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FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.04.29.93*END* + + + + + +THE LOCK AND KEY LIBRARY + +THE MOST INTERESTING STORIES OF ALL NATIONS + +Edited by Julian Hawthorne + + +FRENCH NOVELS + + + +Table of Contents + + +Victor Cherbuliez + + Count Kostia + + +Paul Bourget + + Andre Cornelis + + +Anonymous + + The Last of the Costellos + + Lady Betty's Indiscretion + + + +Victor Cherbuliez + + +Count Kostia + + +I + + +At the beginning of the summer of 1850, a Russian nobleman, Count +Kostia Petrovitch Leminof, had the misfortune to lose his wife +suddenly, and in the flower of her beauty. She was his junior by +twelve years. This cruel loss, for which he was totally +unprepared, threw him into a state of profound melancholy; and some +months later, seeking to mitigate his grief by the distractions of +travel, he left his domains near Moscow, never intending to return. +Accompanied by his twin children, ten years of age, a priest who +had served them as tutor, and a serf named Ivan, he repaired to +Odessa, and then took passage on a merchant ship for Martinique. +Disembarking at St. Pierre, he took lodgings in a remote part of +the suburbs. The profound solitude which reigned there did not at +first bring the consolation he had sought. It was not enough that +he had left his native country, he would have changed the planet +itself; and he complained that nature everywhere was too much +alike. No locality seemed to him sufficiently a stranger to his +experience, and in the deserted places, where the desperate +restlessness of his heart impelled him, he imagined the +reappearance of the obtrusive witnesses of his past joys, and of +the misfortune by which they were suddenly terminated. + +He had lived a year in Martinique when the yellow fever carried off +one of his children. By a singular reaction in his vigorous +temperament, it was about this time that his somber melancholy gave +way to a bitter and sarcastic gayety, more in harmony with his +nature. From his early youth he had had a taste for jocularity, a +mocking turn of spirit, seasoned by that ironical grace of manner +peculiar to the great Moscovite nobleman, and resulting from the +constant habit of trifling with men and events. His recovery did +not, however, restore the agreeable manners which in former times +had distinguished him in his intercourse with the world. Suffering +had brought him a leaven of misanthropy, which he did not take the +trouble of disguising; his voice had lost its caressing notes and +had become rude and abrupt; his actions were brusque, and his smile +scornful. Sometimes his bearing gave evidence of a haughty will +which, tyrannized over by events, sought to avenge itself upon +mankind. + +Terrible, however, as he sometimes was to those who surrounded him, +Count Kostia was yet a civilized devil. So, after a stay of three +years under tropical skies, he began to sigh for old Europe, and +one fine day saw him disembark upon the quays of Lisbon. He +crossed Portugal, Spain, the south of France and Switzerland. At +Basle, he learned that on the borders of the Rhine, between Coblenz +and Bonn, in a situation quite isolated, an old castle was for +sale. To this place he hurried and bought the antique walls and +the lands which belonged to them, without discussing the price and +without making a detailed examination of the property. The bargain +concluded, he made some hasty and indispensable repairs on one of +the buildings which composed a part of his dilapidated manor, and +which claimed the imposing name of the fortress of Geierfels, and +at once installed himself therein, hoping to pass the rest of his +life in peaceable and studious seclusion. + +Count Kostia was gifted with a quick and ready intellect, which he +had strengthened by study. He had always been passionately fond of +historical research, but above everything, knew and wished to know, +only that which the English call "the matter of fact." He +professed a cold scorn for generalities, and heartily abandoned +them to "dreamers;" he laughed at all abstract theories and at the +ingenuous minds which take them seriously. He held that all system +was but logical infatuation; that the only pardonable follies were +those which were frankly avowed; and that only a pedant could +clothe his imagination in geometrical theories. In general, +pedantry to his eyes was the least excusable of vices; he +understood it to be the pretension of tracing back phenomena to +first causes, "as if," said he, "there were any 'first causes,' or +chance admitted of calculation!" This did not prevent him however +from expending much logic to demonstrate that there was no such +thing as logic, either in nature or in man. + +These are inconsistencies for which skeptics never dream of +reproaching themselves; they pass their lives in reasoning against +reason. In short, Count Kostia respected nothing but facts, and +believed that, properly viewed, there was nothing else, and that +the universe, considered as an entirety, was but a collection of +contradictory accidents. + +A member of the Historical and Antiquarian Society of Moscow, he +had once published important memoirs upon Slavonic antiquities and +upon some of the disputed questions in the history of the Lower +Empire. Hardly was he installed at Geierfels, before he occupied +himself in fitting up his library, but a few volumes of which he +had carried to Martinique. He at once ordered from Moscow most of +the books he had left, and also sent large orders to German +bookstores. When his "seraglio," as he called it, was nearly +complete, he again became absorbed in study, and particularly in +that of the Greek historians of the Byzantine Empire, of whose +collective works he had the good fortune to possess the Louvre +edition in thirty-six volumes folio; and he soon formed the +ambitious project of writing a complete history of that Empire from +Constantine the Great to the taking of Constantinople. So absorbed +did he become in this great design, that he scarcely ate or drank; +but the further he advanced in his researches the more he became +dismayed by the magnitude of the enterprise, and he conceived the +idea of procuring an intelligent assistant, upon whom he could +shift a part of the task. As he proposed to write his voluminous +work in French, it was in France this living instrument which he +needed must be sought, and he therefore broached the project to Dr. +Lerins, one of his old acquaintances in Paris. "For nearly three +years," he wrote to the Doctor, "I have dwelt in a veritable owl's +nest, and I should be much obliged to you if you would procure for +me a young night bird, who could endure life two or three years in +such an ugly hole without dying of ennui. Understand me, I must +have a secretary who is not contented with writing a fine hand and +knowing French a little better than I do: I wish him to be a +consummate philologist, and a hellenist of the first order,--one of +those men who ought to be met with in Paris,--born to belong to the +Institute, but so dependent upon circumstances as to make that +position impossible. If you succeed in finding this priceless +being, I will give him the best room in my castle and a salary of +twelve thousand francs. I stipulate that he shall not be a fool. +As to character, I say nothing about it; he will do me the favor to +have such as will suit me." + +M. Lerins was intimate with a young man from Lorraine named Gilbert +Saville, a savant of great merit, who had left Nancy several years +before to seek his fortune in Paris. At the age of twenty-seven he +had presented, in a competition opened by the Academy of +Inscriptions, an essay on the Etruscan language, which took the +prize and was unanimously declared a masterpiece of sagacious +erudition. He had hoped for some time that this first success, +which had gained him renown among learned men, would aid him in +obtaining some lucrative position and rescue him from the +precarious situation in which he found himself. Nothing resulted +from it. His merits compelled esteem; the charm of his frank and +courteous manner won him universal good will; his friends were +numerous; he was well received and caressed; he even obtained, +without seeking it, the entree to more than one salon, where he met +men of standing who could be useful to him and assure him a +successful future. All this however amounted to nothing, and no +position was offered. What worked most to his prejudice was an +independence of opinion and character which was a part of his +nature. Only to look at him was to know that such a man could not +be tied down, and the only language which this able philologist +could not learn was the jargon of society. Add to this that +Gilbert had a speculative, dreamy temperament and the pride and +indolence which are its accessories. To bestir himself and to +importune were torture to him. A promise made to him could be +forgotten with impunity, for he was not the man to revive it; and +besides, as he never complained himself, no one was disposed to +complain for him. In short, among those who had been desirous of +protecting and advancing him, it was said: "What need has he of our +assistance? Such remarkable talent will make its own way." Others +thought, without expressing it: "Let us be guarded, this is another +Letronne,--once 'foot in the stirrup,' God only knows where he will +stop." Others said and thought: "This young man is charming,--he +is so discreet,--not like such and such a person." All those cited +as not "discreet," were provided for. + +The difficulties of his life had rendered Gilbert serious and +reflective, but they had neither hardened his heart nor quenched +his imagination. He was too wise to revolt against his fate, but +determined to be superior to it. "Thou art all thou canst be," +said he to himself; "but do not flatter thyself that thou hast +reached the measure of my aspirations." + +After having read M. Leminof's letter, Dr. Lerins went in search of +Gilbert. He described Count Kostia to him according to his remote +recollections, but he asked him, before deciding, to weigh the +matter deliberately. After quitting his young friend he muttered +to himself-- + +"After all, I hope he will refuse. He would be too much of a prize +for that boyard. Of his very Muscovite face, I remember only an +enormous pair of eyebrows,--the loftiest and bushiest I ever saw, +and perhaps there is nothing more of him! There are men who are +all in the eyebrows!" + + +II + + +A week later Gilbert was on his way to Geierfels. At Cologne he +embarked on board a steamboat to go up the Rhine ten or twelve +leagues beyond Bonn. Towards evening, a thick fog settled down +upon the river and its banks, and it became necessary to anchor +during the night. This mischance rendered Gilbert melancholy, +finding in it, as he did, an image of his life. He too had a +current to stem, and more than once a sad and somber fog had fallen +and obscured his course. + +In the morning the weather cleared; they weighed anchor, and at two +o'clock in the afternoon, Gilbert disembarked at a station two +leagues from Geierfels. He was in no haste to arrive, and even +though "born with a ready-made consolation for anything," as M. +Lerins sometimes reproachfully said to him, he dreaded the moment +when his prison doors should close behind him, and he was disposed +to enjoy yet a few hours of his dear liberty. "We are about to +part," said he to himself; "let us at least take time to say +farewell." + +Instead of hiring a carriage to transport himself and his effects, +he consigned his trunk to a porter, who engaged to forward it to +him the next day, and took his way on foot, carrying under his arm +a little valise, and promising himself not to hurry. An hour later +he quitted the main road, and stopped to refresh himself at an +humble inn situated upon a hillock covered with pine trees. Dinner +was served to him under an arbor,--his repast consisted of a slice +of smoked ham and an omelette au cerfeuil, which he washed down +with a little good claret. This feast a la Jean Jacques appeared +to him delicious, flavored as it was by that "freedom of the inn" +which was dearer to the author of the Confessions than even the +freedom of the press. + +When he had finished eating, Gilbert ordered a cup of coffee, or +rather of that black beverage called coffee in Germany. He was +hardly able to drink it, and he remembered with longing the +delicious Mocha prepared by the hands of Madame Lerins; and this +set him thinking of that amiable woman and her husband. + +Gilbert's reverie soon took another turn. From the bank where he +was sitting, he saw the Rhine, the tow path which wound along by +the side of its grayish waters, and nearer to him the great white +road where, at intervals, heavy wagons and post chaises raised +clouds of dust. This dusty road soon absorbed all of his +attention. It seemed to him as if it cast tender glances upon him, +as if it called him and said: "Follow me; we will go together to +distant countries; we will keep the same step night and day and +never weary; we will traverse rivers and mountains, and every +morning we will have a new horizon. Come, I wait for thee, give me +thy heart. I am the faithful friend of vagabonds, I am the divine +mistress of those bold and strong hearts which look upon life as an +adventure." + +Gilbert was not the man to dream long. He became himself again, +rose to his feet, and shook off the vision. "Up to this hour I +thought myself rational; but it appears I am so no longer. +Forward, then,--courage, let us take our staff and on to +Geierfels!" + +As he entered the kitchen of the inn to pay his bill, he found the +landlord there busy in bathing a child's face from which the blood +streamed profusely. During this operation, the child cried, and +the landlord swore. At this moment his wife came in. + +"What has happened to Wilhelm?" she asked. + +"What has happened?" replied he angrily. "It happened that when +Monsieur Stephane was riding on horseback on the road by the mill, +this child walked before him with his pigs. Monsieur Stephane's +horse snorted, and Monsieur Stephane, who could hardly hold him, +said to the child: 'Now then, little idiot, do you think my horse +was made to swallow the dust your pigs raise? Draw aside, drive +them into the brush, and give me the road.' 'Take to the woods +yourself,' answered the child, 'the path is only a few steps off.' +At this Monsieur Stephane got angry, and as the child began to +laugh, he rushed upon him and cut him in the face with his whip. +God-a-mercy! let him come back,--this little master,--and I'll +teach him how to behave himself. I mean to tie him to a tree, one +of these days, and break a dozen fagots of green sticks over his +back." + +"Ah take care what thou sayest, my old Peter," replied his wife +with a frightened air. "If thou'dst touch the little man thou'dst +get thyself into a bad business." + +"Who is this Monsieur Stephane?" inquired Gilbert. + +The landlord, recalled to prudence by the warning of his wife, +answered dryly: "Stephane is Stephane, pryers are pryers, and sheep +are put into the world to be sheared." + +Thus repulsed, poor Gilbert paid five or six times its value for +his frugal repast, muttering as he departed: "I don't like this +Stephane; is it on his account that I've just been imposed upon? +Is it my fault that he carries matters with such a high hand?" + +Gilbert descended the little hill, and retook the main road; it +pleased him no more, for he knew too well where it was leading him. +He inquired how much further it was to Geierfels, and was told that +by fast walking he would reach that place within an hour, whereupon +he slackened his pace. He was certainly in no haste to get there. + +Gilbert was but a half a league from the castle when, upon his +right, a little out of his road, he perceived a pretty fountain +which partly veiled a natural grotto. A path led to it, and this +path had for Gilbert an irresistible attraction. He seated himself +upon the margin of the fountain, resting his feet upon a mossy +stone. This ought to be his last halt, for night was approaching. +Under the influence of the bubbling waters, Gilbert resumed his +dreamy soliloquy, but his meditations were presently interrupted by +the sound of a horse's feet which clattered over the path. Raising +his eyes, he saw coming towards him, mounted upon a large chestnut +horse, a young man of about sixteen, whose pale thin face was +relieved by an abundance of magnificent bright brown hair, which +fell in curls upon his shoulders. He was small but admirably +formed, and his features, although noble and regular, awakened in +Gilbert more of surprise than sympathy: their expression was hard, +sullen, and sad, and upon this beautiful face not any of the graces +of youth appeared. + +The young cavalier came straight towards him, and when at a step or +two from the fountain, he called out in German, with an imperious +voice: "My horse is thirsty,--make room for me, my good man!" + +Gilbert did not stir. + +"You take a very lofty tone, my little friend," replied he in the +same language, which he understood very well, but pronounced like +the devil,--I mean like a Frenchman. + +"My tall friend, how much do you charge for your lessons in +etiquette?" answered the young man in the same language, imitating +Gilbert's pronunciation. Then he added in French, with +irreproachable purity of accent: "Come, I can't wait, move +quicker," and he began cutting the air with his riding-whip. + +"M. Stephane," said Gilbert, who had not forgotten the adventure of +the little Wilhelm, "your whip will get you into trouble some of +these days." + +"Who gave you the right to know my name?" cried the young man, +raising his head haughtily. + +"The name is already notorious through the country," retorted +Gilbert, "and you have written it in very legible characters upon +the cheek of a little pig-driver." + +Stephane, for it was he, reddened with anger and raised his whip +with a threatening air; but with a blow of his stick Gilbert sent +it flying into the bottom of a ditch, twenty paces distant. + +When he looked at the young man again, he repented of what he had +done, for his expression was terrible to behold; his pallor became +livid; all the muscles of his face contracted, and his body was +agitated by convulsive movements; in vain he tried to speak, his +voice died upon his lips, and reason seemed deserting him. He tore +off one of his gloves, and tried to throw it in Gilbert's face, but +it fell from his trembling hand. For an instant he looked with a +scornful and reproachful glance at that slender hand whose weakness +he cursed; then tears gushed in abundance from his eyes, he hung +his head over the neck of his horse, and in a choking voice +murmured: + +"For the love of God, if you do not wish me to die of rage, give me +back,--give me back--" + +He could not finish; but Gilbert had already run to the ditch, and +having picked up the riding-whip, as well as the glove, returned +them to him. Stephane, without looking at him, answered by a +slight inclination of the head, but kept his eyes fixed upon the +pommel of his saddle,--evidently striving to recover his self- +possession. Gilbert, pitying his state of mind, turned to leave; +but at the moment he stooped to pick up his portmanteau and cane, +the youth, with a well-directed blow of his whip, struck off his +hat, which rolled into the ditch, and when Gilbert, surprised and +indignant, was about to throw himself upon the young traitor, he +had already pushed his horse to a full gallop, and in the twinkling +of an eye he reached the main road, where he disappeared in a +whirlwind of dust. Gilbert was much more affected by this +adventure than his philosophy should have permitted. He took up +his journey again with a feeling of depression, and haunted by the +pale, distorted face of the youth. "This excess of despair," said +he to himself, "indicates a proud and passionate character; but the +perfidy with which he repaid my generosity is the offspring of a +soul ignoble and depraved." And striking his forehead, he +continued: "It just occurs to me, judging from his name, that this +young man may be Count Kostia's son. Ah! what an amiable companion +I shall have to cheer my captivity! M. Leminof ought to have +forewarned me. It was an article which should have been included +in the contract." + +Gilbert felt his heart sink; he saw himself already condemned to +defend his dignity incessantly against the caprices and insolence +of a badly-trained child,--the prospect was not attractive! +Plunged in these melancholy reflections, he lost his way, having +passed the place where he should have quitted the main road to +ascend the steep hill of which the castle formed the crown. By +good luck he met a peasant who put him again upon the right track. +The night had already fallen when he entered the court of the vast +building. This great assemblage of incongruous structures appeared +to him but a somber mass whose weight was crushing him. He could +only distinguish one or two projecting towers whose pointed roofs +stood out in profile against the starlit sky. While seeking to +make out his position, several huge dogs rushed upon him, and would +have torn him to pieces if, at the noise of their barking, a tall +stiff valet had not made his appearance with a lantern in hand. +Gilbert having given him his name, was requested to follow him. +They crossed a terrace, forced to turn aside at every step by the +dogs who growled fiercely,--apparently regretting "these amiable +hosts" the supper of which they had been deprived. Following his +guide Gilbert found himself upon a little winding staircase, which +they ascended to the third story, where the valet, opening an +arched door, introduced him into a large circular apartment where a +bed with a canopy had been prepared. "This is your room," said he +curtly, and having lighted two candles and placed them upon the +round table, he left the room, and did not return for half an hour, +when he re-appeared bearing a tray laden with a samovar, a venison +pie, and some cold fowl. Gilbert ate with a good appetite and felt +great satisfaction in finding that he had any at all. "My foolish +reveries," thought he, "have not spoiled my stomach at least." + +Gilbert was still at the table when the valet re-entered and handed +him a note from the Count, which ran thus: + +"M. Leminoff bids M. Gilbert Saville welcome. He will give himself +the pleasure of calling upon him to-morrow morning." + +"To-morrow we shall commence the serious business of life," said +Gilbert to himself, as he enjoyed a cup of exquisite green tea, +"and I'm very glad of it, for I don't approve of the use I make of +my leisure. I have passed all this day reasoning upon myself, +dissecting my mind and heart,--a most foolish pastime, beyond a +doubt"--then drawing from his pocket a note-book, he wrote therein +these words: "Forget thyself, forget thyself, forget thyself," +imitating the philosopher Kant, who being inconsolable at the loss +of an old servant named Lamp, wrote in his journal: "Remember to +forget Lamp." + +He remained some moments standing in the embrasure of the window +gazing upon the celestial vault which shone with a thousand fires, +and then threw himself upon his bed. His sleep was not tranquil; +Stephane appeared to him in his dreams, and at one time he thought +he saw him kneeling before him, his face bathed in tears; but when +he approached to console him, the child drew a poignard from his +bosom and stabbed him to the heart. + +Gilbert awakened with a start, and had some difficulty in getting +to sleep again. + + +III + + +A great pleasure was in store for Gilbert at his awakening; he rose +as the sun began to appear, and having dressed, hastened to the +window to see what view it offered. + +The rotunda which had been assigned to him for a lodging formed the +entire upper story of a turret which flanked one of the angles of +the castle. This turret, and a great square tower situated at the +other extremity of the same front, commanded a view of the north, +and from this side the rock descended perpendicularly, forming an +imposing precipice of three hundred feet. When Gilbert's first +glance plunged into the abyss where a bluish vapor floated, which +the rising sun pierced with its golden arrows, the spectacle +transported him. To have a precipice under his window, was a +novelty which gave him infinite joy. The precipice was his domain, +his property, and his eyes took possession of it. He could not +cease gazing at the steep, wall-like rocks, the sides of which were +cut by transverse belts of brush-wood and dwarf trees. It was long +since he had experienced such a lively sensation, and he felt that +if his heart was old, his senses were entirely new. The fact is +that at this moment, Gilbert, the grave philosopher, was as happy +as a child, and in listening to the solemn murmur of the Rhine, +with which mingled the croaking of a raven and the shrill cries of +the martins, who with restless wings grazed the abutments of the +ancient turret, he persuaded himself that the river raised its +voice to salute him, that the birds were serenading him, and that +all nature celebrated a fete of which he was the hero. + +He could hardly tear himself from his dear window to breakfast, and +he was again engaged in contemplation when M. Leminof entered the +room. He did not hear him, and it was not until the Count had +coughed three times that he turned his head. Perceiving the enemy, +Gilbert started, but quickly recovered himself. The nervous start, +however, which he had not been able to conceal, caused the Count to +smile, and his smile embarrassed Gilbert. He felt that M. Leminof +would regulate his conduct to him upon the impression he should +receive in this first interview, and he determined to keep close +watch upon himself. + +Count Kostia was a man of middle age, very tall and well made, +broad-shouldered, with lofty bearing, a forehead stern and haughty, +a nose like the beak of a bird of prey, a head carried high and +slightly backwards, large, wide open gray eyes which shot glances +at once piercing and restless, an expressive face regularly cut, in +which Gilbert found little to criticise except that the eyebrows +were a little too bushy, and the cheek bones a little too +prominent; but what did not please him was, that M. Leminof +remained standing while praying him to be seated, and as Gilbert +made some objections the Count cut him short by an imperious +gesture and a frown. + +"Monsieur le Comte," said Gilbert mentally, "you do not leave this +room until you have been seated too!" + +"My dear sir," said the Count, pacing the room with folded arms, +"you have a very warm friend in Dr. Lerins. He sets a great value +upon your merit; he has even been obliging enough to give me to +understand that I was quite unworthy of having such a treasure of +wisdom and erudition in my house. He has also expressly +recommended me to treat you with the tenderest consideration; he +has made me feel that I am responsible for you to the world, and +that the world will hold me to a strict account. You are very +fortunate, sir, in having such good friends, they are among +Heaven's choicest blessings." + +Gilbert made no answer but bit his lips and looked at the floor. + +"M. Lerins," continued the Count, "informs me also, that you are +both timid and proud, and he desires me to deal gently with you. +He pretends that you are capable of suffering much without +complaint. This is an accomplishment which is uncommon nowadays. +But what I regret is, that our excellent friend M. Lerins +apparently considers me a sort of human wolf. I should be very +unhappy if I inspired you with fear." Then, turning half round +towards Gilbert: "Let us see, look at me well; have I claws at the +ends of my fingers?" + +Poor Gilbert inwardly cursed M. Lerins and his indiscreet zeal. + +"Oh, Monsieur le Comte," replied he in his frankest tones and with +the most tranquil air he could command, "I never suspect claws in a +fellow-creature;--only when occasion makes me feel them, I cry out +loudly and defend myself." + +The sound of Gilbert's voice, and the expression of his face, +struck M. Leminof. It was his turn if not to start (he seldom +started) at least to be astonished. He looked at him an instant in +silence, and then resumed in a more sardonic tone: + +"This is not all; M. Lerins (ah! what an admirable friend you have +there!) desires also to inform me that you are, sir, what is called +nowadays, a beautiful soul. What is 'a beautiful soul?' I know +nothing of the species." While thus speaking he seemed to be +looking by turns for a fly on the ceiling and a pin on the floor. +"I have old-fashioned ideas of everything, and I do not understand +the vocabulary of my age. I know a beautiful horse very well or a +beautiful woman;--but A BEAUTIFUL SOUL! Do you know how to explain +to me, sir, what 'this beautiful soul' is?" + +Gilbert did not answer a word. He was entirely occupied in +addressing to Heaven the prayer of the philosopher: "Oh, my God! +save me from my friends, and I will take care of my enemies." "My +questions seem to you perhaps a little indiscreet," pursued M. +Leminof; "but M. Lerins is responsible for them. His last letter +caused me great uneasiness. He introduces you to me as an +exceptionable being; it is natural that I should wish to enlighten +myself, for I detest mysteries and surprises. I once heard of a +little Abyssinian prince, who to testify his gratitude to the +missionary who had converted him, sent to him, as a present, a +large chest of scented wood. When the missionary opened the chest, +he found in it a pretty living Nile crocodile. Fancy his delight! +Experiences like this teach prudence. So when our excellent friend +M. Lerins sends me a present of a beautiful soul, it is natural +that I should unpack it with caution, and that before I install +this beautiful soul in my house, I should seek to know what is +inside of it. A beautiful soul!" he repeated, in a less ironical +but harsher tone, "by dint of pondering upon it, I divine to be a +soul which has a passion for the trumpery of sentiment. In this +case, sir, suffer me to give you a piece of advice. Madame Leminof +had a great fancy for Chinese ornaments, and she filled her parlors +with them. Unfortunately, I am a little brusque, and it happened +more than once that I overturned her tables laden with porcelain +and other gewgaws. You can judge how well she liked it! My dear +sir, be prudent, shut up your Chinese ornaments carefully in your +closets, and carry the keys." + +"I thank you for the advice," answered Gilbert gently; "but I am +distressed to see that you have received a very false idea of me. +Will you permit me to describe myself as I am?" + +"I have no objection," said he. + +"To begin then 'I am not a beautiful soul,' I am simply a good +soul, or if you like it better, an honest fellow who takes things +as they come and men as they are; who prides himself upon nothing, +pretends to nothing, and who cares not a straw what others think of +him. I do not deny that in my early youth I was subject, like +others, to what a man of wit has called 'the witchery of nonsense;' +but I have recovered from it entirely. I have found in life a +morose and rather brutal teacher, who has taught me the art of +living by severe discipline; so whatever of the romantic was in me +has taken refuge in my brains, and my heart has become the most +reasonable of all hearts. If I had the good fortune to be at the +same time an artist and rich, I should take life as a play; but +being neither the one nor the other I treat it as a matter of +business." + +M. Leminof commenced