaged in forbid me to tell you," +answered Corentin, with a gracious but rather mocking air. + +This refusal, which the detestable politeness of the vulgar fop seemed +to make all the more emphatic, petrified the poor mother, who fell +into a chair beside the Abbe Goujet, clasped her hands and began to +pray. + +"Where did you arrest that blubber?" asked Corentin, addressing the +corporal and pointing to Laurence's little henchman. + +"On the road that leads to the farm along the park walls; the little +scamp had nearly reached the Closeaux woods," replied the corporal. + +"And that girl?" + +"She? oh, it was Oliver who caught her." + +"Where was she going?" + +"Towards Gondreville." + +"They were going in opposite directions?" said Corentin. + +"Yes," replied the gendarme. + +"Is that boy the groom, and the girl the maid of the citizeness +Cinq-Cygne?" said Corentin to the mayor. + +"Yes," replied Goulard. + +After Corentin had exchanged a few words with Peyrade in a whisper, +the latter left the room, taking the corporal of gendarmes with him. + +Just then the corporal of Arcis made his appearance. He went up to +Corentin and spoke to him in a low voice: "I know these premises +well," he said; "I have searched everywhere; unless those young +fellows are buried, they are not here. We have sounded all the floors +and walls with the butt end of our muskets." + +Peyrade, who presently returned, signed to Corentin to come out, and +then took him to the breach in the moat and showed him the sunken way. + +"We have guessed the trick," said Peyrade. + +"And I'll tell you how it was done," added Corentin. "That little +scamp and the girl decoyed those idiots of gendarmes and thus made +time for the game to escape." + +"We can't know the truth till daylight," said Peyrade. "The road is +damp; I have ordered two gendarmes to barricade it top and bottom. +We'll examine it after daylight, and find out by the footsteps who +went that way." + +"I see a hoof-mark," said Corentin; "let us go to the stables." + +"How many horses do you keep?" said Peyrade, returning to the salon +with Corentin, and addressing Monsieur d'Hauteserre and Goulard. + +"Come, monsieur le maire, you know, answer," cried Corentin, seeing +that that functionary hesitated. + +"Why, there's the countess's mare, Gothard's horse, and Monsieur +d'Hauteserre's." + +"There is only one in the stable," said Peyrade. + +"Mademoiselle is out riding," said Durieu. + +"Does she often ride about at this time of night?" said the libertine +Peyrade, addressing Monsieur d'Hauteserre. + +"Often," said the good man, simply. "Monsieur le maire can tell you +that." + +"Everybody knows she has her freaks," remarked Catherine; "she looked +at the sky before she went to bed, and I think the glitter of your +bayonets in the moonlight puzzled her. She told me she wanted to know +if there was going to be another revolution." + +"When did she go?" asked Peyrade. + +"When she saw your guns." + +"Which road did she take?" + +"I don't know." + +"There's another horse missing," said Corentin. + +"The gendarmes--took it--away from me," said Gothard. + +"Where were you going?" said one of them. + +"I was--following--my mistress to the farm," sobbed the boy. + +The gendarme looked towards Corentin as if expecting an order. But +Gothard's speech was evidently so true and yet so false, so perfectly +innocent and so artful that the two Parisians again looked at each +other as if to echo Peyrade's former words: "They are not ninnies." + +Monsieur d'Hauteserre seemed incapable of a word; the mayor was +bewildered; the mother, imbecile from maternal fears, was putting +questions to the police agents that were idiotically innocent; the +servants had been roused from their sleep. Judging by these trifling +signs, and these diverse characters, Corentin came to the conclusion +that his only real adversary was Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne. Shrewd +and dexterous as the police may be, they are always under certain +disadvantages. Not only are they forced to discover all that is known +to a conspirator, but they must also suppose and test a great number +of things before they hit upon the right one. The conspirator is +always thinking of his own safety, whereas the police is only on duty +at certain hours. Were it not for treachery and betrayals, nothing +would be easier than to conspire successfully. The conspirator has +more mind concentrated upon himself than the police can bring to bear +with all its vast facilities of action. Finding themselves stopped +short morally, as they might be physically by a door which they +expected to find open being shut in their faces, Corentin and Peyrade +saw they were tricked and misled, without knowing by whom. + +"I assert," said the corporal of Arcis, in their ear, "that if the +four young men slept here last night it must have been in the beds of +their father and mother, and Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne, or those of +the servants; or they must have spent the night in the park. There is +not a trace of their presence." + +"Who could have warned them?" said Corentin, to Peyrade. "No one but +the First Consul, Fouche, the ministers, the prefect of police, and +Malin knew anything about it." + +"We must set spies in the neighborhood," whispered Peyrade. + +"And watch the spies," said the abbe, who smiled as he overheard the +word and guessed all. + +"Good God!" thought Corentin, replying to the abbe's smile with one of +his own; "there is but one intelligent being here,--he's the one to +come to an understanding with; I'll try him." + +"Gentlemen--" said the mayor, anxious to give some proof of devotion +to the First Consul and addressing the two agents. + +"Say 'citizens'; the Republic still exists," interrupted Corentin, +looking at the priest with a quizzical air. + +"Citizens," resumed the mayor, "just as I entered this salon and +before I had opened my mouth Catherine rushed in and took her +mistress's hat, gloves, and whip." + +A low murmur of horror came from the breasts of all the household +except Gothard. All eyes but those of the agent and the gendarmes were +turned threateningly on Goulard, the informer, seeming to dart flames +at him. + +"Very good, citizen mayor," said Peyrade. "We see it all plainly. Some +one" (this with a glance of evident distrust at Corentin) "warned the +citizeness Cinq-Cygne in time." + +"Corporal, handcuff that boy," said Corentin, to the gendarme, "and +take him away by himself. And shut up that girl, too," pointing to +Catherine. "As for you, Peyrade, search for papers," adding in his +ear, "Ransack everything, spare nothing.--Monsieur l'abbe," he said, +confidentially, "I have an important communication to make to you"; +and he took him into the garden. + +"Listen to me attentively, monsieur," he went on; "you seem to have +the mind of a bishop, and (no one can hear us) you will understand me. +I have no longer any hope except through you of saving these families, +who, with the greatest folly, are letting themselves roll down a +precipice where no one can save them. The Messieurs Simeuse and +d'Hauteserre have been betrayed by one of those infamous spies whom +governments introduce into all conspiracies to learn their objects, +means, and members. Don't confound me, I beg of you, with the wretch +who is with me. He belongs to the police; but I am honorably attached +to the Consular cabinet, I am therefore behind the scenes. The ruin of +the Simeuse brothers is not desired. Though Malin would like to see +them shot, the First Consul, if they are here and have come without +evil intentions, wishes them to be warned out of danger, for he likes +good soldiers. The agent who accompanies me has all the powers, I, +apparently, am nothing. But I see plainly what is hatching. The agent +is pledged to Malin, who has doubtless promised him his influence, an +office, and perhaps money if he finds the Simeuse brothers and +delivers them up. The First Consul, who is a really great man, never +favors selfish schemes--I don't want to know if those young men are +here," he added, quickly, observing the abbe's gesture, "but I wish to +tell you that there is only one way to save them. You know the law of +the 6th Floreal, year X., which amnestied all the _emigres_ who were +still in foreign countries on condition that they returned home before +the 1st Vendemiaire of the year XI., that is to say, in September of +last year. But the Messieurs Simeuse having, like the Messieurs +d'Hauteserre, served in the army of Conde, they come into the category +of exceptions to this law. Their presence in France is therefore +criminal, and suffices, under the circumstances in which we are, to +make them suspected of collusion in a horrible plot. The First Consul +saw the error of this exception which has made enemies for his +government, and he wishes the Messieurs Simeuse to know that no steps +will be taken against them, if they will send him a petition saying +that they have re-entered France intending to submit to the laws, and +agreeing to take oath to the Constitution. You can understand that the +document ought to be in my hands before they are arrested, and be +dated some days earlier. I would then be the bearer of it--I do not +ask you where those young men are," he said again, seeing another +gesture of denial from the priest. "We are, unfortunately, sure of +finding them; the forest is guarded, the entrances to Paris and the +frontiers are all watched. Pray listen to me; if these gentlemen are +between the forest and Paris they must be taken; if they are in Paris +they will be found; if they retreat to the frontier they will still be +arrested. The First Consul likes the _ci-devants_, and cannot endure +the republicans--simple enough; if he wants a throne he must needs +strangle Liberty. Keep the matter a secret between us. This is what I +will do; I will stay here till to-morrow and _be blind_; but beware of +the agent; that cursed Provencal is the devil's own valet; he has the +ear of Fouche just as I have that of the First Consul." + +"If the Messieurs Simeuse are here," said the abbe, "I would give ten +pints of my blood and my right arm to save them; but if Mademoiselle +de Cinq-Cygne is in the secret she has not--and this I swear on my +eternal salvation--betrayed it in any way, neither has she done me the +honor to consult me. I am now very glad of her discretion, if +discretion there be. We played cards last night as usual, at boston, +in almost complete silence, until half-past ten o'clock, and we +neither saw nor heard anything. Not a child can pass through this +solitary valley without the whole community knowing it, and for the +last two weeks no one has come from other places. Now the d'Hauteserre +and the Simeuse brothers would make a party of four. Old d'Hauteserre +and his wife have submitted to the present government, and they have +made all imaginable efforts to persuade their sons to return to +France; they wrote to them again yesterday. I can only say, upon my +soul and conscience, that your visit has alone shaken my firm belief +that these young men are living in Germany. Between ourselves, there +is no one here, except the young countess, who does not do justice to +the eminent qualities of the First Consul." + +"Fox!" thought Corentin. "Well, if those young men are shot," he said, +aloud; "it is because their friends have willed it--I wash my hands of +the affair." + +He had led the abbe to a part of the garden which lay in the +moonlight, and as he said the last words he looked at him suddenly. +The priest was greatly distressed, but his manner was that of a man +surprised and wholly ignorant. + +"Understand this, monsieur l'abbe," resumed Corentin; "the right of +these young men to the estate of Gondreville will render them doubly +criminal in the eyes of the middle class. I'd like to see them put +faith in God and not in his saints--" + +"Is there really a plot?" asked the abbe, simply. + +"Base, odious, cowardly, and so contrary to the generous spirit of the +nation," replied Corentin, "that it will meet with universal +opprobrium." + +"Well! Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne is incapable of baseness," cried the +abbe. + +"Monsieur l'abbe," replied Corentin, "let me tell you this; there is +for us (meaning you and me) proof positive of her guilt; but there is +not enough for the law. You see she took flight when we came; I sent +the mayor to warn her." + +"Yes, but for one who is so anxious to save them, you followed rather +closely on his heels," said the abbe. + +At those words the two men looked at each other, and all was said. +Each belonged to those profound anatomists of thought to whom a mere +inflexion of the voice, a look, a word suffices to reveal a soul, just +as the Indians track their enemies by signs invisible to European +eyes. + +"I expected to draw something out of him, and I have only betrayed +myself," thought Corentin. + +"Ha! the sly rogue!" thought the priest. + +Midnight rang from the old church clock just as Corentin and the abbe +re-entered the salon. The opening and shutting of doors and closets +could be heard from the bedrooms above. The gendarmes pulled open the +beds; Peyrade, with the quick perception of a spy, handled and sounded +everything. Such desecration excited both fear and indignation among +the faithful servants of the house, who still stood motionless about +the salon. Monsieur d'Hauteserre exchanged looks of commiseration with +his wife and Mademoiselle Goujet. A species of horrible curiosity kept +every one on the qui vive. Peyrade at length came down, holding in his +hand a sandal-wood box which had probably been brought from China by +Admiral de Simeuse. This pretty casket was flat and about the size of +a quarto volume. + +Peyrade made a sign to Corentin and took him into the embrasure of a +window. + +"I've an idea!" he said, "that Michu, who was ready to pay Marion +eight hundred thousand francs in gold for Gondreville, and who +evidently meant to shoot Malin yesterday, is the man who is helping +the Simeuse brothers. His motive in threatening Marion and aiming at +Malin must be the same. I thought when I saw him that he was capable +of ideas; evidently he has but one; he discovered what was going on +and he must have come here to warn them." + +"Probably Malin talked about the conspiracy to his friend the notary, +and Michu from his ambush overheard what was said," remarked Corentin, +continuing the inductions of his colleague. "No doubt he has only +postponed his shot to prevent an evil he thinks worse than the loss of +Gondreville." + +"He knew what we were the moment he laid eyes on us," said Peyrade. "I +thought then that he was amazingly intelligent for a peasant." + +"That proves that he is always on his guard," replied Corentin. "But, +mind you, my old man, don't let us make a mistake. Treachery stinks in +the nostrils, and primitive folks do scent it from afar." + +"But that's our strength," said the Provencal. + +"Call the corporal of Arcis," cried Corentin to one of the gendarmes. +"I shall send him at once to Michu's house," he added to Peyrade. + +"Our ear, Violette, is there," said Peyrade. + +"We started without getting news from him. Two of us are not enough; +we ought to have had Sabatier with us--Corporal," he said, when the +gendarme appeared, taking him aside with Peyrade, "don't let them fool +you as they did the Troyes corporal just now. We think Michu is in +this business. Go to his house, put your eye on everything, and bring +word of the result." + +"One of my men heard horses in the forest just as they arrested the +little groom; I've four fine fellows now on the track of whoever is +hiding there," replied the gendarme. + +He left the room, and the gallop of his horse which echoed on the +paved courtyard died rapidly away. + +"One thing is certain," said Corentin to himself, "either they have +gone to Paris or they are retreating to Germany." + +He sat down, pulled a note-book from the pocket of his spencer, wrote +two orders in pencil, sealed them, and made a sign to one of the +gendarmes to come to him. + +"Be off at full gallop to Troyes, wake up the prefect, and tell him to +start the telegraph as soon as there's light enough." + +The gendarme departed. The meaning of this movement and Corentin's +intentions were so evident that the hearts of the household sank +within them; but this new anxiety was additional to another that was +now martyrizing them; their eyes were fixed on the sandal-wood box! +All the while the two agents were talking together they were each +taking note of those eager looks. A sort of cold anger stirred the +unfeeling hearts of these men who relished the power of inspiring +terror. The police man has the instincts and emotions of a hunter: but +where the one employs his powers of mind and body in killing a hare, a +partridge, or a deer, the other is thinking of saving the State, or a +king, and of winning a large reward. So the hunt for men is superior +to the other class of hunting by all the distance that there is +between animals and human beings. Moreover, a spy is forced to lift +the part he plays to the level and the importance of the interests to +which he is bound. Without looking further into this calling, it is +easy to see that the man who follows it puts as much passionate ardor +into his chase as another man does into the pursuit of game. Therefore +the further these men advanced in their investigations the more eager +they became; but the expression of their faces and their eyes +continued calm and cold, just as their ideas, their suspicions, and +their plans remained impenetrable. To any one who watched the effects +of the moral scent, if we may so call it, of these bloodhounds on the +track of hidden facts, and who noted and understood the movements of +canine agility which led them to strike the truth in their rapid +examination of probabilities, there was in it all something actually +horrifying. How and why should men of genius fall so low when it was +in their power to be so high? What imperfection, what vice, what +passion debases them? Does a man become a police-agent as he becomes a +thinker, writer, statesmen, painter, general, on the condition of +knowing nothing but how to spy, as the others speak, write, govern, +paint, and fight? The inhabitants of the chateau had but one wish, +--that the thunderbolts of heaven might fall upon these miscreants; +they were athirst for vengeance; and had it not been for the presence, +up to this time, of the gendarmes there would undoubtedly have been an +outbreak. + +"No one, I suppose, has the key of this box?" said the cynical +Peyrade, questioning the family as much by the movement of his huge +red nose as by his words. + +The Provencal noticed, not without fear, that the guards were no +longer present; he and Corentin were alone with the family. The +younger man drew a small dagger from his pocket, and began to force +the lock of the box. Just then the desperate galloping of a horse was +heard upon the road and then upon the pavement by the lawn; but most +horrible of all was the fall and sighing of the animal, which seemed +to drop all at once at the door of the middle tower. A convulsion like +that which a thunderbolt might produce shook the spectators when +Laurence, the trailing of whose riding-habit announced her coming, +entered the room. The servants hastily formed into two lines to let +her pass. + +In spite of her rapid ride, the girl had felt the full anguish the +discovery of the conspiracy must needs cause her. All her hopes were +overthrown! she had galloped through ruins as her thoughts turned to +the necessity of submission to the Consular government. Were it not +for the danger which threatened the four gentlemen, and which served +as a tonic to conquer her weariness and her despair, she would have +dropped asleep on the way. The mare was almost killed in her haste to +reach the chateau, and stand between her cousins and death. As all +present looked at the heroic girl, pale, her features drawn, her veil +aside, her whip in her hand, standing on the threshold of the door, +whence her burning glance grasped the whole scene and comprehended it, +each knew from the almost imperceptible motion which crossed the +soured and bittered face of Corentin, that the real adversaries had +met. A terrible duel was about to begin. + +Noticing the box, now in the hands of Corentin, the countess raised +her whip and sprang rapidly towards him. Striking his hands with so +violent a blow that the casket fell to the ground, she seized it, +flung it into the middle of the fire, and stood with her back to the +chimney in a threatening attitude before either of the agents +recovered from their surprise. The scorn which flamed from her eyes, +her pale brow, her disdainful lips, were even more insulting than the +haughty action which treated Corentin as though he were a venomous +reptile. Old d'Hauteserre felt himself once more a cavalier; all his +blood rushed to his face, and he grieved that he had no sword. The +servants trembled for an instant with joy. The vengeance they had +called down upon these men had come. But their joy was driven back +within their souls by a terrible fear; the gendarmes were still heard +coming and going in the garrets. + +The _spy_--noun of strength, under which all shades of the police are +confounded, for the public has never chosen to specify in language the +varieties of those who compose this dispensary of social remedies so +essential to all governments--the spy has this curious and magnificent +quality: he never becomes angry; he possesses the Christian humility +of a priest; his eyes are stolid with an indifference which he holds +as a barrier against the world of fools who do not understand him; his +forehead is adamant under insult; he pursues his ends like a reptile +whose carapace is fractured only by a cannonball; but (like that +reptile) he is all the more furious when the blow does reach him, +because he believed his armor invulnerable. The lash of the whip upon +his fingers was to Corentin, pain apart, the cannonball that cracked +the shell. Coming from that magnificent and noble girl, this action, +emblematic of her disgust, humiliated him, not only in the eyes of the +people about him, but in his own. + +Peyrade sprang to the hearth, caught Laurence's foot, raised it, and +compelled her, out of modesty, to throw herself on the sofa, where she +had lately lain asleep. The scene, like other contrasts in human +things, was burlesque in the midst of terror. Peyrade scorched his +hand as he dashed it into the fire to seize the box; but he got it, +threw it on the floor and sat down upon it. These little actions were +done with great rapidity and without a word being uttered. Corentin, +recovering from the pain of the blow, caught Mademoiselle de +Cinq-Cygne by both hands, and held her. + +"Do not compel me to use force against you," he said, with withering +politeness. + +Peyrade's action had extinguished the fire by the natural process of +suppressing the air. + +"Gendarmes! here!" he cried, still occupying his ridiculous position. + +"Will you promise to behave yourself?" said Corentin, insolently, +addressing Laurence, and picking up his dagger, but not committing the +great fault of threatening her with it. + +"The secrets of that box do not concern the government," she answered, +with a tinge of melancholy in her tone and manner. "When you have read +the letters it contains you will, in spite of your infamy, feel +ashamed of having read them--that is, if you can still feel shame at +anything," she added, after a pause. + +The abbe looked at her as if to say, "For God's sake, be calm!" + +Peyrade rose. The bottom of the box, which had been nearly burned +through, left a mark upon the floor; the lid was scorched and the +sides gave way. The grotesque Scaevola, who had offered to the god of +the Police and Terror the seat of his apricot breeches, opened the two +sides of the box as if it had been a book, and slid three letters and +two locks of hair upon the card-table. He was about to smile at +Corentin when he perceived that the locks were of two shades of gray. +Corentin released Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne's hands and went up to +the table to read the letter from which the hair had fallen. + +Laurence rose, moved to the table beside the spies, and said:--"Read +it aloud; that shall be your punishment." + +As the two men continued to read to themselves, she herself read out +the following words:-- + + Dear Laurence,--My husband and I have heard of your noble conduct + on the day of our arrest. We know that you love our dear twins as + much, almost, as we love them ourselves. Therefore it is with you + that we leave a token which will be both precious and sad to them. + The executioner has come to cut our hair, for we are to die in a + few moments; he has promised to put into your hands the only + remembrance we are able to leave to our beloved orphans. Keep + these last remains of us and give them to our sons in happier + days. We have kissed these locks of hair and have laid our + blessing upon them. Our last thought will be of our sons, of you, + and of God. Love them, Laurence. + +Berthe de Cinq-Cygne. +Jean de Simeuse. + + +Tears came to the eyes of all the household as they listened to the +letter. + +Laurence looked at the agents with a petrifying glance and said, in a +firm voice:-- + +"You have less pity than the executioner." + +Corentin quietly folded the hair in the letter, laid the letter aside +on the table, and put a box of counters on the top of it as if to +prevent its blowing away. His coolness in the midst of the general +emotion was horrible. + +Peyrade unfolded the other letters. + +"Oh, as for those," said Laurence, "they are very much alike. You hear +the will; you can now hear of its fulfilment. In future I shall have +no secrets from any one." + + + 1794, Andernach. Before the battle. + + My dear Laurence,--I love you for life, and I wish you to know it. + But you ought also to know, in case I die, that my brother, + Paul-Marie, loves you as much as I love you. My only consolation in + dying would be the thought that you might some day make my brother + your husband without being forced to see me die of jealousy--which + must surely happen if, both of us being alive, you preferred him + to me. After all, that preference seems natural, for he is, + perhaps, more worthy of your love than I-- + + Marie-Paul. + + +"Here is the other letter," she said, with the color in her cheeks. + + + Andernach. Before the battle. + + My kind Laurence,--My heart is sad; but Marie-Paul has a gayer + nature, and will please you more than I am able to do. Some day + you will have to choose between us--well, though I love you + passionately-- + + +"You are corresponding with _emigres_," said Peyrade, interrupting +Laurence, and holding the letters between himself and the light to see +if they contained between the lines any treasonable writing with +invisible ink. + +"Yes," replied Laurence, folding the precious letters, the paper of +which was already yellow with time. "But by virtue of what right do +you presume to violate my dwelling and my personal liberty?" + +"Ah, that's the point!" cried Peyrade. "By what right, indeed!--it is +time to let you know it, beautiful aristocrat," he added, taking a +warrant from his pocket, which came from the minister of justice and +was countersigned by the minister of the interior. "See, the +authorities have their eye upon you." + +"We might also ask you," said Corentin, in her ear, "by what right you +harbor in this house the assassins of the First Consul. You have +applied your whip to my hands in a manner that authorizes me to take +my revenge upon your cousins, whom I came here to save." + +At the mere movement of her lips and the glance which Laurence cast +upon Corentin, the abbe guessed what that great artist was saying, and +he made her a sign to be distrustful, which no one intercepted but +Goulard. Peyrade struck the cover of the box to see if there were a +double top. + +"Don't break it!" she exclaimed, taking the cover from him. + +She took a pin, pushed the head of one of the carved figures, and the +two halves of the top, joined by a spring, opened. In the hollow half +lay miniatures of the Messieurs de Simeuse, in the uniform of the army +of Conde, two portraits on ivory done in Germany. Corentin, who felt +himself in presence of an adversary worthy of his efforts, called +Peyrade aside into a corner of the room and conferred with him. + +"How could you throw _that_ into the fire?" said the abbe, speaking to +Laurence and pointing to the letter of the marquise which enclosed the +locks of hair. + +For all answer the young girl shrugged her shoulders significantly. +The abbe comprehended then that she had made the sacrifice to mislead +the agents and gain time; he raised his eyes to heaven with a gesture +of admiration. + +"Where did they arrest Gothard, whom I hear crying?" she asked him, +loud enough to be overheard. + +"I don't know," said the abbe. + +"Did he reach the farm?" + +"The farm!" whispered Peyrade to Corentin. "Let us send there." + +"No," said Corentin; "that girl never trusted her cousins' safety to a +farmer. She is playing with us. Do as I tell you, so that we mayn't +have to leave here without detecting something, after committing the +great blunder of coming here at all." + +Corentin stationed himself before the fire, lifting the long pointed +skirts of his coat to warm himself and assuming the air, manner, and +tone of a gentleman who was paying a visit. + +"Mesdames, you can go to bed, and the servants also. Monsieur le +maire, your services are no longer needed. The sternness of our orders +does not permit us to act otherwise than as we have done; but as soon +as the walls, which seem to me rather thick, have been thoroughly +examined, we shall take our departure." + +The mayor bowed to the company and retired; but neither the abbe nor +Mademoiselle Goujet stirred. The servants were too uneasy not to watch +the fate of their young mistress. Madame d'Hauteserre, who, from the +moment of Laurence's entrance, had studied her with the anxiety of a +mother, rose, took her by the arm, led her aside, and said in a low +voice, "Have you seen them?" + +"Do you think I could have let your sons be under this roof without +your knowing it?" replied Laurence. "Durieu," she added, "see if it is +possible to save my poor Stella; she is still breathing." + +"She must have gone a great distance," said Corentin. + +"Forty miles in three hours," she answered, addressing the abbe, who +watched her with amazement. "I started at half-past nine, and it was +well past one when I returned." + +She looked at the clock which said half-past two. + +"So you don't deny that you have ridden forty miles?" said Corentin. + +"No," she said. "I admit that my cousins, in their perfect innocence, +expected not to be excluded from the amnesty, and were on their way to +Cinq-Cygne. When I found that the Sieur Malin was plotting to injure +them, I went to warn them to return to Germany, where they will be +before the telegraph can have guarded the frontier. If I have done +wrong I shall be punished for it." + +This answer, which Laurence had carefully considered, was so probable +in all its parts that Corentin's convictions were shaken. In that +decisive moment, when every soul present hung suspended, as it were, +on the faces of the two adversaries, and all eyes turned from Corentin +to Laurence and from Laurence to Corentin, again the gallop of a +horse, coming from the forest, resounded on the road and from there +through the gates to the paved courtyard. Frightful anxiety was +stamped on every face. + +Peyrade entered, his eyes gleaming with joy. He went hastily to +Corentin and said, loud enough for the countess to hear him: "We have +caught Michu." + +Laurence, to whom the agony, fatigue, and tension of all her +intellectual faculties had given an unusual color, turned white and +fell back almost fainting on a chair. Madame Durieu, Mademoiselle +Goujet, and Madame d'Hauteserre sprang to help her, for she was +suffocating. She signed to cut the frogging of her habit. + +"Duped!" said Corentin to Peyrade. "I am certain now they are on their +way to Paris. Change the orders." + +They left the room and the house, placing one gendarme on guard at the +door of the salon. The infernal cleverness of the two men had gained a +terrible advantage by taking Laurence in the trap of a not uncommon +trick. + + + + CHAPTER IX + + FOILED + +At six o'clock in the morning, as day was dawning, Corentin and +Peyrade returned. Having explored the covered way they were satisfied +that horses had passed through it to reach the forest. They were now +awaiting the report of the captain of gendarmerie sent to reconnoitre +the neighborhood. Leaving the chateau in charge of a corporal, they +went to the tavern at Cinq-Cygne to get their breakfast, giving orders +that Gothard, who never ceased to reply to all questions with a burst +of tears, should be set at liberty, also Catherine, who still +continued silent and immovable. Catherine and Gothard went to the +salon to kiss the hands of their mistress, who lay exhausted on the +sofa; Durieu also went in to tell her that Stella would recover, but +needed great care. + +The mayor, uneasy and inquisitive, met Peyrade and Corentin in the +village. He declared that he could not allow such important officials +to breakfast in a miserable tavern, and he took them to his own house. +The abbey was only three quarters of a mile distant. On the way, +Peyrade remarked that the corporal of Arcis had sent no news of Michu +or of Violette. + +"We are dealing with very able people," said Corentin; "they are +stronger than we. The priest no doubt has a finger in all this." + +Just as the mayor's wife was ushering her guests into a vast +dining-room (without any fire) the lieutenant of gendarmes arrived +with an anxious air. + +"We met the horse of the corporal of Arcis in the forest without his +master," he said to Peyrade. + +"Lieutenant," cried Corentin, "go instantly to Michu's house and find +out what is going on there. They must have murdered the corporal." + +This news interfered with the mayor's breakfast. Corentin and Peyrade +swallowed their food with the rapidity of hunters halting for a meal, +and drove back to the chateau in their wicker carriage, so as to be +ready to start at the first call for any point where their presence +might be necessary. When the two men reappeared in the salon into +which they had brought such trouble, terror, grief, and anxiety, they +found Laurence, in a dressing-gown, Monsieur d'Hauteserre and his +wife, the abbe and his sister, sitting round the fire, to all +appearance tranquil. + +"If they had caught Michu," Laurence told herself, "they would have +brought him with them. I have the mortification of knowing that I was +not the mistress of myself, and that I threw some light upon the +matter for those wretches; but the harm can be undone--How long are we +to be your prisoners?" she asked sarcastically, with an easy manner. + +"How can she know anything about Michu? No one from the outside has +got near the chateau; she is laughing at us," said the two agents to +each other by a look. + +"We shall not inconvenience you long," replied Corentin. "In three +hours from now we shall offer our regrets for having troubled your +solitude." + +No one replied. This contemptuous silence redoubled Corentin's inward +rage. Laurence and the abbe (the two minds of their little world) had +talked the man over and drawn their conclusions. Gothard and Catherine +had set the breakfast-table near the fire and the abbe and his sister +were sharing the meal. Neither masters nor servants paid the slightest +attention to the two spies, who walked up and down the garden, the +courtyard or the lawn, returning every now and then to the salon. + +At half-past two the lieutenant reappeared. + +"I found the corporal," he said to Corentin, "lying in the road which +leads from the pavilion of Cinq-Cygne to the farm at Bellache. He has +no wound, only a bad contusion of the head, caused, apparently, by his +fall. He told me he had been lifted suddenly off his horse and flung +so violently to the ground that he could not discover how the thing +was done. His feet left the stirrups, which was lucky, for he might +have been killed by the horse dragging him. We put him in charge of +Michu and Violette--" + +"Michu! is Michu in his own house?" said Corentin, glancing at +Laurence. + +The countess smiled ironically, like a woman obtaining her revenge. + +"He is bargaining with Violette about the sale of some land," said the +lieutenant. "They seemed to me drunk; and it's no wonder, for they +have been drinking all night and discussing the matter, and they +haven't come to terms yet." + +"Did Violette tell you so?" cried Corentin. + +"Yes," said the lieutenant. + +"Nothing is right if we don't attend to it ourselves!" cried Peyrade, +looking at Corentin, who doubted the lieutenant's news as much as the +other did. + +"At what hour did you get to Michu's house?" asked Corentin, noticing +that the countess had glanced at the clock. + +"About two," replied the lieutenant. + +Laurence covered Monsieur and Madame d'Hauteserre and the abbe and his +sister in one comprehensive glance, which made them fancy they were +wrapped in an azure mantle; triumph sparkled in her eyes, she blushed, +and the tears welled up beneath her lids. Strong under all +misfortunes, the girl knew not how to weep except from joy. At this +moment she was all glorious, especially to the priest, who was +sometimes distressed by the virility of her character, and who now +caught a glimpse of the infinite tenderness of her woman's nature. But +such feelings lay in her soul like a treasure hidden at a great depth +beneath a block of granite. + +Just then a gendarme entered the salon to ask if he might bring in +Michu's son, sent by his father to speak to the gentlemen from Paris. +Corentin gave an affirmative nod. Francois Michu, a sly little chip of +the old block, was in the courtyard, where Gothard, now at liberty, +got a chance to speak to him for an instant under the eyes of a +gendarme. The little fellow managed to slip something into Gothard's +hand without being detected, and the latter glided into the salon +after him till he reached his mistress, to whom he stealthily conveyed +both halves of the wedding-ring, a sure sign, she knew, that Michu had +met the four gentlemen and put them in safety. + +"My papa wants to know what he's to do with the corporal, who ain't +doing well," said Francois. + +"What's the matter with him?" asked Peyrade. + +"It's his head--he pitched down hard on the ground," replied the boy. +"For a gindarme who knows how to ride it was bad luck--I suppose the +horse stumbled. He's got a hole--my! as big as your fist--in the back +of his head. Seems as if he must have hit some big stone, poor man! He +may be a gindarme, but he suffers all the same--you'd pity him." + +The captain of the gendarmerie now arrived and dismounted in the +courtyard. Corentin threw up the window, not to lose time. + +"What has been done?" + +"We are back like the Dutchmen! We found nothing but five dead horses, +their coats stiff with sweat, in the middle of the forest. I have kept +them to find out where they came from and who owns them. The forest is +surrounded; whoever is in it can't get out." + +"At what hour do you suppose those horsemen entered the forest?" + +"About half-past twelve." + +"Don't let a hare leave that forest without your seeing it," whispered +Corentin. "I'll station Peyrade at the village to help you; I am going +to see the corporal myself--Go to the mayor's house," he added, still +whispering, to Peyrade. "I'll send some able man to relieve you. We +shall have to make use of the country-people; examine all faces." He +turned towards the family and said in a threatening tone, "Au revoir!" + +No one replied, and the two agents left the room. + +"What would Fouche say if he knew we had made a domiciliary visit +without getting any results?" remarked Peyrade as he helped Corentin +into the osier vehicle. + +"It isn't over yet," replied the other, "those four young men are in +the forest. Look there!" and he pointed to Laurence who was watching +them from a window. "I once revenged myself on a woman who was worth a +dozen of that one and had stirred my bile a good deal less. If this +girl comes in the way of my hatchet I'll pay her for the lash of that +whip." + +"The other was a strumpet," said Peyrade; "this one has rank." + +"What difference is that to me? All's fish that swims in the sea," +replied Corentin, signing to the gendarme who drove him to whip up. + +Ten minutes later the chateau de Cinq-Cygne was completely evacuated. + +"How did they get rid of the corporal?" said Laurence to Francois +Michu, whom she had ordered to sit down and eat some breakfast. + +"My father told me it was a matter of life and death and I mustn't let +anybody get into our house," replied the boy. "I knew when I heard the +horses in the forest that I'd got to do with them hounds of gindarmes, +and I meant to keep 'em from getting in. So I took some big ropes that +were in my garret and fastened one of 'em to a tree at the corner of +the road. Then I drew the rope high enough to hit the breast of a man +on horseback, and tied it to the tree on the opposite side of the way +in the direction where I heard the horses. That barred the road. It +didn't miss fire, I can tell you! There was no moon, and the corporal +just pitched!--but he wasn't killed; they're tough, them gindarmes! I +did what I could." + +"You have saved us!" said Laurence, kissing him as she took him to the +gate. When there, she looked about her and seeing no one she said +cautiously, "Have they provisions?" + +"I have just taken them twelve pounds of bread and four bottles of +wine," said the boy. "They'll be snug for a week." + +Returning to the salon, the girl was beset with mute questions in the +eyes of all, each of whom looked at her with as much admiration as +eagerness. + +"But have you really seen them?" cried Madame d'Hauteserre. + +The countess put a finger on her lips and smiled; then she left the +room and went to bed; her triumph sure, utter weariness had overtaken +her. + +The shortest road from Cinq-Cygne to Michu's lodge was that which led +from the village past the farm at Bellache to the _rond-point_ where +the Parisian spies had first seen Michu on the preceding evening. The +gendarme who was driving Corentin took this way, which was the one the +corporal of Arcis had taken. As they drove along, the agent was on the +look-out for signs to show why the corporal had been unhorsed. He +blamed himself for having sent but one man on so important an errand, +and he drew from this mistake an axiom for the police Code, which he +afterwards applied. + +"If they have got rid of the corporal," he said to himself, "they have +done as much by Violette. Those five horses have evidently brought the +four conspirators and Michu from the neighborhood of Paris to the +forest. Has Michu a horse?" he inquired of the gendarme who was +driving him and who belonged to the squad from Arcis. + +"Yes, and a famous little horse it is," answered the man, "a hunter +from the stables of the ci-devant Marquis de Simeuse. There's no +better beast, though it is nearly fifteen years old. Michu can ride +him fifty miles and he won't turn a hair. He takes mighty good care of +him and wouldn't sell him at any price." + +"What does the horse look like?" + +"He's brown, turning rather to black; white stockings above the hoofs, +thin, all nerves like an Arab." + +"Did you ever see an Arab?" + +"In Egypt--last year. I've ridden the horses of the mamelukes. We have +to serve twelve years in the cavalry, and I was on the Rhine under +General Steingel, after that in Italy, and then I followed the First +Consul to Egypt. I'll be a corporal soon." + +"When I get to Michu's house go to the stable; if you have served +twelve years in the cavalry you know when a horse is blown. Let me +know the condition of Michu's beast." + +"See! that's where our corporal was thrown," said the man, pointing to +a spot where the road they were following entered the _rond-point_. + +"Tell the captain to come and pick me up at Michu's, and I'll go with +him to Troyes." + +So saying Corentin got down, and stood about for a few minutes +examining the ground. He looked at the two elms which faced each +other,--one against the park wall, the other on the bank of the +_rond-point_; then he saw (what no one had yet noticed) the button of a +uniform lying in the dust, and he picked it up. Entering the lodge he +saw Violette and Michu sitting at the table in the kitchen and talking +eagerly. Violette rose, bowed to Corentin, and offered him some wine. + +"Thank you, no; I came to see the corporal," said the young man, who +saw with half a glance that Violette had been drunk all night. + +"My wife is nursing him upstairs," said Michu. + +"Well, corporal, how are you?" said Corentin who had run up the stairs +and found the gendarme with his head bandaged, and lying on Madame +Michu's bed; his hat, sabre, and shoulder-belt on a chair. + +Marthe, faithful in her womanly instincts, and knowing nothing of her +son's prowess, was giving all her care to the corporal, assisted by +her mother. + +"We expect Monsieur Varlet the doctor from Arcis," she said to +Corentin; "our servant-lad has gone to fetch him." + +"Leave us alone for a moment," said Corentin, a good deal surprised at +the scene, which amply proved the innocence of the two women. "Where +were you struck?" he asked the man, examining his uniform. + +"On the breast," replied the corporal. + +"Let's see your belt," said Corentin. + +On the yellow band with a white edge, which a recent regulation had +made part of the equipment of the guard now called National, was a +metal plate a good deal like that of the foresters, on which the law +required the inscription of these remarkable words: "Respect to +persons and to properties." Francois's rope had struck the belt and +defaced it. Corentin took up the coat and found the place where the +button he had picked up upon the road belonged. + +"What time did they find you?" asked Corentin. + +"About daybreak." + +"Did they bring you up here at once?" said Corentin, noticing that the +bed had not been slept in. + +"Yes." + +"Who brought you up?" + +"The women and little Michu, who found me unconscious." + +"So!" thought Corentin: "evidently they didn't go to bed. The corporal +was not shot at, nor struck by any weapon, for an assailant must have +been at his own height to strike a blow. Something, some obstacle, was +in his way and that unhorsed him. A piece of wood? not possible! an +iron chain? that would have left marks. What did you feel?" he said +aloud. + +"I was knocked over so suddenly--" + +"The skin is rubbed off under your chin," said Corentin quickly. + +"I think," said the corporal, "that a rope did go over my face." + +"I have it!" cried Corentin; "somebody tied a rope from tree to tree +to bar the way." + +"Like enough," replied the corporal. + +Corentin went downstairs to the kitchen. + +"Come, you old rascal," Michu was saying to Violette, "let's make an +end of this. One hundred thousand francs for the place, and you are +master of my whole property. I shall retire on my income." + +"I tell you, as there's a God in heaven, I haven't more than sixty +thousand." + +"But don't I offer you time to pay the rest? You've kept me here since +yesterday, arguing it. The land is in prime order." + +"Yes, the soil is good," said Violette. + +"Wife, some more wine," cried Michu. + +"Haven't you drunk enough?" called down Marthe's mother. "This is the +fourteenth bottle since nine o'clock yesterday." + +"You have been here since nine o'clock this morning, haven't you?" +said Corentin to Violette. + +"No, beg your pardon, since last night I haven't left the place, and +I've gained nothing after all; the more he makes me drink the more he +puts up the price." + +"In all markets he who raises his elbow raises a price," said +Corentin. + +A dozen empty bottles ranged along the table proved the truth of the +old woman's words. Just then the gendarme who had driven him made a +sign to Corentin, who went to the door to speak to him. + +"There is no horse in the stable," said the man. + +"You sent your boy on horseback to the chateau, didn't you?" said +Corentin, returning to the kitchen. "Will he be back soon?" + +"No, monsieur," said Michu, "he went on foot." + +"What have you done with your horse, then?" + +"I have lent him," said Michu, curtly. + +"Come out here, my good fellow," said Corentin; "I've a word for your +ear." + +Corentin and Michu left the house. + +"The gun which you were loading yesterday at four o'clock you meant to +use in murdering the Councillor of State; but we can't take you up for +that--plenty of intention, but no witnesses. You managed, I don't know +how, to stupefy Violette, and you and your wife and that young rascal +of yours spent the night out of doors to warn Mademoiselle de +Cinq-Cygne and save her cousins, whom you are hiding here,--though I +don't as yet know where. Your son or your wife threw the corporal off +his horse cleverly enough. Well, you've got the better of us just now; +you're a devil of a fellow. But the end is not yet, and you won't have +the last word. Hadn't you better compromise? your masters would be the +better for it." + +"Come this way, where we can talk without being overheard," said +Michu, leading the way through the park to the pond. + +When Corentin saw the water he looked fixedly at Michu, who was no +doubt reckoning on his physical strength to fling the spy into seven +feet of mud below three feet of water. Michu replied with a look that +was not less fixed. The scene was absolutely as if a cold and flabby +boa constrictor had defied one of those tawny, fierce leopards of +Brazil. + +"I am not thirsty," said Corentin, stopping short at the edge of the +field and putting his hand into his pocket to feel for his dagger. + +"We shall never come to terms," said Michu, coldly. + +"Mind what you're about, my good fellow; the law has its eye upon +you." + +"If the law can't see any clearer than you, there's danger to every +one," said the bailiff. + +"Do you refuse?" said Corentin, in a significant tone. + +"I'd rather have my head cut off a thousand times, if that could be +done, than come to an agreement with such a villain as you." + +Corentin got into his vehicle hastily, after one more comprehensive +look at Michu, the lodge, and Couraut, who barked at him. He gave +certain orders in passing through Troyes, and then returned to Paris. +All the brigades of gendarmerie in the neighborhood received secret +instructions and special orders. + +During the months of December, January, and February the search was +active and incessant, even in remote villages. Spies were in all the +taverns. Corentin learned some important facts: a horse like that of +Michu had been found dead in the neighborhood of Lagny; the five +horses burned in the forest of Nodesme had been sold, for five hundred +francs each, by farmers and millers to a man who answered to the +description of Michu. When the decree against the accomplices and +harborers of Georges was put in force Corentin confined his search to +the forest of Nodesme. After Moreau, the royalists, and Pichegru were +arrested no strangers were ever seen about the place. + +Michu lost his situation at that time; the notary of Arcis brought him +a letter in which Malin, now made senator, requested Grevin to settle +all accounts with the bailiff and dismiss him. Michu asked and +obtained a formal discharge and became a free man. To the great +astonishment of the neighborhood he went to live at Cinq-Cygne, where +Laurence made him the farmer of all the reserved land about the +chateau. The day of his installation as farmer coincided with the +fatal day of the death of the Duc d'Enghien, when nearly the whole of +France heard at the same time of the arrest, trial, condemnation, and +death of the prince,--terrible reprisals, which preceded the trial of +Polignac, Riviere, and Moreau. + + + + + PART II + + + + CHAPTER X + + ONE AND THE SAME, YET A TWO-FOLD LOVE + +While the new farm-house was being built Michu the Judas, so-called, +and his family occupied the rooms over the stables at Cinq-Cygne on +the side of the chateau next to the famous breach. He bought two +horses, one for himself and one for Francois, and they both joined +Gothard in accompanying Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne in her many rides, +which had for their object, as may well be imagined, the feeding of +the four gentlemen and perpetual watching that they were still in +safety. Francois and Gothard, assisted by Couraut and the countess's +dogs, went in front and beat the woods all around the hiding-place to +make sure that there was no one within sight. Laurence and Michu +carried the provisions which Marthe, her mother, and Catherine +prepared, unknown to the other servants of the household so as to +restrict the secret to themselves, for all were sure that there were +spies in the village. These expeditions were never made oftener than +twice a week and on different days and at different hours, sometimes +by day, sometimes by night. + +These precautions lasted until the trial of Riviere, Polignac, and +Moreau ended. When the senatus-consultum, which called the dynasty of +Bonaparte to the throne and nominated Napoleon as Emperor of the +French, was submitted to the French people for acceptance Monsieur +d'Hauteserre signed the paper Goulard brought him. When it was made +known that the Pope would come to France to crown the Emperor, +Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne no longer opposed the general desire that +her cousins and the young d'Hauteserres should petition to have their +names struck off the list of _emigres_, and be themselves reinstated +in their rights as citizens. On this, old d'Hauteserre went to Paris +and consulted the ci-devant Marquis de Chargeboeuf who knew +Talleyrand. That minister, then in favor, conveyed the petition to +Josephine, and Josephine gave it to her husband, who was addressed as +Emperor, Majesty, Sire, before the result of the popular vote was +known. Monsieur de Chargeboeuf, Monsieur d'Hauteserre, and the Abbe +Goujet, who also went to Paris, obtained an interview with Talleyrand, +who promised them his support. Napoleon had already pardoned several +of the principal actors in the great royalist conspiracy; and yet, +though the four gentlemen were merely suspected of complicity, the +Emperor, after a meeting of the Council of State, called the senator +Malin, Fouche, Talleyrand, Cambaceres, Lebrun, and Dubois, prefect of +police, into his cabinet. + +"Gentlemen," said the future Emperor, who still wore the dress of the +First Consul, "we have received from the Sieurs de Simeuse and +d'Hauteserre, officers in the army of the Prince de Conde, a request +to be allowed to re-enter France." + +"They are here now," said Fouche. + +"Like many others whom I meet in Paris," remarked Talleyrand. + +"I think you have not met these gentlemen," said Malin, "for they are +hidden in the forest of Nodesme, where they consider themselves at +home." + +He was careful not to tell the First Consul and Fouche how he himself +had given them warning, by talking with Grevin within hearing of +Michu, but he made the most of Corentin's reports and convinced +Napoleon that the four gentlemen were sharers in the plot of Riviere +and Polignac, with Michu for an accomplice. The prefect of police +confirmed these assertions. + +"But how could that bailiff know that the conspiracy was discovered?" +said the prefect, "for the Emperor and the council and I were the only +persons in the secret." + +No one paid attention to this remark. + +"If they have been hidden in that forest for the last seven months and +you have not been able to find them," said the Emperor to Fouche, +"they have expiated their misdeeds." + +"Since they are my enemies as well," said Malin, frightened by the +Emperor's clear-sightedness, "I desire to follow the magnanimous +example of your Majesty; I therefore make myself their advocate and +ask that their names be stricken from the list of _emigres_." + +"They will be less dangerous to you here than if they are exiled; for +they will now have to swear allegiance to the Empire and the laws," +said Fouche, looking at Malin fixedly. + +"In what way are they dangerous to the senator?" asked Napoleon. + +Talleyrand spoke to the Emperor for some minutes in a low voice. The +reinstatement of the Messieurs de Simeuse and d'Hauteserre appeared to +be granted. + +"Sire," said Fouche, "rely upon it, you will hear of those men again." + +Talleyrand, who had been urged by the Duc de Grandlieu, gave the +Emperor pledges in the name of the young men on their honor as +gentlemen (a term which had great fascination for Napoleon), to +abstain from all attacks upon his Majesty and to submit themselves to +his government in good faith. + +"Messieurs d'Hauteserre and de Simeuse are not willing to bear arms +against France, now that events have taken their present course," he +said, aloud; "they have little sympathy, it is true, with the Imperial +government, but they are just the men that your Majesty ought to +conciliate. They will be satisfied to live on French soil and obey the +laws." + +Then he laid before the Emperor a letter he had received from the +brothers in which these sentiments were expressed. + +"Anything so frank is likely to be sincere," said the Emperor, +returning the letter and looking at Lebrun and Cambaceres. "Have you +any further suggestions?" he asked of Fouche. + +"In your Majesty's interests," replied the future minister of police, +"I ask to be allowed to inform these gentlemen of their reinstatement +--when it is _really granted_," he added, in a louder tone. + +"Very well," said Napoleon, noticing an anxious look on Fouche's face. + +The matter did not seem positively decided when the Council rose; but +it had the effect of putting into Napoleon's mind a vague distrust of +the four young men. Monsieur d'Hauteserre, believing that all was +gained, wrote a letter announcing the good news. The family at +Cinq-Cygne were therefore not surprised when, a few days later, +Goulard came to inform the countess and Madame d'Hauteserre that they +were to send the four gentlemen to Troyes, where the prefect would show +them the decree reinstating them in their rights and administer to them +the oath of allegiance to the Empire and the laws. Laurence replied that +she would send the notification to her cousins and the Messieurs +d'Hauteserre. + +"Then they are not here?" said Goulard. + +Madame d'Hauteserre looked anxiously after Laurence, who left the room +to consult Michu. Michu saw no reason why the young men should not be +released at once from their hiding-place. Laurence, Michu, his son, +and Gothard therefore started as soon as possible for the forest, +taking an extra horse, for the countess resolved to accompany her +cousins to Troyes and return with them. The whole household, made +aware of the good news, gathered on the lawn to witness the departure +of the happy cavalcade. The four young men issued from their long +confinement, mounted their horses, and took the road to Troyes, +accompanied by Mademoiselle Cinq-Cygne. Michu, with the help of his +son and Gothard, closed the entrance to the cellar, and started to +return home on foot. On the way he recollected that he had left the +forks and spoons and a silver cup, which the young men had been using, +in the cave, and he went back for them alone. When he reached the edge +of the pond he heard voices, and went straight to the entrance of the +cave through the brushwood. + +"Have you come for your silver?" said Peyrade, showing his big red +nose through the branches. + +Without knowing why, for at any rate his young masters were safe, +Michu felt a sharp agony in all his joints, so keen was the sense of +vague, indefinable coming evil which took possession of him; but he +went forward at once, and found Corentin on the stairs with a taper in +his hand. + +"We are not very harsh," he said to Michu; "we might have seized +your ci-devants any day for the last week; but we knew they were +reinstated--You're a tough fellow to deal with, and you gave us too +much trouble not to make us anxious to satisfy our curiosity about +this hiding-place of yours." + +"I'd give something," cried Michu, "to know how and by whom we have +been sold." + +"If that puzzles you, old fellow," said Peyrade, laughing, "look at +your horses' shoes, and you'll see that you betrayed yourselves." + +"Well, there need be no rancor!" said Corentin, whistling for the +captain of gendarmerie and their horses. + +"So that rascally Parisian blacksmith who shoed the horses in the +English fashion and left Cinq-Cygne only the other day was their spy!" +thought Michu. "They must have followed our tracks when the ground was +damp. Well, we're quits now!" + +Michu consoled himself by thinking that the discovery was of no +consequence, as the young men were now safe, Frenchmen once more, and +at liberty. Yet his first presentiment was a true one. The police, +like the Jesuits, have the one virtue of never abandoning their +friends or their enemies. + +Old d'Hauteserre returned from Paris and was more than surprised not +to be the first to bring the news. Durieu prepared a succulent dinner, +the servants donned their best clothes, and the household impatiently +awaited the exiles, who arrived about four o'clock, happy,--and yet +humiliated, for they found they were to be under police surveillance +for two years, obliged to present themselves at the prefecture every +month and ordered to remain in the commune of Cinq-Cygne during the +said two years. "I'll send you the papers for signature," the prefect +said to them. "Then, in the course of a few months, you can ask to be +relieved of these conditions, which are imposed on all of Pichegru's +accomplices. I will back your request." + +These restrictions, fairly deserved, rather dispirited the young men, +but Laurence laughed at them. + +"The Emperor of the French," she said, "was badly brought up; he has +not yet acquired the habit of bestowing favors graciously." + +The party found all the inhabitants of the chateau at the gates, and a +goodly proportion of the people of the village waiting on the road to +see the young men, whose adventures had made them famous throughout +the department. Madame d'Hauteserre held her sons to her breast for a +long time, her face covered with tears; she was unable to speak and +remained silent, though happy, through a part of the evening. No +sooner had the Simeuse twins dismounted than a cry of surprise arose +on all sides, caused by their amazing resemblance,--the same look, the +same voice, the same actions. They both had the same movement in +rising from their saddles, in throwing their leg over the crupper of +their horses when dismounting, in flinging the reins upon the animal's +neck. Their dress, precisely the same, contributed to this likeness. +They wore boots _a la_ Suwaroff, made to fit the instep, tight +trousers of white leather, green hunting-jackets with metal buttons, +black cravats, and buckskin gloves. The two young men, just thirty-one +years of age, were--to use a term in vogue in those days--charming +cavaliers, of medium height but well set up, brilliant eyes with long +lashes, floating in liquid like those of children, black hair, noble +brows, and olive skin. Their speech, gentle as that of a woman, fell +graciously from their fresh red lips; their manners, more elegant and +polished than those of the provincial gentlemen, showed that knowledge +of men and things had given them that supplementary education which +makes its possessor a man of the world. + +Not lacking money, thanks to Michu, during their emigration, they had +been able to travel and be received at foreign courts. Old +d'Hauteserre and the abbe thought them rather haughty; but in their +present position this may have been the sign of nobility of character. +They possessed all the eminent little marks of a careful education, to +which they added a wonderful dexterity in bodily exercises. Their only +dissimilarity was in the region of ideas. The youngest charmed others +by his gaiety, the eldest by his melancholy; but the contrast, which +was purely spiritual, was not at first observable. + +"Ah, wife," whispered Michu in Marthe's ear, "how could one help +devoting one's self to those young fellows?" + +Marthe, who admired them as a wife and mother, nodded her head +prettily and pressed her husband's hand. The servants were allowed to +kiss their new masters. + +During their seven months' seclusion in the forest (which the young +men had brought upon themselves) they had several times committed the +imprudence of taking walks about their hiding-place, carefully guarded +by Michu, his son, and Gothard. During these walks, taken usually on +starlit nights, Laurence, reuniting the thread of their past and +present lives, felt the utter impossibility of choosing between the +brothers. A pure and equal love for each divided her heart. She +fancied indeed that she had two hearts. On their side, the brothers +dared not speak to themselves of their impending rivalry. Perhaps all +three were trusting to time and accident. The condition of her mind on +this subject acted no doubt upon Laurence as they entered the house, +for she hesitated a moment, and then took an arm of each as she +entered the salon followed by Monsieur and Madame d'Hauteserre, who +were occupied with their sons. Just then a cheer burst from the +servants, "Long live the Cinq-Cygne and the Simeuse families!" +Laurence turned round, still between the brothers, and made a charming +gesture of acknowledgement. + +When these nine persons came to actually observe each other,--for in +all meetings, even in the bosom of families, there comes a moment when +friends observe those from whom they have been long parted,--the first +glance which Adrien d'Hauteserre cast upon Laurence seemed to his +mother and to the abbe to betray love. Adrien, the youngest of the +d'Hauteserres, had a sweet and tender soul; his heart had remained +adolescent in spite of the catastrophes which had nerved the man. Like +many young heroes, kept virgin in spirit by perpetual peril, he was +daunted by the timidities of youth. In this he was very different from +his brother, a man of rough manners, a great hunter, an intrepid +soldier, full of resolution, but coarse in fibre and without activity +of mind or delicacy in matters of the heart. One was all soul, the +other all action; and yet they both possessed in the same degree that +sense of honor which is the vital essence of a gentleman. Dark, short, +slim and wiry, Adrien d'Hauteserre gave an impression of strength; +whereas Robert, who was tall, pale and fair, seemed weakly. Adrien, +nervous in temperament, was stronger in soul; while his brother though +lymphatic, was fonder of bodily exercise. Families often present these +singularities of contrast, the causes of which it might be interesting +to examine; but they are mentioned here merely to explain how it was +that Adrien was not likely to find a rival in his brother. Robert's +affection for Laurence was that of a relation, the respect of a noble +for a girl of his own caste. In matters of sentiment the elder +d'Hauteserre belonged to the class of men who consider woman as an +appendage to man, limiting her sphere to the physical duties of +maternity; demanding perfection in that respect, but regarding her +mentally as of no account. To such men the admittance of woman as an +actual sharer in society, in the body politic, in the family, meant +the subversion of the social system. In these days we are so far +removed from this theory of primitive people that almost all women, +even those who do not desire the fatal emancipation offered by the new +sects, will be shocked in merely hearing of it; but it must be owned +that Robert d'Hauteserre had the misfortune to think in that way. +Robert was a man of the middle-ages, Adrien a man of to-day. These +differences instead of hindering their affection had drawn its bonds +the closer. On the first evening after the return of the young men +these shades of character were caught and understood by the abbe, +Mademoiselle Goujet, and Madame d'Hauteserre, who, while playing their +boston, were secretly foreseeing the difficulties of the future. + +At twenty-three years of age, having passed through the many +reflections of a long solitude and the anguish of a defeated +enterprise, Laurence had become a woman, and felt within her an +absorbing desire for affection. She now put forth all her graces of +her mind and was charming; she revealed the hidden beauties of her +tender heart with the simple candor of a child. For the last thirteen +years she had been a woman only through suffering; she longed to +obtain amends for it, and she showed herself as loving and winning as +she had been, up to this time, strong and great. + +The four elders, who were the last to leave the salon that night, +admitted to each other that they felt uneasy at the new position of +this charming girl. What power might not passion have on a young woman +of her character and with her nobility of soul? The twin brothers +loved her with one and the same love and a blind devotion; which of +the two would Laurence choose? To choose one was to kill the other. +Countess in her own right, she could bring her husband a title and +certain prerogatives, together with a long lineage. Perhaps in +thinking of these advantages the elder of the twins, the Marquis de +Simeuse, would sacrifice himself to give Laurence to his brother, who, +according to the old laws, was poor and without a title. But would the +younger brother deprive the elder of the happiness of having Laurence +for a wife? At a distance, this strife of love and generosity might do +no harm,--in fact, so long as the brothers were facing danger the +chances of war might end the difficulty; but what would be the result +of this reunion? When Marie-Paul and Paul-Marie reached the age when +passions rise to their greatest height could they share, as now, the +looks and words and attentions of their cousin? must there not +inevitably arise a jealousy between them the consequences of which +might be horrible? What would then become of the unity of those +beautiful lives, one in heart though twain in body? To these +questionings, passed from one to another as they finished their game, +Madame d'Hauteserre replied that in her opinion Laurence would not +marry either of her cousins. The poor lady had experienced that +evening one of those inexplicable presentiments which are secrets +between the mother's heart and God. + +Laurence, in her inward consciousness, was not less alarmed at finding +herself tete-a-tete with her cousins. To the active drama of +conspiracy, to the dangers which the brothers had incurred, to the +pain and penalties of their exile, was now succeeding another sort of +drama, of which she had never thought. This noble girl could not +resort to the violent means of refusing to marry either of the twins; +and she was too honest a woman to marry one and keep an irresistible +passion for the other in her heart. To remain unmarried, to weary her +cousins' love by no decision, and then to take the one who was +faithful to her in spite of her caprices, was a solution of the +difficulty not so much sought for by her as vaguely admitted. As she +fell asleep that night she told herself the wisest course to follow +was to let things take their chance. Chance is, in love, the +providence of women. + +The next morning Michu went to Paris, whence he returned a few days +later with four fine horses for his new masters. In six weeks' time +the hunting would begin, and the young countess sagely reflected that +the violent excitements of that exercise would be a help against the +tete-a-tetes of the chateau. At first, however, an unexpected result +surprised the spectators of these strange loves and roused their +admiration. Without any premeditated agreement the brothers rivalled +each other in attentions to Laurence, with a sense of pleasure in so +doing which appeared to suffice them. The relation between themselves +and Laurence was just as fraternal as that between themselves. What +could be more natural? After so long an absence they felt the +necessity of studying her, of knowing her well and letting her know +them, leaving to her the right of choice. They were sustained in this +first trial by the mutual affection which made their double life one +and the same life. + +Love, like their own mother, was unable to distinguish between the +brothers. Laurence was obliged (in order to know them apart and make +no mistakes) to give them different cravats--to the elder a white one, +to the younger black. Without this perfect resemblance, this identity +of life, which misled all about them, such a situation would be justly +thought impossible. It can, indeed, be explained only by the fact +itself, which is one of those which men do not believe in unless they +see them; and then the mind is more bewildered by having to explain +them than by the actual sight which caused belief. If Laurence spoke, +her voice echoed in two hearts equally faithful and loving with one +tone. Did she give utterance to an intelligent, or witty, or noble +thought, her glance encountered the delight expressed in two glances +which followed her every movement, interpreted her slightest wish, and +beamed upon her ever with a new expression, gaiety in the one, tender +melancholy in the other. In any matter that concerned their mistress +the brothers showed an admirable quick-wittedness of heart coupled +with instant action which (to use the abbe's own expression) +approached the sublime. Often, if something had to be fetched, if it +was a question of some little attention which men delight to pay to a +beloved woman, the elder would leave that pleasure to the younger with +a look at Laurence that was proud and tender. The younger, on the +other hand, put all his own pride into paying such debts. This rivalry +of noble natures in a feeling which leads men often to the jealous +ferocity of the beasts amazed the old people who were watching it, and +bewildered their ideas. + +Such little details often drew tears to the eyes of the countess. A +single sensation, which is perhaps all-powerful in some rare +organizations, will give an idea of Laurence's emotions; it may be +perceived by recalling the perfect unison of two fine voices (like +those of Malibran and Sontag) in some harmonious _duo_, or the +blending of two instruments touched by the hand of genius, their +melodious tones entering the soul like the passionate sighing of one +heart. Sometimes, seeing the Marquis de Simeuse buried in an arm-chair +and glancing from time to time with deepest melancholy at his brother +and Laurence who were talking and laughing, the abbe believed him +capable of making the great sacrifice; presently, however, the priest +would see in the young man's eyes the flash of an unconquerable +passion. Whenever either of the brothers found himself alone with +Laurence he might reasonably suppose himself the one preferred. + +"I fancy then that there is but one of them," explained the countess +to the abbe when he questioned her. That answer showed the priest her +total want of coquetry. Laurence did not conceive that she was loved +by two men. + +"But, my dear child," said Madame d'Hauteserre one evening (her own +son silently dying of love for Laurence), "you must choose!" + +"Oh, let us be happy," she replied; "God will save us from ourselves." + +Adrien d'Hauteserre buried within his breast the jealousy that was +consuming him; he kept the secret of his torture, aware of how little +he could hope. He tried to be content with the happiness of seeing the +charming woman who during the few months this struggle lasted shone in +all her brilliancy. In one sense Laurence had become coquettish, +taking that dainty care of her person which women who are loved +delight in. She followed the fashions, and went more than once to +Paris to deck her beauty with _chiffons_ or some choice novelty. +Desirous of giving her cousins a sense of home and its every +enjoyment, from which they had so long been severed, she made her +chateau, in spite of the remonstrances of her late guardian, the most +completely comfortable house in Champagne. + +Robert d'Hauteserre saw nothing of this hidden drama; he never noticed +his brother's love for Laurence. As to the girl herself, he liked to +tease her about her coquetry,--for he confounded that odious defect +with the natural desire to please; he was always mistaken in matters +of feeling, taste, and the higher ethics. So, whenever this man of the +middle-ages appeared on the scene, Laurence immediately made him, +unknown to himself, the clown of the play; she amused her cousins by +arguing with Robert, and leading him, step by step, into some bog of +ignorance and stupidity. She excelled in such clever mischief, which, +to be really successful, must leave the victim content with himself. +And yet, though his nature was a coarse one, Robert never, during +those delightful months (the only happy period in the lives of the +three young people) said one virile word which might have brought +matters to a crisis between Laurence and her cousins. He was struck +with the sincerity of the brothers; he saw how the one could be glad +at the happiness of the other and yet suffer anguish in the depths of +his heart, and he did perceive how a woman might shrink from showing +tenderness to one which would grieve the other. This perception on +Robert's part was a just one; it explains a situation which, in times +of faith, when the sovereign pontiff had power to intervene and cut +the Gordian knot of such phenomena (allied to the deepest and most +impenetrable mysteries), would have found its solution. The Revolution +had deepened the Catholic faith in these young hearts, and religion +now rendered this crisis in their lives the more severe, because +nobility of character is ever heightened by the grandeur of +circumstances. A sense of this truth kept Monsieur and Madame +d'Hauteserre and the abbe from the slightest fear of any unworthy +result on the part of the brothers or of Laurence. + +This private drama, secretly developing within the limits of the +family life where each member watched it silently, ran its course so +rapidly and withal so slowly, it carried with it so many unhoped-for +pleasures, trifling jars, frustrated fancies, hopes reversed, anxious +waitings, delayed explanations and mute avowals that the dwellers at +Cinq-Cygne paid no attention to the public drama of the Emperor's +coronation. At times these passions made a truce and sought +distraction in the violent enjoyment of hunting, when weariness of +body took from the soul all occasions to wander in the dangerous +meadows of reverie. Neither Laurence nor her cousins had a thought now +for public affairs; each day brought its palpitating and absorbing +interests for their hearts. + +"Really," said Mademoiselle Goujet one evening, "I don't know which of +all the lovers loves the most." + +Adrien, who happened to be alone in the salon with the four +card-players, raised his eyes and turned pale. For the last few days +his only hold on life had been the pleasure of seeing Laurence and +of listening to her. + +"I think," said the abbe, "that the countess, being a woman, loves +with the greater abandonment to love." + +Laurence, the twins, and Robert entered the room soon after. The +newspapers had just arrived. England, seeing the failure of all +conspiracies attempted within the borders of France, was now arming +all Europe against their common enemy. The disaster at Trafalgar had +overthrown one of the most amazing plans which human genius ever +conceived; by which, if it had succeeded, the Emperor would have paid +the nation for his election by the ruin of the British power. The camp +at Boulogne had just been raised. Napoleon, whose solders were, as +always, inferior in numbers to the enemy, was about to carry the war +into parts of Europe where he had not before waged it. The whole world +was breathless, awaiting the results of the campaign. + +"He'll surely be defeated this time," said Robert, laying down the +paper. + +"The armies of Austria and of Russia are before him," said Marie-Paul. + +"He has never fought in Germany," added Paul-Marie. + +"Of whom are you speaking?" asked Laurence. + +"The Emperor," answered the three gentlemen. + +The jealous girl threw a disdainful look at her twin lovers, which +humiliated them while it rejoiced the heart of Adrien, who made a +gesture of admiration and gave her one proud look, which said plainly +that _he_ thought only of her,--of Laurence. + +"I told you," said the abbe in a low voice, "that love would some day +cause her to forget her animosity." + +It was the first, last, and only reproach the brothers ever received +from her; but certainly at that moment their love, which could still +be distracted by national events, was inferior to that of Laurence, +which, absorbed her mind so completely that she only knew of the +amazing triumph at Austerlitz by overhearing a discussion between +Monsieur d'Hauteserre and his sons. + +Faithful to his ideas of submission, the old man wished both Robert +and Adrien to re-enter the French army and apply for service; they +could, he thought, be reinstated in their rank and soon find an +opening to military honors. But royalist opinions were now +all-powerful at Cinq-Cygne. The four young men and Laurence laughed +at their prudent elder, who seemed to foresee a coming evil. Possibly, +prudence is less virtue than the exercise of some instinct, or _sense_ +of the mind (if it is allowable to couple those two words). A day will +come, no doubt, when physiologists and philosophers will both admit +that the senses are, in some way, the sheath or vehicle of a keen and +penetrative active power which issues from the mind. + + + + CHAPTER XI + + WISE COUNSEL + +After peace was concluded between France and Austria, towards the end +of the month of February, 1806, a relative, whose influence had been +employed for the reinstatement of the Simeuse brothers, and who was +destined later to give them signal proofs of family attachment, the +ci-devant Marquis de Chargeboeuf, whose estates extended from the +department of the Seine-et-Marne to that of the Aube, arrived one +morning at Cinq-Cygne in a species of caleche which was then named in +derision a _berlingot_. When this shabby carriage was driven past the +windows the inhabitants of the chateau, who were at breakfast, were +convulsed with laughter; but when the bald head of the old man was +seen issuing from behind the leather curtain of the vehicle Monsieur +d'Hauteserre told his name, and all present rose instantly to receive +and do honor to the head of the house of Chargeboeuf. + +"We have done wrong to let him come to us," said the Marquis de +Simeuse to his brother and the d'Hauteserres; "we ought to have gone +to him and made our acknowledgements." + +A servant, dressed as a peasant, who drove the horses from a seat on a +level with the body of the carriage, slipped his cartman's whip into a +coarse leather socket, and got down from the box to assist the marquis +from the carriage; but Adrien and the younger de Simeuse prevented +him, unbuttoned the leather apron, and helped the old man out in spite +of his protestations. This gentleman of the old school chose to +consider his yellow _berlingot_ with its leather curtains a most +convenient and excellent equipage. The servant, assisted by Gothard, +unharnessed the stout horses with shining flanks, accustomed no doubt +to do as much duty at the plough as in a carriage. + +"In spite of this cold weather! Why, you are a knight of the olden +time," said Laurence, to her visitor, taking his arm and leading him +into the salon. + +"What has he come for?" thought old d'Hauteserre. + +Monsieur de Chargeboeuf, a handsome old gentleman of sixty-six, in +light-colored breeches, his small weak legs encased in colored +stockings, wore powder, pigeon-wings and a queue. His green cloth +hunting-coat with gold buttons was braided and frogged with gold. His +white waistcoat glittered with gold embroidery. This apparel, still in +vogue among old people, became his face, which was not unlike that of +Frederick the Great. He never put on his three-cornered hat lest he +should destroy the effect of the half-moon traced upon his cranium by +a layer of powder. His right hand, resting on a hooked cane, held both +cane and hat in a manner worthy of Louis XIV. The fine old gentleman +took off his wadded silk pelisse and seated himself in an armchair, +holding the three-cornered hat and the cane between his knees in an +attitude the secret of which has never been grasped by any but the +roues of Louis XV.'s court, an attitude which left the hands free to +play with a snuff-box, always a precious trinket. Accordingly the +marquis drew from the pocket of his waistcoat, which was closed by a +flap embroidered in gold arabesques, a sumptuous snuff-box. While +fingering his own pinch and offering the box around him with another +charming gesture accompanied with kindly smiles, he noticed the +pleasure which his visit gave. He seemed then to comprehend why these +young _emigres_ had been remiss in their duty towards him, and to be +saying to himself, "When we are making love we can't make visits." + +"You will stay with us some days?" said Laurence. + +"Impossible," he replied. "If we were not so separated by events (for +as to distance, you go farther than that which lies between us) you +would know, my dear child, that I have daughters, daughters-in-law, +and grand-children. All these dear creatures would be very uneasy if I +did not return to them to-night, and I have forty-five miles to go." + +"Your horses are in good condition," said the Marquis de Simeuse. + +"Oh! I am just from Troyes, where I had business yesterday." + +After the customary polite inquiries for the Marquise de Chargeboeuf +and other matters really uninteresting but about which politeness +assumes that we are keenly interested, it dawned on Monsieur +d'Hauteserre that the old gentleman had come to warn his young +relatives against imprudence. He remarked that times were changed and +no one could tell what the Emperor might now become. + +"Oh!" said Laurence, "he'll make himself God." + +The Marquis spoke of the wisdom of concession. When he stated, with +more emphasis and authority than he put into his other remarks, the +necessity of submission, Monsieur d'Hauteserre looked at his sons with +an almost supplicating air. + +"Would you serve that man?" asked the Marquis de Simeuse. + +"Yes, I would, if the interests of my family required it," replied +Monsieur de Chargeboeuf. + +Gradually the old man made them aware, though vaguely, of some +threatened danger. When Laurence begged him to explain the nature of +it, he advised the four young men to refrain from hunting and to keep +themselves as much in retirement as possible. + +"You treat the domain of Gondreville as if it were your own," he said +to the Messieurs de Simeuse, "and you are keeping alive a deadly +hatred. I see, by the surprise upon your faces, that you are quite +unaware of the ill-will against you at Troyes, where your late brave +conduct is remembered. They tell of how you foiled the police of the +Empire; some praise you for it, but others regard you as enemies of +the Emperor; partisans declare that Napoleon's clemency is +inexplicable. That, however, is nothing. The real danger lies here; +you foiled men who thought themselves cleverer than you; and low-bred +men never forgive. Sooner or later justice, which in your department +emanates from your enemy, Senator Malin (who has his henchmen +everywhere, even in the ministerial offices),--_his_ justice will +rejoice to see you involved in some annoying scrape. A peasant, for +instance, will quarrel with you for riding over his field; your guns +are in your hands, you are hot-tempered, and something happens. In +your position it is absolutely essential that you should not put +yourselves in the wrong. I do not speak to you thus without good +reason. The police keep this arrondissement under strict surveillance; +they have an agent in that little hole of Arcis expressly to protect +the Imperial senator Malin against your attacks. He is afraid of you, +and says so openly." + +"It is a calumny!" cried the younger Simeuse. + +"A calumny,--I am sure of it myself, but will the public believe it? +Michu certainly did aim at the senator, who does not forget the danger +he was in; and since your return the countess has taken Michu into her +service. To many persons, in fact to the majority, Malin will seem to +be in the right. You do not understand how delicate the position of an +_emigre_ is towards those who are now in possession of his property. +The prefect, a very intelligent man, dropped a word to me yesterday +about you which has made me uneasy. In short, I sincerely wish you +would not remain here." + +This speech was received in dumb amazement. Marie-Paul rang the bell. + +"Gothard," he said, to the little page, "send Michu here." + +"Michu, my friend," said the Marquis de Simeuse when the man appeared, +"is it true that you intended to kill Malin?" + +"Yes, Monsieur le marquis; and when he comes here again I shall lie in +wait for him." + +"Do you know that we are suspected of instigating it, and that our +cousin, by taking you as her farmer is supposed to be furthering your +scheme?" + +"Good God!" cried Michu, "am I accursed? Shall I never be able to rid +you of that villain?" + +"No, my man, no!" said Paul-Marie. "But we will always take care of +you, though you will have to leave our service and the country too. +Sell your property here; we will send you to Trieste to a friend of +ours who has immense business connections, and he'll employ you until +things are better in this country for all of us." + +Tears came into Michu's eyes; he stood rooted to the floor. + +"Were there any witnesses when you aimed at Malin?" asked the Marquis +de Chargeboeuf. + +"Grevin the notary was talking with him, and that prevented my killing +him--very fortunately, as Madame la Comtesse knows," said Michu, +looking at his mistress. + +"Grevin is not the only one who knows it?" said Monsieur de +Chargeboeuf, who seemed annoyed at what was said, though none but the +family were present. + +"That police spy who came here to trap my masters, he knew it too," +said Michu. + +Monsieur de Chargeboeuf rose as if to look at the gardens, and said, +"You have made the most of Cinq-Cygne." Then he left the house, +followed by the two brothers and Laurence, who now saw the meaning of +his visit. + +"You are frank and generous, but most imprudent," said the old man. +"It was natural enough that I should warn you of a rumor which was +certain to be a slander; but what have you done now? you have let such +weak persons as Monsieur and Madame d'Hauteserre and their sons see +that there was truth in it. Oh, young men! young men! You ought to +keep Michu here and go away yourselves. But if you persist in +remaining, at least write a letter to the senator and tell him that +having heard the rumors about Michu you have dismissed him from your +employ." + +"We!" exclaimed the brothers; "what, write to Malin,--to the murderer +of our father and our mother, to the insolent plunderer of our +property!" + +"All true; but he is one of the chief personages at the Imperial +court, and the king of your department." + +"He, who voted for the death of Louis XVI. in case the army of Conde +entered France!" cried Laurence. + +"He, who probably advised the murder of the Duc d'Enghien!" exclaimed +Paul-Marie. + +"Well, well, if you want to recapitulate his titles of nobility," cried +Monsieur de Chargeboeuf, "say he who pulled Robespierre by the skirts +of his coat to make him fall when he saw that his enemies were +stronger than he; he who would have shot Bonaparte if the 18th +Brumaire had missed fire; he who manoeuvres now to bring back the +Bourbons if Napoleon totters; he whom the strong will ever find on +their side to handle either sword or pistol and put an end to an +adversary whom they fear! But--all that is only reason the more for +what I urge upon you." + +"We have fallen very low," said Laurence. + +"Children," said the old marquis, taking them by the hand and going to +the lawn, then covered by a slight fall of snow; "you will be angry at +the prudent advice of an old man, but I am bound to give it, and here +it is: If I were you I would employ as go-between some trustworthy old +fellow--like myself, for instance; I would commission him to ask Malin +for a million of francs for the title-deeds of Gondreville; he would +gladly consent if the matter were kept secret. You will then have +capital in hand, an income of a hundred thousand francs, and you can +buy a fine estate in another part of France. As for Cinq-Cygne, it can +safely be left to the management of Monsieur d'Hauteserre, and you can +draw lots as to which of you shall win the hand of this dear heiress +--But ah! I know the words of an old man in the ears of the young are +like the words of the young in the ears of the old, a sound without +meaning." + +The old marquis signed to his three relatives that he wished no +answer, and returned to the salon, where, during their absence, the +abbe and his sister had arrived. + +The proposal to draw lots for their cousin's hand had offended the +brothers, while Laurence revolted in her soul at the bitterness of the +remedy the old marquis counselled. All three were now less gracious to +him, though they did not cease to be polite. The warmth of their +feeling was chilled. Monsieur de Chargeboeuf, who felt the change, +cast frequent looks of kindly compassion on these charming young +people. The conversation became general, but the old marquis still +dwelt on the necessity of submitting to events, and he applauded +Monsieur d'Hauteserre for his persistence in urging his sons to take +service under the Empire. + +"Bonaparte," he said, "makes dukes. He has created Imperial fiefs, he +will therefore make counts. Malin is determined to be Comte de +Gondreville. That is a fancy," he added, looking at the Simeuse +brothers, "which might be profitable to you--" + +"Or fatal," said Laurence. + +As soon as the horses were put-to the marquis took leave, accompanied +to the door by the whole party. When fairly in the carriage he made a +sign to Laurence to come and speak to him, and she sprang upon the +foot-board with the lightness of a swallow. + +"You are not an ordinary woman, and you ought to understand me," he +said in her ear. "Malin's conscience will never allow him to leave you +in peace; he will set some trap to injure you. I implore you to be +careful of all your actions, even the most unimportant. Compromise, +negotiate; those are my last words." + +The brothers stood motionless behind their cousin and watched the +_berlingot_ as it turned through the iron gates and took the road to +Troyes. Laurence repeated the old man's last words. But sage +experience should not present itself to the eyes of youth in a +_berlingot_, colored stockings, and a queue. These ardent young hearts +had no conception of the change that had passed over France; +indignation crisped their nerves, honor boiled with their noble blood +through every vein. + +"He, the head of the house of Chargeboeuf!" said the Marquis de +Simeuse. "A man who bears the motto _Adsit fortior_, the noblest of +warcries!" + +"We are no longer in the days of Saint-Louis," said the younger +Simeuse. + +"But 'We die singing,'" said the countess. "The cry of the five young +girls of my house is mine!" + +"And ours, 'Cy meurs,'" said the elder Simeuse. "Therefore, no +quarter, I say; for, on reflection, we shall find that our relative +had pondered well what he told us--Gondreville to be the title of a +Malin!" + +"And his seat!" said the younger. + +"Mansart designed it for noble stock, and the populace will get their +children in it!" exclaimed the elder. + +"If that were to come to pass, I'd rather see Gondreville in ashes!" +cried Mademoiselle Cinq-Cygne. + +One of the villagers, who had entered the grounds to examine a calf +Monsieur d'Hauteserre was trying to sell him, overheard these words as +he came from the cow-sheds. + +"Let us go in," said Laurence, laughing; "this is very imprudent; we +are giving the old marquis a right to blame us. My poor Michu," she +added, as she entered the salon, "I had forgotten your adventure; as +we are not in the odor of sanctity in these parts you must be careful +not to compromise us in future. Have you any other peccadilloes on +your conscience?" + +"I blame myself for not having killed the murderer of my old masters +before I came to the rescue of my present ones--" + +"Michu!" said the abbe in a warning tone. + +"But I'll not leave the country," Michu continued, paying no heed to +the abbe's exclamation, "till I am certain you are safe. I see fellows +roaming about here whom I distrust. The last time we hunted in the +forest, that keeper who took my place at Gondreville came to me and +asked if we supposed we were on our own property. 