his walk again, and in passing Gilbert, gave +him a look at once haughty and caressing, such as a huge mastiff +would cast upon a spaniel, who fearing nothing, would approach his +great-toothed majesty familiarly and offer to play with him. He +growls loudly, but feels no anger. There is something in the eye +of a spaniel which forces the big dogs to take their familiarity in +good part. + +"Ah, then, sir," said the Count, "by your own avowal you are a +perfect egotist. Your great aim is to live, and to live for +yourself." + +"It is nearly so," answered Gilbert, "only I avoid using the word, +it is a little hard. Not that I was born an egotist, but I have +become one. If I still possessed the heart I had at twenty, I +should have brought here with me some very romantic ideas. You may +well laugh, sir, but suppose I had arrived at your castle ten years +ago; it would have been with a fixed intention of loving you a +great deal, and of making you love me. But now, mon Dieu! now I +know a little of the world, and I say to myself that there can be +no question between us but a bargain, and that good bargains should +be advantageous to both parties." + +"What a terrible man you are," cried the Count with a mocking +laugh. "You destroy my illusions without pity, you wound my +poetical soul. In my simplicity, I imagined that we should be +enamored of each other. I intended to make an intimate friend of +my secretary,--the dear confidant of all my thoughts, but at the +moment when I was prepared to open my arms to him, the ingrate says +to me in a studied tone: 'Sir, there is nothing but the question of +a bargain between us; I am the seller, you are the buyer; I sell +you Greek, and you pay me cash down.' Peste! Monsieur, 'your +beautiful soul' does not pride itself on its poetry. As an +experiment, I will take you at your word. There is nothing but a +bargain between us. I will make the terms and you will agree +without complaint, though I am the Turk and you the Moor." + +"Pardon me," answered Gilbert, "it is naturally to your interest to +treat me with consideration. You may give me a great deal to do, I +shall not grudge my time or trouble, but you must not overburden +me. I am not exacting, and all that I ask for is a few hours of +leisure and solitude daily to enjoy in peace. + +M. Leminof stopped suddenly before Gilbert, his hands resting upon +his hips. + +"You will sit down, you will sit down, Monsieur le Comte," muttered +Gilbert between his teeth. + +"So you are a dreamer and an egotist," said M. Leminof, looking +fixedly at him. "I hope, sir, that you have the virtues of the +class. I mean to say, that while wholly occupied with yourself, +you are free from all indiscreet curiosity. Egotism is worth its +price only when it is accompanied by a scornful indifference to +others. I will explain: I do not live here absolutely alone, but I +am the only one with whom I desire you to have any intimate +acquaintance. The two persons who live in this house with me know +nothing of Greek, and therefore need not interest you. Remember, I +have the misfortune of being jealous as a tiger, and I intend that +you shall be mine without any division. And as for your fantasies, +should you think better of it, you will find me always ready to +admire them; but you show them to no one else, you understand, to +no one!" + +Count Kostia pronounced these last words with a tone so emphatic +that Gilbert was surprised, and was on the point of asking some +explanation; but the stern and almost threatening look of the Count +deterred him. "Your instructions, sir," answered he, "are +superfluous. To finish my own portrait, I am not very expansive, +and I have but little sociability in my character. To speak +frankly, solitude is my element; it is inexpressibly sweet to me. +Do you wish to try me? If so, shut me up under lock and key in +this room, and provided you have a little food passed through the +door to me daily, you will find me a year hence seated at this +table, fresh, well and happy, unless perhaps," he added, "I should +be unexpectedly attacked with some celestial longing, in which +case, I could some fine day easily fly out of the window; the loss +wouldn't be very great. Finding the cage empty, you would say, 'He +has grown his wings, poor fellow--much good may they do him.'" + +"I don't admit that," cried the Count, "Monsieur Secretary. You +please me immensely, and for fear of accident, I will have this +window barred." + +With these words he drew a chair towards him, and seated himself +facing Gilbert, who could have clapped his hands at this propitious +result. Their conversation then turned upon the Byzantine Empire +and its history. The Count unfolded to Gilbert the plan of his +work, and the kind of researches he expected from him. This +conversation was prolonged for several hours. + + +IV + + +A fortnight later, Gilbert wrote to his friends a letter conceived +thus: + +"Madame:--I have found here neither fetes, cavalcades, gala-days +nor Muscovite beauties. What should we do, I beg to know, with +these Muscovite beauties? or perhaps I ought to ask, what would +they do with us? We live in the woods; our castle is an old, very +old one, and in the moonlight it looks like a specter. What I like +best about it, is its long and gloomy corridors, through which the +wind sweeps freely; but I assure you that I have not yet +encountered there a white robe or a plumed hat. Only the other +evening a bat, who had entered by a broken pane, brushed my face +with its wing and almost put out my candle. This, up to the +present time has been my sole adventure. And as for you, sir, know +that I am not obliged to resist the fascinations of my tyrant, for +the reason that he has not taken the trouble to be fascinating. +Know also that I am not bored. I am contented; I am enjoying the +tranquility of mind which comes from a well-defined, well- +regulated, and after all, very supportable position. I am no +longer compelled to urge my life on before me and to show it the +road; it makes its own way, and I follow it as Martin followed his +ass. And then pleasures are not wanting for us,--listen! Our +castle is a long series of dilapidated buildings, of which we +occupy the only one habitable. I am lodged alone in a turret which +commands a magnificent view, and I have a grand precipice under my +window. I can say 'my turret,' 'my precipice!' Oh, my poor +Parisians, you will never understand all there is in these two +words: MY PRECIPICE! 'What is it then but a precipice?' exclaims +Madame Lerins. 'It is only a great chasm.' Ah, yes! Madame, it is +'a great chasm'; but imagine that this morning this chasm was a +deep blue, and this evening at sunset it was--stay, of the color of +your nasturtiums. I opened my window and put my head out to inhale +the odor of this admirable precipice, for I have discovered that in +the evening precipices have an odor. How shall I describe it to +you? It is a perfume of rocks scorched by the sun, with which +mingles a subtle aroma of dry herbs. The combination is exquisite. + +"The proud rock, of which we occupy the summit and which deserves +its name of Vulture's Crag, is bounded at the north as you already +know, at the west by a ravine which separates it from a range of +hills higher and fantastically jagged, and following the windings +of the river. This line of hills is not continuous; it is cut by +narrow gorges, which open into the valley and through which the +last rays of the sun reach us. The other evening there was a red +sunset, and one of these gorges seemed to vomit flames; you might +have supposed it the mouth of the furnace. Upon the east, from its +heights and its terrace, Geierfels overlooks the Rhine, from which +it is separated by the main road and a tow-path. At the south it +communicates by steep paths with a vast plateau, of which it forms, +as it were, the upper story, and which is clothed with a forest of +beeches, and furrowed here and there with noisy streams. It is on +this side only that our castle is accessible,--and here not to +carriages,--even a cart could reach us but with difficulty, and all +of our provisions are brought to us upon the backs of men or mules. +Mountains, perpendicular rocks, turrets overhanging a precipice, +grand and somber woods, rugged paths and brooks which fall in +cascades, do not all these, Madame, make this a very wild and very +romantic retreat? On the right bank of the Rhine which stretches +out under our eyes, it is another thing. Picture to yourself a +landscape of infinite sweetness, a great cultivated plain, which +rises by imperceptible gradation to the base of a distant chain of +mountains, the undulating outlines of which are traced upon the sky +in aerial indentations. + +"Directly in front of the chateau, beyond the Rhine, a market town, +with neat houses carefully whitewashed and with gardens attached, +spreads itself around a little cove, like a fan. Upon the right of +this great village a rustic church reflects the sun from its tinned +spire; on the left, some large mills show their lazily turning +wheels, and behind these mills, the church and the market town, +extends the fertile plain which I have just endeavored to describe +to you, and which I cannot praise too much. Oh! charming +landscape! This afternoon I was occupied in feasting my eyes upon +it, when a white goat came to distract my attention, followed at a +distance by a little girl whom I suspected of being very pretty; +but I forgot them both in watching a steamboat passing up the river +towing a flotilla of barges, covered with awnings and attended by +their lighters, and a huge raft laden with timber from the Black +Forest, manned by fifty or sixty boatmen, some of whom in front, +and some in the rear, directed its course with vigorous strokes of +the oar. + +"But what pleases me above everything else is, that Geierfels, by +its position, is a kind of acoustic focus to which all the noises +of the valley incessantly ascend. This afternoon, the dull +murmuring of the river, the panting respiration of the tug-boat, +the vibration of a bell in a distant church tower, the song of a +peasant girl washing her linen in a spring, the bleating of sheep, +the tic tac of the mills, the tinkling bells of a long train of +mules drawing a barge by a rope, the reverberating clamors of +boatmen stowing casks in their boats--all these various sounds came +to my ear in vibrations of surprising clearness, when suddenly a +gust of wind mingled them confusedly together, and I could hear but +a vague music which seemed to fall from the skies. But a moment +afterwards all of these vibrating voices emerged anew from the +whirlwind of confused harmony, and each, sonorous and distinct, +recounted to my enraptured heart some episode in the life of man +and nature. And then, when night comes, Madame, to all of these +noises of the day succeed others more mysterious, more penetrating, +more melancholy. Do you like the hooting of the owl, Madame? But +first, I wonder if you have ever heard it. It is a cry-- No, it +is not a cry, it is a soft, stifled wail; a monotonous and resigned +sorrow, which unbosoms itself to the moon and stars. One of these +sad birds lodges within two steps of me, in the hollow of a tree, +and when night comes, he amuses himself by singing a duet with the +singing wind. The Rhine plays an accompaniment, and its grave, +subdued voice furnishes a continuous bass, whose volume swells and +falls in rhythmic waves. The other evening this concert failed; +neither the wind nor the owl was in voice. The Rhine alone +grumbled beneath; but it arranged a surprise for me and proved that +it could make harmony of its own without other aid. Towards +midnight a barge carrying a lantern on its prow had become detached +from the bank and had drifted across the river, and I distinctly +heard, or imagined that I heard, the wash of the waves upon the +side of the boat, the bubbling of the eddy which formed under the +stern, the dull sound of the oar when it dipped into the current, +and still sweeter, when raised out of it the tender tears which +dripped from it drop by drop. This music contrasted strongly with +that I had heard the night before at the same hour. The north wind +had risen during the evening, and near eleven o'clock it became +furious; it filled the air with sad howlings, and increased to a +rage that was inexpressible. The weathercocks creaked, the tiles +ground against each other, the roof timbers trembled in their +mortices, and the walls shook upon their foundations. From time to +time a blast would hurl itself against my window with wild shrieks, +and from my bed I imagined I could see through the panes the +bloodshot eyes of a band of famished wolves. In the brief +intervals when this outside tumult subsided, strange murmurs came +from the interior of the castle; the wainscoting gave forth dismal +creakings;--there was not a crack in the partitions, nor a fissure +in the ceiling from which did not issue a sigh, or hoarse groans. +Then again all this became silent, and I heard only something like +a low whispering in the far off corridors, as of phantoms murmuring +in the darkness as they swept the walls in their flight; then +suddenly they seemed to gather up their forces, the floors trembled +under their spasmodic tramping, while they clambered in confusion +up the staircase which led to my room, throwing themselves over the +threshold of my door and uttering indescribable lamentations. + +"But enough of this, perhaps you will say; let us now talk a little +of your patron: This terrible man, will you believe it, has not +inspired me with the antagonism which you prophesied. But in the +first place we do not live together from morning to night. The day +after my arrival, he sent me a long list of difficult or mutilated +passages to interpret and restore. It is a work of time, to which +I devote all my afternoons. He has had some of his finest folios +sent to my room, and I live in these like a rat in a Dutch cheese. +It is true, I pass my mornings in his study, where we hold learned +discussions which would edify the Academy of Inscriptions; but to +my delight, after nightfall I can dispose of myself as I choose. +He has even agreed that, after seven o'clock, I may lock myself in +my room, and that no human being under any pretext whatever shall +come to disturb me there. This privilege M. Leminof granted to me +in the most gracious manner, and you can imagine how grateful I am +to him for it. I do not mean to say by this that he is an amiable +man, nor that he cares to be; but he is a man of sense and wit. He +understood me at once, and he means to make me serviceable to him. +I am like a horse who feels that he carries a skilful rider." + + +V + + +The next day was Sunday, and for Gilbert was a day of liberty. +Towards the middle of the forenoon, he went out to take a walk in +the woods. He had wandered for an hour, when, turning his head, he +saw coming behind him a little troop of children, decked out in +strange costumes. The two oldest wore blue dresses and red +mantles, and their heads were covered with felt caps encircled by +bands of gilt paper in imitation of aureoles. A smaller one wore a +gray dress, upon which were painted black devils and inverted +torches. The last five were clothed in white; their shoulders were +ornamented with long wings of rose-tinted gauze, and they held in +their hands sprigs of box by way of palm branches. + +Gilbert slackened his pace, and when they came up with him, he +recognized in the one who wore the san-benito the little hog- +driver, so maltreated by Stephane. The child, who while marching +looked down complacently on the torches and the devils with which +his robe was decorated, advanced towards Gilbert, and without +waiting for his questions, said to him, "I am Judas Iscariot. Here +is Saint Peter, and here is Saint John. The others are angels. We +are all going to R----, to take part in a grand procession, that +they have there every five years. If you want to see something +fine, just follow us. I shall sing a solo and so will Saint Peter; +the others sing in the chorus." + +Upon which Judas Iscariot, Saint Peter, Saint John and the angels +resumed their march, and Gilbert decided to follow them. The first +houses of the village of R---- rise at the extremity of the wooded +plain which extends to the south of Geierfels. In about half an +hour, the little procession made its entry into the village in the +midst of a considerable crowd which hastily gathered from the +neighboring hamlets. Gilbert made his way along the main street, +decorated with hangings and altars, and passed on to an open square +planted with elms, of which the church formed one of the sides. +Presently the bells sounded a grand peal; the doors of the church +opened, and the procession came out. At the head marched priests, +monks, and laymen of both sexes, bearing wax tapers, crosses, and +banners. Behind them came a long train of children representing +the escort of the Saviour to Calvary. One of them, a young lad of +ten years, filled the role of Christ. + +At a moment when Gilbert was absorbed in reflection, a voice which +was not unknown to him murmured in his ear these words, which made +him shudder: + +"You seem prodigiously interested, Monsieur, in this ridiculous +comedy!" + +Turning his head quickly, he recognized Stephane. The young man +had just dismounted from his horse, which he had left in the care +of his servant, and had pushed his way through the crowd, +indifferent to the exclamations of the good people whose pious +meditations he disturbed. Gilbert looked at him a moment severely, +and then fixed his eyes on the procession, and tried, but in vain, +to forget the existence of this Stephane whom he had not met before +since the adventure at the fountain, and whose presence at this +moment caused him an indefinable uneasiness. The reproachful look +which he had cast upon the young man, far from intimidating him, +served but to excite his mocking humor, and after a few seconds of +silence he commenced the following soliloquy in French, speaking +low, but in a voice so distinct that Gilbert, to his great regret, +lost not a word of it: + +"Mon Dieu! how ridiculous these young ones are! They really seem +to take the whole thing seriously; what vulgar types! what square, +bony faces. Don't their low, stupid expressions contrast oddly +with their wings? Do you see that little chap twisting his mouth +and rolling his eyes? His air of contrition is quite edifying. +The other day he was caught stealing fagots from a neighbor. . . . +And look at that other one who has lost his wings! What an unlucky +accident! He is stooping to pick them up, and tucks them under his +arm like a cocked hat. The idea is a happy one! But thank God, +their litanies are over. It's Saint Peter's turn to sing." + +For a long time Gilbert looked about him anxiously, seeking an +opportunity to escape, but the crowd was so compact that it was +impossible to make his way through it. He saw himself forced to +remain where he was and to submit, even to the end, to Stephane's +amiable soliloquy. So he pretended not to hear him, and concealed +his impatience as well as he could; but his nervousness betrayed +him in spite of himself, and to the great diversion of Stephane, +who maliciously enjoyed his own success. Fortunately for Gilbert, +when Judas had stopped singing, the procession resumed its march +towards a second station at the other end of the village, and this +caused a general movement among the bystanders who hedged his +passage. Gilbert profited by this disorder to escape, and was soon +lost in the crowd, where even Stephane's piercing eyes could not +follow him. + +Hastening from the village he took the road to the woods. "This +Stephane is decidedly a nuisance," thought he. "Three weeks since +he surprised me at a bright fountain, where I was deliciously +dreaming, and put my fancies to flight, and now by his impertinent +babbling he has spoiled a fete in which I took interest and +pleasure. What is he holding in reserve for me? The most annoying +part of it is, that henceforth I shall be condemned to see him +daily. Even to-day, in a few hours, I shall meet him at his +father's table. Presentiments do not always deceive, and at first +sight I recognize in him a strong enemy to my repose and happiness; +but I shall manage to keep him at a distance. We won't distress +ourselves over a trifle. What does philosophy amount to, if the +happiness of a philosopher is to be at the mercy of a spoiled +child!" + +Thus saying, he drew from his pocket a book which he often carried +in his walks: It was a volume of Goethe, containing the admirable +treatise on the "Metamorphosis of Plants." He began to read, often +raising his head from the page to gaze at a passing cloud, or a +bird fluttering from tree to tree. To this pleasant occupation he +abandoned himself for nearly an hour, when he heard the neighing of +a horse behind him, and turning, he saw Stephane advancing at full +speed on his superb chestnut and followed at a few paces by his +groom, mounted on a gray horse. Gilbert's first impulse was to +dart into a path which opened at his left, and thus gain the +shelter of the copse; but he did not wish to give Stephane the +pleasure of imagining that he was afraid of him, and so continued +on his way, his eyes riveted upon the book. + +Stephane soon came up to him, and bringing his horse to a walk, +thus accosted him: + +"Do you know, sir, that you are not very polite? You quitted me +abruptly, without taking leave. Your proceedings are singular, and +you seem to be a stranger to the first principles of good +breeding." + +"What do you expect, my dear sir?" answered Gilbert. "You were so +amiable, so prepossessing the first time I had the honor of meeting +you, that I was discouraged. I said to myself, that do what I +would, I should always be in arrears to you." + +"You are spiteful, Mr. Secretary," retorted Stephane. "What, have +you not forgotten that little affair at the spring?" + +"You have taken no trouble, it seems, to make me forget it." + +"It is true, I was wrong," replied he with a sneer; "wait a moment, +I will dismount, go upon my knees there in the middle of the road, +and say to you in dolorous voice, 'Sir, I'm grieved, heart-broken, +desperate,'--For what? I know not. Tell me, I pray you, sir, for +what must I beg your pardon? For if I rightly remember, you +commenced by raising your cane to me. + +"I did not raise my cane to you," replied Gilbert, beside himself +with indignation; "I contented myself with parrying the blow which +you were about to give me." + +"It was not my intention to strike you," rejoined Stephane, +impetuously. "And besides, learn once for all, that between us +things are not equal, and that even should I provoke you, you would +be a wretch to raise the end of your finger against me." + +"Oh, that is too much!" cried Gilbert, laughing loudly. + +"And why so, my little friend?" + +"Because--because--" stammered Stephane; and then suddenly stopped. + +An expression of bitter sadness passed over his face; his brows +contracted and his eyes became fixed. It was thus that terrible +paroxysm had commenced which so alarmed Gilbert at their first +meeting. This time, fortunately, the attack was less violent. The +good Gilbert passed quickly from anger to pity; "there is a secret +wound in that heart," thought he, and he was still more convinced +of it when, after a long pause Stephane, recovering the use of his +speech, said to him in a broken voice: "I was ill the other day, I +often am. People should have some consideration for invalids." + +Gilbert made no answer; he feared by a hard word to exasperate his +soul so passionate, and so little master of itself; but he thought +that when Stephane felt ill, he had better stay in his room. + +They walked on some moments in silence until, recovering from his +dejection, Stephane said ironically: "You made a mistake in leaving +the fete so soon. If you had stayed until the end, you would have +heard Christ and his mother sing; you lost a charming duet." + +"Let us drop that subject," interrupted Gilbert; "we could not +understand each other. Yours is a kind of pleasantry for which I +have but little taste." + +"Pedant!" murmured Stephane, turning his head, then adding with +animation: "It is just because I respect religion that I do not +like to see it burlesqued and parodied. Let a true angel appear +and I am ready to render him homage; but I am enraged when I see +great seraph's wings tied with white strings to the shoulders of +wicked, boorish, little thieves, liars, cowards, slaves, and +rascals. Their hypocritical airs do not impose on me, for I read +their base natures in their eyes. I detest all affectations, all +shams. I have the misfortune of being able to see through all +masks." + +"These are very old words for such very young lips," answered +Gilbert sadly. "I suspect, my child, you are repeating a lesson +you have learned." + +"And what do you know of my age?" cried he angrily. "By what do +you judge? Are faces clocks which mark the hours and minutes of +life? Well, yes, I am but sixteen; but I have lived longer than +you. I am not a library rat, and have not studied the world in +duodecimos. Thank God! for the advancement of my education. He +has gathered under my eyes a few specimens of the human race which +have enabled me to judge of the rest, and the more experience I +gain, the more I am convinced that all men are alike. On that +account I scorn them all,--all without exception!" + +"I thank you sincerely for myself and your groom," answered Gilbert +smiling. + +"Don't trouble yourself about my groom," replied Stephane, beating +down with his whip the foliage which obstructed his path. "In the +first place, he knows but little French; and it is useless to tell +him in Russian that I despise him,--he would be none the worse for +it. He is well lodged, well fed, and well clothed; what matters my +scorn to him? And besides, let me tell you for your guidance, that +my groom is not a groom, he is my jailer. I am a prisoner under +constant surveillance; these woods constitute a yard, where I can +walk but twice a week, and this excellent Ivan is my keeper. +Search his pockets and you will find a scourge." + +Gilbert turned to examine the groom, who answered his scrutinizing +look by a jovial and intelligent smile. Ivan represented the type +of the Russian serf in all his original beauty. He was small, but +vigorous and robust; he had a fresh complexion, cheeks full and +rosy, hair of a pale yellow, large soft eyes and a long chestnut +beard, in which threads of silver already mingled. It was such a +face as one often sees among the lower classes of Slavonians; +indicating at once energy in action and placidity in repose. + +When Gilbert had looked at him well, he said, "My dear sir, I do +not believe in Ivan's scourge." + +"Ah! that is like you bookworms," exclaimed Stephane with an angry +gesture. "You receive all the monstrous nonsense which you find in +your old books for Gospel truth, and without any hesitation, while +the ordinary matters of life appear to you prodigious absurdities, +which you refuse to believe." + +"Don't be angry. Ivan's scourge is not exactly an article of +faith. One can fail to believe in it without being in danger of +hell-fire. Besides, I am ready to recant my heresy; but I will +confess to you that I find nothing ferocious or stern in the face +of this honest servant. At all events, he is a jailer who does not +keep his prisoners closely, and who sometimes gives them a +relaxation beyond his orders; for the other day, it seems to me, +you scoured the country without him, and really the use you make of +your liberty--" + +"The other day," interrupted Stephane, "I did a foolish thing. For +the first time I amused myself by evading Ivan's vigilance. It was +an effort that I longed to make, but it turned out badly for me. +Would you like to see with your own eyes what this fine exploit +cost me?" + +Then pushing up the right sleeve of his black velvet blouse, he +showed Gilbert a thin delicate wrist marked by a red circle, which +indicated the prolonged friction of an iron ring. Gilbert could +not repress an exclamation of surprise and pity at the sight, and +repented his pleasantry. + +"I have been chained for a fortnight in a dungeon which I thought I +should never come out of again," said Stephane, "and I indulged in +a good many reflections there. Ah! you were right when you accused +me of repeating a lesson I had learned. The pretty bracelet which +I bear on my right arm is my thought-teacher, and if I dared to +repeat all that it taught me--" Then interrupting himself: + +"A lie!" exclaimed he in a bitter tone, drawing his cap down over +his eyes. "The truth is, that I came out of the dungeon like a +lamb, flexible as a glove, and that I am capable of committing a +thousand base acts to save myself the horror of returning there. I +am a coward like the rest, and when I tell you that I despise all +men, do not believe that I make an exception in my own favor." + +And at these words he drove the spurs into his horse's flank so +violently that the fiery chestnut, irritated by the rude attack, +kicked and pranced. Stephane subdued him by the sole power of his +haughty and menacing voice; then exciting him again, he launched +him forward at full speed and amused himself by suddenly bringing +him up with a jerk of the rein, and by turns making him dance and +plunge; then urging him across the road he made him clear at a +bound, the ditch and hedge which bordered it. After several +minutes of this violent exercise, he trotted away, followed by his +inseparable Ivan, leaving Gilbert to his reflections, which were +not the most agreeable. + +He had experienced in talking with Stephane an uneasiness, a secret +trouble which had never oppressed him before. The passionate +character of this young man, the rudeness of his manners, in which +a free savage grace mingled, the exaggeration of his language, +betraying the disorder of an ill-governed mind, the rapidity with +which his impressions succeeded each other, the natural sweetness +of his voice, the caressing melody of which was disturbed by loud +exclamations and rude and harsh accents; his gray eyes turning +nearly black and flashing fire in a paroxysm of anger or emotion; +the contrast between the nobility and distinction of his face and +bearing, and the arrogant scorn of proprieties in which he seemed +to delight--in short, some painful mystery written upon his +forehead and betrayed in his smile--all gave Gilbert much to +speculate upon and troubled him profoundly. The aversion he had at +first felt for Stephane had changed to pity since the poor child +had shown him the red bracelet, which he called his "thought- +teacher,"--but pity without sympathy is a sentiment to which one +yields with reluctance. Gilbert reproached himself for taking such +a lively interest in this young man who had so little merited his +esteem, and more especially as with his pity mingled an indefinable +terror or apprehension. In fact, he hardly knew himself; he so +calm, so reasonable, to be the victim of such painful +presentiments! It seemed to him that Stephane was destined to +exercise great influence over his fate, and to bring disorder into +his life. + +Suddenly, he heard once more the sound of horse's hoofs and +Stephane re-appeared. Perceiving Gilbert, the young man stopped +his horse and cried out, "Mr. Secretary, I am looking for you." + +And then, laughing, continued: + +"This is a tender avowal I have just made; for believe me, it is +years since I have thought of looking for anybody; but as in your +estimation I have not been very courteous, and as I pride myself on +my good manners, I