'Ho! my lad,' I +said, 'we can't get rid in two weeks of ideas we've had for +centuries.'" + +"You did wrong, Michu," said the Marquis de Simeuse, smiling with +satisfaction. + +"What answer did he make?" asked Monsieur d'Hauteserre. + +"He said he would inform the senator of our claims," replied Michu. + +"Comte de Gondreville!" repeated the elder Simeuse; "what a +masquerade! But after all, they say 'your Majesty' to Bonaparte!" + +"And to the Grand Duc de Berg, 'your Highness!'" said the abbe. + +"Who is he?" asked the Marquis de Simeuse. + +"Murat, Napoleon's brother-in-law," replied old d'Hauteserre. + +"Delightful!" remarked Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne. "Do they also say +'your Majesty' to the widow of Beauharnais?" + +"Yes, mademoiselle," said the abbe. + +"We ought to go to Paris and see it all," cried Laurence. + +"Alas, mademoiselle," said Michu, "I was there to put Francois at +school, and I swear to you there's no joking with what they call the +Imperial Guard. If the rest of the army are like them, the thing may +last longer than we." + +"They say many of the noble families are taking service," said +Monsieur d'Hauteserre. + +"According to the present law," added the abbe, "you will be compelled +to serve. The conscription makes no distinction of ranks or names." + +"That man is doing us more harm with his court than the Revolution did +with its axe!" cried Laurence. + +"The Church prays for him," said the abbe. + +These remarks, made rapidly one after another, were so many +commentaries on the wise counsel of the old Marquis de Chargeboeuf; +but the young people had too much faith, too much honor, to dream of +resorting to a compromise. They told themselves, as all vanquished +parties in all times have declared, that the luck of the conquerors +would soon be at an end, that the Emperor had no support but that of +the army, that the power _de facto_ must sooner or later give way to +the Divine Right, etc. So, in spite of the wise counsel given to them, +they fell into the pitfall, which others, like old d'Hauteserre, more +prudent and more amenable to reason, would have been able to avoid. If +men were frank they might perhaps admit that misfortunes never +overtake them until after they have received either an actual or an +occult warning. Many do not perceive the deep meaning of such visible +or invisible signs until after the disaster is upon them. + +"In any case, Madame la comtesse knows that I cannot leave the country +until I have given up a certain trust," said Michu in a low voice to +Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne. + +For all answer she made him a sign of acquiescence, and he left the +room. + + + + CHAPTER XII + + THE FACTS OF A MYSTERIOUS AFFAIR + +Michu sold his farm at once to Beauvisage, a farmer at Bellache, but +he was not to receive the money for twenty days. A month after the +Marquis de Chargeboeuf's visit, Laurence, who had told her cousins of +their buried fortune, proposed to them to take the day of the +Mi-careme to disinter it. The unusual quantity of snow which fell that +winter had hitherto prevented Michu from obtaining the treasure, and +it now gave him pleasure to undertake the operation with his masters. +He was determined to leave the neighborhood as soon as it was over, +for he feared himself. + +"Malin has suddenly arrived at Gondreville, and no one knows why," he +said to his mistress. "I shall never be able to resist putting the +property into the market by the death of its owner. I feel I am guilty +in not following my inspirations." + +"Why should he leave Paris at this season?" said the countess. + +"All Arcis is talking about it," replied Michu; "he has left his +family in Paris, and no one is with him but his valet. Monsieur +Grevin, the notary of Arcis, Madame Marion, the wife of the +receiver-general, and her sister-in-law are staying at Gondreville." + +Laurence had chosen the mid-lent day for their purpose because it +enabled her to give her servants a holiday and so get them out of the +way. The usual masquerade drew the peasantry to the town and no one +was at work in the fields. Chance made its calculations with as much +cleverness as Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne made hers. The uneasiness of +Monsieur and Madame d'Hauteserre at the idea of keeping eleven hundred +thousand francs in gold in a lonely chateau on the borders of a forest +was likely to be so great that their sons advised they should know +nothing about it. The secret of the expedition was therefore confined +to Gothard, Michu, Laurence, and the four gentlemen. + +After much consultation it seemed possible to put forty-eight thousand +francs in a long sack on the crupper of each of their horses. Three +trips would therefore bring the whole. It was agreed to send all the +servants, whose curiosity might be troublesome, to Troyes to see the +shows. Catherine, Marthe, and Durieu, who could be relied on, stayed +at home in charge of the house. The other servants were glad of their +holiday and started by daybreak. Gothard, assisted by Michu, saddled +the horses as soon as they were gone, and the party started by way of +the gardens to reach the forest. Just as they were mounting--for the +park gate was so low on the garden side that they led their horses +until they were through it--old Beauvisage, the farmer at Bellache, +happened to pass. + +"There!" cried Gothard, "I hear some one." + +"Oh, it is only I," said the worthy man, coming toward them. "Your +servant, gentleman; are you off hunting, in spite of the new decrees? +_I_ don't complain of you; but do take care! though you have friends +you have also enemies." + +"Oh, as for that," said the elder Hauteserre, smiling, "God grant that +our hunt may be lucky to-day,--if so, you will get your masters back +again." + +These words, to which events were destined to give a totally different +meaning, earned a severe look from Laurence. The elder Simeuse was +confident that Malin would restore Gondreville for an indemnity. These +rash youths were determined to do exactly the contrary of what the +Marquis de Chargeboeuf had advised. Robert, who shared these hopes, +was thinking of them when he gave utterance to the fatal words. + +"Not a word of this, old friend," said Michu to Beauvisage, waiting +behind the others to lock the gate. + +It was one of those fine mornings in March when the air is dry, the +earth pure, the sky clear, and the atmosphere a contradiction to the +leafless trees; the season was so mild that the eye caught glimpses +here and there of verdure. + +"We are seeking treasure when all the while you are the real treasure +of our house, cousin," said the elder Simeuse, gaily. + +Laurence was in front, with a cousin on each side of her. The +d'Hauteserres were behind, followed by Michu. Gothard had gone forward +to clear the way. + +"Now that our fortune is restored, you must marry my brother," said +the younger in a low voice. "He adores you; together you will be as +rich as nobles ought to be in these days." + +"No, give the whole fortune to him and I will marry you," said +Laurence; "I am rich enough for two." + +"So be it," cried the Marquis; "I will leave you, and find a wife +worthy to be your sister." + +"So you really love me less than I thought you did?" said Laurence +looking at him with a sort of jealousy. + +"No; I love you better than either of you love me," replied the +marquis. + +"And therefore you would sacrifice yourself?" asked Laurence with a +glance full of momentary preference. + +The marquis was silent. + +"Well, then, I shall think only of you, and that will be intolerable +to my husband," exclaimed Laurence, impatient at his silence. + +"How could I live without you?" said the younger twin to his brother. + +"But, after all, you can't marry us both," said the marquis, replying +to Laurence; "and the time has come," he continued, in the brusque +tone of a man who is struck to the heart, "to make your decision." + +He urged his horse in advance so that the d'Hauteserres might not +overhear them. His brother's horse and Laurence's followed him. When +they had put some distance between themselves and the rest of the +party Laurence attempted to speak, but tears were at first her only +language. + +"I will enter a cloister," she said at last. + +"And let the race of Cinq-Cygne end?" said the younger brother. +"Instead of one unhappy man, would you make two? No, whichever of us +must be your brother only, will resign himself to that fate. It is the +knowledge that we are no longer poor that has brought us to explain +ourselves," he added, glancing at the marquis. "If I am the one +preferred, all this money is my brother's. If I am rejected, he will +give it to me with the title of de Simeuse, for he must then take the +name and title of Cinq-Cygne. Whichever way it ends, the loser will +have a chance of recovery--but if he feels he must die of grief, he +can enter the army and die in battle, not to sadden the happy +household." + +"We are true knights of the olden time, worthy of our fathers," cried +the elder. "Speak, Laurence; decide between us." + +"We cannot continue as we are," said the younger. + +"Do not think, Laurence, that self-denial is without its joys," said +the elder. + +"My dear loved ones," said the girl, "I am unable to decide. I love +you both as though you were one being--as your mother loved you. God +will help us. I cannot choose. Let us put it to chance--but I make one +condition." + +"What is it?" + +"Whichever one of you becomes my brother must stay with me until I +suffer him to leave me. I wish to be sole judge of when to part." + +"Yes, yes," said the brothers, without explaining to themselves her +meaning. + +"The first of you to whom Madame d'Hauteserre speaks to-night at table +after the Benedicite, shall be my husband. But neither of you must +practise fraud or induce her to answer a question." + +"We will play fair," said the younger, smiling. + +Each kissed her hand. The certainty of some decision which both could +fancy favorable made them gay. + +"Either way, dear Laurence, you create a Comte de Cinq-Cygne--" + +"I believe," thought Michu, riding behind them, "that mademoiselle +will not long be unmarried. How gay my masters are! If my mistress +makes her choice I shall not leave; I must stay and see that wedding." + +Just then a magpie flew suddenly before his face. Michu, superstitious +like all primitive beings, fancied he heard the muffled tones of a +death-knell. The day, however, began brightly enough for lovers, who +rarely see magpies when together in the woods. Michu, armed with his +plan, verified the spots; each gentleman had brought a pickaxe, and +the money was soon found. The part of the forest where it was buried +was quite wild, far from all paths or habitations, so that the +cavalcade bearing the gold returned unseen. This proved to be a great +misfortune. On their way from Cinq-Cygne to fetch the last two hundred +thousand francs, the party, emboldened by success, took a more direct +way than on their other trips. The path passed an opening from which +the park of Gondreville could be seen. + +"What is that?" cried Laurence, pointing to a column of blue flame. + +"A bonfire, I think," replied Michu. + +Laurence, who knew all the by-ways of the forest, left the rest of the +party and galloped towards the pavilion, Michu's old home. Though the +building was closed and deserted, the iron gates were open, and traces +of the recent passage of several horses struck Laurence instantly. The +column of blue smoke was rising from a field in what was called the +English park, where, as she supposed, they were burning brush. + +"Ah! so you are concerned in it, too, are you, mademoiselle?" cried +Violette, who came out of the park at top speed on his pony, and +pulled up to meet Laurence. "But, of course, it is only a carnival +joke? They surely won't kill him?" + +"Who?" + +"Your cousins wouldn't put him to death?" + +"Death! whose death?" + +"The senator's." + +"You are crazy, Violette!" + +"Well, what are you doing here, then?" he demanded. + +At the idea of a danger which was threatening her cousins, Laurence +turned her horse and galloped back to them, reaching the ground as the +last sacks were filled. + +"Quick, quick!" she cried. "I don't know what is going on, but let us +get back to Cinq-Cygne." + +While the happy party were employed in recovering the fortune saved by +the old marquis, and guarded for so many years by Michu, an +extraordinary scene was taking place in the chateau of Gondreville. + +About two o'clock in the afternoon Malin and his friend Grevin were +playing chess before the fire in the great salon on the ground-floor. +Madame Grevin and Madame Marion were sitting on a sofa and talking +together at a corner of the fireplace. All the servants had gone to +see the masquerade, which had long been announced in the +arrondissement. The family of the bailiff who had replaced Michu had +gone too. The senator's valet and Violette were the only persons +beside the family at the chateau. The porter, two gardeners, and their +wives were on the place, but their lodge was at the entrance of the +courtyards at the farther end of the avenue to Arcis, and the distance +from there to the chateau is beyond the sound of a pistol-shot. +Violette was waiting in the antechamber until the senator and Grevin +could see him on business, to arrange a matter relating to his lease. +At that moment five men, masked and gloved, who in height, manner, and +bearing strongly resembled the Simeuse and d'Hauteserre brothers and +Michu, rushed into the antechamber, seized and gagged the valet and +Violette, and fastened them to their chairs in a side room. In spite +of the rapidity with which this was done, Violette and the servant had +time to utter one cry. It was heard in the salon. The two ladies +thought it a cry of fear. + +"Listen!" said Madame Grevin, "can there be robbers?" + +"No, nonsense!" said Grevin, "only carnival cries; the masqueraders +must be coming to pay us a visit." + +This discussion gave time for the four strangers to close the doors +towards the courtyards and to lock up Violette and the valet. Madame +Grevin, who was rather obstinate, insisted on knowing what the noise +meant. She rose, left the room, and came face to face with the five +masked men, who treated her as they had treated the farmer and the +valet. Then they rushed into the salon, where the two strongest seized +and gagged Malin, and carried him off into the park, while the three +others remained behind to gag Madame Marion and Grevin and lash them +to their armchairs. The whole affair did not take more than half an +hour. The three unknown men, who were quickly rejoined by the two who +had carried off the senator, then proceeded to ransack the chateau +from cellar to garret. They opened all closets and doors, and sounded +the walls; until five o'clock they were absolute masters of the place. +By that time the valet had managed to loosen with his teeth the rope +that bound Violette. Violette, able then to get the gag from his +mouth, began to shout for help. Hearing the shouts the five men +withdrew to the gardens, where they mounted horses closely resembling +those at Cinq-Cygne and rode away, but not so rapidly that Violette +was unable to catch sight of them. After releasing the valet, the two +ladies, and the notary, Violette mounted his pony and rode after help. +When he reached the pavilion he was amazed to see the gates open and +Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne apparently on the watch. + +Directly after the young countess had ridden off, Violette was +overtaken by Grevin and the forester of the township of Gondreville, +who had taken horses from the stables at the chateau. The porter's +wife was on her way to summon the gendarmerie from Arcis. Violette at +once informed Grevin of his meeting with Laurence and the sudden +flight of the daring girl, whose strong and decided character was +known to all of them. + +"She was keeping watch," said Violette. + +"Is it possible that those Cinq-Cygne people have done this thing?" +cried Grevin. + +"Do you mean to say you didn't recognize that stout Michu?" exclaimed +Violette. "It was he who attacked me; I knew his fist. Besides, they +rode the Cinq-Cygne horses." + +Noticing the hoof-marks on the sand of the _rond-point_ and along the +park road the notary stationed the forester at the gateway to see to +the preservation of these precious traces until the justice of peace +of Arcis (for whom he now sent Violette) could take note of them. He +himself returned hastily to the chateau, where the lieutenant and +sub-lieutenant of the Imperial gendarmerie at Arcis had arrived, +accompanied by four men and a corporal. The lieutenant was the same +man whose head Francois Michu had broken two years earlier, and who +had heard from Corentin the name of his mischievous assailant. This +man, whose name was Giguet (his brother was in the army, and became +one of the finest colonels of artillery), was an extremely able +officer of gendarmerie. Later he commanded the squadron of the Aube. +The sub-lieutenant, named Welff, had formerly driven Corentin from +Cinq-Cygne to the pavilion, and from the pavilion to Troyes. On the +way, the spy had fully informed him as to what he called the trickery +of Laurence and Michu. The two officers were therefore well inclined +to show, and did show, great eagerness against the family at +Cinq-Cygne. + + + + CHAPTER XIII + + THE CODE OF BRUMAIRE, YEAR IV. + +Malin and Grevin had both, the latter working for the former, taken +part in the construction of the Code called that of Brumaire, year +IV., the judicial work of the National Convention, so-called, and +promulgated by the Directory. Grevin knew its provisions thoroughly, +and was able to apply them in this affair with terrible celerity, +under a theory, now converted into a certainty, of the guilt of Michu +and the Messieurs de Simeuse and d'Hauteserre. No one in these days, +unless it be some antiquated magistrates, will remember this system of +justice, which Napoleon was even then overthrowing by the promulgation +of his own Codes, and by the institution of his magistracy under the +form in which it now rules France. + +The Code of Brumaire, year IV., gave to the director of the jury of +the department the duty of discovering, indicting, and prosecuting the +persons guilty of the delinquency committed at Gondreville. Remark, by +the way, that the Convention had eliminated from its judicial +vocabulary the word "crime"; _delinquencies_ and _misdemeanors_ were +alone admitted; and these were punished with fines, imprisonment, and +penalties "afflictive or infamous." Death was an afflictive +punishment. But the penalty of death was to be done away with after +the restoration of peace, and twenty-four years of hard labor were to +take its place. Thus the Convention estimated twenty-four years of +hard labor as the equivalent of death. What therefore can be said for +a code which inflicts the punishment of hard labor for life? The +system then in process of preparation by the Napoleonic Council of +State suppressed the function of the directors of juries, which united +many enormous powers. In relation to the discovery of delinquencies +and their prosecution the director of the jury was, in fact, agent of +police, public prosecutor, municipal judge, and the court itself. His +proceedings and his indictments were, however, submitted for signature +to a commissioner of the executive power and to the verdict of eight +jurymen, before whom he laid the facts of the case, and who examined +the witnesses and the accused and rendered the preliminary verdict, +called the indictment. The director was, however, in a position to +exercise such influence over the jurymen, who met in his private +office, that they could not well avoid agreeing with him. These +jurymen were called the jury of indictment. There were others who +formed the juries of the criminal tribunals whose duty it was to judge +the accused; these were called, in contradistinction to the jury of +indictment, the judgment jury. The criminal tribunal, to which +Napoleon afterwards gave the name of criminal court, was composed of +one President or chief justice, four judges, the public prosecutor, +and a government commissioner. + +Nevertheless, from 1799 to 1806 there were special courts (so-called) +which judged without juries certain misdemeanors in certain +departments; these were composed of judges taken from the civil courts +and formed into a special court. This conflict of special justice and +criminal justice gave rise to questions of competence which came +before the courts of appeal. If the department of the Aube had had a +special court, the verdict on the outrage committed on a senator of +the Empire would no doubt have been referred to it; but this tranquil +department had never needed unusual jurisdiction. Grevin therefore +despatched the sub-lieutenant to Troyes to bring the director of the +jury of that town. The emissary went at full gallop, and soon returned +in a post-carriage with the all-powerful magistrate. + +The director of the Troyes jury was formerly secretary of one of the +committees of the Convention, a friend of Malin, to whom he owed his +present place. This magistrate, named Lechesneau, had helped Malin, as +Grevin had done, in his work on the Code during the Convention. Malin +in return recommended him to Cambaceres, who appointed him +attorney-general for Italy. Unfortunately for him, Lechesneau had a +liaison with a great lady in Turin, and Napoleon removed him to avoid +a criminal trial threatened by the husband. Lechesneau, bound in +gratitude to Malin, felt the importance of this attack upon his +patron, and brought with him a captain of gendarmerie and twelve men. + +Before starting he laid his plans with the prefect, who was unable at +that late hour, it being after dark, to use the telegraph. They +therefore sent a mounted messenger to Paris to notify the minister of +police, the chief justice and the Emperor of this extraordinary crime. +In the salon of Gondreville, Lechesneau found Mesdames Marion and +Grevin, Violette, the senator's valet, and the justice of peace with +his clerk. The chateau had already been examined; the justice, +assisted by Grevin, had carefully collected the first testimony. The +first thing that struck him was the obvious intention shown in the +choice of the day and hour for the attack. The hour prevented an +immediate search for proofs and traces. At this season it was nearly +dark by half-past five, the hour at which Violette gave the alarm, and +darkness often means impunity to evil-doers. The choice of a holiday, +when most persons had gone to the masquerade at Arcis, and the senator +was comparatively alone in the house, showed an obvious intention to +get rid of witnesses. + +"Let us do justice to the intelligence of the prefecture of police," +said Lechesneau; "they have never ceased to warn us to be on our guard +against the nobles at Cinq-Cygne; they have always declared that +sooner or later those people would play us some dangerous trick." + +Sure of the active co-operation of the prefect of the Aube, who sent +messengers to all the surrounding prefectures asking them to search +for the five abductors and the senator, Lechesneau began his work by +verifying the first facts. This was soon done by the help of two such +legal heads as those of Grevin and the justice of peace. The latter, +named Pigoult, formerly head-clerk in the office where Malin and +Grevin had first studied law in Paris, was soon after appointed judge +of the municipal court at Arcis. In relation to Michu, Lechesneau knew +of the threats the man had made about the sale of Gondreville to +Marion, and the danger Malin had escaped in his own park from Michu's +gun. These two facts, one being the consequence of the other, were no +doubt the precursors of the present successful attack, and they +pointed so obviously to the late bailiff as the instigator of the +outrage that Grevin, his wife, Violette, and Madame Marion declared +that they had recognized among the five masked men one who exactly +resembled Michu. The color of the hair and whiskers and the thick-set +figure of the man made the mask he wore useless. Besides, who but +Michu could have opened the iron gates of the park with a key? The +present bailiff and his wife, now returned from the masquerade, +deposed to have locked both gates before leaving the pavilion. The +gates when examined showed no sign of being forced. + +"When we turned him off he must have taken some duplicate keys with +him," remarked Grevin. "No doubt he has been meditating a desperate +step, for he has lately sold his whole property, and he received the +money for it in my office day before yesterday." + +"The others have followed his lead!" exclaimed Lechesneau, struck with +the circumstances. "He has been their evil genius." + +Moreover, who could know as well as the Messieurs de Simeuse the ins +and outs of the chateau. None of the assailants seemed to have +blundered in their search; they had gone through the house in a +confident way which showed that they knew what they wanted to find and +where to find it. The locks of none of the opened closets had been +forced; therefore the delinquents had keys. Strange to say, however, +nothing had been taken; the motive, therefore, was not robbery. More +than all, when Violette had followed the tracks of the horses as far +as the _rond-point_, he had found the countess, evidently on guard, at +the pavilion. From such a combination of facts and depositions arose a +presumption as to the guilt of the Messieurs de Simeuse, d'Hauteserre, +and Michu, which would have been strong to unprejudiced minds, and to +the director of the jury had the force of certainty. What were they +likely to do to the future Comte de Gondreville? Did they mean to +force him to make over the estate for which Michu declared in 1799 he +had the money to pay? + +But there was another aspect of the cast to the knowing criminal +lawyer. He asked himself what could be the object of the careful +search made of the chateau. If revenge were at the bottom of the +matter, the assailants would have killed the senator. Perhaps he had +been killed and buried. The abduction, however, seemed to point to +imprisonment. But why keep their victim imprisoned after searching the +castle? It was folly to suppose that the abduction of a dignitary of +the Empire could long remain secret. The publicity of the matter would +prevent any benefit from it. + +To these suggestions Pigoult replied that justice was never able to +make out all the motives of scoundrels. In every criminal case there +were obscurities, he said, between the judge and the guilty person; +conscience had depths into which no human mind could enter unless by +the confession of the criminal. + +Grevin and Lechesneau nodded their assent, without, however, relaxing +their determination to see to the bottom of the present mystery. + +"The Emperor pardoned those young men," said Pigoult to Grevin. "He +removed their names from the list of _emigres_, though they certainly +took part in that last conspiracy against him." + +Lechesneau make no delay in sending his whole force of gendarmerie to +the forest and to the valley of Cinq-Cygne; telling Giguet to take +with him the justice of peace, who, according to the terms of the +Code, would then become an auxiliary police-officer. He ordered them +to make all preliminary inquiries in the township of Cinq-Cygne, and +to take testimony if necessary; and to save time, he dictated and +signed a warrant for the arrest of Michu, against whom the charge was +evident on the positive testimony of Violette. After the departure of +the gendarmes Lechesneau returned to the important question of issuing +warrants for the arrest of the Simeuse and d'Hauteserre brothers. +According to the Code these warrants would have to contain the charges +against the delinquents. + +Giguet and the justice of peace rode so rapidly to Cinq-Cygne that +they met Laurence's servants returning from the festivities at Troyes. +Stopped, and taken before the mayor where they were interrogated, they +all stated, being ignorant of the importance of the answer, that their +mistress had given them permission to spend the whole day at Troyes. +To a question put by the justice of the peace, each replied that +Mademoiselle had offered them the amusement which they had not thought +of asking for. This testimony seemed so important to the justice of +the peace that he sent back a messenger to Gondreville to advise +Lechesneau to proceed himself to Cinq-Cygne and arrest the four +gentlemen, while he went to Michu's farm, so that the five arrests +might be made simultaneously. + +This new element was so convincing that Lechesneau started at once for +Cinq-Cygne. He knew well what pleasure would be felt in Troyes at such +proceedings against the old nobles, the enemies of the people, now +become the enemies of the Emperor. In such circumstances a magistrate +is very apt to take mere presumptive evidence for actual proof. +Nevertheless, on his way from Gondreville to Cinq-Cygne, in the +senator's own carriage, it did occur to Lechesneau (who would +certainly have made a fine magistrate had it not been for his +love-affair, and the Emperor's sudden morality to which he owed his +disgrace) to think the audacity of the young men and Michu a piece of +folly which was not in keeping with what he knew of the judgment and +character of Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne. He imagined in his own mind +some other motives for the deed than the restitution of Gondreville. +In all things, even in the magistracy, there is what may be called the +conscience of a calling. Lechesneau's perplexities came from this +conscience, which all men put into the proper performance of the +duties they like--scientific men into science, artists into art, +judges into the rendering of justice. Perhaps for this reason judges +are really greater safeguards for persons accused of wrong-doing than +are juries. A magistrate relies only on reason and its laws; juries +are floated to and fro by the waves of sentiment. The director of the +jury accordingly set several questions before his mind, resolving to +find in their solution satisfactory reasons for making the arrests. + +Though the news of the abduction was already agitating the town of +Troyes, it was still unknown at Arcis, where the inhabitants were +supping when the messenger arrived to summon the gendarmes. No one, of +course, knew it in the village of Cinq-Cygne, the valley and the +chateau of which were now, for the second time, encircled by +gendarmes. + +Laurence had only to tell Marthe, Catherine, and the Durieus not to +leave the chateau, to be strictly obeyed. After each trip to fetch the +gold, the horses were fastened in the covered way opposite to the +breach in the moat, and from there Robert and Michu, the strongest of +the party, carried the sacks through the breach to a cellar under the +staircase in the tower called Mademoiselle's. Reaching the chateau +with the last load about half-past five o'clock, the four gentlemen +and Michu proceeded to bury the treasure in the floor of the cellar +and then to wall up the entrance. Michu took charge of the matter with +Gothard to help him; the lad was sent to the farm for some sacks of +plaster left over when the new buildings were put up, and Marthe went +with him to show him where they were. Michu, very hungry, made such +haste that by half-past seven o'clock the work was done; and he +started for home at a quick pace to stop Gothard, who had been sent +for another sack of plaster which he thought he might want. The farm +was already watched by the forester of Cinq-Cygne, the justice of +peace, his clerk and four gendarmes who, however, kept out of sight +and allowed him to enter the house without seeing them. + +Michu saw Gothard with the sack on his shoulder and called to him from +a distance: "It is all finished, my lad; take that back and stay and +dine with us." + +Michu, his face perspiring, his clothes soiled with plaster and +covered with fragments of muddy stone from the breach, reached home +joyfully and entered the kitchen where Marthe and her mother were +serving the soup in expectation of his coming. + +Just as Michu was turning the faucet of the water-pipe intending to +wash his hands, the justice of peace entered the house accompanied by +his clerk and the forester. + +"What have you come for, Monsieur Pigoult?" asked Michu. + +"In the name of the Emperor and the laws, I arrest you," replied the +justice. + +The three gendarmes entered the kitchen leading Gothard. Seeing the +silver lace on their hats Marthe and her mother looked at each other +in terror. + +"Pooh! why?" asked Michu, who sat down at the table and called to his +wife, "Give me something to eat; I'm famished." + +"You know why as well as we do," said the justice, making a sign to +his clerk to begin the _proces-verbal_ and exhibiting the warrant of +arrest. + +"Well, well, Gothard, you needn't stare so," said Michu. "Do you want +some dinner, yes or no? Let them write down their nonsense." + +"You admit, of course, the condition of your clothes?" said the +justice of peace; "and you can't deny the words you said just now to +Gothard?" + +Michu, supplied with food by his wife, who was amazed at his coolness, +was eating with the avidity of a hungry man. He made no answer to the +justice, for his mouth was full and his heart innocent. Gothard's +appetite was destroyed by fear. + +"Look here," said the forester, going up to Michu and whispering in +his ear: "What have you done with the senator? You had better make a +clean breast of it, for if we are to believe these people it is a +matter of life or death to you." + +"Good God!" cried Marthe, who overheard the last words and fell into a +chair as if annihilated. + +"Violette must have played us some infamous trick," cried Michu, +recollecting what Laurence had said in the forest. + +"Ha! so you do know that Violette saw you?" said the justice of peace. + +Michu bit his lips and resolved to say no more. Gothard imitated him. +Seeing the uselessness of all attempts to make them talk, and knowing +what the neighborhood chose to call Michu's perversity, the justice +ordered the gendarmes to bind his hands and those of Gothard, and take +them both to the chateau, whither he now went himself to rejoin the +director of the jury. + + + + CHAPTER XIV + + THE ARRESTS + +The four young men and Laurence were so hungry and the dinner so +acceptable that they would not delay it by changing their dress. They +entered the salon, she in her riding-habit, they in their white +leather breeches, high-top boots and green-cloth jackets, where they +found Monsieur d'Hauteserre and his wife, not a little uneasy at their +long absence. The goodman had noticed their goings and comings, and, +above all, their evident distrust of him, for Laurence had been unable +to get rid of him as she had of her servants. Once when his own sons +evidently avoided making any reply to his questions, he went to his +wife and said, "I am afraid that Laurence may still get us into +trouble!" + +"What sort of game did you hunt to-day?" said Madame d'Hauteserre to +Laurence. + +"Ah!" replied the young girl, laughing, "you'll hear some day what a +strange hunt your sons have joined in to-day." + +Though said in jest the words made the old lady tremble. Catherine +entered to announce dinner. Laurence took Monsieur d'Hauteserre's arm, +smiling for a moment at the necessity she thus forced upon her cousins +to offer an arm to Madame d'Hauteserre, who, according to agreement, +was now to be the arbiter of their fate. + +The Marquis de Simeuse took in Madame d'Hauteserre. The situation was +so momentous that after the Benedicite was said Laurence and the young +men trembled from the violent palpitation of their hearts. Madame +d'Hauteserre, who carved, was struck by the anxiety on the faces of +the Simeuse brothers and the great alteration that was noticeable in +Laurence's lamb-like features. + +"Something extraordinary is going on, I am sure of it!" she exclaimed, +looking at all of them. + +"To whom are you speaking?" asked Laurence. + +"To all of you," said the old lady. + +"As for me, mother," said Robert, "I am frightfully hungry, and that +is not extraordinary." + +Madame d'Hauteserre, still troubled, offered the Marquis de Simeuse a +plate intended for his brother. + +"I am like your mother," she said. "I don't know you apart even by +your cravats. I thought I was helping your brother." + +"You have helped me better than you thought for," said the youngest, +turning pale; "you have made him Comte de Cinq-Cygne." + +"What! do you mean to tell me the countess has made her choice?" cried +Madame d'Hauteserre. + +"No," said Laurence; "we left the decision to fate and you are its +instrument." + +She told of the agreement made that morning. The elder Simeuse, +watching the increasing pallor of his brother's face, was momentarily +on the point of crying out, "Marry her; I will go away and die!" Just +then, as the dessert was being served, all present heard raps upon the +window of the dining-room on the garden side. The eldest d'Hauteserre +opened it and gave entrance to the abbe, whose breeches were torn in +climbing over the walls of the park. + +"Fly! they are coming to arrest you," he cried. + +"Why?" + +"I don't know yet; but there's a warrant against you." + +The words were greeted with general laughter. + +"We are innocent," said the young men. + +"Innocent or guilty," said the abbe, "mount your horses and make for +the frontier. There you can prove your innocence. You could overcome a +sentence by default; you will never overcome a sentence rendered by +popular passion and instigated by prejudice. Remember the words of +President de Harlay, 'If I were accused of carrying off the towers of +Notre-Dame the first thing I should do would be to run away.'" + +"To run away would be to admit we were guilty," said the Marquis de +Simeuse. + +"Don't do it!" cried Laurence. + +"Always the same sublime folly!" exclaimed the abbe, in despair. "If I +had the power of God I would carry you away. But if I am found here in +this state they will turn my visit against you, and against me too; +therefore I leave you by the way I came. Consider my advice; you have +still time. The gendarmes have not yet thought of the wall which +adjoins the parsonage; but you are hemmed in on the other sides." + +The sound of many feet and the jangle of the sabres of the gendarmerie +echoed through the courtyard and reached the dining-room a few moments +after the departure of the poor abbe, whose advice had met the same +fate as that of the Marquis de Chargeboeuf. + +"Our twin existence," said the younger Simeuse, speaking to Laurence, +"is an anomaly--our love for you is anomalous; it is that very quality +which was won your heart. Possibly, the reason why all twins known to +us in history have been unfortunate is that the laws of nature are +subverted in them. In our case, see how persistently an evil fate +follows us! your decision is now postponed." + +Laurence was stupefied; the fatal words of the director of the jury +hummed in her ears:--"In the name of the Emperor and the laws, I +arrest the Sieurs Paul-Marie and Marie-Paul Simeuse, Adrien and Robert +d'Hauteserre--These gentlemen," he added, addressing the men who +accompanied him and pointing to the mud on the clothing of the +prisoners, "cannot deny that they have spent the greater part of this +day on horseback." + +"Of what are they accused?" asked Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne, +haughtily. + +"Don't you mean to arrest Mademoiselle?" said Giguet. + +"I shall leave her at liberty under bail, until I can carefully +examine the charges against her," replied the director. + +The mayor offered bail, asking the countess to merely give her word of +honor that she would not escape. Laurence blasted him with a look +which made him a mortal enemy; a tear started from her eyes, one of +those tears of rage which reveal a hell of suffering. The four +gentlemen exchanged a terrible look, but remained motionless. Monsieur +and Madame d'Hauteserre, dreading lest the young people had practised +some deceit, were in a state of indescribable stupefaction. Clinging +to their chairs these unfortunate parents, finding their sons torn +from them after so many fears and their late hopes of safety, sat +gazing before them without seeing, listening without hearing. + +"Must I ask you to bail me, Monsieur d'Hauteserre?" cried Laurence to +her former guardian, who was roused by the cry, clear and agonizing to +his ear as the sound of the last trumpet. + +He tried to wipe the tears which sprang to his eyes; he now understood +what was passing, and said to his young relation in a quivering voice, +"Forgive me, countess; you know that I am yours, body and soul." + +Lechesneau, who at first was much struck by the evident tranquillity +in which the whole party were dining, now returned to his former +opinion of their guilt as he noticed the stupefaction of the old +people and the evident anxiety of Laurence, who was seeking to +discover the nature of the trap which was set for them. + +"Gentlemen," he said, politely, "you are too well-bred to make a +useless resistance; follow me to the stables, where I must, in your +presence, have the shoes of your horses taken off; they afford +important proof of either guilt or innocence. Come, too, +mademoiselle." + +The blacksmith of Cinq-Cygne and his assistant had been summoned by +Lechesneau as experts. While the operation at the stable was going on +the justice of peace brought in Gothard and Michu. The work of +detaching the shoes of each horse, putting them together and ticketing +them, so as to compare them with the hoof-prints in the park, took +time. Lechesneau, notified of the arrival of Pigoult, left the +prisoners with the gendarmes and returned to the dining-room to +dictate the indictment. The justice of peace called his attention to +the condition of Michu's clothes and related the circumstances of his +arrest. + +"They must have killed the senator and plastered the body up in some +wall," said Pigoult. + +"I begin to fear it," answered Lechesneau. "Where did you carry that +plaster?" he said to Gothard. + +The boy began to cry. + +"The law frightens him," said Michu, whose eyes were darting flames +like those of a lion in the toils. + +The servants, who had been detained at the village by order of the +mayor, now arrived and filled the antechamber where Catherine and +Gothard were weeping. To all the questions of the director of the jury +and the justice of peace Gothard replied by sobs; and by dint of +weeping he brought on a species of convulsion which alarmed them so +much that they let him alone. The little scamp, perceiving that he was +no longer watched, looked at Michu with a grin, and Michu signified +his approval by a glance. Lechesneau left the justice of peace and +returned to the stables. + +"Monsieur," said Madame d'Hauteserre, at last, addressing Pigoult; +"can you explain these arrests?" + +"The gentlemen are accused of abducting the senator by armed force and +keeping him a prisoner; for we do not think they have murdered him--in +spite of appearances," replied Pigoult. + +"What penalties are attached to the crime?" asked Monsieur +d'Hauteserre. + +"Well, as the old law continues in force, and they are not amenable +under the Code, the penalty is death," replied the justice. + +"Death!" cried Madame d'Hauteserre, fainting away. + +The abbe now came in with his sister, who stopped to speak to +Catherine and Madame Durieu. + +"We haven't even seen your cursed senator!" said Michu. + +"Madame Marion, Madame Grevin, Monsieur Grevin, the senator's valet, +and Violette all tell another tale," replied Pigoult, with the sour +smile of magisterial conviction. + +"I don't understand a thing about it," said Michu, dumbfounded by his +reply, and beginning now to believe that his masters and himself were +entangled in some plot which had been laid against them. + +Just then the party from the stables returned. Laurence went up to +Madame d'Hauteserre, who recovered her senses enough to say: "The +penalty is death!" + +"Death!" repeated Laurence, looking at the four gentlemen. + +The word excited a general terror, of which Giguet, formerly +instructed by Corentin, took immediate advantage. + +"Everything can be arranged," he said, drawing the Marquis de Simeuse +into a corner of the dining-room. "Perhaps after all it is nothing but +a joke; you've been a soldier and soldiers understand each other. Tell +me, what have you really done with the senator? If you have killed him +--why, that's the end of it! But if you have only locked him up, +release him, for you see for yourself your game is balked. Do this and +I am certain the director of the jury and the senator himself will +drop the matter." + +"We know absolutely nothing about it," said the marquis. + +"If you take that tone the matter is likely to go far," replied the +lieutenant. + +"Dear cousin," said the Marquis de Simeuse, "we are forced to go to +prison; but do not be uneasy; we shall return in a few hours, for +there is some misunderstanding in all this which can be explained." + +"I hope so, for your sakes, gentlemen," said the magistrate, signing +to the gendarmes to remove the four gentlemen, Michu, and Gothard. +"Don't take them to Troyes; keep them in your guardhouse at Arcis," he +said to the lieutenant; "they must be present to-morrow, at daybreak, +when we compare the shoes of their horses with the hoof-prints in the +park." + +Lechesneau and Pigoult did not follow until they had closely +questioned Catherine, Monsieur and Madame d'Hauteserre, and Laurence. +The Durieus, Catherine, and Marthe declared they had only seen their +masters at breakfast-time; Monsieur d'Hauteserre said he had seen them +at three o'clock. + +When, at midnight, Laurence found herself alone with Monsieur and +Madame d'Hauteserre, the abbe and his sister, and without the four +young men who for the last eighteen months had been the life of the +chateau and the love and joy of her own life, she fell into a gloomy +silence which no one present dared to break. No affliction was ever +deeper or more complete than hers. At last a deep sigh broke the +stillness, and all eyes turned towards the sound. + +Marthe, forgotten in a corner, rose, exclaiming, "Death! They will +kill them in spite of their innocence!" + +"Mademoiselle, what is the matter with you?" said the abbe. + +Laurence left the room without replying. She needed solitude to +recover strength in presence of this terrible unforeseen disaster. + + + + CHAPTER XV + + DOUBTS AND FEARS OF COUNSEL + +At a distance of thirty-four years, during which three great +revolutions have taken place, none but elderly persons can recall the +immense excitement produced in Europe by the abduction of a senator of +the French Empire. No trial, if we except that of Trumeaux, the grocer +of the Place Saint-Michel, and that of the widow Morin, under the +Empire; those of Fualdes and de Castaing, under the Restoration; those +of Madame Lafarge and Fieschi, under the present government, ever +roused so much curiosity or so deep an interest as that of the four +young men accused of abducting Malin. Such an attack against a member +of his Senate excited the wrath of the Emperor, who was told of the +arrest of the delinquents almost at the moment when he first heard of +the crime and the negative results of the inquiries. The forest, +searched throughout, the department of the Aube, ransacked from end to +end, gave not the slightest indication of the passage of the Comte de +Gondreville nor of his imprisonment. Napoleon sent for the chief +justice, who, after obtaining certain information from the ministry of +police, explained to his Majesty the position of Malin in regard to +the Simeuse brothers and the Gondreville estate. The Emperor, at that +time pre-occupied with serious matters, considered the affair +explained by these anterior facts. + +"Those young men are fools," he said. "A lawyer like Malin will escape +any deed they may force him to sign under violence. Watch those +nobles, and discover the means they take to set the Comte de +Gondreville at liberty." + +He ordered the affair to be conducted with the utmost celerity, +regarding it as an attack on his own institutions, a fatal example of +resistance to the results of the Revolution, an effort to open the +great question of the sales of "national property," and a hindrance to +that fusion of parties which was the constant object of his home +policy. Besides all this, he thought himself tricked by these young +nobles, who had given him their promise to live peaceably. + +"Fouche's prediction has come true," he cried, remembering the words +uttered two years earlier by his present minister of police, who said +them under the impressions conveyed to him by Corentin's report as to +the character and designs of Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne. + +It is impossible for persons living under a constitutional government, +where no one really cares for that cold and thankless, blind, deaf +Thing called public interest, to imagine the zeal which a mere word of +the Emperor was able to inspire in his political or administrative +machine. That powerful will seemed to impress itself as much upon +things as upon men. His decision once uttered, the Emperor, overtaken +by the coalition of 1806, forgot the whole matter. He thought only of +new battles to fight, and his mind was occupied in massing his +regiments to strike the great blow at the heart of the Prussian +monarchy. His desire for prompt justice in the present case found +powerful assistance in the great uncertainty which affected the +position of all magistrates of the Empire. Just at this time +Cambaceres, as arch-chancellor, and Regnier, chief justice, were +preparing to organize _tribunaux de premiere instance_ (lower civil +courts), imperial courts, and a court of appeal or supreme court. They +were agitating the question of a legal garb or costume; to which +Napoleon attached, and very justly, so much importance in all official +stations; and they were also inquiring into the character of the +persons composing the magistracy. Naturally, therefore, the officials +of the department of the Aube considered they could have no better +recommendation than to give proofs of their zeal in the matter of the +abduction of the Comte de Gondreville. Napoleon's suppositions became +certainties to these courtiers and also to the populace. + +Peace still reigned on the continent; admiration for the Emperor was +unanimous in France; he cajoled all interests, persons, vanities, and +things, in short, everything, even memories. This attack, therefore, +directed against his senator, seemed in the eyes of all an assault +upon the public welfare. The luckless and innocent gentlemen were the +objects of general opprobrium. A few nobles living quietly on their +estates deplored the affair among themselves but dared not open their +lips; in fact, how was it possible for them to oppose the current of +public opinion. Throughout the department the deaths of the eleven +persons killed by the Simeuse brothers in 1792 from the windows of the +hotel Cinq-Cygne were brought up against them. It was feared that +other returned and now emboldened _emigres_ might follow this example +of violence against those who had bought their estates from the +"national domain," as a method of protesting against what they might +call an unjust spoliation. + +The unfortunate young nobles were therefore considered as robbers, +brigands, murderers; and their connection with Michu was +particularly fatal to them. Michu, who was declared, either he or his +father-in-law, to have cut off all the heads that fell under the +Terror in that department, was made the subject of ridiculous tales. +The exasperation of the public mind was all the more intense because +nearly all the functionaries of the department owed their offices to +Malin. No generous voice uplifted itself against the verdict of the +public. Besides all this, the accused had no legal means with which +to combat prejudice; for the Code of Brumaire, year IV., giving as it +did both the prosecution of a charge and the verdict upon it into the +hands of a jury, deprived the accused of the vast protection of an +appeal against legal suspicion. + +The day after the arrest all the inhabitants of the chateau of +Cinq-Cygne, both masters and servants, were summoned to appear before +the prosecuting jury. Cinq-Cygne was left in charge of a farmer, under +the supervision of the abbe and his sister who moved into it. +Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne, with Monsieur and Madame d'Hauteserre, went +to Troyes and occupied a small house belonging to Durieu in one of the +long and wide faubourgs which lead from the little town. Laurence's +heart was wrung when she at last comprehended the temper of the +populace, the malignity of the bourgeoisie, and the hostility of the +administration, from the many little events which happened to them as +relatives of prisoners accused of criminal wrong-doing and about to be +judged in a provincial town. Instead of hearing encouraging or +compassionate words they heard only speeches which called for vengeance; +proofs of hatred surrounded them in place of the strict politeness or +the reserve required by mere decency; but above all they were conscious +of an isolation which every mind must feel, but more particularly those +which are made distrustful by misfortune. + +Laurence, who had recovered her vigor of mind, relied upon the +innocence of the accused, and despised the community too much to be +frightened by the stern and silent disapproval they met with +everywhere. She sustained the courage of Monsieur and Madame +d'Hauteserre, all the while thinking of the judicial struggle which +was now being hurried on. She was, however, to receive a blow she +little expected, which, undoubtedly, diminished her courage. + +In the midst of this great disaster, at the moment when this afflicted +family were made to feel themselves, as it were, in a desert, a man +suddenly became exalted in Laurence's eyes and showed the full beauty +of his character. The day after the indictment was found by the jury, +and the prisoners were finally committed for trial, the Marquis de +Chargeboeuf courageously appeared, still in the same old caleche, to +support and protect his young cousin. Foreseeing the haste with which +the law would be administered, this chief of a great family had +already gone to Paris and secured the services of the most able as +well as the most honest lawyer of the old school, named Bordin, who +was for ten years counsel of the nobility in Paris, and was ultimately +succeeded by the celebrated Derville. This excellent lawyer chose for +his assistant the grandson of a former president of the parliament of +Normandy, whose studies had been made under his tuition. This young +lawyer, who was destined to be appointed deputy-attorney-general in +Paris after the conclusion of the present trial, became eventually one +of the most celebrated of French magistrates. Monsieur de Grandville, +for that was his name, accepted the defence of the four young men, +being glad of an opportunity to make his first appearance as an +advocate with distinction. + +The old marquis, alarmed at the ravages which troubles had wrought in +Laurence's appearance, was charmingly kind and considerate. He made no +allusion to his neglected advice; he presented Bordin as an oracle +whose counsel must be followed to the letter, and young de Grandville +as a defender in whom the utmost confidence might be placed. + +Laurence held out her hand to the kind old man, and pressed his with +an eagerness which delighted him. + +"You were right," she said. + +"Will you now take my advice?" he asked. + +The young countess bowed her head in assent, as did Monsieur and +Madame d'Hauteserre. + +"Well, then, come to my house; it is in the middle of town, close to +the courthouse. You and your lawyers will be better off there than +here, where you are crowded and too far from the field of battle. +Here, you would have to cross the town twice a day." + +Laurence, accepted, and the old man took her with Madame d'Hauteserre +to his house, which became the home of the Cinq-Cygne household and +the lawyers of the defence during the whole time the trial lasted. +After dinner, when the doors were closed, Bordin made Laurence relate +every circumstance of the affair, entreating her to omit nothing, not +the most trifling detail. Though many of the facts had already been +told to him and his young assistant by the marquis on their journey +from Paris to Troyes, Bordin listened, his feet on the fender, without +obtruding himself into the recital. The young lawyer, however, could +not help being divided between his admiration for Mademoiselle de +Cinq-Cygne, and the attention he was bound to give to the facts of his +case. + +"Is that really all?" asked Bordin when Laurence had related the +events of the drama just as the present narrative has given them up to +the present time. + +"Yes," she answered. + +Profound silence reigned for several minutes in the salon of the +Chargeboeuf mansion where this scene took place,--one of the most +important which occur in life. All cases are judged by the counsellors +engaged in them, just as the death or life or a patient is foreseen by +a physician, before the final struggle which the one sustains against +nature, the other against law. Laurence, Monsieur and Madame +d'Hauteserre, and the marquis sat with their eyes fixed on the swarthy +and deeply pitted face of the old lawyer, who was now to pronounce the +words of life or death. Monsieur d'Hauteserre wiped the sweat from his +brow. Laurence looked at the younger man and noted his saddened face. + +"Well, my dear Bordin?" said the marquis at last, holding out his +snuffbox, from which the old lawyer took a pinch in an absent-minded +way. + +Bordin rubbed the calf of his leg, covered with thick stockings of +black raw silk, for he always wore black cloth breeches and a coat +made somewhat in the shape of those which are now termed _a la +Francaise_. He cast his shrewd eyes upon his clients with an anxious +expression, the effect of which was icy. + +"Must I analyze all that?" he said; "am I to speak frankly?" + +"Yes; go on, monsieur," said Laurence. + +"All that you have innocently done can be converted into proof against +you," said the old lawyer. "We cannot save your friends; we can only +reduce the penalty. The sale which you induced Michu to make of his +property will be taken as evident proof of your criminal intentions +against the senator. You sent your servants to Troyes so that you +might be alone; that is all the more plausible because it is actually +true. The elder d'Hauteserre made an unfortunate speech to Beauvisage, +which will be your ruin. You yourself, mademoiselle, made another in +your own courtyard, which proves that you have long shown ill-will to +the possessor of Gondreville. Besides, you were at the gate of the +_rond-point_, apparently on the watch, about the time when the +abduction took place; if they have not arrested you, it is solely +because they fear to bring a sentimental element into the affair." + +"The case cannot be successfully defended," said Monsieur de +Grandville. + +"The less so," continued Bordin, "because we cannot tell the whole +truth. Michu and the Messieurs de Simeuse and d'Hauteserre must hold +to the assertion that you merely went for an excursion into the forest +and returned to Cinq-Cygne for luncheon. Allowing that we can show you +were in the house at three o'clock (the exact hour at which the attack +was made), who are our witnesses? Marthe, the wife of one of the +accused, the Durieus, and Catherine, your own servants, and Monsieur +and Madame d'Hauteserre, father and mother of two of the accused. Such +testimony is valueless; the law does not admit it against you, and +commonsense rejects it when given in your favor. If, on the other +hand, you were to say you went to the forest to recover eleven hundred +thousand francs in gold, you would send the accused to the galleys as +robbers. Judge, jury, audience, and the whole of France would believe +that you took that gold from Gondreville, and abducted the senator +that you might ransack his house. The accusation as it now stands is +not wholly clear, but tell the truth about the matter and it would +become as plain as day; the jury would declare that the robbery +explained the mysterious features,--for in these days, you must +remember, a royalist means a thief. This very case is welcomed as a +legitimate political vengeance. The prisoners are now in danger of the +death penalty; but that is not dishonoring under some circumstances. +Whereas, if they can be proved to have stolen money, which can never +be made to seem excusable, you lose all benefit of whatever interest +may attach to persons condemned to death for other crimes. If, at the +first, you had shown the hiding-places of the treasure, the plan of +the forest, the tubes in which the gold was buried, and the gold +itself, as an explanation of your day's work, it is possible you might +have been believed by an impartial magistrate, but as it is we must +be silent. God grant that none of the prisoners may reveal the truth +and compromise the defence; if they do, we must rely on our +cross-examinations." + +Laurence wrung her hands in despair and raised her eyes to heaven with +a despondent look, for she saw at last in all its depths the gulf into +which her cousins had fallen. The marquis and the young lawyer agreed +with the dreadful view of Bordin. Old d'Hauteserre wept. + +"Ah! why did they not listen to the Abbe Goujet and fly!" cried Madame +d'Hauteserre, exasperated. + +"If they could have escaped, and you prevented them," said Bordin, +"you have killed them yourselves. Judgment by default gains time; time +enables the innocent to clear themselves. This is the most mysterious +case I have ever known in my life, in the course of which I have +certainly seen and known many strange things." + +"It is inexplicable to every one, even to us," said Monsieur de +Grandville. "If the prisoners are innocent some one else has committed +the crime. Five persons do not come to a place as if by enchantment, +obtain five horses shod precisely like those of the accused, imitate +the appearance of some of them, and put Malin apparently underground +for the sole purpose of casting suspicion on Michu and the four +gentlemen. The unknown guilty parties must have had some strong reason +for wearing the skin, as it were, of five innocent men. To discover +them, even to get upon their traces, we need as much power as the +government itself, as many agents and as many eyes as there are +townships in a radius of fifty miles." + +"The thing is impossible," said Bordin. "There's no use thinking +of it. Since society invented law it has never found a way to give +an innocent prisoner an equal chance against a magistrate who is +pre-disposed against him. Law is not bilateral. The defence, without +spies or police, cannot call social power to the rescue of its innocent +clients. Innocence has nothing on her side but reason, and reasoning +which may strike a judge is often powerless on the narrow minds of +jurymen. The whole department is against you. The eight jurors who +have signed the indictment are each and all purchasers of national +domain. Among the trial jurors we are certain to have some who have +either sold or bought the same property. In short, we can get nothing +but a Malin jury. You must therefore set up a consistent defence, hold +fast to it, and perish in your innocence. You will certainly be +condemned. But there's a court of appeal; we will go there and try to +remain there as long as possible. If in the mean time we can collect +proofs in your favor you must apply for pardon. That's the anatomy of +the business, and my advice. If we triumph (for everything is possible +in law) it will be a miracle; but your advocate Monsieur de Grandville +is the most likely man among all I know to produce that miracle, and +I'll do my best to help him." + +"The senator has the key to the mystery," said Monsieur de Grandville; +"for a man knows his enemies and why they are so. Here we find him +leaving Paris at the close of the winter, coming to Gondreville alone, +shutting himself up with his notary, and delivering himself over, as +one might say, to five men who seize him." + +"Certainly," said Bordin, "his conduct seems inexplicable. But how +could we, in the face of a hostile community, become accusers when we +ourselves are the accused? We should need the help and good-will of +the government and a thousand times more proof than is wanted in +ordinary circumstances. I am convinced there was premeditation, and +subtle premeditation, on the part of our mysterious adversaries, who +must have known the situation of Michu and the Messieurs de Simeuse +towards Malin. Not to utter one word; not to steal one thing! +--remarkable prudence! I see something very different from ordinary +evil-doers behind those masks. But what would be the use of saying so +to the sort of jurors we shall have to face?" + +This insight into hidden matters which gives such power to certain +lawyers and certain magistrates astonished and confounded Laurence; +her heart was wrung by that inexorable logic. + +"Out of every hundred criminal cases," continued Bordin, "there are +not ten where the law really lays bare the truth to its full extent; +and there is perhaps a good third in which the truth is never brought +to light at all. Yours is one of those cases which are inexplicable to +all parties, to accused and accusers, to the law and to the public. As +for the Emperor, he has other fish to fry than to consider the case of +these gentlemen, supposing even that they had not conspired against +him. But who the devil _is_ Malin's enemy? and what has really been +done with him?" + +Bordin and Monsieur de Grandville looked at each other; they seemed in +doubt as to Laurence's veracity. This evident suspicion was the most +cutting of all the many pangs the girl had suffered in the affair; and +she turned upon the lawyers a look which effectually put an end to +their distrust. + +The next day the indictment was handed over to the defence, and the +lawyers were then enabled to communicate with the prisoners. Bordin +informed the family that the six accused men were "well supported," +--using a professional term. + +"Monsieur de Grandville will defend Michu," said Bordin. + +"Michu!" exclaimed the Marquis de Chargeboeuf, amazed at the change. + +"He is the pivot of the affair--the danger lies there," replied the +old lawyer. + +"If he is more in danger than the others, I think that is just," cried +Laurence. + +"We see certain chances," said Monsieur de Grandville, "and we shall +study them carefully. If we are able to save these gentlemen it will +be because Monsieur d'Hauteserre ordered Michu to repair one of the +stone posts in the covered way, and also because a wolf has been seen +in the forest; in a criminal court everything depends on discussions, +and discussions often turn on trivial matters which then become of +immense importance." + +Laurence sank into that inward dejection which humiliates the soul of +all thoughtful and energetic persons when the uselessness of thought +and action is made manifest to them. It was no longer a matter of +overthrowing a usurper, or of coming to the help of devoted friends, +--fanatical sympathies wrapped in a shroud of mystery. She now saw all +social forces full-armed against her cousins and herself. There was no +taking a prison by assault with her own hands, no deliverance of +prisoners from the midst of a hostile population and beneath the eyes +of a watchful police. So, when the young lawyer, alarmed at the stupor +of the generous and noble girl, which the natural expression of her +face made still more noticeable, endeavored to revive her courage, she +turned to him and said: "I must be silent; I suffer,--I wait." + +The accent, gesture, and look with which the words were said made this +answer one of those sublime things which only need a wider stage to +make them famous. + +A few moments later old d'Hauteserre was saying to the Marquis de +Chargeboeuf: "What efforts I have made for my two unfortunate sons! I +have already laid by in the Funds enough to give them eight thousand +francs a year. If they had only been willing to serve in the army they +would have reached the higher grades by this time, and could now have +married to advantage. Instead of that, all my plans are scattered to +the winds!" + +"How can you," said his wife, "think of their interests when it is a +question of their honor and their lives?" + +"Monsieur d'Hauteserre thinks of everything," said the marquis. + + + + CHAPTER XVI + + MARTHE INVEIGLED + +While the masters of Cinq-Cygne were waiting at Troyes for the opening +of the trial before the Criminal court and vainly soliciting +permission to see the prisoners, an event of the utmost importance had +taken place at the chateau. + +Marthe returned to Cinq-Cygne as soon as she had given her testimony +before the indicting jury. This testimony was so insignificant that it +was not thought necessary to summon her before the Criminal court. +Like all persons of extreme sensibility, the poor woman sat silent in +the salon, where she kept company with Mademoiselle Goujet, in a +pitiable state of stupefaction. To her, as to the abbe, and indeed to +all others who did not know how the accused had been employed on that +day, their innocence seemed doubtful. There were moments when Marthe +believed that Michu and his masters and Laurence had executed +vengeance on the senator. The unhappy woman now knew Michu's devotion +well enough to be certain that he was the one who would be most in +danger, not only because of his antecedents, but because of the part +he was sure to have taken in the execution of the scheme. + +The Abbe Goujet and his sister and Marthe were bewildered among the +possibilities to which this opinion gave rise; and yet, in the process +of thinking them over, their minds insensibly took hold of them in a +certain way. The absolute doubt which Descartes demands can no more +exist in the brain of a man than a vacuum can exist in nature, and the +mental operation required to produce it would, like the effect of a +pneumatic machine, be exceptional and anomalous. Whatever a case may +be, the mind believes in something. Now Marthe was so afraid that the +accused were guilty that her fear became equivalent to belief; and +this condition of her mind proved fatal to her. + +Five days after the arrests, just as she was in the act of going to +bed about ten o'clock at night, she was called from the courtyard by +her mother, who had come from the farm on foot. + +"A laboring man from Troyes wants to speak to you; he is sent by +Michu, and is waiting in the covered way," she said to Marthe. + +They passed through the breach so as to take the shortest path. In the +darkness it was impossible for Marthe to distinguish anything more +than the form of a person which loomed through the shadows. + +"Speak, madame; so that I may be certain you are really Madame Michu," +said the person, in a rather anxious voice. + +"I am Madame Michu," said Marthe; "what do you want of me?" + +"Very good," said the unknown, "give me your hand; do not fear me. I +come," he added, leaning towards her and speaking low, "from Michu +with a note for you. I am employed at the prison, and if my superiors +discover my absence we shall all be lost. Trust me; your good father +placed me where I am. For that reason Michu counted on my helping +him." + +He put the letter into Marthe's hand and disappeared toward the forest +without waiting for an answer. Marthe trembled at the thought that she +was now to hear the secret of the mystery. She ran to the farm with +her mother and shut herself up to read the following letter:-- + + My dear Marthe,--You can rely on the discretion of the man who + will give you this letter; he does not know how to read or to + write. He is a stanch Republican, and shared in Baboeuf's + conspiracy; your father often made use of him, and he regards the + senator as a traitor. Now, my dear wife, attend to my directions. + The senator has been shut up by us in the cave where our masters + were hidden. The poor creature had provisions for only five days, + and as it is our interest that he should live, I wish you, as soon + as you receive this letter, to take him food for at least five + days more. The forest is of course watched; therefore take as many + precautions as we formerly did for our young masters. Don't say a + word to Malin; don't speak to him; and put on one of our masks + which you will find on the steps which lead down to the cave. + Unless you wish to compromise our heads you must be absolutely + silent about this letter and the secret I have now confided to + you. Don't say a word to Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne, who might + tell of it. Don't fear for me. We are certain that the matter will + turn out well; when the time comes Malin himself will save us. I + don't need to tell you to burn this letter as soon as you have + read it, for it would cost me my head if a line of it were seen. I + kiss you for now and always, + + Michu. + + +The existence of the cave was known only to Marthe, her son, Michu, +the four gentlemen, and Laurence; or rather, Marthe, to whom her +husband had not related the incident of his meeting with Peyrade and +Corentin, believed it was known only to them. Had she consulted her +mistress and the two lawyers, who knew the innocence of the prisoners, +the shrewd Bordin would have gained some light upon the perfidious +trap which was evidently laid for his clients. But Marthe, acting like +most women under a first impulse, was convinced by this proof which +came to her own eyes, and flung the letter into the fire as directed. +Nevertheless, moved by a singular gleam of caution, she caught a +portion of it from the flames, tore off the five first lines, which +compromised no one, and sewed them into the hem of her dress. +Terrified at the thought that the prisoner had been without food for +twenty-four hours, she resolved to carry bread, meat, and wine to him +at once; curiosity was well as humanity permitting no delay. +Accordingly, she heated her oven and made, with her mother's help, a +_pate_ of hare and ducks, a rice cake, roasted two fowls, selected +three bottles of wine, and baked two loaves of bread. About two in the +morning she started for the forest, carrying the load on her back, +accompanied by Couraut, who in all such expeditions showed wonderful +sagacity as a guide. He scented strangers at immense distances, and as +soon as he was certain of their presence he returned to his mistress +with a low growl, looking at her fixedly and turning his muzzle in the +direction of the danger. + +Marthe reached the pond about three in the morning, and left the dog +as sentinel on the bank. After half an hour's labor in clearing the +entrance she came with a dark lantern to the door of the cave, her +face covered with a mask, which she had found, as directed, on the +steps. The imprisonment of the senator seemed to have been long +premeditated. A hole about a foot square, which Marthe had never seen +before, was roughly cut in the upper part of the iron door which +closed the cave; but in order to prevent Malin from using the time and +patience all prisoners have at their command in loosening the iron bar +which held the door, it was securely fastened with a padlock. + +The senator, who had risen from his bed of moss, sighed when he saw +the masked face and felt that there was no chance then of his +deliverance. He examined Marthe, as much as he could by the unsteady +light of her dark lantern, and he recognized her by her clothes, her +stoutness, and her motions. When she passed the _pate_ through the +door he dropped it to seize her hand and then, with great swiftness, +he tried to pull the rings from her fingers,--one her wedding-ring, +the other a gift from Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne. + +"You cannot deny that it is you, my dear Madame Michu," he said. + +Marthe closed her fist the moment she felt his fingers, and gave him a +vigorous blow in the chest. Then, without a word, she turned away and +cut a stick, at the end of which she held out to the senator the rest +of the provisions. + +"What do they want of me?" he asked. + +Marthe departed giving him no answer. By five o'clock she had reached +the edge of the forest and was warned by Couraut of the presence of +strangers. She retraced her steps and made for the pavilion where she +had lived so long; but just as she entered the avenue she was seen +from afar by the forester of Gondreville, and she quickly reflected +that her best plan was to go straight up to him. + +"You are out early, Madame Michu," he said, accosting her. + +"We are so unfortunate," she replied, "that I am obliged to do a +servant's work myself. I am going to Bellache for some grain." + +"Haven't you any at Cinq-Cygne?" said the forester. + +Marthe made no answer. She continued on her way and reached the farm +at Bellache, where she asked Beauvisage to give her some seed-grain, +saying that Monsieur d'Hauteserre advised her to get it from him to +renew her crop. As soon as Marthe had left the farm, the forester went +there to find out what she asked for. + +Six days later, Marthe, determined to be prudent, went at midnight +with her provisions so as to avoid the keepers who were evidently +patrolling the forest. After carrying a third supply to the senator +she suddenly became terrified on hearing the abbe read aloud the +public examination of the prisoners,--for the trial was by that time +begun. She took the abbe aside, and after obliging him to swear that +he would keep the secret she was about to reveal as though it was said +to him in the confessional, she showed him the fragments of Michu's +letter, told him the contents of it, and also the secret of the +hiding-place where the senator then was. + +The abbe at once inquired if she had other letters from her husband +that he might compare the writing. Marthe went to her home to fetch +them and there found a summons to appear in court. By the time she +returned to the chateau the abbe and his sister had received a similar +summons on behalf of the defence. They were obliged therefore to start +for Troyes immediately. Thus all the personages of our drama, even +those who were only, as it were, supernumeraries, were collected on +the spot where the fate of the two families was about to be decided. + + + + CHAPTER XVII + + THE TRIAL + +There are but few localities in France where Law derives from outward +appearance the dignity which ought always to accompany it. Yet it +surely is, after religion and royalty, the greatest engine of society. +Everywhere, even in Paris, the meanness of its surroundings, the +wretched arrangement of the courtrooms, their barrenness and want of +decoration in the most ornate and showy nation upon earth in the +matter of its public monuments, lessens the action of the law's mighty +power. At the farther end of some oblong room may be seen a desk with +a green baize covering raised on a platform; behind it sit the judges +on the commonest of arm-chairs. To the left, is the seat of the public +prosecutor, and beside him, close to the wall, is a long pen filled +with chairs for the jury. Opposite to the jury is another pen with a +bench for the prisoners and the gendarmes who guard them. The clerk of +the court sits below the platform at a table covered with the papers +of the case. Before the imperial changes in the administration of +justice were instituted, a commissary of the government and the +director of the jury each had a seat and a table, one to the right, +the other to the left of the baize-covered desk. Two sheriffs hovered +about in the space left in front of the desk for the station of +witnesses. Facing the judges and against the wall above the entrance, +there is always a shabby gallery reserved for officials and for women, +to which admittance is granted only by the president of the court, +to whom the proper management of the courtroom belongs. The +non-privileged public are compelled to stand in the empty space between +the door of the hall and the bar. This normal appearance of all French +law courts and assize-rooms was that of the Criminal court of Troyes. + +In April, 1806, neither the four judges nor the president (or +chief-justice) who made up the court, nor the public prosecutor, the +director of the jury, the commissary of the government, nor the +sheriffs or lawyers, in fact no one except the gendarmes, wore any +robes or other distinctive sign which might have relieved the +nakedness of the surroundings and the somewhat meagre aspect of the +figures. The crucifix was suppressed; its example was no longer held +up before the eyes of justice and of guilt. All was dull and vulgar. +The paraphernalia so necessary to excite social interest is perhaps a +consolation to criminals. On this occasion the eagerness of the public +was what it has ever been and ever will be in trials of this kind, so +long as France refuses to recognize that the admission of the public +to the courts involves publicity, and that the publicity given to +trials is a terrible penalty which would never have been inflicted had +legislators reflected on it. Customs are often more cruel than laws. +Customs are the deeds of men, but laws are the judgment of a nation. +Customs in which there is often no judgment are stronger than laws. + +Crowds surrounded the courtroom; the president was obliged to station +squads of soldiers to guard the doors. The audience, standing below +the bar, was so crowded that persons suffocated. Monsieur de +Grandville, defending