wish to obtain your pardon by flattering you a +little." + +"This is too much goodness," answered Gilbert. "Don't take the +trouble. The best course you can pursue to win my esteem is to +trouble yourself about me as little as possible." + +"And you will do the same in regard to me?" + +"Remember that matters are not equal between us. I am but an +insect,--it is easy for you to avoid me, whilst--" + +"You are not talking with common sense," interrupted Stephane; +"look at this green beetle crawling across the road. I see him, +but he does not see me. But to drop this bantering--for it's quite +out of character with me--what I like in you is your remarkable +frankness, it really amuses me. By the way, be good enough to tell +me what book that is which never leaves you for a moment and which +you ponder over with such intensity. Do tell me," added he in a +coaxing, childish tone, "what is the book that you press to your +heart with so much tenderness." + +Gilbert handed it to him. + +"'Essay on the Metamorphosis of Plants.' So, plants have the +privilege of changing themselves? Mon Dieu, they must be happy! +But they ought to tell us their secret." + +Then closing the volume, and returning it to Gilbert, he exclaimed: + +"Happy man! you live among the plants of the field as if in your +element. Are you not something of a plant yourself? I am not sure +but that you have just now stopped reading to say to the primroses +and anemones covering this slope, 'I am your brother!' Mon Dieu! I +am sorry to have disturbed the charming conversation! And hold! +your eyes are a little the color of the periwinkle." + +He turned his head and looked at Gilbert with a scornful air, and +had already prepared to leave him, when a glance over the road +dispersed his ill-humor, for in the distance he saw Wilhelm and his +comrades returning from the fete. + +"Come quick, my children," cried he, rising in his stirrups. "Come +quick, my lambs, for I have something of the greatest importance to +propose to you." + +Hearing his challenge, the children raised their eyes and +recognizing Stephane, they stopped and took counsel together. The +somewhat brutal impudence of the young Russian had given him a bad +reputation, and the little peasants would rather have turned back +than encounter his morose jesting or his terrible whip. + +The three apostles and the five angels, after consulting together, +concluded prudently to beat a retreat, when Stephane drawing from +his pocket a great leather purse, shook it in the air crying, +"There is money to be gained here,--come, my dear children, you +shall have all you want." + +The large, full purse which Stephane shook in his hand was a very +tempting bait for the eight children; but his whip, which he held +under his left arm, warned them to be careful. Hesitating between +fear and covetousness, they stood still like the ass in the fable +between his two bundles of hay; but Stephane at that moment was +seized with a happy inspiration and threw his switch to the top of +a neighboring tree, where it rested. This produced a magical +effect, the children with one accord deciding to approach him, +although with slow and hesitating steps. Wilhelm alone, +remembering his recent treatment, darted into a path nearby and +disappeared in the bushes. + +The troop of children stopped a dozen paces from Stephane and +formed in a group, the little ones hiding behind the larger. All +of them fumbled nervously with the ends of their belts, and kept +their heads down, awkward and ashamed, with eyes fixed upon the +ground, but casting sidelong glances at the great leather purse +which danced between Stephane's hands. + +"You, Saint Peter," said he to them in a grave tone; "you, Saint +John, and your five dear little angels of Heaven, listen to me +closely. You have sung to-day very pretty songs in honor of the +good Lord; he will reward you some day in the other world; but for +the little pleasures people give me, I reward them at once. So +every one of you shall have a bright dollar, if you will do the +little thing I ask. It is only to kiss delicately and respectfully +the toe of my boot. I tell you again, that this little ceremony +will gain for each of you a bright dollar, and you will afterwards +have the happiness of knowing that you have learned to do something +which you can't do too well if you want to get on in this world." + +The seven children looked at Stephane with a sheepish air and open +mouths. Not one of them stirred. Their immobility, and their +seven pairs of fixed round eyes directed upon him, provoked him. + +"Come, my little lambs," he continued persuasively, "don't stretch +your eyes in this way; they look like barn doors wide open. You +should do this bravely and neatly. Ah! mon Dieu! you will see it +done often enough, and do it yourselves again too in your lifetime. +There must always be a beginning. Come on, make haste. A thaler +is worth thirty-six silbergroschen, and a silbergroschen is worth +ten pfennigs, and for five pfennigs you can buy a cake, a hot +muffin, or a little man in licorice--" + +And shaking the leather purse again, he cried: + +"Ah, what a pretty sound that makes! How pleasantly the click, +click of these coins sounds to our ears. All music is discordant +compared to that. Nightingales and thrushes, stop your concerts! +we can sing better than you. I am an artist who plays your +favorite air on his violin. Let us open the ball, my darlings." + +The seven children seemed still uncertain. They were red with +excitement, and consulted each other by looks. At last the +youngest, a little blond fellow, made up his mind. + +"Monsieur HAS ONE CHEVRON TOO MANY," said he to his companions, +which being interpreted means: "Monsieur is a little foolish with +pride, his head is turned, he is crack-brained, and," added he +laughingly, "after all, it's only in fun, and there is a dollar to +get." + +So speaking, he approached Stephane deliberately and gave his boot +a loud kiss. The ice was broken; all of his companions followed +his example, some with a grave and composed air, others laughing +till they showed all their teeth. Stephane clapped his hands in +triumph: + +"Bravo! my dear friends," exclaimed he. "The business went off +admirably, charmingly!" + +Then drawing seven dollars from his purse, he threw them into the +road with a scornful gesture: + +"Now then, Messrs. Apostles and Seraphim," cried he in a thundering +voice, "pick up your money quick, and scamper away as fast as your +legs can carry you. Vile brood, go and tell your mothers by what a +glorious exploit you won this prize! + +And while the children were moving off, he turned towards Gilbert +and said, crossing his arms: "Well, my man of the periwinkles, what +do you think of it?" + +Gilbert had witnessed this little scene with mingled sadness and +disgust. He would have given much if only one of the children had +resisted Stephane's insolent caprice; but not having this +satisfaction, he tried to conceal his chagrin as best he could. + +"What does it prove?" replied he dryly. + +"It seems to me it proves many things, and among others this: that +certain emotions are very ridiculous, and that certain mentors of +my acquaintance who thrust their lessons upon others--" + +He said no more, for at this moment a pebble thrown by a vigorous +hand whistled by his ears, and rolled his cap in the dust. +Starting, he uttered an angry cry, and striking spurs into his +horse, he launched him at a gallop across the bushes. Gilbert +picked up the cap, and handed it to Ivan, who said to him in bad +German: + +"Pardon him; the poor child is sick," and then departed hastily in +pursuit of his young master. + +Gilbert ran after them. When he had overtaken them, Stephane had +dismounted, and stood with clenched fists before a child, who, +quite out of breath from running, had thrown himself exhausted at +the foot of a tree. In running he had torn many holes in his San- +benito, and he was looking with mournful eyes at these rents, and +replied only in monosyllables to all of Stephane's threats. + +"You are at my mercy," said the young man to him at last. "I will +forgive you if you ask my pardon on your knees." + +"I won't do it," replied the child, getting up. "I have no pardon +to ask. You struck me with your whip, and I swore to pay you for +it. I'm a good shot. I sighted your cap and I was sure I'd hit +it. That makes you mad, and now we're even. But I'll promise not +to throw any more stones, if you'll promise not to strike me with +your whip any more." + +"That is a very reasonable proposition," said Gilbert. + +"I don't ask your opinion, sir," interrupted Stephane haughtily,-- +then turning to Ivan: "Ivan, my dear Ivan," continued he, "in this +matter you ought to obey me. You know very well the Count does not +love me, but he does not mean to have others insult me: it is a +privilege he reserves to himself. Dismount, and make this little +rascal kneel to me and ask my pardon." + +Ivan shook his head. + +"You struck him first," answered he; "why should he ask your +pardon?" + +In vain Stephane exhausted supplications and threats. The serf +remained inflexible, and during his talk Gilbert approached +Wilhelm, and said to him in a low voice: + +"Run away quickly, my child; but remember your promise; if you +don't, you'll have to settle with me." + +Stephane, seeing him escape, would have started in pursuit; but +Gilbert barred his way. + +"Ivan!" cried he, wringing his hands, "drive this man out of my +path!" + +Ivan shook his head again. + +"I don't wish to harm the young Frenchman," replied he; "he has a +kind way and loves children." + +Stephane's face was painfully agitated. His lips trembled. He +looked with sinister eye first at Ivan, then at Gilbert. At last +he said to himself in a stifled voice: + +"Wretch that I am! I am as feeble as a worm, and weakness is not +respected!" + +Then lowering his head, he approached his horse, mounted him, and +pushed slowly through the copse. When he had regained the wood, +looking fixedly at Gilbert: + +"Mr. Secretary," said he, "my father often quotes that diplomatist +who said that all men have their price; unfortunately I am not rich +enough to buy you; you are worth more than a dollar; but permit me +to give you some good advice. When you return to the castle, +repeat to Count Kostia certain words that I have allowed to escape +me to-day. It will give him infinite pleasure. Perhaps he will +make you his spy-in-chief, and without asking it, he may double +your salary. The most profitable trade in the world is burning +candles on the devil's shrine. You will do wonders in it, as well +as others." + +Upon which, with a profound bow to Gilbert, he disappeared at a +full trot. + +"The devil! the devil! he talks of nothing but the devil!" said +Gilbert to himself, taking the road to the castle. "My poor +friend, you are condemned to pass some years of your life here +between a tyrant who is sometimes amiable, and a victim who is +never so at all!" + + +VI + + +When Gilbert got back to the castle, M. Leminof was walking on the +terrace. He perceived his secretary at some distance, and made +signs to him to come and join him. They made several turns on the +parapet, and while walking, Gilbert studied Stephane's father with +still greater attention than he had done before. He was now most +forcibly struck by his eyes, of a slightly turbid gray, whose +glances, vague, unsteady, indiscernible, became at moments cold and +dull as lead. Never had M. Leminof been so amiable to his +secretary; he spoke to him playfully, and looked at him with an +expression of charming good nature. They had conversed for a +quarter of an hour when the sound of a bell gave notice that dinner +was served. Count Kostia conducted Gilbert to the dining-room. It +was an immense vaulted apartment, wainscoted in black oak, and +lighted by three small ogive windows, looking out upon the terrace. +The arches of the ceiling were covered with old apocalyptic +paintings, which time had molded and scaled off. In the center +could be seen the Lamb with seven horns seated on his throne; and +round about him the four-and-twenty elders clothed in white. On +the lower parts of the pendentive the paintings were so much +damaged that the subjects were hardly recognizable. Here and there +could be seen wings of angels, trumpets, arms which had lost their +hands, busts from which the head had disappeared, crowns, stars, +horses' manes, and dragons' tails. These gloomy relics sometimes +formed combinations that were mysterious and ominous. It was a +strange decoration for a dining-hall. + +At this hour of the day, the three arched windows gave but a dull +and scanty light; and more was supplied by three bronze lamps, +suspended from the ceiling by iron chains; even their brilliant +flames were hardly sufficient to light up the depths of this +cavernous hall. Below the three lamps was spread a long table, +where twenty guests might easily find room; at one of the rounded +ends of this table, three covers and three morocco chairs had been +arranged in a semi-circle; at the other end, a solitary cover was +placed before a simple wooden stool. The Count seated himself and +motioned Gilbert to place himself at his right; then unfolding his +napkin, he said harshly to the great German valet de chambre: + +"Why are not my son and Father Alexis here yet? Go and find them." + +Some moments after, the door opened, and Stephane appeared. He +crossed the hall, his eyes downcast, and bending over the long thin +hand which his father presented to him without looking at him, he +touched it slightly with his lips. This mark of filial deference +must have cost him much, for he was seized with that nervous +trembling to which he was subject when moved by strong emotions. +Gilbert could not help saying to himself: + +"My child, the seraphim and apostles are well revenged for the +humiliation you inflicted upon them." + +It seemed as if the young man divined Gilbert's thoughts, for as he +raised his head, he launched a ferocious glance at him; then +seating himself at his father's left, he remained as motionless as +a statue, his eyes fixed upon his plate. Meantime he whom they +called Father Alexis did not make his appearance, and the Count, +becoming impatient, threw his napkin brusquely upon the table, and +rose to go after him; but at this same moment the door opened, and +Gilbert saw a bearded face which wore an expression of anxiety and +terror. Much heated and out of breath, the priest threw a +scrutinizing glance upon his lord and master, and from the Count +turned his eyes towards the empty stool, and looked as if he would +have given his little finger to be able to reach even that +uncomfortable seat without being seen. + +"Father Alexis, you forget yourself in your eternal daubs!" +exclaimed M. Leminof, reseating himself. "You know that I dislike +to wait. I profess, it is true, a passionate admiration for the +burlesque masterpieces with which you are decorating the walls of +my chapel; but I cannot suffer them to annoy me, and I beg you not +to sacrifice again the respect you owe me to your foolish passion +for those coarse paintings; if you do, I shall some fine morning +bury your sublime daubings under a triple coat of whitewash." + +This reprimand, pronounced in a thundering tone, produced the most +unhappy effect upon Father Alexis. His first movement was to raise +his eyes and arms toward the arched ceiling where, as if calling +the four-and-twenty elders to witness, he exclaimed: + +"You hear! The profane dare call them daubs, those incomparable +frescoes which will carry down the name of Father Alexis to the +latest posterity!" + +But in the heart of the poor priest terror soon succeeded to +indignation. He dropped his arms, and bending down, sunk his head +between his shoulders, and tried to make himself as small as +possible; much as a frightened turtle draws himself into his shell, +and fears that even there he is taking up too much room. + +"Well! what are these grimaces for? Do you mean to make us wait +until to-morrow for your benediction?" + +The Count pronounced these words in the rude tone of a corporal +ordering recruits to march in double-quick time. Father Alexis +made a bound as if he had received a sharp blow from a whip across +his back, and in his agitation and haste to reach his stool, he +struck violently against the corner of a carved sideboard; this +terrible shock drew from him a cry of pain, but did not arrest his +speed, and rubbing his hip, he threw himself into his place and, +without giving himself time to recover breath, he mumbled in a +nasal tone and in an unintelligible voice, a grace which he soon +finished, and everybody having made the sign of the cross, dinner +was served. + +"What a strange role religion plays here," thought Gilbert to +himself as he carried his spoon to his lips. "They would on no +account dine until it had blessed the soup, and at the same time +they banish it to the end of the table as a leper whose impure +contact they fear." + +During the first part of the repast, Gilbert's attention was +concentrated on Father Alexis. This priestly face excited his +curiosity. At first sight it seemed impressed with a certain +majesty, which was heightened by the black folds of his robe, and +the gold crucifix which hung upon his breast. Father Alexis had a +high, open forehead; his large, strongly aquiline nose gave a manly +character to his face; his black eyes, finely set, were surmounted +by well-curved eyebrows, and his long grizzly beard harmonized very +well with his bronzed cheeks furrowed by venerable wrinkles. Seen +in repose, this face had a character of austere and imposing +beauty. And if you had looked at Father Alexis in his sleep, you +would have taken him for a holy anchorite recently come out of the +desert, or better still, for a Saint John contemplating with closed +eyes upon the height of his Patmos rock, the sublime visions of the +Apocalypse; but as soon as the face of the good priest became +animated, the charm was broken. It was but an expressive mask, +flexible, at times grotesque, where were predicted the fugitive and +shallow impressions of a soul gentle, innocent, and easy, but not +imaginative or exalted. It was then that the monk and the +anchorite suddenly disappeared, and there remained but a child +sixty years old, whose countenance, by turns uneasy or smiling, +expressed nothing but puerile pre-occupations, or still more +puerile content. This transformation was so rapid that it seemed +almost like a juggler's trick. You sought St. John, but found him +no more, and you were tempted to cry out, "Oh, Father Alexis, what +has become of you? The soul now looking out of your face is not +yours." This Father Alexis was an excellent man; but +unfortunately, he had too decided a taste for the pleasures of the +table. He could also be accused of having a strong ingredient of +vanity in his character; but his self-love was so ingenuous, that +the most severe judge could but pardon it. Father Alexis had +succeeded in persuading himself that he was a great artist, and +this conviction constituted his happiness. This much at least +could be said of him, that he managed his brush and pencil with +remarkable dexterity, and could execute four or five square feet of +fresco painting in a few hours. The doctrines of Mount Athos, +which place he had visited in his youth, had no more secrets for +him; Byzantine aesthetics had passed into his flesh and bones; he +knew by heart the famous "Guide to Painting," drawn up by the monk +Denys and his pupil Cyril of Scio. In short, he was thoroughly +acquainted with all the receipts by means of which works of genius +are produced, and thus, with the aid of compasses, he painted from +inspiration, those good and holy men who strikingly resembled +certain figures on gold backgrounds in the convents of Lavra and +Iveron. But one thing brought mortification and chagrin to Father +Alexis,--Count Kostia Petrovitch refused to believe in his genius! +But on the other hand, he was a little consoled by the fact that +the good Ivan professed unreserved admiration for his works; so he +loved to talk of painting and high art with this pious worshiper of +his talents. + +"Look, my son," he would say to him, extending the thumb, index and +middle fingers of his right hand, "thou seest these three fingers: +I have only to say a word to them, and from them go forth Saint +Georges, Saint Michaels, Saint Nicholases, patriarchs of the old +covenant, and apostles of the new, the good Lord himself and all +his dear family!" + +And then he would give him his hand to kiss, which duty the good +serf performed with humble veneration. However, if Count Kostia +had the barbarous taste to treat the illuminated works of Father +Alexis as daubs, he was not cruel enough to prevent him from +cultivating his dearly-loved art. He had even lately granted this +disciple of the great Panselinos, the founder of the Byzantine +school, an unexpected favor, for which the good father promised +himself to be eternally grateful. One of the wings of the Castle +of Geierfels enclosed a pretty and sufficiently spacious chapel, +which the Count had appropriated to the services of the Greek +Church, and one fine day, yielding to the repeated solicitations of +Father Alexis, he had authorized him to cover the walls and dome +with "daubs" after his own fashion. The priest commenced the work +immediately. This great enterprise absorbed at least half of his +thoughts; he worked many hours every day, and at night he saw in +dreams great patriarchs in gold and azure, hanging over him and +saying: + +"Dear Alexis, we commend ourselves to thy good care; let thy genius +perpetuate our glory through the Universe." + +The conversation at length turned upon subjects which the Count +amused himself by debating every day with his secretary. They +spoke of the Lower Empire, which M. Leminof regarded as the most +prosperous and most glorious age of humanity. He had little fancy +for Pericles, Caesar, Augustus, and Napoleon, and considered that +the art of reigning had been understood by Justinian and Alexis +Comnenus alone. And when Gilbert protested warmly in the name of +human dignity against this theory: + +"Stop just there!" said the Count; "no big words, no declamation, +but listen to me! These pheasants are good. See how Father Alexis +is regaling himself upon them. To whom do they owe this flavor +which is so enchanting him? To the high wisdom of my cook, who +gave them time to become tender. He has served them to us just at +the right moment. A few days sooner they would have been too +tough; a few days later would have been risking too much, and we +should have had the worms in them. My dear sir, societies are very +much like game. Their supreme moment is when they are on the point +of decomposition. In their youth they have a barbarous toughness. +But a certain degree of corruption, on the contrary, imperils their +existence. Very well! Byzantium possessed the art of making minds +gamey and arresting decomposition at that point. Unfortunately she +carried the secret to the grave with her." + +A profound silence reigned in the great hall, uninterrupted except +by the rhythmic sound of the good father's jaws. Stephane leaned +his elbows on the table; his attitude expressive of dreamy +melancholy; his head inclined and leaning against the palm of his +right hand; his black tunic without any collar exposing a neck of +perfect whiteness; his long silky hair falling softly upon his +shoulders; the pure and delicate contour of his handsome face; his +sensitive mouth, the corners curving slightly upwards, all reminded +Gilbert of the portrait of Raphael painted by himself, all, except +the expression, which was very different. + +A profound melancholy filled Gilbert's heart. Nothing about him +commanded his sympathies, nothing promised any companionship for +his soul; at his left the stern face of a drowsy tyrant, made more +sinister by sleep; opposite him a young misanthrope, for the moment +lost in clouds; at his right an old epicure who consoled himself +for everything by eating figs; above his head the dragons of the +Apocalypse. And then this great vaulted hall was cold, sepulchral; +he felt as though he were breathing the air of a cellar; the +recesses and the corners of the room were obscured by black +shadows; the dark wainscotings which covered the walls had a +lugubrious aspect; outside were heard ominous noises. A gale of +wind had risen and uttered long bellowings like a wounded bull, to +which the grating of weathercocks and the dismal cry of the owls +responded. + +When Gilbert had re-entered his own room he opened the window that +he might better hear the majestic roll of the river. At the same +moment a voice, carried by the wind from the great square tower, +cried to him: + +"Monsieur, the grand vizier, don't forget to burn plenty of candles +to the devil! this is the advice which your most faithful subject +gives you in return for the profound lessons of wisdom with which +you favored his inexperience to-day!" + +It was thus Gilbert learned Stephane was his neighbor. + +"It is consoling," thought he, "to know that he can't possibly come +in here without wings. And," added he, closing his window, +"whatever happens, I did well to write to Mme. Lerins yesterday-- +to-day I am not so well satisfied." + + +VII + + +This is what Gilbert wrote in his journal six weeks after his +arrival at Geierfels: + + +A son who has towards his father the sentiments of a slave toward +his master; a father who habitually shows towards his son a dislike +bordering on hatred--such are the sad subjects for study that I +have found here. At first I wished to persuade myself that M. +Leminof was simply a cold hard character, a skeptic by disposition, +a blase grandee, who believed it a duty to himself to openly +testify his scorn for all the humbug of sentiment. He is nothing +of the kind. The Count's mind is diseased, his soul tormented, his +heart eaten by a secret ulcer and he avenges its sufferings by +making others suffer. Yes, the misanthrope seeks vengeance for +some deadly affront which has been put upon him by man or by fate; +his irony breathes anger and hatred; it conceals deep resentment +which breaks out occasionally in his voice, in his look and in his +unexpected and violent acts; for he is not always master of +himself. At certain times the varnish of cold politeness and icy +sportiveness with which he ordinarily conceals his passions, scales +off suddenly and falls into dust, and his soul appears in its +nakedness. During the first weeks of my residence here he +controlled himself in my presence, now I have the honor of +possessing his confidence, and he no longer deems it necessary to +hide his face from me, nor does he try any longer to deceive me. + +It is singular, I thought myself entirely master of my glances, but +in spite of myself, they betrayed too much curiosity on one +occasion. The other day while I was working with him in his study, +he suddenly became dreamy and absent, his brow was like a +thundercloud; he neither saw nor heard me. When he came out of his +reverie his eyes met mine fixed upon his face, and he saw that I +was observing him too attentively. + +"Come now," said he brusquely, "you remember our stipulations; we +are two egotists who have made a bargain with each other. Egotists +are not curious; the only thing which interests them in the mind of +a fellow-creature, is in the domain of utility." + +And then fearing that he had offended me, he continued in a softer +tone: + +"I am the least interesting soul in the world to know. My nerves +are very sensitive, and let me say to you once for all, that this +is the secret of all the disorders which you may observe in my poor +machine." + +"No, Count Kostia, this is not your secret!" I was tempted to +answer. "It is not your nerves which torment you. I would wager +that in despite of your cynicism and skepticism, you have once +believed in something, or in some one who has broken faith with +you," but I was careful not to let him suspect my conjectures. I +believe he would have devoured me. The anger of this man is +terrible, and he does not always spare me the sight of it. +Yesterday especially, he was transported beyond himself, to such an +extent that I blushed for him. Stephane had gone to ride with +Ivan. The dinner-bell rang and they had not returned. The Count +himself went to the entrance of the court to wait for them. His +lips were pale, his voice harsh and grating, veiled by a hoarseness +which always comes with his gusts of passion. When the delinquents +appeared at the end of the path, he ran to them, and measured +Stephane from head to foot with a glance so menacing that the child +trembled in every limb; but his anger exploded itself entirely upon +Ivan. The poor jailer had, however, good excuses to offer: +Stephane's horse had stumbled and cut his knee, and they had been +obliged to slacken their pace. The Count appeared to hear nothing. +He signed to Ivan to dismount; which having done, he seized him by +the collar, tore from him his whip and beat him like a dog. The +unhappy serf allowed himself to be whipped without uttering a cry, +without making a movement. The idea of flight or self-defense +never occurred to him. Riveted to the spot, his eyes closed, he +was the living image of slavery resigned to the last outrages. +Indeed I believe that during this punishment I suffered more than +he. My throat was parched, my blood boiled in my veins. My first +impulse was to throw myself upon the Count, but I restrained +myself; such a violent interference would but have aggravated the +fate of Ivan. I clasped my hands and with a stifled voice cried: +"Mercy! mercy!" The Count did not hear me. Then I threw myself +between the executioner and his victim. Stupefied, with arm raised +and immovable, the Count stared at me with flaming eyes; little by +little he became calm, and his face resumed its ordinary +expression. + +"Let it pass for this time," said he at last, in a hollow voice; +"but in future meddle no more in my affairs!" + +Then dropping the whip to the ground, he strode away. Ivan raised +his eyes to me full of tears, his glance expressed at once +tenderness, gratitude, and admiration. He seized my hands and +covered them with kisses, after which he passed his handkerchief +over his face, streaming with perspiration, foam, and blood, and +taking the two horses by the bridles, quietly led them to the +stable. I found the Count at the table; he had recovered his good +humor; he discharged several arrows of playful sarcasm at my +"heresies" in matters of history. It was not without effort that I +answered him, for at this moment he inspired me with an aversion +that I could hardly conceal. But I felt bound to recognize the +victory which he had gained over himself in abridging Ivan's +punishment. After dinner he sent for the serf, who appeared with +his forehead and hands furrowed with bloody scars. His lips bore +their habitual smile, which was always a mystery to me. His master +ordered him to take off his vest, turn down his shirt, and kneel +before him; then drawing from his pocket a vial full of some +ointment whose virtues he lauded highly, he dressed the wounds of +the moujik with his own hands. This operation finished, he said to +him: + +"That will amount to nothing, my son. Go and sin no more." + +Upon which the serf raised himself and left the room, smiling +throughout. Ivan's smile is an exotic plant which I am not +acquainted with, and which only grows in Slavonic soil, a strange +smile,--real prodigy of baseness or heroism. Which is it? I am +sure I cannot tell. + +In spite of my trouble, I had been able to observe Stephane at the +beginning of the punishment. At the