Michu, Bordin, defending the Simeuse brothers, +and a lawyer of Troyes who appeared for the d'Hauteserres, were in +their seats before the opening of the court; their faces wore a look +of confidence. When the prisoners were brought in, sympathetic murmurs +were heard at the appearance of the young men, whose faces, in twenty +days' imprisonment and anxiety, had somewhat paled. The perfect +likeness of the twins excited the deepest interest. Perhaps the +spectators thought that Nature would exercise some special protection +in the case of her own anomalies, and felt ready to join in repairing +the harm done to them by destiny. Their noble, simple faces, showing +no signs of shame, still less of bravado, touched the women's hearts. +The four gentlemen and Gothard wore the clothes in which they had been +arrested; but Michu, whose coat and trousers were among the "articles +of testimony," so-called, had put on his best clothes,--a blue +surtout, a brown velvet waistcoat _a la_ Robespierre, and a white +cravat. The poor man paid the penalty of his dangerous-looking face. +When he cast a glance of his yellow eye, so clear and so profound upon +the audience, a murmur of repulsion answered it. The assembly chose to +see the finger of God bringing him to the dock where his father-in-law +had sacrificed so many victims. This man, truly great, looked at his +masters, repressing a smile of scorn. He seemed to say to them, "I am +injuring your cause." Five of the prisoners exchanged greetings with +their counsel. Gothard still played the part of an idiot. + +After several challenges, made with much sagacity by the defence under +advice of the Marquis de Chargeboeuf, who boldly took a seat beside +Bordin and de Grandville, the jury were empanelled, the indictment was +read, and the prisoners were brought up separately to be examined. +They answered every question with remarkable unanimity. After riding +about the forest all the morning they had returned to Cinq-Cygne for +breakfast at one o'clock. After that meal, from three to half-past +five in the afternoon, they had returned to the forest. That was the +basis of each testimony; any variations were merely individual +circumstances. When the president asked the Messieurs de Simeuse why +they had ridden out so early, they both declared that wishing, since +their return, to buy back Gondreville and intending to make an offer +to Malin who had arrived the night before, they had gone out early +with their cousin and Michu to make certain examinations of the +property on which to base their offer. During that time the Messieurs +d'Hauteserre, their cousin, and Gothard had chased a wolf which was +reported in the forest by the peasantry. If the director of the jury +had sought for the prints of their horses' feet in the forest as +carefully as in the park of Gondreville, he would have found proof of +their presence at long distances from the house. + +The examination of the Messieurs d'Hauteserre corroborated this +testimony, and was in harmony with their preliminary dispositions. The +necessity of some reason for their ride suggested to each of them the +excuse of hunting. The peasants had given warning, a few days earlier, +of a wolf in the forest, and on that they had fastened as a pretext. + +The public prosecutor, however, pointed out a discrepancy between the +first statements of the Messieurs d'Hauteserre, in which they +mentioned that the whole party hunted together, and the defence now +made by the Messieurs de Simeuse that their purpose on that day was +the valuation of the forest. + +Monsieur de Grandville here called attention to the fact that as the +crime was not committed until after two o'clock in the afternoon, the +prosecution had no ground to question their word when they stated the +manner in which they had employed their morning. + +The prosecutor replied that the prisoners had an interest in +concealing their preparations for the abduction of the senator. + +The remarkable ability of the defence was now felt. Judges, jurors, +and audience became aware that victory would be hotly contested. +Bordin and Monsieur de Grandville had studied their ground and +foreseen everything. Innocence is required to render a clear and +plausible account of its actions. The duty of the defence is to +present a consistent and probable tale in opposition to an +insufficient and improbable accusation. To counsel who regard their +client as innocent, an accusation is false. The public examination of +the four gentlemen sufficiently explained the matter in their favor. +So far all was well. But the examination of Michu was more serious; +there the real struggle began. It was now clear to every one why +Monsieur de Grandville had preferred to take charge of the servant's +defence rather than that of his masters. + +Michu admitted his threats against Marion; but denied that he had made +them violently. As for the ambush in which he was supposed to have +watched for his enemy, he said he was merely making his rounds in his +park; the senator and Monsieur Grevin might perhaps have been alarmed +at the sight of his gun and have thought his intentions hostile when +they were really inoffensive. He called attention to the fact that in +the dusk a man who was not in the habit of hunting might easily fancy +a gun was pointed at him, whereas, in point of fact, it was held in +his hand at half-cock. To explain the condition of his clothes when +arrested, he said he had slipped and fallen in the breach on his way +home. "I could scarcely see my way," he said, "and the loose stones +slipped from under me as I climbed the bank." As for the plaster which +Gothard was bringing him, he replied as he had done in all previous +examinations, that he wanted it to secure one of the stone posts of +the covered way. + +The public prosecutor and the president asked him to explain how he +could have been at the top of the covered way engaged in mending a +stone post and at the same time in the breach of the moat leading to +the chateau; more especially as the justice of peace, the gendarmes +and the forester all declared they had heard him approach them from +the lower road. To this Michu replied that Monsieur d'Hauteserre had +blamed him for not having mended the post,--which he was anxious to +have finished because there were difficulties about that road with the +township,--and he had therefore gone up to the chateau to report that +the work was done. + +Monsieur d'Hauteserre had, in fact, put up a fence above the covered +way to prevent the township from taking possession of it. Michu seeing +the important part which the state of his clothes was likely to play, +invented this subterfuge. If, in law, truth is often like falsehood, +falsehood on the other hand has a very great resemblance to truth. The +defence and the prosecution both attached much importance to this +testimony, which became one of the leading points of the trial on +account of the vigor of the defence and the suspicions of the +prosecution. + +Gothard, instructed no doubt by Monsieur de Grandville, for up to that +time he had only wept when they questioned him, admitted that Michu +had told him to carry the plaster. + +"Why did neither you nor Gothard take the justice of peace and the +forester to the stone post and show them your work?" said the public +prosecutor, addressing Michu. + +"Because," replied the man, "I didn't believe there was any serious +accusation against us." + +All the prisoners except Gothard were now removed from the courtroom. +When Gothard was left alone the president adjured him to speak the +truth for his own sake, pointing out that his pretended idiocy had +come to an end; none of the jurors believed him imbecile; if he +refused to answer the court he ran the risk of serious penalty; +whereas by telling the truth at once he would probably be released. +Gothard wept, hesitated, and finally ended by saying that Michu had +told him to carry several sacks of plaster; but that each time he had +met him near the farm. He was asked how many sacks he had carried. + +"Three," he replied. + +An argument hereupon ensued as to whether the three sacks included the +one which Gothard was carrying at the time of the arrest (which +reduced the number of the other sacks to two) or whether there were +three without the last. The debate ended in favor of the first +proposition, the jury considering that only two sacks had been used. +They appeared to have a foregone conviction on that point, but Bordin +and Monsieur de Grandville judged it best to surfeit them with +plaster, and weary them so thoroughly with the argument that they +would no longer comprehend the question. Monsieur de Grandville made +it appear that experts ought to have been sent to examine the stone +posts. + +"The director of the jury," he said, "has contented himself with +merely visiting the place, less for the purpose of making a careful +examination than to trap Michu in a lie; this, in our opinion, was a +failure of duty, but the blunder is to our advantage." + +On this the Court appointed experts to examine the posts and see if +one of them had been really mended and reset. The public prosecutor, +on his side, endeavored to make capital of the affair before the +experts could testify. + +"You seem to have chosen," he said to Michu, who was now brought back +into the courtroom, "an hour when the daylight was waning, from +half-past five to half-past six o'clock, to mend this post and to +cement it all alone." + +"Monsieur d'Hauteserre had blamed me for not doing it," replied Michu. + +"But," said the prosecutor, "if you used that plaster on the post you +must have had a trough and a trowel. Now, if you went to the chateau +to tell Monsieur d'Hauteserre that you had done the work, how do you +explain the fact that Gothard was bringing you more plaster. You must +have passed your farm on your way to the chateau, and you would +naturally have left your tools at home and stopped Gothard." + +This overwhelming argument produced a painful silence in the +courtroom. + +"Come," said the prosecutor, "you had better admit at once that what +you buried was _not a stone post_." + +"Do you think it was the senator?" said Michu, sarcastically. + +Monsieur de Grandville hereupon demanded that the public prosecutor +should explain his meaning. Michu was accused of abduction and the +concealment of a person, but not of murder. Such an insinuation was a +serious matter. The code of Brumaire, year IV., forbade the public +prosecutor from presenting any fresh count at the trial; he must keep +within the indictment or the proceedings would be annulled. + +The public prosecutor replied that Michu, the person chiefly concerned +in the abduction and who, in the interests of his masters, had taken +the responsibility on his own shoulders, might have thought it +necessary to plaster up the entrance of the hiding-place, still +undiscovered, where the senator was now immured. + +Pressed with questions, hampered by the presence of Gothard, and +brought into contradiction with himself, Michu struck his fist upon +the edge of the dock with a resounding blow and said: "I have had +nothing whatever to do with the abduction of the senator. I hope and +believe his enemies have merely imprisoned him; when he reappears +you'll find out that the plaster was put to no such use." + +"Good!" said de Grandville, addressing the public prosecutor; "you +have done more for my client's cause than anything I could have said." + +The first day's session ended with this bold declaration, which +surprised the judges and gave an advantage to the defence. The lawyers +of the town and Bordin himself congratulated the young advocate. The +prosecutor, uneasy at the assertion, feared that he had fallen into +some trap; in fact he was really caught in a snare that was cleverly +set for him by the defence and admirably played off by Gothard. The +wits of the town declared that he had white-washed the affair and +splashed his own cause, and had made the accused as white as the +plaster itself. France is the domain of satire, which reigns supreme +in our land; Frenchmen jest on a scaffold, at the Beresina, at the +barricades, and some will doubtless appear with a quirk upon their +lips at the grand assizes of the Last Judgment. + + + + CHAPTER XVIII + + TRIAL CONTINUED: CRUEL VICISSITUDES + +On the morrow the witnesses for the prosecution were examined,--Madame +Marion, Madame Grevin, Grevin himself, the senator's valet, and +Violette, whose testimony can readily be imagined from the facts +already told. They all identified the five prisoners, with more or +less hesitation as to the four gentlemen, but with absolute certainty +as to Michu. Beauvisage repeated Robert d'Hauteserre's speech when he +met them at daybreak in the park. The peasant who had bought Monsieur +d'Hauteserre's calf testified to overhearing that of Mademoiselle de +Cinq-Cygne. The experts, who had compared the hoof-prints with the +shoes on the horses ridden by the five prisoners and found them +absolutely alike, confirmed their previous depositions. This point was +naturally one of vehement contention between Monsieur de Grandville +and the prosecuting officer. The defence called the blacksmith at +Cinq-Cygne and succeeded in proving that he had sold several +horseshoes of the same pattern to strangers who were not known in the +place. The blacksmith declared, moreover, that he was in the habit of +shoeing in this particular manner not only the horses of the chateau +de Cinq-Cygne, but those from other places in the canton. It was also +proved that the horse which Michu habitually rode was always shod at +Troyes, and the mark of that shoe was not among the hoof-prints found +in the park. + +"Michu's double was not aware of this circumstance, or he would have +provided for it," said Monsieur de Grandville, looking at the jury. +"Neither has the prosecution shown what horses our clients rode." + +He ridiculed the testimony of Violette so far as it concerned a +recognition of the horses, seen from a long distance, from behind, and +after dusk. Still, in spite of all his efforts, the body of the +evidence was against Michu; and the prosecutor, judge, jury, and +audience were impressed with a feeling (as the lawyers for the defence +had foreseen) that the guilt of the servant carried with it that of +the masters. So the vital interest centred on all that concerned +Michu. His bearing was noble. He showed in his answers the sagacity +with which nature had endowed him; and the public, seeing him on his +mettle, recognized his superiority. And yet, strange to say, the more +they understood him the more certainty they felt that he was the +instigator of the outrage. + +The witnesses for the defence, always less important in the eyes of a +jury and of the law than the witnesses for the prosecution, seemed to +testify as in duty bound, and were listened to with that allowance. In +the first place neither Marthe, nor Monsieur and Madame d'Hauteserre +took the oath. Catherine and the Durieus, in their capacity as +servants, did not take it. Monsieur d'Hauteserre stated that he had +ordered Michu to replace and mend the stone post which had been thrown +down. The deposition of the experts sent to examine the fence, which +was now read, confirmed his testimony; but they helped the prosecution +by declaring they could not fix the exact time at which the repairs +had been made; it might have been several weeks or no more than twenty +days. + +The appearance of Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne excited the liveliest +curiosity; but the sight of her cousins in the prisoners' dock after +three weeks' separation affected her so much that her emotions gave +the audience an impression of guilt. She felt an overwhelming desire +to stand beside the twins, and was obliged, as she afterwards +admitted, to use all her strength to repress the longing that came +into her mind to kill the prosecutor so as to stand in the eyes of the +world as a criminal beside them. She testified, with simplicity, that +riding from Cinq-Cygne and seeing smoke in the park of Gondreville, +she had supposed there was a fire; at first she thought they were burning +weeds or brush; "but later," she added, "I observed a circumstance +which I offer to the attention of the Court. I found in the frogging +of my habit and in the folds of my collar small fragments of what +appeared to be burned paper which were floating in the air." + +"Was there much smoke?" asked Bordin. + +"Yes," replied Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne, "I feared a conflagration." + +"This is enough to change the whole inquiry," remarked Bordin. "I +request the Court to order an immediate examination of that region of +the park where the fire occurred." + +The president ordered the inquiry. + +Grevin, recalled by the defence and questioned on this circumstance, +declared he knew nothing about it. But Bordin and he exchanged looks +which mutually enlightened them. + +"The gist of the case is there," thought the old notary. + +"They've laid their finger on it," thought the notary. + +But each shrewd head considered the following up of this point +useless. Bordin reflected that Grevin would be silent as the grave; +and Grevin congratulated himself that every sign of the fire had been +effaced. + +To settle this point, which seemed a mere accessory to the trial and +somewhat puerile (but which is really essential in the justification +which history owes to these young men), the experts and Pigoult, who +were despatched by the president to examine the park, reported that +they could find no traces of a bonfire. + +Bordin summoned two laborers, who testified to having dug over, under +the direction of the forester, a tract of ground in the park where the +grass had been burned; but they declared they had not observed the +nature of the ashes they had buried. + +The forester, recalled by the defence, said he had received from the +senator himself, as he was passing the chateau of Gondreville on his +way to the masquerade at Arcis, an order to dig over that particular +piece of ground which the senator had remarked as needing it. + +"Had papers, or herbage been burned there?" + +"I could not say. I saw nothing that made me think that papers had +been burned there," replied the forester. + +"At any rate," said Bordin, "if, as it appears, a fire was kindled on +that piece of ground some one brought to the spot whatever was burned +there." + +The testimony of the abbe and that of Mademoiselle Goujet made a +favorable impression. They said that as they left the church after +vespers and were walking towards home, they met the four gentlemen and +Michu leaving the chateau on horseback and making their way to the +forest. The character, position, and known uprightness of the Abbe +Goujet gave weight to his words. + +The summing up of the public prosecutor, who felt sure of obtaining a +verdict, was in the nature of all such speeches. The prisoners were +the incorrigible enemies of France, her institutions and laws. They +thirsted for tumult and conspiracy. Though they had belonged to the +army of Conde and had shared in the late attempts against the life of +the Emperor, that magnanimous sovereign had erased their names from +the list of _emigres_. This was the return they made for his clemency! +In short, all the oratorical declamations of the Bourbons against the +Bonapartists, which in our day are repeated against the republicans +and the legitimists by the Younger Branch, flourished in the speech. +These trite commonplaces, which might have some meaning under a fixed +government, seem farcical in the mouth of administrators of all epochs +and opinions. A saying of the troublous times of yore is still +applicable: "The label is changed, but the wine is the same as ever." +The public prosecutor, one of the most distinguished legal men under +the Empire, attributed the crime to a fixed determination on the part +of returned _emigres_ to protest against the sale of their estates. He +made the audience shudder at the probable condition of the senator; +then he massed together proofs, half-proofs, and probabilities with a +cleverness stimulated by a sense that his zeal was certain of its +reward, and sat down tranquilly to await the fire of his opponents. + +Monsieur de Grandville never argued but this one criminal case; and it +made his reputation. In the first place, he spoke with the same +glowing eloquence which to-day we admire in Berryer. He was profoundly +convinced of the innocence of his clients, and that in itself is a +most powerful auxiliary of speech. The following are the chief points +of his defence, which was reported in full by all the leading +newspapers of the period. In the first place he exhibited the +character and life of Michu in its true light. He made it a noble +tale, ringing with lofty sentiments, and it awakened the sympathies of +many. When Michu heard himself vindicated by that eloquent voice, +tears sprang from his yellow eyes and rolled down his terrible face. +He appeared then for what he really was,--a man as simple and as wily +as a child; a being whose whole existence had but one thought, one +aim. He was suddenly explained to the minds of all present, more +especially by his tears, which produced a great effect upon the jury. +His able defender seized that moment of strong interest to enter upon +a discussion of the charges:-- + +"Where is the body of the person abducted? Where is the senator?" he +asked. "You accuse us of walling him up with stones and plaster. If +so, we alone know where he is; you have kept us twenty-three days in +prison, and the senator must be dead by this time for want of food. We +are therefore murderers, but you have not accused us of murder. On the +other hand, if he still lives, we must have accomplices. If we have +them, and if the senator is living, we should assuredly have set him +at liberty. The scheme in relation to Gondreville which you attribute +to us is a failure, and only aggravates our position uselessly. We +might perhaps obtain a pardon for an abortive attempt by releasing our +victim; instead of that we persist in detaining a man from whom we can +obtain no benefit whatever. It is absurd! Take away your plaster; the +effect is a failure," he said, addressing the public prosecutor. "We +are either idiotic criminals (which you do not believe) or the +innocent victims of circumstances as inexplicable to us as they are to +you. You ought rather to search for the mass of papers which were +burned at Gondreville, which will reveal motives stronger far than +yours or ours and put you on the track of the causes of this +abduction." + +The speaker discussed these hypotheses with marvellous ability. He +dwelt on the moral character of the witnesses for the defence, whose +religious faith was a living one, who believed in a future life and in +eternal punishment. He rose to grandeur in this part of his speech and +moved his hearers deeply:-- + +"Remember!" he said; "these criminals were tranquilly dining when told +of the abduction of the senator. When the officer of gendarmes +intimated to them the best means of ending the whole affair by giving +up the senator, they refused, for they did not understand what was +asked of them!" + +Then, reverting to the mystery of the matter, he declared that its +solution was in the hands of time, which would eventually reveal the +injustice of the charge. Once on this ground, he boldly and +ingeniously supposed himself a juror; related his deliberations with +his colleagues; imagined his distress lest, having condemned the +innocent, the error should be known too late, and drew such a picture +of his remorse, dwelling on the grave doubts which the case presented, +that he brought the jury to a condition of intense anxiety. + +Juries were not in those days so blase to this sort of allocution as +they are now; Monsieur de Grandville's appeal had the power of things +new, and the jurors were evidently shaken. After this passionate +outburst they had to listen to the wily and specious prosecutor, who +went over the whole case, brought out the darkest points against the +prisoners and made the rest inexplicable. His aim was to reach the +minds and the reasoning faculties of his hearers just as Monsieur de +Grandville had aimed at the heart and the imagination. The latter, +however, had seriously entangled the convictions of the jury, and the +public prosecutor found his well-laid arguments ineffectual. This was +so plain that the counsel for the Messieurs d'Hauteserre and Gothard +appealed to the judgment of the jury, asking that the case against +their clients be abandoned. The prosecutor demanded a postponement +till the next day in order that he might prepare an answer. Bordin, +who saw acquittal in the eyes of the jury if they deliberated on the +case at once, opposed the delay of even one night by arguments of +legal right and justice to his innocent clients; but in vain,--the +court allowed it. + +"The interests of society are as great as those of the accused," said +the president. "The court would be lacking in equity if it denied a +like request when made by the defence; it ought therefore to grant +that of the prosecution." + +"All is luck or ill-luck!" said Bordin to his clients when the session +was over. "Almost acquitted tonight you may be condemned to-morrow." + +"In either case," said the elder de Simeuse, "we can only admire your +skill." + +Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne's eyes were full of tears. After the doubts +and fears of the counsel for the defence, she had not expected this +success. Those around her congratulated her and predicted the +acquittal of her cousins. But alas! the matter was destined to end in +a startling and almost theatrical event, the most unexpected and +disastrous circumstance which ever changed the face of a criminal +trial. + +At five in the morning of the day after Monsieur de Grandville's +speech, the senator was found on the high road to Troyes, delivered +from captivity during his sleep, unaware of the trial that was going +on or of the excitement attaching to his name in Europe, and simply +happy in being once more able to breathe the fresh air. The man who +was the pivot of the drama was quite as amazed at what was now told to +him as the persons who met him on his way to Troyes were astounded at +his reappearance. A farmer lent him a carriage and he soon reached the +house of the prefect at Troyes. The prefect notified the director of +the jury, the commissary of the government, and the public prosecutor, +who, after a statement made to them by Malin, arrested Marthe, while +she was still in bed at the Durieu's house in the suburbs. +Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne, who was only at liberty under bail, was +also snatched from one of the few hours of slumber she had been able +to obtain at rare intervals in the course of her ceaseless anxiety, +and taken to the prefecture to undergo an examination. An order to +keep the accused from holding any communication with each other or +with their counsel was sent to the prison. At ten o'clock the crowd +which assembled around the courtroom were informed that the trial was +postponed until one o'clock in the afternoon of the same day. + +This change of hour, following on the news of the senator's +deliverance, Marthe's arrest, and that of Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne, +together with the denial of the right to communicate with the +prisoners carried terror to the hotel de Chargeboeuf. The whole town +and the spectators who had come to Troyes to be present at the trial, +the short-hand writers for the daily journals, even the populace were +in a ferment which can readily be imagined. The Abbe Goujet came at +ten o'clock to see Monsieur and Madame d'Hauteserre and the counsel +for the defence, who were breakfasting--as well as they could under +the circumstances. The abbe took Bordin and Monsieur Grandville apart, +told them what Marthe had confided to him the day before, and gave +them the fragment of the letter she had received. The two lawyers +exchanged a look, after which Bordin said to the abbe: "Not a word of +all this! The case is lost; but at any rate let us show a firm front." + +Marthe was not strong enough to evade the cross-questioning of the +director of the jury and the public prosecutor. Moreover the proof +against her was too overwhelming. Lechesneau had sent for the under +crust of the last loaf of bread she had carried to the cavern, also +for the empty bottles and various other articles. During the senator's +long hours of captivity he had formed conjectures in his own mind and +had looked for indications which might put him on the track of his +enemies. These he now communicated to the authorities. Michu's +farmhouse, lately built, had, he supposed, a new oven; the tiles or +bricks on which the bread was baked would show their jointed lines on +the bottom of the loaves, and thus afford a proof that the bread +supplied to him was baked on that particular oven. So with the wine +brought in bottles sealed with green wax, which would probably be +found identical with other bottles in Michu's cellar. These shrewd +observations, which Malin imparted to the justice of peace, who made +the first examination (taking Marthe with him), led to the results +foreseen by the senator. + +Marthe, deceived by the apparent friendliness of Lechesneau and the +public prosecutor, who assured her that complete confession could +alone save her husband's life, admitted that the cavern where the +senator had been hidden was known only to her husband and the +Messieurs de Simeuse and d'Hauteserre, and that she herself had taken +provisions to the senator on three separate occasions at midnight. + +Laurence, questioned about the cavern, was forced to acknowledge that +Michu had discovered it and had shown it to her at the time when the +four young men evaded the police and were hidden in it. + +As soon as these preliminary examinations were ended, the jury, +lawyers, and audience were notified that the trial would be resumed. +At three o'clock the president opened the session by announcing that +the case would be continued under a new aspect. He exhibited to Michu +three bottles of wine and asked him if he recognized them as bottles +from his own cellar, showing him at the same time the identity between +the green wax on two empty bottles with the green wax on a full bottle +taken from his cellar that morning by the justice of peace in presence +of his wife. Michu refused to recognize anything as his own. But these +proofs for the prosecution were understood by the jurors, to whom the +president explained that the empty bottles were found in the place +where the senator was imprisoned. + +Each prisoner was questioned as to the cavern or cellar beneath the +ruins of the old monastery. It was proved by all witnesses for the +prosecution, and also for the defence, that the existence of this +hiding-place discovered by Michu was known only to him and his wife, +and to Laurence and the four gentlemen. We may judge of the effect in +the courtroom when the public prosecutor made known the fact that this +cavern, known only to the accused and to their two witnesses, was the +place where the senator had been imprisoned. + +Marthe was summoned. Her appearance caused much excitement among the +spectators and keen anxiety to the prisoners. Monsieur de Grandville +rose to protest against the testimony of a wife against her husband. +The public prosecutor replied that Marthe by her own confession was an +accomplice in the outrage; that she had neither sworn nor testified, +and was to be heard solely in the interests of truth. + +"We need only submit her preliminary examination to the jury," +remarked the president, who now ordered the clerk of the court to read +the said testimony aloud. + +"Do you now confirm your own statement?" said the president, +addressing Marthe. + +Michu looked at his wife, and Marthe, who saw her fatal error, fainted +away and fell to the floor. It may be truly said that a thunderbolt +had fallen upon the prisoners and their counsel. + +"I never wrote to my wife from prison, and I know none of the persons +employed there," said Michu. + +Bordin passed to him the fragments of the letter Marthe had received. +Michu gave but one glance at it. "My writing has been imitated," he +said. + +"Denial is your last resource," said the public prosecutor. + +The senator was introduced into the courtroom with all the ceremonies +due to his position. His entrance was like a stage scene. Malin (now +called Comte de Gondreville, without regard to the feelings of the +late owners of the property) was requested by the president to look at +the prisoners, and did so with great attention and for a long time. He +stated that the clothing of his abductors was exactly like that worn +by the four gentlemen; but he declared that the trouble of his mind +had been such that he could not be positive that the accused were +really the guilty parties. + +"More than that," he said, "it is my conviction that these four +gentlemen had nothing to do with it. The hands that blindfolded me in +the forest were coarse and rough. I should rather suppose," he added, +looking at Michu, "that my old enemy took charge of that duty; but I +beg the gentlemen of the jury not to give too much weight to this +remark. My suspicions are very slight, and I feel no certainty +whatever--for this reason. The two men who seized me put me on +horseback behind the man who blindfolded me, and whose hair was red +like Michu's. However singular you may consider the observation I am +about to make, it is necessary to make it because it is the ground of +an opinion favorable to the accused--who, I hope, will not feel +offended by it. Fastened to the man's back I would naturally have been +affected by his odor--yet I did not perceive that which is peculiar to +Michu. As to the person who brought me provisions on three several +occasions, I am certain it was Marthe, the wife of Michu. I recognized +her the first time she came by a ring she always wore, which she had +forgotten to remove. The Court and jury will please allow for the +contradictions which appear in the facts I have stated, which I myself +am wholly unable to reconcile." + +A murmur of approval followed this testimony. Bordin asked permission +of the Court to address a few questions to the witness. + +"Does the senator think that his abduction was due to other causes +than the interests respecting property which the prosecution +attributes to the prisoners?" + +"I do," replied the senator, "but I am wholly ignorant of what the +real motives were; for during a captivity of twenty days I saw and +heard no one." + +"Do you think," said the public prosecutor, "that your chateau at +Gondreville contains information, title-deeds, or other papers of +value which would induce a search on the part of the Messieurs de +Simeuse?" + +"I do not think so," replied Malin; "I believe those gentlemen to be +incapable of attempting to get possession of such papers by violence. +They had only to ask me for them to obtain them." + +"You burned certain papers in the park, did you not?" said Monsieur de +Gondreville, abruptly. + +Malin looked at Grevin. After exchanging a rapid glance with the +notary, which Bordin intercepted, he replied that he had not burned +any papers. The public prosecutor having asked him to describe the +ambush to which he had so nearly fallen a victim two years earlier, +the senator replied that he had seen Michu watching him from the fork +of a tree. This answer, which agreed with Grevin's testimony, produced +a great impression. + +The four gentlemen remained impassible during the examination of their +enemy, who seemed determined to overwhelm them with generosity. +Laurence suffered horrible agony. From time to time the Marquis de +Chargeboeuf held her by the arm, fearing she might dart forward to the +rescue. The Comte de Gondreville retired from the courtroom and as he +did so he bowed to the four gentlemen, who did not return the +salutation. This trifling matter made the jury indignant. + +"They are lost now," whispered Bordin to the Marquis de Chargeboeuf. + +"Alas, yes! and always through the nobility of their sentiments," +replied the marquis. + +"My task is now only too easy, gentlemen," said the prosecutor, rising +to address the jury. + +He explained the use of the cement by the necessity of securing an +iron frame on which to fasten a padlock which held the iron bar with +which the gate of the cavern was closed; a description of which was +given in the _proces-verbal_ made that morning by Pigoult. He put the +falsehoods of the accused into the strongest light, and pulverized the +arguments of the defence with the new evidence so miraculously +obtained. In 1806 France was still too near the Supreme Being of 1793 +to talk about divine justice; he therefore spared the jury all +reference to the intervention of heaven; but he said that earthly +justice would be on the watch for the mysterious accomplices who had +set the senator at liberty, and he sat down, confidently awaiting the +verdict. + +The jury believed there was a mystery, but they were all persuaded +that it came from the prisoners, who were probably concealing some +matter of a private interest of great importance to them. + +Monsieur de Grandville, to whom a plot or machination of some kind was +quite evident, rose; but he seemed discouraged,--less, however, by the +new evidence than by the manifest opinion of the jury. He surpassed, +if anything, his speech of the previous evening; his argument was more +compact and logical; but he felt his fervor repelled by the coldness +of the jury; he spoke ineffectually, and he knew it,--a chilling +situation for an advocate. He called attention to the fact that the +release of the senator, as if by magic and clearly without the aid of +any of the accused or of Marthe, corroborated his previous argument. +Yesterday the prisoners could most surely rely on acquittal, and if +they had, as the prosecution claimed, the power to hold or to release +the senator, they certainly would not have released him until after +their acquittal. He endeavored to bring before the minds of the Court +and jury the fact that mysterious enemies, undiscovered as yet, could +alone have struck the accused this final blow. + +Strange to say, the only minds Monsieur de Grandville reached with +this argument were those of the public prosecutor and the judges. The +jury listened perfunctorily; the audience, usually so favorable to +prisoners, were convinced of their guilt. In a court of justice the +sentiments of the crowd do unquestionably weigh upon the judges and +the jury, and _vice versa_. Seeing this condition of the minds about +him, which could be felt if not defined, the counsel uttered his last +words in a tone of passionate excitement caused by his conviction:-- + +"In the name of the accused," he cried, "I forgive you for the fatal +error you are about to commit, and which nothing can repair! We are +the victims of some mysterious and Machiavellian power. Marthe Michu +was inveigled by vile perfidy. You will discover this too late, when +the evil you now do will be irreparable." + +Bordin simply claimed the acquittal of the prisoners on the testimony +of the senator himself. + +The president summed up the case with all the more impartiality +because it was evident that the minds of the jurors were already made +up. He even turned the scales in favor of the prisoners by dwelling on +the senator's evidence. This clemency, however, did not in the least +endanger the success of the prosecution. At eleven o'clock that night, +after the jury had replied through their foreman to the usual +questions, the Court condemned Michu to death, the Messieurs de +Simeuse to twenty-four years' and the Messieurs d'Hauteserre to ten +years, penal servitude at hard labor. Gothard was acquitted. + +The whole audience was eager to observe the bearing of the five guilty +men in this supreme moment of their lives. The four gentlemen looked +at Laurence, who returned them, with dry eyes, the ardent look of the +martyrs. + +"She would have wept had we been acquitted," said the younger de +Simeuse to his brother. + +Never did convicted men meet an unjust fate with serener brows or +countenances more worthy of their manhood than these five victims of a +cruel plot. + +"Our counsel has forgiven you," said the eldest de Simeuse to the +Court. + + * * * * * + +Madame d'Hauteserre fell ill, and was three months in her bed at the +hotel de Chargeboeuf. Monsieur d'Hauteserre returned patiently to +Cinq-Cygne, inwardly gnawed by one of those sorrows of old age which +have none of youth's distractions; often he was so absent-minded that +the abbe, who watched him, knew the poor father was living over again +the scene of the fatal verdict. Marthe passed away from all blame; she +died three weeks after the condemnation of her husband, confiding her +son to Laurence, in whose arms she died. + +The trial once over, political events of the utmost importance effaced +even the memory of it, and nothing further was discovered. Society is +like the ocean; it returns to its level and its specious calmness +after a disaster, effacing all traces of it in the tide of its eager +interests. + +Without her natural firmness of mind and her knowledge of her cousins' +innocence, Laurence would have succumbed; but she gave fresh proof of +the grandeur of her character; she astonished Monsieur de Grandville +and Bordin by the apparent serenity which these terrible misfortunes +called forth in her noble soul. She nursed Madame d'Hauteserre and +went daily to the prison, saying openly that she would marry one of +the cousins when they were taken to the galleys. + +"To the galleys!" cried Bordin, "Mademoiselle! our first endeavor must +be to wring their pardon from the Emperor." + +"Their pardon!--_from a Bonaparte_?" cried Laurence in horror. + +The spectacles of the old lawyer jumped from his nose; he caught them +as they fell and looked at the young girl who was now indeed a woman; +he understood her character at last in all its bearings; then he took +the arm of the Marquis de Chargeboeuf, saying:-- + +"Monsieur le Marquis, let us go to Paris instantly and save them +without her!" + +The appeal of the Messieurs de Simeuse and d'Hauteserre and that of +Michu was the first case to be brought before the new court. Its +decision was fortunately delayed by the ceremonies attending its +installation. + + + + CHAPTER XIX + + THE EMPEROR'S BIVOUAC + +Towards the end of September, after three sessions of the Court of +Appeals in which the lawyers for the defence pleaded, and the +attorney-general Merlin himself spoke for the prosecution, the appeal +was rejected. The Imperial Court of Paris was by this time instituted. +Monsieur de Grandville was appointed assistant attorney-general, and +the department of the Aube coming under the jurisdiction of this +court, it became possible for him to take certain steps in favor of +the convicted prisoners, among them that of importuning Cambaceres, +his protector. Bordin and Monsieur de Chargeboeuf came to his house in +the Marais the day after the appeal was rejected, where they found him +in the midst of his honeymoon, for he had married in the interval. In +spite of all these changes in his condition, Monsieur de Chargeboeuf +saw very plainly that the young lawyer was faithful to his late +clients. Certain lawyers, the artists of their profession, treat their +causes like mistresses. This is rare, however, and must not be +depended on. + +As soon as they were alone in his study, Monsieur de Grandville said +to the marquis: "I have not waited for your visit; I have already +employed all my influence. Don't attempt to save Michu; if you do, you +cannot obtain the pardon of the Messieurs de Simeuse. The law will +insist on one victim." + +"Good God!" cried Bordin, showing the young magistrate the three +petitions for mercy; "how can I take upon myself to withdraw the +application for that man. If I suppress the paper I cut off his head." + +He held out the petition; de Grandville took it, looked it over, and +said:-- + +"We can't suppress it; but be sure of one thing, if you ask all you +will obtain nothing." + +"Have we time to consult Michu?" asked Bordin. + +"Yes. The order for execution comes from the office of the +attorney-general; I will see that you have some days. We kill men," +he said with some bitterness, "but at least we do it formally, +especially in Paris." + +Monsieur de Chargeboeuf had already received from the chief justice +certain information which added weight to these sad words of Monsieur +de Grandville. + +"Michu is innocent, I know," continued the young lawyer, "but what can +we do against so many? Remember, too, that my present influence +depends on my keeping silent. I must order the scaffold to be +prepared, or my late client is certain to be beheaded." + +Monsieur de Chargeboeuf knew Laurence well enough to be certain she +would never consent to save her cousins at the expense of Michu; he +therefore resolved on making one more effort. He asked an audience of +the minister of foreign affairs to learn if salvation could be looked +for through the influence of the great diplomat. He took Bordin with +him, for the latter knew the minister and had done him some service. +The two old men found Talleyrand sitting with his feet stretched out, +absorbed in contemplation of his fire, his head resting on his hand, +his elbow on the table, a newspaper lying at his feet. The minister +had just read the decision of the Court of Appeals. + +"Pray sit down, Monsieur le marquis," said Talleyrand, "and you, +Bordin," he added, pointing to a place at the table, "write as +follows:--" + + Sire,--Four innocent gentlemen, declared guilty by a jury have + just had their condemnation confirmed by your Court of Appeals. + + Your Imperial Majesty can now only pardon them. These gentlemen + ask this pardon of your august clemency, in the hope that they may + enter your army and meet their death in battle before your eyes; + and thus praying, they are, of your Imperial and Royal Majesty, + with reverence, etc. + +"None but princes can do such prompt and graceful kindness," said the +Marquis de Chargeboeuf, taking the precious draft of the petition from +the hands of Bordin that he might have it signed by the four +gentlemen; resolving in his own mind that he would also obtain the +signatures of several august names. + +"The life of your young relatives, Monsieur le marquis," said the +minister, "now depends on the turn of a battle. Endeavor to reach the +Emperor on the morning after a victory and they are saved." + +He took a pen and himself wrote a private and confidential letter to +the Emperor, and another of ten lines to Marechal Duroc. Then he rang +the bell, asked his secretary for a diplomatic passport, and said +tranquilly to the old lawyer, "What is your honest opinion of that +trial?" + +"Do you know, monseigneur, who was at the bottom of this cruel wrong?" + +"I presume I do; but I have reasons to wish for certainty," replied +Talleyrand. "Return to Troyes; bring me the Comtesse de Cinq-Cygne, +here, to-morrow at the same hour, but secretly; ask to be ushered into +Madame de Talleyrand's salon; I will tell her you are coming. If +Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne, who shall be placed where she can see a +man who will be standing before me, recognizes that man as an +individual who came to her house during the conspiracy of de Polignac +and Riviere, tell her to remember that, no matter what I say or what +he answers me, she must not utter a word nor make a gesture. One thing +more, think only of saving the de Simeuse brothers; don't embarrass +yourself with that scoundrel of a bailiff--" + +"A sublime man, monseigneur!" exclaimed Bordin. + +"Enthusiasm! in you, Bordin! The man must be remarkable. Our sovereign +has an immense self-love, Monsieur le marquis," he said, changing the +conversation. "He is about to dismiss me that he may commit follies +without warning. The Emperor is a great soldier who can change the +laws of time and distance, but he cannot change men; yet he persists +in trying to run them in his own mould! Now, remember this; the young +men's pardon can be obtained by one person only--Mademoiselle de +Cinq-Cygne." + +The marquis went alone to Troyes and told the whole matter to +Laurence. She obtained permission from the authorities to see Michu, +and the marquis accompanied her to the gates of the prison, where he +waited for her. When she came out her face was bathed in tears. + +"Poor man!" she said; "he tried to kneel to me, praying that I would +not think of him, and forgetting the shackles that were on his feet! +Ah, marquis, I _will_ plead his cause. Yes, I'll kiss the boot of +their Emperor. If I fail--well, the memory of that man shall live +eternally honored in our family. Present his petition for mercy so as +to gain time; meantime I am resolved to have his portrait. Come, let +us go." + +The next day, when Talleyrand was informed by a sign agreed upon that +Laurence was at her post, he rang the bell; his orderly came to him, +and received orders to admit Monsieur Corentin. + +"My friend, you are a very clever fellow," said Talleyrand, "and I +wish to employ you." + +"Monsiegneur--" + +"Listen. In serving Fouche you will get money, but never honor nor any +position you can acknowledge. But in serving me, as you have lately +done at Berlin, you can win credit and repute." + +"Monseigneur is very good." + +"You displayed genius in that late affair at Gondreville." + +"To what does Monseigneur allude?" said Corentin, with a manner that +was neither too reserved nor too surprised. + +"Ah, Monsieur!" observed the minister, dryly, "you will never make a +successful man; you fear--" + +"What, monseigneur?" + +"Death!" replied Talleyrand, in his fine, deep voice. "Adieu, my good +friend." + +"That is the man," said the Marquis de Chargeboeuf entering the room +after Corentin was dismissed; "but we have nearly killed the +countess." + +"He is the only man I know capable of playing such a trick," replied +the minister. "Monsieur le marquis, you are in danger of not +succeeding in your mission. Start ostensibly for Strasburg; I'll send +you double passports in blank to be filled out. Provide yourself with +substitutes; change your route and above all your carriage; let your +substitutes go on to Strasburg, and do you reach Prussia through +Switzerland and Bavaria. Not a word--prudence! The police are against +you; and you do not know what the police are--" + +Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne offered the then celebrated Robert Lefebvre +a sufficient sum to induce him to go to Troyes and take Michu's +portrait. Monsieur de Grandville promised to afford the painter every +possible facility. Monsieur de Chargeboeuf then started in the old +_berlingot_, with Laurence and a servant who spoke German. Not far +from Nancy they overtook Mademoiselle Goujet and Gothard, who had +preceded them in an excellent carriage, which the marquis took, giving +them in exchange the _berlingot_. + +Talleyrand was right. At Strasburg the commissary-general of police +refused to countersign the passport of the travellers, and gave them +positive orders to return. By that time the marquis and Laurence were +leaving France by way of Besancon with the diplomatic passport. + +Laurence crossed Switzerland in the first days of October, without +paying the slightest attention to that glorious land. She lay back in +the carriage in the torpor which overtakes a criminal on the eve of +his execution. To her eyes all nature was shrouded in a seething +vapor; even common things assumed fantastic shapes. The one thought, +"If I do not succeed they will kill themselves," fell upon her soul +with reiterated blows, as the bar of the executioner fell upon the +victim's members when tortured on the wheel. She felt herself +breaking; she lost her energy in this terrible waiting for the cruel +moment, short and decisive, when she should find herself face to face +with that man on whom the fate of the condemned depended. She chose to +yield to her depression rather than waste her strength uselessly. The +marquis, who was incapable of understanding this resolve of firm +minds, which often assumes quite diverse aspects (for in such moments +of tension certain superior minds give way to surprising gaiety), +began to fear that he might never bring Laurence alive to the +momentous interview, solemn to them only, and yet beyond the ordinary +limits of private life. To Laurence, the necessity of humiliating +herself before that man, the object of her hatred and contempt, meant +the sacrifice of all her noblest feelings. + +"After this," she said, "the Laurence who survives will bear no +likeness to her who is now to perish." + +The travellers could not fail to be aware of the vast movement of men +and material which surrounded them the moment they entered Prussia. +The campaign of Jena had just begun. Laurence and the marquis beheld +the magnificent divisions of the French army deploying and parading as +if at the Tuileries. In this display of military power, which can be +adequately described only with the words and images of the Bible, the +proportions of the Man whose spirit moved these masses grew gigantic +to Laurence's imagination. Soon, the cry of victory resounded in her +ears. The Imperial arms had just obtained two signal advantages. The +Prince of Prussia had been killed the evening before the day on which +the travellers arrived at Saalfeld on their endeavor to overtake +Napoleon, who was marching with the rapidity of lightning. + +At last, on the 13th of October (date of ill-omen) Mademoiselle de +Cinq-Cygne was skirting a river in the midst of the Grand Army, seeing +nought but confusion, sent hither and thither from one village to +another, from division to division, frightened at finding herself +alone with one old man tossed about in an ocean of a hundred and fifty +thousand armed men facing a hundred and fifty thousand more. Weary of +watching the river through the hedges of the muddy road which she was +following along a hillside, she asked its name of a passing soldier. + +"That's the Saale," he said, showing her the Prussian army, grouped in +great masses on the other side of the stream. + +Night came on. Laurence beheld the camp-fires lighted and the glitter +of stacked arms. The old marquis, whose courage was chivalric, drove +the horses himself (two strong beasts bought the evening before), his +servant sitting beside him. He knew very well he should find neither +horses nor postilions within the lines of the army. Suddenly the bold +equipage, an object of great astonishment to the soldiers, was stopped +by a gendarme of the military gendarmerie, who galloped up to the +carriage, calling out to the marquis: "Who are you? where are you +going? what do you want?" + +"The Emperor," replied the Marquis de Chargeboeuf; "I have an +important dispatch for the Grand-marechal Duroc." + +"Well, you can't stay here," said the gendarme. + +Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne and the marquis were, however, compelled to +remain where they were on account of the darkness. + +"Where are we?" she asked, stopping two officers whom she saw passing, +whose uniforms were concealed by cloth overcoats. + +"You are among the advanced guard of the French army," answered one of +the officers. "You cannot stay here, for if the enemy makes a movement +and the artillery opens you will be between two fires." + +"Ah!" she said, with an indifferent air. + +Hearing that "Ah!" the other officer turned and said: "How did that +woman come here?" + +"We are waiting," said Laurence, "for a gendarme who has gone to find +General Duroc, a protector who will enable us to speak to the +Emperor." + +"Speak to the Emperor!" exclaimed the first officer; "how can you +think of such a thing--on the eve of a decisive battle?" + +"True," she said; "I ought to speak to him on the morrow--victory +would make him kind." + +The two officers stationed themselves at a little distance and sat +motionless on their horses. The carriage was now surrounded by a mass +of generals, marshals, and other officers, all extremely brilliant in +appearance, who appeared to pay deference to the carriage merely +because it was there. + +"Good God!" said the marquis to Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne; "I am +afraid you spoke to the Emperor." + +"The Emperor?" said a colonel, beside them, "why there he is!" +pointing to the officer who had said, "How did that woman get here?" +He was mounted on a white horse, richly caparisoned, and wore the +celebrated gray top-coat over his green uniform. He was scanning with +a field-glass the Prussian army massed beyond the Saale. Laurence +understood then why the carriage remained there, and why the Emperor's +escort respected it. She was seized with a convulsive tremor--the hour +had come! She heard the heavy sound of the tramp of men and the clang +of their arms as they arrived at a quick step on the plateau. The +batteries had a language, the caissons thundered, the brass glittered. + +"Marechal Lannes will take position with his whole corps in the +advance; Marechal Lefebvre and the Guard will occupy this hill," said +the other officer, who was Major-general Berthier. + +The Emperor dismounted. At his first motion Roustan, his famous +mameluke, hastened to hold his horse. Laurence was stupefied with +amazement; she had never dreamed of such simplicity. + +"I shall pass the night on the plateau," said the Emperor. + +Just then the Grand-marechal Duroc, whom the gendarme had finally +found, came up to the Marquis de Chargeboeuf and asked the reason of +his coming. The marquis replied that a letter from the Prince de +Talleyrand, of which he was the bearer, would explain to the marshal +how urgent it was that Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne and himself should +obtain an audience of the Emperor. + +"His Majesty will no doubt dine at his bivouac," said Duroc, taking +the letter, "and when I find out what your object is, I will let you +know if you can see him. Corporal," he said to the gendarme, +"accompany this carriage, and take it close to that hut at the rear." + +Monsieur de Chargeboeuf followed the gendarme and stopped his horses +behind a miserable cabin, built of mud and branches, surrounded by a +few fruit-trees, and guarded by pickets of infantry and cavalry. + +It may be said that the majesty of war appeared here in all its +grandeur. From this height the lines of the two armies were visible in +the moonlight. After an hour's waiting, the time being occupied by the +incessant coming and going of the aides-de-camp, Duroc himself came +for Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne and the marquis, and made them enter +the hut, the floor of which was of battened earth like that of a +stable. + +Before a table with the remains of dinner, and before a fire made of +green wood which smoked, Napoleon was seated in a clumsy chair. His +muddy boots gave evidence of a long tramp across country. He had taken +off the famous top-coat; and his equally famous green uniform, crossed +by the red cordon of the Legion of honor and heightened by the white +of his kerseymere breeches and of his waistcoat, brought out vividly +his pale and terrible Caesarian face. One hand was on a map which lay +unfolded on his knees. Berthier stood near him in the brilliant +uniform of the vice-constable of the Empire. Constant, the valet, was +offering the Emperor his coffee from a tray. + +"What do you want?" said Napoleon, with a show of roughness, darting +his eye like a flash through Laurence's head. "You are no longer +afraid to speak to me before the battle? What is it about?" + +"Sire," she said, looking at him with as firm an eye, "I am +Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne." + +"Well?" he replied, in an angry voice, thinking her look braved him. + +"Do you not understand? I am the Comtesse de Cinq-Cygne, come to ask +mercy," she said, falling on her knees and holding out to him the +petition drawn up by Talleyrand, endorsed by the Empress, by +Cambaceres and by Malin. + +The Emperor raised her graciously, and said with a keen look: "Have +you come to your senses? Do you now understand what the French Empire +is and must be?" + +"Ah! at this moment I understand only the Emperor," she said, +vanquished by the kindly manner with which the man of destiny had said +the words that foretold to her ears success. + +"Are they innocent?" asked the Emperor. + +"Yes, all of them," she said with enthusiasm. + +"All? No, that bailiff is a dangerous man, who would have killed my +senator without taking your advice." + +"Ah, Sire," she said, "if you had a friend devoted to you, would you +abandon him? Would you not rather--" + +"You are a woman," he said, interrupting her in a faint tone of +ridicule. + +"And you, a man of iron!" she replied with a passionate sternness +which pleased him. + +"That man has been condemned to death by the laws of his country," he +continued. + +"But he is innocent!" + +"Child!" he said. + +He took Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne by the hand and led her from the +hut to the plateau. + +"See," he continued, with that eloquence of his which changed even +cowards to brave men, "see those three hundred thousand men--all +innocent. And yet to-morrow thirty thousand of them will be lying +dead, dead for their country! Among those Prussians there is, perhaps, +some great mathematician, a man of genius, an idealist, who will be +mown down. On our side we shall assuredly lose many a great man never +known to fame. Perhaps even I shall see my best friend die. Shall I +blame God? No. I shall bear it silently. Learn from this, +mademoiselle, that a man must die for the laws of his country just as +men die here for her glory." So saying, he led her back into the hut. +"Return to France," he said, looking at the marquis; "my orders shall +follow you." + +Laurence believed in a commutation of Michu's punishment, and in her +gratitude she knelt again before the Emperor and kissed his hand. + +"You are the Marquis de Chargeboeuf?" said Napoleon, addressing the +marquis. + +"Yes, Sire." + +"You have children?" + +"Many children." + +"Why not give me one of your grandsons? he shall be my page." + +"Ah!" thought Laurence, "there's the sub-lieutenant after all; he +wants to be paid for his mercy." + +The marquis bowed without replying. Happily at this moment General +Rapp rushed into the hut. + +"Sire, the cavalry of the Guard, and that of the Grand-duc de Berg +cannot be set up before midday to-morrow." + +"Never mind," said Napoleon, turning to Berthier, "we, too, get our +reprieves; let us profit by them." + +At a sign of his hand the marquis and Laurence retired and again +entered their carriage; the corporal showed them their road and +accompanied them to a village where they passed the night. The next +day they left the field of battle behind them, followed by the thunder +of the cannon,--eight hundred pieces,--which pursued them for ten +hours. While still on their way they learned of the amazing victory of +Jena. + +Eight days later, they were driving through the faubourg of Troyes, +where they learned that an order of the chief justice, transmitted +through the _procureur imperial_ of Troyes, commanded the release of +the four gentlemen on bail during the Emperor's pleasure. But Michu's +sentence was confirmed, and the warrant for his execution had been +forwarded from the ministry of police. These orders had reached Troyes +that very morning. Laurence went at once to the prison, though it was +two in the morning, and obtained permission to stay with Michu, who +was about to undergo the melancholy ceremony called "the toilet." The +good abbe, who had asked permission to accompany him to the scaffold, +had just given absolution to the man, whose only distress in dying was +his uncertainty as to the fate of his young masters. When Laurence +entered his cell he uttered a cry of joy. + +"I can die now," he said. + +"They are pardoned," she said; "I do not know on what conditions, but +they are pardoned. I did all I could for you, dear friend--against the +advice of others. I thought I had saved you; but the Emperor deceived +me with his graciousness." + +"It was written above," said Michu, "that the watch-dog should be +killed on the spot where his old masters died." + +The last hour passed rapidly. Michu, at the moment of parting, asked +to kiss her hand, but Laurence held her cheek to the lips of the noble +victim that he might sacredly kiss it. Michu refused to mount the +cart. + +"Innocent men should go afoot," he said. + +He would not let the abbe give him his arm; resolutely and with +dignity he walked alone to the scaffold. As he laid his head on the +plank he said to the executioner, after asking him to turn down the +collar of his coat, "My clothes belong to you; try not to spot them." + + * * * * * + +The four gentlemen had hardly time to even see Mademoiselle de +Cinq-Cygne. An orderly of the general commanding the division to which +they were assigned, brought them their commissions as sub-lieutenants +in the same regiment of cavalry, with orders to proceed at once to +Bayonne, the base of supplies for its particular army-corps. After a +scene of heart-rending farewells, for they all foreboded what the +future should bring forth, Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne returned to her +desolate home. + +The two brothers were killed together under the eyes of the Emperor at +Sommo-Sierra, the one defending the other, both being already in +command of their troop. The last words of each were, "Laurence, _cy +meurs_!" + +The elder d'Hauteserre died a colonel at the attack on the redoubt at +Moscow, where his brother took his place. + +Adrien d'Hauteserre, appointed brigadier-general at the battle of +Dresden, was dangerously wounded there and was sent to Cinq-Cygne for +proper nursing. While endeavoring to save this relic of the four +gentlemen who for a few brief months had been so happy around her, +Laurence, then thirty-two years of age, married him. She offered him a +withered heart, but he accepted it; those who truly love doubt nothing +or doubt all. + +The Restoration found Laurence without enthusiasm. The Bourbons +returned too late for her. Nevertheless, she had no cause for +complaint. Her husband, made peer of France with the title of Marquis +de Cinq-Cygne, became lieutenant-general in 1816, and was rewarded +with the blue ribbon for the eminent services which he then performed. + +Michu's son, of whom Laurence took care as though he were her own +child, was admitted to the bar in 1817. After practising two years he +was made assistant-judge at the court of Alencon, and from there he +became _procureur-du-roi_ at Arcis in 1827. Laurence, who had also +taken charge of Michu's property, made over to the young man on the +day of his majority an investment in the public Funds which yielded +him an income of twelve thousand francs a year. Later, she arranged a +marriage for him with Mademoiselle Girel, an heiress at Troyes. + +The Marquis de Cinq-Cygne died in 1829, in the arms of his wife, +surrounded by his father and mother, and his children who adored him. +At the time of his death no one had ever fathomed the mystery of the +senator's abduction. Louis XVIII. did not neglect to repair, as far +as possible, the wrongs done by that affair; but he was silent as to +the causes of the disaster. From that time forth the Marquise de +Cinq-Cygne believed him to have been an accomplice in the catastrophe. + + + + CHAPTER XX + + THE MYSTERY SOLVED + +The late Marquis de Cinq-Cygne had used his savings, as well as those +of his father and mother, in the purchase of a fine house in the rue +de Faubourg-du-Roule, entailing it on heirs male for the support of +the title. The sordid economy of the marquis and his parents, which +had often troubled Laurence, was then explained. After this purchase +the marquise, who lived at Cinq-Cygne and economized on her own +account for her children, spent her winters in Paris,--all the more +willingly because her daughter Berthe and her son Paul were now of an +age when their education required the resources of Paris. + +Madame de Cinq-Cygne went but little into society. Her husband could +not be ignorant of the regrets which lay in her tender heart; but he +showed her always the most exquisite delicacy, and died having loved +no other woman. This noble soul, not fully understood for a period of +time but to which the generous daughter of the Cinq-Cygnes returned in +his last years as true a love as that he gave to her, was completely +happy in his married life. Laurence lived for the joys of home. No +woman has ever been more cherished by her friends or more respected. +To be received in her house is an honor. Gentle, indulgent, +intellectual, above all things simple and natural, she pleases choice +souls and draws them to her in spite of her saddened aspect; each +longs to protect this woman, inwardly so strong, and that sentiment of +secret protection counts for much in the wondrous charm of her +friendship. Her life, so painful during her youth, is beautiful and +serene towards evening. Her sufferings are known, and no one asks who +was the original of that portrait by Lefebvre which is the chief and +sacred ornament of her salon. Her face has the maturity of fruits that +have ripened slowly; a hallowed pride dignifies that long-tried brow. + +At the period when the marquise came to Paris to open the new house, +her fortune, increased by the law of indemnities, gave her some two +hundred thousand francs a year, not counting her husband's salary; +besides this, Laurence had inherited the money guarded by Michu for +his young masters. From that time forth she made a practice of +spending half her income and of laying by the rest for her daughter +Berthe. + +Berthe is the living image of her mother, but without her warrior +nerve; she is her mother in delicacy, in intellect,--"more a woman," +Laurence says, sadly. The marquise was not willing to marry her +daughter until she was twenty years of age. Her savings, judiciously +invested in the Funds by old Monsieur d'Hauteserre at the moment when +consols fell in 1830, gave Berthe a dowry of eighty thousand francs a +year in 1833, when she was twenty. + +About that time the Princesse de Cadignan, who was seeking to marry +her son, the Duc de Maufrigneuse, brought him into intimate relations +with Madame de Cinq-Cygne. Georges de Maufrigneuse dined with the +marquise three times a week, accompanied the mother and daughter to +the Opera, and curvetted in the Bois around their carriage when they +drove out. It was evident to all the world of the Faubourg +Saint-Germain that Georges loved Berthe. But no one could discover to +a certainty whether Madame de Cinq-Cygne was desirous of making her +daughter a duchess, to become a princess later, or whether it was only +the princess who coveted for her son the splendid dowry. Did the +celebrated Diane court the noble provincial house? and was the +daughter of the Cinq-Cygnes frightened by the celebrity of Madame de +Cadignan, her tastes and her ruinous extravagance? In her strong +desire not to injure her son's prospects the princess grew devout, +shut the door on her former life, and spent the summer season at +Geneva in a villa on the lake. + +One evening there were present in the salon of the Princesse de +Cadignan, the Marquise d'Espard, and de Marsay, then president of the +Council (on this occasion the princess saw her former lover for the +last time, for he died the following year), Eugene de Rastignac, +under-secretary of State attached to de Marsay's ministry, two +ambassadors, two celebrated orators from the Chamber of Peers, the old +dukes of Lenoncourt and de Navarreins, the Comte de Vandenesse and his +young wife, and d'Arthez,--who formed a rather singular circle, the +composition of which can be thus explained. The princess was anxious +to obtain from the prime minister of the crown a permit for the return +of the Prince de Cadignan. De Marsay, who did not choose to take upon +himself the responsibility of granting it came to tell the princess +the matter had been entrusted to safe hands, and that a certain +political manager had promised to bring her the result in the course +of that evening. + +Madame and Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne were announced. Laurence, whose +principles were unyielding, was not only surprised but shocked to see +the most illustrious representatives of Legitimacy talking and +laughing in a friendly manner with the prime minister of the man whom +she never called anything but Monsieur le Duc d'Orleans. De Marsay, +like an expiring lamp, shone with a last brilliancy. He laid aside for +the moment his political anxieties, and Madame de Cinq-Cygne endured +him, as they say the Court of Austria endured de Saint-Aulaire; the +man of the world effaced the minister of the citizen-king. But she +rose to her feet as though her chair were of red-hot iron when the +name was announced of "Monsieur le Comte de Gondreville." + +"Adieu, madame," she said to the princess in a curt tone. + +She left the room with Berthe, measuring her steps to avoid +encountering that fatal being. + +"You may have caused the loss of Georges' marriage," said the princess +to de Marsay, in a low voice. "Why did you not tell me your agent's +name?" + +The former clerk of Arcis, former Conventional, former Thermidorien, +tribune, Councillor of State, count of the Empire and senator, peer of +the Restoration, and now peer of the monarchy of July, made a servile +bow to the princess. + +"Fear nothing, madame," he said; "we have ceased to make war on +princes. I bring you an assurance of the permit," he added, seating +himself beside her. + +Malin was long in the confidence of Louis XVIII., to whom his varied +experience was useful. He had greatly aided in overthrowing Decazes, +and had given much good advice to the ministry of Villele. Coldly +received by Charles X., he had adopted all the rancors of Talleyrand. +He was now in high favor under the twelfth government he had served +since 1789, and which in turn he would doubtless betray. For the last +fifteen months he had broken the long friendship which had bound him +for thirty-six years to our greatest diplomat, the Prince de +Talleyrand. It was in the course of this very evening that he made +answer to some one who asked why the Prince showed such hostility to +the Duc de Bordeaux, "The Pretender is too young!" + +"Singular advice to give young men," remarked Rastignac. + +De Marsay, who grew thoughtful after Madame de Cadignan's reproachful +speech, took no notice of these jests. He looked askance at +Gondreville and was evidently biding his time until that now old man, +who went to bed early, had taken leave. All present, who had witnessed +the abrupt departure of Madame de Cinq-Cygne (whose reasons were +well-known to them), imitated de Marsay's conduct and kept silence. +Gondreville, who had not recognized the marquise, was ignorant of the +cause of the general reticence, but the habit of dealing with public +matters had given him a certain tact; he was moreover a clever man; he +saw that his presence was embarrassing to the company and he took +leave. De Marsay, standing with his back to the fire, watched the slow +departure of the old man in a manner which revealed the gravity of his +thoughts. + +"I did wrong, madame, not to tell you the name of my negotiator," said +the prime minister, listening for the sound of Malin's wheels as they +rolled away. "But I will redeem my fault and give you the means of +making your peace with the Cinq-Cygnes. It is now thirty years since +the affair I am about to speak of took place; it is as old to the +present day as the death of Henri IV. (which between ourselves and in +spite of the proverb is still a mystery, like so many other historical +catastrophes). I can, however, assure you that even if this affair did +not concern Madame de Cinq-Cygne it would be none the less curious and +interesting. Moreover, it throws light on a celebrated exploit in our +modern annals,--I mean that of the Mont Saint-Bernard. Messieurs les +Ambassadeurs," he added, bowing to the two diplomats, "will see that +in the element of profound intrigue the political men of the present +day are far behind the Machiavellis whom the waves of the popular will +lifted, in 1793, above the storm,--some of whom have 'found,' as the +old song says, 'a haven.' To be anything in France in these days a man +must have been tossed in those tempests." + +"It seems to me," said the princess, smiling, "that from that point of +view the present state of things under your regime leaves nothing to +be desired." + +A well-bred laugh went round the room, and even the prime minister +himself could not help smiling. The ambassadors seemed impatient for +the tale; de Marsay coughed dryly and silence was obtained. + +"On a June night in 1800," began the minister, "about three in the +morning, just as daylight was beginning to pale the brilliancy of the +wax candles, two men tired of playing at _bouillotte_ (or who were +playing merely to keep others employed) left the salon of the ministry +of foreign affairs, then situated in the rue du Bac, and went apart +into a boudoir. These two men, of whom one is dead and the other has +_one_ foot in the grave, were, each in his own way, equally +extraordinary. Both had been priests; both had abjured religion; both +were married. One had been merely an Oratorian, the other had worn the +mitre of a bishop. The first was named Fouche; I shall not tell you +the name of the second;[*] both were then mere simple citizens--with +very little simplicity. When they were seen to leave the salon and +enter the boudoir, the rest of the company present showed a certain +curiosity. A third person followed them,--a man who thought himself +far stronger than the other two. His name was Sieyes, and you all know +that he too had been a priest before the Revolution. The one who +_walked with difficulty_ was then the minister of foreign affairs; +Fouche was minister of police; Sieyes had resigned the consulate. + + [*] Talleyrand was still living when de Marsay related these + circumstances. + + +"A small man, cold and stern in appearance, left his seat and followed +the three others, saying aloud in the hearing of the person from whom +I have the information, 'I mistrust the gambling of priests.' This man +was Carnot, minister of war. His remark did not trouble the two +consuls who were playing cards in the salon. Cambaceres and Lebrun +were then at the mercy of their ministers, men who were infinitely +stronger than they. + +"Nearly all these statesmen are dead, and no secrecy is due to them. +They belong to history; and the history of that night and its +consequences has been terrible. I tell it to you now because I alone +know it; because Louis XVIII. never revealed the truth to that poor +Madame de Cinq-Cygne; and because the present government which I serve +is wholly indifferent as to whether the truth be known to the world or +not. + +"All four of these personages sat down in the boudoir. The lame man +undoubtedly closed the door before a word was said; it is even thought +that he ran the bolt. It is only persons of high rank who pay +attention to such trifles. The three priests had the livid, impassible +faces which you all remember. Carnot alone was ruddy. He was the first +to speak. 'What is the point to be discussed?' he asked. 'France,' +must have been the answer of the Prince (whom I admire as one of the +most extraordinary men of our time). 'The Republic,' undoubtedly said +Fouche. 'Power,' probably said Sieyes." + +All present looked at each other. With voice, look, and gesture de +Marsay had wonderfully represented the three men. + +"The three priests fully understood one another," he continued, +resuming his narrative. "Carnot no doubt looked at his colleagues and +the ex-consul in a dignified manner. He must, however, have felt +bewildered in his own mind. + +"'Do you believe in the success of the army?' Sieyes said to him. + +"'We may expect everything from Bonaparte,' replied the minister of +war; 'he has crossed the Alps.' + +"'At this moment,' said the minister of foreign affairs, with +deliberate slowness, 'he is playing his last stake.' + +"'Come, let's speak out,' said Fouche; 'what shall we do if the First +Consul is defeated? Is it possible to collect another army? Must we +continue his humble servants?' + +"'There is no republic now,' remarked Sieyes; 'Bonaparte is consul for +ten years.' + +"'He has more power than ever Cromwell had,' said the former bishop, +'and he did not vote for the death of the king.' + +"'We have a master,' said Fouche; 'the question is, shall we continue +to keep him if he loses the battle or shall we return to a pure +republic?' + +"'France,' replied Carnot, sententiously, 'cannot resist except she +reverts to the old Conventional _energy_.' + +"'I agree with Carnot,' said Sieyes; 'if Bonaparte returns defeated we +must put an end to him; he has let us know him too well during the +last seven months.' + +"'The army is for him,' remarked Carnot, thoughtfully. + +"'And the people for us!' cried Fouche. + +"'You go fast, monsieur,' said the Prince, in that deep bass voice +which he still preserves and which now drove Fouche back into himself. + +"'Be frank,' said a voice, as a former Conventional rose from a corner +of the boudoir and showed himself; 'if Bonaparte returns a victor, we +shall adore him; if vanquished, we'll bury him!' + +"'So you were there, Malin, were you?' said the Prince, without +betraying the least feeling. 'Then you must be one of us; sit down'; +and he made him a sign to be seated. + +"It is to this one circumstance that Malin, a Conventional of small +repute, owes the position he afterwards obtained and, ultimately, that +in which we see him at the present moment. He proved discreet, and the +ministers were faithful to him; but they made him the pivot of the +machine and the cat's-paw of the machination. To return to my tale. + +"'Bonaparte has never yet been vanquished,' cried Carnot, in a tone of +conviction, 'and he has just surpassed Hannibal.' + +"'If the worst happens, here is the Directory,' said Sieyes, artfully, +indicating with a wave of his hand the five persons present. + +"'And,' added the Prince, 'we are all committed to the maintenance of +the French republic; we three priests have literally unfrocked +ourselves; the general, here, voted for the death of the king; and +you,' he said, turning to Malin, 'have got possession of the property +of _emigres_.' + +"'Yes, we have all the same interests,' said Sieyes, dictatorially, +'and our interests are one with those of the nation.' + +"'A rare thing,' said the Prince, smiling. + +"'We must act,' interrupted Fouche. 'In all probability the battle is +now going on; the Austrians outnumber us; Genoa has surrendered; +Massena has committed the great mistake of embarking for Antibes; it +is very doubtful if he can rejoin Bonaparte, who will then be reduced +to his own resources.' + +"'Who gave you that news?' asked Carnot. + +"'It is sure,' replied Fouche. 'You will have the courier when the +Bourse opens.' + +"Those men didn't mince their words," said de Marsay, smiling, and +stopping short for a moment. + +"'Remember,' continued Fouche, 'it is not when the news of a disaster +comes that we can organize clubs, rouse the patriotism of the people, +and change the constitution. Our 18th Brumaire ought to be prepared +beforehand.' + +"'Let us leave the care of that to the minister of police,' said the +Prince, bowing to Fouche, 'and beware ourselves of Lucien.' (Lucien +Bonaparte was then minister of the interior.) + +"'I'll arrest him,' said Fouche. + +"'Messieurs!' cried Sieyes, 'our Directory ought not to be subject to +anarchical changes. We must organize a government of the few, a Senate +for life, and an elective chamber the control of which shall be in our +hands; for we ought to profit by the blunders of the past.' + +"'With such a system, there would be peace for me,' remarked the +ex-bishop. + +"'Find me a sure man to negotiate with Moreau; for the Army of the +Rhine will be our sole resource,' cried Carnot, who had been plunged +in meditation. + +"Ah!" said de Marsay, pausing, "those men were right. They were grand +in this crisis. I should have done as they did"; then he resumed his +narrative. + +"'Messieurs!' cried Sieyes, in a grave and solemn tone. + +"That word 'Messieurs!' was perfectly understood by all present; all +eyes expressed the same faith, the same promise, that of absolute +silence, and unswerving loyalty to each other in case the First Consul +returned triumphant. + +"'We all know what we have to do,' added Fouche. + +"Sieyes softly unbolted the door; his priestly ear had warned him. +Lucien entered the room. + +"'Good news!' he said. 'A courier has just brought Madame Bonaparte a +line from the First Consul. The campaign has opened with a victory at +Montebello.' + +"The three ministers exchanged looks. + +"'Was it a general engagement?' asked Carnot. + +"'No, a fight, in which Lannes has covered himself with glory. The +affair was bloody. Attacked with ten thousand men by eighteen +thousand, he was only saved by a division sent to his support. Ott is +in full retreat. The Austrian line is broken.' + +"'When did the fight take place?' asked Carnot. + +"'On the 8th,' replied Lucien. + +"'And this is the 13th,' said the sagacious minister. 'Well, if that +is so, the destinies of France are in the scale at the very moment we +are speaking.'" + +(In fact, the battle of Marengo did begin at dawn of the 14th.) + +"'Four days of fatal uncertainty!' said Lucien. + +"'Fatal?' said the minister of foreign affairs, coldly and +interrogatively. + +"'Four days,' echoed Fouche. + +"An eye-witness told me," said de Marsay, continuing the narrative in +his own person, "that the consuls, Cambaceres and Lebrun, knew nothing +of this momentous news until after the six personages returned to the +salon. It was then four in the morning. Fouche left first. That man of +dark and mysterious genius, extraordinary, profound, and little +understood, but who undoubtedly had the gifts of a Philip the Second, +a Tiberius and a Borgia, went at once to work with an infernal and +secret activity. His conduct at the time of the affair at Walcheren +was that of a consummate soldier, a great politician, a far-seeing +administrator. He was the only real minister that Napoleon ever had. +And you all know how he then alarmed him. + +"Fouche, Massena and the Prince," continued de Marsay, reflectively, +"are the three greatest men, the wisest heads in diplomacy, war, and +government, that I have ever known. If Napoleon had frankly allied +them with his work there would no longer be a Europe, only a vast +French Empire. Fouche did not finally detach himself from Napoleon +until he saw Sieyes and the Prince de Talleyrand shoved aside. + +"He now went to work, and in three days (all the while hiding the hand +that stirred the ashes of the Montagne) he had organized that general +agitation which then arose all over France and revived the +republicanism of 1793. As it is necessary that I should explain this +obscure corner of our history, I must tell you that this agitation, +starting from Fouche's own hand (which held the wires of the former +Montagne), produced republican plots against the life of the First +Consul, which was in peril from this cause long after the victory of +Marengo. It was Fouche's sense of the evil he had thus brought about +which led him to warn Napoleon, who held a contrary opinion, that +republicans were more concerned than royalists in the various +conspiracies. + +"Fouche was an admirable judge of men; he relied on Sieyes because of +his thwarted ambition, on Talleyrand because he was a great +_seigneur_, on Carnot for his perfect honesty; but the man he dreaded +was the one whom you have seen here this evening. I will now tell how +he entangled that man in his meshes. + +"Malin was only Malin in those days,--a secret agent and correspondent +of Louis XVIII. Fouche now compelled him to reduce to writing all the +proclamations of the proposed revolutionary government, its warrants +and edicts against the factions of the 18th Brumaire. An accomplice +against his own will, Malin was required to have these documents +secretly printed, and the copies held ready in his own house for +distribution if Bonaparte were defeated. The printer was subsequently +imprisoned and detained two months; he died in 1816, and always +believed he had been employed by a Montagnard conspiracy. + +"One of the most singular scenes ever played by Fouche's police was +caused by the blunder of an agent, who despatched a courier to a +famous banker of that day with the news of a defeat at Marengo. +Victory, you will remember, did not declare itself for Napoleon until +seven o'clock in the evening of the battle. At midday the banker's +agent, considering the day lost and the French army about to be +annihilated, hastened to despatch the courier. On receipt of that news +Fouche was about to put into motion a whole army of bill-posters and +cries, with a truck full of proclamations, when the second courier +arrived with the news of the triumph which put all France beside +itself with joy. There were heavy losses at the Bourse, of course. But +the criers and posters who were gathered to announce the political +death of Bonaparte and to post up the new proclamations were only kept +waiting awhile till the news of the victory could be struck off! + +"Malin, on whom the whole responsibility of the plot of which he had +been the working agent was likely to fall if it ever became known, was +so terrified that he packed the proclamations and other papers in +carts and took them down to Gondreville in the night-time, where no +doubt they were hidden in the cellars of that chateau, which he had +bought in the name of another man--who was it, by the bye? he had him +made chief-justice of an Imperial court--Ah! Marion. Having thus +disposed of these damning proofs he returned to Paris to congratulate +the First Consul on his victory. Napoleon, as you know, rushed from +Italy to Paris after the battle of Marengo with alarming celerity. +Those who know the secret history of that time are well aware that a +message from Lucien brought him back. The minister of the interior had +foreseen the attitude of the Montagnard party, and though he had no +idea of the quarter from which the wind really blew, he feared a +storm. Incapable of suspecting the three ministers and Carnot, he +attributed the movement which stirred all France to the hatred his +brother had excited by the 18th Brumaire, and to the confident belief +of the men of 1793 that defeat was certain in Italy. + +"The battle of Marengo detained Napoleon on the plains of Lombardy +until the 25th of June, but he reached Paris on the 2nd of July. +Imagine the faces of the five conspirators as they met the First +Consul at the Tuileries, and congratulated him on the victory. Fouche +on that very occasion at the palace told Malin to have patience, for +_all was not over yet_. The truth was, Talleyrand and Fouche both held +that Bonaparte was not as much bound to the principles of the +Revolution as they were, and as he ought to be; and for this reason, +as well as for their own safety, they subsequently, in 1804, buckled +him irrevocably, as they believed, to its cause by the affair of the +Duc d'Enghien. The execution of that prince is connected by a series +of discoverable ramifications with the plot which was laid on that +June evening in the boudoir of the ministry of foreign affairs, the +night before the battle of Marengo. Those who have the means of +judging, and who have known persons who were well-informed, are fully +aware that Bonaparte was handled like a child by Talleyrand and +Fouche, who were determined to alienate him irrevocably from the House +of Bourbon, whose agents were even then, at the last moment, +endeavoring to negotiate with the First Consul." + +"Talleyrand was playing whist in the salon of Madame de Luynes," said +a personage who had been listening attentively to de Marsay's +narrative. "It was about three o'clock in the morning, when he pulled +out his watch, looked at it, stopped the game, and asked his three +companions abruptly and without any preface whether the Prince de +Conde had any other children than the Duc d'Enghien. Such an absurd +inquiry from the lips of Talleyrand caused the utmost surprise. 'Why +do you ask us what you know perfectly well yourself?' they said to +him. 'Only to let you know that the House of Conde comes to an end at +this moment.' Now Monsieur de Talleyrand had been at the hotel de +Luynes the entire evening, and he must have known that Bonaparte was +absolutely unable to grant the pardon." + +"But," said Eugene de Rastignac, "I don't see in all this any +connection with Madame de Cinq-Cygnes and her troubles." + +"Ah, you were so young at that time, my dear fellow; I forgot to +explain the conclusion. You all know the affair of the abduction of +the Comte de Gondreville, then senator of the Empire, for which the +Simeuse brothers and the two d'Hauteserres were condemned to the +galleys,--an affair which did, in fact, lead to their death." + +De Marsay, entreated by several persons present to whom the +circumstances were unknown, related the whole trial, stating that the +mysterious abductors were five sharks of the secret service of the +ministry of the police, who were ordered to obtain the proclamations +of the would-be Directory which Malin had surreptitiously taken from +his house in Paris, and which he had himself come to Gondreville for +the express purpose of destroying, being convinced at last that the +Empire was on a sure foundation and could not be overthrown. "I have +no doubt," added de Marsay, "that Fouche took the opportunity to have +the house searched for the correspondence between Malin and Louis +XVIII., which was always kept up, even during the Terror. But in this +cruel affair there was a private element, a passion of revenge in the +mind of the leader of the party, a man named Corentin, who is still +living, and who is one of those subaltern agents whom nothing can +replace and who makes himself felt by his amazing ability. It appears +that Madame, then Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne, had ill-treated him on a +former occasion when he attempted to arrest the Simeuse brothers. What +happened afterwards in connection with the senator's abduction was the +result of his private vengeance. + +"These facts were known, of course, to Malin, and through him to Louis +XVIII. You may therefore," added de Marsay, turning to the Princesse +de Cadignan, "explain the whole matter to the Marquise de Cinq-Cygne, +and show her why Louis XVIII. thought fit to keep silence." + + + + +ADDENDUM + +The following personages appear in other stories of the Human Comedy. + +Beauvisage + The Member for Arcis + +Berthier, Alexandre + The Chouans + +Bonaparte, Lucien + The Vendetta + +Bordin + The Seamy Side of History + The Commission in Lunacy + Jealousies of a Country Town + +Cinq-Cygne, Laurence, Comtesse (afterwards Marquise de) + The Secrets of a Princess + The Seamy Side of History + The Member for Arcis + +Corentin + The Chouans + Scenes from a Courtesan's Life + The Middle Classes + +Derville + Gobseck + A Start in Life + Father Goriot + Colonel Chabert + Scenes from a Courtesan's Life + +Duroc, Gerard-Christophe-Michel + A Woman of Thirty + +Espard, Jeanne-Clementine-Athenais de Blamont-Chauvry, Marquise d' + The Commission in Lunacy + A Distinguished Provincial at Paris + Scenes from a Courtesan's Life + Letters of Two Brides + Another Study of Woman + The Secrets of a Princess + A Daughter of Eve + Beatrix + +Fouche, Joseph + The Chouans + Scenes from a Courtesan's Life + +Giguet, Colonel + The Member for Arcis + +Gondreville, Malin, Comte de + A Start in Life + Domestic Peace + The Member for Arcis + +Gothard + The Member for Arcis + +Goujet, Abbe + The Member for Arcis + +Grandlieu, Duc Ferdinand de + The Thirteen + A Bachelor's Establishment + Modeste Mignon + Scenes from a Courtesan's Life + +Granville, Vicomte de + A Second Home + Farewell (Adieu) + Cesar Birotteau + Scenes from a Courtesan's Life + A Daughter of Eve + Cousin Pons + +Grevin + A Start in Life + The Member for Arcis + +Hauteserre, D' + The Member for Arcis + +Lefebvre, Robert + Cousin Betty + +Lenoncourt, Duc de + The Lily of the Valley + Cesar Birotteau + Jealousies of a Country Town + Beatrix + +Louis XVIII., Louis-Stanislas-Xavier + The Chouans + The Seamy Side of History + Scenes from a Courtesan's Life + The Ball at Sceaux + The Lily of the Valley + Colonel Chabert + The Government Clerks + +Marion (of Arcis) + The Member for Arcis + +Marion (brother) + The Member for Arcis + +Marsay, Henri de + The Thirteen + The Unconscious Humorists + Another Study of Woman + The Lily of the Valley + Father Goriot + Jealousies of a Country Town + Ursule Mirouet + A Marriage Settlement + Lost Illusions + A Distinguished Provincial at Paris + Letters of Two Brides + The Ball at Sceaux + Modeste Mignon + The Secrets of a Princess + A Daughter of Eve + +Maufrigneuse, Duchesse de + The Secrets of a Princess + Modeste Mignon + Jealousies of a Country Town + The Muse of the Department + Scenes from a Courtesan's Life + Letters of Two Brides + Another Study of Woman + The Member for Arcis + +Maufrigneuse, Georges de + The Secrets of a Princess + Beatrix + The Member for Arcis + +Maufrigneuse, Berthe de + Beatrix + The Member for Arcis + +Michu, Francois + Jealousies of a Country Town + The Member for Arcis + +Michu, Madame Francois + The Member for Arcis + +Murat, Joachim, Prince + The Vendetta + Colonel Chabert + Domestic Peace + The Country Doctor + +Navarreins, Duc de + A Bachelor's Establishment + Colonel Chabert + The Muse of the Department + The Thirteen + Jealousies of a Country Town + The Peasantry + Scenes from a Courtesan's Life + The Country Parson + The Magic Skin + The Secrets of a Princess + Cousin Betty + +Peyrade + Scenes from a Courtesan's Life + +Rapp + The Vendetta + +Rastignac, Eugene de + Father Goriot + A Distinguished Provincial at Paris + Scenes from a Courtesan's Life + The Ball at Sceaux + The Commission in Lunacy + A Study of Woman + Another Study of Woman + The Magic Skin + The Secrets of a Princess + A Daughter of Eve + The Firm of Nucingen + Cousin Betty + The Member for Arcis + The Unconscious Humorists + +Regnier, Claude-Antoine + A Second Home + +Simeuse, Admiral de + Beatrix + Jealousies of a Country Town + +Steingel + The Peasantry + +Talleyrand-Perigord, Charles-Maurice de + The Chouans + The Thirteen + Letters of Two Brides + Gaudissart II. + +Vandenesse, Comte Felix de + The Lily of the Valley + Lost Illusions + A Distinguished Provincial at Paris + Cesar Birotteau + Letters of Two Brides + A Start in Life + The Marriage Settlement + The Secrets of a Princess + Another Study of Woman + A Daughter of Eve + +Varlet + The Gondreville Mystery + The Member for Arcis + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's An Historical Mystery, by Honore de Balzac + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AN HISTORICAL MYSTERY *** + +***** This file should be named 1678.txt or 1678.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.net/1/6/7/1678/ + +Produced by John Bickers and Dagny + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States 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FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.04.29.93*END* + + + + + +Etext prepared by John Bickers, jbickers@templar.actrix.gen.nz +Dagny, dagnyj@hotmail.com +and Bonnie Sala + + + + + +AN HISTORICAL MYSTERY +(The Gondreville Mystery) + + +by HONORE DE BALZAC + + + + +Translated By +Katharine Prescott Wormeley + + + + +DEDICATION + +To Monsieur de Margone. + +In grateful remembrance, from his guest at the Chateau de Sache. + +De Balzac. + + + + +AN HISTORICAL MYSTERY + + + + +PART I + + + +CHAPTER I + +JUDAS + +The autumn of the year 1803 was one of the finest in the early part of +that period of the present century which we now call "Empire." Rain +had refreshed the earth during the month of October, so that the trees +were still green and leafy in November. The French people were +beginning to put faith in a secret understanding between the skies and +Bonaparte, then declared Consul for life,--a belief in which that man +owes part of his prestige; strange to say, on the day the sun failed +him, in 1812, his luck ceased! + +About four in the afternoon on the fifteenth of November, 1803, the +sun was casting what looked like scarlet dust upon the venerable tops +of four rows of elms in a long baronial avenue, and sparkling on the +sand and grassy places of an immense /rond-point/, such as we often +see in the country where land is cheap enough to be sacrificed to +ornament. The air was so pure, the atmosphere so tempered that a +family was sitting out of doors as if it were summer. A man dressed in +a hunting-jacket of green drilling with green buttons, and breeches of +the same stuff, and wearing shoes with thin soles and gaiters to the +knee, was cleaning a gun with the minute care a skilful huntsman gives +to the work in his leisure hours. This man had neither game nor game- +bag, nor any of the accoutrements which denote either departure for a +hunt or the return from it; and two women sitting near were looking at +him as though beset by a terror they could ill-conceal. Any one +observing the scene taking place in this leafy nook would have +shuddered, as the old mother-in-law and the wife of the man we speak +of were now shuddering. A huntsman does not take such minute +precautions with his weapon to kill small game, neither does he use, +in the department of the Aube, a heavy rifled carbine. + +"Shall you kill a roe-buck, Michu?" said his handsome young wife, +trying to assume a laughing air. + +Before replying, Michu looked at his dog, which had been lying in the +sun, its paws stretched out and its nose on its paws, in the charming +attitude of a trained hunter. The animal had just raised its head and +was snuffing the air, first down the avenue nearly a mile long which +stretched before them, and then up the cross road where it entered the +/rond-point/ to the left. + +"No," answered Michu, "but a brute I do not wish to miss, a lynx." + +The dog, a magnificent spaniel, white with brown spots, growled. + +"Hah!" said Michu, talking to himself, "spies! the country swarms with +them." + +Madame Michu looked appealingly to heaven. A beautiful fair woman with +blue eyes, composed and thoughtful in expression and made like an +antique statue, she seemed to be a prey to some dark and bitter grief. +The husband's appearance may explain to a certain extent the evident +fear of the two women. The laws of physiognomy are precise, not only +in their application to character, but also in relation to the +destinies of life. There is such a thing as prophetic physiognomy. If +it were possible (and such a vital statistic would be of value to +society) to obtain exact likenesses of those who perish on the +scaffold, the science of Lavatar and also that of Gall would prove +unmistakably that the heads of all such persons, even those who are +innocent, show prophetic signs. Yes, fate sets its mark on the faces +of those who are doomed to die a violent death of any kind. Now, this +sign, this seal, visible to the eye of an observer, was imprinted on +the expressive face of the man with the rifled carbine. Short and +stout, abrupt and active in his motions as a monkey, though calm in +temperament, Michu had a white face injected with blood, and features +set close together like those of a Tartar,--a likeness to which his +crinkled red hair conveyed a sinister expression. His eyes, clear and +yellow as those of a tiger, showed depths behind them in which the +glance of whoever examined the man might lose itself and never find +either warmth or motion. Fixed, luminous, and rigid, those eyes +terrified whoever gazed into them. The singular contrast between the +immobility of the eyes and the activity of the body increased the +chilling impression conveyed by a first sight of Michu. Action, always +prompt in this man, was the outcome of a single thought; just as the +life of animals is, without reflection, the outcome of instinct. Since +1793 he had trimmed his red beard to the shape of a fan. Even if he +had not been (as he was during the Terror) president of a club of +Jacobins, this peculiarity of his head would in itself have made him +terrible to behold. His Socratic face with its blunt nose was +surmounted by a fine forehead, so projecting, however, that it +overhung the rest of the features. The ears, well detached from the +head, had the sort of mobility which we find in those of wild animals, +which are ever on the qui-vive. The mouth, half-open, as the custom +usually is among country-people, showed teeth that were strong and +white as almonds, but irregular. Gleaming red whiskers framed this +face, which was white and yet mottled in spots. The hair, cropped +close in front and allowed to grow long at the sides and on the back +of the head, brought into relief, by its savage redness, all the +strange and fateful peculiarities of this singular face. The neck +which was short and thick, seemed to tempt the axe. + +At this moment the sunbeams, falling in long lines athwart the group, +lighted up the three heads at which the dog from time to time glanced +up. The spot on which this scene took place was magnificently fine. +The /rond-point/ is at the entrance of the park of Gondreville, one of +the finest estates in France, and by far the finest in the departments +of the Aube; it boasts of long avenues of elms, a castle built from +designs by Mansart, a park of fifteen hundred acres enclosed by a +stone wall, nine large farms, a forest, mills, and meadows. This +almost regal property belonged before the Revolution to the family of +Simeuse. Ximeuse was a feudal estate in Lorraine; the name was +pronounced Simeuse, and in course of time it came to be written as +pronounced. + +The great fortune of the Simeuse family, adherents of the House of +Burgundy, dates from the time when the Guises were in conflict with +the Valois. Richelieu first, and afterwards Louis XIV. remembered +their devotion to the factious house of Lorraine, and rebuffed them. +Then the Marquis de Simeuse, an old Burgundian, old Guiser, old +leaguer, old /frondeur/ (he inherited the four great rancors of the +nobility against royalty), came to live at Cinq-Cygne. The former +courtier, rejected at the Louvre, married the widow of the Comte de +Cinq-Cygne, younger branch of the famous family of Chargeboeuf, one of +the most illustrious names in Champagne, and now as celebrated and +opulent as the elder. The marquis, among the richest men of his day, +instead of wasting his substance at court, built the chateau of +Gondreville, enlarged the estate by the purchase of others, and united +the several domains, solely for the purposes of a hunting-ground. He +also built the Simeuse mansion at Troyes, not far from that of the +Cinq-Cygnes. These two old houses and the bishop's palace were long +the only stone mansions at Troyes. The marquis sold Simeuse to the Duc +de Lorraine. His son wasted the father's savings and some part of his +great fortune under the reign of Louis XV., but he subsequently +entered the navy, became a vice-admiral, and redeemed the follies of +his youth by brilliant services. The Marquis de Simeuse, son of this +naval worthy, perished with his wife on the scaffold at Troyes, +leaving twin sons, who emigrated and were, at the time our history +opens, still in foreign parts following the fortunes of the house of +Conde. + +The /rond-point/ was the scene of the meet in the time of the "Grand +Marquis"--a name given in the family to the Simeuse who built +Gondreville. Since 1789 Michu lived in the hunting lodge at the +entrance to the park, built in the reign of Louis XIV., and called the +pavilion of Cinq-Cygne. The village of Cinq-Cygne is at the end of the +forest of Nodesme (a corruption of Notre-Dame) which was reached +through the fine avenue of four rows of elms where Michu's dog was now +suspecting spies. After the death of the Grand Marquis this pavilion +fell into disuse. The vice-admiral preferred the court and the sea to +Champagne, and his son gave the dilapidated building to Michu for a +dwelling. + +This noble structure is of brick, with vermiculated stone-work at the +angles and on the casings of the doors and windows. On either side is +a gateway of finely wrought iron, eaten with rust and connected by a +railing, beyond which is a wide and deep ha-ha, full of vigorous +trees, its parapets bristling with iron arabesques, the innumerable +sharp points of which are a warning to evil-doers. + +The park walls begin on each side of the circumference of the /rond- +point/; on the one hand the fine semi-circle is defined by slopes +planted with elms; on the other, within the park, a corresponding +half-circle is formed by groups of rare trees. The pavilion, +therefore, stands at the centre of this round open space, which +extends before it and behind it in the shape of two horseshoes. Michu +had turned the rooms on the lower floor into a stable, a kitchen, and +a wood-shed. The only trace remaining of their ancient splendor was an +antechamber paved with marble in squares of black and white, which was +entered on the park side through a door with small leaded panes, such +as might still be seen at Versailles before Louis-Philippe turned that +Chateau into an asylum for the glories of France. The pavilion is +divided inside by an old staircase of worm-eaten wood, full of +character, which leads to the first story. Above that is an immense +garret. This venerable edifice is covered by one of those vast roofs +with four sides, a ridgepole decorated with leaden ornaments, and a +round projecting window on each side, such as Mansart very justly +delighted in; for in France, the Italian attics and flat roofs are a +folly against which our climate protests. Michu kept his fodder in +this garret. That portion of the park which surrounds the old pavilion +is English in style. A hundred feet from the house a former lake, now +a mere pond well stocked with fish, makes known its vicinity as much +by a thin mist rising above the tree-tops as by the croaking of a +thousand frogs, toads, and other amphibious gossips who discourse at +sunset. The time-worn look of everything, the deep silence of the +woods, the long perspective of the avenue, the forest in the distance, +the rusty iron-work, the masses of stone draped with velvet mosses, +all made poetry of this old structure, which still exists. + +At the moment when our history begins Michu was leaning against a +mossy parapet on which he had laid his powder-horn, cap, handkerchief, +screw-driver, and rags,--in fact, all the utensils needed for his +suspicious occupation. His wife's chair was against the wall beside +the outer door of the house, above which could still be seen the arms +of the Simeuse family, richly carved, with their noble motto, "Cy +meurs." The old mother, in peasant dress, had moved her chair in front +of Madame Michu, so that the latter might put her feet upon the rungs +and keep them from dampness. + +"Where's the boy?" said Michu to his wife. + +"Round the pond; he is crazy about the frogs and the insects," +answered the mother. + +Michu whistled in a way that made his hearers tremble. The rapidity +with which his son ran up to him proved plainly enough the despotic +power of the bailiff of Gondreville. Since 1789, but more especially +since 1793, Michu had been well-nigh master of the property. The +terror he inspired in his wife, his mother-in-law, a servant-lad named +Gaucher, and the cook named Marianne, was shared throughout a +neighborhood of twenty miles in circumference. It may be well to give, +without further delay, the reasons for this fear,--all the more +because an account of them will complete the moral portrait of the +man. + +The old Marquis de Simeuse transferred the greater part of his +property in 1790; but, overtaken by circumstances, he had not been +able to put the estate of Gondreville into sure hands. Accused of +corresponding with the Duke of Brunswick and the Prince of Cobourg, +the marquis and his wife were thrust into prison and condemned to +death by the revolutionary tribunal of Troyes, of which Madame Michu's +father was then president. The fine domain of Gondreville was sold as +national property. The head-keeper, to the horror of many, was present +at the execution of the marquis and his wife in his capacity as +president of the club of Jacobins at Arcis. Michu, the orphan son of a +peasant, showered with benefactions by the marquise, who brought him +up in her own home and gave him his place as keeper, was regarded as a +Brutus by excited demagogues; but the people of the neighborhood +ceased to recognize him after this act of base ingratitude. The +purchaser of the estate was a man from Arcis named Marion, grandson of +a former bailiff in the Simeuse family. This man, a lawyer before and +after the Revolution, was afraid of the keeper; he made him his +bailiff with a salary of three thousand francs, and gave him an +interest in the sales of timber; Michu, who was thought to have some +ten thousand francs of his own laid by, married the daughter of a +tanner at Troyes, an apostle of the Revolution in that town, where he +was president of the revolutionary tribunal. This tanner, a man of +profound convictions, who resembled Saint-Just as to character, was +afterwards mixed up in Baboeuf's conspiracy and killed himself to +escape execution. Marthe was the handsomest girl in Troyes. In spite +of her shrinking modesty she had been forced by her formidable father +to play the part of Goddess of Liberty in some republican ceremony. + +The new proprietor came only three times to Gondreville in the course +of seven years. His grandfather had been bailiff of the estate under +the Simeuse family, and all Arcis took for granted that the citizen +Marion was the secret representative of the present Marquis and his +twin brother. As long as the Terror lasted, Michu, still bailiff of +Gondreville, a devoted patriot, son-in-law of the president of the +revolutionary tribunal of Troyes and flattered by Malin, +representative from the department of the Aube, was the object of a +certain sort of respect. But when the Mountain was overthrown and +after his father-in-law committed suicide, he found himself a scape- +goat; everybody hastened to accuse him, in common with his father-in- +law, of acts to which, so far as he was concerned, he was a total +stranger. The bailiff resented the injustice of the community; he +stiffened his back and took an attitude of hostility. He talked +boldly. But after the 18th Brumaire he maintained an unbroken silence, +the philosophy of the strong; he struggled no longer against public +opinion, and contented himself with attending to his own affairs,-- +wise conduct, which led his neighbors to pronounce him sly, for he +owned, it was said, a fortune of not less than a hundred thousand +francs in landed property. In the first place, he spent nothing; next, +this property was legitimately acquired, partly from the inheritance +of his father-in-law's estate, and partly from the savings of six- +thousand francs a year, the salary he derived from his place with its +profits and emoluments. He had been bailiff of Gondreville for the +last twelve years and every one had estimated the probable amount of +his savings, so that when, after the Consulate was proclaimed, he +bought a farm for fifty thousand francs, the suspicions attaching to +his former opinions lessened, and the community of Arcis gave him +credit for intending to recover himself in public estimation. +Unfortunately, at the very moment when public opinion was condoning +his past a foolish affair, envenomed by the gossip of the country- +side, revived the latent and very general belief in the ferocity of +his character. + +One evening, coming away from Troyes in company with several peasants, +among whom was the farmer at Cinq-Cygne, he let fall a paper on the +main road; the farmer, who was walking behind him, stooped and picked +it up. Michu turned round, saw the paper in the man's hands, pulled a +pistol from his belt and threatened the farmer (who knew how to read) +to blow his brains out if he opened the paper. Michu's action was so +sudden and violent, the tone of his voice so alarming, his eyes blazed +so savagely, that the men about him turned cold with fear. The farmer +of Cinq-Cygne was already his enemy. Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne, the +man's employer, was a cousin of the Simeuse brothers; she had only one +farm left for her maintenance and was now residing at her chateau of +Cinq-Cygne. She lived for her cousins the twins, with whom she had +played in childhood at Troyes and at Gondreville. Her only brother, +Jules de Cinq-Cygne, who emigrated before the twins, died at Mayence, +but by a privilege which was somewhat rare and will be mentioned +later, the name of Cinq-Cygne was not to perish through lack of male +heirs. + +This affair between Michu and the farmer made a great noise in the +arrondissement and darkened the already mysterious shadows which +seemed to veil him. Nor was it the only circumstance which made him +feared. A few months after this scene the citizen Marion, present +owner of the Gondreville estate, came to inspect it with the citizen +Malin. Rumor said that Marion was about to sell the property to his +companion, who had profited by political events and had just been +appointed on the Council of State by the First Consul, in return for +his services on the 18th Brumaire. The shrewd heads of the little town +of Arcis now perceived that Marion had been the agent of Malin in the +purchase of the property, and not of the brothers Simeuse, as was +first supposed. The all-powerful Councillor of State was the most +important personage in Arcis. He had obtained for one of his political +friends the prefecture of Troyes, and for a farmer at Gondreville the +exemption of his son from the draft; in fact, he had done services to +many. Consequently, the sale met with no opposition in the +neighborhood where Malin then reigned, and where he still reigns +supreme. + +The Empire was just dawning. Those who in these days read the +histories of the French Revolution can form no conception of the vast +spaces which public thought traversed between events which now seem to +have been so near together. The strong need of peace and tranquillity +which every one felt after the violent tumults of the Revolution +brought about a complete forgetfulness of important anterior facts. +History matured rapidly under the advance of new and eager interests. +No one, therefore, except Michu, looked into the past of this affair, +which the community accepted as a simple matter. Marion, who had +bought Gondreville for six hundred thousand francs in assignats, sold +it for the value of a couple of million in coin; but the only payments +actually made by Malin were for the costs of registration. Grevin, a +seminary comrade of Malin, assisted the transaction, and the +Councillor rewarded his help with the office of notary at Arcis. When +the news of the sale reached the pavilion, brought there by a farmer +whose farm, at Grouage, was situated between the forest and the park +on the left of the noble avenue, Michu turned pale and left the house. +He lay in wait for Marion, and finally met him alone in one of the +shrubberies of the park. + +"Is monsieur about to sell Gondreville?" asked the bailiff. + +"Yes, Michu, yes. You will have a man of powerful influence for your +master. He is the friend of the First Consul, and very intimate with +all the ministers; he will protect you." + +"Then you were holding the estate for him?" + +"I don't say that," replied Marion. "At the time I bought it I was +looking for a place to put my money, and I invested in national +property as the best security. But it doesn't suit me to keep an +estate once belonging to a family in which my father was--" + +"--a servant," said Michu, violently. "But you shall not sell it! I +want it; and I can pay for it." + +"You?" + +"Yes, I; seriously, in good gold,--eight hundred thousand francs." + +"Eight hundred thousand francs!" exclaimed Marion. "Where did you get +them?" + +"That's none of your business," replied Michu; then, softening his +tone, he added in a low voice: "My father-in-law saved the lives of +many persons." + +"You are too late, Michu; the sale is made." + +"You must put it off, monsieur!" cried the bailiff, seizing his master +by the hand which he held as in a vice. "I am hated, but I choose to +be rich and powerful, and I must have Gondreville. Listen to me; I +don't cling to life; sell me that place or I'll blow your brains +out!--" + +"But do give me time to get off my bargain with Malin; he's +troublesome to deal with." + +"I'll give you twenty-four hours. If you say a word about this matter +I'll chop your head off as I would chop a turnip." + +Marion and Malin left the chateau in the course of the night. Marion +was frightened; he told Malin of the meeting and begged him to keep an +eye on the bailiff. It was impossible for Marion to avoid delivering +the property to the man who had been the real purchaser, and Michu did +not seem likely to admit any such reason. Moreover, this service done +by Marion to Malin was to be, and in fact ended by being, the origin +of the former's political fortune, and also that of his brother. In +1806 Malin had him appointed chief justice of an imperial court, and +after the creation of tax-collectors his brother obtained the post of +receiver-general for the department of the Aube. The State Councillor +told Marion to stay in Paris, and he warned the minister of police, +who gave orders that Michu should be secretly watched. Not wishing to +push the man to extremes, Malin kept him on as bailiff, under the iron +rule of Grevin the notary of Arcis. + +From that moment Michu became more absorbed and taciturn than ever, +and obtained the reputation of a man who was capable of committing a +crime. Malin, the Councillor of State (a function which the First +Consul raised to the level of a ministry), and a maker of the Code, +played a great part in Paris, where he bought one of the finest +mansions in the Faubuorg Saint-Germain after marrying the only +daughter of a rich contractor named Sibuelle. He never came to +Gondreville; leaving all matters concerning the property to the +management of Grevin, the Arcis notary. After all, what had he to +fear?--he, a former representative of the Aube, and president of a +club of Jacobins. And yet, the unfavorable opinion of Michu held by +the lower classes was shared by the bourgeoisie, and Marion, Grevin, +and Malin, without giving any reason or compromising themselves on the +subject, showed that they regarded him as an extremely dangerous man. +The authorities, who were under instructions from the minister of +police to watch the bailiff, did not of course lessen this belief. The +neighborhood wondered that he kept his place, but supposed it was in +consequence of the terror he inspired. It is easy now, after these +explanations, to understand the anxiety and sadness expressed in the +face of Michu's wife. + +In the first place, Marthe had been piously brought up by her mother. +Both, being good Catholics, had suffered much from the opinions and +behavior of the tanner. Marthe could never think without a blush of +having marched through the street of Troyes in the garb of a goddess. +Her father had forced her to marry Michu, whose bad reputation was +then increasing, and she feared him too much to be able to judge him. +Nevertheless, she knew that he loved her, and at the bottom of her +heart lay the truest affection for this awe-inspiring man; she had +never known him to do anything that was not just; never did he say a +brutal word, to her at least; in fact, he endeavored to forestall her +every wish. The poor pariah, believing himself disagreeable to his +wife, spent most of his time out of doors. Marthe and Michu, +distrustful of each other, lived in what is called in these days an +"armed peace." Marthe, who saw no one, suffered keenly from the +ostracism which for the last seven years had surrounded her as the +daughter of a revolutionary butcher, and the wife of a so-called +traitor. More than once she had overheard the laborers of the +adjoining farm (held by a man named Beauvisage, greatly attached to +the Simeuse family) say as they passed the pavilion, "That's where +Judas lives!" The singular resemblance between the bailiff's head and +that of the thirteenth apostle, which his conduct appeared to carry +out, won him that odious nickname throughout the neighborhood. It was +this distress of mind, added to vague but constant fears for the +future, which gave Marthe her thoughtful and subdued air. Nothing +saddens so deeply as unmerited degradation from which there seems no +escape. A painter could have made a fine picture of this family of +pariahs in the bosom of their pretty nook in Champagne, where the +landscape is generally sad. + +"Francois!" called the bailiff, to hasten his son. + +Francois Michu, a child of ten, played in the park and forest, and +levied his little tithes like a master; he ate the fruits; he chased +the game; he at least had neither cares nor troubles. Of all the +family, Francois alone was happy in a home thus isolated from the +neighborhood by its position between the park and the forest, and by +the still greater moral solitude of universal repulsion. + +"Pick up these things," said his father, pointing to the parapet, "and +put them away. Look at me! You love your father and your mother, don't +you?" The child flung himself on his father as if to kiss him, but +Michu made a movement to shift the gun and pushed him back. "Very +good. You have sometimes chattered about things that are done here," +continued the father, fixing his eyes, dangerous as those of a wild- +cat, on the boy. "Now remember this; if you tell the least little +thing that happens here to Gaucher, or to the Grouage and Bellache +people, or even to Marianne who loves us, you will kill your father. +Never tattle again, and I will forgive what you said yesterday." The +child began to cry. "Don't cry; but when any one questions you, say, +as the peasants do, 'I don't know.' There are persons roaming about +whom I distrust. Run along! As for you two," he added, turning to the +women, "you have heard what I said. Keep a close mouth, both of you." + +"Husband, what are you going to do?" + +Michu, who was carefully measuring a charge of powder, poured it into +the barrel of his gun, rested the weapon against the parapet and said +to Marthe:-- + +"No one knows I own that gun. Stand in front of it." + +Couraut, who had sprung to his feet, was barking furiously. + +"Good, intelligent fellow!" cried Michu. "I am certain there are spies +about--" + +Man and beast feel a spy. Couraut and Michu, who seemed to have one +and the same soul, lived together as the Arab and his horse in the +desert. The bailiff knew the modulations of the dog's voice, just as +the dog read his master's meaning in his eyes, or felt it exhaling in +the air from his body. + +"What do you say to that?" said Michu, in a low voice, calling his +wife's attention to two strangers who appeared in a by-path making for +the /rond-point/. + +"What can it mean?" cried the old mother. "They are Parisians." + +"Here they come!" said Michu. "Hide my gun," he whispered to his wife. + +The two men who now crossed the wide open space of the /rond-point/ +were typical enough for a painter. One, who appeared to be the +subaltern, wore top-boots, turned down rather low, showing well-made +calves, and colored silk stockings of doubtful cleanliness. The +breeches, of ribbed cloth, apricot color with metal buttons, were too +large; they were baggy about the body, and the lines of their creases +seemed to indicate a sedentary man. A marseilles waistcoat, overloaded +with embroidery, open, and held together by one button only just above +the stomach, gave to the wearer a dissipated look,--all the more so, +because his jet black hair, in corkscrew curls, hid his forehead and +hung down his cheeks. Two steel watch-chains were festooned upon his +breeches. The shirt was adorned with a cameo in white and blue. The +coat, cinnamon-colored, was a treasure to caricaturists by reason of +its long tails, which, when seen from behind, bore so perfect a +resemblance to a cod that the name of that fish was given to them. The +fashion of codfish tails lasted ten years; almost the whole period of +the empire of Napoleon. The cravat, loosely fastened, and with +numerous small folds, allowed the wearer to bury his face in it up to +the nostrils. His pimpled skin, his long, thick, brick-dust colored +nose, his high cheek-bones, his mouth, lacking half its teeth but +greedy for all that and menacing, his ears adorned with huge gold +rings, his low forehead,--all these personal details, which might have +seemed grotesque in many men, were rendered terrible in him by two +small eyes set in his head like those of a pig, expressive of +insatiable covetousness, and of insolent, half-jovial cruelty. These +ferreting and perspicacious blue eyes, glassy and glacial, might be +taken for the model of that famous Eye, the formidable emblem of the +police, invented during the Revolution. Black silk gloves were on his +hands and he carried a switch. He was certainly some official +personage, for he showed in his bearing, in his way of taking snuff +and ramming it into his nose, the bureaucratic importance of an office +subordinate, one who signs for his superiors and acquires a passing +sovereignty by enforcing their orders. + +The other man, whose dress was in the same style, but elegant and +elegantly put on and careful in its smallest detail, wore boots /a la/ +Suwaroff which came high upon the leg above a pair of tight trousers, +and creaked as he walked. Above his coat he wore a spencer, an +aristocratic garment adopted by the Clichiens and the young bloods of +Paris, which survived both the Clichiens and the fashionable youths. +In those days fashions sometimes lasted longer than parties,--a +symptom of anarchy which the year of our Lord 1830 has again presented +to us. This accomplished dandy seemed to be thirty years of age. His +manners were those of good society; he wore jewels of value; the +collar of his shirt came to the tops of his ears. His conceited and +even impertinent air betrayed a consciousness of hidden superiority. +His pallid face seemed bloodless, his thin flat nose had the sardonic +expression which we see in a death's head, and his green eyes were +inscrutable; their glance was discreet in meaning just as the thin +closed mouth was discreet in words. The first man seemed on the whole +a good fellow compared with this younger man, who was slashing the air +with a cane, the top of which, made of gold, glittered in the +sunshine. The first man might have cut off a head with his own hand, +but the second was capable of entangling innocence, virtue, and beauty +in the nets of calumny and intrigue, and then poisoning them or +drowning them. The rubicund stranger would have comforted his victim +with a jest; the other was incapable of a smile. The first was forty- +five years old, and he loved, undoubtedly, both women and good cheer. +Such men have passions which keep them slaves to their calling. But +the young man was plainly without passions and without vices. If he +was a spy he belonged to diplomacy, and did such work from a pure love +of art. He conceived, the other executed; he was the idea, the other +was the form. + +"This must be Gondreville, is it not, my good woman?" said the young +man. + +"We don't say 'my good woman' here," said Michu. "We are still simple +enough to say 'citizen' and 'citizeness' in these parts." + +"Ah!" exclaimed the young man, in a natural way, and without seeming +at all annoyed. + +Players of ecarte often have a sense of inward disaster when some +unknown person sits down at the same table with them, whose manners, +look, voice, and method of shuffling the cards, all, to their fancy, +foretell defeat. The instant Michu looked at the young man he felt an +inward and prophetic collapse. He was struck by a fatal presentiment; +he had a sudden confused foreboding of the scaffold. A voice told him +that that dandy would destroy him, although there was nothing whatever +in common between them. For this reason his answer was rude; he was +and he wished to be forbidding. + +"Don't you belong to the Councillor of State, Malin?" said the younger +man. + +"I am my own master," answered Malin. + +"Mesdames," said the young man, assuming a most polite air, "are we +not at Gondreville? We are expected there by Monsieur Malin." + +"There's the park," said Michu, pointing to the open gate. + +"Why are you hiding that gun, my fine girl?" said the elder, catching +sight of the carbine as he passed through the gate. + +"You never let a chance escape you, even in the country!" cried his +companion. + +They both turned back with a sense of distrust which the bailiff +understood at once in spite of their impassible faces. Marthe let them +look at the gun, to the tune of Couraut's bark; she was so convinced +that her husband was meditating some evil deed that she was thankful +for the curiosity of the strangers. + +Michu flung a look at his wife which made her tremble; he took the gun +and began to load it, accepting quietly the fatal ill-luck of this +encounter and the discovery of the weapon. He seemed no longer to care +for life, and his wife fathomed his inward feeling. + +"So you have wolves in these parts?" said the young man, watching him. + +"There are always wolves where there are sheep. You are in Champagne, +and there's a forest; we have wild-boars, large and small game both, a +little of everything," replied Michu, in a truculent manner. + +"I'll bet, Corentin," said the elder of the two men, after exchanging +a glance with his companion, "that this is my friend Michu--" + +"We never kept pigs together that I know of," said the bailiff. + +"No, but we both presided over Jacobins, citizen," replied the old +cynic,--"you at Arcis, I elsewhere. I see you've kept your Carmagnole +civility, but it's no longer in fashion, my good fellow." + +"The park strikes me as rather large; we might lose our way. If you +are really the bailiff show us the path to the chateau," said +Corentin, in a peremptory tone. + +Michu whistled to his son and continued to load his gun. Corentin +looked at Marthe with indifference, while his companion seemed charmed +by her; but the young man noticed the signs of her inward distress, +which escaped the old libertine, who had, however, noticed and feared +the gun. The natures of the two men were disclosed in this trifling +yet important circumstance. + +"I've an appointment the other side of the forest," said the bailiff. +"I can't go with you, but my son here will take you to the chateau. +How did you get to Gondreville? did you come by Cinq-Cygne?" + +"We had, like yourself, business in the forest," said Corentin, +without apparent sarcasm. + +"Francois," cried Michu, "take these gentlemen to the chateau by the +wood path, so that no one sees them; they don't follow the beaten +tracks. Come here," he added, as the strangers turned to walk away, +talking together as they did so in a low voice. Michu caught the boy +in his arms, and kissed him almost solemnly with an expression which +confirmed his wife's fears; cold chills ran down her back; she glanced +at her mother with haggard eyes, for she could not weep. + +"Go," said Michu; and he watched the boy until he was entirely out of +sight. Couraut was barking on the other side of the road in the +direction of Grouage. "Oh, that's Violette," remarked Michu. "This is +the third time that old fellow has passed here to-day. What's in the +wind? Hush, Couraut!" + +A few moments later the trot of a pony was heard approaching. + + + +CHAPTER II + +A CRIME RELINQUISHED + +Violette, mounted on one of those little nags which the farmers in the +neighborhood of Paris use so much, soon appeared, wearing a round hat +with a broad brim, beneath which his wood-colored face, deeply +wrinkled, appeared in shadow. His gray eyes, mischievous and lively, +concealed in a measure the treachery of his nature. His skinny legs, +covered with gaiters of white linen which came to the knee, hung +rather than rested in the stirrups, seemingly held in place by the +weight of his hob-nailed shoes. Above his jacket of blue cloth he wore +a cloak of some coarse woollen stuff woven in black and white stripes. +His gray hair fell in curls behind his ears. This dress, the gray +horse with its short legs, the manner in which Violette sat him, +stomach projecting and shoulders thrown back, the big chapped hands +which held the shabby bridle, all depicted him plainly as the +grasping, ambitious peasant who desires to own land and buys it at any +price. His mouth, with its bluish lips parted as if a surgeon had +pried them open with a scalpel, and the innumerable wrinkles of his +face and forehead hindered the play of features which were expressive +only in their outlines. Those hard, fixed lines seemed menacing, in +spite of the humility which country-folks assume and beneath which +they conceal their emotions and schemes, as savages and Easterns hide +theirs behind an imperturbable gravity. First a mere laborer, then the +farmer of Grouage through a long course of persistent ill-doing, he +continued his evil practices after conquering a position which +surpassed his early hopes. He wished harm to all men and wished it +vehemently. When he could assist in doing harm he did it eagerly. He +was openly envious; but, no matter how malignant he might be, he kept +within the limits of the law,--neither beyond it nor behind it, like a +parliamentary opposition. He believed his prosperity depended on the +ruin of others, and that whoever was above him was an enemy against +whom all weapons were good. A character like this is very common among +the peasantry. + +Violette's present business was to obtain from Malin an extension of +the lease of his farm, which had only six years longer to run. Jealous +of the bailiff's means, he watched him narrowly. The neighbors +reproached him for his intimacy with "Judas"; but the sly old farmer, +wishing to obtain a twelve years' lease, was really lying in wait for +an opportunity to serve either the government or Malin, who distrusted +Michu. Violette, by the help of the game-keeper of Gondreville and +others belonging to the estate, kept Malin informed of all Michu's +actions. Malin had endeavored, fruitlessly, to win over Marianne, the +Michus' servant-woman; but Violette and his satellites heard +everything from Gaucher,--a lad on whose fidelity Michu relied, but +who betrayed him for cast-off clothing, waistcoats, buckles, cotton +socks and sugar-plums. The boy had no suspicion of the importance of +his gossip. Violette in his reports blackened all Michu's actions and +gave them a criminal aspect by absurd suggestions,--unknown, of +course, to the bailiff, who was aware, however, of the base part +played by the farmer, and took delight in mystifying him. + +"You must have a deal of business at Bellache to be here again," said +Michu. + +"Again! is that meant as a reproach, Monsieur Michu?--Hey! I did not +know you had that gun. You are not going to whistle for the sparrows +on that pipe, I suppose--" + +"It grew in a field of mine which bears guns," replied Michu. "Look! +this is how I sow them." + +The bailiff took aim at a viper thirty feet away and cut it in two. + +"Have you got that bandit's weapon to protect your master?" said +Violette. "Perhaps he gave it to you." + +"He came from Paris expressly to bring it to me," replied Michu. + +"People are talking all round the neighborhood of this journey of his; +some say he is in disgrace and has to retire from office; others that +he wants to see things for himself down here. But anyway, why does he +come, like the First Consul, without giving warning? Did you know he +was coming?" + +"I am not on such terms with him as to be in his confidence." + +"Then you have not seen him?" + +"I did not know he was here till I got back from my rounds in the +forest," said Michu, reloading his gun. + +"He has sent to Arcis for Monsieur Grevin," said Violette; "they are +scheming something." + +"If you are going round by Cinq-Cygne, take me up behind you," said +the bailiff. "I'm going there." + +Violette was too timid to have a man of Michu's strength on his +crupper, and he spurred his beast. Judas slung his gun over his +shoulder and walked rapidly up the avenue. + +"Who can it be that Michu is angry with?" said Marthe to her mother. + +"Ever since he heard of Monsieur Malin's arrival he has been gloomy," +replied the old woman. "But it is getting damp here, let us go in." + +After the two women had settled themselves in the chimney corner they +heard Couraut's bark. + +"There's my husband returning!" cried Marthe. + +Michu passed up the stairs; his wife, uneasy, followed him to their +bedroom. + +"See if any one is about," he said to her, in a voice of some emotion. + +"No one," she replied. "Marianne is in the field with the cow, and +Gaucher--" + +"Where is Gaucher?" he asked. + +"I don't know." + +"I distrust that little scamp. Go up in the garret, look in the hay- +loft, look everywhere for him." + +Marthe left the room to obey the order. When she returned she found +Michu on his knees, praying. + +"What is the matter?" she said, frightened. + +The bailiff took his wife round the waist and drew her to him, saying +in a voice of deep feeling: "If we never see each other again +remember, my poor wife, that I loved you well. Follow minutely the +instructions which you will find in a letter buried at the foot of the +larch in that copse. It is enclosed in a tin tube. Do not touch it +until after my death. And remember, Marthe, whatever happens to me, +that in spite of man's injustice, my arm has been the instrument of +the justice of God." + +Marthe, who turned pale by degrees, became white as her own linen; she +looked at her husband with fixed eyes widened by fear; she tried to +speak, but her throat was dry. Michu disappeared like a shadow, having +tied Couraut to the foot of his bed where the dog, after the manner of +all dogs, howled in despair. + +Michu's anger against Monsieur Marion had serious grounds, but it was +now concentrated on another man, far more criminal in his eyes,--on +Malin, whose secrets were known to the bailiff, he being in a better +position than others to understand the conduct of the State +Councillor. Michu's father-in-law had had, politically speaking, the +confidence of the former representative to the Convention, through +Grevin. + +Perhaps it would be well here to relate the circumstances which +brought the Simeuse and the Cinq-Cygne families into connection with +Malin,--circumstances which weighed heavily on the fate of +Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne's twin cousins, but still more heavily on +that of Marthe and Michu. + +The Cinq-Cygne mansion at Troyes stands opposite to that of Simeuse. +When the populace, incited by minds that were as shrewd as they were +cautious, pillaged the hotel Simeuse, discovered the marquis and +marchioness, who were accused of corresponding with the nation's +enemies, and delivered them to the national guards who took them to +prison, the crowd shouted, "Now for the Cinq-Cygnes!" To their minds +the Cinq-Cygnes were as guilty as other aristocrats. The brave and +worthy Monsieur de Simeuse in the endeavor to save his two sons, then +eighteen years of age, whose courage was likely to compromise them, +had confided them, a few hours before the storm broke, to their aunt, +the Comtesse de Cinq-Cygne. Two servants attached to the Simeuse +family accompanied the young men to her house. The old marquis, who +was anxious that his name should not die out, requested that what was +happening might be concealed from his sons, even in the event of dire +disaster. Laurence, the only daughter of the Comtesse de Cinq-Cygne, +was then twelve years of age; her cousins both loved her and she loved +them equally. Like other twins the Simeuse brothers were so alike that +for a long while their mother dressed them in different colors to know +them apart. The first comer, the eldest, was named Paul-Marie, the +other Marie-Paul. Laurence de Cinq-Cygne, to whom their danger was +revealed, played her woman's part well though still a mere child. She +coaxed and petted her cousins and kept them occupied until the very +moment when the populace surrounded the Cinq-Cygne mansion. The two +brothers then knew their danger for the first time, and looked at each +other. Their resolution was instantly taken; they armed their own +servants and those of the Comtesse de Cinq-Cygne, barricaded the +doors, and stood guard at the windows, after closing the wooden +blinds, with the five men-servants and the Abbe d'Hauteserre, a +relative of the Cinq-Cygnes. These eight courageous champions poured a +deadly fire into the crowd. Every shot killed or wounded an assailant. +Laurence, instead of wringing her hands, loaded the guns with +extraordinary coolness, and passed the balls and powder to those who +needed them. The Comtesse de Cinq-Cygne was on her knees. + +"What are you doing, mother?" said Laurence. + +"I am praying," she answered, "for them and for you." + +Sublime words,--said also by the mother of Godoy, prince of the Peace, +in Spain, under similar circumstances. + +In a moment eleven persons were killed and lying on the ground among a +number of wounded. Such results either cool or excite a populace; +either it grows savage at the work or discontinues it. On the present +occasion those in advance recoiled; but the crowd behind them were +there to kill and rob, and when they saw their own dead, they cried +out: "Murder! Murder! Revenge!" The wiser heads went in search of the +representative to the Convention, Malin. The twins, by this time aware +of the disastrous events of the day, suspected Malin of desiring the +ruin of their family, and of causing the arrest of their parents, and +the suspicion soon became a certainty. They posted themselves beneath +the porte-cochere, gun in hand, intending to kill Malin as soon as he +made his appearance; but the countess lost her head; she imagined her +house in ashes and her daughter assassinated, and she blamed the young +men for their heroic defence and compelled them to desist. It was +Laurence who opened the door slightly when Malin summoned the +household to admit him. Seeing her, the representative relied upon the +awe he expected to inspire in a mere child, and he entered the house. +To his first words of inquiry as to why the family were making such a +resistance, the girl replied: "If you really desire to give liberty to +France how is it that you do not protect us in our homes? They are +trying to tear down this house, monsieur, to murder us, and you say we +have no right to oppose force to force!" + +Malin stood rooted to the ground. + +"You, the son of a mason employed by the Grand Marquis to build his +castle!" exclaimed Marie-Paul, "you have let them drag our father to +prison--you have believed calumnies!" + +"He shall be released at once," said Malin, who thought himself lost +when he saw each youth clutch his weapon convulsively. + +"You owe your life to that promise," said Marie-Paul, solemnly. "If it +is not fulfilled to-night we shall find you again." + +"As to that howling populace," said Laurence, "If you do not send them +away, the next blood will be yours. Now, Monsieur Malin, leave this +house!" + +The Conventionalist did leave it, and he harangued the crowd, dwelling +on the sacred rights of the domestic hearth, the habeas corpus and the +English "home." He told them that the law and the people were +sovereigns, that the law /was/ the people, and that the people could +only act through the law, and that power was vested in the law. The +particular law of personal necessity made him eloquent, and he managed +to disperse the crowd. But he never forgot the contemptuous expression +of the two brothers, nor the "Leave this house!" of Mademoiselle de +Cinq-Cygne. Therefore, when it was a question of selling the estates +of the Comte de Cinq-Cygne, Laurence's brother, as national property, +the sale was rigorously made. The agents left nothing for Laurence but +the chateau, the park and gardens, and one farm called that of Cinq- +Cygne. Malin instructed the appraisers that Laurence had no rights +beyond her legal share,--the nation taking possession of all that +belonged to her brother, who had emigrated and, above all, had borne +arms against the Republic. + +The evening after this terrible tumult, Laurence so entreated her +cousins to leave the country, fearing treachery on the part of Malin, +or some trap into which they might fall, that they took horse that +night and gained the Prussian outposts. They had scarcely reached the +forest of Gondreville before the hotel Cinq-Cygne was surrounded; +Malin came himself to arrest the heirs of the house of Simeuse. He +dared not lay hands on the Comtesse de Cinq-Cygne, who was in bed with +a nervous fever, nor on Laurence, a child of twelve. The servants, +fearing the severity of the Republic, had disappeared. The next day +the news of the resistance of the brothers and their flight to Prussia +was known to the neighborhood. A crowd of three thousand persons +assembled before the hotel de Cinq-Cygne, which was demolished with +incredible rapidity. Madame de Cinq-Cygne, carried to the hotel +Simeuse, died there from the effects of the fever aggravated by +terror. + +Michu did not appear in the political arena until after these events, +for the marquis and his wife remained in prison over five months. +During this time Malin was away on a mission. But when Monsieur Marion +sold Gondreville to the Councillor of State, Michu understood the +latter's game,--or rather, he thought he did; for Malin was, like +Fouche, one of those personages who are of such depth in all their +different aspects that they are impenetrable when they play a part, +and are never understood until long after their drama is ended. + +In all the chief circumstances of Malin's life he had never failed to +consult his faithful friend Grevin, the notary of Arcis, whose +judgment on men and things was, at a distance, clear-cut and precise. +This faculty is the wisdom and makes the strength of second-rate men. +Now, in November, 1803, a combination of events (already related in +the "Depute d'Arcis") made matters so serious for the Councillor of +State that a letter might have compromised the two friends. Malin, who +hoped to be appointed senator, was afraid to offer his explanations in +Paris. He came to Gondreville, giving the First Consul only one of the +reasons that made him wish to be there; that reason gave him an +appearance of zeal in the eyes of Bonaparte; whereas his journey, far +from concerning the interests of the State, related to his own +interests only. On this particular day, as Michu was watching the park +and expecting, after the manner of a red Indian, a propitious moment +for his vengeance, the astute Malin, accustomed to turn all events to +his own profit, was leading his friend Grevin to a little field in the +English garden, a lonely spot in the park, favorable for a secret +conference. There, standing in the centre of the grass plot and +speaking low, the friends were at too great a distance to be overheard +if any one were lurking near enough to listen to them; they were also +sure of time to change the conversation if others unwarily approached. + +"Why couldn't we have stayed in a room in the chateau?" asked Grevin. + +"Didn't you take notice of those two men whom the prefect of police +has sent here to me?" + +Though Fouche made himself in the matter of the Pichegru, Georges, +Moreau, and Polignac conspiracy the soul of the Consular cabinet, he +did not at this time control the ministry of police, but was merely a +councillor of State like Malin. + +"Those men," continued Malin, "are Fouche's two arms. One, that dandy +Corentin, whose face is like a glass of lemonade, vinegar on his lips +and verjuice in his eyes, put an end to the insurrection at the West +in the year VII. in less than fifteen days. The other is a disciple of +Lenoir; he is the only one who preserves the great traditions of the +police. I had asked for an agent of no great account, backed by some +official personage, and they send me those past-masters of the +business! Ah, Grevin, Fouche wants to pry into my game. That's why I +left those fellows dining at the chateau; they may look into +everything for all I care; they won't find Louis XVIII. nor any sign +of him." + +"But see here, my dear fellow, what game are you playing?" cried +Grevin. + +"Ha, my friend, a double game is a dangerous one, but this, taking +Fouche into account, is a triple one. He may have nosed the fact that +I am in the secrets of the house of Bourbon." + +"You?" + +"I," replied Malin. + +"Have you forgotten Favras?" + +The words made an impression on the councillor. + +"Since when?" asked Grevin, after a pause. + +"Since the Consulate for life." + +"I hope there's no proof of it?" + +"Not that!" said Malin, clicking his thumb-nail against his teeth. + +In few words the Councillor of State gave a clear and succinct account +of the critical position in which Bonaparte was about to hold England, +by threatening her with invasion from the camp at Boulogne; he +explained to Grevin the bearings of that project, which was unobserved +by France and Europe but suspected by Pitt; also the critical position +in which England was about to put Bonaparte. A powerful coalition, +Prussia, Austria, and Russia, paid by English gold, was pledged to +furnish seven hundred thousand men under arms. At the same time a +formidable conspiracy was throwing a network over the whole of France, +including among its members montagnards, chouans, royalists, and their +princes. + +"Louis XVIII. held that as long as there were three Consuls anarchy +was certain, and that he could at some opportune moment take his +revenge for the 13th Vendemiaire and the 18th Fructidor," said Malin, +"but the Consulate for life has unmasked Bonaparte's intentions--he +will soon be emperor. The late sub-lieutenant means to create a +dynasty! This time his life is in actual danger; and the plot is far +better laid than that of the Rue Saint-Nicaise. Pichegru, Georges, +Moreau, the Duc d'Enghien, Polignac and Riviere, the two friends of +the Comte d'Artois are in it." + +"What an amalgamation!" cried Grevin. + +"France is being silently invaded; no stone is left unturned; the +thing will be carried with a rush. A hundred picked men, commanded by +Georges, are to attack the Consular guard and the Consul hand to +hand." + +"Well then, denounce them." + +"For the last two months the Consul, his minister of police, the +prefect and Fouche, hold some of the clues of this vast conspiracy; +but they don't know its full extent, and at this particular moment +they are leaving nearly all the conspirators free, so as to discover +more about it." + +"As to rights," said the notary, "the Bourbons have much more right to +conceive, plan, and execute a scheme against Bonaparte, than Bonaparte +had on the 18th Brumaire against the Republic, whose product he was. +He murdered his mother on that occasion, but these royalists only seek +to recover what was theirs. I can understand that the princes and +their adherents, seeing the lists of the /emigres/ closed, mortgages +suppressed, the Catholic faith restored, anti-revolutionary decrees +accumulating, should begin to see that their return is becoming +difficult, not to say impossible. Bonaparte being the sole obstacle +now in their way, they want to get rid of him--nothing simpler. +Conspirators if defeated are brigands, if successful, heroes; and your +perplexity seems to me very natural." + +"The matter now is," said Malin, "to make Bonaparte fling the head of +the Duc d'Enghien at the Bourbons, just as the Convention flung the +head of Louis XVI. at the kings, so as to commit him as fully as we +are to the Revolution; /or else/, we must upset the idol of the French +people and their future emperor, and seat the true throne upon his +ruins. I am at the mercy of some event, some fortunate pistol-shot, +some infernal machine which does its work. Even I don't know the whole +conspiracy; they don't tell me all; but they have asked me to call the +Council of State at the critical moment and direct its action towards +the restoration of the Bourbons." + +"Wait," said the notary. + +"Impossible! I am compelled to make my decision at once." + +"Why?" + +"Well, the Simeuse brothers are in the conspiracy; they are here in +the neighborhood; I must either have them watched, let them compromise +themselves, and so be rid of them, or else I must privately protect +them. I asked the prefect for underlings and he has sent me lynxes, +who came through Troyes and have got the gendarmerie to support them." + +"Gondreville is your real object," said Grevin, "and this conspiracy +your best chance of keeping it. Fouche, Talleyrand, and those two +fellows have nothing to do with that. Therefore play fair with them. +What nonsense! those who cut Louis XVI.'s head off are in the +government; France is full of men who have bought national property, +and yet you talk of bringing back those who would require you to give +up Gondreville! If the Bourbons were not imbeciles they would pass a +sponge over all we have done. Warn Bonaparte, that's my advice." + +"A man of my rank can't denounce," said Malin, quickly. + +"Your rank!" exclaimed Grevin, smiling. + +"They have offered to make me Keeper of the Seals." + +"Ah! Now I understand your bewilderment, and it is for me to see clear +in this political darkness and find a way out for you. Now, it is +quite impossible to foresee what events may happen to bring back the +Bourbons when a General Bonaparte is in possession of eighty line of +battle ships and four hundred thousand men. The most difficult thing +of all in expectant politics is to know when a power that totters will +fall; but, my old man, Bonaparte's power is not tottering, it is in +the ascendant. Don't you think that Fouche may be sounding you so as +to get to the bottom of your mind, and then get rid of you?" + +"No; I am sure of my go-between. Besides, Fouche would never, under +those circumstances, send me such fellows as these; he would know they +would make me suspicious." + +"They alarm me," said Grevin. "If Fouche does not distrust you, and is +not seeking to probe you, why does he send them? Fouche doesn't play +such a trick as that without a motive; what is it?" + +"What decides me," said Malin, "is that I should never be easy with +those two Simeuse brothers in France. Perhaps Fouche, who knows how I +am placed towards them, wants to make sure they don't escape him, and +hopes through them to reach the Condes." + +"That's right, old fellow; it is not under Bonaparte that the present +possessor of Gondreville can be ousted." + +Just then Malin, happening to look up, saw the muzzle of a gun through +the foliage of a tall linden. + +"I was not mistaken, I thought I heard the click of a trigger," he +said to Grevin, after getting behind the trunk of a large tree, where +the notary, uneasy at his friend's sudden movement, followed him. + +"It is Michu," said Grevin; "I see his red beard." + +"Don't let us seem afraid," said Malin, who walked slowly away, saying +at intervals: "Why is that man so bitter against the owners of this +property? It was not you he was covering. If he overheard us he had +better ask the prayers of the congregation! Who the devil would have +thought of looking up into the trees!" + +"There's always something to learn," said the notary. "But he was a +good distance off, and we spoke low." + +"I shall tell Corentin about it," replied Malin. + + + +CHAPTER III + +THE MASK THROWN OFF + +A few moments later Michu returned home, his face pale, his features +contracted. + +"What is the matter?" said his wife, frightened. + +"Nothing," he replied, seeing Violette whose presence silenced him. + +Michu took a chair and sat down quietly before the fire, into which he +threw a letter which he drew from a tin tube such as are given to +soldiers to hold their papers. This act, which enabled Marthe to draw +a long breath like one relieved of a great burden, greatly puzzled +Violette. The bailiff laid his gun on the mantel-shelf with admirable +composure. Marianne the servant, and Marthe's mother were spinning by +the light of a lamp. + +"Come, Francois," said the father, presently, "it is time to go to +bed." + +He lifted the boy roughly by the middle of his body and carried him +off. + +"Run down to the cellar," he whispered, when they reached the stairs. +"Empty one third out of two bottles of the Macon wine, and fill them +up with the Cognac brandy which is on the shelf. Then mix a bottle of +white wine with one half brandy. Do it neatly, and put the three +bottles on the empty cask which stands by the cellar door. When you +hear me open the window in the kitchen come out of the cellar, run to +the stable, saddle my horse, mount it, and go and wait for me at +Poteaudes-Gueux--That little scamp hates to go to bed," said Michu, +returning; "he likes to do as grown people do, see all, hear all, and +know all. You spoil my people, pere Violette." + +"Goodness!" cried Violette, "what has loosened your tongue? I never +heard you say as much before." + +"Do you suppose I let myself be spied upon without taking notice of +it? You are on the wrong side, pere Violette. If, instead of serving +those who hate me, you were on my side I could do better for you than +renew that lease of yours." + +"How?" said the peasant, opening wide his avaricious eyes. + +"I'll sell you my property cheap." + +"Nothing is cheap when we have to pay," said Violette, sententiously. + +"I want to leave the neighborhood, and I'll let you have my farm of +Mousseau, the buildings, granary, and cattle for fifty thousand +francs." + +"Really?" + +"Does that suit you?" + +"Hang it! I must think--" + +"We'll talk about it--I shall want earnest money." + +"I have no money." + +"Well, a note." + +"Can't give it." + +"Tell me who sent you here to-day." + +"I am on my way back from where I spent this afternoon, and I only +stopped in to say good-evening." + +"Back without your horse? What a fool you must take me for! You are +lying, and you shall not have my farm." + +"Well, to tell you the truth, it was monsieur Grevin who sent me. He +said 'Violette, we want Michu; do you go and get him; if he isn't at +home, wait for him.' I saw I should have to stay here all this +evening." + +"Are those sharks from Paris still at the chateau?" + +"Ah! that I don't know; but there were people in the salon." + +"You shall have my farm; we'll settle the terms now. Wife, go and get +some wine to wash down the contract. Take the best Roussillon, the +wine of the ex-marquis,--we are not babes. You'll find a couple of +bottles on the empty cask near the door, and a bottle of white wine." + +"Very good," said Violette, who never got drunk. "Let us drink." + +"You have fifty thousand francs beneath the floor of your bedroom +under your bed, pere Violette; you will give them to me two weeks +after we sign the deed of sale before Grevin--" Violette stared at +Michu and grew livid. "Ah! you came here to spy upon a Jacobin who had +the honor to be president of the club at Arcis, and you imagine he +will let you get the better of him! I have eyes, I saw where your +tiles have been freshly cemented, and I concluded that you did not pry +them up to plant wheat there. Come, drink." + +Violette, much troubled, drank a large glass of wine without noticing +the quality; terror had put a hot iron in his stomach, the brandy was +not hotter than his cupidity. He would have given many things to be +safely home and able to change the hiding-place of his treasure. The +three women smiled. + +"Do you like that wine?" said Michu, refilling his glass. + +"Yes, I do." + +After a good half-hour's decision on the time when the buyer might +take possession, and on the various punctilios which the peasantry +bring forward when concluding a bargain,--in the midst of assertions +and counter-assertions, the filling and emptying of glasses, the +giving of promises and denials, Violette suddenly fell forward with +his head on the table, not tipsy, but dead-drunk. The instant that +Michu saw his eyes blur he opened the window. + +"Where's that scamp, Gaucher?" he said to his wife. + +"In bed." + +"You, Marianne," said the bailiff to his faithful servant, "stand in +front of his door and watch him. You, mother, stay down here, and keep +an eye on this spy; keep your eyes and ears open and don't unfasten +the door to any one but Francois. It is a question of life or death," +he added, in a deep voice. "Every creature beneath my roof must +remember that I have not quitted it this night; all of you must assert +that--even though your heads were on the block. Come," he said to +Marthe, "come, wife, put on your shoes, take your coat, and let us be +off! No questions--I go with you." + +For the last three quarters of an hour the man's demeanor and glance +were of despotic authority, all-powerful, irresistible, drawn from the +same mysterious source from which great generals on fields of battle +who inflame an army, great orators inspiring vast audiences, and (it +must be said) great criminals perpetrating bold crimes derive their +inspiration. At such times invincible influence seems to exhale from +the head and issue from the tongue; the gesture even can inject the +will of the one man into others. The three women knew that some +dreadful crisis was at hand; without warning of its nature they felt +it in the rapid actions of the man, whose countenance shone, whose +forehead spoke, whose brilliant eyes glittered like stars; they saw it +in the sweat that covered his brow to the roots of his hair, while +more than once his voice vibrated with impatience and fury. Marthe +obeyed passively. Armed to the teeth and with his gun over his +shoulder Michu dashed into the avenue, followed by his wife. They soon +reached the cross-roads where Francois was in waiting hidden among the +bushes. + +"The boy is intelligent," said Michu, when he caught sight of him. + +These were his first words. His wife had rushed after him, unable to +speak. + +"Go back to the house, hide in a thick tree, and watch the country and +the park," he said to his son. "We have all gone to bed, no one is +stirring. Your grandmother will not open the door until you ask her to +let you in. Remember every word I say to you. The life of your father +and mother depends on it. No one must know we did not sleep at home." + +After whispering these words to the boy, who instantly disappeared in +the forest like an eel in the mud, Michu turned to his wife. + +"Mount behind me," he said, "and pray that God be with us. Sit firm, +the beast may die of it." So saying he kicked the horse with both +heels, pressing him with his powerful knees, and the animal sprang +forward with the rapidity of a hunter, seeming to understand what his +master wanted of him, and crossed the forest in fifteen minutes. Then +Michu, who had not swerved from the shortest way, pulled up, found a +spot at the edge of the woods from which he could see the roofs of the +chateau of Cinq-Cygne lighted by the moon, tied his horse to a tree, +and followed by his wife, gained a little eminence which overlooked +the valley. + +The chateau, which Marthe and Michu looked at together for a moment, +makes a charming effect in the landscape. Though it has little extent +and is of no importance whatever as architecture, yet archaeologically +it is not without a certain interest. This old edifice of the +fifteenth century, placed on an eminence, surrounded on all sides by a +moat, or rather by deep, wide ditches always full of water, is built +in cobble-stones buried in cement, the walls being seven feet thick. +Its simplicity recalls the rough and warlike life of feudal days. The +chateau, plain and unadorned, has two large reddish towers at either +end, connected by a long main building with casement windows, the +stone mullions of which, being roughly carved, bear some resemblance +to vine-shoots. The stairway is outside the house, at the middle, in a +sort of pentagonal tower entered through a small arched door. The +interior of the ground-floor together with the rooms on the first +storey were modernized in the time of Louis XIV., and the whole +building is surmounted by an immense roof broken by casement windows +with carved triangular pediments. Before the castle lies a vast green +sward the trees of which had recently been cut down. On either side of +the entrance bridge are two small dwellings where the gardeners live, +connected across the road by a paltry iron railing without character, +evidently modern. To right and left of the lawn, which is divided in +two by a paved road-way, are the stables, cow-sheds, barns, wood- +house, bakery, poultry-yard, and the offices, placed in what were +doubtless the remains of two wings of the old building similar to +those that were still standing. The two large towers, with their +pepper-pot roofs which had not been rased, and the belfry of the +middle tower, gave an air of distinction to the village. The church, +also very old, showed near by its pointed steeple, which harmonized +well with the solid masses of the castle. The moon brought out in full +relief the various roofs and towers on which it played and sparkled. + +Michu gazed at this baronial structure in a manner that upset all his +wife's ideas about him; his face, now calm, wore a look of hope and +also a sort of pride. His eyes scanned the horizon with a glance of +defiance; he listened for sounds in the air. It was now nine o'clock; +the moon was beginning to cast its light upon the margin of the forest +and to illumine the little bluff on which they stood. The position +struck him as dangerous and he left it, fearful of being seen. But no +suspicious noise troubled the peace of the beautiful valley encircled +on this side by the forest of Nodesme. Marthe, exhausted and +trembling, was awaiting some explanation of their hurried ride. What +was she engaged in? Was she to aid in a good deed or an evil one? At +that instant Michu bent to his wife's ear and whispered:-- + +"Go the house and ask to speak to the Comtesse de Cinq-Cygne; when you +see her beg her to speak to you alone. If no one can overhear you, say +to her: 'Mademoiselle, the lives of your two cousins are in danger, +and he who can explain the how and why is waiting to speak to you.' If +she seems afraid, if she distrusts you, add these words: 'They are +conspiring against the First Consul and the conspiracy is discovered.' +Don't give your name; they distrust us too much." + +Marthe raised her face towards her husband and said:-- + +"Can it be that you serve them?" + +"What if I do?" he said, frowning, taking her words as a reproach. + +"You don't understand me," cried Marthe, seizing his large hand and +falling on her knees beside him as she kissed it and covered it with +her tears. + +"Go, go, you shall cry later," he said, kissing her vehemently. + +When he no longer heard her step his eyes filled with tears. He had +distrusted Marthe on account of her father's opinions; he had hidden +the secrets of his life from her; but the beauty of her simple nature +had suddenly appeared to him, just as the grandeur of his had, as +suddenly, revealed itself to her. Marthe had passed in a moment from +the deep humiliation caused by the degradation of the man whose name +she bore, to the exaltation given by a sense of his nobleness. The +change was instantaneous, without transition; it was enough to make +her tremble. She told him later that she went, as it were, through +blood from the pavilion to the edge of the forest, and there was +lifted to heaven, in a moment, among the angels. Michu, who had known +he was not appreciated, and who mistook his wife's grieved and +melancholy manner for lack of affection, and had left her to herself, +living chiefly out of doors and reserving all his tenderness for his +boy, instantly understood the meaning of her tears. She had cursed the +part which her beauty and her father's will had forced her to take; +but now happiness, in the midst of this great storm, played, with a +beautiful flame like a vivid lightning about them. And it was +lightning! Each thought of the last ten years of misconception, and +they blamed themselves only. Michu stood motionless, his elbow on his +gun, his chin on his hand, lost in deep reverie. Such a moment in a +man's life makes him willing to accept the saddest moments of a +painful past. + +Marthe, agitated by the same thoughts as those of her husband, was +also troubled in heart by the danger of the Simeuse brothers; for she +now understood all, even the faces of the two Parisians, though she +still could not explain to herself her husband's gun. She darted +forward like a doe, and soon reached the road to the chateau. There +she was surprised by the steps of a man following behind her; she +turned, with a cry, and her husband's large hand closed her mouth. + +"From the hill up there I saw the silver lace of the gendarmes' hats. +Go in by the breach in the moat between Mademoiselle's tower and the +stables. The dogs won't bark at you. Go through the garden and call +the countess by the window; order them to saddle her horse, and ask +her to come out through the breach. I'll be there, after discovering +what the Parisians are planning, and how to escape them." + +Danger, which seemed to be rolling like an avalanche upon them, gave +wings to Marthe's feet. + + + +CHAPTER IV + +LAURENCE DE CINQ-CYGNE + +The old Frank name of the Cinq-Cygnes and the Chargeboeufs was +Duineff. Cinq-Cygne became that of the younger branch of the +Chargeboeufs after the defence of a castle made, during their father's +absence, by five daughters of that race, all remarkably fair, and of +whom no one expected such heroism. One of the first Comtes de +Champagne wished, by bestowing this pretty name, to perpetuate the +memory of their deed as long as the family existed. Laurence, the last +of her race, was, contrary to Salic law, heiress of the name, the +arms, and the manor. She was therefore Comtesse de Cinq-Cygne in her +own right; her husband would have to take both her name and her +blazon, which bore for device the glorious answer made by the elder of +the five sisters when summoned to surrender the castle, "We die +singing." Worthy descendant of these noble heroines, Laurence was fair +and lily-white as though nature had made her for a wager. The lines of +her blue veins could be seen through the delicate close texture of her +skin. Her beautiful golden hair harmonized delightfully with eyes of +the deepest blue. Everything about her belonged to the type of +delicacy. Within that fragile though active body, and in defiance as +it were of its pearly whiteness, lived a soul like that of a man of +noble nature; but no one, not even a close observer, would have +suspected it from the gentle countenance and rounded features which, +when seen in profile, bore some slight resemblance to those of a lamb. +This extreme gentleness, though noble, had something of the stupidity +of the little animal. "I look like a dreamy sheep," she would say, +smiling. Laurence, who talked little, seemed not so much dreamy as +dormant. But, did any important circumstance arise, the hidden Judith +was revealed, sublime; and circumstances had, unfortunately, not been +wanting. + +At thirteen years of age, Laurence, after the events already related, +was an orphan living in a house opposite to the empty space where so +recently had stood one of the most curious specimens in France of +sixteenth-century architecture, the hotel Cinq-Cygne. Monsieur +d'Hauteserre, her relation, now her guardian, took the young heiress +to live in the country at her chateau of Cinq-Cygne. That brave +provincial gentleman, alarmed at the death of his brother, the Abbe +d'Hauteserre, who was shot in the open square as he was about to +escape in the dress of a peasant, was not in a position to defend the +interests of his ward. He had two sons in the army of the princes, and +every day, at the slightest unusual sound, he believed that the +municipals of Arcis were coming to arrest him. Laurence, proud of +having sustained a siege and of possessing the historic whiteness of +her swan-like ancestors, despised the prudent cowardice of the old man +who bent to the storm, and dreamed only of distinguishing herself. So, +she boldly hung the portrait of Charlotte Corday on the walls of her +poor salon at Cinq-Cygne, and crowned it with oak-leaves. She +corresponded by messenger with her twin cousins, in defiance of the +law, which punished the act, when discovered, with death. The +messenger, who risked his life, brought back the answers. Laurence +lived only, after the catastrophes at Troyes, for the triumph of the +royal cause. After soberly judging Monsieur and Madame d'Hauteserre +(who lived with her at the chateau de Cinq-Cygne), and recognizing +their honest, but stolid natures, she put them outside the lines of +her own life. She had, moreover, too good a mind and too sound a +judgment to complain of their natures; always kind, amiable, and +affectionate towards them, she nevertheless told them none of her +secrets. Nothing forms a character so much as the practice of constant +concealment in the bosom of a family. + +After she attained her majority Laurence allowed Monsieur d'Hauteserre +to manage her affairs as in the past. So long as her favorite mare was +well-groomed, her maid Catherine dressed to please her, and Gothard +the little page was suitably clothed, she cared for nothing else. Her +thoughts were aimed too high to come down to occupations and interests +which in other times than these would doubtless have pleased her. +Dress was a small matter to her mind; moreover her cousins were not +there to see her. She wore a dark-green habit when she rode, and a +gown of some common woollen stuff with a cape trimmed with braid when +she walked; in the house she was always seen in a silk wrapper. +Gothard, the little groom, a brave and clever lad of fifteen, attended +her wherever she went, and she was nearly always out of doors, riding +or hunting over the farms of Gondreville, without objection being made +by either Michu or the farmers. She rode admirably well, and her +cleverness in hunting was thought miraculous. In the country she was +never called anything but "Mademoiselle" even during the Revolution. + +Whoever has read the fine romance of "Rob Roy" will remember that rare +woman for whose making Walter Scott's imagination abandoned its +customary coldness,--Diana Vernon. The recollection will serve to make +Laurence understood if, to the noble qualities of the Scottish +huntress you add the restrained exaltation of Charlotte Corday, +surpassing, however, the