first blow, a flash of +triumphant joy passed over his face; but when the blood started he +became horribly pale, and pressed one of his hands to his throat as +if to arrest a cry of horror, and with the other he covered his +eyes to shut out the sight; then not being able to contain himself, +he hurried away. God be praised! compassion had triumphed in his +heart over the joy of seeing his jailer chastised. There is in +this young soul, embittered as it is by long sufferings, a fund of +generosity and goodness; but will it not in time lose the last +vestiges of its native qualities? Three years hence will Stephane +cover his eyes to avoid the sight of an enemy's punishment? Within +three years will not the habit of suffering have stifled pity in +his breast? To-morrow, to-morrow perhaps, will not his heart have +uttered its last cry! + +Since you have no tender words for him, Count Kostia, would that I +could close his ears to the desolating lessons that you give him! +Do you not see that the life he leads is enough to teach him to +hate men and life, without the necessity of your interference? He +knows nothing of humanity, but what he sees through the bars of his +prison; and imagines that there is nothing in the world but +capricious tyrants and trembling, degraded slaves. Why thus kill +in his heart every germ of enthusiasm, of hope, of manly and +generous faith? + +But may not Stephane be a vicious child, whose perverse instincts a +justly provoked father seeks to curb by a pitiless discipline? No, +a thousand times no! It is false, it is impossible; it is only +necessary to look at him to be satisfied of this. His face is +often hard, cold, scornful; but it never expresses a low thought, a +pollution of soul, or a precocious corruption of mind. In his +quiet moods there is upon his brow a stamp of infantile purity. I +was wrong in supposing that his soul had lost its youth. + +Alas! with what cruel harshness they dispute the little pleasures +which remain to him. In spite of his jests over the periwinkles, +he has a taste for flowers, and had obtained from the gardener the +concession of a little plot of ground to cultivate according to his +fancy. The Count, it appears, had ratified this favor; but this +unheard-of condescension proved to be but a refinement of cruelty. +For some time, every evening after dinner, Stephane passed an hour +in his little parterre; he plucked out the weeds, planted, watered, +and watched with a paternal eye the growth of his favorites. +Yesterday, an hour after the sanguinary castigation, while his +father was dressing Ivan's wounds, he had gone out on tiptoe. Some +minutes after, as I was walking upon the terrace, I saw him +occupied. with absorbing gravity, in this great work of watering. +I was but a few paces from him, when the gardener approached, +pickax in hand, and, without a word, struck it violently into the +middle of a tuft of verbenas which grew at one end of the plot of +ground. Stephane raised himself briskly, and, believing him +stupid, threw himself upon him, crying out: + +"Wretch, what are you doing there?" + +"I am doing what his excellency ordered me to," answered the +gardener. + +At this moment the Count strolled toward us, his hands in his +pockets, humming an aria, and an expression of amiable good humor +on his face. Stephane extended his arms towards him, but one of +those looks which always petrifies him kept him silent and +motionless in the middle of the pathway. He watched with wild eyes +the fatal pickax ravage by degrees his beloved garden. In vain he +tried to disguise his despair; his legs trembled and his heart +throbbed violently. He fixed his large eyes upon his dear, +devastated treasures; two great tears escaped them and rolled +slowly down his cheeks. But when the instrument of destruction +approached a magnificent carnation, the finest ornament of his +garden, his heart failed him, he uttered a piercing cry, and +raising his hands to Heaven, ran away sobbing. The Count looked +after him as he fled, and an atrocious smile passed over his lips! +Ah! if this father does not hate his son, I know not what hatred +is, nor how it depicts itself upon a human face. Meantime I threw +myself between the carnation and the pickax, as an hour before +between the knout and Ivan. Stephane's despair had rent my heart; +I wished at any cost to preserve this flower which was so dear to +him. The face of Kostia Petrovitch took all hope from me. It +seemed to say: + +"You still indulge in sentiment; this is a little too much of it." + +"This plant is beautiful," I said to him; "why destroy it?" + +"Ah! you love flowers, my dear Gilbert;" answered he, with an air +of diabolical malice. "I am truly glad of it!" + +And turning to the gardener, he added: + +"You will carefully take up all these flowers and place them in +pots--they shall decorate Monsieur's room. I am delighted to have +it in my power to do him this little favor." + +Thus speaking, he rubbed his hands gleefully, and turning his back +upon me, commenced humming his tune again. He was evidently +satisfied with his day's work. + +And now Stephane's flowers are here under my eyes, they have become +my property. Oh! if he knew it! I do not doubt that M. Leminof +wishes his son to hate me; and his wish is gratified. Overwhelmed +with respect and attentions, petted, praised, extolled, treated as +a favorite and grand vizier, how can I be otherwise than an object +of scorn and aversion to this young man? But could he read my +heart! what would he read there, after all? An impotent pity from +which his pride would revolt. I can do nothing for him; I could +not mitigate his misfortunes or pour balm into his wounds. + +Go, then, Gilbert, occupy yourself with the Byzantines! Remember +your contract, Gilbert! The master of this house has made you +promise not to meddle in his affairs. Translate Greek, my friend, +and, in your leisure moments, amuse yourself with your puppets. +Beyond that, closed eyes and sealed mouth; that must be your motto. +But do you say, "I shall become a wretch in seeing this child +suffer"? Well! if your useless pity proves too much of a burden, +six months hence you can break your bonds, resume your liberty, and +with three hundred crowns in your pocket, you can undertake that +journey to Italy,--object of your secret dreams and most ardent +longing. Happy man! arming yourself with the white staff of the +pilgrim, you will shake the dust of Geierfels from your feet, and +go far away to forget, before the facades of Venetian palaces, the +dark mysteries of the old Gothic castle and its wicked occupants. + + +VIII + + +As Gilbert rapidly traced these last lines, the dinner-bell +sounded. He descended in haste to the grand hall. They were +already at the table. + +"Tell me, if you please," said Count Kostia, addressing him gayly, +"what you think of our new comrade?" + +Gilbert then noticed a fifth guest, whose face was not absolutely +unknown to him. This newly invited individual was seated at the +right of Father Alexis, who seemed to relish his society but +little, and was no less a personage than Solon, the favorite of the +master, one of those apes which are vulgarly called "monkeys in +mourning," with black hair, but with face, hands, and feet of a +reddish brown. + +"You will not be vexed with me for inviting Solon to dine with us?" +continued M. Leminof. "The poor beast has been hypochondriacal for +several days, and I am glad to procure this little distraction for +him. I hope it will dissipate it. I cannot bear melancholy faces; +hypochondria is the fate of fools who have no mental resources." + +He pronounced these last words half turning towards Stephane. The +young man's face was more gloomy than ever. His eyes were swollen, +and dark circles surrounded them. The indignation with which the +brutal remark of his father filled him, gave him strength to +recover from his dejection. He resolutely set about eating his +soup, which he had not touched before, and feeling that Gilbert's +eyes were fixed upon him, he raised his head quickly and darted +upon him a withering glance. Gilbert thought he divined that he +called him to account for his carnation, and could not help +blushing,--so true is it that innocence does not suffice to secure +one a clear conscience. + +"Frankly, now," resumed the Count, lowering his voice, "don't you +see some resemblance between the two persons who adorn the lower +end of this table?" + +"The resemblance does not strike me," answered Gilbert coldly. + +"Ah! mon Dieu, I do not mean to say that they are identical in all +points. I readily grant that Father Alexis uses his thumbs better; +I admit, too, that he has a grain or two more of phosphorus in his +brain, for you know the savants of to-day, at their own risk and +peril, have discovered that the human mind is nothing but a +phosphoric tinder-box." + +"It is these same savants," said Gilbert, "who consider genius a +nervous disorder. Much good may it do them. They are not my men." + +"You treat science lightly; but answer my question seriously: do +you not discover certain analogies between these two personages in +black clothes and red faces?" + +"My opinion," interrupted Gilbert impatiently, "is that Solon is +very ugly, and that Father Alexis is very handsome." + +"Your answer embarrasses me," retorted the Count, "and I don't know +whether I ought to thank you for the compliment you pay my priest, +or be angry at the hard things you say of my monkey. One thing is +certain," added he, "that my monkey and my priest,--I'm wrong,--my +priest and my monkey, resemble each other in one respect: they have +both a passionate appetite for truffles. You will soon see." + +They were just serving fowl with truffles. Solon devoured his +portion in the twinkling of an eye, and as he was prone to coveting +the property of others, he fixed his eyes, full of affectionate +longing, on his neighbor's plate. Active, adroit, and watching his +opportunity, he seized the moment when the priest was carrying his +glass to his lips; to extend his paw, seize a truffle, and swallow +it, was the work of but half a second. Beside himself with +indignation, the holy man turned quickly and looked at the robber +with flashing eyes. The monkey was but little affected by his +anger, and to celebrate the happy success of his roguery, he +capered and frisked in a ridiculous and frantic way, clinging with +his forepaws to the back of his chair. The good father shook his +head sadly, moved his plate further off, and returned to his +eating, not, however, without watching the movements of the enemy +from the corner of his eye. In vain he kept guard; in spite of his +precautions,--a new attack, a new larceny--and fresh caperings of +joy by the monkey. Father Alexis at last lost patience, and the +monkey received a vigorous blow full in the muzzle, which drew from +him a sharp shriek; but at the same instant the priest felt two +rows of teeth bury themselves in his left cheek. He could hardly +repress a cry, and gave up the game, leaving Solon to gorge himself +to his beard in the spoils, while he busied himself in stanching +his wound, from which the blood gushed freely. + +The Count affected to be ignorant of all that passed; but there was +a merry sparkle in his eyes which testified that not a detail of +this tragic comedy had escaped his notice. + +"You appear to distrust Solon, Father," said he, seeing that the +priest pushed back his chair and kept at a distance from the +baboon. "You are wrong. He has very sweet manners; he is +incapable of a bad action. He is only a little sad now, but in his +melancholy, he observes all the rules of good breeding; which is +not the case with all melancholy people," added he, throwing a look +at Stephane, who, taken with a sudden access of sadness, had just +leaned his elbow upon the table and made a screen of his right hand +to hide his tears from his father. Gilbert felt himself near +stifling, and as soon as he could, left the table. Fortunately no +one followed him onto the terrace. Stephane had no more flowers to +cultivate, and went to shut himself up in his high tower. On his +part, Father Alexis went to dress his wound; as to M. Leminof, he +was displeased with the cool and, as he thought, composed air with +which Gilbert had listened to his pleasantries, and he retired to +his study, promising himself to give to Monsieur his secretary, +whom, nevertheless, he valued very highly, that last touch of +pliancy which he needed for his perfection. Count Kostia was of an +age when even the strongest mind feels the necessity of occasional +relaxation, and he would have been glad to have near him a pliant, +agreeable companion, and enchanted could that companion have been +his secretary. + +Gilbert strode across the terrace, and, leaning over the parapet, +gazed long and silently at the highroad. "Ten months yet!" said he +to himself, and contracting his brows, he turned to look at the +odious castle, where destiny had cast his lot. It seemed as if the +old pile wished to avenge itself for his ill humor: never had it +been clothed with such a smiling aspect. A ray of the setting sun +rested obliquely upon its wide roof; the bricks had the warm color +of amber, the highest points were bathed in gold dust, and the +gables and vanes threw out sparks. The air was balmy; the lilacs, +the citron, the jasmine, and the honeysuckle intermingled their +perfumes, which the almost imperceptible breath of the north wind +spread in little waves to the four corners of the terrace. + +And these wandering perfumes mingled themselves, in passing, with +other odors more delicate and more subtle; from each leaf, each +petal, each blade of grass, exhaled secret aromas, mute words which +the plants exchange with each other, and which revealed to +Gilbert's heart the great mystery of happiness which animates the +soul of things. + +Gilbert was determined to drown his sorrows this evening in the +divine harmonies of nature. To succeed the better, he called +poetry to his aid, for the great poets are the eternal mediators +between the soul of things and our feeble hearts of earth and clay. +He recited the distichs where Goethe has related in a tongue worthy +of Homer or Lucretius the metamorphosis of the plants. This was +placed like a preamble at the beginning of the volume which he +carried with him in his walks, and he had learned it by heart a few +days before. The better to penetrate the sense of these admirable +lines, he tried to translate them into French alexandrines, which +he sometimes composed. This effort at translation soon appeared to +him beyond his abilities; all the French words seemed too noisy, +too brilliant or too vulgar, or too solemn to render these mute +accents, these intonations veiled as if in religious mystery, by +which the author of Faust intended to express the subtle sounds and +even the silence of nature. We know that it is only in German +poetry that we can hear the grass growing from the bosom of the +earth, and the celestial spheres revolving in space. + +Every language has its pedals and its peculiar registers; the +Teutonic muse alone can execute these solemn airs which must be +played with the soft pedal. For more than an hour Gilbert +exhausted himself in vain attempts, and at last, disheartened, he +contented himself with reciting aloud the poem which he despaired +of translating. He uttered the first part with the fire of +enthusiasm; but his voice fell as he pronounced the following +passage: + +"Every flower, my beloved, speaks to thee in a voice distinct and +clear; every plant announces to thee plainly the eternal laws of +life; but these sacred hieroglyphics of the goddess which thou +decipherest upon their perfumed foreheads, thou wilt find +everywhere hidden under other emblems. Let the caterpillar drag +itself creeping along, and soon the light butterfly darts rapidly +through the air; and let man also, with his power of self- +development, follow the circle of his soul's metamorphoses. Oh! +then wilt thou remember that the bond which united our spirits was +first a germ from which sprang in time a sweet and charming +acquaintance; friendship in its turn soon revealed its power in our +hearts, until love came at last, crowning it with flowers and +fruits." + +At this place a light cloud of sadness passed over Gilbert's face; +he felt a secret dissatisfaction at meeting in the verses of his +favorite poet a passage which he could not apply to his own +experience. + +Meanwhile, night had come, a night like a softened and refreshed +day. The radiant moon shone in the zenith; she inundated the +fields of heaven with soft whiteness, she shook her torch over the +Rhine, and made the crests of its restless waves scintillate; she +poured over the tops of the trees a rain of silvery light; she +suspended from their branches necklaces of sapphires and azure +diamonds, which the breeze in passing sportively dashed together. +The great slumbering woods thrilled at the touch of this dew of +light which bathed their lofty brows; they felt something divine +insinuating itself in the horror of their somber recesses. From +time to time a nightingale gave to the wind a few notes sonorous +and sustained; it seemed the voice of the forest, speaking in its +sleep,--its soul, carried away in ecstasy, exhaling its +intoxication in a long sigh of love. + +Gilbert had been sitting up very late recently, since he had +decided to remain but a short time at Geierfels, and he had grown +pale over the Byzantines, in the hope of advancing in his task so +much, that Count Kostia would more easily consent to his departure. +Robust as was his constitution, he finished by tiring himself out, +and nature claiming its rights, sleep seized him at the moment when +he was about leaving the bank to seek his room, and have a little +nocturnal chat with Agathias and Procopius. + +When he awoke, the moon had already declined towards the horizon, +which discovery surprised him greatly, as he thought he had slept +but a few moments. He rose and shook his limbs, stiff from the +dampness. Fortunately, he was the only one at Geierfels who had +free ingress and egress; the turret which he inhabited communicated +with the terrace by a private staircase, to the entrance of which +he had the key. Fortunately, too, the bulldogs had learned to know +him, and never dreamed of disturbing his movements. He gained the +little door without any difficulty, opened it, and having lit a +candle which he drew from his pocket, commenced cautiously to +ascend the winding staircase, the steps of which were broken in +many places. He had just reached the first landing where +terminated the spacious corridor, which extended along the +principal facade parallel with the terrace, and was preparing to +cross it, when he heard a long and painful groan, which seemed to +come from the other end of the gallery. Starting, he remained +motionless some moments, with neck extended and ears alert, peering +into the obscurity from whence he expected to see some melancholy +phantom emerge; but almost immediately a gust of wind driving +through the broken square of a dormer window made it grind upon its +hinges and give out a plaintive sound, which reverberated through +the corridor. Gilbert then fancied that what he had taken for a +sigh was only the moaning of the wind, counterfeiting in its +melancholy gambols the voice of human grief. Resuming his ascent, +he had already mounted some steps, when a second groan, still more +dismal than the first, reached his ears, and froze the blood in his +veins. He was sure he could not be deceived now; the wind had no +such accents--it was a wail, sharp, harsh, and heartrending, which +seemed as though it might come from the bosom of a specter. + +A thousand sinister suppositions assailed Gilbert's mind, but he +gave himself no time to reflect. Agitated, panting, his head on +fire, he sprang with one bound down the staircase, and reaching the +entrance of the gallery, cried out in a trembling voice, and +scarcely knowing what he said: + +"Who's there? Who wants assistance? I, Gilbert, am ready to come +to his aid--" + +His voice was swallowed up and lost in the somber arches of the +corridor. No answer; the darkness remained dumb. In the rapidity +of his movement, Gilbert had extinguished his candle; he prepared +to relight it, when a hat flew by and struck his forehead with his +wings. The start which this unforeseen attack gave him made him +drop the candle; he stooped to pick it up, but could not find it. +In spite of this accident, he walked on. A feeble ray of +moonlight, which came in by the dormer window and shed through the +entrance of the corridor a long thread of bluish light, seemed to +guide him a few steps. Then he groped his way with arms extended +and touching the wall. Every few steps he stopped and listened, +and repeated in a voice hoarse with excitement: + +"Who's there? You who are moaning, can I do anything to help you?" + +Nothing answered him except the beating of his heart, and the +murmur of the wind, which continued to torment the hinges of the +dormer window. + +The gallery into which Gilbert had entered was divided halfway in +its length by two steps, at the bottom of which was a large iron +door, always kept open during the day, but closed and double-locked +as night set in. Approaching this, Gilbert saw a feeble light +glimmering beneath the door. He descended the steps, and looking +through the key-hole, from which the key had been withdrawn, saw +what changed the frightful anguish he had just been suffering into +surprise and terror. + +At twenty paces from him he saw the appalling figure of a phantom +standing erect; it was enveloped in a large white cloth wound +several times round its body, passing under its left arm, and +falling over the right shoulder. In one hand it held a torch and a +sword, in the other an oval ebony frame of which Gilbert could only +see the back, but which seemed to inclose a portrait. The face of +this specter was emaciated, drawn, and of unusual length; its skin, +withered and dry, seemed to be incrusted upon its bones, its +complexion was sallow; a profuse perspiration trickled from its +brows and glued the hair to its temples. Nothing could describe +the expression of terror in its face. It seemed to Gilbert that +its two burning eyeballs penetrated even through the door, though +they saw nothing which surrounded them; their vision seemed turned +within, and the invisible object which fastened their gaze, a heart +haunted by specters. + +Suddenly the lips of this nocturnal wanderer opened, and another +groan more fearful than the first issued from them. It seemed as +if his burdened breast wished to shake off by a violent effort a +mountain of weariness, the weight of which was crushing it, or +rather as though the soul sought to expel itself in this despairing +cry. Gilbert was seized with inexpressible agitation, his hair +stood on end. He started to fly; but a curiosity stronger than his +terror prevented him from leaving the spot and kept him riveted to +the door. By the eyebrows and cheekbones, in spite of the +distortion of the face, he had recognized Count Kostia. + +At length this sinister somnambulist stirred from his motionless +position and advanced at a slow pace; he walked like an automaton. +After taking a dozen steps he stopped, looked around him, and +slightly bent forward. His strained features resumed their natural +proportions, life re-animated his brow, the deathlike inertia of +his face gave place to an expression of sadness and prostration. +For a few seconds his lips moved, without saying a word, as if to +become flexible, and fashioned anew to the use of speech:--then, in +a soft voice which Gilbert did not recognize, and with the +plaintive accents of a suffering child, he murmured: + +"How heavy this portrait is! I can carry it no longer; take it out +of my hands, it burns them. In mercy, extinguish this fire. I +have a brand in my breast. It must be kept covered with ashes; +when I can see it no more, I shall suffer less. It is my eyes that +make me suffer; if I were blind, I could return to Moscow." + +Then in a harsher voice: + +"I could easily destroy this likeness, but THE OTHER, I cannot kill +it, curses on me! it is the better portrait of the two. There is +her hair, her mouth, her smile. Ah, thank God, I have killed the +smile. The smile is no longer there. I have buried the smile. +But there is the mole in the corner of the mouth. I have kissed it +a thousand times; take away that mole, it hurts me. If that mole +were gone I should suffer less. Merciful Heaven! it is always +there. But I have buried the smile. The smile is no more. I have +buried it deep in a leaden coffin. It can't come. . . ." + +Then suddenly changing his accent, and in a tragical, but bitter +voice, his eyes fixed upon the large rusty sword which he held in +his right hand, he muttered: + +"The spot will not go away. The iron will not drink it. It was +not for this blood it thirsted. I shall find it in the other, it +will drink that. Ah! we shall see how it will drink it." + +Upon this, he relapsed into silence and appeared to be thinking +deeply. Then raising his head, he cried in a voice so strong and +vibrating that the iron door trembled upon its hinges: + +"Morlof, then it was not thou! Ah! my dear friend, I was +deceived. . . . Go, do not regret life. It is only the dream +of a screech-owl. . . . Believe me, friend, I want to die, but +I cannot. I must know . . . I must discover. Ah! Morlof, Morlof, +leave thy hands in mine, or I shall think thou hast not forgiven +me. . . . God! how cold these hands are . . . cold . . . cold . . ." + +And at these words he shuddered; his head moved convulsively upon +his shoulders, and his teeth chattered; but soon calming himself, +he murmured: + +"I want to know the name, I must know that name! Is there no one +who can tell me that name?" + +Thus speaking, he raised the picture to a level with his face, and +with bent head and extended neck, appeared to be trying to decipher +upon the canvas some microscopic writing or obscure hieroglyphics. + +"The name is there!" said he. "It is written somewhere about the +heart,--at the bottom of the heart; but I cannot read it, the +writing is so fine, it is a female hand; I do not know how to read +a woman's writing. They have a cipher of which Satan alone has the +key. My sight is failing me. I have flies in my head. There is +always one of them that hides this name from me. Oh! in mercy, in +pity, take away the fly and bring me a pair of pincers. . . . With +good pincers I will seek that name even in the last fibers of this +heart which beats no more." + +He added with a terrible air: + +The dead do not open their teeth. The one who lives will speak. +You shall see how I will make him speak. You shall see how I will +make him speak. . . . Tear off his black robe, stretch him on this +plank. The iron boots! the iron boots! tighten the boots!" + +Then interrupting himself abruptly, he raised his eyes and fixed +them upon the door. An expression of fury mingled with terror +swept over his face, as if he had suddenly perceived some hideous +and alarming object. His features became distorted; his mouth +worked convulsively and frothed; his eyes, unnaturally dilated, +darted flames; he uttered a hollow moan, took a few steps backward, +and suddenly dropping his torch to the ground, where it went out he +cried in a frightful voice: + +"There are eyes behind the door! there are eyes! there are eyes!" + +Horror-struck, distracted, beside himself, Gilbert turned and took +to flight. In spite of the darkness, he found his way as if by +miracle. He crossed the corridor at a run, mounted the staircase +in three bounds, dashed into his chamber and bolted the door. Then +he hurriedly lighted a candle, and having glanced about to assure +himself that the phantom had not followed him into his room, +dropped heavily upon a chair, stunned and breathless. In a few +moments he had collected his thoughts, and was ashamed of his +terror; but in spite of himself his agitation was such that at +every noise which struck his ear, he thought he heard the step of +Count Kostia ascending the staircase of his turret. It was not +until he had bathed his burning head in cold water that he +recovered something like tranquillity; and determining by a supreme +effort to banish the frightful images which haunted him, he seated +himself at his worktable and resolutely opened one of the Byzantine +folios. As he began to read, his eye fell upon an unsealed letter +which had been left on his table during his absence; it ran thus: + + +"Man of great phrases, I write to you to inform you of the hatred +with which you inspire me. I wish you to understand that from the +first day I saw you, your bearing, your face, your manners, your +whole person, have been objects of distrust and aversion to me. I +thought I recognized an enemy in you, and the result has proved +that I was not mistaken. Now I hate you, and I tell you so +frankly, for I am not a hypocrite, and I want you to know, that +just now in my prayers I supplicated St. George to give me an +opportunity of revenging myself upon you. What do you want in this +house? What is there between us and you? How long do you intend +to torture me with your odious presence, your ironical smiles, and +your insulting glances? Before your arrival I was not completely +unhappy. God be praised, it has been reserved for you to give me +the finishing stroke. Before, I could weep at my ease, with none +to busy themselves in counting my tears; the man that makes me shed +them does not lower himself to such petty calculations; he has +confidence in me, he knows that at the end of the year the account +will be there; but you! you watch me, you pry into me, you study +me. I see very well that, while you are looking at me, you are +indulging in little dialogues with yourself, and these little +dialogues are insupportable to me. Mark me now, I forbid you to +understand me. It is an affront which you have no right to put +upon me, and I have the right to be incomprehensible if it pleases +me. Ah! once a little while ago, I felt that you had your eyes +fastened on me again. And then I raised my head, and looked at you +steadily and forced you to blush. . . . Yes, you did blush; do not +attempt to deny it! What a consolation to me! What a triumph! +Alas! for all that, I dare not go to my own window any longer for +fear of seeing you ogling the sky, and making declamations of love +to nature with your sentimental air. + +"Tell me, now, in a few words, clever man that you are, how you +manage to combine so much sentimentality with such skillful +diplomacy? Tender friend of childhood, of virtue and of sunsets, +what an adroit courtier you make! From the first day you came +here, the master honored you with his confidence and his affection. +How he esteems you! how he cherishes you! what attentions! what +favors! Will he not order us tomorrow to kiss the dust under your +feet? If you want to know what disgusts me the most in you, it is +the unalterable placidity of your disposition and your face. You +know the faun who admires himself night and day in the basin upon +the terrace; he is always laughing and looks at himself laugh. I +detest this eternal laughter from the bottom of my soul, as I +detest you, as I detest the whole world with the exception of my +horse Soliman. But he, at least, is sincere in his gayety; he +shows himself what he really is, life amuses him, great good may it +do him! But you envelop your beatific happiness in an intolerable +gravity. Your tranquil airs fill me with consternation; your great +contented eyes seem to say: 'I am very well, so much the worse for +the sick!' One word more. You treat me as a child--I will prove +to you that I am not a child, showing you how well I have divined +you. The secret of your being is, that you were born without +passions! Confess honestly that you have never in your life felt a +sentiment of disgust, of anger, or of pity. Is there a single +passion, tell me, that you have experienced, or that you are +acquainted with, except through your books? Your soul is like your +cravat, which is always tied precisely the same way, and has such +an air of repose and rationality about it, that it is perfectly +insufferable to me. Yes, the bow of that cravat exasperates me; +the two ends are always exactly the same length, and have an effect +of INDERANGEABILITY which nearly drives me mad. Not that this +famous bow is elegant. No, a thousand times no! but it has an +exasperating accuracy. And in this, behold the true story of your +soul. Every night when you go to bed you put it in its proper +folds; every morning you unfold it carefully without rumpling it! +And you dare to plume yourself on your wisdom! What does this +pretended wisdom prove? Nothing, unless it be that you have poor +blood, and that you were fifty years old when you were born. There +is, however, one passion which no one will deny that you possess. +You understand me,--man of the gilded tongue and the viper's +heart,--you have a passion common to many others! But, hold, in +commencing this letter, I intended to conceal from you that I had +discovered everything. I feared it would give you too much +pleasure to learn that I know.