charming vivacity which rendered Diana so +attractive. The young countess had seen her mother die, the Abbe +d'Hauteserre shot down, the Marquis de Simeuse and his wife executed; +her only brother had died of his wounds; her two cousins serving in +Conde's army might be killed at any moment; and, finally, the fortunes +of the Simeuse and the Cinq-Cygne families had been seized and wasted +by the Republic without being of any benefit to the nation. Her grave +demeanor, now lapsing into apparent stolidity, can be readily +understood. + +Monsieur d'Hauteserre proved an upright and most careful guardian. +Under his administration Cinq-Cygne became a sort of farm. The good +man, who was far more of a close manager than a knight of the old +nobility, had turned the park and gardens to profit, and used their +two hundred acres of grass and woodland as pasturage for horses and +fuel for the family. Thanks to his severe economy the countess, on +coming of age, had recovered by his investments in the State funds a +competent fortune. In 1798 she possessed about twenty thousand francs +a year from those sources, on which, in fact, some dividends were +still due, and twelve thousand francs a year from the rentals at Cinq- +Cygne, which had lately been renewed at a notable increase. Monsieur +and Madame d'Hauteserre had provided for their old age by the purchase +of an annuity of three thousand francs in the Tontines Lafarge. That +fragment of their former means did not enable them to live elsewhere +than at Cinq-Cygne, and Laurence's first act on coming to her majority +was to give them the use for life of the wing of the chateau which +they occupied. + +The Hauteserres, as niggardly for their ward as they were for +themselves, laid up every year nearly the whole of their annuity for +the benefit of their sons, and kept the young heiress on miserable +fare. The whole cost of the Cinq-Cygne household never exceeded five +thousand francs a year. But Laurence, who condescended to no details, +was satisfied. Her guardian and his wife, unconsciously ruled by the +imperceptible influence of her strong character, which was felt even +in little things, had ended by admiring her whom they had known and +treated as a child,--a sufficiently rare feeling. But in her manner, +her deep voice, her commanding eye, Laurence held that inexplicable +power which rules all men,--even when its strength is mere appearance. +To vulgar minds real depth is incomprehensible; it is perhaps for that +reason that the populace is so prone to admire what it cannot +understand. Monsieur and Madame d'Hauteserre, impressed by the +habitual silence and erratic habits of the young girl, were constantly +expecting some extraordinary thing of her. + +Laurence, who did good intelligently and never allowed herself to be +deceived, was held in the utmost respect by the peasantry although she +was an aristocrat. Her sex, name, and great misfortunes, also the +originality of her present life, contributed to give her authority +over the inhabitants of the valley of Cinq-Cygne. She was sometimes +absent for two days, attended by Gothard, but neither Monsieur nor +Madame d'Hauteserre questioned her, on her return, as to the reasons +of her absence. Please observe, however, that there was nothing odd or +eccentric about Laurence. What she was and what she did was masked, as +it were, by a feminine and even fragile appearance. Her heart was full +of extreme sensibility, though her head contained a stoical firmness +and the virile gift of resolution. Her clear-seeing eyes knew not how +to weep; but no one would have imagined that the delicate white wrist +with its tracery of blue veins could defy that of the boldest +horseman. Her hand, so noble, so flexible, could handle gun or pistol +with the ease of a practised marksman. She always wore when out of +doors the coquettish little cap with visor and green veil which women +wear on horseback. Her delicate fair face, thus protected, and her +white throat tied with a black cravat, were never injured by her long +rides in all weathers. + +Under the Directory and at the beginning of the Consulate, Laurence +had been able to escape the observation of others; but since the +government had become a more settled thing, the new authorities, the +prefect of the Aube, Malin's friends, and Malin himself had endeavored +to undermine her in the community. Her preoccupying thought was the +overthrow of Bonaparte, whose ambition and its triumphs excited the +anger of her soul,--a cold, deliberate anger. The obscure and hidden +enemy of a man at the pinnacle of glory, she kept her gaze upon him +from the depths of her valley and her forests, with relentless fixity; +there were times when she thought of killing him in the roads about +Malmaison or Saint-Cloud. Plans for the execution of this idea may +have been the cause of many of her past actions, but having been +initiated, after the peace of Amiens, into the conspiracy of the men +who expected to make the 18th Brumaire recoil upon the First Consul, +she had thenceforth subordinated her faculties and her hatred to their +vast and well laid scheme, which was to strike at Bonaparte externally +by the vast coalition of Russia, Austria, and Prussia (vanquished at +Austerlitz) and internally by the coalition of men politically opposed +to each other, but united by their common hatred of a man whose death +some of them were meditating, like Laurence herself, without shrinking +from the word assassination. This young girl, so fragile to the eye, +so powerful to those who knew her well, was at the present moment the +faithful guide and assistant of the exiled gentlemen who came from +England to take part in this deadly enterprise. + +Fouche relied on the co-operation of the /emigres/ everywhere beyond +the Rhine to lure the Duc d'Enghien into the plot. The presence of +that prince in the Baden territory, not far from Strasburg, gave much +weight later to the accusation. The great question of whether the +prince really knew of the enterprise, and was waiting on the frontier +to enter France on its success, is one of those secrets about which, +as about several others, the house of Bourbon has maintained an +unbroken silence. As the history of that period recedes into the past, +impartial historians will declare the imprudence, to say the least, of +the Duc d'Enghien in placing himself close to the frontier at a time +when a vast conspiracy was about to break forth, the secret of which +was undoubtedly known to every member of the Bourbon family. + +The caution which Malin displayed in talking with Grevin in the open +air, Laurence applied to her every action. She met the emissaries and +conferred with them either at various points in the Nodesme forest, or +beyond the valley of the Cinq-Cygne, between the villages of Sezanne +and Brienne. Often she rode forty miles on a stretch with Gothard, and +returned to Cinq-Cygne without the least sign of weariness or +pre-occupation on her fair young face. + +Some years earlier, Laurence had seen in the eyes of a little cow-boy, +then nine years old, the artless admiration which children feel for +everything that is out of the common way. She made him her page, and +taught him to groom a horse with the nicety and care of an Englishman. +She saw in the lad a desire to do well, a bright intelligence, and a +total absence of sly motives; she tested his devotion and found he had +not only mind but nobility of character; he never dreamed of reward. +The young girl trained this soul that was still so young; she was good +to him, good with dignity; she attached him to her by attaching +herself to him, and by herself polishing a nature that was half wild, +without destroying its freshness or its simplicity. When she had +sufficiently tested the almost canine fidelity she had nurtured, +Gothard became her intelligent and ingenuous accomplice. The little +peasant, whom no one could suspect, went from Cinq-Cygne to Nancy, and +often returned before any one had missed him from the neighborhood. He +knew how to practise all the tricks of a spy. The extreme distrust and +caution his mistress had taught him did not change his natural self. +Gothard, who possessed all the craft of a woman, the candor of a +child, and the ceaseless observation of a conspirator, hid every one +of these admirable qualities beneath the torpor and dull ignorance of +a country lad. The little fellow had a silly, weak, and clumsy +appearance; but once at work he was active as a fish; he escaped like +an eel; he understood, as the dogs do, the merest glance; he nosed a +thought. His good fat face, both round and red, his sleepy brown eyes, +his hair, cut in the peasant fashion, his clothes, and his slow growth +gave him the appearance of a child of ten. + +The two young d'Hauteserres and the twin brothers Simeuse, under the +guidance of their cousin Laurence, who had been watching over their +safety and that of the other /emigres/ who accompanied them from +Strasburg to Bar-sur-Aube, had just passed through Alsace and +Lorraine, and were now in Champagne while other conspirators, not less +bold, were entering France by the cliffs of Normandy. Dressed as +workmen the d'Hauteserres and the Simeuse twins had walked from forest +to forest, guided on their way by relays of persons, chosen by +Laurence during the last three months from among the least suspected +of the Bourbon adherents living in each neighborhood. The /emigres/ +slept by day and travelled by night. Each brought with him two +faithful soldiers; one of whom went before to warn of danger, the +other behind to protect a retreat. Thanks to these military +precautions, this valuable detachment had at last reached, without +accident, the forest of Nodesme, which was chosen as the rendezvous. +Twenty-seven other gentlemen had entered France from Switzerland and +crossed Burgundy, guided towards Paris with the same caution. + +Monsieur de Riviere counted on collecting five hundred men, one +hundred of whom were young nobles, the officers of this sacred legion. +Monsieur de Polignac and Monsieur de Riviere, whose conduct as chiefs +of this advance was most remarkable, afterwards preserved an +impenetrable secrecy as to the names of those of their accomplices who +were not discovered. It may be said, therefore, now that the +Restoration has made matters clearer, that Bonaparte never knew the +extent of the danger he then ran, any more than England knew the peril +she had escaped from the camp at Boulogne; and yet the police of +France was never more intelligently or ably managed. + +At the period when this history begins, a coward--for cowards are +always to be found in conspiracies which are not confined to a small +number of equally strong men--a sworn confederate, brought face to +face with death, gave certain information, happily insufficient to +cover the extent of the conspiracy, but precise enough to show the +object of the enterprise. The police had therefore, as Malin told +Grevin, left the conspirators at liberty, though all the while +watching them, hoping to discover the ramifications of the plot. +Nevertheless, the government found its hand to a certain extent forced +by Georges Cadoudal, a man of action who took counsel of himself only, +and who was hiding in Paris with twenty-five /chouans/ for the purpose +of attacking the First Consul. + +Laurence combined both hatred and love within her breast. To destroy +Bonaparte and bring back the Bourbons was to recover Gondreville and +make the fortune of her cousins. The two sentiments, one the +counterpart of the other, were sufficient, more especially at twenty- +three years of age, to excite all the faculties of her soul and all +the powers of her being. So, for the last two months, she had seemed +to the inhabitants of Cinq-Cygne more beautiful than at any other +period of her life. Her cheeks became rosy; hope gave pride to her +brow; but when old d'Hauteserre read the Gazette at night and +discussed the conservative course of the First Consul she lowered her +eyes to conceal her passionate hopes of the coming fall of that enemy +of the Bourbons. + +No one at the chateau had the faintest idea that the young countess +had met her cousins the night before. The two sons of Monsieur and +Madame d'Hauteserre had passed the preceding night in Laurence's own +room, under the same roof with their father and mother; and Laurence, +after knowing them safely in bed had gone between one and two o'clock +in the morning to a rendezvous with her cousins in the forest, where +she hid them in the deserted hut of a wood-dealer's agent. The +following day, certain of seeing them again, she showed no signs of +her joy; nothing about her betrayed emotion; she was able to efface +all traces of pleasure at having met them again; in fact, she was +impassible. Catherine, her pretty maid, daughter of her former nurse, +and Gothard, both in the secret, modelled their behavior upon hers. +Catherine was nineteen years old. At that age a girl is a fanatic and +would let her throat be cut before betraying a thought of one she +loves. As for Gothard, merely to inhale the perfume which the countess +used in her hair and among her clothes he would have born the rack +without a word. + + + +CHAPTER V + +ROYALIST HOMES AND PORTRAITS UNDER THE CONSULATE + +At the moment when Marthe, driven by the imminence of the peril, was +gliding with the rapidity of a shadow towards the breach of which +Michu had told her, the salon of the chateau of Cinq-Cygne presented a +peaceful sight. Its occupants were so far from suspecting the storm +that was about to burst upon them that their quiet aspect would have +roused the compassion of any one who knew their situation. In the +large fireplace, the mantel of which was adorned with a mirror with +shepherdesses in paniers painted on its frame, burned a fire such as +can be seen only in chateaus bordering on forests. At the corner of +this fireplace, on a large square sofa of gilded wood with a +magnificent brocaded cover, the young countess lay as it were +extended, in an attitude of utter weariness. Returning at six o'clock +from the confines of Brie, having played the part of scout to the four +gentlemen whom she guided safely to their last halting-place before +they entered Paris, she had found Monsieur and Madame d'Hauteserre +just finishing their dinner. Pressed by hunger she sat down to table +without changing either her muddy habit or her boots. Instead of doing +so at once after dinner, she was suddenly overcome with fatigue and +allowed her head with its beautiful fair curls to drop on the back of +the sofa, her feet being supported in front of her by a stool. The +warmth of the fire had dried the mud on her habit and on her boots. +Her doeskin gloves and the little peaked cap with its green veil and a +whip lay on the table where she had flung them. She looked sometimes +at the old Boule clock which stood on the mantelshelf between the +candelabra, perhaps to judge if her four conspirators were asleep, and +sometimes at the card-table in front of the fire where Monsieur and +Madame d'Hauteserre, the cure of Cinq-Cygne, and his sister were +playing a game of boston. + +Even if these personages were not embedded in this drama, their +portraits would have the merit of representing one of the aspects of +the aristocracy after its overthrow in 1793. From this point of view, +a sketch of the salon at Cinq-Cygne has the raciness of history seen +in dishabille. + +Monsieur d'Hauteserre, then fifty-two years of age, tall, spare, high- +colored, and robust in health, would have seemed the embodiment of +vigor if it were not for a pair of porcelain blue eyes, the glance of +which denoted the most absolute simplicity. In his face, which ended +in a long pointed chin, there was, judging by the rules of design, an +unnatural distance between his nose and mouth which gave him a +submissive air, wholly in keeping with his character, which +harmonized, in fact, with other details of his appearance. His gray +hair, flattened by his hat, which he wore nearly all day, looked much +like a skull-cap on his head, and defined its pear-shaped outline. His +forehead, much wrinkled by life in the open air and by constant +anxieties, was flat and expressionless. His aquiline nose redeemed the +face somewhat; but the sole indication of any strength of character +lay in the bushy eyebrows which retained their blackness, and in the +brilliant coloring of his skin. These signs were in some respects not +misleading, for the worthy gentlemen, though simple and very gentle, +was Catholic and monarchical in faith, and no consideration on earth +could make him change his views. Nevertheless he would have let +himself be arrested without an effort at defence, and would have gone +to the scaffold quietly. His annuity of three thousand francs kept him +from emigrating. He therefore obeyed the government /de facto/ without +ceasing to love the royal family and to pray for their return, though +he would firmly have refused to compromise himself by any effort in +their favor. He belonged to that class of royalists who ceaselessly +remembered that they were beaten and robbed; and who remained +thenceforth dumb, economical, rancorous, without energy; incapable of +abjuring the past, but equally incapable of sacrifice; waiting to +greet triumphant royalty; true to religion and true to the priesthood, +but firmly resolved to bear in silence the shocks of fate. Such an +attitude cannot be considered that of maintaining opinions, it becomes +sheer obstinacy. Action is the essence of party. Without intelligence, +but loyal, miserly as a peasant yet noble in demeanor, bold in his +wishes but discreet in word and action, turning all things to profit, +willing even to be made mayor of Cinq-Cygne, Monsieur d'Hauteserre was +an admirable representative of those honorable gentlemen on whose brow +God Himself has written the word /mites/,--Frenchmen who burrowed in +their country homes and let the storms of the Revolution pass above +their heads; who came once more to the surface under the Restoration, +rich with their hidden savings, proud of their discreet attachment to +the monarchy, and who, after 1830, recovered their estates. + +Monsieur d'Hauteserre's costume, expressive envelope of his +distinctive character, described to the eye both the man and his +period. He always wore one of those nut-colored great-coats with small +collars which the Duc d'Orleans made the fashion after his return from +England, and which were, during the Revolution, a sort of compromise +between the hideous popular garments and the elegant surtouts of the +aristocracy. His velvet waistcoat with flowered stripes, the style of +which recalled those of Robespierre and Saint-Just, showed the upper +part of a shirt-frill in fine plaits. He still wore breeches; but his +were of coarse blue cloth, with burnished steel buckles. His stockings +of black spun-silk defined his deer-like legs, the feet of which were +shod in thick shoes, held in place by gaiters of black cloth. He +retained the former fashion of a muslin cravat in innumerable folds +fastened by a gold buckle at the throat. The worthy man had not +intended an act of political eclecticism in adopting this costume, +which combined the styles of peasant, revolutionist, and aristocrat; +he simply and innocently obeyed the dictates of circumstances. + +Madame d'Hauteserre, forty years of age and wasted by emotions, had a +faded face which seemed to be always posing for its portrait. A lace +cap, trimmed with bows of white satin, contributed singularly to give +her a solemn air. She still wore powder, in spite of a white kerchief, +and a gown of puce-colored silk with tight sleeves and full skirt, the +sad last garments of Marie-Antoinette. Her nose was pinched, her chin +sharp, the whole face nearly triangular, the eyes worn-out with +weeping; but she now wore a touch of rouge which brightened their +grayness. She took snuff, and each time that she did so she employed +all the pretty precautions of the fashionable women of her early days; +the details of this snuff-taking constituted a ceremony which could be +explained by one fact--she had very pretty hands. + +For the last two years the former tutor of the Simeuse twins, a friend +of the late Abbe d'Hauteserre, named Goujet, Abbe des Minimes, had +taken charge of the parish of Cinq-Cygne out of friendship for the +d'Hauteserres and the young countess. His sister, Mademoiselle Goujet, +who possessed a little income of seven hundred francs, added that sum +to the meagre salary of her brother and kept his house. Neither church +nor parsonage had been sold during the Revolution on account of their +small value. The abbe and his sister lived close to the chateau, for +the wall of the parsonage garden and that of the park were the same in +places. Twice a week the pair dined at the chateau, but they came +every evening to play boston with the d'Hauteserres; for Laurence, +unable to play a game, did not even know one card from another. + +The Abbe Goujet, an old man with white hair and a face as white as +that of an old woman, endowed with a kindly smile and a gentle and +persuasive voice, redeemed the insipidity of his rather mincing face +by a fine intellectual brow and a pair of keen eyes. Of medium height, +and very well made, he still wore the old-fashioned black coat, silver +shoe-buckles, breeches, black silk stockings, and a black waistcoat on +which lay his clerical bands, giving him a distinguished air which +detracted nothing from his dignity. This abbe, who became bishop of +Troyes after the Restoration, had long made a study of young people +and fully understood the noble character of the young countess; he +appreciated her at her full value, and had shown her, from the first, +a respectful deference which contributed much to her independence at +Cinq-Cygne, for it led the austere old lady and the kind old gentleman +to yield to the young girl, who by rights should have yielded to them. +For the last six months the abbe had watched Laurence with the +intuition peculiar to priests, the most sagacious of men; and although +he did not know that this girl of twenty-three was thinking of +overturning Bonaparte as she lay there twisting with slender fingers +the frogged lacing of her riding-habit, he was well aware that she was +agitated by some great project. + +Mademoiselle Goujet was one of those unmarried women whose portrait +can be drawn in one word which will enable the least imaginative mind +to picture her; she was ungainly. She knew her own ugliness and was +the first to laugh at it, showing her long teeth, yellow as her +complexion and her bony hands. She was gay and hearty. She wore the +famous short gown of former days, a very full skirt with pockets full +of keys, a cap with ribbons and a false front. She was forty years of +age very early, but had, so she said, caught up with herself by +keeping at that age for twenty years. She revered the nobility; and +knew well how to preserve her own dignity by giving to persons of +noble birth the respect and deference that were due to them. + +This little company was a god-send to Madame d'Hauteserre, who had +not, like her husband, rural occupations, nor, like Laurence, the +tonic of hatred, to enable her to bear the dulness of a retired life. +Many things had happened to ameliorate that life within the last six +years. The restoration of Catholic worship allowed the faithful to +fulfil their religious duties, which play more of a part in country +life than elsewhere. Protected by the conservative edicts of the First +Consul, Monsieur and Madame d'Hauteserre had been able to correspond +with their sons, and no longer in dread of what might happen to them +could even hope for the erasure of their names from the lists of the +proscribed and their consequent return to France. The Treasury had +lately made up the arrearages and now paid its dividends promptly; so +that the d'Hauteserres received, over and above their annuity, about +eight thousand francs a year. The old man congratulated himself on the +sagacity of his foresight in having put all his savings, amounting to +twenty thousand francs, together with those of his ward, in the public +Funds before the 18th Brumaire, which, as we all know, sent those +stocks up from twelve to eighteen francs. + +The chateau of Cinq-Cygne had long been empty and denuded of +furniture. The prudent guardian was careful not to alter its aspect +during the revolutionary troubles; but after the peace of Amiens he +made a journey to Troyes and brought back various relics of the +pillaged mansions which he obtained from the dealers in second-hand +furniture. The salon was furnished for the first time since their +occupation of the house. Handsome curtains of white brocade with green +flowers, from the hotel de Simeuse, draped the six windows of the +salon, in which the family were now assembled. The walls of this vast +room were entirely of wood, with panels encased in beaded mouldings +with masks at the angles; the whole painted in two shades of gray. The +spaces over the four doors were filled with those designs, painted in +cameo of two colors, which were so much in vogue under Louis XV. +Monsieur d'Hauteserre had picked up at Troyes certain gilded pier- +tables, a sofa in green damask, a crystal chandelier, a card-table of +marquetry, among other things that served him to restore the chateau. +In 1792 all the furniture of the house had been taken or destroyed, +for the pillage of the mansions in town was imitated in the valley. +Each time that the old man went to Troyes he returned with some relic +of the former splendor, sometimes a fine carpet for the floor of the +salon, at other times part of a dinner service, or a bit of rare old +porcelain of either Sevres or Dresden. During the last six months he +had ventured to dig up the family silver, which the cook had buried in +the cellar of a little house belonging to him at the end of one of the +long faubourgs in Troyes. + +That faithful servant, named Durieu, and his wife had followed the +fortunes of their young mistress. Durieu was the factotum of the +chateau, and his wife was the housekeeper. He was helped in the +cooking by the sister of Catherine, Laurence's maid, to whom he was +teaching his art and who gave promise of becoming an excellent cook. +An old gardener, his wife, a son paid by the day, and a daughter who +served as a dairy-woman, made up the household. Madame Durieu had +lately and secretly had the Cinq-Cygne liveries made for the +gardener's son and for Gothard. Though blamed for this imprudence by +Monsieur d'Hauteserre, the housekeeper took great pleasure in seeing +the dinner served on the festival of Saint-Laurence, the countess's +fete-day, with almost as much style as in former times. + +This slow and difficult restoration of departed things was the delight +of Monsieur and Madame d'Hauteserre and the Durieus. Laurence smiled +at what she thought nonsense. But the worthy old d'Hauteserre did not +forget the more solid matters; he repaired the buildings, put up the +walls, planted trees wherever there was a chance to make them grow, +and did not leave an inch of unproductive land. The whole valley +regarded him as an oracle in the matter of agriculture. He had managed +to recover a hundred acres of contested land, not sold as national +property, being in some way confounded with that of the township. This +land he had turned into fields which afforded good pasturage for his +horses and cattle, and he planted them round with poplars, which now, +at the end of six years, were making a fine growth. He intended to buy +back some of the lost estate, and to utilize all the out-buildings of +the chateau by making a second farm and managing it himself. + +Life at the chateau had thus become during the last two years +prosperous and almost happy. Monsieur d'Hauteserre was off at +daybreaks to overlook his laborers, for he employed them in all +weathers. He came home to breakfast, mounted his farm pony as soon as +the meal was over, and made his rounds of the estate like a bailiff,-- +getting home in time for dinner, and finishing the day with a game of +boston. All the inhabitants of the chateau had their stated +occupations; life was as closely regulated there as in a convent. +Laurence alone disturbed its even tenor by her sudden journeys, her +uncertain returns, and by what Madame d'Hauteserre called her pranks. +But with all this peacefulness there existed at Cinq-Cygne conflicting +interests and certain causes of dissension. In the first place Durieu +and his wife were jealous of Catherine and Gothard, who lived in +greater intimacy with their young mistress, the idol of the household, +than they did. Then the two d'Hauteserres, encouraged by Mademoiselle +Goujet and the abbe, wanted their sons as well as the Simeuse brothers +to take the oath and return to this quiet life, instead of living +miserably in foreign countries. Laurence scouted the odious compromise +and stood firmly for the monarchy, militant and implacable. The four +old people, anxious that their present peaceful existence should not +be risked, nor their spot of refuge, saved from the furious waters of +the revolutionary torrent, lost, did their best to convert Laurence to +their cautious views, believing that her influence counted for much in +the unwillingness of their sons and the Simeuse twins to return to +France. The superb disdain with which she met the project frightened +these poor people, who were not mistaken in their fears that she was +meditating what they called knight-errantry. This jarring of opinion +came to the surface after the explosion of the infernal machine in the +rue Saint-Nicaise, the first royalist attempt against the conqueror of +Marengo after his refusal to treat with the house of Bourbon. The +d'Hauteserres considered it fortunate that Bonaparte escaped that +danger, believing that the republicans had instigated it. But Laurence +wept with rage when she heard he was safe. Her despair overcame her +usual reticence, and she vehemently complained that God had deserted +the sons of Saint-Louis. + +"I," she exclaimed, "I could have succeeded! Have we no right," she +added, seeing the stupefaction her words produced on the faces about +her, and addressing the abbe, "no right to attack the usurper by every +means in our power?" + +"My child," replied the abbe, "the Church has been greatly blamed by +philosophers for declaring in former times that the same weapons might +be employed against usurpers which the usurpers themselves had +employed to succeed; but in these days the Church owes far too much to +the First Consul not to protect him against that maxim,--which, by the +by, was due to the Jesuits." + +"So the Church abandons us!" she answered, gloomily. + +From that day forth whenever the four old people talked of submitting +to the decrees of Providence, Laurence left the room. Of late, the +abbe, shrewder than Monsieur d'Hauteserre, instead of discussing +principles, drew pictures of the material advantages of the consular +rule, less to convert the countess than to detect in her eyes some +expression which might enlighten him as to her projects. Gothard's +frequent disappearances, the long rides of his mistress, and her +evident preoccupation, which, for the last few days, had appeared in +her face, together with other little signs not to be hidden in the +silence and tranquillity of such a life, had roused the fears of these +submissive royalists. Still, as no event happened, and perfect quiet +appeared to reign in the political atmosphere, the minds of the little +household were soothed into peace, and the countess's long rides were +one more attributed to her passion for hunting. + +It is easy to imagine the deep silence which reigned at nine o'clock +in the evening in the park, courtyards, and gardens of Cinq-Cygne, +where at that particular moment the persons we have described were +harmoniously grouped, where perfect peace pervaded all things, where +comfort and abundance were again enjoyed, and where the worthy and +judicious old gentleman was still hoping to convert his late ward to +his system of obedience to the ruling powers by the argument of what +we may call the continuity of prosperous results. + +These royalists continued to play their boston, a game which spread +ideas of independence under a frivolous form over the whole of France; +for it was first invented in honor of the American insurgents, its +very terms applying to the struggle which Louis XVI. encouraged. While +making their "independences" and "poverties," the players kept an eye +on the countess, who had fallen asleep, overcome by fatigue, with a +singular smile on her lips, her last waking thought having been of the +terror two words could inspire in the minds of the peaceful company by +informing the d'Hauteserres that their sons had passed the preceding +night under that roof. What young girl of twenty-three would not have +been, as Laurence was, proud to play the part of Destiny? and who +would not have felt, as she did, a sense of compassion for those whom +she felt to be so far below her in loyalty? + +"She sleeps," said the abbe. "I have never seen her so wearied." + +"Durieu tells me her mare is almost foundered," remarked Madame +d'Hauteserre. "Her gun has not been fired; the breech is clean; she +has evidently not hunted." + +"Oh! that's neither here nor there," said the abbe. + +"Bah?" cried Mademoiselle Goujet; "when I was twenty-three and saw I +should be an old maid all my life, I rushed about and fatigued myself +in a dozen ways. I understand how the countess can scour the country +for hours without thinking of the game. It is nearly twelve years now +since she has seen her cousins, and you know she loves them. Well, if +I were she, if I were as young and pretty, I'd make a straight line +for Germany! Poor darling, perhaps she is thinking of the frontier, +and that may be the reason why she rides so far towards it." + +"You are rather giddy, Mademoiselle Goujet," said the abbe, smiling. + +"Not at all," she replied. "I see you all uneasy about the goings on +of a young girl, and I am explaining them to you." + +"Her cousins will submit and return soon; they will all be rich, and +she will end by calming down," said old d'Hauteserre. + +"God grant it!" said his wife, taking out a gold snuff-box which had +again seen the light under the Consulate. + +"There is something stirring in the neighborhood," remarked Monsieur +d'Hauteserre to the abbe. "Malin has been two days at Gondreville." + +"Malin!" cried Laurence, roused by the name, though her sleep was +sound. + +"Yes," replied the abbe, "but he leaves to-night; everybody is +conjecturing the motive of this hasty visit." + +"That man," said Laurence, "is the evil genius of our two houses." + +The countess had been dreaming of her cousins and the young +Hauteserres; she saw them in peril. Her beautiful eyes grew fixed and +glassy as her mind thus warned dwelled on the dangers they were about +to incur in Paris. She rose suddenly and went to her bedroom without +speaking. Her bedroom was the best in the house; next came a dressing- +room and an oratory, in the tower which faced towards the forest. Soon +after she had left the salon the dogs barked, the bell of the small +gate rang, and Durieu rushed into the salon with a frightened face. +"Here is the mayor!" he said. "Something is the matter." + + + +CHAPTER VI + +A DOMICILIARY VISIT + +The mayor, a former huntsman of the house of Simeuse, came +occasionally to the chateau, where the d'Hauteserres showed him out of +policy, a deference to which he attached great value. His name was +Goulard; he had married a rich woman of Troyes, whose property, which +was in the commune of Cinq-Cygne, he had further increased by the +purchase of a fine abbey and its lands, in which he invested all his +savings. The vast abbey of Val-des-Preux, standing about a mile from +the chateau, he had turned into a dwelling that was almost as splendid +as Gondreville; in it his wife and he were now living like rats in a +cathedral. "Ah! Goulard, you have been greedy," Mademoiselle had said +to him with a laugh the first time she received him at Cinq-Cygne. +Though greatly attached to the Revolution and coldly received by the +countess, the mayor always felt himself bound by ties of respect to +the Cinq-Cygne and Simeuse families. He therefore shut his eyes to +what went on at the chateau. He called shutting his eyes not seeing +the portraits of Louis XVI., Marie Antoinette, and the royal children, +and those of Monsieur, the Comte d'Artois, Cazales and Charlotte +Corday, which filled the various panels of the salon; not resenting +either the wishes freely expressed in his presence for the ruin of the +Republic, or the ridicule flung at the five directors and all the +other governmental combinations of that time. The position of this +man, who, like many parvenus, having once made his fortune, reverted +to his early faith in the old families, and sought to attach himself +to them, was now being made use of by the two members of the Paris +police whose profession had been so quickly guessed by Michu, and who, +before going to Gondreville had reconnoitred the neighborhood. + +The worthy described as the depositary of the best traditions of the +old police, and Corentin phoenix of spies, were in fact employed on a +secret mission. Malin was not mistaken in attributing a double purpose +to those stars of tragic farces. But, before seeing them at work, it +is advisable to show the head of which they were the arms. When +Bonaparte became First Consul he found Fouche at the head of the +police. The Revolution had frankly and with good reason made the +management of the police into a special ministry. But after his return +from Marengo, Bonaparte created the prefecture of police, placed +Dubois in charge of it, and called Fouche to the Council of State, +naming as his successor in the ministry a conventional named Cochon, +since known as Comte de Lapparent. Fouche, who considered the ministry +of police as by far the most important in a government of broad ideas +and fixed policy, saw disgrace or at any rate distrust in the change. +After Napoleon became aware of the immense superiority of this great +statesman, as evidenced in the affair of the infernal machine and in +the conspiracy with which we are now concerned, he returned him to the +ministry of police. Later still, becoming alarmed at the powers Fouche +displayed during his absence at the time of the affair at Walcheren, +the Emperor gave that ministry to the Duc de Rovigo, and sent Fouche +(Duc d'Otrante) as governor to the Illyrian provinces,--an appointment +which was in fact an exile. + +The singular genius of this man, Fouche, which had the power of +inspiring Napoleon with a sort of fear, did not reveal itself all at +once. This obscure conventional, one of the most extraordinary men of +our time, and the most misjudged, was moulded, as it were, by the +whirlwind of events. He raised himself under the Directory to the +height from which men of genius could see the future and judge the +past, and then, like certain commonplace actors who suddenly become +admirable through the light of some vivid perception, he gave proofs +of his dexterity during the rapid revolution of the 18th Brumaire. +This man with the pallid face, educated to monastic dissimulation, +possessing the secrets of the /montagnards/ to whom he belonged, and +those of the royalists to whom he ended by belonging, had slowly and +silently studied the men, the events, and the interests on the +political stage; he penetrated Napoleon's secrets, he gave him useful +counsel and precious information. Satisfied with having proven his +capacity and his usefulness, Fouche was careful not to disclose +himself completely. He wished to remain at the head of affairs, but +the Emperor's restless uneasiness about him cost him his place. + +The ingratitude or rather the distrust shown by Napoleon after the +affair at Walcheren, gives the key-note to the character of a man who, +unfortunately for himself, was not a great /seigneur/, and whose +conduct was modelled on that of Talleyrand. At that time neither his +former colleagues nor his present ones had suspected the amplitude of +his genius, which was purely ministerial, essentially governmental, +just in its forecasts and incredibly sagacious. To-day, every +impartial historian perceives that Napoleon's inordinate self-love was +among the chief causes of his fall, a punishment which cruelly +expiated his wrong-doing. In the mind of that distrustful sovereign +lurked a constant jealousy for his own rising power, which influenced +all his actions, and caused his secret hatred for men of talent, the +precious legacy of the Revolution, with whom he might have made +himself a cabinet capable of being a true repository for his thoughts. +Talleyrand and Fouche were not the only ones who gave him umbrage. The +misfortune of usurpers is that those who have given them a crown are +as much their enemies as those from whom they snatch it. Napoleon's +sovereignty was never convincingly felt by those who were once his +superiors or his equals, nor by those who still held to the doctrine +of rights; none of them regarded their oath of allegiance to him as +binding. + +Malin, an inferior man, incapable of comprehending Fouche's hidden +genius, or of distrusting his own perceptions, burned himself, like a +moth in a candle, by asking him confidentially to send agents to +Gondreville, where, he said, he hoped to obtain certain clues to the +conspiracy. Fouche, without alarming his friend by any questions, +asked himself why Malin was going to Gondreville, and why he did not +immediately and without loss of time, give the information he already +possessed. The ex-Oratorian, fed from his youth up on trickery, and +well aware of the double part played by a good many of the +conventionals, said to himself: "From whom is Malin likely to obtain +information when we ourselves know little or nothing?" Fouche +concluded therefore that there was some either latent or prospective +collusion, and took care to say nothing about it to the First Consul. +He preferred to make Malin his instrument rather than destroy him. It +was Fouche's habit to keep to himself a good part of the secrets he +detected, and he thus obtained for his own purposes a power over those +concerned which was even greater than that of Bonaparte. This +duplicity was one of the Emperor's charges against his minister. + +Fouche knew of the swindling transaction by which Malin became +possessed of Gondreville and which led him to keep his eyes so +anxiously on the Simeuse brothers. These gentlemen were now serving in +the army of Conde; Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne was their cousin; +possibly they were in her neighborhood, and were sharers in the +conspiracy; if so, it would implicate the house of Conde to which they +were devoted. Talleyrand and Fouche were bent on casting light into +this dark corner of the conspiracy of 1803. All these considerations +Fouche saw at a glance, rapidly and with great clearness. But between +Malin, Talleyrand, and himself there were strong ties which forced him +to the utmost circumspection, and made him anxious to know the exact +state of things within the walls of Gondreville. Corentin was +unreservedly attached to Fouche, just as Monsieur de la Besnardiere +was to Talleyrand, Gentz to Monsieur de Metternich, Dundas to Pitt, +Duroc to Napoleon, Chavigny to Cardinal Richelieu. Corentin was not +the counsellor of his master, but his instrument, the Tristan to this +Louis XI. of low estate. Fouche had kept him in the ministry of the +police when he himself left it, so as to still keep an eye and a +finger in it. It was said that Corentin belonged to Fouche by some +unavowed relationship, for he rewarded him lavishly after every +service. Corentin had a friend in Peyrade, the old pupil of the last +lieutenant of police; but he kept a good many of his secrets from him. +Fouche gave Corentin an order to explore the chateau of Gondreville, +to get the plan of it into his memory, and to know every hiding-place +within its walls. + +"We may be obliged to return there," said the ex-minister, precisely +as Napoleon told his lieutenants to explore the field of Austerlitz on +which he intended to fall back. + +Corentin was also to study Malin's conduct, discover what influence he +had in the neighborhood, and observe the men he employed. Fouche +regarded it as certain that the Simeuse brothers were in that part of +the country. By cautiously watching the two officers, who were closely +allied with the Prince de Conde, Peyrade and Corentin could obtain +precious light on the ramifications of the conspiracy beyond the +Rhine. In any case, however, Corentin received the means, the orders, +and the agents, to surround the chateau of Cinq-Cygne and watch the +whole region, from the forest of Nodesme into Paris. Fouche insisted +on the utmost caution, and would only allow a domiciliary visit to +Cinq-Cygne in case Malin gave them positive information which made it +necessary. By way of instructions he explained to Corentin the +otherwise inexplicable personality of Michu, who had been watched by +the police for the last three years. Corentin's idea was that of his +master: "Malin knows all about the conspiracy--But," he added to +himself, "perhaps Fouche does, too; who knows?" + +Corentin, having started for Troyes before Malin, had made +arrangements with the commandant of the gendarmerie in that town, who +picked out a number of his most intelligent men and placed them under +orders of an able captain. Corentin chose Gondreville as the place of +rendezvous, and directed the captain to send some of his men at night +in four detachments to different points of the valley of Cinq-Cygne at +sufficient distance from each other to cause no alarm. These four +pickets were to form a square and close in around the chateau of Cinq- +Cygne. By leaving Corentin alone at Gondreville during his +consultation in the fields with Grevin, Malin had enabled him to +fulfil part of Fouche's orders and explore the house. When the +Councillor of State returned home he told Corentin so positively that +the d'Hauteserre and Simeuse brothers were in the neighborhood and +probably at Cinq-Cygne that the two agents despatched the captain with +the rest of his company, who, fortunately for the four gentlemen, +crossed the forest on their way to the chateau during the time when +Michu was making Violette drunk. Malin had told Corentin and Peyrade +of the escape he had from lying in wait for him. The two agents +related the incident of the gun they had seen the bailiff load, and +Grevin had sent Violette to obtain information as to what was going on +at Michu's house. Corentin advised the notary to take Malin to his own +house in the little town of Arcis, and let him sleep there as a +measure of precaution. At the moment when Michu and his wife were +rushing through the forest on their way to Cinq-Cygne, Peyrade and +Corentin were starting from Gondreville for Cinq-Cygne in a shabby +wicker carriage, drawn by one post-horse driven by the corporal of +Arcis, one of the shrewdest men in the Legion, whom the commandant at +Troyes advised them to employ. + +"The surest way to seize them all is to warn them," said Peyrade to +Corentin. "At the moment when they are well frightened and are trying +to save their papers or to escape we'll fall upon them like a +thunderbolt. The gendarmes surround the chateau now and are as good as +a net. We sha'n't lose one of them!" + +"You had better send the mayor to warn them," said the corporal. "He +is friendly to them and wouldn't like to see them harmed; they won't +distrust him." + +Just as Goulard was preparing to go to bed, Corentin, who stopped the +vehicle in a little wood, went to his house and told him, +confidentially, that in a few moments an emissary from the government +would require him to enter the chateau of Cinq-Cygne and arrest the +brothers d'Hauteserre and Simeuse; and in case they had already +disappeared he would have to ascertain if they had slept there the +night before, search Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne's papers, and, +possibly, arrest both the masters and servants of the household. + +"Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne," said Corentin, "is undoubtedly protected +by some great personages, for I have received private orders to warn +her of this visit, and to do all I can to save her without +compromising myself. Once on the ground, I shall no longer be able to +do so, for I am not alone; go to the chateau yourself and warn them." + +The mayor's visit at that time of night was all the more bewildering +to the card-players when they saw the agitation of his face. + +"Where is the countess?" were his first words. + +"She has gone to bed," said Madame d'Hauteserre. + +The mayor, incredulous, listened to noises that were heard on the +upper floor. + +"What is the matter with you, Goulard?" said Monsieur d'Hauteserre. + +Goulard was dumb with surprise as he noted the tranquil ease of the +faces about him. Observing the peaceful and innocent game of cards +which he had thus interrupted, he was unable to imagine what the +Parisian police meant by their suspicions. + +At that moment Laurence, kneeling in her oratory, was praying +fervently for the success of the conspiracy. She prayed to God to send +help and succor to the murderers of Bonaparte. She implored Him +ardently to destroy that fatal being. The fanaticism of Harmodius, +Judith, Jacques Clement, Ankarstroem, of Charlotte Corday and +Limoelan, inspired this pure and virgin spirit. Catherine was +preparing the bed, Gothard was closing the blinds, when Marthe Michu +coming under the windows flung a pebble on the glass and was seen at +once. + +"Mademoiselle, here's some one," said Gothard, seeing a woman. + +"Hush!" said Marthe, in a low voice. "Come down and speak to me." + +Gothard was in the garden in less time than a bird would have taken to +fly down from a tree. + +"In a minute the chateau will be surrounded by the gendarmerie. Saddle +mademoiselle's horse without making any noise and take it down through +the breach in the moat between the stables and this tower." + +Marthe quivered when she saw Laurence, who had followed Gothard, +standing beside her. + +"What is it?" asked Laurence, quietly. + +"The conspiracy against the First Consul is discovered," replied +Marthe, in a whisper. "My husband, who seeks to save your two cousins, +sends me to ask you to come and speak to him." + +Laurence drew back and looked at Marthe. "Who are you?" she said. + +"Marthe Michu." + +"I do not know what you want of me," replied the countess, coldly. + +"Take care, you will kill them. Come with me, I implore you in the +Simeuse name," said Marthe, clasping her hands and stretching them +towards Laurence. "Have you papers here which may compromise you? If +so, destroy them. From the heights over there my husband has just seen +the silver-laced hats and the muskets of the gendarmerie." + +Gothard had already clambered to the hay-loft and seen the same sight; +he heard in the stillness of the evening the sound of their horses' +hoofs. Down he slipped into the stable and saddled his mistress's +mare, whose feet Catherine, at a word from the lad, muffled in linen. + +"Where am I to go?" said Laurence to Marthe, whose look and language +bore the unmistakable signs of sincerity. + +"Through the breach," she replied; "my noble husband is there. You +shall learn the value of a 'Judas'!" + +Catherine went quickly into the salon, picked up the hat, veil, whip, +and gloves of her mistress, and disappeared. This sudden apparition +and action were so striking a commentary on the mayor's inquiry that +Madame d'Hauteserre and the abbe exchanged glances which contained the +melancholy thought: "Farewell to all our peace! Laurence is +conspiring; she will be the death of her cousins." + +"But what do you really mean?" said Monsieur d'Hauteserre to the +mayor. + +"The chateau is surrounded. You are about to receive a domiciliary +visit. If your sons are here tell them to escape, and the Simeuse +brothers too, if they are with them." + +"My sons!" exclaimed Madame d'Hauteserre, stupefied. + +"We have seen no one," said Monsieur d'Hauteserre. + +"So much the better," said Goulard; "but I care too much for the Cinq- +Cygne and Simeuse families to let any harm come to them. Listen to me. +If you have any compromising papers--" + +"Papers!" repeated the old gentleman. + +"Yes, if you have any, burn them at once," said the mayor. "I'll go +and amuse the police agents." + +Goulard, whose object was to run with the royalist hare and hold with +the republican hounds, left the room; at that moment the dogs barked +violently. + +"There is no longer time," said the abbe, "here they come! But who is +to warn the countess? Where is she?" + +"Catherine didn't come for her hat and whip to make relics of them," +remarked Mademoiselle Goujet. + +Goulard tried to detain the two agents for a few moments, assuring +them of the perfect ignorance of the family at Cinq-Cygne. + +"You don't know these people!" said Peyrade, laughing at him. + +The two agents, insinuatingly dangerous, entered the house at once, +followed by the corporal from Arcis and one gendarme. The sight of +them paralyzed the peaceful card-players, who kept their seats at the +table, terrified by such a display of force. The noise produced by a +dozen gendarmes whose horses were stamping on the terrace, was heard +without. + +"I do not see Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne," said Corentin. + +"She is probably asleep in her bedroom," said Monsieur d'Hauteserre. + +"Come with me, ladies," said Corentin, turning to pass through the +ante-chamber and up the staircase, followed by Mademoiselle Goujet and +Madame d'Hauteserre. "Rely upon me," he whispered to the old lady. "I +am in your interests. I sent the mayor to warn you. Distrust my +colleague and look to me. I can save every one of you." + +"But what is it all about?" said Mademoiselle Goujet. + +"A matter of life and death; you must know that," replied Corentin. + +Madame d'Hauteserre fainted. To Mademoiselle Goujet's great +astonishment and Corentin's disappointment, Laurence's room was empty. +Certain that no one could have escaped from the park or the chateau, +for all the issues were guarded, Corentin stationed a gendarme in +every room and ordered others to search the farm buildings, stables, +and sheds. Then he returned to the salon, where Durieu and his wife +and the other servants had rushed in the wildest excitement. Peyrade +was studying their faces with his little blue eye, cold and calm in +the midst of the uproar. Just as Corentin reappeared alone +(Mademoiselle Goujet remaining behind to take care of Madame +d'Hauteserre) the tramp of horses was heard, and presently the sound +of a child's weeping. The horses entered by the small gate; and the +general suspense was put an end to by a corporal appearing at the door +of the salon pushing Gothard, whose hands were tied, and Catherine +whom he led to the agents. + +"Here are some prisoners," he said; "that little scamp was escaping on +horseback." + +"Fool!" said Corentin, in his ear, "why didn't you let him alone? You +could have found out something by following him." + +Gothard had chosen to burst into tears and behave like an idiot. +Catherine took an attitude of artless innocence which made the old +agent reflective. The pupil of Lenoir, after considering the two +prisoners carefully, and noting the vacant air of the old gentleman +whom he took to be sly, the intelligent eye of the abbe who was still +fingering the cards, and the utter stupefaction of the servants and +Durieu, approached Corentin and whispered in his ear, "We are not +dealing with ninnies." + +Corentin answered with a look at the card-table; then he added, "They +were playing at boston! Mademoiselle's bed was just being made for the +night; she escaped in a hurry; it is a regular surprise; we shall +catch them." + + + +CHAPTER VII + +A FOREST NOOK + +A breach has always a cause and a purpose. Here is the explanation of +how the one which led from the tower called that of Mademoiselle and +the stables came to be made. After his installation as Laurence's +guardian at Cinq-Cygne old d'Hauteserre converted a long ravine, +through which the water of the forest flowed into the moat, into a +roadway between two tracts of uncultivated land belonging to the +chateau, by merely planting out in it about a hundred walnut trees +which he found ready in the nursery. In eleven years these trees had +grown and branched so as to nearly cover the road, hidden already by +steep banks, which ran into a little wood of thirty acres recently +purchased. When the chateau had its full complement of inhabitants +they all preferred to take this covered way through the breach to the +main road which skirted the park walls and led to the farm, rather +than go round by the entrance. By dint of thus using it the breach in +the sides of the moat had gradually been widened on both sides, with +all the less scruple because in this nineteenth century of ours moats +are no longer of the slightest use, and Laurence's guardian had often +talked of putting this one to some other purpose. The constant +crumbling away of the earth and stones and gravel had ended by filling +up the ditch, so that only after heavy rains was the causeway thus +constructed covered. But the bank was still so steep that it was +difficult to make a horse descend it, and even more difficult to get +him up upon the main road. Horses, however, seem in times of peril to +share their masters' thought. + +While the young countess was hesitating to follow Marthe, and asking +explanations, Michu, from his vantage-ground watched the closing in of +the gendarmes and understood their plan. He grew desperate as time +went by and the countess did not come to him. A squad of gendarmes +were marching along the park wall and stationing themselves as +sentinels, each man being near enough to communicate with those on +either side of them, by voice and eye. Michu, lying flat on his +stomach, his ear to earth, gauged, like a red Indian, by the strength +of the sounds the time that remained to him. + +"I came too late!" he said to himself. "Violette shall pay dear for +this! what a time it took to make him drunk! What can be done?" + +He heard the detachment that was coming through the forest reach the +iron gates and turn into the main road, where before long it would +meet the squad coming up from the other direction. + +"Still five or six minutes!" he said. + +At that instant the countess appeared. Michu took her with a firm hand +and pushed her into the covered way. + +"Keep straight before you! Lead her to where my horse is," he said to +his wife, "and remember that gendarmes have ears." + +Seeing Catherine, who carried the hat and whip, and Gothard leading +the mare, the man, keen-witted in presence of danger, bethought +himself of playing the gendarmes a trick as useful as the one he had +just played Violette. Gothard had forced the mare to mount the bank. + +"Her feet muffled! I thank thee, boy," exclaimed the bailiff. + +Michu let the mare follow her mistress and took the hat, gloves, and +whip from Catherine. + +"You have sense, boy, you'll understand me," he said. "Force your own +horse up here, jump on him, and draw the gendarmes after you across +the fields towards the farm; get the whole squad to follow you--And +you," he added to Catherine, "there are other gendarmes coming up on +the road from Cinq-Cygne to Gondreville; run in the opposite direction +to the one Gothard takes, and draw them towards the forest. Manage so +that we shall not be interfered with in the covered way." + +Catherine and the boy, who were destined to give in this affair such +remarkable proofs of intelligence, executed the manoeuvre in a way to +make both detachments of gendarmes believe that they held the game. +The dim light of the moon prevented the pursuers from distinguishing +the figure, clothing, sex, or number of those they followed. The +pursuit was based on the maxim, "Always arrest those who are +escaping,"--the folly of which saying was, as we have seen, +energetically declared by Corentin to the corporal in command. Michu, +counting on this instinct of the gendarmes, was able to reach the +forest a few moments after the countess, whom Marthe had guided to the +appointed place. + +"Go home now," he said to Marthe. "The forest is watched and it is +dangerous to remain here. We need all our freedom." + +Michu unfastened his horse and asked the countess to follow him. + +"I shall not go a step further," said Laurence, "unless you give me +some proof of the interest you seem to have in us--for, after all, you +are Michu." + +"Mademoiselle," he answered, in a gentle voice; "the part I am playing +can be explained to you in two words. I am, unknown to the Marquis de +Simeuse and his brother, the guardian of their property. On this +subject I received the last instructions of their late father and +their dear mother, my protectress. I have played the part of a +virulent Jacobin to serve my dear young masters. Unhappily, I began +this course too late; I could not save their parents." Here, Michu's +voice broke down. "Since the young men emigrated I have sent them +regularly the sums they needed to live upon." + +"Through the house of Breintmayer of Strasburg?" asked the countess. + +"Yes, mademoiselle; the correspondents of Monsieur Girel of Troyes, a +royalist who, like me, made himself for good reasons, a Jacobin. The +paper which your farmer picked up one evening and which I forced him +to surrender, related to the affair and would have compromised your +cousins. My life no longer belongs to me, but to them, you understand. +I could not buy in Gondreville. In my position, I should have lost my +head had the authorities known I had the money. I preferred to wait +and buy it later. But that scoundrel of a Marion was the slave of +another scoundrel, Malin. All the same, Gondreville shall once more +belong to its rightful masters. That's my affair. Four hours ago I had +Malin sighted by my gun; ha! he was almost gone then! Were he dead, +the property would be sold and you could have bought it. In case of my +death my wife would have brought you a letter which would have given +you the means of buying it. But I overheard that villain telling his +accomplice Grevin--another scoundrel like himself--that the Marquis +and his brother were conspiring against the First Consul, that they +were here in the neighborhood, and that he meant to give them up and +get rid of them so as to keep Gondreville in peace. I myself saw the +police spies; I laid aside my gun, and I have lost no time in coming +here, thinking that you must be the one to know best how to warn the +young men. That's the whole of it." + +"You are worthy to be a noble," said Laurence, offering her hand to +Michu, who tried to kneel and kiss it. She saw his motion and +prevented it, saying: "Stand up!" in a tone of voice and with a look +which made him amends for all the scorn of the last twelve years. + +"You reward me as though I had done all that remains for me to do," he +said. "But don't you hear them, those huzzars of the guillotine? Let +us go elsewhere." + +He took the mare's bridle, and led her a little distance. + +"Think only of sitting firm," he said, "and of saving your head from +the branches of the trees which might strike you in the face." + +Then he mounted his own horse and guided the young girl for half an +hour at full gallop; making turns and half turns, and striking into +wood-paths, so as to confuse their traces, until they reached a spot +where he pulled up. + +"I don't know where I am," said the countess looking about her,--"I, +who know the forest as well as you do." + +"We are in the heart of it," he replied. "Two gendarmes are after us, +but we are quite safe." + +The picturesque spot to which the bailiff had guided Laurence was +destined to be so fatal to the principal personages of this drama, and +to Michu himself, that it becomes our duty, as an historian, to +describe it. The scene became, as we shall see hereafter, one of noted +interest in the judiciary annals of the Empire. + +The forest of Nodesme belonged to the monastery of Notre-Dame. That +monastery, seized, sacked, and demolished, had disappeared entirely, +monks and property. The forest, an object of much cupidity, was taken +into the domain of the Comtes de Champagne, who mortgaged it later and +allowed it to be sold. In the course of six centuries nature covered +its ruins with her rich and vigorous green mantle, and effaced them so +thoroughly that the existence of one of the finest convents was no +longer even indicated except by a slight eminence shaded by noble +trees and circled by thick, impenetrable shrubbery, which, since 1794, +Michu had taken great pains to make still more impenetrable by +planting the thorny acacia in all the slight openings between the +bushes. A pond was at the foot of the eminence and showed the +existence of a hidden stream which no doubt determined in former days +the site of the monastery. The late owner of the title to the forest +of Nodesme was the first to recognize the etymology of the name, which +dated back for eight centuries, and to discover that at one time a +monastery had existed in the heart of the forest. When the first +rumblings of the thunder of the Revolution were heard, the Marquis de +Simeuse, who had been forced to look into his title by a lawsuit and +so learned the above facts as it were by chance, began, with a secret +intention not difficult to conceive, to search for some remains of the +former monastery. The keeper, Michu, to whom the forest was well +known, helped his master in the search, and it was his sagacity as a +forester which led to the discovery of the site. Observing the trend +of the five chief roads of the forest, some of which were now effaced, +he saw that they all ended either at the little eminence or by the +pond at the foot of it, to which points travellers from Troyes, from +the valley of Arcis and that of Cinq-Cygne, and from Bar-sur-Aube +doubtless came. The marquis wished to excavate the hillock but he +dared not employ the people of the neighborhood. Pressed by +circumstances, he abandoned the intention, leaving in Michu's mind a +strong conviction that the eminence had either the treasure or the +foundations of the former abbey. He continued, all alone, this +archaeological enterprise; he sounded the earth and discovered a +hollowness on the level of the pond between two trees, at the foot of +the only craggy part of the hillock. + +One fine night he came to the place armed with a pickaxe, and by the +sweat of his brow uncovered a succession of cellars, which were +entered by a flight of stone steps. The pond, which was three feet +deep in the middle, formed a sort of dipper, the handle of which +seemed to come from the little eminence, and went far to prove that a +spring had once issued from the crags, and was now lost by +infiltration through the forest. The marshy shores of the pond, +covered with aquatic trees, alders, willow, and ash, were the terminus +of all the wood-paths, the remains of former roads and forest by-ways, +now abandoned. The water, flowing from a spring, though apparently +stagnant, was covered with large-leaved plants and cresses, which gave +it a perfectly green surface almost indistinguishable from the shores, +which were covered with fine close herbage. The place is too far from +human habitations for any animal, unless a wild one, to come there. +Convinced that no game was in the marsh and repelled by the craggy +sides of the hills, keepers and hunters had never explored or visited +this nook, which belonged to a part of the forest where the timber had +not been cut for many years and which Michu meant to keep in its full +growth when the time came round to fell it. + +At the further end of the first cellar was a vaulted chamber, clean +and dry, built with hewn stone, a sort of convent dungeon, such as +they called in monastic days the /in pace/. The salubrity of the +chamber and the preservation of this part of the staircase and of the +vaults were explained by the presence of the spring, which had been +enclosed at some time by a wall of extraordinary thickness built in +brick and cement like those of the Romans, and received all the +waters. Michu closed the entrance to this retreat with large stones; +then, to keep the secret of it to himself and make it impenetrable to +others, he made a rule never to enter it except from the wooded height +above, by clambering down the crag instead of approaching it from the +pond. + +Just as the fugitives arrived, the moon was casting her beautiful +silvery light on the aged tree-tops above the crag, and flickering on +the splendid foliage at the corners of the several paths, all of which +ended here, some with one tree, some with a group of trees. On all +sides the eye was irresistibly led along their vanishing perspectives, +following the curve of a wood-path or the solemn stretch of a forest +glade flanked by a wall of verdure that was nearly black. The +moonlight, filtering through the branches of the crossways, made the +lonely, tranquil waters, where they peeped between the crosses and the +lily-pads, sparkle like diamonds. The croaking of the frogs broke the +deep silence of this beautiful forest-nook, the wild odors of which +incited the soul to thoughts of liberty. + +"Are we safe?" said the countess to Michu. + +"Yes, mademoiselle. But we have each some work to do. Do you go and +fasten our horses to the trees at the top of the little hill; tie a +handkerchief round the mouth of each of them," he said, giving her his +cravat; "your beast and mine are both intelligent, they will +understand they are not to neigh. When you have done that, come down +the crag directly above the pond; but don't let your habit catch +anywhere. You will find me below." + +While the countess hid the horses and tied and gagged them, Michu +removed the stones and opened the entrance to the caverns. The +countess, who thought she knew the forest by heart, was amazed when +she descended into the vaulted chambers. Michu replaced the stones +above them with the dexterity of a mason. As he finished, the sound of +horses' feet and the voices of the gendarmes echoed in the darkness; +but he quietly struck a match, lighted a resinous bit of wood and led +the countess to the /in pace/, where there was still a piece of the +candle with which he had first explored the caves. An iron door of +some thickness, eaten in several places by rust, had been put in good +order by the bailiff, and could be fastened securely by bars slipping +into holes in the wall on either side of it. The countess, half dead +with fatigue, sat down on a stone bench, above which there still +remained an iron ring, the staple of which was embedded in the +masonry. + +"We have a salon to converse in," said Michu. "The gendarmes may prowl +as much as they like; the worst they could do would be to take our +horses." + +"If they do that," said Laurence, "it would be the death of my cousins +and the Messieurs d'Hauteserre. Tell me now, what do you know?" + +Michu related what he had overheard Malin say to Grevin. + +"They are already on the road to Paris; they were to enter it +to-morrow morning," said the countess when he had finished. + +"Lost!" exclaimed Michu. "All persons entering or leaving the barriers +are examined. Malin has strong reasons to let my masters compromise +themselves; he is seeking to get them killed out of his way." + +"And I, who don't know anything of the general plan of the affair," +cried Laurence, "how can I warn Georges, Riviere, and Moreau? Where +are they?--However, let us think only of my cousins and the +d'Hauteserres; you must catch up with them, no matter what it costs." + +"The telegraph goes faster than the best horse," said Michu; "and of +all the nobles concerned in this conspiracy your cousins are the +closest watched. If I can find them, they must be hidden here and kept +here till the affair is over. Their poor father may have had a +foreboding when he set me to search for this hiding-place; perhaps he +felt that his sons would be saved here." + +"My mare is from the stables of the Comte d'Artois,--she is the +daughter of his finest English horse," said Laurence; "but she has +already gone sixty miles, she would drop dead before you reached +them." + +"Mine is in good condition," replied Michu; "and if you did sixty +miles I shall have only thirty to do." + +"Nearer forty," she said, "they have been walking since dark. You will +overtake them beyond Lagny, at Coupvrai, where they expected to be at +daybreak. They are disguised as sailors, and will enter Paris by the +river on some vessel. This," she added, taking half of her mother's +wedding-ring from her finger, "is the only thing which will make them +trust you; they have the other half. The keeper of Couvrai is the +father of one of their soldiers; he has hidden them tonight in a hut +in the forest deserted by charcoal-burners. They are eight in all, +Messieurs d'Hauteserre and four others are with my cousins." + +"Mademoiselle, no one is looking for the others! let them save +themselves as they can; we must think only of the Messieurs de +Simeuse. It is enough just to warn the rest." + +"What! abandon the Hauteserres? never!" she said. "They must all +perish or be saved together!" + +"Only petty noblemen!" remarked Michu. + +"They are only chevaliers, I know that," she replied, "but they are +related to the Cinq-Cygne and Simeuse blood. Save them all, and advise +them how best to regain this forest." + +"The gendarmes are here,--don't you hear them? they are holding a +council of war." + +"Well, you have twice had luck to-night; go! bring my cousins here and +hide them in these vaults; they'll be safe from all pursuit--Alas! I +am good for nothing!" she cried, with rage; "I should be only a beacon +to light the enemy--but the police will never imagine that my cousins +are in the forest if they see me at my ease. So the question resolves +itself into this: how can we get five good horses to bring them in six +hours from Lagny to the forest,--five horses to be killed and hidden +in some thicket." + +"And the money?" said Michu, who was thinking deeply as he listened to +the young countess. + +"I gave my cousins a hundred louis this evening," she replied. + +"I'll answer for them!" cried Michu. "But once hidden here you must +not attempt to see them. My wife, or the little one, shall bring them +food twice a week. But, as I can't be sure of what may happen to me, +remember, mademoiselle, in case of trouble, that the main beam in my +hay-loft has been bored with an auger. In the hole, which is plugged +with a bit of wood, you will find a plan showing how to reach this +spot. The trees which you will find marked with a red dot on the plan +have a black mark at their foot close to the earth. Each of these +trees is a sign-post. At the foot of the third old oak which stands to +the left of each sign-post, two feet in front of it and buried seven +feet in the ground, you will find a large metal tube; in each tube are +one hundred thousand francs in gold. These eleven trees--there are +only eleven--contain the whole fortune of the Simeuse brothers, now +that Gondreville has been taken from them." + +"It will take a hundred years for the nobility to recover from such +blows," said Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne, slowly. + +"Is there a pass-word?" asked Michu. + +"'France and Charles' for the soldiers, 'Laurence and Louis' for the +Messieurs d'Hauteserre and Simeuse. Good God! to think that I saw them +yesterday for the first time in eleven years, and that now they are in +danger of death--and what a death! Michu," she said, with a melancholy +look, "be as prudent during the next fifteen hours as you have been +grand and devoted during the last twelve years. If disaster were to +overtake my cousins now I should die of it--No," she added, quickly, +"I would live long enough to kill Bonaparte." + +"There will be two of us to do that when all is lost," said Michu. + +Laurence took his rough hand and wrung it warmly, as the English do. +Michu looked at his watch; it was midnight. + +"We must leave here at any cost," he said. "Death to the gendarme who +attempts to stop me! And you, madame la comtesse, without presuming to +dictate, ride back to Cinq-Cygne as fast as you can. The police are +there by this time; fool them! delay them!" + +The hole once opened, Michu flung himself down with his ear to the +earth; then he rose precipitately. "The gendarmes are at the edge of +the forest towards Troyes!" he said. "Ha, I'll get the better of them +yet!" + +He helped the countess to come out, and replaced the stones. When this +was done he heard her soft voice telling him she must see him mounted +before mounting herself. Tears came to the eyes of the stern man as he +exchanged a last look with his young mistress, whose own eyes were +tearless. + +"Fool them! yes, he is right!" she said when she heard him no longer. +Then she darted towards Cinq-Cygne at full gallop. + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +TRIALS OF THE POLICE + +Madame d'Hauteserre, roused by the danger of her sons, and not +believing that the Revolution was over, but still fearing its summary +justice, recovered her senses by the violence of the same distress +which made her lose them. Led by an agonizing curiosity she returned +to the salon, which presented a picture worthy of the brush of a genre +painter. The abbe, still seated at the card-table and mechanically +playing with the counters, was covertly observing Corentin and +Peyrade, who were standing together at a corner of the fireplace and +speaking in a low voice. Several times Corentin's keen eye met the not +less keen glance of the priest; but, like two adversaries who knew +themselves equally strong, and who return to their guard after +crossing their weapons, each averted his eyes the instant they met. +The worthy old d'Hauteserre, poised on his long thin legs like a +heron, was standing beside the stout form of the mayor, in an attitude +expressive of utter stupefaction. The mayor, though dressed as a +bourgeois, always looked like a servant. Each gazed with a bewildered +eye at the gendarmes, in whose clutches Gothard was still sobbing, his +hands purple and swollen from the tightness of the cord that bound +them. Catherine maintained her attitude of artless simplicity, which +was quite impenetrable. The corporal, who, according to Corentin, had +committed a great blunder in arresting these smaller fry, did not know +whether to stay where he was or to depart. He stood pensively in the +middle of the salon, his hand on the hilt of his sabre, his eye on the +two Parisians. The Durieus, also stupefied, and the other servants of +the chateau made an admirable group of expressive uneasiness. If it +had not been for Gothard's convulsive snifflings those present could +have heard the flies fly. + +When Madame d'Hauteserre, pale and terrified, opened the door and +entered the room, almost carried by Mademoiselle Goujet, whose red +eyes had evidently been weeping, all faces turned to her at once. The +two agents hoped as much as the household feared to see Laurence +enter. This spontaneous movement of both masters and servants seemed +produced by the sort of mechanism which makes a number of wooden +figures perform the same gesture or wink the same eye. + +Madame d'Hauteserre advanced by three rapid strides towards Corentin +and said, in a broken voice but violently: "For pity's sake, monsieur, +tell me what my sons are accused of. Do you really think they have +been here?" + +The abbe, who seemed to be saying to himself when he saw the old lady, +"She will certainly commit some folly," lowered his eyes. + +"My duty and the mission I am engaged in forbid me to tell you," +answered Corentin, with a gracious but rather mocking air. + +This refusal, which the detestable politeness of the vulgar fop seemed +to make all the more emphatic, petrified the poor mother, who fell +into a chair beside the Abbe Goujet, clasped her hands and began to +pray. + +"Where did you arrest that blubber?" asked Corentin, addressing the +corporal and pointing to Laurence's little henchman. + +"On the road that leads to the farm along the park walls; the little +scamp had nearly reached the Closeaux woods," replied the corporal. + +"And that girl?" + +"She? oh, it was Oliver who caught her." + +"Where was she going?" + +"Towards Gondreville." + +"They were going in opposite directions?" said Corentin. + +"Yes," replied the gendarme. + +"Is that boy the groom, and the girl the maid of the citizeness Cinq- +Cygne?" said Corentin to the mayor. + +"Yes," replied Goulard. + +After Corentin had exchanged a few words with Peyrade in a whisper, +the latter left the room, taking the corporal of gendarmes with him. + +Just then the corporal of Arcis made his appearance. He went up to +Corentin and spoke to him in a low voice: "I know these premises +well," he said; "I have searched everywhere; unless those young +fellows are buried, they are not here. We have sounded all the floors +and walls with the butt end of our muskets." + +Peyrade, who presently returned, signed to Corentin to come out, and +then took him to the breach in the moat and showed him the sunken way. + +"We have guessed the trick," said Peyrade. + +"And I'll tell you how it was done," added Corentin. "That little +scamp and the girl decoyed those idiots of gendarmes and thus made +time for the game to escape." + +"We can't know the truth till daylight," said Peyrade. "The road is +damp; I have ordered two gendarmes to barricade it top and bottom. +We'll examine it after daylight, and find out by the footsteps who +went that way." + +"I see a hoof-mark," said Corentin; "let us go to the stables." + +"How many horses do you keep?" said Peyrade, returning to the salon +with Corentin, and addressing Monsieur d'Hauteserre and Goulard. + +"Come, monsieur le maire, you know, answer," cried Corentin, seeing +that that functionary hesitated. + +"Why, there's the countess's mare, Gothard's horse, and Monsieur +d'Hauteserre's." + +"There is only one in the stable," said Peyrade. + +"Mademoiselle is out riding," said Durieu. + +"Does she often ride about at this time of night?" said the libertine +Peyrade, addressing Monsieur d'Hauteserre. + +"Often," said the good man, simply. "Monsieur le maire can tell you +that." + +"Everybody knows she has her freaks," remarked Catherine; "she looked +at the sky before she went to bed, and I think the glitter of your +bayonets in the moonlight puzzled her. She told me she wanted to know +if there was going to be another revolution." + +"When did she go?" asked Peyrade. + +"When she saw your guns." + +"Which road did she take?" + +"I don't know." + +"There's another horse missing," said Corentin. + +"The gendarmes--took it--away from me," said Gothard. + +"Where were you going?" said one of them. + +"I was--following--my mistress to the farm," sobbed the boy. + +The gendarme looked towards Corentin as if expecting an order. But +Gothard's speech was evidently so true and yet so false, so perfectly +innocent and so artful that the two Parisians again looked at each +other as if to echo Peyrade's former words: "They are not ninnies." + +Monsieur d'Hauteserre seemed incapable of a word; the mayor was +bewildered; the mother, imbecile from maternal fears, was putting +questions to the police agents that were idiotically innocent; the +servants had been roused from their sleep. Judging by these trifling +signs, and these diverse characters, Corentin came to the conclusion +that his only real adversary was Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne. Shrewd +and dexterous as the police may be, they are always under certain +disadvantages. Not only are they forced to discover all that is known +to a conspirator, but they must also suppose and test a great number +of things before they hit upon the right one. The conspirator is +always thinking of his own safety, whereas the police is only on duty +at certain hours. Were it not for treachery and betrayals, nothing +would be easier than to conspire successfully. The conspirator has +more mind concentrated upon himself than the police can bring to bear +with all its vast facilities of action. Finding themselves stopped +short morally, as they might be physically by a door which they +expected to find open being shut in their faces, Corentin and Peyrade +saw they were tricked and misled, without knowing by whom. + +"I assert," said the corporal of Arcis, in their ear, "that if the +four young men slept here last night it must have been in the beds of +their father and mother, and Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne, or those of +the servants; or they must have spent the night in the park. There is +not a trace of their presence." + +"Who could have warned them?" said Corentin, to Peyrade. "No one but +the First Consul, Fouche, the ministers, the prefect of police, and +Malin knew anything about it." + +"We must set spies in the neighborhood," whispered Peyrade. + +"And watch the spies," said the abbe, who smiled as he overheard the +word and guessed all. + +"Good God!" thought Corentin, replying to the abbe's smile with one of +his own; "there is but one intelligent being here,--he's the one to +come to an understanding with; I'll try him." + +"Gentlemen--" said the mayor, anxious to give some proof of devotion +to the First Consul and addressing the two agents. + +"Say 'citizens'; the Republic still exists," interrupted Corentin, +looking at the priest with a quizzical air. + +"Citizens," resumed the mayor, "just as I entered this salon and +before I had opened my mouth Catherine rushed in and took her +mistress's hat, gloves, and whip." + +A low murmur of horror came from the breasts of all the household +except Gothard. All eyes but those of the agent and the gendarmes were +turned threateningly on Goulard, the informer, seeming to dart flames +at him. + +"Very good, citizen mayor," said Peyrade. "We see it all plainly. Some +one" (this with a glance of evident distrust at Corentin) "warned the +citizeness Cinq-Cygne in time." + +"Corporal, handcuff that boy," said Corentin, to the gendarme, "and +take him away by himself. And shut up that girl, too," pointing to +Catherine. "As for you, Peyrade, search for papers," adding in his +ear, "Ransack everything, spare nothing.--Monsieur l'abbe," he said, +confidentially, "I have an important communication to make to you"; +and he took him into the garden. + +"Listen to me attentively, monsieur," he went on; "you seem to have +the mind of a bishop, and (no one can hear us) you will understand me. +I have no longer any hope except through you of saving these families, +who, with the greatest folly, are letting themselves roll down a +precipice where no one can save them. The Messieurs Simeuse and +d'Hauteserre have been betrayed by one of those infamous spies whom +governments introduce into all conspiracies to learn their objects, +means, and members. Don't confound me, I beg of you, with the wretch +who is with me. He belongs to the police; but I am honorably attached +to the Consular cabinet, I am therefore behind the scenes. The ruin of +the Simeuse brothers is not desired. Though Malin would like to see +them shot, the First Consul, if they are here and have come without +evil intentions, wishes them to be warned out of danger, for he likes +good soldiers. The agent who accompanies me has all the powers, I, +apparently, am nothing. But I see plainly what is hatching. The agent +is pledged to Malin, who has doubtless promised him his influence, an +office, and perhaps money if he finds the Simeuse brothers and +delivers them up. The First Consul, who is a really great man, never +favors selfish schemes--I don't want to know if those young men are +here," he added, quickly, observing the abbe's gesture, "but I wish to +tell you that there is only one way to save them. You know the law of +the 6th Floreal, year X., which amnestied all the /emigres/ who were +still in foreign countries on condition that they returned home before +the 1st Vendemiaire of the year XI., that is to say, in September of +last year. But the Messieurs Simeuse having, like the Messieurs +d'Hauteserre, served in the army of Conde, they come into the category +of exceptions to this law. Their presence in France is therefore +criminal, and suffices, under the circumstances in which we are, to +make them suspected of collusion in a horrible plot. The First Consul +saw the error of this exception which has made enemies for his +government, and he wishes the Messieurs Simeuse to know that no steps +will be taken against them, if they will send him a petition saying +that they have re-entered France intending to submit to the laws, and +agreeing to take oath to the Constitution. You can understand that the +document ought to be in my hands before they are arrested, and be +dated some days earlier. I would then be the bearer of it--I do not +ask you where those young men are," he said again, seeing another +gesture of denial from the priest. "We are, unfortunately, sure of +finding them; the forest is guarded, the entrances to Paris and the +frontiers are all watched. Pray listen to me; if these gentlemen are +between the forest and Paris they must be taken; if they are in Paris +they will be found; if they retreat to the frontier they will still be +arrested. The First Consul likes the /ci-devants/, and cannot endure +the republicans--simple enough; if he wants a throne he must needs +strangle Liberty. Keep the matter a secret between us. This is what I +will do; I will stay here till to-morrow and /be blind/; but beware of +the agent; that cursed Provencal is the devil's own valet; he has the +ear of Fouche just as I have that of the First Consul." + +"If the Messieurs Simeuse are here," said the abbe, "I would give ten +pints of my blood and my right arm to save them; but if Mademoiselle +de Cinq-Cygne is in the secret she has not--and this I swear on my +eternal salvation--betrayed it in any way, neither has she done me the +honor to consult me. I am now very glad of her discretion, if +discretion there be. We played cards last night as usual, at boston, +in almost complete silence, until half-past ten o'clock, and we +neither saw nor heard anything. Not a child can pass through this +solitary valley without the whole community knowing it, and for the +last two weeks no one has come from other places. Now the d'Hauteserre +and the Simeuse brothers would make a party of four. Old d'Hauteserre +and his wife have submitted to the present government, and they have +made all imaginable efforts to persuade their sons to return to +France; they wrote to them again yesterday. I can only say, upon my +soul and conscience, that your visit has alone shaken my firm belief +that these young men are living in Germany. Between ourselves, there +is no one here, except the young countess, who does not do justice to +the eminent qualities of the First Consul." + +"Fox!" thought Corentin. "Well, if those young men are shot," he said, +aloud; "it is because their friends have willed it--I wash my hands of +the affair." + +He had led the abbe to a part of the garden which lay in the +moonlight, and as he said the last words he looked at him suddenly. +The priest was greatly distressed, but his manner was that of a man +surprised and wholly ignorant. + +"Understand this, monsieur l'abbe," resumed Corentin; "the right of +these young men to the estate of Gondreville will render them doubly +criminal in the eyes of the middle class. I'd like to see them put +faith in God and not in his saints--" + +"Is there really a plot?" asked the abbe, simply. + +"Base, odious, cowardly, and so contrary to the generous spirit of the +nation," replied Corentin, "that it will meet with universal +opprobrium." + +"Well! Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne is incapable of baseness," cried the +abbe. + +"Monsieur l'abbe," replied Corentin, "let me tell you this; there is +for us (meaning you and me) proof positive of her guilt; but there is +not enough for the law. You see she took flight when we came; I sent +the mayor to warn her." + +"Yes, but for one who is so anxious to save them, you followed rather +closely on his heels," said the abbe. + +At those words the two men looked at each other, and all was said. +Each belonged to those profound anatomists of thought to whom a mere +inflexion of the voice, a look, a word suffices to reveal a soul, just +as the Indians track their enemies by signs invisible to European +eyes. + +"I expected to draw something out of him, and I have only betrayed +myself," thought Corentin. + +"Ha! the sly rogue!" thought the priest. + +Midnight rang from the old church clock just as Corentin and the abbe +re-entered the salon. The opening and shutting of doors and closets +could be heard from the bedrooms above. The gendarmes pulled open the +beds; Peyrade, with the quick perception of a spy, handled and sounded +everything. Such desecration excited both fear and indignation among +the faithful servants of the house, who still stood motionless about +the salon. Monsieur d'Hauteserre exchanged looks of commiseration with +his wife and Mademoiselle Goujet. A species of horrible curiosity kept +every one on the qui vive. Peyrade at length came down, holding in his +hand a sandal-wood box which had probably been brought from China by +Admiral de Simeuse. This pretty casket was flat and about the size of +a quarto volume. + +Peyrade made a sign to Corentin and took him into the embrasure of a +window. + +"I've an idea!" he said, "that Michu, who was ready to pay Marion +eight hundred thousand francs in gold for Gondreville, and who +evidently meant to shoot Malin yesterday, is the man who is helping +the Simeuse brothers. His motive in threatening Marion and aiming at +Malin must be the same. I thought when I saw him that he was capable +of ideas; evidently he has but one; he discovered what was going on +and he must have come here to warn them." + +"Probably Malin talked about the conspiracy to his friend the notary, +and Michu from his ambush overheard what was said," remarked Corentin, +continuing the inductions of his colleague. "No doubt he has only +postponed his shot to prevent an evil he thinks worse than the loss of +Gondreville." + +"He knew what we were the moment he laid eyes on us," said Peyrade. "I +thought then that he was amazingly intelligent for a peasant." + +"That proves that he is always on his guard," replied Corentin. "But, +mind you, my old man, don't let us make a mistake. Treachery stinks in +the nostrils, and primitive folks do scent it from afar." + +"But that's our strength," said the Provencal. + +"Call the corporal of Arcis," cried Corentin to one of the gendarmes. +"I shall send him at once to Michu's house," he added to Peyrade. + +"Our ear, Violette, is there," said Peyrade. + +"We started without getting news from him. Two of us are not enough; +we ought to have had Sabatier with us--Corporal," he said, when the +gendarme appeared, taking him aside with Peyrade, "don't let them fool +you as they did the Troyes corporal just now. We think Michu is in +this business. Go to his house, put your eye on everything, and bring +word of the result." + +"One of my men heard horses in the forest just as they arrested the +little groom; I've four fine fellows now on the track of whoever is +hiding there," replied the gendarme. + +He left the room, and the gallop of his horse which echoed on the +paved courtyard died rapidly away. + +"One thing is certain," said Corentin to himself, "either they have +gone to Paris or they are retreating to Germany." + +He sat down, pulled a note-book from the pocket of his spencer, wrote +two orders in pencil, sealed them, and made a sign to one of the +gendarmes to come to him. + +"Be off at full gallop to Troyes, wake up the prefect, and tell him to +start the telegraph as soon as there's light enough." + +The gendarme departed. The meaning of this movement and Corentin's +intentions were so evident that the hearts of the household sank +within them; but this new anxiety was additional to another that was +now martyrizing them; their eyes were fixed on the sandal-wood box! +All the while the two agents were talking together they were each +taking note of those eager looks. A sort of cold anger stirred the +unfeeling hearts of these men who relished the power of inspiring +terror. The police man has the instincts and emotions of a hunter: but +where the one employs his powers of mind and body in killing a hare, a +partridge, or a deer, the other is thinking of saving the State, or a +king, and of winning a large reward. So the hunt for men is superior +to the other class of hunting by all the distance that there is +between animals and human beings. Moreover, a spy is forced to lift +the part he plays to the level and the importance of the interests to +which he is bound. Without looking further into this calling, it is +easy to see that the man who follows it puts as much passionate ardor +into his chase as another man does into the pursuit of game. Therefore +the further these men advanced in their investigations the more eager +they became; but the expression of their faces and their eyes +continued calm and cold, just as their ideas, their suspicions, and +their plans remained impenetrable. To any one who watched the effects +of the moral scent, if we may so call it, of these bloodhounds on the +track of hidden facts, and who noted and understood the movements of +canine agility which led them to strike the truth in their rapid +examination of probabilities, there was in it all something actually +horrifying. How and why should men of genius fall so low when it was +in their power to be so high? What imperfection, what vice, what +passion debases them? Does a man become a police-agent as he becomes a +thinker, writer, statesmen, painter, general, on the condition of +knowing nothing but how to spy, as the others speak, write, govern, +paint, and fight? The inhabitants of the chateau had but one wish,-- +that the thunderbolts of heaven might fall upon these miscreants; they +were athirst for vengeance; and had it not been for the presence, up +to this time, of the gendarmes there would undoubtedly have been an +outbreak. + +"No one, I suppose, has the key of this box?" said the cynical +Peyrade, questioning the family as much by the movement of his huge +red nose as by his words. + +The Provencal noticed, not without fear, that the guards were no +longer present; he and Corentin were alone with the family. The +younger man drew a small dagger from his pocket, and began to force +the lock of the box. Just then the desperate galloping of a horse was +heard upon the road and then upon the pavement by the lawn; but most +horrible of all was the fall and sighing of the animal, which seemed +to drop all at once at the door of the middle tower. A convulsion like +that which a thunderbolt might produce shook the spectators when +Laurence, the trailing of whose riding-habit announced her coming, +entered the room. The servants hastily formed into two lines to let +her pass. + +In spite of her rapid ride, the girl had felt the full anguish the +discovery of the conspiracy must needs cause her. All her hopes were +overthrown! she had galloped through ruins as her thoughts turned to +the necessity of submission to the Consular government. Were it not +for the danger which threatened the four gentlemen, and which served +as a tonic to conquer her weariness and her despair, she would have +dropped asleep on the way. The mare was almost killed in her haste to +reach the chateau, and stand between her cousins and death. As all +present looked at the heroic girl, pale, her features drawn, her veil +aside, her whip in her hand, standing on the threshold of the door, +whence her burning glance grasped the whole scene and comprehended it, +each knew from the almost imperceptible motion which crossed the +soured and bittered face of Corentin, that the real adversaries had +met. A terrible duel was about to begin. + +Noticing the box, now in the hands of Corentin, the countess raised +her whip and sprang rapidly towards him. Striking his hands with so +violent a blow that the casket fell to the ground, she seized it, +flung it into the middle of the fire, and stood with her back to the +chimney in a threatening attitude before either of the agents +recovered from their surprise. The scorn which flamed from her eyes, +her pale brow, her disdainful lips, were even more insulting than the +haughty action which treated Corentin as though he were a venomous +reptile. Old d'Hauteserre felt himself once more a cavalier; all his +blood rushed to his face, and he grieved that he had no sword. The +servants trembled for an instant with joy. The vengeance they had +called down upon these men had come. But their joy was driven back +within their souls by a terrible fear; the gendarmes were still heard +coming and going in the garrets. + +The /spy/--noun of strength, under which all shades of the police are +confounded, for the public has never chosen to specify in language the +varieties of those who compose this dispensary of social remedies so +essential to all governments--the spy has this curious and magnificent +quality: he never becomes angry; he possesses the Christian humility +of a priest; his eyes are stolid with an indifference which he holds +as a barrier against the world of fools who do not understand him; his +forehead is adamant under insult; he pursues his ends like a reptile +whose carapace is fractured only by a cannonball; but (like that +reptile) he is all the more furious when the blow does reach him, +because he believed his armor invulnerable. The lash of the whip upon +his fingers was to Corentin, pain apart, the cannonball that cracked +the shell. Coming from that magnificent and noble girl, this action, +emblematic of her disgust, humiliated him, not only in the eyes of the +people about him, but in his own. + +Peyrade sprang to the hearth, caught Laurence's foot, raised it, and +compelled her, out of modesty, to throw herself on the sofa, where she +had lately lain asleep. The scene, like other contrasts in human +things, was burlesque in the midst of terror. Peyrade scorched his +hand as he dashed it into the fire to seize the box; but he got it, +threw it on the floor and sat down upon it. These little actions were +done with great rapidity and without a word being uttered. Corentin, +recovering from the pain of the blow, caught Mademoiselle de Cinq- +Cygne by both hands, and held her. + +"Do not compel me to use force against you," he said, with withering +politeness. + +Peyrade's action had extinguished the fire by the natural process of +suppressing the air. + +"Gendarmes! here!" he cried, still occupying his ridiculous position. + +"Will you promise to behave yourself?" said Corentin, insolently, +addressing Laurence, and picking up his dagger, but not committing the +great fault of threatening her with it. + +"The secrets of that box do not concern the government," she answered, +with a tinge of melancholy in her tone and manner. "When you have read +the letters it contains you will, in spite of your infamy, feel +ashamed of having read them--that is, if you can still feel shame at +anything," she added, after a pause. + +The abbe looked at her as if to say, "For God's sake, be calm!" + +Peyrade rose. The bottom of the box, which had been nearly burned +through, left a mark upon the floor; the lid was scorched and the +sides gave way. The grotesque Scaevola, who had offered to the god of +the Police and Terror the seat of his apricot breeches, opened the two +sides of the box as if it had been a book, and slid three letters and +two locks of hair upon the card-table. He was about to smile at +Corentin when he perceived that the locks were of two shades of gray. +Corentin released Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne's hands and went up to +the table to read the letter from which the hair had fallen. + +Laurence rose, moved to the table beside the spies, and said:--"Read +it aloud; that shall be your punishment." + +As the two men continued to read to themselves, she herself read out +the following words:-- + + Dear Laurence,--My husband and I have heard of your noble conduct + on the day of our arrest. We know that you love our dear twins as + much, almost, as we love them ourselves. Therefore it is with you + that we leave a token which will be both precious and sad to them. + The executioner has come to cut our hair, for we are to die in a + few moments; he has promised to put into your hands the only + remembrance we are able to leave to our beloved orphans. Keep + these last remains of us and give them to our sons in happier + days. We have kissed these locks of hair and have laid our + blessing upon them. Our last thought will be of our sons, of you, + and of God. Love them, Laurence. + +Berthe de Cinq-Cygne. +Jean de Simeuse. + + +Tears came to the eyes of all the household as they listened to the +letter. + +Laurence looked at the agents with a petrifying glance and said, in a +firm voice:-- + +"You have less pity than the executioner." + +Corentin quietly folded the hair in the letter, laid the letter aside +on the table, and put a box of counters on the top of it as if to +prevent its blowing away. His coolness in the midst of the general +emotion was horrible. + +Peyrade unfolded the other letters. + +"Oh, as for those," said Laurence, "they are very much alike. You hear +the will; you can now hear of its fulfilment. In future I shall have +no secrets from any one." + + + 1794, Andernach. Before the battle. + + My dear Laurence,--I love you for life, and I wish you to know it. + But you ought also to know, in case I die, that my brother, Paul- + Marie, loves you as much as I love you. My only consolation in + dying would be the thought that you might some day make my brother + your husband without being forced to see me die of jealousy--which + must surely happen if, both of us being alive, you preferred him + to me. After all, that preference seems natural, for he is, + perhaps, more worthy of your love than I-- + + Marie-Paul. + + +"Here is the other letter," she said, with the color in her cheeks. + + + Andernach. Before the battle. + + My kind Laurence,--My heart is sad; but Marie-Paul has a gayer + nature, and will please you more than I am able to do. Some day + you will have to choose between us--well, though I love you + passionately-- + + +"You are corresponding with /emigres/," said Peyrade, interrupting +Laurence, and holding the letters between himself and the light to see +if they contained between the lines any treasonable writing with +invisible ink. + +"Yes," replied Laurence, folding the precious letters, the paper of +which was already yellow with time. "But by virtue of what right do +you presume to violate my dwelling and my personal liberty?" + +"Ah, that's the point!" cried Peyrade. "By what right, indeed!--it is +time to let you know it, beautiful aristocrat," he added, taking a +warrant from his pocket, which came from the minister of justice and +was countersigned by the minister of the interior. "See, the +authorities have their eye upon you." + +"We might also ask you," said Corentin, in her ear, "by what right you +harbor in this house the assassins of the First Consul. You have +applied your whip to my hands in a manner that authorizes me to take +my revenge upon your cousins, whom I came here to save." + +At the mere movement of her lips and the glance which Laurence cast +upon Corentin, the abbe guessed what that great artist was saying, and +he made her a sign to be distrustful, which no one intercepted but +Goulard. Peyrade struck the cover of the box to see if there were a +double top. + +"Don't break it!" she exclaimed, taking the cover from him. + +She took a pin, pushed the head of one of the carved figures, and the +two halves of the top, joined by a spring, opened. In the hollow half +lay miniatures of the Messieurs de Simeuse, in the uniform of the army +of Conde, two portraits on ivory done in Germany. Corentin, who felt +himself in presence of an adversary worthy of his efforts, called +Peyrade aside into a corner of the room and conferred with him. + +"How could you throw /that/ into the fire?" said the abbe, speaking to +Laurence and pointing to the letter of the marquise which enclosed the +locks of hair. + +For all answer the young girl shrugged her shoulders significantly. +The abbe comprehended then that she had made the sacrifice to mislead +the agents and gain time; he raised his eyes to heaven with a gesture +of admiration. + +"Where did they arrest Gothard, whom I hear crying?" she asked him, +loud enough to be overheard. + +"I don't know," said the abbe. + +"Did he reach the farm?" + +"The farm!" whispered Peyrade to Corentin. "Let us send there." + +"No," said Corentin; "that girl never trusted her cousins' safety to a +farmer. She is playing with us. Do as I tell you, so that we mayn't +have to leave here without detecting something, after committing the +great blunder of coming here at all." + +Corentin stationed himself before the fire, lifting the long pointed +skirts of his coat to warm himself and assuming the air, manner, and +tone of a gentleman who was paying a visit. + +"Mesdames, you can go to bed, and the servants also. Monsieur le +maire, your services are no longer needed. The sternness of our orders +does not permit us to act otherwise than as we have done; but as soon +as the walls, which seem to me rather thick, have been thoroughly +examined, we shall take our departure." + +The mayor bowed to the company and retired; but neither the abbe nor +Mademoiselle Goujet stirred. The servants were too uneasy not to watch +the fate of their young mistress. Madame d'Hauteserre, who, from the +moment of Laurence's entrance, had studied her with the anxiety of a +mother, rose, took her by the arm, led her aside, and said in a low +voice, "Have you seen them?" + +"Do you think I could have let your sons be under this roof without +your knowing it?" replied Laurence. "Durieu," she added, "see if it is +possible to save my poor Stella; she is still breathing." + +"She must have gone a great distance," said Corentin. + +"Forty miles in three hours," she answered, addressing the abbe, who +watched her with amazement. "I started at half-past nine, and it was +well past one when I returned." + +She looked at the clock which said half-past two. + +"So you don't deny that you have ridden forty miles?" said Corentin. + +"No," she said. "I admit that my cousins, in their perfect innocence, +expected not to be excluded from the amnesty, and were on their way to +Cinq-Cygne. When I found that the Sieur Malin was plotting to injure +them, I went to warn them to return to Germany, where they will be +before the telegraph can have guarded the frontier. If I have done +wrong I shall be punished for it." + +This answer, which Laurence had carefully considered, was so probable +in all its parts that Corentin's convictions were shaken. In that +decisive moment, when every soul present hung suspended, as it were, +on the faces of the two adversaries, and all eyes turned from Corentin +to Laurence and from Laurence to Corentin, again the gallop of a +horse, coming from the forest, resounded on the road and from there +through the gates to the paved courtyard. Frightful anxiety was +stamped on every face. + +Peyrade entered, his eyes gleaming with joy. He went hastily to +Corentin and said, loud enough for the countess to hear him: "We have +caught Michu." + +Laurence, to whom the agony, fatigue, and tension of all her +intellectual faculties had given an unusual color, turned white and +fell back almost fainting on a chair. Madame Durieu, Mademoiselle +Goujet, and Madame d'Hauteserre sprang to help her, for she was +suffocating. She signed to cut the frogging of her habit. + +"Duped!" said Corentin to Peyrade. "I am certain now they are on their +way to Paris. Change the orders." + +They left the room and the house, placing one gendarme on guard at the +door of the salon. The infernal cleverness of the two men had gained a +terrible advantage by taking Laurence in the trap of a not uncommon +trick. + + + +CHAPTER IX + +FOILED + +At six o'clock in the morning, as day was dawning, Corentin and +Peyrade returned. Having explored the covered way they were satisfied +that horses had passed through it to reach the forest. They were now +awaiting the report of the captain of gendarmerie sent to reconnoitre +the neighborhood. Leaving the chateau in charge of a corporal, they +went to the tavern at Cinq-Cygne to get their breakfast, giving orders +that Gothard, who never ceased to reply to all questions with a burst +of tears, should be set at liberty, also Catherine, who still +continued silent and immovable. Catherine and Gothard went to the +salon to kiss the hands of their mistress, who lay exhausted on the +sofa; Durieu also went in to tell her that Stella would recover, but +needed great care. + +The mayor, uneasy and inquisitive, met Peyrade and Corentin in the +village. He declared that he could not allow such important officials +to breakfast in a miserable tavern, and he took them to his own house. +The abbey was only three quarters of a mile distant. On the way, +Peyrade remarked that the corporal of Arcis had sent no news of Michu +or of Violette. + +"We are dealing with very able people," said Corentin; "they are +stronger than we. The priest no doubt has a finger in all this." + +Just as the mayor's wife was ushering her guests into a vast dining- +room (without any fire) the lieutenant of gendarmes arrived with an +anxious air. + +"We met the horse of the corporal of Arcis in the forest without his +master," he said to Peyrade. + +"Lieutenant," cried Corentin, "go instantly to Michu's house and find +out what is going on there. They must have murdered the corporal." + +This news interfered with the mayor's breakfast. Corentin and Peyrade +swallowed their food with the rapidity of hunters halting for a meal, +and drove back to the chateau in their wicker carriage, so as to be +ready to start at the first call for any point where their presence +might be necessary. When the two men reappeared in the salon into +which they had brought such trouble, terror, grief, and anxiety, they +found Laurence, in a dressing-gown, Monsieur d'Hauteserre and his +wife, the abbe and his sister, sitting round the fire, to all +appearance tranquil. + +"If they had caught Michu," Laurence told herself, "they would have +brought him with them. I have the mortification of knowing that I was +not the mistress of myself, and that I threw some light upon the +matter for those wretches; but the harm can be undone--How long are we +to be your prisoners?" she asked sarcastically, with an easy manner. + +"How can she know anything about Michu? No one from the outside has +got near the chateau; she is laughing at us," said the two agents to +each other by a look. + +"We shall not inconvenience you long," replied Corentin. "In three +hours from now we shall offer our regrets for having troubled your +solitude." + +No one replied. This contemptuous silence redoubled Corentin's inward +rage. Laurence and the abbe (the two minds of their little world) had +talked the man over and drawn their conclusions. Gothard and Catherine +had set the breakfast-table near the fire and the abbe and his sister +were sharing the meal. Neither masters nor servants paid the slightest +attention to the two spies, who walked up and down the garden, the +courtyard or the lawn, returning every now and then to the salon. + +At half-past two the lieutenant reappeared. + +"I found the corporal," he said to Corentin, "lying in the road which +leads from the pavilion of Cinq-Cygne to the farm at Bellache. He has +no wound, only a bad contusion of the head, caused, apparently, by his +fall. He told me he had been lifted suddenly off his horse and flung +so violently to the ground that he could not discover how the thing +was done. His feet left the stirrups, which was lucky, for he might +have been killed by the horse dragging him. We put him in charge of +Michu and Violette--" + +"Michu! is Michu in his own house?" said Corentin, glancing at +Laurence. + +The countess smiled ironically, like a woman obtaining her revenge. + +"He is bargaining with Violette about the sale of some land," said the +lieutenant. "They seemed to me drunk; and it's no wonder, for they +have been drinking all night and discussing the matter, and they +haven't come to terms yet." + +"Did Violette tell you so?" cried Corentin. + +"Yes," said the lieutenant. + +"Nothing is right if we don't attend to it ourselves!" cried Peyrade, +looking at Corentin, who doubted the lieutenant's news as much as the +other did. + +"At what hour did you get to Michu's house?" asked Corentin, noticing +that the countess had glanced at the clock. + +"About two," replied the lieutenant. + +Laurence covered Monsieur and Madame d'Hauteserre and the abbe and his +sister in one comprehensive glance, which made them fancy they were +wrapped in an azure mantle; triumph sparkled in her eyes, she blushed, +and the tears welled up beneath her lids. Strong under all +misfortunes, the girl knew not how to weep except from joy. At this +moment she was all glorious, especially to the priest, who was +sometimes distressed by the virility of her character, and who now +caught a glimpse of the infinite tenderness of her woman's nature. But +such feelings lay in her soul like a treasure hidden at a great depth +beneath a block of granite. + +Just then a gendarme entered the salon to ask if he might bring in +Michu's son, sent by his father to speak to the gentlemen from Paris. +Corentin gave an affirmative nod. Francois Michu, a sly little chip of +the old block, was in the courtyard, where Gothard, now at liberty, +got a chance to speak to him for an instant under the eyes of a +gendarme. The little fellow managed to slip something into Gothard's +hand without being detected, and the latter glided into the salon +after him till he reached his mistress, to whom he stealthily conveyed +both halves of the wedding-ring, a sure sign, she knew, that Michu had +met the four gentlemen and put them in safety. + +"My papa wants to know what he's to do with the corporal, who ain't +doing well," said Francois. + +"What's the matter with him?" asked Peyrade. + +"It's his head--he pitched down hard on the ground," replied the boy. +"For a gindarme who knows how to ride it was bad luck--I suppose the +horse stumbled. He's got a hole--my! as big as your fist--in the back +of his head. Seems as if he must have hit some big stone, poor man! He +may be a gindarme, but he suffers all the same--you'd pity him." + +The captain of the gendarmerie now arrived and dismounted in the +courtyard. Corentin threw up the window, not to lose time. + +"What has been done?" + +"We are back like the Dutchmen! We found nothing but five dead horses, +their coats stiff with sweat, in the middle of the forest. I have kept +them to find out where they came from and who owns them. The forest is +surrounded; whoever is in it can't get out." + +"At what hour do you suppose those horsemen entered the forest?" + +"About half-past twelve." + +"Don't let a hare leave that forest without your seeing it," whispered +Corentin. "I'll station Peyrade at the village to help you; I am going +to see the corporal myself--Go to the mayor's house," he added, still +whispering, to Peyrade. "I'll send some able man to relieve you. We +shall have to make use of the country-people; examine all faces." He +turned towards the family and said in a threatening tone, "Au revoir!" + +No one replied, and the two agents left the room. + +"What would Fouche say if he knew we had made a domiciliary visit +without getting any results?" remarked Peyrade as he helped Corentin +into the osier vehicle. + +"It isn't over yet," replied the other, "those four young men are in +the forest. Look there!" and he pointed to Laurence who was watching +them from a window. "I once revenged myself on a woman who was worth a +dozen of that one and had stirred my bile a good deal less. If this +girl comes in the way of my hatchet I'll pay her for the lash of that +whip." + +"The other was a strumpet," said Peyrade; "this one has rank." + +"What difference is that to me? All's fish that swims in the sea," +replied Corentin, signing to the gendarme who drove him to whip up. + +Ten minutes later the chateau de Cinq-Cygne was completely evacuated. + +"How did they get rid of the corporal?" said Laurence to Francois +Michu, whom she had ordered to sit down and eat some breakfast. + +"My father told me it was a matter of life and death and I mustn't let +anybody get into our house," replied the boy. "I knew when I heard the +horses in the forest that I'd got to do with them hounds of gindarmes, +and I meant to keep 'em from getting in. So I took some big ropes that +were in my garret and fastened one of 'em to a tree at the corner of +the road. Then I drew the rope high enough to hit the breast of a man +on horseback, and tied it to the tree on the opposite side of the way +in the direction where I heard the horses. That barred the road. It +didn't miss fire, I can tell you! There was no moon, and the corporal +just pitched!--but he wasn't killed; they're tough, them gindarmes! I +did what I could." + +"You have saved us!" said Laurence, kissing him as she took him to the +gate. When there, she looked about her and seeing no one she said +cautiously, "Have they provisions?" + +"I have just taken them twelve pounds of bread and four bottles of +wine," said the boy. "They'll be snug for a week." + +Returning to the salon, the girl was beset with mute questions in the +eyes of all, each of whom looked at her with as much admiration as +eagerness. + +"But have you really seen them?" cried Madame d'Hauteserre. + +The countess put a finger on her lips and smiled; then she left the +room and went to bed; her triumph sure, utter weariness had overtaken +her. + +The shortest road from Cinq-Cygne to Michu's lodge was that which led +from the village past the farm at Bellache to the /rond-point/ where +the Parisian spies had first seen Michu on the preceding evening. The +gendarme who was driving Corentin took this way, which was the one the +corporal of Arcis had taken. As they drove along, the agent was on the +look-out for signs to show why the corporal had been unhorsed. He +blamed himself for having sent but one man on so important an errand, +and he drew from this mistake an axiom for the police Code, which he +afterwards applied. + +"If they have got rid of the corporal," he said to himself, "they have +done as much by Violette. Those five horses have evidently brought the +four conspirators and Michu from the neighborhood of Paris to the +forest. Has Michu a horse?" he inquired of the gendarme who was +driving him and who belonged to the squad from Arcis. + +"Yes, and a famous little horse it is," answered the man, "a hunter +from the stables of the ci-devant Marquis de Simeuse. There's no +better beast, though it is nearly fifteen years old. Michu can ride +him fifty miles and he won't turn a hair. He takes mighty good care of +him and wouldn't sell him at any price." + +"What does the horse look like?" + +"He's brown, turning rather to black; white stockings above the hoofs, +thin, all nerves like an Arab." + +"Did you ever see an Arab?" + +"In Egypt--last year. I've ridden the horses of the mamelukes. We have +to serve twelve years in the cavalry, and I was on the Rhine under +General Steingel, after that in Italy, and then I followed the First +Consul to Egypt. I'll be a corporal soon." + +"When I get to Michu's house go to the stable; if you have served +twelve years in the cavalry you know when a horse is blown. Let me +know the condition of Michu's beast." + +"See! that's where our corporal was thrown," said the man, pointing to +a spot where the road they were following entered the /rond-point/. + +"Tell the captain to come and pick me up at Michu's, and I'll go with +him to Troyes." + +So saying Corentin got down, and stood about for a few minutes +examining the ground. He looked at the two elms which faced each +other,--one against the park wall, the other on the bank of the /rond- +point/; then he saw (what no one had yet noticed) the button of a +uniform lying in the dust, and he picked it up. Entering the lodge he +saw Violette and Michu sitting at the table in the kitchen and talking +eagerly. Violette rose, bowed to Corentin, and offered him some wine. + +"Thank you, no; I came to see the corporal," said the young man, who +saw with half a glance that Violette had been drunk all night. + +"My wife is nursing him upstairs," said Michu. + +"Well, corporal, how are you?" said Corentin who had run up the stairs +and found the gendarme with his head bandaged, and lying on Madame +Michu's bed; his hat, sabre, and shoulder-belt on a chair. + +Marthe, faithful in her womanly instincts, and knowing nothing of her +son's prowess, was giving all her care to the corporal, assisted by +her mother. + +"We expect Monsieur Varlet the doctor from Arcis," she said to +Corentin; "our servant-lad has gone to fetch him." + +"Leave us alone for a moment," said Corentin, a good deal surprised at +the scene, which amply proved the innocence of the two women. "Where +were you struck?" he asked the man, examining his uniform. + +"On the breast," replied the corporal. + +"Let's see your belt," said Corentin. + +On the yellow band with a white edge, which a recent regulation had +made part of the equipment of the guard now called National, was a +metal plate a good deal like that of the foresters, on which the law +required the inscription of these remarkable words: "Respect to +persons and to properties." Francois's rope had struck the belt and +defaced it. Corentin took up the coat and found the place where the +button he had picked up upon the road belonged. + +"What time did they find you?" asked Corentin. + +"About daybreak." + +"Did they bring you up here at once?" said Corentin, noticing that the +bed had not been slept in. + +"Yes." + +"Who brought you up?" + +"The women and little Michu, who found me unconscious." + +"So!" thought Corentin: "evidently they didn't go to bed. The corporal +was not shot at, nor struck by any weapon, for an assailant must have +been at his own height to strike a blow. Something, some obstacle, was +in his way and that unhorsed him. A piece of wood? not possible! an +iron chain? that would have left marks. What did you feel?" he said +aloud. + +"I was knocked over so suddenly--" + +"The skin is rubbed off under your chin," said Corentin quickly. + +"I think," said the corporal, "that a rope did go over my face." + +"I have it!" cried Corentin; "somebody tied a rope from tree to tree +to bar the way." + +"Like enough," replied the corporal. + +Corentin went downstairs to the kitchen. + +"Come, you old rascal," Michu was saying to Violette, "let's make an +end of this. One hundred thousand francs for the place, and you are +master of my whole property. I shall retire on my income." + +"I tell you, as there's a God in heaven, I haven't more than sixty +thousand." + +"But don't I offer you time to pay the rest? You've kept me here since +yesterday, arguing it. The land is in prime order." + +"Yes, the soil is good," said Violette. + +"Wife, some more wine," cried Michu. + +"Haven't you drunk enough?" called down Marthe's mother. "This is the +fourteenth bottle since nine o'clock yesterday." + +"You have been here since nine o'clock this morning, haven't you?" +said Corentin to Violette. + +"No, beg your pardon, since last night I haven't left the place, and +I've gained nothing after all; the more he makes me drink the more he +puts up the price." + +"In all markets he who raises his elbow raises a price," said +Corentin. + +A dozen empty bottles ranged along the table proved the truth of the +old woman's words. Just then the gendarme who had driven him made a +sign to Corentin, who went to the door to speak to him. + +"There is no horse in the stable," said the man. + +"You sent your boy on horseback to the chateau, didn't you?" said +Corentin, returning to the kitchen. "Will he be back soon?" + +"No, monsieur," said Michu, "he went on foot." + +"What have you done with your horse, then?" + +"I have lent him," said Michu, curtly. + +"Come out here, my good fellow," said Corentin; "I've a word for your +ear." + +Corentin and Michu left the house. + +"The gun which you were loading yesterday at four o'clock you meant to +use in murdering the Councillor of State; but we can't take you up for +that--plenty of intention, but no witnesses. You managed, I don't know +how, to stupefy Violette, and you and your wife and that young rascal +of yours spent the night out of doors to warn Mademoiselle de Cinq- +Cygne and save her cousins, whom you are hiding here,--though I don't +as yet know where. Your son or your wife threw the corporal off his +horse cleverly enough. Well, you've got the better of us just now; +you're a devil of a fellow. But the end is not yet, and you won't have +the last word. Hadn't you better compromise? your masters would be the +better for it." + +"Come this way, where we can talk without being overheard," said +Michu, leading the way through the park to the pond. + +When Corentin saw the water he looked fixedly at Michu, who was no +doubt reckoning on his physical strength to fling the spy into seven +feet of mud below three feet of water. Michu replied with a look that +was not less fixed. The scene was absolutely as if a cold and flabby +boa constrictor had defied one of those tawny, fierce leopards of +Brazil. + +"I am not thirsty," said Corentin, stopping short at the edge of the +field and putting his hand into his pocket to feel for his dagger. + +"We shall never come to terms," said Michu, coldly. + +"Mind what you're about, my good fellow; the law has its eye upon +you." + +"If the law can't see any clearer than you, there's danger to every +one," said the bailiff. + +"Do you refuse?" said Corentin, in a significant tone. + +"I'd rather have my head cut off a thousand times, if that could be +done, than come to an agreement with such a villain as you." + +Corentin got into his vehicle hastily, after one more comprehensive +look at Michu, the lodge, and Couraut, who barked at him. He gave +certain orders in passing through Troyes, and then returned to Paris. +All the brigades of gendarmerie in the neighborhood received secret +instructions and special orders. + +During the months of December, January, and February the search was +active and incessant, even in remote villages. Spies were in all the +taverns. Corentin learned some important facts: a horse like that of +Michu had been found dead in the neighborhood of Lagny; the five +horses burned in the forest of Nodesme had been sold, for five hundred +francs each, by farmers and millers to a man who answered to the +description of Michu. When the decree against the accomplices and +harborers of Georges was put in force Corentin confined his search to +the forest of Nodesme. After Moreau, the royalists, and Pichegru were +arrested no strangers were ever seen about the place. + +Michu lost his situation at that time; the notary of Arcis brought him +a letter in which Malin, now made senator, requested Grevin to settle +all accounts with the bailiff and dismiss him. Michu asked and +obtained a formal discharge and became a free man. To the great +astonishment of the neighborhood he went to live at Cinq-Cygne, where +Laurence made him the farmer of all the reserved land about the +chateau. The day of his installation as farmer coincided with the +fatal day of the death of the Duc d'Enghien, when nearly the whole of +France heard at the same time of the arrest, trial, condemnation, and +death of the prince,--terrible reprisals, which preceded the trial of +Polignac, Riviere, and Moreau. + + + + +PART II + + + +CHAPTER X + +ONE AND THE SAME, YET A TWO-FOLD LOVE + +While the new farm-house was being built Michu the Judas, so-called, +and his family occupied the rooms over the stables at Cinq-Cygne on +the side of the chateau next to the famous breach. He bought two +horses, one for himself and one for Francois, and they both joined +Gothard in accompanying Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne in her many rides, +which had for their object, as may well be imagined, the feeding of +the four gentlemen and perpetual watching that they were still in +safety. Francois and Gothard, assisted by Couraut and the countess's +dogs, went in front and beat the woods all around the hiding-place to +make sure that there was no one within sight. Laurence and Michu +carried the provisions which Marthe, her mother, and Catherine +prepared, unknown to the other servants of the household so as to +restrict the secret to themselves, for all were sure that there were +spies in the village. These expeditions were never made oftener than +twice a week and on different days and at different hours, sometimes +by day, sometimes by night. + +These precautions lasted until the trial of Riviere, Polignac, and +Moreau ended. When the senatus-consultum, which called the dynasty of +Bonaparte to the throne and nominated Napoleon as Emperor of the +French, was submitted to the French people for acceptance Monsieur +d'Hauteserre signed the paper Goulard brought him. When it was made +known that the Pope would come to France to crown the Emperor, +Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne no longer opposed the general desire that +her cousins and the young d'Hauteserres should petition to have their +names struck off the list of /emigres/, and be themselves reinstated +in their rights as citizens. On this, old d'Hauteserre went to Paris +and consulted the ci-devant Marquis de Chargeboeuf who knew +Talleyrand. That minister, then in favor, conveyed the petition to +Josephine, and Josephine gave it to her husband, who was addressed as +Emperor, Majesty, Sire, before the result of the popular vote was +known. Monsieur de Chargeboeuf, Monsieur d'Hauteserre, and the Abbe +Goujet, who also went to Paris, obtained an interview with Talleyrand, +who promised them his support. Napoleon had already pardoned several +of the principal actors in the great royalist conspiracy; and yet, +though the four gentlemen were merely suspected of complicity, the +Emperor, after a meeting of the Council of State, called the senator +Malin, Fouche, Talleyrand, Cambaceres, Lebrun, and Dubois, prefect of +police, into his cabinet. + +"Gentlemen," said the future Emperor, who still wore the dress of the +First Consul, "we have received from the Sieurs de Simeuse and +d'Hauteserre, officers in the army of the Prince de Conde, a request +to be allowed to re-enter France." + +"They are here now," said Fouche. + +"Like many others whom I meet in Paris," remarked Talleyrand. + +"I think you have not met these gentlemen," said Malin, "for they are +hidden in the forest of Nodesme, where they consider themselves at +home." + +He was careful not to tell the First Consul and Fouche how he himself +had given them warning, by talking with Grevin within hearing of +Michu, but he made the most of Corentin's reports and convinced +Napoleon that the four gentlemen were sharers in the plot of Riviere +and Polignac, with Michu for an accomplice. The prefect of police +confirmed these assertions. + +"But how could that bailiff know that the conspiracy was discovered?" +said the prefect, "for the Emperor and the council and I were the only +persons in the secret." + +No one paid attention to this remark. + +"If they have been hidden in that forest for the last seven months and +you have not been able to find them," said the Emperor to Fouche, +"they have expiated their misdeeds." + +"Since they are my enemies as well," said Malin, frightened by the +Emperor's clear-sightedness, "I desire to follow the magnanimous +example of your Majesty; I therefore make myself their advocate and +ask that their names be stricken from the list of /emigres/." + +"They will be less dangerous to you here than if they are exiled; for +they will now have to swear allegiance to the Empire and the laws," +said Fouche, looking at Malin fixedly. + +"In what way are they dangerous to the senator?" asked Napoleon. + +Talleyrand spoke to the Emperor for some minutes in a low voice. The +reinstatement of the Messieurs de Simeuse and d'Hauteserre appeared to +be granted. + +"Sire," said Fouche, "rely upon it, you will hear of those men again." + +Talleyrand, who had been urged by the Duc de Grandlieu, gave the +Emperor pledges in the name of the young men on their honor as +gentlemen (a term which had great fascination for Napoleon), to +abstain from all attacks upon his Majesty and to submit themselves to +his government in good faith. + +"Messieurs d'Hauteserre and de Simeuse are not willing to bear arms +against France, now that events have taken their present course," he +said, aloud; "they have little sympathy, it is true, with the Imperial +government, but they are just the men that your Majesty ought to +conciliate. They will be satisfied to live on French soil and obey the +laws." + +Then he laid before the Emperor a letter he had received from the +brothers in which these sentiments were expressed. + +"Anything so frank is likely to be sincere," said the Emperor, +returning the letter and looking at Lebrun and Cambaceres. "Have you +any further suggestions?" he asked of Fouche. + +"In your Majesty's interests," replied the future minister of police, +"I ask to be allowed to inform these gentlemen of their reinstatement +--when it is /really granted/," he added, in a louder tone. + +"Very well," said Napoleon, noticing an anxious look on Fouche's face. + +The matter did not seem positively decided when the Council rose; but +it had the effect of putting into Napoleon's mind a vague distrust of +the four young men. Monsieur d'Hauteserre, believing that all was +gained, wrote a letter announcing the good news. The family at Cinq- +Cygne were therefore not surprised when, a few days later, Goulard +came to inform the countess and Madame d'Hauteserre that they were to +send the four gentlemen to Troyes, where the prefect would show them +the decree reinstating them in their rights and administer to them the +oath of allegiance to the Empire and the laws. Laurence replied that +she would send the notification to her cousins and the Messieurs +d'Hauteserre. + +"Then they are not here?" said Goulard. + +Madame d'Hauteserre looked anxiously after Laurence, who left the room +to consult Michu. Michu saw no reason why the young men should not be +released at once from their hiding-place. Laurence, Michu, his son, +and Gothard therefore started as soon as possible for the forest, +taking an extra horse, for the countess resolved to accompany her +cousins to Troyes and return with them. The whole household, made +aware of the good news, gathered on the lawn to witness the departure +of the happy cavalcade. The four young men issued from their long +confinement, mounted their horses, and took the road to Troyes, +accompanied by Mademoiselle Cinq-Cygne. Michu, with the help of his +son and Gothard, closed the entrance to the cellar, and started to +return home on foot. On the way he recollected that he had left the +forks and spoons and a silver cup, which the young men had been using, +in the cave, and he went back for them alone. When he reached the edge +of the pond he heard voices, and went straight to the entrance of the +cave through the brushwood. + +"Have you come for your silver?" said Peyrade, showing his big red +nose through the branches. + +Without knowing why, for at any rate his young masters were safe, +Michu felt a sharp agony in all his joints, so keen was the sense of +vague, indefinable coming evil which took possession of him; but he +went forward at once, and found Corentin on the stairs with a taper in +his hand. + +"We are not very harsh," he said to Michu; "we might have seized your +ci-devants any day for the last week; but we knew they were reinstated +--You're a tough fellow to deal with, and you gave us too much trouble +not to make us anxious to satisfy our curiosity about this hiding- +place of yours." + +"I'd give something," cried Michu, "to know how and by whom we have +been sold." + +"If that puzzles you, old fellow," said Peyrade, laughing, "look at +your horses' shoes, and you'll see that you betrayed yourselves." + +"Well, there need be no rancor!" said Corentin, whistling for the +captain of gendarmerie and their horses. + +"So that rascally Parisian blacksmith who shoed the horses in the +English fashion and left Cinq-Cygne only the other day was their spy!" +thought Michu. "They must have followed our tracks when the ground was +damp. Well, we're quits now!" + +Michu consoled himself by thinking that the discovery was of no +consequence, as the young men were now safe, Frenchmen once more, and +at liberty. Yet his first presentiment was a true one. The police, +like the Jesuits, have the one virtue of never abandoning their +friends or their enemies. + +Old d'Hauteserre returned from Paris and was more than surprised not +to be the first to bring the news. Durieu prepared a succulent dinner, +the servants donned their best clothes, and the household impatiently +awaited the exiles, who arrived about four o'clock, happy,--and yet +humiliated, for they found they were to be under police surveillance +for two years, obliged to present themselves at the prefecture every +month and ordered to remain in the commune of Cinq-Cygne during the +said two years. "I'll send you the papers for signature," the prefect +said to them. "Then, in the course of a few months, you can ask to be +relieved of these conditions, which are imposed on all of Pichegru's +accomplices. I will back your request." + +These restrictions, fairly deserved, rather dispirited the young men, +but Laurence laughed at them. + +"The Emperor of the French," she said, "was badly brought up; he has +not yet acquired the habit of bestowing favors graciously." + +The party found all the inhabitants of the chateau at the gates, and a +goodly proportion of the people of the village waiting on the road to +see the young men, whose adventures had made them famous throughout +the department. Madame d'Hauteserre held her sons to her breast for a +long time, her face covered with tears; she was unable to speak and +remained silent, though happy, through a part of the evening. No +sooner had the Simeuse twins dismounted than a cry of surprise arose +on all sides, caused by their amazing resemblance,--the same look, the +same voice, the same actions. They both had the same movement in +rising from their saddles, in throwing their leg over the crupper of +their horses when dismounting, in flinging the reins upon the animal's +neck. Their dress, precisely the same, contributed to this likeness. +They wore boots /a la/ Suwaroff, made to fit the instep, tight +trousers of white leather, green hunting-jackets with metal buttons, +black cravats, and buckskin gloves. The two young men, just thirty-one +years of age, were--to use a term in vogue in those days--charming +cavaliers, of medium height but well set up, brilliant eyes with long +lashes, floating in liquid like those of children, black hair, noble +brows, and olive skin. Their speech, gentle as that of a woman, fell +graciously from their fresh red lips; their manners, more elegant and +polished than those of the provincial gentlemen, showed that knowledge +of men and things had given them that supplementary education which +makes its possessor a man of the world. + +Not lacking money, thanks to Michu, during their emigration, they had +been able to travel and be received at foreign courts. Old +d'Hauteserre and the abbe thought them rather haughty; but in their +present position this may have been the sign of nobility of character. +They possessed all the eminent little marks of a careful education, to +which they added a wonderful dexterity in bodily exercises. Their only +dissimilarity was in the region of ideas. The youngest charmed others +by his gaiety, the eldest by his melancholy; but the contrast, which +was purely spiritual, was not at first observable. + +"Ah, wife," whispered Michu in Marthe's ear, "how could one help +devoting one's self to those young fellows?" + +Marthe, who admired them as a wife and mother, nodded her head +prettily and pressed her husband's hand. The servants were allowed to +kiss their new masters. + +During their seven months' seclusion in the forest (which the young +men had brought upon themselves) they had several times committed the +imprudence of taking walks about their hiding-place, carefully guarded +by Michu, his son, and Gothard. During these walks, taken usually on +starlit nights, Laurence, reuniting the thread of their past and +present lives, felt the utter impossibility of choosing between the +brothers. A pure and equal love for each divided her heart. She +fancied indeed that she had two hearts. On their side, the brothers +dared not speak to themselves of their impending rivalry. Perhaps all +three were trusting to time and accident. The condition of her mind on +this subject acted no doubt upon Laurence as they entered the house, +for she hesitated a moment, and then took an arm of each as she +entered the salon followed by Monsieur and Madame d'Hauteserre, who +were occupied with their sons. Just then a cheer burst from the +servants, "Long live the Cinq-Cygne and the Simeuse families!" +Laurence turned round, still between the brothers, and made a charming +gesture of acknowledgement + +When these nine persons came to actually observe each other,--for in +all meetings, even in the bosom of families, there comes a moment when +friends observe those from whom they have been long parted,--the first +glance which Adrien d'Hauteserre cast upon Laurence seemed to his +mother and to the abbe to betray love. Adrien, the youngest of the +d'Hauteserres, had a sweet and tender soul; his heart had remained +adolescent in spite of the catastrophes which had nerved the man. Like +many young heroes, kept virgin in spirit by perpetual peril, he was +daunted by the timidities of youth. In this he was very different from +his brother, a man of rough manners, a great hunter, an intrepid +soldier, full of resolution, but coarse in fibre and without activity +of mind or delicacy in matters of the heart. One was all soul, the +other all action; and yet they both possessed in the same degree that +sense of honor which is the vital essence of a gentleman. Dark, short, +slim and wiry, Adrien d'Hauteserre gave an impression of strength; +whereas Robert, who was tall, pale and fair, seemed weakly. Adrien, +nervous in temperament, was stronger in soul; while his brother though +lymphatic, was fonder of bodily exercise. Families often present these +singularities of contrast, the causes of which it might be interesting +to examine; but they are mentioned here merely to explain how it was +that Adrien was not likely to find a rival in his brother. Robert's +affection for Laurence was that of a relation, the respect of a noble +for a girl of his own caste. In matters of sentiment the elder +d'Hauteserre belonged to the class of men who consider woman as an +appendage to man, limiting her sphere to the physical duties of +maternity; demanding perfection in that respect, but regarding her +mentally as of no account. To such men the admittance of woman as an +actual sharer in society, in the body politic, in the family, meant +the subversion of the social system. In these days we are so far +removed from this theory of primitive people that almost all women, +even those who do not desire the fatal emancipation offered by the new +sects, will be shocked in merely hearing of it; but it must be owned +that Robert d'Hauteserre had the misfortune to think in that way. +Robert was a man of the middle-ages, Adrien a man of to-day. These +differences instead of hindering their affection had drawn its bonds +the closer. On the first evening after the return of the young men +these shades of character were caught and understood by the abbe, +Mademoiselle Goujet, and Madame d'Hauteserre, who, while playing their +boston, were secretly foreseeing the difficulties of the future. + +At twenty-three years of age, having passed through the many +reflections of a long solitude and the anguish of a defeated +enterprise, Laurence had become a woman, and felt within her an +absorbing desire for affection. She now put forth all her graces of +her mind and was charming; she revealed the hidden beauties of her +tender heart with the simple candor of a child. For the last thirteen +years she had been a woman only through suffering; she longed to +obtain amends for it, and she showed herself as loving and winning as +she had been, up to this time, strong and great. + +The four elders, who were the last to leave the salon that night, +admitted to each other that they felt uneasy at the new position of +this charming girl. What power might not passion have on a young woman +of her character and with her nobility of soul? The twin brothers +loved her with one and the same love and a blind devotion; which of +the two would Laurence choose? To choose one was to kill the other. +Countess in her own right, she could bring her husband a title and +certain prerogatives, together with a long lineage. Perhaps in +thinking of these advantages the elder of the twins, the Marquis de +Simeuse, would sacrifice himself to give Laurence to his brother, who, +according to the old laws, was poor and without a title. But would the +younger brother deprive the elder of the happiness of having Laurence +for a wife? At a distance, this strife of love and generosity might do +no harm,--in fact, so long as the brothers were facing danger the +chances of war might end the difficulty; but what would be the result +of this reunion? When Marie-Paul and Paul-Marie reached the age when +passions rise to their greatest height could they share, as now, the +looks and words and attentions of their cousin? must there not +inevitably arise a jealousy between them the consequences of which +might be horrible? What would then become of the unity of those +beautiful lives, one in heart though twain in body? To these +questionings, passed from one to another as they finished their game, +Madame d'Hauteserre replied that in her opinion Laurence would not +marry either of her cousins. The poor lady had experienced that +evening one of those inexplicable presentiments which are secrets +between the mother's heart and God. + +Laurence, in her inward consciousness, was not less alarmed at finding +herself tete-a-tete with her cousins. To the active drama of +conspiracy, to the dangers which the brothers had incurred, to the +pain and penalties of their exile, was now succeeding another sort of +drama, of which she had never thought. This noble girl could not +resort to the violent means of refusing to marry either of the twins; +and she was too honest a woman to marry one and keep an irresistible +passion for the other in her heart. To remain unmarried, to weary her +cousins' love by no decision, and then to take the one who was +faithful to her in spite of her caprices, was a solution of the +difficulty not so much sought for by her as vaguely admitted. As she +fell asleep that night she told herself the wisest course to follow +was to let things take their chance. Chance is, in love, the +providence of women. + +The next morning Michu went to Paris, whence he returned a few days +later with four fine horses for his new masters. In six weeks' time +the hunting would begin, and the young countess sagely reflected that +the violent excitements of that exercise would be a help against the +tete-a-tetes of the chateau. At first, however, an unexpected result +surprised the spectators of these strange loves and roused their +admiration. Without any premeditated agreement the brothers rivalled +each other in attentions to Laurence, with a sense of pleasure in so +doing which appeared to suffice them. The relation between themselves +and Laurence was just as fraternal as that between themselves. What +could be more natural? After so long an absence they felt the +necessity of studying her, of knowing her well and letting her know +them, leaving to her the right of choice. They were sustained in this +first trial by the mutual affection which made their double life one +and the same life. + +Love, like their own mother, was unable to distinguish between the +brothers. Laurence was obliged (in order to know them apart and make +no mistakes) to give them different cravats--to the elder a white one, +to the younger black. Without this perfect resemblance, this identity +of life, which misled all about them, such a situation would be justly +thought impossible. It can, indeed, be explained only by the fact +itself, which is one of those which men do not believe in unless they +see them; and then the mind is more bewildered by having to explain +them than by the actual sight which caused belief. If Laurence spoke, +her voice echoed in two hearts equally faithful and loving with one +tone. Did she give utterance to an intelligent, or witty, or noble +thought, her glance encountered the delight expressed in two glances +which followed her every movement, interpreted her slightest wish, and +beamed upon her ever with a new expression, gaiety in the one, tender +melancholy in the other. In any matter that concerned their mistress +the brothers showed an admirable quick-wittedness of heart coupled +with instant action which (to use the abbe's own expression) +approached the sublime. Often, if something had to be fetched, if it +was a question of some little attention which men delight to pay to a +beloved woman, the elder would leave that pleasure to the younger with +a look at Laurence that was proud and tender. The younger, on the +other hand, put all his own pride into paying such debts. This rivalry +of noble natures in a feeling which leads men often to the jealous +ferocity of the beasts amazed the old people who were watching it, and +bewildered their ideas. + +Such little details often drew tears to the eyes of the countess. A +single sensation, which is perhaps all-powerful in some rare +organizations, will give an idea of Laurence's emotions; it may be +perceived by recalling the perfect unison of two fine voices (like +those of Malibran and Sontag) in some harmonious /duo/, or the +blending of two instruments touched by the hand of genius, their +melodious tones entering the soul like the passionate sighing of one +heart. Sometimes, seeing the Marquis de Simeuse buried in an arm-chair +and glancing from time to time with deepest melancholy at his brother +and Laurence who were talking and laughing, the abbe believed him +capable of making the great sacrifice; presently, however, the priest +would see in the young man's eyes the flash of an unconquerable +passion. Whenever either of the brothers found himself alone with +Laurence he might reasonably suppose himself the one preferred. + +"I fancy then that there is but one of them," explained the countess +to the abbe when he questioned her. That answer showed the priest her +total want of coquetry. Laurence did not conceive that she was loved +by two men. + +"But, my dear child," said Madame d'Hauteserre one evening (her own +son silently dying of love for Laurence), "you must choose!" + +"Oh, let us be happy," she replied; "God will save us from ourselves." + +Adrien d'Hauteserre buried within his breast the jealousy that was +consuming him; he kept the secret of his torture, aware of how little +he could hope. He tried to be content with the happiness of seeing the +charming woman who during the few months this struggle lasted shone in +all her brilliancy. In one sense Laurence had become coquettish, +taking that dainty care of her person which women who are loved +delight in. She followed the fashions, and went more than once to +Paris to deck her beauty with /chiffons/ or some choice novelty. +Desirous of giving her cousins a sense of home and its every +enjoyment, from which they had so long been severed, she made her +chateau, in spite of the remonstrances of her late guardian, the most +completely comfortable house in Champagne. + +Robert d'Hauteserre saw nothing of this hidden drama; he never noticed +his brother's love for Laurence. As to the girl herself, he liked to +tease her about her coquetry,--for he confounded that odious defect +with the natural desire to please; he was always mistaken in matters +of feeling, taste, and the higher ethics. So, whenever this man of the +middle-ages appeared on the scene, Laurence immediately made him, +unknown to himself, the clown of the play; she amused her cousins by +arguing with Robert, and leading him, step by step, into some bog of +ignorance and stupidity. She excelled in such clever mischief, which, +to be really successful, must leave the victim content with himself. +And yet, though his nature was a coarse one, Robert never, during +those delightful months (the only happy period in the lives of the +three young people) said one virile word which might have brought +matters to a crisis between Laurence and her cousins. He was struck +with the sincerity of the brothers; he saw how the one could be glad +at the happiness of the other and yet suffer anguish in the depths of +his heart, and he did perceive how a woman might shrink from showing +tenderness to one which would grieve the other. This perception on +Robert's part was a just one; it explains a situation which, in times +of faith, when the sovereign pontiff had power to intervene and cut +the Gordian knot of such phenomena (allied to the deepest and most +impenetrable mysteries), would have found its solution. The Revolution +had deepened the Catholic faith in these young hearts, and religion +now rendered this crisis in their lives the more severe, because +nobility of character is ever heightened by the grandeur of +circumstances. A sense of this truth kept Monsieur and Madame +d'Hauteserre and the abbe from the slightest fear of any unworthy +result on the part of the brothers or of Laurence. + +This private drama, secretly developing within the limits of the +family life where each member watched it silently, ran its course so +rapidly and withal so slowly, it carried with it so many unhoped-for +pleasures, trifling jars, frustrated fancies, hopes reversed, anxious +waitings, delayed explanations and mute avowals that the dwellers at +Cinq-Cygne paid no attention to the public drama of the Emperor's +coronation. At times these passions made a truce and sought +distraction in the violent enjoyment of hunting, when weariness of +body took from the soul all occasions to wander in the dangerous +meadows of reverie. Neither Laurence nor her cousins had a thought now +for public affairs; each day brought its palpitating and absorbing +interests for their hearts. + +"Really," said Mademoiselle Goujet one evening, "I don't know which of +all the lovers loves the most." + +Adrien, who happened to be alone in the salon with the four card- +players, raised his eyes and turned pale. For the last few days his +only hold on life had been the pleasure of seeing Laurence and of +listening to her. + +"I think," said the abbe, "that the countess, being a woman, loves +with the greater abandonment to love." + +Laurence, the twins, and Robert entered the room soon after. The +newspapers had just arrived. England, seeing the failure of all +conspiracies attempted within the borders of France, was now arming +all Europe against their common enemy. The disaster at Trafalgar had +overthrown one of the most amazing plans which human genius ever +conceived; by which, if it had succeeded, the Emperor would have paid +the nation for his election by the ruin of the British power. The camp +at Boulogne had just been raised. Napoleon, whose solders were, as +always, inferior in numbers to the enemy, was about to carry the war +into parts of Europe where he had not before waged it. The whole world +was breathless, awaiting the results of the campaign. + +"He'll surely be defeated this time," said Robert, laying down the +paper. + +"The armies of Austria and of Russia are before him," said Marie-Paul. + +"He has never fought in Germany," added Paul-Marie. + +"Of whom are you speaking?" asked Laurence. + +"The Emperor," answered the three gentlemen. + +The jealous girl threw a disdainful look at her twin lovers, which +humiliated them while it rejoiced the heart of Adrien, who made a +gesture of admiration and gave her one proud look, which said plainly +that /he/ thought only of her,--of Laurence. + +"I told you," said the abbe in a low voice, "that love would some day +cause her to forget her animosity." + +It was the first, last, and only reproach the brothers ever received +from her; but certainly at that moment their love, which could still +be distracted by national events, was inferior to that of Laurence, +which, absorbed her mind so completely that she only knew of the +amazing triumph at Austerlitz by overhearing a discussion between +Monsieur d'Hauteserre and his sons. + +Faithful to his ideas of submission, the old man wished both Robert +and Adrien to re-enter the French army and apply for service; they +could, he thought, be reinstated in their rank and soon find an +opening to military honors. But royalist opinions were now all- +powerful at Cinq-Cygne. The four young men and Laurence laughed at +their prudent elder, who seemed to foresee a coming evil. Possibly, +prudence is less virtue than the exercise of some instinct, or /sense/ +of the mind (if it is allowable to couple those two words). A day will +come, no doubt, when physiologists and philosophers will both admit +that the senses are, in some way, the sheath or vehicle of a keen and +penetrative active power which issues from the mind. + + + +CHAPTER XI + +WISE COUNSEL + +After peace was concluded between France and Austria, towards the end +of the month of February, 1806, a relative, whose influence had been +employed for the reinstatement of the Simeuse brothers, and who was +destined later to give them signal proofs of family attachment, the +ci-devant Marquis de Chargeboeuf, whose estates extended from the +department of the Seine-et-Marne to that of the Aube, arrived one +morning at Cinq-Cygne in a species of caleche which was then named in +derision a /berlingot/. When this shabby carriage was driven past the +windows the inhabitants of the chateau, who were at breakfast, were +convulsed with laughter; but when the bald head of the old man was +seen issuing from behind the leather curtain of the vehicle Monsieur +d'Hauteserre told his name, and all present rose instantly to receive +and do honor to the head of the house of Chargeboeuf. + +"We have done wrong to let him come to us," said the Marquis de +Simeuse to his brother and the d'Hauteserres; "we ought to have gone +to him and made our acknowledgements." + +A servant, dressed as a peasant, who drove the horses from a seat on a +level with the body of the carriage, slipped his cartman's whip into a +coarse leather socket, and got down from the box to assist the marquis +from the carriage; but Adrien and the younger de Simeuse prevented +him, unbuttoned the leather apron, and helped the old man out in spite +of his protestations. This gentleman of the old school chose to +consider his yellow /berlingot/ with its leather curtains a most +convenient and excellent equipage. The servant, assisted by Gothard, +unharnessed the stout horses with shining flanks, accustomed no doubt +to do as much duty at the plough as in a carriage. + +"In spite of this cold weather! Why, you are a knight of the olden +time," said Laurence, to her visitor, taking his arm and leading him +into the salon. + +"What has he come for?" thought old d'Hauteserre. + +Monsieur de Chargeboeuf, a handsome old gentleman of sixty-six, in +light-colored breeches, his small weak legs encased in colored +stockings, wore powder, pigeon-wings and a queue. His green cloth +hunting-coat with gold buttons was braided and frogged with gold. His +white waistcoat glittered with gold embroidery. This apparel, still in +vogue among old people, became his face, which was not unlike that of +Frederick the Great. He never put on his three-cornered hat lest he +should destroy the effect of the half-moon traced upon his cranium by +a layer of powder. His right hand, resting on a hooked cane, held both +cane and hat in a manner worthy of Louis XIV. The fine old gentleman +took off his wadded silk pelisse and seated himself in an armchair, +holding the three-cornered hat and the cane between his knees in an +attitude the secret of which has never been grasped by any but the +roues of Louis XV.'s court, an attitude which left the hands free to +play with a snuff-box, always a precious trinket. Accordingly the +marquis drew from the pocket of his waistcoat, which was closed by a +flap embroidered in gold arabesques, a sumptuous snuff-box. While +fingering his own pinch and offering the box around him with another +charming gesture accompanied with kindly smiles, he noticed the +pleasure which his visit gave. He seemed then to comprehend why these +young /emigres/ had been remiss in their duty towards him, and to be +saying to himself, "When we are making love we can't make visits." + +"You will stay with us some days?" said Laurence. + +"Impossible," he replied. "If we were not so separated by events (for +as to distance, you go farther than that which lies between us) you +would know, my dear child, that I have daughters, daughters-in-law, +and grand-children. All these dear creatures would be very uneasy if I +did not return to them to-night, and I have forty-five miles to go." + +"Your horses are in good condition," said the Marquis de Simeuse. + +"Oh! I am just from Troyes, where I had business yesterday." + +After the customary polite inquiries for the Marquise de Chargeboeuf +and other matters really uninteresting but about which politeness +assumes that we are keenly interested, it dawned on Monsieur +d'Hauteserre that the old gentleman had come to warn his young +relatives against imprudence. He remarked that times were changed and +no one could tell what the Emperor might now become. + +"Oh!" said Laurence, "he'll make himself God." + +The Marquis spoke of the wisdom of concession. When he stated, with +more emphasis and authority than he put into his other remarks, the +necessity of submission, Monsieur d'Hauteserre looked at his sons with +an almost supplicating air. + +"Would you serve that man?" asked the Marquis de Simeuse. + +"Yes, I would, if the interests of my family required it," replied +Monsieur de Chargeboeuf. + +Gradually the old man made them aware, though vaguely, of some +threatened danger. When Laurence begged him to explain the nature of +it, he advised the four young men to refrain from hunting and to keep +themselves as much in retirement as possible. + +"You treat the domain of Gondreville as if it were your own," he said +to the Messieurs de Simeuse, "and you are keeping alive a deadly +hatred. I see, by the surprise upon your faces, that you are quite +unaware of the ill-will against you at Troyes, where your late brave +conduct is remembered. They tell of how you foiled the police of the +Empire; some praise you for it, but others regard you as enemies of +the Emperor; partisans declare that Napoleon's clemency is +inexplicable. That, however, is nothing. The real danger lies here; +you foiled men who thought themselves cleverer than you; and low-bred +men never forgive. Sooner or later justice, which in your department +emanates from your enemy, Senator Malin (who has his henchmen +everywhere, even in the ministerial offices),--/his/ justice will +rejoice to see you involved in some annoying scrape. A peasant, for +instance, will quarrel with you for riding over his field; your guns +are in your hands, you are hot-tempered, and something happens. In +your position it is absolutely essential that you should not put +yourselves in the wrong. I do not speak to you thus without good +reason. The police keep this arrondissement under strict surveillance; +they have an agent in that little hole of Arcis expressly to protect +the Imperial senator Malin against your attacks. He is afraid of you, +and says so openly." + +"It is a calumny!" cried the younger Simeuse. + +"A calumny,--I am sure of it myself, but will the public believe it? +Michu certainly did aim at the senator, who does not forget the danger +he was in; and since your return the countess has taken Michu into her +service. To many persons, in fact to the majority, Malin will seem to +be in the right. You do not understand how delicate the position of an +/emigre/ is towards those who are now in possession of his property. +The prefect, a very intelligent man, dropped a word to me yesterday +about you which has made me uneasy. In short, I sincerely wish you +would not remain here." + +This speech was received in dumb amazement. Marie-Paul rang the bell. + +"Gothard," he said, to the little page, "send Michu here." + +"Michu, my friend," said the Marquis de Simeuse when the man appeared, +"is it true that you intended to kill Malin?" + +"Yes, Monsieur le marquis; and when he comes here again I shall lie in +wait for him." + +"Do you know that we are suspected of instigating it, and that our +cousin, by taking you as her farmer is supposed to be furthering your +scheme?" + +"Good God!" cried Michu, "am I accursed? Shall I never be able to rid +you of that villain?" + +"No, my man, no!" said Paul-Marie. "But we will always take care of +you, though you will have to leave our service and the country too. +Sell your property here; we will send you to Trieste to a friend of +ours who has immense business connections, and he'll employ you until +things are better in this country for all of us." + +Tears came into Michu's eyes; he stood rooted to the floor. + +"Were there any witnesses when you aimed at Malin?" asked the Marquis +de Chargeboeuf. + +"Grevin the notary was talking with him, and that prevented my killing +him--very fortunately, as Madame la Comtesse knows," said Michu, +looking at his mistress. + +"Grevin is not the only one who knows it?" said Monsieur de +Chargeboeuf, who seemed annoyed at what was said, though none but the +family were present. + +"That police spy who came here to trap my masters, he knew it too," +said Michu. + +Monsieur de Chargeboeuf rose as if to look at the gardens, and said, +"You have made the most of Cinq-Cygne." Then he left the house, +followed by the two brothers and Laurence, who now saw the meaning of +his visit. + +"You are frank and generous, but most imprudent," said the old man. +"It was natural enough that I should warn you of a rumor which was +certain to be a slander; but what have you done now? you have let such +weak persons as Monsieur and Madame d'Hauteserre and their sons see +that there was truth in it. Oh, young men! young men! You ought to +keep Michu here and go away yourselves. But if you persist in +remaining, at least write a letter to the senator and tell him that +having heard the rumors about Michu you have dismissed him from your +employ." + +"We!" exclaimed the brothers; "what, write to Malin,--to the murderer +of our father and our mother, to the insolent plunderer of our +property!" + +"All true; but he is one of the chief personages at the Imperial +court, and the king of your department." + +"He, who voted for the death of Louis XVI. in case the army of Conde +entered France!" cried Laurence. + +"He, who probably advised the murder of the Duc d'Enghien!" exclaimed +Paul-Marie. + +"Well, well, if you want to recapitulate his titles of nobility," cried +Monsieur de Chargeboeuf, "say he who pulled Robespierre by the skirts +of his coat to make him fall when he saw that his enemies were +stronger than he; he who would have shot Bonaparte if the 18th +Brumaire had missed fire; he who manoeuvres now to bring back the +Bourbons if Napoleon totters; he whom the strong will ever find on +their side to handle either sword or pistol and put an end to an +adversary whom they fear! But--all that is only reason the more for +what I urge upon you." + +"We have fallen very low," said Laurence. + +"Children," said the old marquis, taking them by the hand and going to +the lawn, then covered by a slight fall of snow; "you will be angry at +the prudent advice of an old man, but I am bound to give it, and here +it is: If I were you I would employ as go-between some trustworthy old +fellow--like myself, for instance; I would commission him to ask Malin +for a million of francs for the title-deeds of Gondreville; he would +gladly consent if the matter were kept secret. You will then have +capital in hand, an income of a hundred thousand francs, and you can +buy a fine estate in another part of France. As for Cinq-Cygne, it can +safely be left to the management of Monsieur d'Hauteserre, and you can +draw lots as to which of you shall win the hand of this dear heiress-- +But ah! I know the words of an old man in the ears of the young are +like the words of the young in the ears of the old, a sound without +meaning." + +The old marquis signed to his three relatives that he wished no +answer, and returned to the salon, where, during their absence, the +abbe and his sister had arrived. + +The proposal to draw lots for their cousin's hand had offended the +brothers, while Laurence revolted in her soul at the bitterness of the +remedy the old marquis counselled. All three were now less gracious to +him, though they did not cease to be polite. The warmth of their +feeling was chilled. Monsieur de Chargeboeuf, who felt the change, +cast frequent looks of kindly compassion on these charming young +people. The conversation became general, but the old marquis still +dwelt on the necessity of submitting to events, and he applauded +Monsieur d'Hauteserre for his persistence in urging his sons to take +service under the Empire. + +"Bonaparte," he said, "makes dukes. He has created Imperial fiefs, he +will therefore make counts. Malin is determined to be Comte de +Gondreville. That is a fancy," he added, looking at the Simeuse +brothers, "which might be profitable to you--" + +"Or fatal," said Laurence. + +As soon as the horses were put-to the marquis took leave, accompanied +to the door by the whole party. When fairly in the carriage he made a +sign to Laurence to come and speak to him, and she sprang upon the +foot-board with the lightness of a swallow. + +"You are not an ordinary woman, and you ought to understand me," he +said in her ear. "Malin's conscience will never allow him to leave you +in peace; he will set some trap to injure you. I implore you to be +careful of all your actions, even the most unimportant. Compromise, +negotiate; those are my last words." + +The brothers stood motionless behind their cousin and watched the +/berlingot/ as it turned through the iron gates and took the road to +Troyes. Laurence repeated the old man's last words. But sage +experience should not present itself to the eyes of youth in a +/berlingot/, colored stockings, and a queue. These ardent young hearts +had no conception of the change that had passed over France; +indignation crisped their nerves, honor boiled with their noble blood +through every vein. + +"He, the head of the house of Chargeboeuf!" said the Marquis de +Simeuse. "A man who bears the motto /Adsit fortior/, the noblest of +warcries!" + +"We are no longer in the days of Saint-Louis," said the younger +Simeuse. + +"But 'We die singing,'" said the countess. "The cry of the five young +girls of my house is mine!" + +"And ours, 'Cy meurs,'" said the elder Simeuse. "Therefore, no +quarter, I say; for, on reflection, we shall find that our relative +had pondered well what he told us--Gondreville to be the title of a +Malin!" + +"And his seat!" said the younger. + +"Mansart designed it for noble stock, and the populace will get their +children in it!" exclaimed the elder. + +"If that were to come to pass, I'd rather see Gondreville in ashes!" +cried Mademoiselle Cinq-Cygne. + +One of the villagers, who had entered the grounds to examine a calf +Monsieur d'Hauteserre was trying to sell him, overheard these words as +he came from the cow-sheds. + +"Let us go in," said Laurence, laughing; "this is very imprudent; we +are giving the old marquis a right to blame us. My poor Michu," she +added, as she entered the salon, "I had forgotten your adventure; as +we are not in the odor of sanctity in these parts you must be careful +not to compromise us in future. Have you any other peccadilloes on +your conscience?" + +"I blame myself for not having killed the murderer of my old masters +before I came to the rescue of my present ones--" + +"Michu!" said the abbe in a warning tone. + +"But I'll not leave the country," Michu continued, paying no heed to +the abbe's exclamation, "till I am certain you are safe. I see fellows +roaming about here whom I distrust. The last time we hunted in the +forest, that keeper who took my place at Gondreville came to me and +asked if we supposed we were on our own property. 