--Oh! why can't I make you stand +before me now this moment! I should confound you! how I would +force you to fall at my feet and cry for pardon! + +"Oh, my dear flowers, my Maltese cross, my verbenas, my white +starred fox, and you, my musk rosebush, and above all my beautiful +variegated carnation, which ought to be opening to-day! Was it +then for him,--was it to rejoice the eyes of this insolent +parasite, that I planted, watered, and tended you with so much +care? Beloved flowers, will you not share my hate? Send out from +each of your cups, from each of your corollas, some devouring +insect, some wasp with pointed sting, some furious horse-fly, and +let them all together throw themselves upon him, harass him and +persecute him with their threatening buzzing, and pierce his face +with their poisoned stings. And you yourselves, my cherished +daughters, at his approach, fold up your beautiful petals, refuse +him your perfumes, cheat him of his cares and hopes, let the sap +dry up in your fibers, that he may have the mortification of seeing +you perish and fall to dust in his hands. And may he, this +treacherous man, may he before your blighted petals and drooping +stems, pine away himself with ennui, spite, anger, and remorse!" + + +IX + + +The castle clock had struck eight, when Gilbert sprang from his +bed. Shall I confess that in dressing himself, when he came to tie +his cravat, he hesitated for a moment? However, after reflection, +he adjusted the knot as before, and would you believe it, he tied +this famous, this regular knot without concentrating any attention +upon it? His toilet finished, he went to the window. A sudden +change had taken place in the weather; a cold, drizzly rain was +falling noiselessly; very little wind; the horizon was enveloped in +a thick fog; a long train of low clouds, looking like gigantic +fish, floated slowly through the valley of the Rhine; the sky of a +uniform gray, seemed to distill weariness and sadness; land and +water were the color of mud. Gilbert cast his eyes upon his dear +precipice: it was but a pit of frightful ugliness. He sank into an +armchair. His thoughts harmonized with the weather; they formed a +dismal landscape, over which a long procession of gloomy fancies +and sinister apprehensions swept silently, like the trail of low +clouds which wandered along the borders of the Rhine. + +"No, a thousand times no!" mused he, "I can't stay in this place +any longer; I shall lose my strength here, and my spirit and my +health, too. To be exposed to the blind hatred of an unhappy child +whose sorrows drive him to insanity; to be the table companion of a +priest without dignity or moral elevation, who silently swallows +the greatest outrages; to become the intimate, the complaisant +friend of a great lord, whose past is suspicious, of an unnatural +father who hates his son, of a man who at times transforms himself +into a specter, and who, stung by remorse, or thirsting for +revenge, fills the corridors of his castle with savage howlings-- +such a position is intolerable, and I must leave here at any cost! +This castle is an unhealthy place; the walls are odious to me! I +will not wait to penetrate into their secrets any further." + +And Gilbert ransacked his brain for a pretext to quit Geierfels +immediately. While engaged in this research, some one knocked at +the door: it was Fritz, with his breakfast. + +This morning he had the self-satisfied air of a fool who has worked +out a folly by the sweat of his brow, and reached the fortunate +moment when he can bring his invention to light. He entered +without salutation, placed the tray which he carried upon the +table; then, turning to Gilbert, who was seated, said to him, +winking his eye: + +"Good-morning, comrade! Comrade, good-morning!" + +"What do you say?" said Gilbert, astonished, and looking at him +steadily. + +"I say: Good-morning, comrade!" replied he, smiling agreeably. + +"And to whom are you speaking, if you please?" + +"I am speaking to you, yourself, my comrade, and I say to you, +good-morning, comrade! good-morning." + +Gilbert looked at him attentively, trying to find some explanation +of this strange prank, and this excessive and astounding insolence. + +"And will you tell me," he continued, after a few moments' silence, +"will you be good enough to tell me, who gave you permission to +call me comrade?" + +"It was . . . it was . . ." answered Fritz, hemming and hawing. +And he reflected a moment, as though trying to remember his lesson, +that he might not stumble in its recital. "Ah!" resumed he, "it +was simply his Excellency the Count, and I cannot conceive what you +see astonishing in it." + +"Have you ever heard the Count," demanded Gilbert, who felt the +blood boiling in his veins, "call me your comrade?" + +"Ah! certainly!" he answered with a long burst of laughter. "Every +day, when I come from him, M. le Comte says to me: 'Well! how is +your comrade Gilbert?' And isn't it very natural? Don't we eat at +the same rack? Are we not, both of us, in the service of the same +master? And don't you see. . . ." + +He was not able to say more, for Gilbert bounded from his chair, +and crying: + +"Go and tell your master that he is not my master!" He seized the +valet de chambre by the collar. He was at least a head shorter +than his adversary, but his grasp was like iron; and in spite of +appearances, great Fritz proved but a weak and nerveless body, and +greatly surprised at this unexpected attack, he could only open his +large mouth and utter some inarticulate sounds. Gilbert had +already dragged him to the top of the staircase. Then Fritz, +recovering from his first flurry, tried to struggle, but he lost +his footing, stumbled, and fell headlong down the staircase to the +bottom. Gilbert came near following him in his descent, but +fortunately saved himself by clinging to the balustrade. As he saw +him rolling, he feared that he had been too violent, but felt +reassured, when he saw him scramble up, feel himself, rub his back, +turn to shake his fist and limp away. + +He returned to his chamber and breakfasted peaceably. + +"Quite an opportune adventure," thought he. "Now, I shall be +inflexible, unyielding, and if my trunks are not packed before +night, I'm an idiot." + +Gathering up under his arm a bundle of papers which were needed for +the day's work, he left the room, his head erect and his spirits +animated; but he had hardly descended the first flight of steps +before his exaltation gave way to very different feelings. He +could not look without shuddering at the place where he had stood +like one petrified, listening to the horrible groans of the +somnambulist. He stopped, and, looking at the packet which he held +under his arm, thought to himself that it was with a specter he was +about to discuss Byzantine history. Then resuming his walk, he +arrived at M. Leminof's study, where he almost expected to see the +formidable apparition of last night appear before his eyes, and +hear a sepuchral voice crying out to him: "Those eyes behind the +door were yours!" He remained motionless a few seconds, his hand +upon his heart. At last he knocked. A voice cried: "Come in. + +He opened the door and entered. Heavens! how far was the reality +from his fancy. + +M. Leminof was quietly seated in the embrasure of the window, +looking at the rain and playing with his monkey. He no sooner +perceived his secretary than he uttered an exclamation of joy, and +after shutting up Solon in an adjoining room, he approached +Gilbert, took both his hands in his and pressed them cordially, +saying in an affectionate tone: + +"Welcome, my dear Gilbert, I have been looking for you impatiently. +I have been thinking a great deal since yesterday on our famous +problem of the Slavonic invasions, and I am far from being +convinced by your arguments. Be on your guard, my dear sir! Be on +your guard! I propose to give you some thrusts that will trouble +you to parry." + +Gilbert, who had recovered his tranquillity, seated himself, and +the discussion commenced. The point in dispute was the question of +the degree of importance and influence of the establishment of the +Slavonians in the Byzantine empire during the middle ages. Upon +this question, much debated at present, Count Kostia had espoused +the opinion most favorable to the ambitions of Muscovite policy. +He affected to renounce his country and to censure it without +mercy; he had even denationalized himself to the extent of never +speaking his mother tongue and of forbidding its use in his house. +In fact, the idiom of Voltaire was more familiar to him than that +of Karamzin, and he had accustomed himself for a long time even to +think in French. In spite of all this, and of whatever he might +say, he remained Russian at heart: this is a quality which cannot +be lost. + +Twelve o'clock sounded while they were at the height of the +discussion. + +"If you agree, my dear Gilbert," said M. Leminof, "we will give +ourselves a little relaxation. Indeed you're truly a terrible +fellow; there's no persuading you. Let us breakfast in peace, if +you please, like two good friends; afterwards we will renew the +fight." + +The breakfast was invariably composed of toast au caviar and a +small glass of Madeira wine; and every day at noon they suspended +work for a few moments to partake of this little collation. + +"Judge of my presumption," suddenly said M. Leminof, underscoring, +so to speak, every word, "I passed LAST NIGHT [and he put a wide +space between these two words] in pleading against you the cause of +my Slavonians. My arguments seemed to me irresistible. I beat you +all hollow. I am like those fencers who are admirable in the +training school, but who make a very bad figure in the field. I +had prodigious eloquence LAST NIGHT; I don't know what has become +of it; it seems to have fled like a phantom at the first crowing of +the cock." + +As he pronounced these words, Count Kostia fixed such piercing eyes +on Gilbert, that they seemed to search through to the most remote +recesses of his soul. Gilbert sustained the attack with perfect +sangfroid. + +"Ah! sir," replied he coolly, "I don't know how you argue at night; +but I assure you by day you're the most formidable logician I +know." + +Gilbert's tranquil air dissipated the suspicion which seemed to +weigh upon M. Leminof. + +"You act," said he gayly, "like those conquerors who exert +themselves to console the generals they have beaten, thereby +enhancing their real glory; but bah! arms are fickle, and I shall +have my revenge at an early day." + +"I venture to suggest that you do not delay it long," answered +Gilbert in a grave tone. "Who knows how much longer I may remain +at Geierfels?" + +These words re-awakened the suspicions of the Count. + +"What do you mean?" exclaimed he. + +Whereupon Gilbert related in a firm, distinct tone the morning's +adventure. As he advanced in the recital, he became warmer and +repeated with an indignant air the remark which Fritz had +attributed to the Count, and strongly emphasized his answer: + +"Go and tell your master that he is not my master." + +He flattered himself that he would pique the Count; he saw him +already raising his head, and speaking in the clouds. He was +destined to be mistaken today in all his conjectures. From the +first words of his eloquent recital, Count Kostia appeared to be +relieved of a pre-occupation which had disturbed him. He had been +prepared for something else, and was glad to find himself mistaken. +He listened to the rest with an undisturbed air, leaning back in +his easy-chair with his eyes fixed on the ceiling. When Gilbert +had finished-- + +"And tell me, pray," said he, without changing his posture, "how +did you punish this rascal?" + +"I took him by the collar," replied Gilbert, "and flung him down +head first." + +"Peste!" exclaimed the Count, raising himself and looking at him +with an air of surprise and admiration. "And tell me," resumed he, +smiling in his enjoyment, "did this domestic animal perish in his +fall?" + +"He may perhaps have broken his arms or legs. I didn't take the +trouble to inquire." + +M. Leminof rose and folded his arms on his breast. + +"See now, how liable our judgments are to be led astray, and how +full of sense that Russian proverb is which says: 'It takes more +than one day to compass a man!' Yesterday you had such a +sentimental pathetic air, when I permitted myself to administer a +little correction to my serf, that I took you in all simplicity for +a philanthropist. I retract it now. You are one of those tyrants +who are only moved for the victims of another. Pure professional +jealousy! But," continued he, "there is one thing which astonishes +me still more, and that is, that you Gilbert, you could for an +instant believe--" + +He checked himself, bent forward towards Gilbert, and looked at him +scrutinizingly, making a shade of his two bony hands extended over +his enormous eyebrows; then taking him by the arm, he led him to +the embrasure of the window, and as if he had made a sudden change +in his person which rendered him irrecognizable: + +"Nothing could be better than your throwing the scoundrel +downstairs," said he, "and if he is not quite dead, I shall drive +him from here without pity; but that you should have believed that +I, Count Leminof-- Oh! it is too much, I dream-- No, you are not +the Gilbert that I know, the Gilbert I love, though I conceal it +from myself--" + +And taking him by both hands, he added: + +"This man was silly enough to tell you that I was your master, and +you replied to him with the Mirabeau tone: 'Go and tell your +master--' My dear Gilbert, in the name of reason, I ask you to +remember that the true is never the opposite of the false; it is +another thing, that is all; but to which I add, that in answering +as you did, you have cruelly compromised yourself. We should never +contradict a fool; it is running the risk of being like him." + +Gilbert blushed. He did not try to amend anything, but readily +changing his tactics, he said, smiling: + +"I implore you, sir, not to drive this man away. I want him to +stay to remind me occasionally that I am liable to lose my senses." + +But what were his feelings when the Count, having sent for this +valet de chambre, said to him: + +"You have not done this on your own responsibility--you received +orders. Who gave them?" + +Fritz answered, stammering: + +"Do please forgive me, your excellency! It was M. Stephane who, +yesterday evening, made me a present of two Russian crowns on +condition that every morning for a week I should say to M. Saville, +'good-morning, comrade.'" + +A flash of joy shone in the Count's eyes. He turned towards +Gilbert, and pressing his hand, said to him: + +"For this once I thank you cordially for having addressed your +complaints to me. The affair is more serious than I had thought. +There is a malignant abscess there, which must be lanced once for +all." + +This surgical comparison made Gilbert shudder; he cursed his hasty +passion and his stupidity. Why had he not suspected the real +culprit? Why was it necessary for him to justify the hatred which +Stephane had avowed towards him? + +"And how happens it, sir," resumed Count Kostia, with less of anger +in his tone, "that you have an opportunity of holding secret +conversations with my son in the evening? When did you enter his +service? Do you not know that you are to receive neither orders, +messages, nor communications of any kind from him?" + +Fritz, who in his heart blessed the admirable invention of +lightning rods, explained as well as he could, that the evening +before, in going up to his excellency's room, he had met Ivan on +the staircase, going down to the grand hall to find a cap which his +young master had forgotten. Apparently he had neglected to close +the wicket, for Fritz, in going out through the gallery, had found +Stephane, who, approaching him stealthily, had given him his little +lesson in a mysterious tone, and as Ivan returned at this moment +without the cap he said: + +"Dost thou not see, imbecile, that it's on my head," and he drew +the cap from his pocket and proudly put it on his head, while he +ran to his rooms laughing. + +When he had finished his story, Fritz was profuse in his +protestations of repentance, servile and tearful; the Count cut him +short, declaring to him, that at the request of Gilbert he +consented to pardon him; but that at the first complaint brought +against him, he would give him but two hours to pack. When he had +gone out, M. Leminof pulled another bell which communicated with +the room of Ivan, who presently appeared. + +"Knowest thou, my son," said the Count to him in German, "that thou +hast been very negligent for some time? Thy mind fails, thy sight +is feeble. Thou art growing old, my poor friend. Thou art like an +old bloodhound in his decline, without teeth and without scent, who +knows neither how to hunt the prey nor how to catch it. Thou must +be on the retired list. I have already thought of the office I +shall give thee in exchange. . . . Oh! do not deceive thyself. It +is in vain to shrug thy shoulders, my son; thou art wrong in +believing thyself necessary. By paying well I shall easily find +one who will be worth as much--" + +Ivan's eyes flashed. + +"I do not believe you," replied he, in Russian; "you know very well +that you are not amiable, but that I love you in spite of it, and +when you have spent a hundred thousand roubles, you will not have +secured one to replace me, whose affection for you will be worth a +kopeck." + +"Why dost thou speak Russian?" resumed the Count. "Thou knowest +well that I have forbidden it. Apparently thou wishest that no one +but myself may understand the sweet things which thou sayest to me. +Go and cry them upon the roof, if that will give thee pleasure; but +I have never asked thee to love me. I exact only faithful service +on thy part, and I answer for it that thy substitute, when his +young master shall tell him 'go and find my cap, which I have left +in the grand hall,' will answer him coolly: 'I am not blind, my +little father, your cap is in your pocket.'" + +Ivan looked at his master attentively, and the expression of his +face appeared to reassure him, for he began to smile. + +"Meantime," said the Count, "so long as I keep thee in thy office, +study to satisfy me. Go to thy room and reflect, and at the end of +a quarter of an hour, bring thy little father here to me; I want to +talk with him, and I will permit thee to listen, if that will give +thee pleasure." + +As soon as Ivan had gone, Gilbert begged M. Leminof not to pursue +this miserable business. "I have punished Fritz," said he, "with +perhaps undue severity; you yourself have rebuked and threatened +him; I am satisfied." + +"Pardon me. In all this Fritz was but an instrument. It would not +be right to allow the real culprit to go unpunished!" + +"It is no trouble to me to pardon that culprit," exclaimed Gilbert, +with an animation beyond his control, "he is so unhappy!" + +M. Leminof gave Gilbert a haughty and angry look. He strode +through the room several times, his hands behind his back; then, +with the easy tempered air of an absolute prince, who condescends +to some unreasonable fancy of one of his favorites, made Gilbert +sit down, and placing himself by his side: + +"My dear sir," said he to him, "your last words show a singular +forgetfulness on your part of our reciprocal agreements. You had +engaged, if you remember, not to take any interest in any one here +but yourself and myself. After that, what difference can it make +to you, whether my son is happy or unhappy? Since, however, you +have raised this question, I consent to an explanation; but let it +be fully understood, that you are never, never, to revive the +subject again. You can readily perceive, that if your society is +agreeable to me, it is because I have the pleasure of forgetting +with you the petty annoyances of domestic life. And now speak +frankly, and tell me what makes you conclude that my son is +unhappy." + +Gilbert had a thousand things to reply, but they were difficult to +say. So he hesitated to answer for a moment, and the Count +anticipated him: + +"Mon Dieu! I must needs proceed in advance of your accusations, a +concession which I dare to hope you will appreciate. Perhaps you +reproach me with not showing sufficient affection for my son in +daily life. But what can you expect? The Leminofs are not +affectionate. I don't remember ever to have received a single +caress from my father. I have seen him sometimes pat his hounds, +or give sugar to his horse; but I assure you that I never partook +of his sweetmeats or his smiles, and at this hour I thank him for +it. The education which he gave me hardened the affections, and it +is the best service which a father can render his son. Life is a +hard stepmother, my dear Gilbert; how many smiles have you seen +pass over her brazen lips! Besides, I have particular reasons for +not treating Stephane with too much tenderness. He seems to you to +be unhappy, he will be so forever if I do not strive to discipline +his inclinations and to break his intractable disposition. The +child was born under an evil star. At once feeble and violent, he +unites with very ardent passions a deplorable puerility of mind; +incapable of serious thought, the merest trivialities move him to +fever heat, and he talks childish prattle with all the gestures of +great passion. And what is worse, interesting himself greatly in +himself, he thinks it very natural that this interest should be +shared by all the world. Do not imagine that his is a loving heart +that feels a necessity of spending itself on others. He likes to +make his emotions spectacular, and as his impressions are events +for him, he would like to display them, even to the inhabitants of +Sirius. His soul is like a lake swept by a gale of wind that would +drive a man-of-war at the rate of twenty-five knots an hour; and on +this lake Stephane sails his squadrons of nutshells, and he sees +them come, go, tack, run around, and capsize. He keeps his log- +book very accurately, pompously registers all the shipwrecks, and +as these spectacles transport him with admiration, he is indignant +to find that he alone is moved by them. This is what makes him +unhappy; and you will agree with me that it is not my fault. The +regime which I prescribe for my invalid may appear to you a little +severe, but it's the only way by which I can hope to cure him. +Leading a regular, uniform life,--and sad enough I admit--he will +gradually become surfeited with his own emotions when the objects +of them are never renewed, and he will end, I hope, by demanding +the diversions of work and study. May he be able some day to +discover that a problem of Euclid is more interesting than the +wreck of a nutshell! Upon that day he will enter upon full +convalescence, and I shall not be the last to rejoice in it." + +M. Leminof spoke in a tone so serious and composed, that for a few +moments Gilbert could have imagined him a pedagogue gravely +explaining his maxims of education; but he could not forget that +expression of ferocious joy which was depicted on his face at the +moment when Stephane fled sobbing from the garden, and he +remembered also the somnambulist who, on the preceding night, had +uttered certain broken phrases in regard to a LIVING PORTRAIT and a +BURIED SMILE. These mysterious words, terrible in their obscurity, +had appeared to him to allude to Stephane, and they accorded badly +with the airs of paternal solicitude which M. Leminof had deigned +to affect in the past few minutes. He had a show of reason, +however, in his argument; and the picture which he drew of his son, +if cruelly exaggerated, had still some points of resemblance. Only +Gilbert had reason to think that the Count purposely confounded +cause and effect, and that Stephane's malady was the work of the +physician. + +"Will you permit me, sir," answered he, "to tell you all that I +have on my heart?" + +"Speak, speak, improve the opportunity: I swear to you it won't +occur again." + +And looking at his watch: + +"You have still five minutes to talk with me about my son. Hurry; +I will not grant you two seconds more." + +"I have heard it said," resumed Gilbert, "that in building bridges +and causeways, the best foundations are those which HUMOR the waves +of the sea. These are foundations with inclined slopes, which, +instead of breaking the waves abruptly, check their movement by +degrees, and abate their force without violence." + +"You favor anodynes, Monsieur disciple of Galen," exclaimed M. +Leminof. "Each one according to his temperament. We cannot +reconstruct ourselves. I am a very violent, very passionate man, +and when, for example, a servant offends me I throw him +headforemost downstairs. This happens to me every day." + +"Between your son and your valet de chambre, the difference is +great," answered Gilbert, a little piqued. + +"Did not your famous revolution proclaim absolute equality between +all men?" + +"In the law it is admirable, but not in the heart of a father." + +"Good God!" cried the Count, "I do not know that I have a father's +heart for my son; I know only that I think a great deal about him, +and that I strive according to my abilities to correct in him very +grave faults, which threaten to compromise his future welfare. I +know also for a certainty that this whiner enjoys some pleasures of +which many children of his age are deprived, as, for example, a +servant for himself, a horse, and as much money as he wants for his +petty diversions. You are not ignorant of the use which he makes +of this money, neither in regard to the two thalers expended +yesterday to corrupt my valet, nor of the seven crowns with which +he purchased the delightful pleasure, the other day in your +presence, of having his foot kissed by a troop of young rustics. +And at this point, I will tell you that Ivan has reported to me +that, on the same day, Stephane turned up his sleeve to make you +admire a scar which he carried upon one of his wrists. Oblige me +by telling me what blue story he related to you on this subject." + +This unexpected question troubled Gilbert a little. + +"To conceal nothing from you," answered he hesitatingly, "he told +me, that for an escapade which he had made, he had been condemned +to pass a fortnight in a dungeon in irons." + +"And you believed it!" cried the Count, shrugging his shoulders. +"The truth is, that, for a fortnight, I compelled my son to pass +one hour every evening in an uninhabited wing of this castle; my +intention was not so much to punish him for an act of +insubordination, as to cure him of the foolish terrors by which he +is tormented, for this boy of sixteen, who often shows himself +brave even to rashness, believes in ghosts, in apparitions, in +vampires. I ought to authorize him to guard himself at night by +the best-toothed of my bulldogs. Oh what a strange compound has +God given me for a son!" + +At this moment the sound of steps was heard in the corridor. + +"In the name of the kind friendship which you profess for me, sir," +exclaimed Gilbert, seizing one of M. Leminof's hands, "I beg of +you, do not punish this child for a boyish freak for which I +forgive him with all my heart!" + +"I can refuse you nothing, my dear Gilbert," answered he with a +smiling air. "I spare him from his pretended dungeons. I dare +hope that you will give me credit for it." + +"I thank you; but one thing more: the flowers you deprived him of." + +"Mon Dieu! since you wish it, we will have them restored to him, +and to please you, I will content myself with having him make +apologies to you in due form." + +"Make apologies to me!" cried Gilbert in consternation; "but that +will be the most cruel of punishments." + +"We will leave him the choice," said the Count dryly. And as +Gilbert insisted: "This time you ask too much!" added he in a tone +which admitted of no reply. "It is a question of principles, and +in such matters I never compromise." + +Gilbert perceived that even in Stephane's interest, it was +necessary to desist, but he understood also to what extent the +pride of the young man would suffer, and cursed himself a thousand +times for having spoken. + +Someone knocked at the door. + +"Come in," cried the Count in a hoarse voice; and Stephane entered, +followed by Ivan. + + +X + + +Stephane remained standing in the middle of the room. He was paler +than usual, and kept his eyes on the floor; but his bearing was +good, and he affected a resolute air which he rarely displayed in +the presence of his father. The Count remained silent for some +time; he gazed with a cold eye on the supple and delicate body of +his son, the exquisite elegance of his form, his fine and delicate +features, framed in the slightly darkened gold of his hair. Never +had the beauty of his child filled the heart of his father with +keener bitterness. As for Gilbert, he had eyes only for a little +black spot which he noticed for the first time upon the uniformly +pale complexion of Stephane: it was like an almost imperceptible +fly, under the left corner of his mouth. + +"That is the mole," thought he, and he fancied he could hear the +voice of the somnambulist cry: + +"Take away that mole! it hurts me!" + +Shuddering at this recollection, he felt tempted to rush from the +room; but a look from the Count recalled him to himself; he made a +strong effort to master his emotion, and fixing his eyes upon the +window, he looked at the falling rain. + +"As a preliminary question," suddenly exclaimed the Count, speaking +to his son; "do me the favor, sir, to tell me how much time you +have passed in what you call a dungeon, for I do not remember." + +Stephane's face colored with a vivid blush. He hesitated a moment +and then answered: + +"I was there in all fifteen hours, which appeared to me as long as +fifteen days." + +"You see!" said the Count, looking at Gilbert. "And now," resumed +he, "let us come to the point; a scene of the greatest impropriety +occurred in this house this morning. Fritz, my valet, in +presenting himself to my secretary, who is my friend, permitted +himself to say three times: 'Good-morning, comrade; comrade, good- +morning!'" + +At these words Stephane's lips contracted slightly, as if about to +smile; but the smile was arrested on its way. + +"My little story amuses you, apparently," pursued the Count, +raising his head. + +"It is the incredible folly of Fritz which diverts me," answered +Stephane. + +"His folly seems to me less than his insolence," replied the Count; +"but without discussing words, I am delighted to see that you +disavow his conduct. I ought not to conceal from you the fact, +that this scoundrel wished to make me believe that he acted upon +your orders, and I was resolved to punish you severely. I see now +that he has lied, and it remains for me but to dismiss him in +disgrace." Gilbert trembled lest Stephane's veracity should +succumb under this temptation; the young man hesitated but an +instant. + +"I am the guilty one," answered he in a firm voice, "and it is I +who should be punished." + +"What," said M. Leminof, "was it then my son, who, availing himself +of the only resources of his mind, conceived this truly happy idea. +The invention was admirable, it does honor to your genius. But if +Fritz has been but the instrument to carry out your sublime +conceptions, why do you laugh at his stupidity?" + +"Oh, poor soul!" replied Stephane, with animation, "oh! the donkey, +how he spoiled my idea! I didn't order him to call M. Saville his +comrade, but to treat him as a comrade, which is a different thing. +Unfortunately I had not time to give him minute instructions, and +he misunderstood me, but he did what he could conscientiously to +earn his fee. The poor fellow must be pardoned. I am the only +guilty one, I repeat it. I am the one to be punished." + +"And might we know, sir," said the Count, "what your intention was +in causing M. Saville to be insulted by a servant?" + +"I wished to humiliate him, to disgust him, and to force him to +leave this house." + +"And your motive?" + +"My motive is that I hate him!" answered he in a hoarse voice. + +"Always exaggerations," replied the Count sneeringly. "Can you +not, sir, rid yourself of this detestable habit of perpetual +exaggeration in the expression of your thoughts? Can I not impress +upon your mind the maxims upon this subject which two men of equal +genius have given us: M. de Metternich and Pigault Lebrun! The +first of these illustrious men used to say that superlatives were +the seals of fools, and the second wrote these immortal words: + +"'Everything exaggerated is insignificant.'" Then extending his +arm: + +"To hate! to hate!" exclaimed he. "You say the word glibly. Do +you know what it is? Sorrow, anger, jealousy, antipathy, aversion, +you may know all these; but hatred, hatred!