'Ho! my lad,' I +said, 'we can't get rid in two weeks of ideas we've had for +centuries.'" + +"You did wrong, Michu," said the Marquis de Simeuse, smiling with +satisfaction. + +"What answer did he make?" asked Monsieur d'Hauteserre. + +"He said he would inform the senator of our claims," replied Michu. + +"Comte de Gondreville!" repeated the elder Simeuse; "what a +masquerade! But after all, they say 'your Majesty' to Bonaparte!" + +"And to the Grand Duc de Berg, 'your Highness!'" said the abbe. + +"Who is he?" asked the Marquis de Simeuse. + +"Murat, Napoleon's brother-in-law," replied old d'Hauteserre. + +"Delightful!" remarked Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne. "Do they also say +'your Majesty' to the widow of Beauharnais?" + +"Yes, mademoiselle," said the abbe. + +"We ought to go to Paris and see it all," cried Laurence. + +"Alas, mademoiselle," said Michu, "I was there to put Francois at +school, and I swear to you there's no joking with what they call the +Imperial Guard. If the rest of the army are like them, the thing may +last longer than we." + +"They say many of the noble families are taking service," said +Monsieur d'Hauteserre. + +"According to the present law," added the abbe, "you will be compelled +to serve. The conscription makes no distinction of ranks or names." + +"That man is doing us more harm with his court than the Revolution did +with its axe!" cried Laurence. + +"The Church prays for him," said the abbe. + +These remarks, made rapidly one after another, were so many +commentaries on the wise counsel of the old Marquis de Chargeboeuf; +but the young people had too much faith, too much honor, to dream of +resorting to a compromise. They told themselves, as all vanquished +parties in all times have declared, that the luck of the conquerors +would soon be at an end, that the Emperor had no support but that of +the army, that the power /de facto/ must sooner or later give way to +the Divine Right, etc. So, in spite of the wise counsel given to them, +they fell into the pitfall, which others, like old d'Hauteserre, more +prudent and more amenable to reason, would have been able to avoid. If +men were frank they might perhaps admit that misfortunes never +overtake them until after they have received either an actual or an +occult warning. Many do not perceive the deep meaning of such visible +or invisible signs until after the disaster is upon them. + +"In any case, Madame la comtesse knows that I cannot leave the country +until I have given up a certain trust," said Michu in a low voice to +Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne. + +For all answer she made him a sign of acquiescence, and he left the +room. + + + +CHAPTER XII + +THE FACTS OF A MYSTERIOUS AFFAIR + +Michu sold his farm at once to Beauvisage, a farmer at Bellache, but +he was not to receive the money for twenty days. A month after the +Marquis de Chargeboeuf's visit, Laurence, who had told her cousins of +their buried fortune, proposed to them to take the day of the +Mi-careme to disinter it. The unusual quantity of snow which fell that +winter had hitherto prevented Michu from obtaining the treasure, and +it now gave him pleasure to undertake the operation with his masters. +He was determined to leave the neighborhood as soon as it was over, +for he feared himself. + +"Malin has suddenly arrived at Gondreville, and no one knows why," he +said to his mistress. "I shall never be able to resist putting the +property into the market by the death of its owner. I feel I am guilty +in not following my inspirations." + +"Why should he leave Paris at this season?" said the countess. + +"All Arcis is talking about it," replied Michu; "he has left his +family in Paris, and no one is with him but his valet. Monsieur +Grevin, the notary of Arcis, Madame Marion, the wife of the receiver- +general, and her sister-in-law are staying at Gondreville." + +Laurence had chosen the mid-lent day for their purpose because it +enabled her to give her servants a holiday and so get them out of the +way. The usual masquerade drew the peasantry to the town and no one +was at work in the fields. Chance made its calculations with as much +cleverness as Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne made hers. The uneasiness of +Monsieur and Madame d'Hauteserre at the idea of keeping eleven hundred +thousand francs in gold in a lonely chateau on the borders of a forest +was likely to be so great that their sons advised they should know +nothing about it. The secret of the expedition was therefore confined +to Gothard, Michu, Laurence, and the four gentlemen. + +After much consultation it seemed possible to put forty-eight thousand +francs in a long sack on the crupper of each of their horses. Three +trips would therefore bring the whole. It was agreed to send all the +servants, whose curiosity might be troublesome, to Troyes to see the +shows. Catherine, Marthe, and Durieu, who could be relied on, stayed +at home in charge of the house. The other servants were glad of their +holiday and started by daybreak. Gothard, assisted by Michu, saddled +the horses as soon as they were gone, and the party started by way of +the gardens to reach the forest. Just as they were mounting--for the +park gate was so low on the garden side that they led their horses +until they were through it--old Beauvisage, the farmer at Bellache, +happened to pass. + +"There!" cried Gothard, "I hear some one." + +"Oh, it is only I," said the worthy man, coming toward them. "Your +servant, gentleman; are you off hunting, in spite of the new decrees? +/I/ don't complain of you; but do take care! though you have friends +you have also enemies." + +"Oh, as for that," said the elder Hauteserre, smiling, "God grant that +our hunt may be lucky to-day,--if so, you will get your masters back +again." + +These words, to which events were destined to give a totally different +meaning, earned a severe look from Laurence. The elder Simeuse was +confident that Malin would restore Gondreville for an indemnity. These +rash youths were determined to do exactly the contrary of what the +Marquis de Chargeboeuf had advised. Robert, who shared these hopes, +was thinking of them when he gave utterance to the fatal words. + +"Not a word of this, old friend," said Michu to Beauvisage, waiting +behind the others to lock the gate. + +It was one of those fine mornings in March when the air is dry, the +earth pure, the sky clear, and the atmosphere a contradiction to the +leafless trees; the season was so mild that the eye caught glimpses +here and there of verdure. + +"We are seeking treasure when all the while you are the real treasure +of our house, cousin," said the elder Simeuse, gaily. + +Laurence was in front, with a cousin on each side of her. The +d'Hauteserres were behind, followed by Michu. Gothard had gone forward +to clear the way. + +"Now that our fortune is restored, you must marry my brother," said +the younger in a low voice. "He adores you; together you will be as +rich as nobles ought to be in these days." + +"No, give the whole fortune to him and I will marry you," said +Laurence; "I am rich enough for two." + +"So be it," cried the Marquis; "I will leave you, and find a wife +worthy to be your sister." + +"So you really love me less than I thought you did?" said Laurence +looking at him with a sort of jealousy. + +"No; I love you better than either of you love me," replied the +marquis. + +"And therefore you would sacrifice yourself?" asked Laurence with a +glance full of momentary preference. + +The marquis was silent. + +"Well, then, I shall think only of you, and that will be intolerable +to my husband," exclaimed Laurence, impatient at his silence. + +"How could I live without you?" said the younger twin to his brother. + +"But, after all, you can't marry us both," said the marquis, replying +to Laurence; "and the time has come," he continued, in the brusque +tone of a man who is struck to the heart, "to make your decision." + +He urged his horse in advance so that the d'Hauteserres might not +overhear them. His brother's horse and Laurence's followed him. When +they had put some distance between themselves and the rest of the +party Laurence attempted to speak, but tears were at first her only +language. + +"I will enter a cloister," she said at last. + +"And let the race of Cinq-Cygne end?" said the younger brother. +"Instead of one unhappy man, would you make two? No, whichever of us +must be your brother only, will resign himself to that fate. It is the +knowledge that we are no longer poor that has brought us to explain +ourselves," he added, glancing at the marquis. "If I am the one +preferred, all this money is my brother's. If I am rejected, he will +give it to me with the title of de Simeuse, for he must then take the +name and title of Cinq-Cygne. Whichever way it ends, the loser will +have a chance of recovery--but if he feels he must die of grief, he +can enter the army and die in battle, not to sadden the happy +household." + +"We are true knights of the olden time, worthy of our fathers," cried +the elder. "Speak, Laurence; decide between us." + +"We cannot continue as we are," said the younger. + +"Do not think, Laurence, that self-denial is without its joys," said +the elder. + +"My dear loved ones," said the girl, "I am unable to decide. I love +you both as though you were one being--as your mother loved you. God +will help us. I cannot choose. Let us put it to chance--but I make one +condition." + +"What is it?" + +"Whichever one of you becomes my brother must stay with me until I +suffer him to leave me. I wish to be sole judge of when to part." + +"Yes, yes," said the brothers, without explaining to themselves her +meaning. + +"The first of you to whom Madame d'Hauteserre speaks to-night at table +after the Benedicite, shall be my husband. But neither of you must +practise fraud or induce her to answer a question." + +"We will play fair," said the younger, smiling. + +Each kissed her hand. The certainty of some decision which both could +fancy favorable made them gay. + +"Either way, dear Laurence, you create a Comte de Cinq-Cygne--" + +"I believe," thought Michu, riding behind them, "that mademoiselle +will not long be unmarried. How gay my masters are! If my mistress +makes her choice I shall not leave; I must stay and see that wedding." + +Just then a magpie flew suddenly before his face. Michu, superstitious +like all primitive beings, fancied he heard the muffled tones of a +death-knell. The day, however, began brightly enough for lovers, who +rarely see magpies when together in the woods. Michu, armed with his +plan, verified the spots; each gentleman had brought a pickaxe, and +the money was soon found. The part of the forest where it was buried +was quite wild, far from all paths or habitations, so that the +cavalcade bearing the gold returned unseen. This proved to be a great +misfortune. On their way from Cinq-Cygne to fetch the last two hundred +thousand francs, the party, emboldened by success, took a more direct +way than on their other trips. The path passed an opening from which +the park of Gondreville could be seen. + +"What is that?" cried Laurence, pointing to a column of blue flame. + +"A bonfire, I think," replied Michu. + +Laurence, who knew all the by-ways of the forest, left the rest of the +party and galloped towards the pavilion, Michu's old home. Though the +building was closed and deserted, the iron gates were open, and traces +of the recent passage of several horses struck Laurence instantly. The +column of blue smoke was rising from a field in what was called the +English park, where, as she supposed, they were burning brush. + +"Ah! so you are concerned in it, too, are you, mademoiselle?" cried +Violette, who came out of the park at top speed on his pony, and +pulled up to meet Laurence. "But, of course, it is only a carnival +joke? They surely won't kill him?" + +"Who?" + +"Your cousins wouldn't put him to death?" + +"Death! whose death?" + +"The senator's." + +"You are crazy, Violette!" + +"Well, what are you doing here, then?" he demanded. + +At the idea of a danger which was threatening her cousins, Laurence +turned her horse and galloped back to them, reaching the ground as the +last sacks were filled. + +"Quick, quick!" she cried. "I don't know what is going on, but let us +get back to Cinq-Cygne." + +While the happy party were employed in recovering the fortune saved by +the old marquis, and guarded for so many years by Michu, an +extraordinary scene was taking place in the chateau of Gondreville. + +About two o'clock in the afternoon Malin and his friend Grevin were +playing chess before the fire in the great salon on the ground-floor. +Madame Grevin and Madame Marion were sitting on a sofa and talking +together at a corner of the fireplace. All the servants had gone to +see the masquerade, which had long been announced in the +arrondissement. The family of the bailiff who had replaced Michu had +gone too. The senator's valet and Violette were the only persons +beside the family at the chateau. The porter, two gardeners, and their +wives were on the place, but their lodge was at the entrance of the +courtyards at the farther end of the avenue to Arcis, and the distance +from there to the chateau is beyond the sound of a pistol-shot. +Violette was waiting in the antechamber until the senator and Grevin +could see him on business, to arrange a matter relating to his lease. +At that moment five men, masked and gloved, who in height, manner, and +bearing strongly resembled the Simeuse and d'Hauteserre brothers and +Michu, rushed into the antechamber, seized and gagged the valet and +Violette, and fastened them to their chairs in a side room. In spite +of the rapidity with which this was done, Violette and the servant had +time to utter one cry. It was heard in the salon. The two ladies +thought it a cry of fear. + +"Listen!" said Madame Grevin, "can there be robbers?" + +"No, nonsense!" said Grevin, "only carnival cries; the masqueraders +must be coming to pay us a visit." + +This discussion gave time for the four strangers to close the doors +towards the courtyards and to lock up Violette and the valet. Madame +Grevin, who was rather obstinate, insisted on knowing what the noise +meant. She rose, left the room, and came face to face with the five +masked men, who treated her as they had treated the farmer and the +valet. Then they rushed into the salon, where the two strongest seized +and gagged Malin, and carried him off into the park, while the three +others remained behind to gag Madame Marion and Grevin and lash them +to their armchairs. The whole affair did not take more than half an +hour. The three unknown men, who were quickly rejoined by the two who +had carried off the senator, then proceeded to ransack the chateau +from cellar to garret. They opened all closets and doors, and sounded +the walls; until five o'clock they were absolute masters of the place. +By that time the valet had managed to loosen with his teeth the rope +that bound Violette. Violette, able then to get the gag from his +mouth, began to shout for help. Hearing the shouts the five men +withdrew to the gardens, where they mounted horses closely resembling +those at Cinq-Cygne and rode away, but not so rapidly that Violette +was unable to catch sight of them. After releasing the valet, the two +ladies, and the notary, Violette mounted his pony and rode after help. +When he reached the pavilion he was amazed to see the gates open and +Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne apparently on the watch. + +Directly after the young countess had ridden off, Violette was +overtaken by Grevin and the forester of the township of Gondreville, +who had taken horses from the stables at the chateau. The porter's +wife was on her way to summon the gendarmerie from Arcis. Violette at +once informed Grevin of his meeting with Laurence and the sudden +flight of the daring girl, whose strong and decided character was +known to all of them. + +"She was keeping watch," said Violette. + +"Is it possible that those Cinq-Cygne people have done this thing?" +cried Grevin. + +"Do you mean to say you didn't recognize that stout Michu?" exclaimed +Violette. "It was he who attacked me; I knew his fist. Besides, they +rode the Cinq-Cygne horses." + +Noticing the hoof-marks on the sand of the /rond-point/ and along the +park road the notary stationed the forester at the gateway to see to +the preservation of these precious traces until the justice of peace +of Arcis (for whom he now sent Violette) could take note of them. He +himself returned hastily to the chateau, where the lieutenant and sub- +lieutenant of the Imperial gendarmerie at Arcis had arrived, +accompanied by four men and a corporal. The lieutenant was the same +man whose head Francois Michu had broken two years earlier, and who +had heard from Corentin the name of his mischievous assailant. This +man, whose name was Giguet (his brother was in the army, and became +one of the finest colonels of artillery), was an extremely able +officer of gendarmerie. Later he commanded the squadron of the Aube. +The sub-lieutenant, named Welff, had formerly driven Corentin from +Cinq-Cygne to the pavilion, and from the pavilion to Troyes. On the +way, the spy had fully informed him as to what he called the trickery +of Laurence and Michu. The two officers were therefore well inclined +to show, and did show, great eagerness against the family at Cinq- +Cygne. + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +THE CODE OF BRUMAIRE, YEAR IV. + +Malin and Grevin had both, the latter working for the former, taken +part in the construction of the Code called that of Brumaire, year +IV., the judicial work of the National Convention, so-called, and +promulgated by the Directory. Grevin knew its provisions thoroughly, +and was able to apply them in this affair with terrible celerity, +under a theory, now converted into a certainty, of the guilt of Michu +and the Messieurs de Simeuse and d'Hauteserre. No one in these days, +unless it be some antiquated magistrates, will remember this system of +justice, which Napoleon was even then overthrowing by the promulgation +of his own Codes, and by the institution of his magistracy under the +form in which it now rules France. + +The Code of Brumaire, year IV., gave to the director of the jury of +the department the duty of discovering, indicting, and prosecuting the +persons guilty of the delinquency committed at Gondreville. Remark, by +the way, that the Convention had eliminated from its judicial +vocabulary the word "crime"; /delinquencies/ and /misdemeanors/ were +alone admitted; and these were punished with fines, imprisonment, and +penalties "afflictive or infamous." Death was an afflictive +punishment. But the penalty of death was to be done away with after +the restoration of peace, and twenty-four years of hard labor were to +take its place. Thus the Convention estimated twenty-four years of +hard labor as the equivalent of death. What therefore can be said for +a code which inflicts the punishment of hard labor for life? The +system then in process of preparation by the Napoleonic Council of +State suppressed the function of the directors of juries, which united +many enormous powers. In relation to the discovery of delinquencies +and their prosecution the director of the jury was, in fact, agent of +police, public prosecutor, municipal judge, and the court itself. His +proceedings and his indictments were, however, submitted for signature +to a commissioner of the executive power and to the verdict of eight +jurymen, before whom he laid the facts of the case, and who examined +the witnesses and the accused and rendered the preliminary verdict, +called the indictment. The director was, however, in a position to +exercise such influence over the jurymen, who met in his private +office, that they could not well avoid agreeing with him. These +jurymen were called the jury of indictment. There were others who +formed the juries of the criminal tribunals whose duty it was to judge +the accused; these were called, in contradistinction to the jury of +indictment, the judgment jury. The criminal tribunal, to which +Napoleon afterwards gave the name of criminal court, was composed of +one President or chief justice, four judges, the public prosecutor, +and a government commissioner. + +Nevertheless, from 1799 to 1806 there were special courts (so-called) +which judged without juries certain misdemeanors in certain +departments; these were composed of judges taken from the civil courts +and formed into a special court. This conflict of special justice and +criminal justice gave rise to questions of competence which came +before the courts of appeal. If the department of the Aube had had a +special court, the verdict on the outrage committed on a senator of +the Empire would no doubt have been referred to it; but this tranquil +department had never needed unusual jurisdiction. Grevin therefore +despatched the sub-lieutenant to Troyes to bring the director of the +jury of that town. The emissary went at full gallop, and soon returned +in a post-carriage with the all-powerful magistrate. + +The director of the Troyes jury was formerly secretary of one of the +committees of the Convention, a friend of Malin, to whom he owed his +present place. This magistrate, named Lechesneau, had helped Malin, as +Grevin had done, in his work on the Code during the Convention. Malin +in return recommended him to Cambaceres, who appointed him attorney- +general for Italy. Unfortunately for him, Lechesneau had a liaison +with a great lady in Turin, and Napoleon removed him to avoid a +criminal trial threatened by the husband. Lechesneau, bound in +gratitude to Malin, felt the importance of this attack upon his +patron, and brought with him a captain of gendarmerie and twelve men. + +Before starting he laid his plans with the prefect, who was unable at +that late hour, it being after dark, to use the telegraph. They +therefore sent a mounted messenger to Paris to notify the minister of +police, the chief justice and the Emperor of this extraordinary crime. +In the salon of Gondreville, Lechesneau found Mesdames Marion and +Grevin, Violette, the senator's valet, and the justice of peace with +his clerk. The chateau had already been examined; the justice, +assisted by Grevin, had carefully collected the first testimony. The +first thing that struck him was the obvious intention shown in the +choice of the day and hour for the attack. The hour prevented an +immediate search for proofs and traces. At this season it was nearly +dark by half-past five, the hour at which Violette gave the alarm, and +darkness often means impunity to evil-doers. The choice of a holiday, +when most persons had gone to the masquerade at Arcis, and the senator +was comparatively alone in the house, showed an obvious intention to +get rid of witnesses. + +"Let us do justice to the intelligence of the prefecture of police," +said Lechesneau; "they have never ceased to warn us to be on our guard +against the nobles at Cinq-Cygne; they have always declared that +sooner or later those people would play us some dangerous trick." + +Sure of the active co-operation of the prefect of the Aube, who sent +messengers to all the surrounding prefectures asking them to search +for the five abductors and the senator, Lechesneau began his work by +verifying the first facts. This was soon done by the help of two such +legal heads as those of Grevin and the justice of peace. The latter, +named Pigoult, formerly head-clerk in the office where Malin and +Grevin had first studied law in Paris, was soon after appointed judge +of the municipal court at Arcis. In relation to Michu, Lechesneau knew +of the threats the man had made about the sale of Gondreville to +Marion, and the danger Malin had escaped in his own park from Michu's +gun. These two facts, one being the consequence of the other, were no +doubt the precursors of the present successful attack, and they +pointed so obviously to the late bailiff as the instigator of the +outrage that Grevin, his wife, Violette, and Madame Marion declared +that they had recognized among the five masked men one who exactly +resembled Michu. The color of the hair and whiskers and the thick-set +figure of the man made the mask he wore useless. Besides, who but +Michu could have opened the iron gates of the park with a key? The +present bailiff and his wife, now returned from the masquerade, +deposed to have locked both gates before leaving the pavilion. The +gates when examined showed no sign of being forced. + +"When we turned him off he must have taken some duplicate keys with +him," remarked Grevin. "No doubt he has been meditating a desperate +step, for he has lately sold his whole property, and he received the +money for it in my office day before yesterday." + +"The others have followed his lead!" exclaimed Lechesneau, struck with +the circumstances. "He has been their evil genius." + +Moreover, who could know as well as the Messieurs de Simeuse the ins +and outs of the chateau. None of the assailants seemed to have +blundered in their search; they had gone through the house in a +confident way which showed that they knew what they wanted to find and +where to find it. The locks of none of the opened closets had been +forced; therefore the delinquents had keys. Strange to say, however, +nothing had been taken; the motive, therefore, was not robbery. More +than all, when Violette had followed the tracks of the horses as far +as the /rond-point/, he had found the countess, evidently on guard, at +the pavilion. From such a combination of facts and depositions arose a +presumption as to the guilt of the Messieurs de Simeuse, d'Hauteserre, +and Michu, which would have been strong to unprejudiced minds, and to +the director of the jury had the force of certainty. What were they +likely to do to the future Comte de Gondreville? Did they mean to +force him to make over the estate for which Michu declared in 1799 he +had the money to pay? + +But there was another aspect of the cast to the knowing criminal +lawyer. He asked himself what could be the object of the careful +search made of the chateau. If revenge were at the bottom of the +matter, the assailants would have killed the senator. Perhaps he had +been killed and buried. The abduction, however, seemed to point to +imprisonment. But why keep their victim imprisoned after searching the +castle? It was folly to suppose that the abduction of a dignitary of +the Empire could long remain secret. The publicity of the matter would +prevent any benefit from it. + +To these suggestions Pigoult replied that justice was never able to +make out all the motives of scoundrels. In every criminal case there +were obscurities, he said, between the judge and the guilty person; +conscience had depths into which no human mind could enter unless by +the confession of the criminal. + +Grevin and Lechesneau nodded their assent, without, however, relaxing +their determination to see to the bottom of the present mystery. + +"The Emperor pardoned those young men," said Pigoult to Grevin. "He +removed their names from the list of /emigres/, though they certainly +took part in that last conspiracy against him." + +Lechesneau make no delay in sending his whole force of gendarmerie to +the forest and to the valley of Cinq-Cygne; telling Giguet to take +with him the justice of peace, who, according to the terms of the +Code, would then become an auxiliary police-officer. He ordered them +to make all preliminary inquiries in the township of Cinq-Cygne, and +to take testimony if necessary; and to save time, he dictated and +signed a warrant for the arrest of Michu, against whom the charge was +evident on the positive testimony of Violette. After the departure of +the gendarmes Lechesneau returned to the important question of issuing +warrants for the arrest of the Simeuse and d'Hauteserre brothers. +According to the Code these warrants would have to contain the charges +against the delinquents. + +Giguet and the justice of peace rode so rapidly to Cinq-Cygne that +they met Laurence's servants returning from the festivities at Troyes. +Stopped, and taken before the mayor where they were interrogated, they +all stated, being ignorant of the importance of the answer, that their +mistress had given them permission to spend the whole day at Troyes. +To a question put by the justice of the peace, each replied that +Mademoiselle had offered them the amusement which they had not thought +of asking for. This testimony seemed so important to the justice of +the peace that he sent back a messenger to Gondreville to advise +Lechesneau to proceed himself to Cinq-Cygne and arrest the four +gentlemen, while he went to Michu's farm, so that the five arrests +might be made simultaneously. + +This new element was so convincing that Lechesneau started at once for +Cinq-Cygne. He knew well what pleasure would be felt in Troyes at such +proceedings against the old nobles, the enemies of the people, now +become the enemies of the Emperor. In such circumstances a magistrate +is very apt to take mere presumptive evidence for actual proof. +Nevertheless, on his way from Gondreville to Cinq-Cygne, in the +senator's own carriage, it did occur to Lechesneau (who would +certainly have made a fine magistrate had it not been for his love- +affair, and the Emperor's sudden morality to which he owed his +disgrace) to think the audacity of the young men and Michu a piece of +folly which was not in keeping with what he knew of the judgment and +character of Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne. He imagined in his own mind +some other motives for the deed than the restitution of Gondreville. +In all things, even in the magistracy, there is what may be called the +conscience of a calling. Lechesneau's perplexities came from this +conscience, which all men put into the proper performance of the +duties they like--scientific men into science, artists into art, +judges into the rendering of justice. Perhaps for this reason judges +are really greater safeguards for persons accused of wrong-doing than +are juries. A magistrate relies only on reason and its laws; juries +are floated to and fro by the waves of sentiment. The director of the +jury accordingly set several questions before his mind, resolving to +find in their solution satisfactory reasons for making the arrests. + +Though the news of the abduction was already agitating the town of +Troyes, it was still unknown at Arcis, where the inhabitants were +supping when the messenger arrived to summon the gendarmes. No one, of +course, knew it in the village of Cinq-Cygne, the valley and the +chateau of which were now, for the second time, encircled by +gendarmes. + +Laurence had only to tell Marthe, Catherine, and the Durieus not to +leave the chateau, to be strictly obeyed. After each trip to fetch the +gold, the horses were fastened in the covered way opposite to the +breach in the moat, and from there Robert and Michu, the strongest of +the party, carried the sacks through the breach to a cellar under the +staircase in the tower called Mademoiselle's. Reaching the chateau +with the last load about half-past five o'clock, the four gentlemen +and Michu proceeded to bury the treasure in the floor of the cellar +and then to wall up the entrance. Michu took charge of the matter with +Gothard to help him; the lad was sent to the farm for some sacks of +plaster left over when the new buildings were put up, and Marthe went +with him to show him where they were. Michu, very hungry, made such +haste that by half-past seven o'clock the work was done; and he +started for home at a quick pace to stop Gothard, who had been sent +for another sack of plaster which he thought he might want. The farm +was already watched by the forester of Cinq-Cygne, the justice of +peace, his clerk and four gendarmes who, however, kept out of sight +and allowed him to enter the house without seeing them. + +Michu saw Gothard with the sack on his shoulder and called to him from +a distance: "It is all finished, my lad; take that back and stay and +dine with us." + +Michu, his face perspiring, his clothes soiled with plaster and +covered with fragments of muddy stone from the breach, reached home +joyfully and entered the kitchen where Marthe and her mother were +serving the soup in expectation of his coming. + +Just as Michu was turning the faucet of the water-pipe intending to +wash his hands, the justice of peace entered the house accompanied by +his clerk and the forester. + +"What have you come for, Monsieur Pigoult?" asked Michu. + +"In the name of the Emperor and the laws, I arrest you," replied the +justice. + +The three gendarmes entered the kitchen leading Gothard. Seeing the +silver lace on their hats Marthe and her mother looked at each other +in terror. + +"Pooh! why?" asked Michu, who sat down at the table and called to his +wife, "Give me something to eat; I'm famished." + +"You know why as well as we do," said the justice, making a sign to +his clerk to begin the /proces-verbal/ and exhibiting the warrant of +arrest. + +"Well, well, Gothard, you needn't stare so," said Michu. "Do you want +some dinner, yes or no? Let them write down their nonsense." + +"You admit, of course, the condition of your clothes?" said the +justice of peace; "and you can't deny the words you said just now to +Gothard?" + +Michu, supplied with food by his wife, who was amazed at his coolness, +was eating with the avidity of a hungry man. He made no answer to the +justice, for his mouth was full and his heart innocent. Gothard's +appetite was destroyed by fear. + +"Look here," said the forester, going up to Michu and whispering in +his ear: "What have you done with the senator? You had better make a +clean breast of it, for if we are to believe these people it is a +matter of life or death to you." + +"Good God!" cried Marthe, who overheard the last words and fell into a +chair as if annihilated. + +"Violette must have played us some infamous trick," cried Michu, +recollecting what Laurence had said in the forest. + +"Ha! so you do know that Violette saw you?" said the justice of peace. + +Michu bit his lips and resolved to say no more. Gothard imitated him. +Seeing the uselessness of all attempts to make them talk, and knowing +what the neighborhood chose to call Michu's perversity, the justice +ordered the gendarmes to bind his hands and those of Gothard, and take +them both to the chateau, whither he now went himself to rejoin the +director of the jury. + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +THE ARRESTS + +The four young men and Laurence were so hungry and the dinner so +acceptable that they would not delay it by changing their dress. They +entered the salon, she in her riding-habit, they in their white +leather breeches, high-top boots and green-cloth jackets, where they +found Monsieur d'Hauteserre and his wife, not a little uneasy at their +long absence. The goodman had noticed their goings and comings, and, +above all, their evident distrust of him, for Laurence had been unable +to get rid of him as she had of her servants. Once when his own sons +evidently avoided making any reply to his questions, he went to his +wife and said, "I am afraid that Laurence may still get us into +trouble!" + +"What sort of game did you hunt to-day?" said Madame d'Hauteserre to +Laurence. + +"Ah!" replied the young girl, laughing, "you'll hear some day what a +strange hunt your sons have joined in to-day." + +Though said in jest the words made the old lady tremble. Catherine +entered to announce dinner. Laurence took Monsieur d'Hauteserre's arm, +smiling for a moment at the necessity she thus forced upon her cousins +to offer an arm to Madame d'Hauteserre, who, according to agreement, +was now to be the arbiter of their fate. + +The Marquis de Simeuse took in Madame d'Hauteserre. The situation was +so momentous that after the Benedicite was said Laurence and the young +men trembled from the violent palpitation of their hearts. Madame +d'Hauteserre, who carved, was struck by the anxiety on the faces of +the Simeuse brothers and the great alteration that was noticeable in +Laurence's lamb-like features. + +"Something extraordinary is going on, I am sure of it!" she exclaimed, +looking at all of them. + +"To whom are you speaking?" asked Laurence. + +"To all of you," said the old lady. + +"As for me, mother," said Robert, "I am frightfully hungry, and that +is not extraordinary." + +Madame d'Hauteserre, still troubled, offered the Marquis de Simeuse a +plate intended for his brother. + +"I am like your mother," she said. "I don't know you apart even by +your cravats. I thought I was helping your brother." + +"You have helped me better than you thought for," said the youngest, +turning pale; "you have made him Comte de Cinq-Cygne." + +"What! do you mean to tell me the countess has made her choice?" cried +Madame d'Hauteserre. + +"No," said Laurence; "we left the decision to fate and you are its +instrument." + +She told of the agreement made that morning. The elder Simeuse, +watching the increasing pallor of his brother's face, was momentarily +on the point of crying out, "Marry her; I will go away and die!" Just +then, as the dessert was being served, all present heard raps upon the +window of the dining-room on the garden side. The eldest d'Hauteserre +opened it and gave entrance to the abbe, whose breeches were torn in +climbing over the walls of the park. + +"Fly! they are coming to arrest you," he cried. + +"Why?" + +"I don't know yet; but there's a warrant against you." + +The words were greeted with general laughter. + +"We are innocent," said the young men. + +"Innocent or guilty," said the abbe, "mount your horses and make for +the frontier. There you can prove your innocence. You could overcome a +sentence by default; you will never overcome a sentence rendered by +popular passion and instigated by prejudice. Remember the words of +President de Harlay, 'If I were accused of carrying off the towers of +Notre-Dame the first thing I should do would be to run away.'" + +"To run away would be to admit we were guilty," said the Marquis de +Simeuse. + +"Don't do it!" cried Laurence. + +"Always the same sublime folly!" exclaimed the abbe, in despair. "If I +had the power of God I would carry you away. But if I am found here in +this state they will turn my visit against you, and against me too; +therefore I leave you by the way I came. Consider my advice; you have +still time. The gendarmes have not yet thought of the wall which +adjoins the parsonage; but you are hemmed in on the other sides." + +The sound of many feet and the jangle of the sabres of the gendarmerie +echoed through the courtyard and reached the dining-room a few moments +after the departure of the poor abbe, whose advice had met the same +fate as that of the Marquis de Chargeboeuf. + +"Our twin existence," said the younger Simeuse, speaking to Laurence, +"is an anomaly--our love for you is anomalous; it is that very quality +which was won your heart. Possibly, the reason why all twins known to +us in history have been unfortunate is that the laws of nature are +subverted in them. In our case, see how persistently an evil fate +follows us! your decision is now postponed." + +Laurence was stupefied; the fatal words of the director of the jury +hummed in her ears:--"In the name of the Emperor and the laws, I +arrest the Sieurs Paul-Marie and Marie-Paul Simeuse, Adrien and Robert +d'Hauteserre--These gentlemen," he added, addressing the men who +accompanied him and pointing to the mud on the clothing of the +prisoners, "cannot deny that they have spent the greater part of this +day on horseback." + +"Of what are they accused?" asked Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne, +haughtily. + +"Don't you mean to arrest Mademoiselle?" said Giguet. + +"I shall leave her at liberty under bail, until I can carefully +examine the charges against her," replied the director. + +The mayor offered bail, asking the countess to merely give her word of +honor that she would not escape. Laurence blasted him with a look +which made him a mortal enemy; a tear started from her eyes, one of +those tears of rage which reveal a hell of suffering. The four +gentlemen exchanged a terrible look, but remained motionless. Monsieur +and Madame d'Hauteserre, dreading lest the young people had practised +some deceit, were in a state of indescribable stupefaction. Clinging +to their chairs these unfortunate parents, finding their sons torn +from them after so many fears and their late hopes of safety, sat +gazing before them without seeing, listening without hearing. + +"Must I ask you to bail me, Monsieur d'Hauteserre?" cried Laurence to +her former guardian, who was roused by the cry, clear and agonizing to +his ear as the sound of the last trumpet. + +He tried to wipe the tears which sprang to his eyes; he now understood +what was passing, and said to his young relation in a quivering voice, +"Forgive me, countess; you know that I am yours, body and soul." + +Lechesneau, who at first was much struck by the evident tranquillity +in which the whole party were dining, now returned to his former +opinion of their guilt as he noticed the stupefaction of the old +people and the evident anxiety of Laurence, who was seeking to +discover the nature of the trap which was set for them. + +"Gentlemen," he said, politely, "you are too well-bred to make a +useless resistance; follow me to the stables, where I must, in your +presence, have the shoes of your horses taken off; they afford +important proof of either guilt or innocence. Come, too, +mademoiselle." + +The blacksmith of Cinq-Cygne and his assistant had been summoned by +Lechesneau as experts. While the operation at the stable was going on +the justice of peace brought in Gothard and Michu. The work of +detaching the shoes of each horse, putting them together and ticketing +them, so as to compare them with the hoof-prints in the park, took +time. Lechesneau, notified of the arrival of Pigoult, left the +prisoners with the gendarmes and returned to the dining-room to +dictate the indictment. The justice of peace called his attention to +the condition of Michu's clothes and related the circumstances of his +arrest. + +"They must have killed the senator and plastered the body up in some +wall," said Pigoult. + +"I begin to fear it," answered Lechesneau. "Where did you carry that +plaster?" he said to Gothard. + +The boy began to cry. + +"The law frightens him," said Michu, whose eyes were darting flames +like those of a lion in the toils. + +The servants, who had been detained at the village by order of the +mayor, now arrived and filled the antechamber where Catherine and +Gothard were weeping. To all the questions of the director of the jury +and the justice of peace Gothard replied by sobs; and by dint of +weeping he brought on a species of convulsion which alarmed them so +much that they let him alone. The little scamp, perceiving that he was +no longer watched, looked at Michu with a grin, and Michu signified +his approval by a glance. Lechesneau left the justice of peace and +returned to the stables. + +"Monsieur," said Madame d'Hauteserre, at last, addressing Pigoult; +"can you explain these arrests?" + +"The gentlemen are accused of abducting the senator by armed force and +keeping him a prisoner; for we do not think they have murdered him--in +spite of appearances," replied Pigoult. + +"What penalties are attached to the crime?" asked Monsieur +d'Hauteserre. + +"Well, as the old law continues in force, and they are not amenable +under the Code, the penalty is death," replied the justice. + +"Death!" cried Madame d'Hauteserre, fainting away. + +The abbe now came in with his sister, who stopped to speak to +Catherine and Madame Durieu. + +"We haven't even seen your cursed senator!" said Michu. + +"Madame Marion, Madame Grevin, Monsieur Grevin, the senator's valet, +and Violette all tell another tale," replied Pigoult, with the sour +smile of magisterial conviction. + +"I don't understand a thing about it," said Michu, dumbfounded by his +reply, and beginning now to believe that his masters and himself were +entangled in some plot which had been laid against them. + +Just then the party from the stables returned. Laurence went up to +Madame d'Hauteserre, who recovered her senses enough to say: "The +penalty is death!" + +"Death!" repeated Laurence, looking at the four gentlemen. + +The word excited a general terror, of which Giguet, formerly +instructed by Corentin, took immediate advantage. + +"Everything can be arranged," he said, drawing the Marquis de Simeuse +into a corner of the dining-room. "Perhaps after all it is nothing but +a joke; you've been a soldier and soldiers understand each other. Tell +me, what have you really done with the senator? If you have killed him +--why, that's the end of it! But if you have only locked him up, +release him, for you see for yourself your game is balked. Do this and +I am certain the director of the jury and the senator himself will +drop the matter." + +"We know absolutely nothing about it," said the marquis. + +"If you take that tone the matter is likely to go far," replied the +lieutenant. + +"Dear cousin," said the Marquis de Simeuse, "we are forced to go to +prison; but do not be uneasy; we shall return in a few hours, for +there is some misunderstanding in all this which can be explained." + +"I hope so, for your sakes, gentlemen," said the magistrate, signing +to the gendarmes to remove the four gentlemen, Michu, and Gothard. +"Don't take them to Troyes; keep them in your guardhouse at Arcis," he +said to the lieutenant; "they must be present to-morrow, at daybreak, +when we compare the shoes of their horses with the hoof-prints in the +park." + +Lechesneau and Pigoult did not follow until they had closely +questioned Catherine, Monsieur and Madame d'Hauteserre, and Laurence. +The Durieus, Catherine, and Marthe declared they had only seen their +masters at breakfast-time; Monsieur d'Hauteserre said he had seen them +at three o'clock. + +When, at midnight, Laurence found herself alone with Monsieur and +Madame d'Hauteserre, the abbe and his sister, and without the four +young men who for the last eighteen months had been the life of the +chateau and the love and joy of her own life, she fell into a gloomy +silence which no one present dared to break. No affliction was ever +deeper or more complete than hers. At last a deep sigh broke the +stillness, and all eyes turned towards the sound. + +Marthe, forgotten in a corner, rose, exclaiming, "Death! They will +kill them in spite of their innocence!" + +"Mademoiselle, what is the matter with you?" said the abbe. + +Laurence left the room without replying. She needed solitude to +recover strength in presence of this terrible unforeseen disaster. + + + +CHAPTER XV + +DOUBTS AND FEARS OF COUNSEL + +At a distance of thirty-four years, during which three great +revolutions have taken place, none but elderly persons can recall the +immense excitement produced in Europe by the abduction of a senator of +the French Empire. No trial, if we except that of Trumeaux, the grocer +of the Place Saint-Michel, and that of the widow Morin, under the +Empire; those of Fualdes and de Castaing, under the Restoration; those +of Madame Lafarge and Fieschi, under the present government, ever +roused so much curiosity or so deep an interest as that of the four +young men accused of abducting Malin. Such an attack against a member +of his Senate excited the wrath of the Emperor, who was told of the +arrest of the delinquents almost at the moment when he first heard of +the crime and the negative results of the inquiries. The forest, +searched throughout, the department of the Aube, ransacked from end to +end, gave not the slightest indication of the passage of the Comte de +Gondreville nor of his imprisonment. Napoleon sent for the chief +justice, who, after obtaining certain information from the ministry of +police, explained to his Majesty the position of Malin in regard to +the Simeuse brothers and the Gondreville estate. The Emperor, at that +time pre-occupied with serious matters, considered the affair +explained by these anterior facts. + +"Those young men are fools," he said. "A lawyer like Malin will escape +any deed they may force him to sign under violence. Watch those +nobles, and discover the means they take to set the Comte de +Gondreville at liberty." + +He ordered the affair to be conducted with the utmost celerity, +regarding it as an attack on his own institutions, a fatal example of +resistance to the results of the Revolution, an effort to open the +great question of the sales of "national property," and a hindrance to +that fusion of parties which was the constant object of his home +policy. Besides all this, he thought himself tricked by these young +nobles, who had given him their promise to live peaceably. + +"Fouche's prediction has come true," he cried, remembering the words +uttered two years earlier by his present minister of police, who said +them under the impressions conveyed to him by Corentin's report as to +the character and designs of Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne. + +It is impossible for persons living under a constitutional government, +where no one really cares for that cold and thankless, blind, deaf +Thing called public interest, to imagine the zeal which a mere word of +the Emperor was able to inspire in his political or administrative +machine. That powerful will seemed to impress itself as much upon +things as upon men. His decision once uttered, the Emperor, overtaken +by the coalition of 1806, forgot the whole matter. He thought only of +new battles to fight, and his mind was occupied in massing his +regiments to strike the great blow at the heart of the Prussian +monarchy. His desire for prompt justice in the present case found +powerful assistance in the great uncertainty which affected the +position of all magistrates of the Empire. Just at this time +Cambaceres, as arch-chancellor, and Regnier, chief justice, were +preparing to organize /tribunaux de premiere instance/ (lower civil +courts), imperial courts, and a court of appeal or supreme court. They +were agitating the question of a legal garb or costume; to which +Napoleon attached, and very justly, so much importance in all official +stations; and they were also inquiring into the character of the +persons composing the magistracy. Naturally, therefore, the officials +of the department of the Aube considered they could have no better +recommendation than to give proofs of their zeal in the matter of the +abduction of the Comte de Gondreville. Napoleon's suppositions became +certainties to these courtiers and also to the populace. + +Peace still reigned on the continent; admiration for the Emperor was +unanimous in France; he cajoled all interests, persons, vanities, and +things, in short, everything, even memories. This attack, therefore, +directed against his senator, seemed in the eyes of all an assault +upon the public welfare. The luckless and innocent gentlemen were the +objects of general opprobrium. A few nobles living quietly on their +estates deplored the affair among themselves but dared not open their +lips; in fact, how was it possible for them to oppose the current of +public opinion. Throughout the department the deaths of the eleven +persons killed by the Simeuse brothers in 1792 from the windows of the +hotel Cinq-Cygne were brought up against them. It was feared that +other returned and now emboldened /emigres/ might follow this example +of violence against those who had bought their estates from the +"national domain," as a method of protesting against what they might +call an unjust spoliation. + +The unfortunate young nobles were therefore considered as robbers, +brigands, murderers; and their connection with Michu was particularly +fatal to them. Michu, who was declared, either he or his father-in- +law, to have cut off all the heads that fell under the Terror in that +department, was made the subject of ridiculous tales. The exasperation +of the public mind was all the more intense because nearly all the +functionaries of the department owed their offices to Malin. No +generous voice uplifted itself against the verdict of the public. +Besides all this, the accused had no legal means with which to combat +prejudice; for the Code of Brumaire, year IV., giving as it did both +the prosecution of a charge and the verdict upon it into the hands of +a jury, deprived the accused of the vast protection of an appeal +against legal suspicion. + +The day after the arrest all the inhabitants of the chateau of Cinq- +Cygne, both masters and servants, were summoned to appear before the +prosecuting jury. Cinq-Cygne was left in charge of a farmer, under the +supervision of the abbe and his sister who moved into it. Mademoiselle +de Cinq-Cygne, with Monsieur and Madame d'Hauteserre, went to Troyes +and occupied a small house belonging to Durieu in one of the long and +wide faubourgs which lead from the little town. Laurence's heart was +wrung when she at last comprehended the temper of the populace, the +malignity of the bourgeoisie, and the hostility of the administration, +from the many little events which happened to them as relatives of +prisoners accused of criminal wrong-doing and about to be judged in a +provincial town. Instead of hearing encouraging or compassionate words +they heard only speeches which called for vengeance; proofs of hatred +surrounded them in place of the strict politeness or the reserve +required by mere decency; but above all they were conscious of an +isolation which every mind must feel, but more particularly those +which are made distrustful by misfortune. + +Laurence, who had recovered her vigor of mind, relied upon the +innocence of the accused, and despised the community too much to be +frightened by the stern and silent disapproval they met with +everywhere. She sustained the courage of Monsieur and Madame +d'Hauteserre, all the while thinking of the judicial struggle which +was now being hurried on. She was, however, to receive a blow she +little expected, which, undoubtedly, diminished her courage. + +In the midst of this great disaster, at the moment when this afflicted +family were made to feel themselves, as it were, in a desert, a man +suddenly became exalted in Laurence's eyes and showed the full beauty +of his character. The day after the indictment was found by the jury, +and the prisoners were finally committed for trial, the Marquis de +Chargeboeuf courageously appeared, still in the same old caleche, to +support and protect his young cousin. Foreseeing the haste with which +the law would be administered, this chief of a great family had +already gone to Paris and secured the services of the most able as +well as the most honest lawyer of the old school, named Bordin, who +was for ten years counsel of the nobility in Paris, and was ultimately +succeeded by the celebrated Derville. This excellent lawyer chose for +his assistant the grandson of a former president of the parliament of +Normandy, whose studies had been made under his tuition. This young +lawyer, who was destined to be appointed deputy-attorney-general in +Paris after the conclusion of the present trial, became eventually one +of the most celebrated of French magistrates. Monsieur de Grandville, +for that was his name, accepted the defence of the four young men, +being glad of an opportunity to make his first appearance as an +advocate with distinction. + +The old marquis, alarmed at the ravages which troubles had wrought in +Laurence's appearance, was charmingly kind and considerate. He made no +allusion to his neglected advice; he presented Bordin as an oracle +whose counsel must be followed to the letter, and young de Grandville +as a defender in whom the utmost confidence might be placed. + +Laurence held out her hand to the kind old man, and pressed his with +an eagerness which delighted him. + +"You were right," she said. + +"Will you now take my advice?" he asked. + +The young countess bowed her head in assent, as did Monsieur and +Madame d'Hauteserre. + +"Well, then, come to my house; it is in the middle of town, close to +the courthouse. You and your lawyers will be better off there than +here, where you are crowded and too far from the field of battle. +Here, you would have to cross the town twice a day." + +Laurence, accepted, and the old man took her with Madame d'Hauteserre +to his house, which became the home of the Cinq-Cygne household and +the lawyers of the defence during the whole time the trial lasted. +After dinner, when the doors were closed, Bordin made Laurence relate +every circumstance of the affair, entreating her to omit nothing, not +the most trifling detail. Though many of the facts had already been +told to him and his young assistant by the marquis on their journey +from Paris to Troyes, Bordin listened, his feet on the fender, without +obtruding himself into the recital. The young lawyer, however, could +not help being divided between his admiration for Mademoiselle de +Cinq-Cygne, and the attention he was bound to give to the facts of his +case. + +"Is that really all?" asked Bordin when Laurence had related the +events of the drama just as the present narrative has given them up to +the present time. + +"Yes," she answered. + +Profound silence reigned for several minutes in the salon of the +Chargeboeuf mansion where this scene took place,--one of the most +important which occur in life. All cases are judged by the counsellors +engaged in them, just as the death or life or a patient is foreseen by +a physician, before the final struggle which the one sustains against +nature, the other against law. Laurence, Monsieur and Madame +d'Hauteserre, and the marquis sat with their eyes fixed on the swarthy +and deeply pitted face of the old lawyer, who was now to pronounce the +words of life or death. Monsieur d'Hauteserre wiped the sweat from his +brow. Laurence looked at the younger man and noted his saddened face. + +"Well, my dear Bordin?" said the marquis at last, holding out his +snuffbox, from which the old lawyer took a pinch in an absent-minded +way. + +Bordin rubbed the calf of his leg, covered with thick stockings of +black raw silk, for he always wore black cloth breeches and a coat +made somewhat in the shape of those which are now termed /a la +Francaise/. He cast his shrewd eyes upon his clients with an anxious +expression, the effect of which was icy. + +"Must I analyze all that?" he said; "am I to speak frankly?" + +"Yes; go on, monsieur," said Laurence. + +"All that you have innocently done can be converted into proof against +you," said the old lawyer. "We cannot save your friends; we can only +reduce the penalty. The sale which you induced Michu to make of his +property will be taken as evident proof of your criminal intentions +against the senator. You sent your servants to Troyes so that you +might be alone; that is all the more plausible because it is actually +true. The elder d'Hauteserre made an unfortunate speech to Beauvisage, +which will be your ruin. You yourself, mademoiselle, made another in +your own courtyard, which proves that you have long shown ill-will to +the possessor of Gondreville. Besides, you were at the gate of the +/rond-point/, apparently on the watch, about the time when the +abduction took place; if they have not arrested you, it is solely +because they fear to bring a sentimental element into the affair." + +"The case cannot be successfully defended," said Monsieur de +Grandville. + +"The less so," continued Bordin, "because we cannot tell the whole +truth. Michu and the Messieurs de Simeuse and d'Hauteserre must hold +to the assertion that you merely went for an excursion into the forest +and returned to Cinq-Cygne for luncheon. Allowing that we can show you +were in the house at three o'clock (the exact hour at which the attack +was made), who are our witnesses? Marthe, the wife of one of the +accused, the Durieus, and Catherine, your own servants, and Monsieur +and Madame d'Hauteserre, father and mother of two of the accused. Such +testimony is valueless; the law does not admit it against you, and +commonsense rejects it when given in your favor. If, on the other +hand, you were to say you went to the forest to recover eleven hundred +thousand francs in gold, you would send the accused to the galleys as +robbers. Judge, jury, audience, and the whole of France would believe +that you took that gold from Gondreville, and abducted the senator +that you might ransack his house. The accusation as it now stands is +not wholly clear, but tell the truth about the matter and it would +become as plain as day; the jury would declare that the robbery +explained the mysterious features,--for in these days, you must +remember, a royalist means a thief. This very case is welcomed as a +legitimate political vengeance. The prisoners are now in danger of the +death penalty; but that is not dishonoring under some circumstances. +Whereas, if they can be proved to have stolen money, which can never +be made to seem excusable, you lose all benefit of whatever interest +may attach to persons condemned to death for other crimes. If, at the +first, you had shown the hiding-places of the treasure, the plan of +the forest, the tubes in which the gold was buried, and the gold +itself, as an explanation of your day's work, it is possible you might +have been believed by an impartial magistrate, but as it is we must be +silent. God grant that none of the prisoners may reveal the truth and +compromise the defence; if they do, we must rely on our cross- +examinations." + +Laurence wrung her hands in despair and raised her eyes to heaven with +a despondent look, for she saw at last in all its depths the gulf into +which her cousins had fallen. The marquis and the young lawyer agreed +with the dreadful view of Bordin. Old d'Hauteserre wept. + +"Ah! why did they not listen to the Abbe Goujet and fly!" cried Madame +d'Hauteserre, exasperated. + +"If they could have escaped, and you prevented them," said Bordin, +"you have killed them yourselves. Judgment by default gains time; time +enables the innocent to clear themselves. This is the most mysterious +case I have ever known in my life, in the course of which I have +certainly seen and known many strange things." + +"It is inexplicable to every one, even to us," said Monsieur de +Grandville. "If the prisoners are innocent some one else has committed +the crime. Five persons do not come to a place as if by enchantment, +obtain five horses shod precisely like those of the accused, imitate +the appearance of some of them, and put Malin apparently underground +for the sole purpose of casting suspicion on Michu and the four +gentlemen. The unknown guilty parties must have had some strong reason +for wearing the skin, as it were, of five innocent men. To discover +them, even to get upon their traces, we need as much power as the +government itself, as many agents and as many eyes as there are +townships in a radius of fifty miles." + +"The thing is impossible," said Bordin. "There's no use thinking of +it. Since society invented law it has never found a way to give an +innocent prisoner an equal chance against a magistrate who is pre- +disposed against him. Law is not bilateral. The defence, without spies +or police, cannot call social power to the rescue of its innocent +clients. Innocence has nothing on her side but reason, and reasoning +which may strike a judge is often powerless on the narrow minds of +jurymen. The whole department is against you. The eight jurors who +have signed the indictment are each and all purchasers of national +domain. Among the trial jurors we are certain to have some who have +either sold or bought the same property. In short, we can get nothing +but a Malin jury. You must therefore set up a consistent defence, hold +fast to it, and perish in your innocence. You will certainly be +condemned. But there's a court of appeal; we will go there and try to +remain there as long as possible. If in the mean time we can collect +proofs in your favor you must apply for pardon. That's the anatomy of +the business, and my advice. If we triumph (for everything is possible +in law) it will be a miracle; but your advocate Monsieur de Grandville +is the most likely man among all I know to produce that miracle, and +I'll do my best to help him." + +"The senator has the key to the mystery," said Monsieur de Grandville; +"for a man knows his enemies and why they are so. Here we find him +leaving Paris at the close of the winter, coming to Gondreville alone, +shutting himself up with his notary, and delivering himself over, as +one might say, to five men who seize him." + +"Certainly," said Bordin, "his conduct seems inexplicable. But how +could we, in the face of a hostile community, become accusers when we +ourselves are the accused? We should need the help and good-will of +the government and a thousand times more proof than is wanted in +ordinary circumstances. I am convinced there was premeditation, and +subtle premeditation, on the part of our mysterious adversaries, who +must have known the situation of Michu and the Messieurs de Simeuse +towards Malin. Not to utter one word; not to steal one thing!-- +remarkable prudence! I see something very different from ordinary +evil-doers behind those masks. But what would be the use of saying so +to the sort of jurors we shall have to face?" + +This insight into hidden matters which gives such power to certain +lawyers and certain magistrates astonished and confounded Laurence; +her heart was wrung by that inexorable logic. + +"Out of every hundred criminal cases," continued Bordin, "there are +not ten where the law really lays bare the truth to its full extent; +and there is perhaps a good third in which the truth is never brought +to light at all. Yours is one of those cases which are inexplicable to +all parties, to accused and accusers, to the law and to the public. As +for the Emperor, he has other fish to fry than to consider the case of +these gentlemen, supposing even that they had not conspired against +him. But who the devil /is/ Malin's enemy? and what has really been +done with him?" + +Bordin and Monsieur de Grandville looked at each other; they seemed in +doubt as to Laurence's veracity. This evident suspicion was the most +cutting of all the many pangs the girl had suffered in the affair; and +she turned upon the lawyers a look which effectually put an end to +their distrust. + +The next day the indictment was handed over to the defence, and the +lawyers were then enabled to communicate with the prisoners. Bordin +informed the family that the six accused men were "well supported,"-- +using a professional term. + +"Monsieur de Grandville will defend Michu," said Bordin. + +"Michu!" exclaimed the Marquis de Chargeboeuf, amazed at the change. + +"He is the pivot of the affair--the danger lies there," replied the +old lawyer. + +"If he is more in danger than the others, I think that is just," cried +Laurence. + +"We see certain chances," said Monsieur de Grandville, "and we shall +study them carefully. If we are able to save these gentlemen it will +be because Monsieur d'Hauteserre ordered Michu to repair one of the +stone posts in the covered way, and also because a wolf has been seen +in the forest; in a criminal court everything depends on discussions, +and discussions often turn on trivial matters which then become of +immense importance." + +Laurence sank into that inward dejection which humiliates the soul of +all thoughtful and energetic persons when the uselessness of thought +and action is made manifest to them. It was no longer a matter of +overthrowing a usurper, or of coming to the help of devoted friends,-- +fanatical sympathies wrapped in a shroud of mystery. She now saw all +social forces full-armed against her cousins and herself. There was no +taking a prison by assault with her own hands, no deliverance of +prisoners from the midst of a hostile population and beneath the eyes +of a watchful police. So, when the young lawyer, alarmed at the stupor +of the generous and noble girl, which the natural expression of her +face made still more noticeable, endeavored to revive her courage, she +turned to him and said: "I must be silent; I suffer,--I wait." + +The accent, gesture, and look with which the words were said made this +answer one of those sublime things which only need a wider stage to +make them famous. + +A few moments later old d'Hauteserre was saying to the Marquis de +Chargeboeuf: "What efforts I have made for my two unfortunate sons! I +have already laid by in the Funds enough to give them eight thousand +francs a year. If they had only been willing to serve in the army they +would have reached the higher grades by this time, and could now have +married to advantage. Instead of that, all my plans are scattered to +the winds!" + +"How can you," said his wife, "think of their interests when it is a +question of their honor and their lives?" + +"Monsieur d'Hauteserre thinks of everything," said the marquis. + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +MARTHE INVEIGLED + +While the masters of Cinq-Cygne were waiting at Troyes for the opening +of the trial before the Criminal court and vainly soliciting +permission to see the prisoners, an event of the utmost importance had +taken place at the chateau. + +Marthe returned to Cinq-Cygne as soon as she had given her testimony +before the indicting jury. This testimony was so insignificant that it +was not thought necessary to summon her before the Criminal court. +Like all persons of extreme sensibility, the poor woman sat silent in +the salon, where she kept company with Mademoiselle Goujet, in a +pitiable state of stupefaction. To her, as to the abbe, and indeed to +all others who did not know how the accused had been employed on that +day, their innocence seemed doubtful. There were moments when Marthe +believed that Michu and his masters and Laurence had executed +vengeance on the senator. The unhappy woman now knew Michu's devotion +well enough to be certain that he was the one who would be most in +danger, not only because of his antecedents, but because of the part +he was sure to have taken in the execution of the scheme. + +The Abbe Goujet and his sister and Marthe were bewildered among the +possibilities to which this opinion gave rise; and yet, in the process +of thinking them over, their minds insensibly took hold of them in a +certain way. The absolute doubt which Descartes demands can no more +exist in the brain of a man than a vacuum can exist in nature, and the +mental operation required to produce it would, like the effect of a +pneumatic machine, be exceptional and anomalous. Whatever a case may +be, the mind believes in something. Now Marthe was so afraid that the +accused were guilty that her fear became equivalent to belief; and +this condition of her mind proved fatal to her. + +Five days after the arrests, just as she was in the act of going to +bed about ten o'clock at night, she was called from the courtyard by +her mother, who had come from the farm on foot. + +"A laboring man from Troyes wants to speak to you; he is sent by +Michu, and is waiting in the covered way," she said to Marthe. + +They passed through the breach so as to take the shortest path. In the +darkness it was impossible for Marthe to distinguish anything more +than the form of a person which loomed through the shadows. + +"Speak, madame; so that I may be certain you are really Madame Michu," +said the person, in a rather anxious voice. + +"I am Madame Michu," said Marthe; "what do you want of me?" + +"Very good," said the unknown, "give me your hand; do not fear me. I +come," he added, leaning towards her and speaking low, "from Michu +with a note for you. I am employed at the prison, and if my superiors +discover my absence we shall all be lost. Trust me; your good father +placed me where I am. For that reason Michu counted on my helping +him." + +He put the letter into Marthe's hand and disappeared toward the forest +without waiting for an answer. Marthe trembled at the thought that she +was now to hear the secret of the mystery. She ran to the farm with +her mother and shut herself up to read the following letter:-- + + My dear Marthe,--You can rely on the discretion of the man who + will give you this letter; he does not know how to read or to + write. He is a stanch Republican, and shared in Baboeuf's + conspiracy; your father often made use of him, and he regards the + senator as a traitor. Now, my dear wife, attend to my directions. + The senator has been shut up by us in the cave where our masters + were hidden. The poor creature had provisions for only five days, + and as it is our interest that he should live, I wish you, as soon + as you receive this letter, to take him food for at least five + days more. The forest is of course watched; therefore take as many + precautions as we formerly did for our young masters. Don't say a + word to Malin; don't speak to him; and put on one of our masks + which you will find on the steps which lead down to the cave. + Unless you wish to compromise our heads you must be absolutely + silent about this letter and the secret I have now confided to + you. Don't say a word to Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne, who might + tell of it. Don't fear for me. We are certain that the matter will + turn out well; when the time comes Malin himself will save us. I + don't need to tell you to burn this letter as soon as you have + read it, for it would cost me my head if a line of it were seen. I + kiss you for now and always, + +Michu. + + +The existence of the cave was known only to Marthe, her son, Michu, +the four gentlemen, and Laurence; or rather, Marthe, to whom her +husband had not related the incident of his meeting with Peyrade and +Corentin, believed it was known only to them. Had she consulted her +mistress and the two lawyers, who knew the innocence of the prisoners, +the shrewd Bordin would have gained some light upon the perfidious +trap which was evidently laid for his clients. But Marthe, acting like +most women under a first impulse, was convinced by this proof which +came to her own eyes, and flung the letter into the fire as directed. +Nevertheless, moved by a singular gleam of caution, she caught a +portion of it from the flames, tore off the five first lines, which +compromised no one, and sewed them into the hem of her dress. +Terrified at the thought that the prisoner had been without food for +twenty-four hours, she resolved to carry bread, meat, and wine to him +at once; curiosity was well as humanity permitting no delay. +Accordingly, she heated her oven and made, with her mother's help, a +/pate/ of hare and ducks, a rice cake, roasted two fowls, selected +three bottles of wine, and baked two loaves of bread. About two in the +morning she started for the forest, carrying the load on her back, +accompanied by Couraut, who in all such expeditions showed wonderful +sagacity as a guide. He scented strangers at immense distances, and as +soon as he was certain of their presence he returned to his mistress +with a low growl, looking at her fixedly and turning his muzzle in the +direction of the danger. + +Marthe reached the pond about three in the morning, and left the dog +as sentinel on the bank. After half an hour's labor in clearing the +entrance she came with a dark lantern to the door of the cave, her +face covered with a mask, which she had found, as directed, on the +steps. The imprisonment of the senator seemed to have been long +premeditated. A hole about a foot square, which Marthe had never seen +before, was roughly cut in the upper part of the iron door which +closed the cave; but in order to prevent Malin from using the time and +patience all prisoners have at their command in loosening the iron bar +which held the door, it was securely fastened with a padlock. + +The senator, who had risen from his bed of moss, sighed when he saw +the masked face and felt that there was no chance then of his +deliverance. He examined Marthe, as much as he could by the unsteady +light of her dark lantern, and he recognized her by her clothes, her +stoutness, and her motions. When she passed the /pate/ through the +door he dropped it to seize her hand and then, with great swiftness, +he tried to pull the rings from her fingers,--one her wedding-ring, +the other a gift from Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne. + +"You cannot deny that it is you, my dear Madame Michu," he said. + +Marthe closed her fist the moment she felt his fingers, and gave him a +vigorous blow in the chest. Then, without a word, she turned away and +cut a stick, at the end of which she held out to the senator the rest +of the provisions. + +"What do they want of me?" he asked. + +Marthe departed giving him no answer. By five o'clock she had reached +the edge of the forest and was warned by Couraut of the presence of +strangers. She retraced her steps and made for the pavilion where she +had lived so long; but just as she entered the avenue she was seen +from afar by the forester of Gondreville, and she quickly reflected +that her best plan was to go straight up to him. + +"You are out early, Madame Michu," he said, accosting her. + +"We are so unfortunate," she replied, "that I am obliged to do a +servant's work myself. I am going to Bellache for some grain." + +"Haven't you any at Cinq-Cygne?" said the forester. + +Marthe made no answer. She continued on her way and reached the farm +at Bellache, where she asked Beauvisage to give her some seed-grain, +saying that Monsieur d'Hauteserre advised her to get it from him to +renew her crop. As soon as Marthe had left the farm, the forester went +there to find out what she asked for. + +Six days later, Marthe, determined to be prudent, went at midnight +with her provisions so as to avoid the keepers who were evidently +patrolling the forest. After carrying a third supply to the senator +she suddenly became terrified on hearing the abbe read aloud the +public examination of the prisoners,--for the trial was by that time +begun. She took the abbe aside, and after obliging him to swear that +he would keep the secret she was about to reveal as though it was said +to him in the confessional, she showed him the fragments of Michu's +letter, told him the contents of it, and also the secret of the +hiding-place where the senator then was. + +The abbe at once inquired if she had other letters from her husband +that he might compare the writing. Marthe went to her home to fetch +them and there found a summons to appear in court. By the time she +returned to the chateau the abbe and his sister had received a similar +summons on behalf of the defence. They were obliged therefore to start +for Troyes immediately. Thus all the personages of our drama, even +those who were only, as it were, supernumeraries, were collected on +the spot where the fate of the two families was about to be decided. + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +THE TRIAL + +There are but few localities in France where Law derives from outward +appearance the dignity which ought always to accompany it. Yet it +surely is, after religion and royalty, the greatest engine of society. +Everywhere, even in Paris, the meanness of its surroundings, the +wretched arrangement of the courtrooms, their barrenness and want of +decoration in the most ornate and showy nation upon earth in the +matter of its public monuments, lessens the action of the law's mighty +power. At the farther end of some oblong room may be seen a desk with +a green baize covering raised on a platform; behind it sit the judges +on the commonest of arm-chairs. To the left, is the seat of the public +prosecutor, and beside him, close to the wall, is a long pen filled +with chairs for the jury. Opposite to the jury is another pen with a +bench for the prisoners and the gendarmes who guard them. The clerk of +the court sits below the platform at a table covered with the papers +of the case. Before the imperial changes in the administration of +justice were instituted, a commissary of the government and the +director of the jury each had a seat and a table, one to the right, +the other to the left of the baize-covered desk. Two sheriffs hovered +about in the space left in front of the desk for the station of +witnesses. Facing the judges and against the wall above the entrance, +there is always a shabby gallery reserved for officials and for women, +to which admittance is granted only by the president of the court, to +whom the proper management of the courtroom belongs. The non- +privileged public are compelled to stand in the empty space between +the door of the hall and the bar. This normal appearance of all French +law courts and assize-rooms was that of the Criminal court of Troyes. + +In April, 1806, neither the four judges nor the president (or chief- +justice) who made up the court, nor the public prosecutor, the +director of the jury, the commissary of the government, nor the +sheriffs or lawyers, in fact no one except the gendarmes, wore any +robes or other distinctive sign which might have relieved the +nakedness of the surroundings and the somewhat meagre aspect of the +figures. The crucifix was suppressed; its example was no longer held +up before the eyes of justice and of guilt. All was dull and vulgar. +The paraphernalia so necessary to excite social interest is perhaps a +consolation to criminals. On this occasion the eagerness of the public +was what it has ever been and ever will be in trials of this kind, so +long as France refuses to recognize that the admission of the public +to the courts involves publicity, and that the publicity given to +trials is a terrible penalty which would never have been inflicted had +legislators reflected on it. Customs are often more cruel than laws. +Customs are the deeds of men, but laws are the judgment of a nation. +Customs in which there is often no judgment are stronger than laws. + +Crowds surrounded the courtroom; the president was obliged to station +squads of soldiers to guard the doors. The audience, standing below +the bar, was so crowded that persons suffocated. Monsieur de +Grandville, defending Michu, Bordin, defending the Simeuse brothers, +and a lawyer of Troyes who appeared for the d'Hauteserres, were in +their seats before the opening of the court; their faces wore a look +of confidence. When the prisoners were brought in, sympathetic murmurs +were heard at the appearance of the young men, whose faces, in twenty +days' imprisonment and anxiety, had somewhat paled. The perfect +likeness of the twins excited the deepest interest. Perhaps the +spectators thought that Nature would exercise some special protection +in the case of her own anomalies, and felt ready to join in repairing +the harm done to them by destiny. Their noble, simple faces, showing +no signs of shame, still less of bravado, touched the women's hearts. +The four gentlemen and Gothard wore the clothes in which they had been +arrested; but Michu, whose coat and trousers were among the "articles +of testimony," so-called, had put on his best clothes,--a blue +surtout, a brown velvet waistcoat /a la/ Robespierre, and a white +cravat. The poor man paid the penalty of his dangerous-looking face. +When he cast a glance of his yellow eye, so clear and so profound upon +the audience, a murmur of repulsion answered it. The assembly chose to +see the finger of God bringing him to the dock where his father-in-law +had sacrificed so many victims. This man, truly great, looked at his +masters, repressing a smile of scorn. He seemed to say to them, "I am +injuring your cause." Five of the prisoners exchanged greetings with +their counsel. Gothard still played the part of an idiot. + +After several challenges, made with much sagacity by the defence under +advice of the Marquis de Chargeboeuf, who boldly took a seat beside +Bordin and de Grandville, the jury were empanelled, the indictment was +read, and the prisoners were brought up separately to be examined. +They answered every question with remarkable unanimity. After riding +about the forest all the morning they had returned to Cinq-Cygne for +breakfast at one o'clock. After that meal, from three to half-past +five in the afternoon, they had returned to the forest. That was the +basis of each testimony; any variations were merely individual +circumstances. When the president asked the Messieurs de Simeuse why +they had ridden out so early, they both declared that wishing, since +their return, to buy back Gondreville and intending to make an offer +to Malin who had arrived the night before, they had gone out early +with their cousin and Michu to make certain examinations of the +property on which to base their offer. During that time the Messieurs +d'Hauteserre, their cousin, and Gothard had chased a wolf which was +reported in the forest by the peasantry. If the director of the jury +had sought for the prints of their horses' feet in the forest as +carefully as in the park of Gondreville, he would have found proof of +their presence at long distances from the house. + +The examination of the Messieurs d'Hauteserre corroborated this +testimony, and was in harmony with their preliminary dispositions. The +necessity of some reason for their ride suggested to each of them the +excuse of hunting. The peasants had given warning, a few days earlier, +of a wolf in the forest, and on that they had fastened as a pretext. + +The public prosecutor, however, pointed out a discrepancy between the +first statements of the Messieurs d'Hauteserre, in which they +mentioned that the whole party hunted together, and the defence now +made by the Messieurs de Simeuse that their purpose on that day was +the valuation of the forest. + +Monsieur de Grandville here called attention to the fact that as the +crime was not committed until after two o'clock in the afternoon, the +prosecution had no ground to question their word when they stated the +manner in which they had employed their morning. + +The prosecutor replied that the prisoners had an interest in +concealing their preparations for the abduction of the senator. + +The remarkable ability of the defence was now felt. Judges, jurors, +and audience became aware that victory would be hotly contested. +Bordin and Monsieur de Grandville had studied their ground and +foreseen everything. Innocence is required to render a clear and +plausible account of its actions. The duty of the defence is to +present a consistent and probable tale in opposition to an +insufficient and improbable accusation. To counsel who regard their +client as innocent, an accusation is false. The public examination of +the four gentlemen sufficiently explained the matter in their favor. +So far all was well. But the examination of Michu was more serious; +there the real struggle began. It was now clear to every one why +Monsieur de Grandville had preferred to take charge of the servant's +defence rather than that of his masters. + +Michu admitted his threats against Marion; but denied that he had made +them violently. As for the ambush in which he was supposed to have +watched for his enemy, he said he was merely making his rounds in his +park; the senator and Monsieur Grevin might perhaps have been alarmed +at the sight of his gun and have thought his intentions hostile when +they were really inoffensive. He called attention to the fact that in +the dusk a man who was not in the habit of hunting might easily fancy +a gun was pointed at him, whereas, in point of fact, it was held in +his hand at half-cock. To explain the condition of his clothes when +arrested, he said he had slipped and fallen in the breach on his way +home. "I could scarcely see my way," he said, "and the loose stones +slipped from under me as I climbed the bank." As for the plaster which +Gothard was bringing him, he replied as he had done in all previous +examinations, that he wanted it to secure one of the stone posts of +the covered way. + +The public prosecutor and the president asked him to explain how he +could have been at the top of the covered way engaged in mending a +stone post and at the same time in the breach of the moat leading to +the chateau; more especially as the justice of peace, the gendarmes +and the forester all declared they had heard him approach them from +the lower road. To this Michu replied that Monsieur d'Hauteserre had +blamed him for not having mended the post,--which he was anxious to +have finished because there were difficulties about that road with the +township,--and he had therefore gone up to the chateau to report that +the work was done. + +Monsieur d'Hauteserre had, in fact, put up a fence above the covered +way to prevent the township from taking possession of it. Michu seeing +the important part which the state of his clothes was likely to play, +invented this subterfuge. If, in law, truth is often like falsehood, +falsehood on the other hand has a very great resemblance to truth. The +defence and the prosecution both attached much importance to this +testimony, which became one of the leading points of the trial on +account of the vigor of the defence and the suspicions of the +prosecution. + +Gothard, instructed no doubt by Monsieur de Grandville, for up to that +time he had only wept when they questioned him, admitted that Michu +had told him to carry the plaster. + +"Why did neither you nor Gothard take the justice of peace and the +forester to the stone post and show them your work?" said the public +prosecutor, addressing Michu. + +"Because," replied the man, "I didn't believe there was any serious +accusation against us." + +All the prisoners except Gothard were now removed from the courtroom. +When Gothard was left alone the president adjured him to speak the +truth for his own sake, pointing out that his pretended idiocy had +come to an end; none of the jurors believed him imbecile; if he +refused to answer the court he ran the risk of serious penalty; +whereas by telling the truth at once he would probably be released. +Gothard wept, hesitated, and finally ended by saying that Michu had +told him to carry several sacks of plaster; but that each time he had +met him near the farm. He was asked how many sacks he had carried. + +"Three," he replied. + +An argument hereupon ensued as to whether the three sacks included the +one which Gothard was carrying at the time of the arrest (which +reduced the number of the other sacks to two) or whether there were +three without the last. The debate ended in favor of the first +proposition, the jury considering that only two sacks had been used. +They appeared to have a foregone conviction on that point, but Bordin +and Monsieur de Grandville judged it best to surfeit them with +plaster, and weary them so thoroughly with the argument that they +would no longer comprehend the question. Monsieur de Grandville made +it appear that experts ought to have been sent to examine the stone +posts. + +"The director of the jury," he said, "has contented himself with +merely visiting the place, less for the purpose of making a careful +examination than to trap Michu in a lie; this, in our opinion, was a +failure of duty, but the blunder is to our advantage." + +On this the Court appointed experts to examine the posts and see if +one of them had been really mended and reset. The public prosecutor, +on his side, endeavored to make capital of the affair before the +experts could testify. + +"You seem to have chosen," he said to Michu, who was now brought back +into the courtroom, "an hour when the daylight was waning, from half- +past five to half-past six o'clock, to mend this post and to cement it +all alone." + +"Monsieur d'Hauteserre had blamed me for not doing it," replied Michu. + +"But," said the prosecutor, "if you used that plaster on the post you +must have had a trough and a trowel. Now, if you went to the chateau +to tell Monsieur d'Hauteserre that you had done