--you have no right to +say this terrible word. Ah! hatred is a rough work! it is +ceaseless torture, it is a cross of lead to carry, and to sustain +its weight without breaking down requires very different shoulders +than yours!" + +At this moment Stephane ventured to look his father in the face. +He slowly uplifted his eyes, inclining his head backward. His look +signified "You are right, I will take your word for it; you are +better acquainted with it than I." + +But the Count's face was so terrible that Stephane closed his eyes +and resumed his former attitude. A slight shudder agitated his +whole frame. The Count perceived that he was near forgetting +himself, and drove back the bitter wave which came up from his +heart to his lips in spite of himself: + +"Besides, my young friend here is the least detestable being in the +world," pursued he in a tranquil tone. "Judge for yourself; just +now he pleaded your cause to me with so much warmth, that he drew +from me a promise not to punish you for what he has the kindness to +call only a boy's freak. He even stipulates that I shall restore +you your flowers, which he pretends give you delight, and within an +hour Ivan will have carried them to your room. In short, two words +of apology are all he requires of you. You must admit that one +could not have a more accommodating disposition, and that you owe +him a thousand thanks." + +"Apologies! to him!" cried Stephane with a gesture of horror. + +"You hesitate! oh! this is too much! Do you then wish to revisit a +certain rather gloomy hall?" + +Stephane shuddered, his lips trembled. + +"In mercy," cried he, "inflict any other punishment upon me you +please, but not that one. Oh, no! I cannot go back to that +frightful hall. Oh! I entreat you, deprive me of my customary +walks for six months; sell Soliman, cut my hair, shave my head,-- +anything, yes, anything rather than put my feet in that horrible +dungeon again! I shall die there or go mad. You don't want me to +become insane?" + +"When one is unfortunate enough to believe in ghosts and +apparitions at the age of sixteen," retorted the Count, "he should +free himself as soon as possible from the ridiculous weakness." + +Stephane's whole body trembled. He staggered a few steps, and +falling on his knees before his father, clung to him and cried: "I +am only a poor sick child, have pity on me. You are still my +father, are you not? and I am still your child? Mon Dieu! Mon +Dieu! You do not, you cannot, want your child to die!" + +"Put an end to this miserable comedy," cried the Count, disengaging +himself from Stephane's clasp. "I am your father, and you are my +son; no one here doubts it; but your father, sir, has a horror of +scenes. This has lasted too long; end it, I tell you. You are +already in a suitable posture. The most difficult part is done, +the rest is a trifle!" + +"What do you say, sir?" answered the child impetuously, trying to +rise. "I am on my knees to you only. Ah! great God! I to kneel +before this man! it is impossible! you know very well it is +impossible! + +The Count, however, pressing his hand upon his shoulder, +constrained him to remain upon his knees, and turning his face to +Gilbert: + +"I tell you, you are kneeling before the man you have insulted, and +we all understand it." + +Was it, indeed thus, that Gilbert understood it? Quiet, +impassible, his eyes fixed upon the window, he seemed a perfect +stranger to all that passed around him. + +A cry of anguish escaped Stephane, a frightful change came over his +face. Three times he tried to rise, and three times the hand of +his father weighed him down again, and kept him in a kneeling +posture. Then, as if annihilated by the thought of his weakness +and powerlessness, he yielded, and covering his eyes with both +hands, he murmured these words in a stifled and convulsive voice: + +"Sir they do me violence,--I ask pardon for hating you." + +And immediately his strength abandoned him, and he fainted; as a +lily broken by the storm, his head sank, and he would have fallen +backward, if his father had not signed to Ivan, who raised him like +a feather in his robust arms, and carried him hastily out of the +room. + +Gilbert's first care after returning to his turret, was to light a +candle and burn Stephane's letter. Then he opened a closet and +began to prepare his trunk. While engaged in this task, someone +knocked at the door. He had only time to close the closet and the +trunk when Ivan appeared with a basket on his arm. The serf came +for the flowers, which he had orders to carry to the apartment of +his young master. Having placed five or six in his basket, he +turned to Gilbert and gave him to understand, in his Teutonic +gibberish mingled with French, that he had something important to +communicate to him. Gilbert answered in a tone of ill-humor, that +he had not time to listen to him. Ivan shook his head with a +pensive air, and left. Gilbert immediately seated himself at the +table, and upon the first scrap of paper which came under his hand, +hastily wrote the following lines: + +"Poor child, do not distress yourself too much for the humiliation +to which you have just submitted. As you said yourself, you +yielded only to violence, and your apologies are void in my eyes. +Believe me, I exact nothing. Why did I not divine, this morning, +that Fritz spoke in your name! I should not have felt offended, +for it is not to me that your insults are addressed, it is to some +strange Gilbert of your imagination. I am not acquainted with him. +But what can it avail you to provoke contests, the result of which +is certain in advance? It is a hand of iron which lately weighed +upon your shoulder. Do you hope then to free yourself so soon from +its grasp? Believe me, submit yourself to your lot, and mitigate +its rigors by patience, until the day when your eyes have become +strong enough to dare to look him in the face, and your hand manly +enough to throw the gage of battle. Poor child the only +consolation I can offer you in your misfortune I should be a +culprit to refuse. I have but one night more to pass here; keep +this secret for me for twenty-four hours, and receive the adieus of +that Gilbert whom you have never known. One day he passed near you +and looked at you, and you read an offensive curiosity in his eyes. +I swear to you, they were full of tears." + +Gilbert folded this letter, and slid it under the facing of one of +his sleeves; then taking the key of the private door in his hand, +and posting himself at the head of the staircase, he waited Ivan's +return. As soon as he heard the sound of his steps in the +corridor, he descended rapidly and met him on the landing at the +gallery. + +"I do not know what to do," said Ivan to him. "My young master is +not himself, and he has broken the first flower-pots I carried to +him in a thousand pieces." + +"Take the others too," replied Gilbert, taking care to let him see +the key which he flourished in his hand. "You can put them in your +room for the time being. When he becomes calmer he will be glad to +see them again." + +"But will it not be better to leave them with you until he asks for +them?" + +"I don't want to keep them half an hour longer," replied Gilbert +quickly, and he descended the first steps of the private staircase. + +"As you are going on the terrace, sir," cried the serf to him, +"don't forget, I beg of you, to close the door behind you." + +Gilbert promised this. "It works well," thought he; "his caution +proves to me that the wicket is not closed." He was not mistaken. +For the convenience of his transportation, the serf had left it +half open, only taking the precaution to close and double-lock the +door of the grand staircase. Gilbert waited until Ivan had reached +the second story, and immediately remounting upon tiptoe, he darted +into the corridor, followed its entire length, turned to the right, +passed before the Count's study, turned a second time to the right, +found himself in the gallery which led to the square tower, sprang +through the wicket, and arrived without obstacle at the foot of the +tower staircase. He found the steps littered with the debris of +broken pots and flowers. As he began to descend, loud voices came +to his ears; he thought for a moment that M. Leminof was with his +son. This did not turn him from his project. He had nothing to +conceal. "I will beg the Count himself," thought he, "to read my +farewell letter to his son." Having reached the top of the +staircase, he crossed a vestibule and found himself in a long, dark +alcove, lighted by a solitary glass door, opening into the great +room ordinarily occupied by Stephane. This door was ajar, and the +strange scene which presented itself to Gilbert, as he approached, +held him motionless a few steps from the threshold. Stephane, with +his back towards him, stood with his arms crossed upon his breast. +He was not speaking to his father, but to two pictures of saints +hanging from the wall above a lighted taper. These two paintings +on wood, in the style of Father Alexis, represented St. George and +St. Sergius. The child, looking at them with burning eyes, +apostrophized them in a voice trembling with anger, at intervals +stamping his foot and running his hands furiously through his long +hair and tossing it in wild disorder. Illustrious Saints of the +Eastern Church, heard you ever such language before? + +Then he sprang on a chair, tore the two pictures from the wall, +threw them to the ground, and seizing his riding whip, switched +them furiously. In this affair, St. George lost half of his head +and one of his legs, and St. Sergius was disfigured for the rest of +his days. When he had satisfied his fury, Stephane hung them up +again on their nails, turning their faces to the wall, and blew out +the lamp; then he rolled upon the floor, twisting his arms and +tearing his hair--but suddenly sitting up, he drew from his bosom a +small, heart-shaped medallion which he gazed on fixedly, and as he +looked the tears began to roll down his cheeks, and in the midst of +his sobs, he cried out: + +"Oh, my mother! I desire nothing from you! you could do nothing for +me; but why did I have time to know you? To remember! to remember-- +what torment! Yes, I can see you now-- Every morning you gave me +a kiss, high on my forehead at the roots of my hair. The mark is +there yet--sometimes it burns me. I have often looked in the glass +to see if I had not a scar there-- Oh, my mother! come and heal my +wound by renewing it! To be kissed by one's mother, Great God! +what happiness! Oh! for a kiss, for a single kiss from you, I +would brave a thousand dangers, I would give my blood, my life, my +soul. Ah! how sad you look! there are tears in your eyes. You +recognize me, do you not? I am much changed, much changed; but I +have always your look, your forehead, your mouth, your hair." + +Then starting up suddenly, Stephane walked around the room with an +unsteady step. He held the medallion closely grasped in his right +hand and kept his eyes upon it. Again he held it out at arm's +length and looked at it steadily with half-closed eyes, or drawing +it nearer to him, he said to it sweet and tender things, pressing +it to his lips, kissing it a thousand times and passing it over his +hair and his cheeks wet with tears; it seemed as though he were +trying to make some particle of this sacred image penetrate his +life and being. At last, placing it on the bed, he knelt before +it, and burying his face in his hands, cried out sobbing, "Mother, +mother, it is long since your daughter died. When will you call +your son to you?" + +Gilbert retired in silence. A voice from this room said to him: +"Thou art out of place here. Take care not to meddle in the secret +communion of a son and his mother. Great sorrows have something +sacred about them. Even pity profanes them by its presence." He +descended the staircase with precaution. When he had reached the +last step,--extending his arm in the direction of the Count's room, +he muttered in a low tone: "You have lied! Under that tunic of +black velvet there is a beating heart!" Then advancing with a +rapid step through the corridor, he hoped to pass out unseen; but +on reaching the wicket, he found himself face to face with Ivan, +who was coming out of his room, and who in his surprise dropped the +basket he held in his hand. + +"You here!" exclaimed he in a severe tone. "Another would have +paid dearly for this--" + +Then in a soft voice, expressing profound melancholy: + +"Brother," said he, "do you want both of us to be killed? I see +you do not know the man whose orders you dare to brave." And he +added, bowing humbly: "You will pardon me for calling you brother? +In my mouth, that does not mean 'comrade.'" + +Gilbert gave a sign of assent, and started to leave, but the serf, +holding him by the arm, said: + +"Fortunately the barine has gone out; but take care; two days since +he had one of his turns, he has one every year, and while they +last, his mind wanders at night, and his anger is terrible during +the day. I tell you there is a storm in the air, do not draw the +thunderbolt upon your head." + +Then placing himself between Gilbert and the door, he added with a +grave air: + +"Upon your conscience, what have you been doing here? Have you +seen my young father? Has he been talking to himself? You could +understand what he said, for he always talks in French. He only +knows enough Russian to scold me. Tell me, what have you heard? I +must know." + +"Don't be alarmed," answered Gilbert. "If he has secrets he has +not betrayed them. He was engaged in complaining to himself, in +scolding the saints and weeping. Neither must you think that I +came hither to spy upon him, or to question him. As he had met +with sorrow, I wanted to console him by imparting the agreeable +news of my near departure; but I had not the courage to show myself +to him, and besides, I am not quite certain now what I shall do." + +"Yes, you will do well to go," eagerly answered the serf; "but go +secretly, without warning anyone. I will help you, if you wish it. +You are too inquisitive to remain here. Certain suspicions have +already been excited on your account, which I have combated. Then, +too, you are imprudent!" Thus saying, he drew from his pocket the +candle which Gilbert had dropped in the corridor, the preceding +night. + +"Fortunately," said he, returning it to him, "it was I who found +it, and picked it up, and I wish you well, you know why. But +before going from here," added he in a solemn tone, "swear to me, +that during the time you may yet remain in this house, you will not +try to come into this gallery again, and that you will not ramble +in the other any more in the night. I tell you your life is in +danger if you do." + +Gilbert answered him by a gesture of assent, and passing the +wicket, regained his room, where alternately standing at the +window, or stretched upon an easy-chair, he passed two full hours +communing with his thoughts. The dinner-bell put an end to his +long meditations. There was but little conversation during the +repast. M. Leminof was grave and gloomy, and seemed to be laboring +under a great nervous excitement which he strove to conceal. +Stephane was calmer than would have been expected, after the +violent emotions he had experienced, but there was something +singular in his look. Father Alexis alone wore his everyday face; +he found it very good, and did not judge it expedient to change it. +Towards the end of the repast, Gilbert was surprised to see +Stephane, who was in the habit of drinking only wine and water, +fill his glass with Marsala three times, and swallow it almost at a +single draught. The young man was not long in feeling the effect +of it; his face flushed, and his gaze became vacant. Towards the +close of the meal, he looked a great deal at the Apocalyptic +frescoes of the vaulted ceiling: then turning suddenly to his +father, he ventured to address him a question. It was the first +time for nearly two years,--an event which made even Father Alexis +open his eyes. + +"Is it true," asked Stephane, "that living persons, supposed to be +dead, have sometimes been buried?" + +"Yes, it has sometimes happened," replied the Count. + +"But is there no way of establishing the certainty of death?" + +"Some say yes, others no. I have been told of a frozen man who was +dissected in a hospital. The operator, in opening him, saw his +heart beating in his breast; he took flight and is running yet." + +"But when one dies a violent death--poisoned, for example?" + +"My opinion is, that they can still be mistaken. Physiology is a +great mystery." + +"Oh! that would be horrible," said Stephane in a penetrating voice; +"to awaken by bruising one's forehead against the cover of a +coffin." + +"It would certainly be a very disagreeable experience, answered the +Count. And the conversation dropped. Stephane appeared very much +affected by his father's answers. He gazed no more at the ceiling, +but fixed his eyes on his plate. His face changed color several +times, and as if feeling the need of stupefying himself, he filled +his glass with wine for the fourth time, but he could not empty it, +and had hardly touched it with his lips before he set it on the +table with an air of disgust. + +Tea was brought in. M. Leminof served it; and leaving his cup to +cool, rose and walked the floor. After making two or three turns, +he called Gilbert, and leaning upon his arm continued his walk, +talking with him about the political news of the day. Stephane saw +them come and go; he was evidently deeply agitated. Suddenly, at +the moment when they turned their backs, he drew from his sleeve a +small packet, which contained a pinch of yellow powder, and +unfolding it quickly, held it over his still full cup; but as he +was about emptying it, his hand trembled, and at this moment, his +father and Gilbert returning to his side, he had only time to +conceal the paper in his hand. In an instant he raised it again, +but at the decisive moment his courage again failed him. It was +not until the third trial that the yellow powder glided into the +cup, where Stephane stirred it with his spoon. This little scene +had escaped Gilbert. The Count alone had lost nothing of it; he +had eyes at the back of his head. He reseated himself in his place +and drank his tea slowly, continuing to talk with Gilbert, and +apparently quite unconscious of his son; but not a movement escaped +him. Stephane looked at his cup steadily, his agitation increased, +he breathed heavily, he shuddered, and his hand trembled with +feverish excitement. After waiting several minutes, the Count +turned to him and, looking him full in the eyes, said: + +"Well! you do not drink? Cold tea is a bad drug." + +The child trembled still more; his eyes had a glassy brightness. +Turning his head slowly, they wandered over everything about him, +the table, the chairs, the plate, and the black oak wainscoting. +There are moments when the aspect of the most common objects stirs +the soul with solemn emotion. When the condemned man is led out to +die, the least straw on the floor of his cell seems to say +something to his heart. Finally, gathering all his courage, +Stephane raised the cup and carried it to his mouth; but before it +had touched his lips, the Count took it roughly from his hands. +Stephane uttered a piercing cry and fell back in his chair with +closed eyes. M. Leminof looked at him for a moment with a +sarcastic and scornful smile; then bending over the cup he examined +it with care, smelt of it, and dipping his spoon in it, drew out +two or three yellow grains which he rubbed and pulverized between +his fingers. Then in a tone as tranquil and as indifferent as if +speaking of the rain, or of the fine weather, he said: + +"It is phosphorus, a sufficiently active poison, and phosphorus +matches have been the death of a man more than once. But I saw +your little paper some time before. If I am not mistaken the dose +was not strong enough." And dipping his finger in the cup, he +passed it over his tongue, and curled his lip disdainfully. "I was +not mistaken," continued he, "it would only have given you a +violent colic. It was very imprudent in you; you do not like to +suffer, and you know we have only fresh-water physicians in this +neighborhood. Why didn't you wait a few hours? Doctor Vladimir +Paulitch will be here to-morrow evening." And then he went on in a +more phlegmatic tone. "It should be a first principle to do +thoroughly whatever you undertake to do at all. Thus, when a man +wants to kill himself according to rule, he should not begin by +exciting suspicions in talking of the cemetery. And as these +affairs require the exercise of coolness, he should not try to get +intoxicated. The courage which a person finds at the bottom of a +glass of Marsala is not of a good quality, and the approach of +death always sobers one. Finally, when a man has seriously +resolved to kill himself, he does not do this little thing at the +table, in company, but in his room, after having carefully bolted +the door. In short, your little scene has failed in every point, +and you do not know the first rudiments of this fine art. I advise +you not to meddle with it any more." + +At these words he pulled the bell for Ivan. + +"Your young master wanted to kill himself," said he; "take him to +his room and prepare him a composing draught that will put him to +sleep. Watch with him to-night, and in future be careful not to +leave any phosphorus matches in his rooms. Not that I suspect him +of entertaining any intense desire of killing himself,--but who +knows? Wounded vanity might drive him to try it. As his nerves +are excited, you will see that for some days he takes a great deal +of exercise. If the weather is fine tomorrow, keep him in the open +air all day, and in the evening walk him on the terrace; he must +get his blood stirred up." + +From the moment that his father had taken the poisoned cup from +him, Stephane had remained petrified on his chair, with livid face +and arms hanging over his knees, giving no sign of life. When Ivan +approached to take him away, he rose with a start, and leaning upon +the arm of the serf, he crossed the room without opening his eyes. +When he had gone, the Count heaved a long sigh of weariness and +dejection. + +"What did I tell you?" exclaimed he, throwing upon Gilbert a +scrutinizing look; "this boy has a theatrical turn of mind. I +would wager my life that he hadn't the faintest desire to kill +himself: he only aimed at exciting us; but certainly if it was the +sensitive heart of Father Alexis which he took for a target, he has +lost the trouble." And he directed Gilbert's attention to the +worthy priest, who, as soon as he had emptied his cup, had fallen +sound asleep on his stool, and smiled at the angels in his dreams. +Gilbert gave the Count a lively and agreeable surprise by answering +him in the steadiest tone: + +"You are entirely right, sir; it was only a very ridiculous +affectation. Fortunately, we may consider it pretty certain that +our young tragedian will not regale us a second time with his +little play. Where courage is required, it is good to have an +opportunity of seeing to the bottom of one's sack; nothing is more +likely to cure a boaster of the foolish mania for blustering." + +"Decidedly my secretary is improving," thought the Count; "he has a +tender mouth and feels the curb." And in the joy which this +discovery gave him, he felt that he entertained for him sentiments +of real friendship, of which he would not have believed himself +capable. His surprise and pleasure increased still more when +Gilbert resumed: + +"But apropos, sir, do you persist in believing that, according to +Constantius Porphyrogennatus, all Greece became Slavonian in the +eighteenth century? I have new objections to present to you on +that subject. And first this famous Copronymus of whom he +speaks. . . ." + +They did not rise from the table until eleven o'clock. It was +necessary to awaken Father Alexis, who slept during the whole time, +his right arm extended over his plate, and his head leaning upon +his elbow. The Count having shaken him, he rose with a start and +exclaimed: + +"Don't touch it! The colors are all fresh; Jacob's beard is such a +fine gray!" + +The compliant secretary retired humming an aria. M. Leminof +followed him with his eyes, and, pointing after him, said to his +serf in a confidential tone: + +"Thou seest that man there; just fancy! I feel friendship for him. +He is at least my most cherished--habit. My suspicions were +absurd, thou wert right in combating them. By way of precaution, +however, make a tour of the corridor between midnight and two +o'clock. Now come and double-lock me in my room, for I feel a +paroxysm coming on. To-morrow at five o'clock thou wilt come to +open it for me." + +"Count Kostia!" murmured Gilbert, when he found himself in his +room, "fear no longer that I shall think of leaving you. Whatever +happens, I remain here. Count Kostia, understand me, you have +buried the smile: I take heaven to witness that I will resuscitate +it." + + +XI + + +The day following the one on which Gilbert had resolved to remain +at Geierfels, Father Alexis rose at an early hour, and betook +himself as usual to his dear chapel; he entered with a slow step, +bowed back, and anxious face; but when he had traversed the nave +and stood before the main entrance to the choir, the influence of +the holy place began to dissipate his melancholy; his thoughts took +a more serene turn, and his face brightened. + +For several days Father Alexis had been occupied in painting a +group of three figures, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and their +posterity on their knees. It was the exact copy of a picture in +the Convent of Lavra. These patriarchs were gravely seated upon a +grassy bank, separated from each other by little shrubs of a +somewhat fantastic shape. Their venerable heads were crowned with +aureoles; their abundant hair, combed with the greatest care, fell +majestically upon their shoulders, and their thick beards descended +to the middle of their breasts. + +Father Alexis worked for nearly an hour, when he heard a step in +the court, and turning his head quickly, perceived Gilbert coming +towards the chapel. The priest thrilled with joy, as a fisherman +might, who after long hours of mortal waiting sees a fish of good +size imprudently approaching his net. Eager for his prey, he threw +aside his brush, quickly descended the ladder with the agility of a +young man and ran to place himself in ambuscade near the door, +where he waited with bated breath. As soon as Gilbert appeared, he +rushed upon him, seized him by the arm, and looked upon him with +eyes which seemed to say: "You are caught, and you won't escape +from me either." + +When he had recovered from his first excess of joy, "Ah, my son," +exclaimed he, "what happy inspiration brings you hither?" + +"M. Leminof is not well to-day," answered Gilbert, "and I thought I +could make no better use of my leisure than to pay my respects to +you." + +"Oh! what a charming idea," said the priest, looking at him with +ineffable tenderness. "Come, come, my son, I will show you all, +yes all." + +This word ALL was pronounced with such an energetic accent, that +Gilbert was startled. It may be readily believed that it was not +exactly about Byzantine pictures that he was curious at this +moment. Nevertheless, he entered with great good-nature into a +minute examination of the images of the choir and the nave; he +praised all which appeared praiseworthy, kept silent upon the +prominent defects which offended the delicacy of his taste, and +allowed himself to criticise only some of the details. + +At last he announced to the priest that he wished to talk with him +of a serious matter. + +"A serious matter?" + +And the face of the good father became grave. "Have you anything +to confess to me? What am I saying? You are not orthodox, my +child,--would to God you were." + +"Let us descend, let us descend," said Gilbert, putting his foot +upon the ladder. + +They descended and seated themselves upon the end of a white marble +step, which extended the entire width of the nave, at the entrance +of the choir. + +"My son," began the priest timidly, "yesterday evening--" + +"That is precisely what I want to talk to you about," said Gilbert. + +"Ah! you are a good, generous child. You saw my embarrassment, and +you wished,--I confess it, a slight drowsiness,--flesh is weak,-- +ah, it is good in you. Favors do not turn your head. Speak, +speak, I am all attention." + +"It is understood that you will keep the secret, father, for you +know--" + +"I understand! we should be lost if it were known that we talked of +certain things together. Oh! you need not be afraid. If Kostia +Petrovitch alludes to this matter, I shall appear to know nothing, +and I shall accuse myself of having violated the precept of the +great Solomon, who said, 'When thou sittest down to eat with a +prince, consider attentively what is done before thee.' + +"Speak with confidence, my child, and rest assured that this mouth +has an old tongue in it which never says what it does not want to." + +When Gilbert had finished his recital, Father Alexis burst forth in +exclamations accompanied by many signs of the cross. + +"Oh! unhappy child!" cried he; "what folly is thine! He has then +sworn his own destruction? To wish to die in mortal sin! A spirit +of darkness must have taken possession of him. Then he invokes St. +George no longer every morning and evening? He prays no more,--he +no longer carries on his heart the holy amulet I gave him. Ah! why +did I fall asleep yesterday evening? What beautiful things I would +have said to him! I would have commenced by representing to him--" + +"I do not doubt your eloquence; but it is not remonstrance, nor +good counsel that this child wants: a little happiness would answer +the purpose far better." + +"Happiness! Ah, yes! his life is a little sad. There are certain +maxims of education--" + +"It is not a question of maxims of education, but of a father who +betrays an open hatred to his son." + +"Holy Virgin!" exclaimed the priest with a gesture of terror, "you +must not say such things, my child. These are words which the good +God does not like to hear. Never repeat them, it would be neither +prudent nor charitable." + +Gilbert persisted; announcing the conjectures which he had formed +as certainties, and even exaggerating his suspicions in the hope +that the priest, in correcting him, would furnish the explanations +which he desired. The success of this little artifice surpassed +his expectation. + +"I know for a certainty," said he, "that M. Leminof loved his +wife,--that she was unfaithful to him--that he finished by +suspecting her, and that he revenged himself--" + +"False! false!" cried the priest with deep emotion. "To hear you +one would believe that Count Kostia killed his wife. You have +heard lying reports. The truth is, that the Countess Olga poisoned +herself, and then feeling the approach of death, became terrified +and implored aid. It was useless: they could not counteract the +effects of the poison. She then sent in haste for me. I had but +just time to receive her confession. Oh! what a frightful scene, +my child! Why recall it to me? And above all, whose calumnious +tongue--" + +"I have been told, also," pursued the inflexible Gilbert, "that +after this deplorable event M. Leminof, holding in abhorrence the +localities which witnessed his dishonor, quitted Moscow and Russia, +and went to Martinique. Having arrived there, he lost, after some +months' residence, one of his two children, a daughter if I am not +mistaken, and this death may have been hastened by--" + +"A fresh calumny!" interrupted the priest, looking steadily at +Gilbert. "The young girl died of yellow fever. Kostia Petrovitch +never raised a finger against his children. Ah! tell me what +viper's tongue--" + +"It is not a calumny, at least, to state that he has two good +reasons for not loving his son. First, because he is the living +portrait of his mother, and then because he doubts, perhaps, if +this child is really his son." + +"An impious doubt, which I have combated with all my strength. +This child was born nine years before his mother committed her +first and only fault. I have said it, and I repeat it. It has +been objected that he was born after six years of a marriage which +seemed condemned by Heaven to an eternal sterility:--fatal +circumstance, which appeared proof positive to a vindictive and +ulcerated heart. But again, who could have told you--" + +"One more word: before leaving for Martinique, M. Leminof did +everything he could to discover the lover of his wife. His +suspicions fell upon one of his intimate friends named Morlof. In +his blind fury he killed him, but nevertheless Morlof was +innocent." + +"Did they tell you that he assassinated him?" said Father Alexis, +who became more and more agitated. "Another calumny! he killed him +in a regular duel. Holy Virgin! the sin was grave enough; but the +police hushed up the matter, and absolution has been granted him." + +"Alas!" resumed Gilbert, "if the church has pardoned, the +conscience of the murderer persists in condemning; it curses that +rash hand which shed innocent blood, and by a strange aberration it +exhorts him to wash out this fatal mistake in the blood of the real +offender. This offender, after six years' fruitless search, he has +not given up the hope of discovering; he will go into the very +bowels of the earth to find him, if he must, and if by chance there +is some heart upon which the name is written, he will open that +heart with the point of his sword to decipher those letters of +blood and of fire!" + +Gilbert pronounced these last words in a vibrating voice. He had +suddenly forgotten where he was and to whom he was speaking. He +thought he again saw before him the scene of the corridor, and +could again hear those terrible words which had frozen the blood in +his veins. The priest was seized with a convulsive trembling; but +he soon mastered it. He raised himself slowly and stood up before +Gilbert, his arms crossed upon his breast. Within a few moments +his face became dignified, and at the same time his language. Now +the transformation was complete; Gilbert had no longer before him +the timid, easy soul who trembled before a frown, the epicure in +quest of agreeable sensations, the vain artist ingeniously begging +eulogies. The priest's eyes opened wide and shone like coals of +fire; his lips, wreathed in a bitter smile, seemed ready to launch +the thunders of excommunication; and a truly sacerdotal majesty +diffused itself as if by miracle over his face. Gilbert could +scarcely believe his eyes; he looked at him in silence, incapable +of recognizing this new Father Alexis, who had just been revealed +to him. + +Then, said the priest, speaking to himself: + +"Brother! what simplicity is yours! A few caresses, a few +cajoleries, and your satisfied vanity silences your distrust and +disarms your good sense! Did you not know that this young man is +the intimate friend of your master?" + +Then bowing towards Gilbert: + +"They thought then that you could make me speak. And you imagined +yourself that a coarse artifice and some threatening talk would +suffice to tear from me a secret I have guarded for nearly seven +years. Presumptuous young man, return to him who sent you, and +repeat faithfully what I am about to say to you: One day at +Martinique, in a remote house some distance from the outskirts of +the town of St. Pierre,--let me speak, my story will be short.-- +Picture to yourself a great dark hall, with a table in the center.-- +They shut me in there near noon; the next day at evening I was +there still, and for thirty hours I neither ate nor drank. The +night came,--they stretched me upon a table,--bound me and tied me +down. Then I saw bending over me a face more terrible than thou +wilt ever see, even in thy dreams, and a mouth which sneered as the +damned must sneer, approached my ear and said to me: 'Father +Alexis, I want your secret--I will have it.' I breathed not a +word; they tightened the cords with a jack, and I did not speak; +they piled weights on my chest, and I spoke not; they put boots +upon me which I hope never to see upon thy feet, and I spake not; +my bones cracked, and I spake not; I saw my blood gush out, and I +did not speak. At length a supreme anguish seized me, a red cloud +passed over my eyes, I felt my heart freezing, and I thought myself +dying. Then I spoke and said: 'Count Leminof, thou canst kill me, +but thou shalt not tear from me the secrets of the confessional.'" +And at these words, the priest stooping, laid bare his right foot +and showed Gilbert the bruised and withered flesh, and bones +deformed by torture; then covering it again he recoiled, as if from +a serpent in his path, and cried in a thundering voice, extending +his arms to Heaven: + +"God curse the vipers who take the form of doves! Oh, Solomon, +hast thou not written in thy Proverbs: 'When he shall speak +graciously, do not believe him, for he has seven abominations in +his heart'?" + +As he listened to the recital of the priest, Gilbert was reminded +of some incoherent phrases of the somnambulist, which he had not +been able to explain: "STRETCH HIM ON THIS TABLE! THE BLACK ROBE! +TIGHTEN THE IRON BOOTS!" + +"That black robe then," said he to himself, "was Father Alexis." + +He rose and looked at the priest in surprise and admiration; he +could not take his eyes from that face which he believed he saw for +the first time, and he murmured in a low voice: + +"My God! how complex is the heart of man. What a discovery I have +just made!" + +Then he tried to approach him; but the priest, still recoiling and +raising his arms threateningly above his head, repeated: + +"Cursed be the vipers who come in the form of doves!" + +"And I say," cried Gilbert, "blessed forever be the lips which have +touched the sacred coal, and keep their secrets even unto death!" + +And rushing upon him he took him in his arms, and kissed three +times the scar which the cruel bite of Solon had left. + +Father Alexis was surprised, stupefied, and confounded. He looked +at Gilbert, then at Abraham, then at Jacob. He uttered disjointed +phrases. He called upon Heaven to witness what had happened to +him, gesticulated and wept until, overcome by emotion, he dropped +on the marble step, and hid his face, bathed in tears, in his +hands. + +"Father," said Gilbert respectfully, seating himself near him, +"pardon me for the agitation I have caused you. And if by chance +some distrust of me remains, listen to what I am about to tell you, +for I am going to put myself at your mercy, and by betraying a +secret it will depend upon you to have me expelled from this house +the day and hour you please." + +He then related to him the scene of the corridor. + +"Judge for yourself what impression the terrible words I heard +produced upon me! For some days my mind has been at work. I +ceaselessly tried to picture to myself the details of this +lamentable affair; but fearing to stray in my suspicions, I wished +to make a clean breast of it, and came to find you. I have grieved +you sorely, father; once more, will you pardon my rash curiosity?" + +Father Alexis raised his head. Farewell to the saint! farewell to +the prophet! His face had resumed its habitual expression; the +sublime tempest which had transfigured it had left but a few almost +invisible traces of its passage. He looked at Gilbert +reproachfully. + +"Ah!" said he, "it was only for this that you sought me? My dear +child, you do not love the arts then?" + + +XII + + +That day Gilbert passed an entire hour at his window. It was not +the Rhine which fixed his attention, nor the precipice, the +mountains nor the clouds. The narrow space within which he +confined his gaze was bounded on the west by the great square +tower, on the south by a gable, on the north by a spout; I mean to +say that the object of his contemplations was a very irregular, +very undulating roof, or to speak more accurately, two adjacent and +parallel roofs, one higher than the other by twelve feet, and both +inclining by a steep slope towards a frightful precipice. + +As he closed the window, he said to himself: + +"After all, it is less difficult than I thought; two rope ladders +will do the business, with God's help!" + +M. Leminof finding himself too much indisposed to leave his room, +Gilbert dined alone in his turret; after which he went out for a +walk on the borders of the Rhine. As he left the path for the main +road, he saw Stephane and Ivan within twenty paces of him. +Perceiving him, the young man made an angry gesture, and turning +his face, started his horse off at full speed. Gilbert had +scarcely time to leap into the ditch to avoid being run down. As +Ivan passed, he looked at him sadly, shook his head, and carried +his finger to his forehead, as if to say: "You must pardon him; his +poor mind is very sick." Gilbert returned to the castle without +delay, and as he reached the entrance to the terrace, he saw the +serf leaning against one of the doors, where he seemed to be on +guard. + +"My dear Ivan," said he, "you appear to be waiting for someone." + +"I heard you coming," answered he, "and I took you for Vladimir +Paulitch. It was the sound of your step which deceived me; you +haven't such a measured step generally." + +"You are a keen observer," replied Gilbert smiling; "but who, I +pray, is this Vladimir Paulitch?" + +"He is a physician from my country. He will remain two months with +us. The barine wrote to him a fortnight since, when he felt that +he was going to be ill; Vladimir Paulitch left immediately, and day +before yesterday he wrote from Berlin, that he would be here this +evening. This Vladimir is a physician who hasn't his equal. I am +waiting for him to arrive." + +"Tell me, good Ivan, is your young master in the garden?" + +"He is down there under the weeping ash." + +"Very well, you must permit me to speak to him a moment. You will +even extend the obligation by saying nothing about it to Kostia +Petrovitch. You know he cannot see us, for he keeps his bed now, +and even if he should rise, his windows open on the inner court." + +Ivan's brow contracted. "Impossible, impossible!" he murmured. + +"Impossible? Why? Because you will not? + +"Ivan, my good Ivan, it is absolutely necessary for me to speak to +your young master. I have made him submit to a humiliation against +my will. He mistakes my sentiments and credits me with the +blackest intentions, and it will be torture to him in future to be +condemned to sit at the same table with me daily. Let me explain +myself to him. In two words I will make him understand who I am, +and I wish him no harm." + +The discussion was prolonged some minutes, Ivan finally yielding, +but on the condition that Gilbert should not put his good will to +the proof a second time. "Otherwise," said Ivan, "if you still +attempt to talk with him secretly, I cannot permit him to go out, +and, of course, he could only blame you, and would then have the +right to consider you an enemy." + +Upon his side, the serf promised that the Count should know nothing +of the interview. + +"Recollect, brother," continued he, "that this is the last improper +favor that you will obtain from me. You are a man of heart, but +sometimes I should say that YOU HAD BEEN EATING BELLADONNA." + +Stephane had left the circular bank where he had been sitting, and +stood, with his back against the parapet of the terrace, his arms +hanging dejectedly, and his head sunk upon his breast. His reverie +was so profound that Gilbert approached within ten steps of him +without being perceived; but suddenly rousing himself, he raised +his head quickly, and stamped his foot imperiously. + +"Go away!" cried he, "go away, or I will set Vorace on you!" + +Vorace was the name of the bulldog that kept him company at night, +and was crouching in the grass some paces distant. Of all the +watchdogs of the castle, this one was the strongest and most +ferocious. + +"You see," said Ivan, retaining Gilbert by the arm, "you have +nothing to do here." + +Gilbert gently disengaged himself and continued to advance. + +"Get out of my sight," screamed Stephane. "Why do you come to +trouble my solitude? Who gives you the right to pursue me, to +track me? How dare you look me in the face after--" + +He could say no more. Excitement and anger choked his voice. For +some moments he looked alternately at Gilbert and the dog; then +changing his purpose, he moved as if to fly, but Gilbert barred the +way. + +"Listen to me but a minute," said he in a gentle and penetrating +voice, "I bring you good news." + +"You!" exclaimed Stephane, and he repeated, "You! you! good news!" + +"I!" said Gilbert, "for I come to announce to you my near +departure." + +Stephane stared with wide-open eyes, and recoiled slowly to the +wall, where, leaning back again, he exclaimed: + +"What! are you going? Ah! certainly the news is excellent, as well +as unexpected; but you are giving yourself unnecessary trouble, +there was no need to forewarn me. Your departure! Great God! I +should have been notified of it in advance by the clearness of the +air, by the more vivid brightness of the sun, by some strange joy +diffused through all my being. Oh! I understand, you are not able +to digest the outrage done to you by the excellent Fritz at my +order. You consider the reparation insufficient. You are right, I +swear it by St. George, my heart made no apologies to you. I upon +my knees to you! Horror and misery! As I told you yesterday, I +yielded only to force. It was the same as if I should make my +bulldog drag you down at my feet now!" + +Gilbert made no answer; he contented himself with drawing from his +pocketbook the letter which he had written the day before, and +presenting it to Stephane. + +"What have I to do with this paper?" said Stephane with a gesture +of disdain. "You have told me your news, that is sufficient for +me. Anything more you could add would spoil my happiness." + +"Read!" said Gilbert. "I have granted you such a great favor that +you can well afford to grant me a small one."--Stephane hesitated a +moment, but the habitual tediousness of his life was so great that +the want of diversion overcame his hatred and scorn. + +"This letter is not bad!" said he as he read. "Its style is +eloquent, the penmanship is admirable too. It involuntarily +suggests to me the tie of your cravat. Both are so correct that +they are insufferable." + +Gilbert, smiling, untied the cravat and let the ends hang down upon +his vest. + +"It is not worth while to incommode yourself," pursued Stephane, +"we have so short a time to live together! Pray do not renounce +your most cherished habits for me. The bow of your cravat as well +as your writing, harmonize wonderfully with your whole person. I +do not suppose, however, that to please me you would reconstruct +yourself from head to foot. The undertaking would be +considerable." + +"Permit me to speak," answered Gilbert. "I have made a little +change in my programme: I shall not leave tomorrow. I have granted +myself a week's delay." + +Stephane's face darkened, and his eyes flashed. + +"I swear to you here, upon my honor," continued Gilbert, "that in a +week I will leave, never to return, unless you yourself beg me to +remain." + +"What baseness! and how cleverly this little plot has been +contrived; I see it all. By force of threats and violence they +hope to compel me a second time to bend my knees to you and cry +with clasped hands, 'Sir, in the name of Heaven, continue us the +favor of your precious presence!' But this act of cowardice I +shall never commit! Rather death! rather death!" + +"A word only," resumed Gilbert, without being discouraged. "Submit +me to some proof. Have you no caprice which it is in my power to +satisfy?" + +"Throw yourself at my feet," cried he impetuously; "drag yourself +in the dust, kiss the ground before me, and demand pardon and mercy +of me! At this price I will grant you, not my affection certainly, +but my indulgence and pity." + +"Impossible!" answered Gilbert, shaking his head. "I am like you; +I should not know how to kneel, unless someone stronger than myself +constrained me by violence. Oh, no! in such a performance I should +lose even the hope of being some day esteemed by you. The more so +as in the trial to which I wish you would subject me, I should +desire to have some danger to brave, some difficulty to surmount." + +Stephane could not conceal his astonishment. Never in all his life +had he heard language like this. Nevertheless, distrust and pride +triumphed still over every other feeling. + +"Since you wish it!" said he, sneering . . . and he drew a kid +glove from one of his pockets, rubbed it between his hands and +threw it to the bulldog, who caught in his teeth and kept it there. +"Vorace," said he to him, "keep your master's glove between your +teeth, watch it well; you will answer to me for it." + +Then turning to Gilbert,--"Sir, will you please restore my glove to +me? I should be infinitely obliged to you for it." + +"Ah! this is then the trial to which you will subject me?" answered +Gilbert with a smile upon his lips. + +Stephane looked him in the face. For the first time, he could not +avoid being struck by its noble expression and the clearness and +purity of his glance. + +Stephane was involuntarily moved, and strove in vain to conceal it +by the jocular tone in which he replied: + +"No, sir, it is not a test of your sincerity, but a jest which we +shall do well not to push further. This animal is not amiable. +Should you be unfortunate enough to irritate him, it would be +impossible even for me, his master, to calm his fury. Be good +enough then to leave my glove where it is, and return peaceably to +your study to meditate upon some important problem in Byzantine +history. That will be a trial less perilous and better +proportioned to your strength. Good-evening, sir, good-night." + +"Oh! permit me," replied Gilbert. "I am resolved to carry this +adventure to its conclusion!" + +And gently repulsing Stephane, who sought to restrain him, he +walked straight toward the bulldog. + +"Take care," cried the young man, shuddering, "do not trifle with +that beast, or you are a dead man!" + +"Take care," repeated Ivan, who, not having understood half of what +had been said, hardly suspected Gilbert's intention. "Take care, +this dog is a ferocious beast." + +Meantime Gilbert, crossing his arms upon his breast, advanced +slowly towards the bulldog, keeping his eyes steadily fixed on +those of the animal, and when he thought he had disconcerted him by +his undaunted gaze sufficiently to make him relax his grip upon the +prize, he suddenly tore the glove from him and waved it in the air +with his right hand. At the same moment Vorace, with a howl of +rage, bounded up to leap at the throat of his despoiler. Gilbert +sprang back, covering himself with his left arm, and the dog's jaws +only grazed his shoulder. Yet when he touched the ground again, he +held between his teeth a long strip of cloth, a scrap of linen, and +a morsel of bloody flesh. Mad with fury the bulldog rolled over on +the grass with this prize which he could hardly devour, and then +suddenly, as if seized with a paroxysm of frenzy, he moved towards +the castle doubling upon himself; but reaching the foot of the +turret, he looked for his enemy and returned like an arrow, to +pounce upon him again. + +"Throw down the glove," cried Ivan, "and climb the ash." + +"I will surrender the glove only to him who asked me for it," +answered Gilbert. + +And hiding it in his bosom, he drew a knife from his pocket. He +had not time to open it. The dog, with bristling hair and foaming +jaws, was already within three steps of him, gathering himself to +spring upon him; but he had scarcely raised himself from the ground +when he fell back with his head shattered. The hatchet which Ivan +carried at his girdle had come down upon him like a flash. The +terrible animal vainly attempted to rise, rolled writhing in the +dust, and breathed out his life with a hoarse and fearful howl. + + +XIII + + +Doctor Vladimir Paulitch arrived at the castle just in time to take +care of Gilbert. The wound was wide and deep, and in consequence +of the great heat which prevailed, it might easily have proved +serious; fortunately, Doctor Vladimir was a skillful man, and under +his care the wound was soon healed. He employed certain specifics, +the uses of which were known only to himself, and which he took +care to keep a secret from his patient. His medicine was as +mysterious as his person. + +Vladimir Paulitch was forty years of age; his face was striking but +unattractive. His eyes had the color and the hard brightness of +steel; his keen glances, subject to his will, often questioned, but +never allowed themselves to be interrogated. Well made, slender, a +slight and graceful figure, he had in his gait and movements a +feline suppleness and stealthiness. He was slow, but easy of +speech, and never animated; the tone of his voice was cold and +veiled, and whatever the subject of conversation might be, he +neither raised nor lowered it; no modulations; everyone of his +sentences terminated in a little minor cadence, which fell sadly on +the ear. He sometimes smiled in speaking, it is true, but it was a +pale smile which did not light up his face. This smile signified +simply: "I do not give you my best reason, and I defy you to divine +it." + +One morning when Ivan had come by order of the doctor to dress +Gilbert's wound, our friend questioned him as to the character and +life of Vladimir Paulitch. Of the man Ivan knew nothing, and +confined himself to extolling the genius of the physician; he +expressed himself in regard to him in a mysterious tone. The +imposing face of this impenetrable personage, the extraordinary +power of his glance, his impassible gravity, the miraculous cures +which he had wrought, it needed no more to convince the honest serf +that Vladimir Paulitch dealt in magic and held communications with +spirits; and he felt for his person a profound veneration mingled +with superstitious terror. He told Gilbert that since the age of +twenty-five, Vladimir had been directing a hospital and private +asylum which Count Kostia had founded upon his estates, and that, +thanks to him, these two establishments had not their equals in all +Russia. + +"Last year," added the serf, "he came to attend the barine, and +told him that his malady would return this year, but more feebly, +and that this would be the last. You will see that all will come +to pass as he has said. Kostia Petrovitch is already much better, +and I wager that next summer will come and go without his feeling +his nerves." + +As Ivan prepared to go, Gilbert detained him to ask news of +Stephane. The serf had been very discreet, and had related the +adventure upon the terrace to his master without compromising +anyone. The only trouble he had had was in persuading him that it +was not on a sign from Stephane that the dog had attacked Gilbert. + +The next day Gilbert dined in the great hall of the castle with M. +Leminof and Father Alexis. + +"Do not disturb yourself because Stephane does not dine with us," +said the Count to him. "He is not sick; but he has a new grievance +against you; you have caused the death of his dog. I ask your +pardon, my dear Gilbert, for the irrational conduct of my son. I +have given him three days for the sulks. When that time has +passed, I intend that he shall put on his good looks for you, and +that he shall take his place at the table opposite you without +frowning." + +"And how is it that Doctor Vladimir is not with us?" + +"He has begged me to excuse him for a time. He finds himself much +fatigued with the care he has given me. A magnetic treatment, you +understand. I should inform you that every year, some time during +the summer, I am subject to attacks of neuralgia from which I +suffer intensely. By the way, you have seen our admirable doctor +several times. What do you think of him?" + +"I don't know whether he is a great savant, but I am inclined to +think he is a first-class artist." + +"You cannot pay him a finer compliment; medicine is an art rather +than a science. He is also a man capable of the greatest devotion. +I am indebted to him for my life, it was not as physician that he +saved me either. A pair of stallions ran away within twenty paces +of a precipice; the doctor, appearing from behind a thicket, darted +to the heads of the horses and hung on to them by their nostrils, +which he held in an iron grip. You have the whole scene from these +windows. What was amusing in it was, that having thanked him, with +what warmth you can imagine, he answered, in a tranquil tone, and +wiping his knees--for the horses in falling had laid him full +length in the dust--'It is I who am obliged to you; for the first +time I have been suspended between life and death, and it is a +singular sensation. But for you I should not have known it.' This +will give you an idea of the man and his sangfroid!" + +"I am not surprised at his having the agility of a wildcat," +replied Gilbert; "but I suspect the sangfroid is feigned, and that +his placidity of face is a mask which hides a very passionate +soul." + +"Passionate is not the word, or at least the doctor knows only the +passions of the head. There was a time when he thought himself +desperately in love; an unpardonable weakness in such a +distinguished man; but he was not long in undeceiving himself, and +he has not fallen into such a fatal error since." + +The night having come, Gilbert, who had inquiries to make, crossed +the yard of which the chapel formed one side, and gaining the rear +by a private door, went in search of Father Alexis. It was not +long before he discovered him, for the priest had left his shutters +open, and he was seated in the embrasure of the window, peaceably +smoking his pipe, when he perceived Gilbert. + +"Oh, the good boy!" cried he, "let him come in quickly! My room +and my heart are open to him." + +Gilbert showed him his arm in a sling, on account of which he could +not climb the window. + +"Is that all, my child?" said Father Alexis. "I will hoist you up +here." + +Gilbert raised himself by his right arm, and Father Alexis drawing +him up, they soon found themselves seated face to face, uniting to +their heart's content the blue smoke of their chibouques. + +"Have you not noticed," said Father Alexis, "that Kostia Petrovitch +has been in a charming humor to-day? I told you that he had his +pleasant moments! Vladimir Paulitch has already done him much +good. What a physician this Vladimir is! It is a great pity that +he does not believe in God; but some day, perhaps, grace will touch +his heart, and then he will be a complete man." + +"If I were in your place, father, I should be afraid of this +Vladimir," said Gilbert. "Ivan pretends that he is something of a +sorcerer. Aren't you afraid that some fine day he may rob you of +your secret?" + +Father Alexis shrugged his shoulders. + +"Ivan talks foolishly," said he. "If Vladimir Paulitch were a +sorcerer, would he not have long since penetrated the mystery which +he burns to fathom? for he does more than love Count Kostia; he is +devoted to him even to fanaticism. It is certain that having +discovered that the Countess Olga was enceinte, he had the +barbarity to become her denouncer; and that letter which announced +to Count Kostia his dishonor, that letter which made him return +from Paris like a thunder-clap, that letter in short which caused +the death of Olga Vassilievna, was written by him--Vladimir +Paulitch." + +"And Morlof," said Gilbert, "was it this Vladimir who denounced him +to the unjust fury of the Count?" + +"On the contrary, Vladimir pleaded his cause; but his eloquence +failed against the blind prejudices of Kostia Petrovitch. This +Morlof was, unfortunately for himself, a fashionable gentleman, +well known for his gallantries. A man of honor, however, incapable +of betraying a friend; this reputation for gallant successes, of +which he boasted, was his destruction. When Count Kostia +interrogated his wife, and she refused to denounce her seducer, it +occurred to him to name Morlof, and the energy with which she +defended him confirmed the Count's suspicion. To disabuse him, it +needed but that tragic meeting of which I was informed too late. +In breathing his last sigh, Morlof extended his hand to his +murderer and gasped 'I die innocent!' And in these last words of a +dying man, there was such an accent of truth that Count Kostia +could not resist it: light broke in upon his soul." + +As the darkness increased, Father Alexis closed the shutters and +lit a candle. + +"My child," said he, refilling and lighting his pipe, "I must tell +you something I learned to-day, a few moments before dinner, which +appeared to me very strange. Listen attentively, and I am sure you +will share in my astonishment." + +Gilbert opened his ears, for he had a presentiment that Father +Alexis was about to speak of Stephane. + +"It is a singular fact," resumed the priest, "and one that I should +not wish to relate to the first-comer, but I am very glad to impart +it to you, because you have a serious and reflective mind, though +unfortunately you are not orthodox; would to God you were. Know +then, my child, that to-day, Saturday, I went according to my +custom to Stephane to catechize him, and for reasons which you +know, I redoubled my efforts to impress his unruly head with the +holy truths of our faith. Now it appears that without intending +it, you have caused him sorrow; and you can believe that such a +character, far from having pardoned you, has taken the greatest +pains to get me to espouse his side in the difficulty. However he, +who will usually fly into a passion and talk fiercely if a fly +tickles him, recited his griefs to me with an air of moderation and +a tranquillity of tone which astonished me to the last degree. As +I endeavored to discover a reason for this, I happened to raise my +eyes to the images of St. George and St. Sergius which decorate one +of the corners of his room, and before which he was in the habit of +saying his prayers every morning. What was my surprise, my grief, +when I perceived that the two saints had suffered shameful +outrages. One had no legs, the other was disfigured by a horrible +scar. With hands raised to Heaven, I threatened him with the +thunder of God. Without being excited, without changing +countenance, he left his chair, came to me and placed his hand on +my mouth. 