the work, how do you +explain the fact that Gothard was bringing you more plaster. You must +have passed your farm on your way to the chateau, and you would +naturally have left your tools at home and stopped Gothard." + +This overwhelming argument produced a painful silence in the +courtroom. + +"Come," said the prosecutor, "you had better admit at once that what +you buried was /not a stone post/." + +"Do you think it was the senator?" said Michu, sarcastically. + +Monsieur de Grandville hereupon demanded that the public prosecutor +should explain his meaning. Michu was accused of abduction and the +concealment of a person, but not of murder. Such an insinuation was a +serious matter. The code of Brumaire, year IV., forbade the public +prosecutor from presenting any fresh count at the trial; he must keep +within the indictment or the proceedings would be annulled. + +The public prosecutor replied that Michu, the person chiefly concerned +in the abduction and who, in the interests of his masters, had taken +the responsibility on his own shoulders, might have thought it +necessary to plaster up the entrance of the hiding-place, still +undiscovered, where the senator was now immured. + +Pressed with questions, hampered by the presence of Gothard, and +brought into contradiction with himself, Michu struck his fist upon +the edge of the dock with a resounding blow and said: "I have had +nothing whatever to do with the abduction of the senator. I hope and +believe his enemies have merely imprisoned him; when he reappears +you'll find out that the plaster was put to no such use." + +"Good!" said de Grandville, addressing the public prosecutor; "you +have done more for my client's cause than anything I could have said." + +The first day's session ended with this bold declaration, which +surprised the judges and gave an advantage to the defence. The lawyers +of the town and Bordin himself congratulated the young advocate. The +prosecutor, uneasy at the assertion, feared that he had fallen into +some trap; in fact he was really caught in a snare that was cleverly +set for him by the defence and admirably played off by Gothard. The +wits of the town declared that he had white-washed the affair and +splashed his own cause, and had made the accused as white as the +plaster itself. France is the domain of satire, which reigns supreme +in our land; Frenchmen jest on a scaffold, at the Beresina, at the +barricades, and some will doubtless appear with a quirk upon their +lips at the grand assizes of the Last Judgment. + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +TRIAL CONTINUED: CRUEL VICISSITUDES + +On the morrow the witnesses for the prosecution were examined,--Madame +Marion, Madame Grevin, Grevin himself, the senator's valet, and +Violette, whose testimony can readily be imagined from the facts +already told. They all identified the five prisoners, with more or +less hesitation as to the four gentlemen, but with absolute certainty +as to Michu. Beauvisage repeated Robert d'Hauteserre's speech when he +met them at daybreak in the park. The peasant who had bought Monsieur +d'Hauteserre's calf testified to overhearing that of Mademoiselle de +Cinq-Cygne. The experts, who had compared the hoof-prints with the +shoes on the horses ridden by the five prisoners and found them +absolutely alike, confirmed their previous depositions. This point was +naturally one of vehement contention between Monsieur de Grandville +and the prosecuting officer. The defence called the blacksmith at +Cinq-Cygne and succeeded in proving that he had sold several +horseshoes of the same pattern to strangers who were not known in the +place. The blacksmith declared, moreover, that he was in the habit of +shoeing in this particular manner not only the horses of the chateau +de Cinq-Cygne, but those from other places in the canton. It was also +proved that the horse which Michu habitually rode was always shod at +Troyes, and the mark of that shoe was not among the hoof-prints found +in the park. + +"Michu's double was not aware of this circumstance, or he would have +provided for it," said Monsieur de Grandville, looking at the jury. +"Neither has the prosecution shown what horses our clients rode." + +He ridiculed the testimony of Violette so far as it concerned a +recognition of the horses, seen from a long distance, from behind, and +after dusk. Still, in spite of all his efforts, the body of the +evidence was against Michu; and the prosecutor, judge, jury, and +audience were impressed with a feeling (as the lawyers for the defence +had foreseen) that the guilt of the servant carried with it that of +the masters. So the vital interest centred on all that concerned +Michu. His bearing was noble. He showed in his answers the sagacity +with which nature had endowed him; and the public, seeing him on his +mettle, recognized his superiority. And yet, strange to say, the more +they understood him the more certainty they felt that he was the +instigator of the outrage. + +The witnesses for the defence, always less important in the eyes of a +jury and of the law than the witnesses for the prosecution, seemed to +testify as in duty bound, and were listened to with that allowance. In +the first place neither Marthe, nor Monsieur and Madame d'Hauteserre +took the oath. Catherine and the Durieus, in their capacity as +servants, did not take it. Monsieur d'Hauteserre stated that he had +ordered Michu to replace and mend the stone post which had been thrown +down. The deposition of the experts sent to examine the fence, which +was now read, confirmed his testimony; but they helped the prosecution +by declaring they could not fix the exact time at which the repairs +had been made; it might have been several weeks or no more than twenty +days. + +The appearance of Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne excited the liveliest +curiosity; but the sight of her cousins in the prisoners' dock after +three weeks' separation affected her so much that her emotions gave +the audience an impression of guilt. She felt an overwhelming desire +to stand beside the twins, and was obliged, as she afterwards +admitted, to use all her strength to repress the longing that came +into her mind to kill the prosecutor so as to stand in the eyes of the +world as a criminal beside them. She testified, with simplicity, that +riding from Cinq-Cygne and seeing smoke in the park of Gondreville, +she had supposed there was a fire; at first she thought they were burning +weeds or brush; "but later," she added, "I observed a circumstance +which I offer to the attention of the Court. I found in the frogging +of my habit and in the folds of my collar small fragments of what +appeared to be burned paper which were floating in the air." + +"Was there much smoke?" asked Bordin. + +"Yes," replied Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne, "I feared a conflagration." + +"This is enough to change the whole inquiry," remarked Bordin. "I +request the Court to order an immediate examination of that region of +the park where the fire occurred." + +The president ordered the inquiry. + +Grevin, recalled by the defence and questioned on this circumstance, +declared he knew nothing about it. But Bordin and he exchanged looks +which mutually enlightened them. + +"The gist of the case is there," thought the old notary. + +"They've laid their finger on it," thought the notary. + +But each shrewd head considered the following up of this point +useless. Bordin reflected that Grevin would be silent as the grave; +and Grevin congratulated himself that every sign of the fire had been +effaced. + +To settle this point, which seemed a mere accessory to the trial and +somewhat puerile (but which is really essential in the justification +which history owes to these young men), the experts and Pigoult, who +were despatched by the president to examine the park, reported that +they could find no traces of a bonfire. + +Bordin summoned two laborers, who testified to having dug over, under +the direction of the forester, a tract of ground in the park where the +grass had been burned; but they declared they had not observed the +nature of the ashes they had buried. + +The forester, recalled by the defence, said he had received from the +senator himself, as he was passing the chateau of Gondreville on his +way to the masquerade at Arcis, an order to dig over that particular +piece of ground which the senator had remarked as needing it. + +"Had papers, or herbage been burned there?" + +"I could not say. I saw nothing that made me think that papers had +been burned there," replied the forester. + +"At any rate," said Bordin, "if, as it appears, a fire was kindled on +that piece of ground some one brought to the spot whatever was burned +there." + +The testimony of the abbe and that of Mademoiselle Goujet made a +favorable impression. They said that as they left the church after +vespers and were walking towards home, they met the four gentlemen and +Michu leaving the chateau on horseback and making their way to the +forest. The character, position, and known uprightness of the Abbe +Goujet gave weight to his words. + +The summing up of the public prosecutor, who felt sure of obtaining a +verdict, was in the nature of all such speeches. The prisoners were +the incorrigible enemies of France, her institutions and laws. They +thirsted for tumult and conspiracy. Though they had belonged to the +army of Conde and had shared in the late attempts against the life of +the Emperor, that magnanimous sovereign had erased their names from +the list of /emigres/. This was the return they made for his clemency! +In short, all the oratorical declamations of the Bourbons against the +Bonapartists, which in our day are repeated against the republicans +and the legitimists by the Younger Branch, flourished in the speech. +These trite commonplaces, which might have some meaning under a fixed +government, seem farcical in the mouth of administrators of all epochs +and opinions. A saying of the troublous times of yore is still +applicable: "The label is changed, but the wine is the same as ever." +The public prosecutor, one of the most distinguished legal men under +the Empire, attributed the crime to a fixed determination on the part +of returned /emigres/ to protest against the sale of their estates. He +made the audience shudder at the probable condition of the senator; +then he massed together proofs, half-proofs, and probabilities with a +cleverness stimulated by a sense that his zeal was certain of its +reward, and sat down tranquilly to await the fire of his opponents. + +Monsieur de Grandville never argued but this one criminal case; and it +made his reputation. In the first place, he spoke with the same +glowing eloquence which to-day we admire in Berryer. He was profoundly +convinced of the innocence of his clients, and that in itself is a +most powerful auxiliary of speech. The following are the chief points +of his defence, which was reported in full by all the leading +newspapers of the period. In the first place he exhibited the +character and life of Michu in its true light. He made it a noble +tale, ringing with lofty sentiments, and it awakened the sympathies of +many. When Michu heard himself vindicated by that eloquent voice, +tears sprang from his yellow eyes and rolled down his terrible face. +He appeared then for what he really was,--a man as simple and as wily +as a child; a being whose whole existence had but one thought, one +aim. He was suddenly explained to the minds of all present, more +especially by his tears, which produced a great effect upon the jury. +His able defender seized that moment of strong interest to enter upon +a discussion of the charges:-- + +"Where is the body of the person abducted? Where is the senator?" he +asked. "You accuse us of walling him up with stones and plaster. If +so, we alone know where he is; you have kept us twenty-three days in +prison, and the senator must be dead by this time for want of food. We +are therefore murderers, but you have not accused us of murder. On the +other hand, if he still lives, we must have accomplices. If we have +them, and if the senator is living, we should assuredly have set him +at liberty. The scheme in relation to Gondreville which you attribute +to us is a failure, and only aggravates our position uselessly. We +might perhaps obtain a pardon for an abortive attempt by releasing our +victim; instead of that we persist in detaining a man from whom we can +obtain no benefit whatever. It is absurd! Take away your plaster; the +effect is a failure," he said, addressing the public prosecutor. "We +are either idiotic criminals (which you do not believe) or the +innocent victims of circumstances as inexplicable to us as they are to +you. You ought rather to search for the mass of papers which were +burned at Gondreville, which will reveal motives stronger far than +yours or ours and put you on the track of the causes of this +abduction." + +The speaker discussed these hypotheses with marvellous ability. He +dwelt on the moral character of the witnesses for the defence, whose +religious faith was a living one, who believed in a future life and in +eternal punishment. He rose to grandeur in this part of his speech and +moved his hearers deeply:-- + +"Remember!" he said; "these criminals were tranquilly dining when told +of the abduction of the senator. When the officer of gendarmes +intimated to them the best means of ending the whole affair by giving +up the senator, they refused, for they did not understand what was +asked of them!" + +Then, reverting to the mystery of the matter, he declared that its +solution was in the hands of time, which would eventually reveal the +injustice of the charge. Once on this ground, he boldly and +ingeniously supposed himself a juror; related his deliberations with +his colleagues; imagined his distress lest, having condemned the +innocent, the error should be known too late, and drew such a picture +of his remorse, dwelling on the grave doubts which the case presented, +that he brought the jury to a condition of intense anxiety. + +Juries were not in those days so blase to this sort of allocution as +they are now; Monsieur de Grandville's appeal had the power of things +new, and the jurors were evidently shaken. After this passionate +outburst they had to listen to the wily and specious prosecutor, who +went over the whole case, brought out the darkest points against the +prisoners and made the rest inexplicable. His aim was to reach the +minds and the reasoning faculties of his hearers just as Monsieur de +Grandville had aimed at the heart and the imagination. The latter, +however, had seriously entangled the convictions of the jury, and the +public prosecutor found his well-laid arguments ineffectual. This was +so plain that the counsel for the Messieurs d'Hauteserre and Gothard +appealed to the judgment of the jury, asking that the case against +their clients be abandoned. The prosecutor demanded a postponement +till the next day in order that he might prepare an answer. Bordin, +who saw acquittal in the eyes of the jury if they deliberated on the +case at once, opposed the delay of even one night by arguments of +legal right and justice to his innocent clients; but in vain,--the +court allowed it. + +"The interests of society are as great as those of the accused," said +the president. "The court would be lacking in equity if it denied a +like request when made by the defence; it ought therefore to grant +that of the prosecution." + +"All is luck or ill-luck!" said Bordin to his clients when the session +was over. "Almost acquitted tonight you may be condemned to-morrow." + +"In either case," said the elder de Simeuse, "we can only admire your +skill." + +Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne's eyes were full of tears. After the doubts +and fears of the counsel for the defence, she had not expected this +success. Those around her congratulated her and predicted the +acquittal of her cousins. But alas! the matter was destined to end in +a startling and almost theatrical event, the most unexpected and +disastrous circumstance which ever changed the face of a criminal +trial. + +At five in the morning of the day after Monsieur de Grandville's +speech, the senator was found on the high road to Troyes, delivered +from captivity during his sleep, unaware of the trial that was going +on or of the excitement attaching to his name in Europe, and simply +happy in being once more able to breathe the fresh air. The man who +was the pivot of the drama was quite as amazed at what was now told to +him as the persons who met him on his way to Troyes were astounded at +his reappearance. A farmer lent him a carriage and he soon reached the +house of the prefect at Troyes. The prefect notified the director of +the jury, the commissary of the government, and the public prosecutor, +who, after a statement made to them by Malin, arrested Marthe, while +she was still in bed at the Durieu's house in the suburbs. +Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne, who was only at liberty under bail, was +also snatched from one of the few hours of slumber she had been able +to obtain at rare intervals in the course of her ceaseless anxiety, +and taken to the prefecture to undergo an examination. An order to +keep the accused from holding any communication with each other or +with their counsel was sent to the prison. At ten o'clock the crowd +which assembled around the courtroom were informed that the trial was +postponed until one o'clock in the afternoon of the same day. + +This change of hour, following on the news of the senator's +deliverance, Marthe's arrest, and that of Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne, +together with the denial of the right to communicate with the +prisoners carried terror to the hotel de Chargeboeuf. The whole town +and the spectators who had come to Troyes to be present at the trial, +the short-hand writers for the daily journals, even the populace were +in a ferment which can readily be imagined. The Abbe Goujet came at +ten o'clock to see Monsieur and Madame d'Hauteserre and the counsel +for the defence, who were breakfasting--as well as they could under +the circumstances. The abbe took Bordin and Monsieur Grandville apart, +told them what Marthe had confided to him the day before, and gave +them the fragment of the letter she had received. The two lawyers +exchanged a look, after which Bordin said to the abbe: "Not a word of +all this! The case is lost; but at any rate let us show a firm front." + +Marthe was not strong enough to evade the cross-questioning of the +director of the jury and the public prosecutor. Moreover the proof +against her was too overwhelming. Lechesneau had sent for the under +crust of the last loaf of bread she had carried to the cavern, also +for the empty bottles and various other articles. During the senator's +long hours of captivity he had formed conjectures in his own mind and +had looked for indications which might put him on the track of his +enemies. These he now communicated to the authorities. Michu's +farmhouse, lately built, had, he supposed, a new oven; the tiles or +bricks on which the bread was baked would show their jointed lines on +the bottom of the loaves, and thus afford a proof that the bread +supplied to him was baked on that particular oven. So with the wine +brought in bottles sealed with green wax, which would probably be +found identical with other bottles in Michu's cellar. These shrewd +observations, which Malin imparted to the justice of peace, who made +the first examination (taking Marthe with him), led to the results +foreseen by the senator. + +Marthe, deceived by the apparent friendliness of Lechesneau and the +public prosecutor, who assured her that complete confession could +alone save her husband's life, admitted that the cavern where the +senator had been hidden was known only to her husband and the +Messieurs de Simeuse and d'Hauteserre, and that she herself had taken +provisions to the senator on three separate occasions at midnight. + +Laurence, questioned about the cavern, was forced to acknowledge that +Michu had discovered it and had shown it to her at the time when the +four young men evaded the police and were hidden in it. + +As soon as these preliminary examinations were ended, the jury, +lawyers, and audience were notified that the trial would be resumed. +At three o'clock the president opened the session by announcing that +the case would be continued under a new aspect. He exhibited to Michu +three bottles of wine and asked him if he recognized them as bottles +from his own cellar, showing him at the same time the identity between +the green wax on two empty bottles with the green wax on a full bottle +taken from his cellar that morning by the justice of peace in presence +of his wife. Michu refused to recognize anything as his own. But these +proofs for the prosecution were understood by the jurors, to whom the +president explained that the empty bottles were found in the place +where the senator was imprisoned. + +Each prisoner was questioned as to the cavern or cellar beneath the +ruins of the old monastery. It was proved by all witnesses for the +prosecution, and also for the defence, that the existence of this +hiding-place discovered by Michu was known only to him and his wife, +and to Laurence and the four gentlemen. We may judge of the effect in +the courtroom when the public prosecutor made known the fact that this +cavern, known only to the accused and to their two witnesses, was the +place where the senator had been imprisoned. + +Marthe was summoned. Her appearance caused much excitement among the +spectators and keen anxiety to the prisoners. Monsieur de Grandville +rose to protest against the testimony of a wife against her husband. +The public prosecutor replied that Marthe by her own confession was an +accomplice in the outrage; that she had neither sworn nor testified, +and was to be heard solely in the interests of truth. + +"We need only submit her preliminary examination to the jury," +remarked the president, who now ordered the clerk of the court to read +the said testimony aloud. + +"Do you now confirm your own statement?" said the president, +addressing Marthe. + +Michu looked at his wife, and Marthe, who saw her fatal error, fainted +away and fell to the floor. It may be truly said that a thunderbolt +had fallen upon the prisoners and their counsel. + +"I never wrote to my wife from prison, and I know none of the persons +employed there," said Michu. + +Bordin passed to him the fragments of the letter Marthe had received. +Michu gave but one glance at it. "My writing has been imitated," he +said. + +"Denial is your last resource," said the public prosecutor. + +The senator was introduced into the courtroom with all the ceremonies +due to his position. His entrance was like a stage scene. Malin (now +called Comte de Gondreville, without regard to the feelings of the +late owners of the property) was requested by the president to look at +the prisoners, and did so with great attention and for a long time. He +stated that the clothing of his abductors was exactly like that worn +by the four gentlemen; but he declared that the trouble of his mind +had been such that he could not be positive that the accused were +really the guilty parties. + +"More than that," he said, "it is my conviction that these four +gentlemen had nothing to do with it. The hands that blindfolded me in +the forest were coarse and rough. I should rather suppose," he added, +looking at Michu, "that my old enemy took charge of that duty; but I +beg the gentlemen of the jury not to give too much weight to this +remark. My suspicions are very slight, and I feel no certainty +whatever--for this reason. The two men who seized me put me on +horseback behind the man who blindfolded me, and whose hair was red +like Michu's. However singular you may consider the observation I am +about to make, it is necessary to make it because it is the ground of +an opinion favorable to the accused--who, I hope, will not feel +offended by it. Fastened to the man's back I would naturally have been +affected by his odor--yet I did not perceive that which is peculiar to +Michu. As to the person who brought me provisions on three several +occasions, I am certain it was Marthe, the wife of Michu. I recognized +her the first time she came by a ring she always wore, which she had +forgotten to remove. The Court and jury will please allow for the +contradictions which appear in the facts I have stated, which I myself +am wholly unable to reconcile." + +A murmur of approval followed this testimony. Bordin asked permission +of the Court to address a few questions to the witness. + +"Does the senator think that his abduction was due to other causes +than the interests respecting property which the prosecution +attributes to the prisoners?" + +"I do," replied the senator, "but I am wholly ignorant of what the +real motives were; for during a captivity of twenty days I saw and +heard no one." + +"Do you think," said the public prosecutor, "that your chateau at +Gondreville contains information, title-deeds, or other papers of +value which would induce a search on the part of the Messieurs de +Simeuse?" + +"I do not think so," replied Malin; "I believe those gentlemen to be +incapable of attempting to get possession of such papers by violence. +They had only to ask me for them to obtain them." + +"You burned certain papers in the park, did you not?" said Monsieur de +Gondreville, abruptly. + +Malin looked at Grevin. After exchanging a rapid glance with the +notary, which Bordin intercepted, he replied that he had not burned +any papers. The public prosecutor having asked him to describe the +ambush to which he had so nearly fallen a victim two years earlier, +the senator replied that he had seen Michu watching him from the fork +of a tree. This answer, which agreed with Grevin's testimony, produced +a great impression. + +The four gentlemen remained impassible during the examination of their +enemy, who seemed determined to overwhelm them with generosity. +Laurence suffered horrible agony. From time to time the Marquis de +Chargeboeuf held her by the arm, fearing she might dart forward to the +rescue. The Comte de Gondreville retired from the courtroom and as he +did so he bowed to the four gentlemen, who did not return the +salutation. This trifling matter made the jury indignant. + +"They are lost now," whispered Bordin to the Marquis de Chargeboeuf. + +"Alas, yes! and always through the nobility of their sentiments," +replied the marquis. + +"My task is now only too easy, gentlemen," said the prosecutor, rising +to address the jury. + +He explained the use of the cement by the necessity of securing an +iron frame on which to fasten a padlock which held the iron bar with +which the gate of the cavern was closed; a description of which was +given in the /proces-verbal/ made that morning by Pigoult. He put the +falsehoods of the accused into the strongest light, and pulverized the +arguments of the defence with the new evidence so miraculously +obtained. In 1806 France was still too near the Supreme Being of 1793 +to talk about divine justice; he therefore spared the jury all +reference to the intervention of heaven; but he said that earthly +justice would be on the watch for the mysterious accomplices who had +set the senator at liberty, and he sat down, confidently awaiting the +verdict. + +The jury believed there was a mystery, but they were all persuaded +that it came from the prisoners, who were probably concealing some +matter of a private interest of great importance to them. + +Monsieur de Grandville, to whom a plot or machination of some kind was +quite evident, rose; but he seemed discouraged,--less, however, by the +new evidence than by the manifest opinion of the jury. He surpassed, +if anything, his speech of the previous evening; his argument was more +compact and logical; but he felt his fervor repelled by the coldness +of the jury; he spoke ineffectually, and he knew it,--a chilling +situation for an advocate. He called attention to the fact that the +release of the senator, as if by magic and clearly without the aid of +any of the accused or of Marthe, corroborated his previous argument. +Yesterday the prisoners could most surely rely on acquittal, and if +they had, as the prosecution claimed, the power to hold or to release +the senator, they certainly would not have released him until after +their acquittal. He endeavored to bring before the minds of the Court +and jury the fact that mysterious enemies, undiscovered as yet, could +alone have struck the accused this final blow. + +Strange to say, the only minds Monsieur de Grandville reached with +this argument were those of the public prosecutor and the judges. The +jury listened perfunctorily; the audience, usually so favorable to +prisoners, were convinced of their guilt. In a court of justice the +sentiments of the crowd do unquestionably weigh upon the judges and +the jury, and /vice versa/. Seeing this condition of the minds about +him, which could be felt if not defined, the counsel uttered his last +words in a tone of passionate excitement caused by his conviction:-- + +"In the name of the accused," he cried, "I forgive you for the fatal +error you are about to commit, and which nothing can repair! We are +the victims of some mysterious and Machiavellian power. Marthe Michu +was inveigled by vile perfidy. You will discover this too late, when +the evil you now do will be irreparable." + +Bordin simply claimed the acquittal of the prisoners on the testimony +of the senator himself. + +The president summed up the case with all the more impartiality +because it was evident that the minds of the jurors were already made +up. He even turned the scales in favor of the prisoners by dwelling on +the senator's evidence. This clemency, however, did not in the least +endanger the success of the prosecution. At eleven o'clock that night, +after the jury had replied through their foreman to the usual +questions, the Court condemned Michu to death, the Messieurs de +Simeuse to twenty-four years' and the Messieurs d'Hauteserre to ten +years, penal servitude at hard labor. Gothard was acquitted. + +The whole audience was eager to observe the bearing of the five guilty +men in this supreme moment of their lives. The four gentlemen looked +at Laurence, who returned them, with dry eyes, the ardent look of the +martyrs. + +"She would have wept had we been acquitted," said the younger de +Simeuse to his brother. + +Never did convicted men meet an unjust fate with serener brows or +countenances more worthy of their manhood than these five victims of a +cruel plot. + +"Our counsel has forgiven you," said the eldest de Simeuse to the +Court. + +***** + +Madame d'Hauteserre fell ill, and was three months in her bed at the +hotel de Chargeboeuf. Monsieur d'Hauteserre returned patiently to +Cinq-Cygne, inwardly gnawed by one of those sorrows of old age which +have none of youth's distractions; often he was so absent-minded that +the abbe, who watched him, knew the poor father was living over again +the scene of the fatal verdict. Marthe passed away from all blame; she +died three weeks after the condemnation of her husband, confiding her +son to Laurence, in whose arms she died. + +The trial once over, political events of the utmost importance effaced +even the memory of it, and nothing further was discovered. Society is +like the ocean; it returns to its level and its specious calmness +after a disaster, effacing all traces of it in the tide of its eager +interests. + +Without her natural firmness of mind and her knowledge of her cousins' +innocence, Laurence would have succumbed; but she gave fresh proof of +the grandeur of her character; she astonished Monsieur de Grandville +and Bordin by the apparent serenity which these terrible misfortunes +called forth in her noble soul. She nursed Madame d'Hauteserre and +went daily to the prison, saying openly that she would marry one of +the cousins when they were taken to the galleys. + +"To the galleys!" cried Bordin, "Mademoiselle! our first endeavor must +be to wring their pardon from the Emperor." + +"Their pardon!--/from a Bonaparte/?" cried Laurence in horror. + +The spectacles of the old lawyer jumped from his nose; he caught them +as they fell and looked at the young girl who was now indeed a woman; +he understood her character at last in all its bearings; then he took +the arm of the Marquis de Chargeboeuf, saying:-- + +"Monsieur le Marquis, let us go to Paris instantly and save them +without her!" + +The appeal of the Messieurs de Simeuse and d'Hauteserre and that of +Michu was the first case to be brought before the new court. Its +decision was fortunately delayed by the ceremonies attending its +installation. + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +THE EMPEROR'S BIVOUAC + +Towards the end of September, after three sessions of the Court of +Appeals in which the lawyers for the defence pleaded, and the +attorney-general Merlin himself spoke for the prosecution, the appeal +was rejected. The Imperial Court of Paris was by this time instituted. +Monsieur de Grandville was appointed assistant attorney-general, and +the department of the Aube coming under the jurisdiction of this +court, it became possible for him to take certain steps in favor of +the convicted prisoners, among them that of importuning Cambaceres, +his protector. Bordin and Monsieur de Chargeboeuf came to his house in +the Marais the day after the appeal was rejected, where they found him +in the midst of his honeymoon, for he had married in the interval. In +spite of all these changes in his condition, Monsieur de Chargeboeuf +saw very plainly that the young lawyer was faithful to his late +clients. Certain lawyers, the artists of their profession, treat their +causes like mistresses. This is rare, however, and must not be +depended on. + +As soon as they were alone in his study, Monsieur de Grandville said +to the marquis: "I have not waited for your visit; I have already +employed all my influence. Don't attempt to save Michu; if you do, you +cannot obtain the pardon of the Messieurs de Simeuse. The law will +insist on one victim." + +"Good God!" cried Bordin, showing the young magistrate the three +petitions for mercy; "how can I take upon myself to withdraw the +application for that man. If I suppress the paper I cut off his head." + +He held out the petition; de Grandville took it, looked it over, and +said:-- + +"We can't suppress it; but be sure of one thing, if you ask all you +will obtain nothing." + +"Have we time to consult Michu?" asked Bordin. + +"Yes. The order for execution comes from the office of the attorney- +general; I will see that you have some days. We kill men," he said +with some bitterness, "but at least we do it formally, especially in +Paris." + +Monsieur de Chargeboeuf had already received from the chief justice +certain information which added weight to these sad words of Monsieur +de Grandville. + +"Michu is innocent, I know," continued the young lawyer, "but what can +we do against so many? Remember, too, that my present influence +depends on my keeping silent. I must order the scaffold to be +prepared, or my late client is certain to be beheaded." + +Monsieur de Chargeboeuf knew Laurence well enough to be certain she +would never consent to save her cousins at the expense of Michu; he +therefore resolved on making one more effort. He asked an audience of +the minister of foreign affairs to learn if salvation could be looked +for through the influence of the great diplomat. He took Bordin with +him, for the latter knew the minister and had done him some service. +The two old men found Talleyrand sitting with his feet stretched out, +absorbed in contemplation of his fire, his head resting on his hand, +his elbow on the table, a newspaper lying at his feet. The minister +had just read the decision of the Court of Appeals. + +"Pray sit down, Monsieur le marquis," said Talleyrand, "and you, +Bordin," he added, pointing to a place at the table, "write as +follows:--" + + Sire,--Four innocent gentlemen, declared guilty by a jury have + just had their condemnation confirmed by your Court of Appeals. + + Your Imperial Majesty can now only pardon them. These gentlemen + ask this pardon of your august clemency, in the hope that they may + enter your army and meet their death in battle before your eyes; + and thus praying, they are, of your Imperial and Royal Majesty, + with reverence, etc. + +"None but princes can do such prompt and graceful kindness," said the +Marquis de Chargeboeuf, taking the precious draft of the petition from +the hands of Bordin that he might have it signed by the four +gentlemen; resolving in his own mind that he would also obtain the +signatures of several august names. + +"The life of your young relatives, Monsieur le marquis," said the +minister, "now depends on the turn of a battle. Endeavor to reach the +Emperor on the morning after a victory and they are saved." + +He took a pen and himself wrote a private and confidential letter to +the Emperor, and another of ten lines to Marechal Duroc. Then he rang +the bell, asked his secretary for a diplomatic passport, and said +tranquilly to the old lawyer, "What is your honest opinion of that +trial?" + +"Do you know, monseigneur, who was at the bottom of this cruel wrong?" + +"I presume I do; but I have reasons to wish for certainty," replied +Talleyrand. "Return to Troyes; bring me the Comtesse de Cinq-Cygne, +here, to-morrow at the same hour, but secretly; ask to be ushered into +Madame de Talleyrand's salon; I will tell her you are coming. If +Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne, who shall be placed where she can see a +man who will be standing before me, recognizes that man as an +individual who came to her house during the conspiracy of de Polignac +and Riviere, tell her to remember that, no matter what I say or what +he answers me, she must not utter a word nor make a gesture. One thing +more, think only of saving the de Simeuse brothers; don't embarrass +yourself with that scoundrel of a bailiff--" + +"A sublime man, monseigneur!" exclaimed Bordin. + +"Enthusiasm! in you, Bordin! The man must be remarkable. Our sovereign +has an immense self-love, Monsieur le marquis," he said, changing the +conversation. "He is about to dismiss me that he may commit follies +without warning. The Emperor is a great soldier who can change the +laws of time and distance, but he cannot change men; yet he persists +in trying to run them in his own mould! Now, remember this; the young +men's pardon can be obtained by one person only--Mademoiselle de Cinq- +Cygne." + +The marquis went alone to Troyes and told the whole matter to +Laurence. She obtained permission from the authorities to see Michu, +and the marquis accompanied her to the gates of the prison, where he +waited for her. When she came out her face was bathed in tears. + +"Poor man!" she said; "he tried to kneel to me, praying that I would +not think of him, and forgetting the shackles that were on his feet! +Ah, marquis, I /will/ plead his cause. Yes, I'll kiss the boot of +their Emperor. If I fail--well, the memory of that man shall live +eternally honored in our family. Present his petition for mercy so as +to gain time; meantime I am resolved to have his portrait. Come, let +us go." + +The next day, when Talleyrand was informed by a sign agreed upon that +Laurence was at her post, he rang the bell; his orderly came to him, +and received orders to admit Monsieur Corentin. + +"My friend, you are a very clever fellow," said Talleyrand, "and I +wish to employ you." + +"Monsiegneur--" + +"Listen. In serving Fouche you will get money, but never honor nor any +position you can acknowledge. But in serving me, as you have lately +done at Berlin, you can win credit and repute." + +"Monseigneur is very good." + +"You displayed genius in that late affair at Gondreville." + +"To what does Monseigneur allude?" said Corentin, with a manner that +was neither too reserved nor too surprised. + +"Ah, Monsieur!" observed the minister, dryly, "you will never make a +successful man; you fear--" + +"What, monseigneur?" + +"Death!" replied Talleyrand, in his fine, deep voice. "Adieu, my good +friend." + +"That is the man," said the Marquis de Chargeboeuf entering the room +after Corentin was dismissed; "but we have nearly killed the +countess." + +"He is the only man I know capable of playing such a trick," replied +the minister. "Monsieur le marquis, you are in danger of not +succeeding in your mission. Start ostensibly for Strasburg; I'll send +you double passports in blank to be filled out. Provide yourself with +substitutes; change your route and above all your carriage; let your +substitutes go on to Strasburg, and do you reach Prussia through +Switzerland and Bavaria. Not a word--prudence! The police are against +you; and you do not know what the police are--" + +Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne offered the then celebrated Robert Lefebvre +a sufficient sum to induce him to go to Troyes and take Michu's +portrait. Monsieur de Grandville promised to afford the painter every +possible facility. Monsieur de Chargeboeuf then started in the old +/berlingot/, with Laurence and a servant who spoke German. Not far +from Nancy they overtook Mademoiselle Goujet and Gothard, who had +preceded them in an excellent carriage, which the marquis took, giving +them in exchange the /berlingot/. + +Talleyrand was right. At Strasburg the commissary-general of police +refused to countersign the passport of the travellers, and gave them +positive orders to return. By that time the marquis and Laurence were +leaving France by way of Besancon with the diplomatic passport. + +Laurence crossed Switzerland in the first days of October, without +paying the slightest attention to that glorious land. She lay back in +the carriage in the torpor which overtakes a criminal on the eve of +his execution. To her eyes all nature was shrouded in a seething +vapor; even common things assumed fantastic shapes. The one thought, +"If I do not succeed they will kill themselves," fell upon her soul +with reiterated blows, as the bar of the executioner fell upon the +victim's members when tortured on the wheel. She felt herself +breaking; she lost her energy in this terrible waiting for the cruel +moment, short and decisive, when she should find herself face to face +with that man on whom the fate of the condemned depended. She chose to +yield to her depression rather than waste her strength uselessly. The +marquis, who was incapable of understanding this resolve of firm +minds, which often assumes quite diverse aspects (for in such moments +of tension certain superior minds give way to surprising gaiety), +began to fear that he might never bring Laurence alive to the +momentous interview, solemn to them only, and yet beyond the ordinary +limits of private life. To Laurence, the necessity of humiliating +herself before that man, the object of her hatred and contempt, meant +the sacrifice of all her noblest feelings. + +"After this," she said, "the Laurence who survives will bear no +likeness to her who is now to perish." + +The travellers could not fail to be aware of the vast movement of men +and material which surrounded them the moment they entered Prussia. +The campaign of Jena had just begun. Laurence and the marquis beheld +the magnificent divisions of the French army deploying and parading as +if at the Tuileries. In this display of military power, which can be +adequately described only with the words and images of the Bible, the +proportions of the Man whose spirit moved these masses grew gigantic +to Laurence's imagination. Soon, the cry of victory resounded in her +ears. The Imperial arms had just obtained two signal advantages. The +Prince of Prussia had been killed the evening before the day on which +the travellers arrived at Saalfeld on their endeavor to overtake +Napoleon, who was marching with the rapidity of lightning. + +At last, on the 13th of October (date of ill-omen) Mademoiselle de +Cinq-Cygne was skirting a river in the midst of the Grand Army, seeing +nought but confusion, sent hither and thither from one village to +another, from division to division, frightened at finding herself +alone with one old man tossed about in an ocean of a hundred and fifty +thousand armed men facing a hundred and fifty thousand more. Weary of +watching the river through the hedges of the muddy road which she was +following along a hillside, she asked its name of a passing soldier. + +"That's the Saale," he said, showing her the Prussian army, grouped in +great masses on the other side of the stream. + +Night came on. Laurence beheld the camp-fires lighted and the glitter +of stacked arms. The old marquis, whose courage was chivalric, drove +the horses himself (two strong beasts bought the evening before), his +servant sitting beside him. He knew very well he should find neither +horses nor postilions within the lines of the army. Suddenly the bold +equipage, an object of great astonishment to the soldiers, was stopped +by a gendarme of the military gendarmerie, who galloped up to the +carriage, calling out to the marquis: "Who are you? where are you +going? what do you want?" + +"The Emperor," replied the Marquis de Chargeboeuf; "I have an +important dispatch for the Grand-marechal Duroc." + +"Well, you can't stay here," said the gendarme. + +Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne and the marquis were, however, compelled to +remain where they were on account of the darkness. + +"Where are we?" she asked, stopping two officers whom she saw passing, +whose uniforms were concealed by cloth overcoats. + +"You are among the advanced guard of the French army," answered one of +the officers. "You cannot stay here, for if the enemy makes a movement +and the artillery opens you will be between two fires." + +"Ah!" she said, with an indifferent air. + +Hearing that "Ah!" the other officer turned and said: "How did that +woman come here?" + +"We are waiting," said Laurence, "for a gendarme who has gone to find +General Duroc, a protector who will enable us to speak to the +Emperor." + +"Speak to the Emperor!" exclaimed the first officer; "how can you +think of such a thing--on the eve of a decisive battle?" + +"True," she said; "I ought to speak to him on the morrow--victory +would make him kind." + +The two officers stationed themselves at a little distance and sat +motionless on their horses. The carriage was now surrounded by a mass +of generals, marshals, and other officers, all extremely brilliant in +appearance, who appeared to pay deference to the carriage merely +because it was there. + +"Good God!" said the marquis to Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne; "I am +afraid you spoke to the Emperor." + +"The Emperor?" said a colonel, beside them, "why there he is!" +pointing to the officer who had said, "How did that woman get here?" +He was mounted on a white horse, richly caparisoned, and wore the +celebrated gray top-coat over his green uniform. He was scanning with +a field-glass the Prussian army massed beyond the Saale. Laurence +understood then why the carriage remained there, and why the Emperor's +escort respected it. She was seized with a convulsive tremor--the hour +had come! She heard the heavy sound of the tramp of men and the clang +of their arms as they arrived at a quick step on the plateau. The +batteries had a language, the caissons thundered, the brass glittered. + +"Marechal Lannes will take position with his whole corps in the +advance; Marechal Lefebvre and the Guard will occupy this hill," said +the other officer, who was Major-general Berthier. + +The Emperor dismounted. At his first motion Roustan, his famous +mameluke, hastened to hold his horse. Laurence was stupefied with +amazement; she had never dreamed of such simplicity. + +"I shall pass the night on the plateau," said the Emperor. + +Just then the Grand-marechal Duroc, whom the gendarme had finally +found, came up to the Marquis de Chargeboeuf and asked the reason of +his coming. The marquis replied that a letter from the Prince de +Talleyrand, of which he was the bearer, would explain to the marshal +how urgent it was that Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne and himself should +obtain an audience of the Emperor. + +"His Majesty will no doubt dine at his bivouac," said Duroc, taking +the letter, "and when I find out what your object is, I will let you +know if you can see him. Corporal," he said to the gendarme, +"accompany this carriage, and take it close to that hut at the rear." + +Monsieur de Chargeboeuf followed the gendarme and stopped his horses +behind a miserable cabin, built of mud and branches, surrounded by a +few fruit-trees, and guarded by pickets of infantry and cavalry. + +It may be said that the majesty of war appeared here in all its +grandeur. From this height the lines of the two armies were visible in +the moonlight. After an hour's waiting, the time being occupied by the +incessant coming and going of the aides-de-camp, Duroc himself came +for Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne and the marquis, and made them enter +the hut, the floor of which was of battened earth like that of a +stable. + +Before a table with the remains of dinner, and before a fire made of +green wood which smoked, Napoleon was seated in a clumsy chair. His +muddy boots gave evidence of a long tramp across country. He had taken +off the famous top-coat; and his equally famous green uniform, crossed +by the red cordon of the Legion of honor and heightened by the white +of his kerseymere breeches and of his waistcoat, brought out vividly +his pale and terrible Caesarian face. One hand was on a map which lay +unfolded on his knees. Berthier stood near him in the brilliant +uniform of the vice-constable of the Empire. Constant, the valet, was +offering the Emperor his coffee from a tray. + +"What do you want?" said Napoleon, with a show of roughness, darting +his eye like a flash through Laurence's head. "You are no longer +afraid to speak to me before the battle? What is it about?" + +"Sire," she said, looking at him with as firm an eye, "I am +Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne." + +"Well?" he replied, in an angry voice, thinking her look braved him. + +"Do you not understand? I am the Comtesse de Cinq-Cygne, come to ask +mercy," she said, falling on her knees and holding out to him the +petition drawn up by Talleyrand, endorsed by the Empress, by +Cambaceres and by Malin. + +The Emperor raised her graciously, and said with a keen look: "Have +you come to your senses? Do you now understand what the French Empire +is and must be?" + +"Ah! at this moment I understand only the Emperor," she said, +vanquished by the kindly manner with which the man of destiny had said +the words that foretold to her ears success. + +"Are they innocent?" asked the Emperor. + +"Yes, all of them," she said with enthusiasm. + +"All? No, that bailiff is a dangerous man, who would have killed my +senator without taking your advice." + +"Ah, Sire," she said, "if you had a friend devoted to you, would you +abandon him? Would you not rather--" + +"You are a woman," he said, interrupting her in a faint tone of +ridicule. + +"And you, a man of iron!" she replied with a passionate sternness +which pleased him. + +"That man has been condemned to death by the laws of his country," he +continued. + +"But he is innocent!" + +"Child!" he said. + +He took Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne by the hand and led her from the +hut to the plateau. + +"See," he continued, with that eloquence of his which changed even +cowards to brave men, "see those three hundred thousand men--all +innocent. And yet to-morrow thirty thousand of them will be lying +dead, dead for their country! Among those Prussians there is, perhaps, +some great mathematician, a man of genius, an idealist, who will be +mown down. On our side we shall assuredly lose many a great man never +known to fame. Perhaps even I shall see my best friend die. Shall I +blame God? No. I shall bear it silently. Learn from this, +mademoiselle, that a man must die for the laws of his country just as +men die here for her glory." So saying, he led her back into the hut. +"Return to France," he said, looking at the marquis; "my orders shall +follow you." + +Laurence believed in a commutation of Michu's punishment, and in her +gratitude she knelt again before the Emperor and kissed his hand. + +"You are the Marquis de Chargeboeuf?" said Napoleon, addressing the +marquis. + +"Yes, Sire." + +"You have children?" + +"Many children." + +"Why not give me one of your grandsons? he shall be my page." + +"Ah!" thought Laurence, "there's the sub-lieutenant after all; he +wants to be paid for his mercy." + +The marquis bowed without replying. Happily at this moment General +Rapp rushed into the hut. + +"Sire, the cavalry of the Guard, and that of the Grand-duc de Berg +cannot be set up before midday to-morrow." + +"Never mind," said Napoleon, turning to Berthier, "we, too, get our +reprieves; let us profit by them." + +At a sign of his hand the marquis and Laurence retired and again +entered their carriage; the corporal showed them their road and +accompanied them to a village where they passed the night. The next +day they left the field of battle behind them, followed by the thunder +of the cannon,--eight hundred pieces,--which pursued them for ten +hours. While still on their way they learned of the amazing victory of +Jena. + +Eight days later, they were driving through the faubourg of Troyes, +where they learned that an order of the chief justice, transmitted +through the /procureur imperial/ of Troyes, commanded the release of +the four gentlemen on bail during the Emperor's pleasure. But Michu's +sentence was confirmed, and the warrant for his execution had been +forwarded from the ministry of police. These orders had reached Troyes +that very morning. Laurence went at once to the prison, though it was +two in the morning, and obtained permission to stay with Michu, who +was about to undergo the melancholy ceremony called "the toilet." The +good abbe, who had asked permission to accompany him to the scaffold, +had just given absolution to the man, whose only distress in dying was +his uncertainty as to the fate of his young masters. When Laurence +entered his cell he uttered a cry of joy. + +"I can die now," he said. + +"They are pardoned," she said; "I do not know on what conditions, but +they are pardoned. I did all I could for you, dear friend--against the +advice of others. I thought I had saved you; but the Emperor deceived +me with his graciousness." + +"It was written above," said Michu, "that the watch-dog should be +killed on the spot where his old masters died." + +The last hour passed rapidly. Michu, at the moment of parting, asked +to kiss her hand, but Laurence held her cheek to the lips of the noble +victim that he might sacredly kiss it. Michu refused to mount the +cart. + +"Innocent men should go afoot," he said. + +He would not let the abbe give him his arm; resolutely and with +dignity he walked alone to the scaffold. As he laid his head on the +plank he said to the executioner, after asking him to turn down the +collar of his coat, "My clothes belong to you; try not to spot them." + +***** + +The four gentlemen had hardly time to even see Mademoiselle de Cinq- +Cygne. An orderly of the general commanding the division to which they +were assigned, brought them their commissions as sub-lieutenants in +the same regiment of cavalry, with orders to proceed at once to +Bayonne, the base of supplies for its particular army-corps. After a +scene of heart-rending farewells, for they all foreboded what the +future should bring forth, Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne returned to her +desolate home. + +The two brothers were killed together under the eyes of the Emperor at +Sommo-Sierra, the one defending the other, both being already in +command of their troop. The last words of each were, "Laurence, /cy +meurs/!" + +The elder d'Hauteserre died a colonel at the attack on the redoubt at +Moscow, where his brother took his place. + +Adrien d'Hauteserre, appointed brigadier-general at the battle of +Dresden, was dangerously wounded there and was sent to Cinq-Cygne for +proper nursing. While endeavoring to save this relic of the four +gentlemen who for a few brief months had been so happy around her, +Laurence, then thirty-two years of age, married him. She offered him a +withered heart, but he accepted it; those who truly love doubt nothing +or doubt all. + +The Restoration found Laurence without enthusiasm. The Bourbons +returned too late for her. Nevertheless, she had no cause for +complaint. Her husband, made peer of France with the title of Marquis +de Cinq-Cygne, became lieutenant-general in 1816, and was rewarded +with the blue ribbon for the eminent services which he then performed. + +Michu's son, of whom Laurence took care as though he were her own +child, was admitted to the bar in 1817. After practising two years he +was made assistant-judge at the court of Alencon, and from there he +became /procureur-du-roi/ at Arcis in 1827. Laurence, who had also +taken charge of Michu's property, made over to the young man on the +day of his majority an investment in the public Funds which yielded +him an income of twelve thousand francs a year. Later, she arranged a +marriage for him with Mademoiselle Girel, an heiress at Troyes. + +The Marquis de Cinq-Cygne died in 1829, in the arms of his wife, +surrounded by his father and mother, and his children who adored him. +At the time of his death no one had ever fathomed the mystery of the +senator's abduction. Louis XVIII. did not neglect to repair, as far as +possible, the wrongs done by that affair; but he was silent as to the +causes of the disaster. From that time forth the Marquise de Cinq- +Cygne believed him to have been an accomplice in the catastrophe. + + + +CHAPTER XX + +THE MYSTERY SOLVED + +The late Marquis de Cinq-Cygne had used his savings, as well as those +of his father and mother, in the purchase of a fine house in the rue +de Faubourg-du-Roule, entailing it on heirs male for the support of +the title. The sordid economy of the marquis and his parents, which +had often troubled Laurence, was then explained. After this purchase +the marquise, who lived at Cinq-Cygne and economized on her own +account for her children, spent her winters in Paris,--all the more +willingly because her daughter Berthe and her son Paul were now of an +age when their education required the resources of Paris. + +Madame de Cinq-Cygne went but little into society. Her husband could +not be ignorant of the regrets which lay in her tender heart; but he +showed her always the most exquisite delicacy, and died having loved +no other woman. This noble soul, not fully understood for a period of +time but to which the generous daughter of the Cinq-Cygnes returned in +his last years as true a love as that he gave to her, was completely +happy in his married life. Laurence lived for the joys of home. No +woman has ever been more cherished by her friends or more respected. +To be received in her house is an honor. Gentle, indulgent, +intellectual, above all things simple and natural, she pleases choice +souls and draws them to her in spite of her saddened aspect; each +longs to protect this woman, inwardly so strong, and that sentiment of +secret protection counts for much in the wondrous charm of her +friendship. Her life, so painful during her youth, is beautiful and +serene towards evening. Her sufferings are known, and no one asks who +was the original of that portrait by Lefebvre which is the chief and +sacred ornament of her salon. Her face has the maturity of fruits that +have ripened slowly; a hallowed pride dignifies that long-tried brow. + +At the period when the marquise came to Paris to open the new house, +her fortune, increased by the law of indemnities, gave her some two +hundred thousand francs a year, not counting her husband's salary; +besides this, Laurence had inherited the money guarded by Michu for +his young masters. From that time forth she made a practice of +spending half her income and of laying by the rest for her daughter +Berthe. + +Berthe is the living image of her mother, but without her warrior +nerve; she is her mother in delicacy, in intellect,--"more a woman," +Laurence says, sadly. The marquise was not willing to marry her +daughter until she was twenty years of age. Her savings, judiciously +invested in the Funds by old Monsieur d'Hauteserre at the moment when +consols fell in 1830, gave Berthe a dowry of eighty thousand francs a +year in 1833, when she was twenty. + +About that time the Princesse de Cadignan, who was seeking to marry +her son, the Duc de Maufrigneuse, brought him into intimate relations +with Madame de Cinq-Cygne. Georges de Maufrigneuse dined with the +marquise three times a week, accompanied the mother and daughter to +the Opera, and curvetted in the Bois around their carriage when they +drove out. It was evident to all the world of the Faubourg Saint- +Germain that Georges loved Berthe. But no one could discover to a +certainty whether Madame de Cinq-Cygne was desirous of making her +daughter a duchess, to become a princess later, or whether it was only +the princess who coveted for her son the splendid dowry. Did the +celebrated Diane court the noble provincial house? and was the +daughter of the Cinq-Cygnes frightened by the celebrity of Madame de +Cadignan, her tastes and her ruinous extravagance? In her strong +desire not to injure her son's prospects the princess grew devout, +shut the door on her former life, and spent the summer season at +Geneva in a villa on the lake. + +One evening there were present in the salon of the Princesse de +Cadignan, the Marquise d'Espard, and de Marsay, then president of the +Council (on this occasion the princess saw her former lover for the +last time, for he died the following year), Eugene de Rastignac, +under-secretary of State attached to de Marsay's ministry, two +ambassadors, two celebrated orators from the Chamber of Peers, the old +dukes of Lenoncourt and de Navarreins, the Comte de Vandenesse and his +young wife, and d'Arthez,--who formed a rather singular circle, the +composition of which can be thus explained. The princess was anxious +to obtain from the prime minister of the crown a permit for the return +of the Prince de Cadignan. De Marsay, who did not choose to take upon +himself the responsibility of granting it came to tell the princess +the matter had been entrusted to safe hands, and that a certain +political manager had promised to bring her the result in the course +of that evening. + +Madame and Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne were announced. Laurence, whose +principles were unyielding, was not only surprised but shocked to see +the most illustrious representatives of Legitimacy talking and +laughing in a friendly manner with the prime minister of the man whom +she never called anything but Monsieur le Duc d'Orleans. De Marsay, +like an expiring lamp, shone with a last brilliancy. He laid aside for +the moment his political anxieties, and Madame de Cinq-Cygne endured +him, as they say the Court of Austria endured de Saint-Aulaire; the +man of the world effaced the minister of the citizen-king. But she +rose to her feet as though her chair were of red-hot iron when the +name was announced of "Monsieur le Comte de Gondreville." + +"Adieu, madame," she said to the princess in a curt tone. + +She left the room with Berthe, measuring her steps to avoid +encountering that fatal being. + +"You may have caused the loss of Georges' marriage," said the princess +to de Marsay, in a low voice. "Why did you not tell me your agent's +name?" + +The former clerk of Arcis, former Conventional, former Thermidorien, +tribune, Councillor of State, count of the Empire and senator, peer of +the Restoration, and now peer of the monarchy of July, made a servile +bow to the princess. + +"Fear nothing, madame," he said; "we have ceased to make war on +princes. I bring you an assurance of the permit," he added, seating +himself beside her. + +Malin was long in the confidence of Louis XVIII., to whom his varied +experience was useful. He had greatly aided in overthrowing Decazes, +and had given much good advice to the ministry of Villele. Coldly +received by Charles X., he had adopted all the rancors of Talleyrand. +He was now in high favor under the twelfth government he had served +since 1789, and which in turn he would doubtless betray. For the last +fifteen months he had broken the long friendship which had bound him +for thirty-six years to our greatest diplomat, the Prince de +Talleyrand. It was in the course of this very evening that he made +answer to some one who asked why the Prince showed such hostility to +the Duc de Bordeaux, "The Pretender is too young!" + +"Singular advice to give young men," remarked Rastignac. + +De Marsay, who grew thoughtful after Madame de Cadignan's reproachful +speech, took no notice of these jests. He looked askance at +Gondreville and was evidently biding his time until that now old man, +who went to bed early, had taken leave. All present, who had witnessed +the abrupt departure of Madame de Cinq-Cygne (whose reasons were well- +known to them), imitated de Marsay's conduct and kept silence. +Gondreville, who had not recognized the marquise, was ignorant of the +cause of the general reticence, but the habit of dealing with public +matters had given him a certain tact; he was moreover a clever man; he +saw that his presence was embarrassing to the company and he took +leave. De Marsay, standing with his back to the fire, watched the slow +departure of the old man in a manner which revealed the gravity of his +thoughts. + +"I did wrong, madame, not to tell you the name of my negotiator," said +the prime minister, listening for the sound of Malin's wheels as they +rolled away. "But I will redeem my fault and give you the means of +making your peace with the Cinq-Cygnes. It is now thirty years since +the affair I am about to speak of took place; it is as old to the +present day as the death of Henri IV. (which between ourselves and in +spite of the proverb is still a mystery, like so many other historical +catastrophes). I can, however, assure you that even if this affair did +not concern Madame de Cinq-Cygne it would be none the less curious and +interesting. Moreover, it throws light on a celebrated exploit in our +modern annals,--I mean that of the Mont Saint-Bernard. Messieurs les +Ambassadeurs," he added, bowing to the two diplomats, "will see that +in the element of profound intrigue the political men of the present +day are far behind the Machiavellis whom the waves of the popular will +lifted, in 1793, above the storm,--some of whom have 'found,' as the +old song says, 'a haven.' To be anything in France in these days a man +must have been tossed in those tempests." + +"It seems to me," said the princess, smiling, "that from that point of +view the present state of things under your regime leaves nothing to +be desired." + +A well-bred laugh went round the room, and even the prime minister +himself could not help smiling. The ambassadors seemed impatient for +the tale; de Marsay coughed dryly and silence was obtained. + +"On a June night in 1800," began the minister, "about three in the +morning, just as daylight was beginning to pale the brilliancy of the +wax candles, two men tired of playing at /bouillotte/ (or who were +playing merely to keep others employed) left the salon of the ministry +of foreign affairs, then situated in the rue du Bac, and went apart +into a boudoir. These two men, of whom one is dead and the other has +/one/ foot in the grave, were, each in his own way, equally +extraordinary. Both had been priests; both had abjured religion; both +were married. One had been merely an Oratorian, the other had worn the +mitre of a bishop. The first was named Fouche; I shall not tell you +the name of the second;[*] both were then mere simple citizens--with +very little simplicity. When they were seen to leave the salon and +enter the boudoir, the rest of the company present showed a certain +curiosity. A third person followed them,--a man who thought himself +far stronger than the other two. His name was Sieyes, and you all know +that he too had been a priest before the Revolution. The one who +/walked with difficulty/ was then the minister of foreign affairs; +Fouche was minister of police; Sieyes had resigned the consulate. + +[*] Talleyrand was still living when de Marsay related these +circumstances. + + +"A small man, cold and stern in appearance, left his seat and followed +the three others, saying aloud in the hearing of the person from whom +I have the information, 'I mistrust the gambling of priests.' This man +was Carnot, minister of war. His remark did not trouble the two +consuls who were playing cards in the salon. Cambaceres and Lebrun +were then at the mercy of their ministers, men who were infinitely +stronger than they. + +"Nearly all these statesmen are dead, and no secrecy is due to them. +They belong to history; and the history of that night and its +consequences has been terrible. I tell it to you now because I alone +know it; because Louis XVIII. never revealed the truth to that poor +Madame de Cinq-Cygne; and because the present government which I serve +is wholly indifferent as to whether the truth be known to the world or +not. + +"All four of these personages sat down in the boudoir. The lame man +undoubtedly closed the door before a word was said; it is even thought +that he ran the bolt. It is only persons of high rank who pay +attention to such trifles. The three priests had the livid, impassible +faces which you all remember. Carnot alone was ruddy. He was the first +to speak. 'What is the point to be discussed?' he asked. 'France,' +must have been the answer of the Prince (whom I admire as one of the +most extraordinary men of our time). 'The Republic,' undoubtedly said +Fouche. 'Power,' probably said Sieyes." + +All present looked at each other. With voice, look, and gesture de +Marsay had wonderfully represented the three men. + +"The three priests fully understood one another," he continued, +resuming his narrative. "Carnot no doubt looked at his colleagues and +the ex-consul in a dignified manner. He must, however, have felt +bewildered in his own mind. + +"'Do you believe in the success of the army?' Sieyes said to him. + +"'We may expect everything from Bonaparte,' replied the minister of +war; 'he has crossed the Alps.' + +"'At this moment,' said the minister of foreign affairs, with +deliberate slowness, 'he is playing his last stake.' + +"'Come, let's speak out,' said Fouche; 'what shall we do if the First +Consul is defeated? Is it possible to collect another army? Must we +continue his humble servants?' + +"'There is no republic now,' remarked Sieyes; 'Bonaparte is consul for +ten years.' + +"'He has more power than ever Cromwell had,' said the former bishop, +'and he did not vote for the death of the king.' + +"'We have a master,' said Fouche; 'the question is, shall we continue +to keep him if he loses the battle or shall we return to a pure +republic?' + +"'France,' replied Carnot, sententiously, 'cannot resist except she +reverts to the old Conventional /energy/.' + +"'I agree with Carnot,' said Sieyes; 'if Bonaparte returns defeated we +must put an end to him; he has let us know him too well during the +last seven months.' + +"'The army is for him,' remarked Carnot, thoughtfully. + +"'And the people for us!' cried Fouche. + +"'You go fast, monsieur,' said the Prince, in that deep bass voice +which he still preserves and which now drove Fouche back into himself. + +"'Be frank,' said a voice, as a former Conventional rose from a corner +of the boudoir and showed himself; 'if Bonaparte returns a victor, we +shall adore him; if vanquished, we'll bury him!' + +"'So you were there, Malin, were you?' said the Prince, without +betraying the least feeling. 'Then you must be one of us; sit down'; +and he made him a sign to be seated. + +"It is to this one circumstance that Malin, a Conventional of small +repute, owes the position he afterwards obtained and, ultimately, that +in which we see him at the present moment. He proved discreet, and the +ministers were faithful to him; but they made him the pivot of the +machine and the cat's-paw of the machination. To return to my tale. + +"'Bonaparte has never yet been vanquished,' cried Carnot, in a tone of +conviction, 'and he has just surpassed Hannibal.' + +"'If the worst happens, here is the Directory,' said Sieyes, artfully, +indicating with a wave of his hand the five persons present. + +"'And,' added the Prince, 'we are all committed to the maintenance of +the French republic; we three priests have literally unfrocked +ourselves; the general, here, voted for the death of the king; and +you,' he said, turning to Malin, 'have got possession of the property +of /emigres/.' + +"'Yes, we have all the same interests,' said Sieyes, dictatorially, +'and our interests are one with those of the nation.' + +"'A rare thing,' said the Prince, smiling. + +"'We must act,' interrupted Fouche. 'In all probability the battle is +now going on; the Austrians outnumber us; Genoa has surrendered; +Massena has committed the great mistake of embarking for Antibes; it +is very doubtful if he can rejoin Bonaparte, who will then be reduced +to his own resources.' + +"'Who gave you that news?' asked Carnot. + +"'It is sure,' replied Fouche. 'You will have the courier when the +Bourse opens.' + +"Those men didn't mince their words," said de Marsay, smiling, and +stopping short for a moment. + +"'Remember,' continued Fouche, 'it is not when the news of a disaster +comes that we can organize clubs, rouse the patriotism of the people, +and change the constitution. Our 18th Brumaire ought to be prepared +beforehand.' + +"'Let us leave the care of that to the minister of police,' said the +Prince, bowing to Fouche, 'and beware ourselves of Lucien.' (Lucien +Bonaparte was then minister of the interior.) + +"'I'll arrest him,' said Fouche. + +"'Messieurs!' cried Sieyes, 'our Directory ought not to be subject to +anarchical changes. We must organize a government of the few, a Senate +for life, and an elective chamber the control of which shall be in our +hands; for we ought to profit by the blunders of the past.' + +"'With such a system, there would be peace for me,' remarked the ex- +bishop. + +"'Find me a sure man to negotiate with Moreau; for the Army of the +Rhine will be our sole resource,' cried Carnot, who had been plunged +in meditation. + +"Ah!" said de Marsay, pausing, "those men were right. They were grand +in this crisis. I should have done as they did"; then he resumed his +narrative. + +"'Messieurs!' cried Sieyes, in a grave and solemn tone. + +"That word 'Messieurs!' was perfectly understood by all present; all +eyes expressed the same faith, the same promise, that of absolute +silence, and unswerving loyalty to each other in case the First Consul +returned triumphant. + +"'We all know what we have to do,' added Fouche. + +"Sieyes softly unbolted the door; his priestly ear had warned him. +Lucien entered the room. + +"'Good news!' he said. 'A courier has just brought Madame Bonaparte a +line from the First Consul. The campaign has opened with a victory at +Montebello.' + +"The three ministers exchanged looks. + +"'Was it a general engagement?' asked Carnot. + +"'No, a fight, in which Lannes has covered himself with glory. The +affair was bloody. Attacked with ten thousand men by eighteen +thousand, he was only saved by a division sent to his support. Ott is +in full retreat. The Austrian line is broken.' + +"'When did the fight take place?' asked Carnot. + +"'On the 8th,' replied Lucien. + +"'And this is the 13th,' said the sagacious minister. 'Well, if that +is so, the destinies of France are in the scale at the very moment we +are speaking.'" + +(In fact, the battle of Marengo did begin at dawn of the 14th.) + +"'Four days of fatal uncertainty!' said Lucien. + +"'Fatal?' said the minister of foreign affairs, coldly and +interrogatively. + +"'Four days,' echoed Fouche. + +"An eye-witness told me," said de Marsay, continuing the narrative in +his own person, "that the consuls, Cambaceres and Lebrun, knew nothing +of this momentous news until after the six personages returned to the +salon. It was then four in the morning. Fouche left first. That man of +dark and mysterious genius, extraordinary, profound, and little +understood, but who undoubtedly had the gifts of a Philip the Second, +a Tiberius and a Borgia, went at once to work with an infernal and +secret activity. His conduct at the time of the affair at Walcheren +was that of a consummate soldier, a great politician, a far-seeing +administrator. He was the only real minister that Napoleon ever had. +And you all know how he then alarmed him. + +"Fouche, Massena and the Prince," continued de Marsay, reflectively, +"are the three greatest men, the wisest heads in diplomacy, war, and +government, that I have ever known. If Napoleon had frankly allied +them with his work there would no longer be a Europe, only a vast +French Empire. Fouche did not finally detach himself from Napoleon +until he saw Sieyes and the Prince de Talleyrand shoved aside. + +"He now went to work, and in three days (all the while hiding the hand +that stirred the ashes of the Montagne) he had organized that general +agitation which then arose all over France and revived the +republicanism of 1793. As it is necessary that I should explain this +obscure corner of our history, I must tell you that this agitation, +starting from Fouche's own hand (which held the wires of the former +Montagne), produced republican plots against the life of the First +Consul, which was in peril from this cause long after the victory of +Marengo. It was Fouche's sense of the evil he had thus brought about +which led him to warn Napoleon, who held a contrary opinion, that +republicans were more concerned than royalists in the various +conspiracies. + +"Fouche was an admirable judge of men; he relied on Sieyes because of +his thwarted ambition, on Talleyrand because he was a great +/seigneur/, on Carnot for his perfect honesty; but the man he dreaded +was the one whom you have seen here this evening. I will now tell how +he entangled that man in his meshes. + +"Malin was only Malin in those days,--a secret agent and correspondent +of Louis XVIII. Fouche now compelled him to reduce to writing all the +proclamations of the proposed revolutionary government, its warrants +and edicts against the factions of the 18th Brumaire. An accomplice +against his own will, Malin was required to have these documents +secretly printed, and the copies held ready in his own house for +distribution if Bonaparte were defeated. The printer was subsequently +imprisoned and detained two months; he died in 1816, and always +believed he had been employed by a Montagnard conspiracy. + +"One of the most singular scenes ever played by Fouche's police was +caused by the blunder of an agent, who despatched a courier to a +famous banker of that day with the news of a defeat at Marengo. +Victory, you will remember, did not declare itself for Napoleon until +seven o'clock in the evening of the battle. At midday the banker's +agent, considering the day lost and the French army about to be +annihilated, hastened to despatch the courier. On receipt of that news +Fouche was about to put into motion a whole army of bill-posters and +cries, with a truck full of proclamations, when the second courier +arrived with the news of the triumph which put all France beside +itself with joy. There were heavy losses at the Bourse, of course. But +the criers and posters who were gathered to announce the political +death of Bonaparte and to post up the new proclamations were only kept +waiting awhile till the news of the victory could be struck off! + +"Malin, on whom the whole responsibility of the plot of which he had +been the working agent was likely to fall if it ever became known, was +so terrified that he packed the proclamations and other papers in +carts and took them down to Gondreville in the night-time, where no +doubt they were hidden in the cellars of that chateau, which he had +bought in the name of another man--who was it, by the bye? he had him +made chief-justice of an Imperial court--Ah! Marion. Having thus +disposed of these damning proofs he returned to Paris to congratulate +the First Consul on his victory. Napoleon, as you know, rushed from +Italy to Paris after the battle of Marengo with alarming celerity. +Those who know the secret history of that time are well aware that a +message from Lucien brought him back. The minister of the interior had +foreseen the attitude of the Montagnard party, and though he had no +idea of the quarter from which the wind really blew, he feared a +storm. Incapable of suspecting the three ministers and Carnot, he +attributed the movement which stirred all France to the hatred his +brother had excited by the 18th Brumaire, and to the confident belief +of the men of 1793 that defeat was certain in Italy. + +"The battle of Marengo detained Napoleon on the plains of Lombardy +until the 25th of June, but he reached Paris on the 2nd of July. +Imagine the faces of the five conspirators as they met the First +Consul at the Tuileries, and congratulated him on the victory. Fouche +on that very occasion at the palace told Malin to have patience, for +/all was not over yet/. The truth was, Talleyrand and Fouche both held +that Bonaparte was not as much bound to the principles of the +Revolution as they were, and as he ought to be; and for this reason, +as well as for their own safety, they subsequently, in 1804, buckled +him irrevocably, as they believed, to its cause by the affair of the +Duc d'Enghien. The execution of that prince is connected by a series +of discoverable ramifications with the plot which was laid on that +June evening in the boudoir of the ministry of foreign affairs, the +night before the battle of Marengo. Those who have the means of +judging, and who have known persons who were well-informed, are fully +aware that Bonaparte was handled like a child by Talleyrand and +Fouche, who were determined to alienate him irrevocably from the House +of Bourbon, whose agents were even then, at the last moment, +endeavoring to negotiate with the First Consul." + +"Talleyrand was playing whist in the salon of Madame de Luynes," said +a personage who had been listening attentively to de Marsay's +narrative. "It was about three o'clock in the morning, when he pulled +out his watch, looked at it, stopped the game, and asked his three +companions abruptly and without any preface whether the Prince de +Conde had any other children than the Duc d'Enghien. Such an absurd +inquiry from the lips of Talleyrand caused the utmost surprise. 'Why +do you ask us what you know perfectly well yourself?' they said to +him. 'Only to let you know that the House of Conde comes to an end at +this moment.' Now Monsieur de Talleyrand had been at the hotel de +Luynes the entire evening, and he must have known that Bonaparte was +absolutely unable to grant the pardon." + +"But," said Eugene de Rastignac, "I don't see in all this any +connection with Madame de Cinq-Cygnes and her troubles." + +"Ah, you were so young at that time, my dear fellow; I forgot to +explain the conclusion. You all know the affair of the abduction of +the Comte de Gondreville, then senator of the Empire, for which the +Simeuse brothers and the two d'Hauteserres were condemned to the +galleys,--an affair which did, in fact, lead to their death." + +De Marsay, entreated by several persons present to whom the +circumstances were unknown, related the whole trial, stating that the +mysterious abductors were five sharks of the secret service of the +ministry of the police, who were ordered to obtain the proclamations +of the would-be Directory which Malin had surreptitiously taken from +his house in Paris, and which he had himself come to Gondreville for +the express purpose of destroying, being convinced at last that the +Empire was on a sure foundation and could not be overthrown. "I have +no doubt," added de Marsay, "that Fouche took the opportunity to have +the house searched for the correspondence between Malin and Louis +XVIII., which was always kept up, even during the Terror. But in this +cruel affair there was a private element, a passion of revenge in the +mind of the leader of the party, a man named Corentin, who is still +living, and who is one of those subaltern agents whom nothing can +replace and who makes himself felt by his amazing ability. It appears +that Madame, then Mademoiselle de Cinq-Cygne, had ill-treated him on a +former occasion when he attempted to arrest the Simeuse brothers. What +happened afterwards in connection with the senator's abduction was the +result of his private vengeance. + +"These facts were known, of course, to Malin, and through him to Louis +XVIII. You may therefore," added de Marsay, turning to the Princesse +de Cadignan, "explain the whole matter to the Marquise de Cinq-Cygne, +and show her why Louis XVIII. thought fit to keep silence." + + + + +ADDENDUM + +The following personages appear in other stories of the Human Comedy. + +Beauvisage + The Member for Arcis + +Berthier, Alexandre + The Chouans + +Bonaparte, Lucien + The Vendetta + +Bordin + The Seamy Side of History + The Commission in Lunacy + Jealousies of a Country Town + +Cinq-Cygne, Laurence, Comtesse (afterwards Marquise de) + The Secrets of a Princess + The Seamy Side of History + The Member for Arcis + +Corentin + The Chouans + Scenes from a Courtesan's Life + The Middle Classes + +Derville + Gobseck + A Start in Life + Father Goriot + Colonel Chabert + Scenes from a Courtesan's Life + +Duroc, Gerard-Christophe-Michel + A Woman of Thirty + +Espard, Jeanne-Clementine-Athenais de Blamont-Chauvry, Marquise d' + The Commission in Lunacy + A Distinguished Provincial at Paris + Scenes from a Courtesan's Life + Letters of Two Brides + Another Study of Woman + The Secrets of a Princess + A Daughter of Eve + Beatrix + +Fouche, Joseph + The Chouans + Scenes from a Courtesan's Life + +Giguet, Colonel + The Member for Arcis + +Gondreville, Malin, Comte de + A Start in Life + Domestic Peace + The Member for Arcis + +Gothard + The Member for Arcis + +Goujet, Abbe + The Member for Arcis + +Grandlieu, Duc Ferdinand de + The Thirteen + A Bachelor's Establishment + Modeste Mignon + Scenes from a Courtesan's Life + +Granville, Vicomte de + A Second Home + Farewell (Adieu) + Cesar Birotteau + Scenes from a Courtesan's Life + A Daughter of Eve + Cousin Pons + +Grevin + A Start in Life + The Member for Arcis + +Hauteserre, D' + The Member for Arcis + +Lefebvre, Robert + Cousin Betty + +Lenoncourt, Duc de + The Lily of the Valley + Cesar Birotteau + Jealousies of a Country Town + Beatrix + +Louis XVIII., Louis-Stanislas-Xavier + The Chouans + The Seamy Side of History + Scenes from a Courtesan's Life + The Ball at Sceaux + The Lily of the Valley + Colonel Chabert + The Government Clerks + +Marion (of Arcis) + The Member for Arcis + +Marion (brother) + The Member for Arcis + +Marsay, Henri de + The Thirteen + The Unconscious Humorists + Another Study of Woman + The Lily of the Valley + Father Goriot + Jealousies of a Country Town + Ursule Mirouet + A Marriage Settlement + Lost Illusions + A Distinguished Provincial at Paris + Letters of Two Brides + The Ball at Sceaux + Modeste Mignon + The Secrets of a Princess + A Daughter of Eve + +Maufrigneuse, Duchesse de + The Secrets of a Princess + Modeste Mignon + Jealousies of a Country Town + The Muse of the Department + Scenes from a Courtesan's Life + Letters of Two Brides + Another Study of Woman + The Member for Arcis + +Maufrigneuse, Georges de + The Secrets of a Princess + Beatrix + The Member for Arcis + +Maufrigneuse, Berthe de + Beatrix + The Member for Arcis + +Michu, Francois + Jealousies of a Country Town + The Member for Arcis + +Michu, Madame Francois + The Member for Arcis + +Murat, Joachim, Prince + The Vendetta + Colonel Chabert + Domestic Peace + The Country Doctor + +Navarreins, Duc de + A Bachelor's Establishment + Colonel Chabert + The Muse of the Department + The Thirteen + Jealousies of a Country Town + The Peasantry + Scenes from a Courtesan's Life + The Country Parson + The Magic Skin + The Secrets of a Princess + Cousin Betty + +Peyrade + Scenes from a Courtesan's Life + +Rapp + The Vendetta + +Rastignac, Eugene de + Father Goriot + A Distinguished Provincial at Paris + Scenes from a Courtesan's Life + The Ball at Sceaux + The Commission in Lunacy + A Study of Woman + Another Study of Woman + The Magic Skin + The Secrets of a Princess + A Daughter of Eve + The Firm of Nucingen + Cousin Betty + The Member for Arcis + The Unconscious Humorists + +Regnier, Claude-Antoine + A Second Home + +Simeuse, Admiral de + Beatrix + Jealousies of a Country Town + +Steingel + The Peasantry + +Talleyrand-Perigord, Charles-Maurice de + The Chouans + The Thirteen + Letters of Two Brides + Gaudissart II. + +Vandenesse, Comte Felix de + The Lily of the Valley + Lost Illusions + A Distinguished Provincial at Paris + Cesar Birotteau + Letters of Two Brides + A Start in Life + The Marriage Settlement + The Secrets of a Princess + Another Study of Woman + A Daughter of Eve + +Varlet + The Gondreville Mystery + The Member for Arcis + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Etext of An Historical Mystery, by de Balzac + diff --git a/old/hmyst10.zip b/old/hmyst10.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..e60620f --- /dev/null +++ b/old/hmyst10.zip |