'Father,' said he, with an air of assurance which awed +me, 'listen to me. I have been wrong, if you wish it so, and +still, under the same circumstances, I should do it again, for +since I have chastised them, the two saints have decided to come to +my aid, and the very day after their punishment, without any change +in my life, all at once I felt my heart become lighter; for the +first time, I swear to you, a ray of celestial hope penetrated my +soul.' What do you say to that, my child? I had often heard +similar things related, but I did not believe them. Little boys +may be whipped, but as for saints!--Ah! my dear child, the ways of +God are very strange, and there are many great mysteries in this +world." + +Father Alexis had such an impressive air in speaking of this great +mystery, that Gilbert was tempted to laugh; but he controlled +himself; he was too grateful for his obliging narrative, and could +have embraced him with all his heart. + +"Good news!" said he to himself. "That heart has become lighter; +that 'ray of celestial hope.' Ah! God be praised, my effort has +not been thrown away. St. George, St. Sergius, you rob me of my +glory, but what matters it? I am content!" + +"And what reply did you make to Stephane?" said he to the priest. +"Did you reprimand him? Did you congratulate him?" + +"The case was delicate," said the good father, with the air of a +philosopher meditating on the most abstruse subject; "but I am not +wanting in judgment, and I drew out of the affair with honor." + +"You managed admirably," cried I, looking at him with admiration; +then immediately putting on a serious face, "but the sin is +enormous." + +The third day after, Gilbert didn't wait for the bell to ring for +dinner before going down to the great hall. He was not very much +surprised to find Stephane there. Leaning with his back against +the sideboard, the young man, on seeing him appear, lost his +composure, blushed, and turned his head towards the wall. Gilbert +stopped a few steps from him. Then in an agitated manner, and with +a voice at once gentle and abrupt, he said: + +"And your arm?" + +"It is nearly well. To-morrow I shall take off my sling." + +Stephane was silent for a moment. Then in a still lower voice: + +"What do you mean to do?" murmured he; "what are your plans?" + +"I wait to know your good pleasure," replied Gilbert. + +The young man covered his eyes with both hands, and, as Gilbert +said no more, he seemed to feel a thrill of impatience and +vexation. + +"His pride demands some mercy," thought Gilbert. "I will spare him +the mortification of making the first advances." + +"I should like very much to have a conversation with you," said he +gently. "This cannot be upon the terrace, Ivan will not leave you +alone there. Does he keep you company in your room in the +evening?" + +"Are you jesting?" answered Stephane, raising his head. "After +nine o'clock Ivan never comes near my room." + +"And his room, if I am not mistaken," answered Gilbert, "is +separated from you by a corridor and a staircase. So we shall run +no risk of being overheard." + +Stephane turned towards him and looked him in the face. "You think +of everything," said he, with a smile, sad and ironical. +"Apparently, to reach me, you will be obliged to mount a swallow. +Have you made your arrangements with one?" + +"I shall come over the roofs," said Gilbert quietly. + +"Impossible!" cried Stephane. "In the first place, I do not wish +you to risk your life for me again. And then--" + +"And then you do not care for my visit?" + +Stephane only answered him by a look. + +At this moment steps sounded in the vestibule. When the Count +entered, Gilbert was pacing the further end of the hall, and +Stephane, with his back turned, was attentively observing one of +the carved figures upon the wainscoting. M. Leminof, stopping at +the threshold of the door, looked at them both with a quizzical +air. + +"It was time for me to arrive," said he, laughing. "This is an +embarrassing tete-a-tete." + + +XIV + + +At about ten o'clock Gilbert began to make preparations for his +expedition. He had no fear of being surprised; his evenings were +his own--that was a point agreed upon between the Count and +himself. He had also just heard the great door of the corridor +roll upon its hinges. On the side of the terrace the thick +branches of the trees concealed him from the watchdogs which, had +they suspected the adventure, could have given the alarm. There +was nothing to fear from the hillock below the precipice; it was +frequented only by the young girl who tended the goats and who was +not in the habit of allowing them to roam so late among the rocks. +Besides, the night, serene and without a moon, was propitious; no +other light than the discreet glistening of the stars which would +help to guide him, without being bright enough to betray or disturb +him; the air was calm, a scarcely perceptible breeze stirred at +intervals the leaves of the trees without agitating the branches. +Thanks to this combination of favorable circumstances, Gilbert's +enterprise was not desperate; but he did not dream of deceiving +himself in regard to its dangers. + +The castle clock had just struck ten when he extinguished his lamp +and opened the window. There he remained a long time leaning upon +his elbows: his eyes at last familiarized themselves with the +darkness, and favored by the glimmering of the stars, he began to +recognize with but little effort the actual shape of the +surrounding objects. The window was divided in two equal parts by +a stone mullion, and had in front a wide shelf of basalt, +surrounded by a balustrade. Gilbert fastened one of two knotted +ropes with which he had supplied himself securely to the mullion; +then he crept upon the ledge of basalt and stood there for a few +moments contemplating the precipice in silence. In the gloomy and +vaporous gulf which his eyes explored, he distinguished a wall of +whitish rocks, which seemed to draw him towards them, and to +provoke him to an aerial voyage. He took care not to abandon +himself to this fatal attraction, and the uneasiness which it +caused him disappearing gradually, he stretched out his head and +was able to hang over the abyss with impunity. Proud at having +subdued the monster, he gave himself up for a moment to the +pleasure of gazing at a feeble light which appeared at a distance +of sixty paces, and some thirty feet beneath him. This light came +from Stephane's room; he had opened his window and closed the white +curtains in such a way that his lamp, placed behind this +transparent screen, could serve as a beacon to Gilbert without +danger of dazzling him. + +"I am expected," said Gilbert to himself. + +And immediately, bestriding the balustrade, he descended the +swaying rope as readily as if he had never done anything else in +his life. + +He was now upon the roof. There he met with more difficulty. +Partly covered with zinc and partly with slate, this roof--the +whole length of which he must traverse--was so steep and slippery +that no one could stand erect on it. Gilbert seated himself and +remained motionless for a moment to recover himself, and the better +to decide upon his course. A few steps from this point, a huge +dormer window rose, with triangular panes of glass, and reached to +within two feet of the spout. Gilbert resolved to make his way by +this narrow pass, and from tile to tile he pushed himself in that +direction. It will readily be believed that he advanced but +slowly, much more so on account of his left arm, which, as it still +pained him, required to be carefully managed; but by dint of +patience and perseverance he passed beyond the dormer window, and +at length arrived safely at the extremity of the roof, just in +front of Stephane's window. + +"God be praised, the most difficult part is over," he said to +himself, breathing freely. + +But he was far from correct in his supposition. It is true he had +now only to descend upon the little roof, cross it, and climb to +the window, which was but breast-high; but before descending it was +necessary to find some support--stone, wood or iron, to which he +could fasten the second rope, which he had brought wound about his +neck, shoulders, and waist. Unfortunately he discovered nothing. +At last, in leaning over, he perceived at the outer angle of the +wall a large iron corbel, which seemed to sustain the projecting +roof; but to his great chagrin, he ascertained at the same time, +that the great roof passed three feet beyond the line of the small +one, and that if even he should succeed in attaching his second +rope to the corbel, the other end of it would float in empty space. +This reflection made him shudder; and turning his eyes from the +precipice, he examined the ridge-pole, where he thought he saw a +piece of iron projecting. He was not mistaken: it was a kind of +ornamental molding, which formed the pediment of the ridge. It was +not without great effort that he raised himself even there, and +when he found himself seated astride the beam, he rested a few +moments to breathe, and to study the strange spectacle before him. +His view embraced an immense extent of abrupt, irregular roofing, +from every part of which rose turrets of every kind, in the shape +of extinguishers, pointed gables, corners, retreating or salient +angles, bell-towers, open to the daylight, profound depths where +the gloom thickened, grinning chimneys, heavy weathercocks cutting +the milky way with their iron rods and feathered arrows; from the +top of the chapel steeple a great cross of stone, seeming to +stretch out its arms; here and there the whitish zinc, cutting the +dark blue of the slates; in spots an indistinct glittering and +flashes of pale light enveloped in opaque shadows, and then the +tops of three or four large trees which extended beyond the eaves, +as if prying into the secrets of the attic. By the glittering +light of the stars, the slightest peculiarity in the architecture +assumed singular contours, fantastic figures were profiled upon the +horizon like Chinese shadows; everywhere an air of mystery, of +curiosity, of wild surprise. All these shadows leaned towards +Gilbert, examined him, and interrogated him by their looks. + +When he had recovered breath, Gilbert approached the projecting +ornament from which he proposed to suspend his rope; he had been +greatly deceived; he found that this ovolo of sheet iron, for a +long time roughly used by the elements, held only by a wretched +nail, and that it would inevitably yield to the least strain. + +"It is decided," said he. "I must go by the iron corbel!" And +although it cost him an effort, his mind was soon resolutely fixed. +Impatient at the loss of so many steps and at the waste of so much +precious time in vain efforts, he redescended the roof much more +actively than he had mounted it. Arriving below, and by the power +of his will conquering a new attack of vertigo with which he felt +himself threatened, he lay down upon his face parallel with the +spout, and advancing his head and arm beyond the roof he succeeded, +not without much trouble, in tying the cord firmly to the iron +corbel. This done, without loitering to see it float, he swung +himself slowly round, and let himself glide over the edge of the +roof as far as his armpits, resting suspended by the elbows. +Critical moment! If but a lath, but a nail should break--He had no +time to make this alarming reflection; he was too much occupied in +drawing towards him with his feet the rope, and when at length he +succeeded, detaching his left arm from the roof, he seized the +corbel firmly, and soon after, his right hand removing itself in +its turn, firmly grasped the rope. + +"That's not bad for a beginner," thought he. + +He then began to descend, giving careful attention to every +movement. But at the moment when his feet had reached the level of +the small roof, having had the imprudence to look down into the +space beneath him, he was suddenly seized with a dizziness a +thousand times more terrible than he had yet experienced. The +whole valley began to be agitated, and rolled and pitched terribly. +By turns it seemed to rise to the sky or sink into the bowels of +the earth. Presently the motion was accelerated, trees and stones, +mountains and plains were all confounded in one black whirlwind, +which struggled with increasing fury, and from which came forth +flashes of lightning and balls of fire. Restored to himself after +a few minutes, to dispel the emotion which his frightful nightmare +caused him, he had recourse to old Homer, and recited in one breath +that passage of the Iliad where the divine bard describes the joy +of a herdsman contemplating the stars from a craggy height. +Gilbert never, in after life, read these verses without recalling +the sweet but terrible moment when he recited them suspended in +mid-air; above his head the infinite smile of starry fields, and +under his feet the horrors of a precipice. As soon as he felt more +calm, he commenced the task of effecting his descent upon the small +roof, less steep than the other, and covered with hollow tiles +which left deep grooves between them. To crown his good fortune, +the spout was surmounted from place to place by iron ornaments +imbedded in the wall and rolled up in the form of scrolls. Gilbert +imparted an oscillating motion to the rope, and when it had become +strong enough to make this improvised swing graze the gutter, +choosing his time well, he disengaged his right foot and planted it +firmly in one of the grooves, loosening at the same time his right +hand and quickly seizing one of the scrolls. Midnight sounded, and +Gilbert was astonished to find that he had spent two hours upon his +adventurous excursion. To mount the roof halfway, cross it, and +climb into the window was but a slight affair, after which, turning +the curtains aside with his hand, he called in a soft voice: "Am I +expected?" and leaped with a bound into the room. + +With his chin upon his knees and his head buried in his hands, +Stephane was crouching at the feet of the holy images. Hearing and +perceiving Gilbert, he started, raised himself quickly and remained +motionless, his hands crossed above his head, his neck extended, +his lips quivering and opening with a smile, lightnings and tears +in his eyes. How paint the strangeness of his countenance? A +thousand diverse emotions betrayed themselves there. Surprise, +gratitude, shame, anxiety, long expectation at last satisfied; a +remnant of haughtiness which felt its defeat certain; an obstinate +incredulity forced to surrender; the disorder of an imagination, +enchanted, rapt, distracted, the delights of hope and the +bitterness of memory; all these appeared upon his face, and formed +a melange so confused that to see him thus laughing and crying at +once, it seemed as if it was his joy which wept and his sadness +which smiled. His first agitation dispelled, the predominating +expression of his face was a dreamy and startled sweetness. He +moved backwards from Gilbert and fell upon a chair at the end of +the room. + +"Do I intrude? Must I go away?" asked Gilbert, still standing. +Stephane made no answer. + +"Evidently my face does not please you," continued Gilbert, half +turning towards the window. + +Stephane contracted his brows. + +"Do not trifle, I beg of you," said he, in a hollow voice. "We +have serious matters between us to discuss." + +"The seriousness which I prefer is that of joy." + +Stephane passed his thin and taper hands nervously through his +hair. + +"Joy?" said he. "It will come, perhaps, in its time, through +speaking to me about it, who knows? Now I seem to be dreaming. +The disorder of my thoughts frightens me. Ask me no questions, for +I should not know how to answer you. And then the sound of my +voice mortifies me, irritates me. It is like a discord in music. +Let me be silent and look at you." + +And approaching a long table which stood in the middle of the room, +he signalled to Gilbert to place himself at one side of it and +seated himself at the other. + +After a long silence, he began to express his thoughts audibly, as +if he had become reconciled to the sound of his voice: + +"This bold, resolute air, so much pride in the look, so much +goodness in the smile. It is another man. Ah! into what contempt +have I fallen. I have seen nothing, divined nothing. I despised +him, I hated him,--this one whom God has sent to save me from +despair. See what was concealed under this simple unaffected air; +this serene face, whose calmness irritated me; this gentleness +which seemed servile; this wisdom which I thought pedantry; this +pliancy of disposition which I took for the meanness of a crouching +dog. All this I can it really be the same man!" He was silent for +a moment and then continued in a more assured voice: + +"How did you manage to reach here? Ah! my God! that great roof is +so steep! Only to think of it makes me shudder and sets my head to +whirling. While waiting I prayed to the saints for you. Did you +feel their aid? I should like to know whether they stood by me in +this. They have so often broken faith." + +Silence again, during which Stephane looked at Gilbert with a +steadiness sufficient to disconcert him. + +"So you have risked your life for me!" continued the young man; +"but are you quite sure that I am worth the trouble? Come now, be +frank. Has anyone spoken to you of me? Or have you, by studying +my character, made some interesting discovery? Answer, and be +careful not to lie. My eyes are upon you, they will readily +discover if you are sincere." + +"Really, you astonish me," answered Gilbert tranquilly; "and what +have I to conceal from you? All I know resolves itself into two +points. In the first place, I know that you belong to the race, to +the brotherhood of noble souls; I know, besides, that you are +unhappy.--Pardon me, I know another thing still. I know beyond a +doubt that I have conceived a lively and tender friendship for you, +and that I should be very unhappy, too, if I could not expect any +return from you." + +"You feel friendship for me? How can that be?" + +"Ah! a strange question! Who has ever been able to answer it? It +is the mystery of mysteries. I love you, because I love you: I +know of no other explanation. You have certainly never made any +very flattering advances to me. I think I have sometimes even had +cause to complain of you. + +"Ah, well! in spite of your scorn, of your haughtiness, of your +injustice, I loved you. Ask the secret of this anomaly of Him who +created man, and who planted in his heart that mysterious power +which is called sympathy." + +"Why," said Stephane, "was not this sympathy reciprocal? As for +me, from the first day I saw you I hated you. I do not know with +what eyes I looked at you, but I thought that I recognized an +enemy. Alas! suspicion and distrust invaded my heart long ago. +And mark, even at this moment I still doubt, I fear I may be the +dupe of some illusion: I believe and I do not believe, and I am +tempted to exclaim with one of the Holy Evangelists, 'My patron, my +brother, my friend, I believe, help thou mine unbelief!'" + +"Your incredulity will cure itself, and be sure, a day will come +when you will say with confidence: there is in this world a soul, +sister of my own, into which I can fearlessly pour all my cares, +all my thoughts, all my sorrows and all my hopes. There is one who +occupies himself unceasingly about me, to whom my happiness is of +great moment, of supreme interest, a being to whom I can say all, +confess all; a being who loves me because he knows me, and who +knows me because he loves me; a being who sees with me, who sees in +me, and who would not hesitate, if necessary, to sacrifice +everything, even his life, upon the holy altar of friendship. And +then could you not cry out in the joy of your heart: 'God he +praised! I possess a friend! By the blessing of God I have learned +what it is to love and to be loved." + +Stephane began to weep: + +"To be loved!" said he. "It is a great word and I hardly dare to +pronounce it. To be loved! I have never been. I believe, though, +that my mother loved me,--what do I say? I am sure of it, but it +was a long time ago. My mother,--it is like a legend to me. It +seems to me I was not born when I knew her. I remember that she +often took me upon her knees and covered me with kisses. Such joys +are not of this world; I must have tasted them in some distant +star, where hearts are less hard than here, and where I lived some +time, a sojourn of peace and innocence. But one day my mother +dropped me from her arms, and I was thrown upon this earth where +hatred expected me and received me in her bosom. Oh, hatred! I +know her! This second mother cradled me in her arms, nourished me +with her milk, lavished upon me her careful lessons and watched +over me night and day. Ah! hatred is a marvelous providence. It +sees everything, thinks of everything, notices everything, is +omnipresent, always on the alert, unconscious of fatigue, ennui, or +sleep. Hatred! she is the mistress of this castle, she governs it; +these great corridors are full of her. I cannot take a step +without meeting her; even here in this solitary room I see her +image floating upon the paneling, upon the tapestry, about the +curtains of this bed, and often at night in my sleep, she comes and +sits upon my breast and peoples my dreams with specters and +terrors. To be hated without knowing wherefore,--what torment! +And remember, too, that in my early infancy, this father who hates +me was then a father to me. He rarely caressed me and I feared +him; he was imperious and severe; but he was a father after all, +and occasionally he took the trouble to tell us so. Often in our +presence his gravity relaxed, and I recollect that he sometimes +smiled upon me. But one day, a cursed day,--I was then ten years +old; my mother had been dead a month.--He was shut up in his room +while a week passed, during which I did not see him. I said to my +governess: 'I want to see my father.' I knocked at his door, +entered, and ran to him. He repelled me with such violence that I +fell and struck my head against the leg of a chair. I got up +bleeding, and he looked at me with scorn, laughed, and left the +room. My mind wandered, all my ideas were thrown into confusion; I +thought the sun had gone out and that the world had come to an end. +A father who could laugh at the sight of the blood gushing from his +child! And what a laugh! He has made me hear it often since, but +I have not been able to accustom myself to it yet. A fever +attacked me, and I became delirious. They put me to bed, and I +cried to those who took care of me: 'I am cold, I am cold, make me +warm.' And in that icy body I felt a heart that seemed on fire, +which consumed itself. I could have sworn that a red-hot iron had +been passed into it." + +Stephane dried his tears with a curl of his hair, and then, leaning +with his elbows upon the table, he resumed in a feeble voice: "I do +not want you to be deceived. You entertain friendship for me and +you ask a return; that is very simple, friendship lives by +exchange. If I had nothing to give you, you would soon cease to +love me. Listen to me then. Yesterday, for the first time in my +life, I went into myself,--a singular fancy, which you alone have +been able to inspire in me; for the first time I examined myself +seriously, I laid hold of my heart with both hands, and examined it +as a physician does his patient; I carried my researches even to +the very bottom, and I recognized there a strange barrenness and +blight, which frightened me. It has been suffering a long time,-- +this poor heart; but within a year a fearful crisis has passed +within me, which has killed it. And now there is nothing in this +breast but a handful of ashes, good for nothing but to be thrown +out of the window and scattered in the air. + +"What! you are orthodox," said Gilbert, in a tone of authority; +"you believe in the saints after your own fashion, and nevertheless +you have yet to learn that death is but a word, or better, a +respite, a pause in life, a fallow time followed by fresh harvests. +You are ignorant of the fact, or you forget, that there are no +ashes so cold but that when the wind of the spirit breathes upon +them, they will be seen to start, rise up, and walk. You have left +to me the care of teaching you that your soul is capable of +rejuvenescence, of unexpected regeneration; that upon the sole +condition that you wish and desire it, you will feel unknown powers +awakened in your breast, and that without changing your nature, but +by transforming yourself from day to day, you will become to +yourself an eternal novelty! + +Stephane looked at him, smiling. + +"So you have crossed the roofs to come and preach conversion to me, +like Father Alexis!" + +"Conversion! I don't know. I don't undertake to work miracles; but +the metamorphosis--" + +"You speak to me much about my soul; but my life, my destiny, will +you also find the secret of transforming them?" + +"That secret we will seek together. I have already some light upon +it. Only let us not press it. Before undertaking that great work, +it is essential that your heart should recover its health and +strength." + +"Ingrate that I am!" cried Stephane. "My destiny! It has changed +from to-day. Yes, from this moment I am no longer alone in the +world. Frightful void in which I consumed myself, despair who with +your frightful wings made it night for an abandoned child, it is +all over now, I am delivered from you; the instrument of torture is +broken. Henceforth, I believe, I hope, I breathe! But think of +it, my friend, for me to live will be to see you, to hear you, to +speak to you. Could you come here often?" + +"As often as prudence will permit,--two or three times a week. We +will choose our days well; we will consult the sky, the wind, the +stars. On other days, at propitious hours, we will place ourselves +at our windows, and communicate by signs which we will agree upon, +for it seems that you, like me, are long-sighted. And besides, I +know the sign language. I will teach it to you, and if you ever +send me such a message as this upon your fingers: 'I am sad, I am +sick, come this evening at any risk'--Well, whatever the winds and +stars may say--" + +"To expose your life foolishly!" interrupted Stephane, "I would +rather die. Curses upon me if ever by a caprice-- But away with +such a thought! And how long, if you please, will this happiness, +which you promise me, last? Some day, alas! retaking your liberty--" + +"I have two, perhaps three years to pass here; it will even depend +upon me whether I stay longer or not. Whatever happens, be +assured, that before I leave this house, your destiny will have +changed. I have told you to believe in the seen; believe also in +the unforseen." + +"The unforeseen!" exclaimed Stephane, "I believe in it, since I +have seen it enter here by the window." + +And suddenly carrying his hand to his heart, he closed his eyes, +became pale, and uttered a piteous moan. Gilbert sprang towards +him, but repulsing him gently: + +"Fear nothing," said he; "joy has come, I feel it there, it burns +me. Let me enjoy a suffering so new and so sweet." He remained +some minutes with his eyes closed; then reopening them, and shaking +his beautiful head with its long curls, he said sportively: + +"Sit down there quick, and teach me the deaf mute language." + +"Impossible," replied Gilbert; "the hour for going has already +struck." + +Stephane impatiently stamped his foot. + +"Teach me at least the first two letters; if I don't know a and b, +I shall not be able to close my eyes to-night." + +Gilbert, taking him by the arm, led him to the window, where, +drawing aside the curtain, he pointed out to him the stars already +paling and a vague whiteness which appeared at the horizon. Then +suddenly changing his tone, but still carried away by his impetuous +nature, which stamped upon all the movements of his mind the +character of passion, Stephane became much excited at the idea of +the dangers which his friend was about to brave. + +"I will go with you," said he, "I want to know what risks you run +in coming here. To descend from the large roof to the small one, +you must have had a ladder. I want to see this ladder, I want to +assure myself that it is strong." + +"Do not be afraid, I have attended to that." + +"When I tell you that I wish to see it! I will believe only my own +eyes and hands. Where is this ladder? I positively must see it." + +"And I forbid you to climb this window. Take my word, my rope +ladder is entirely new and very strong." + +"Ah!" exclaimed Stephane, struck with a sudden idea. "I will bet +that you have fastened it to that great iron corbel, which +stretches its frightful beak up there at the angle of the wall. +And just now you were suspended in space on this treacherous +floating cord. Monstrous fool that I was not to understand it." + +And to Gilbert's great astonishment, he added: + +"You do not yet love me enough to have the right to run such +risks." + +"Do be a little calmer," said Gilbert. "You displayed just now a +gentleness and wisdom which enchanted me. Take care; Ivan might +wake and come up." + +"These walls are deafened, the flagging is thick; between this room +and the staircase there is an alcove, a vestibule, and two large +closed doors; and between the rail of this staircase and the cage +of my jailer, there is a long corridor. Besides, he is capable of +everything but rambling at night round my apartment; but what +matters it?--Let him come to surprise us, this hateful Ivan! I +will resign myself to everything rather than see you put your feet +upon that horrible ladder again. And take my word for it, if you +violate my injunction,--at that very moment before your eyes, I +will throw myself headlong down the precipice." + +"You are extremely unreasonable," replied Gilbert, in a severe +tone; "I must leave here at any cost. Since my ladder displeases +you, instead of uttering a thousand follies, try rather to +discover--" + +Stephen struck his forehead. + +"Here is my discovery," interrupted he; "opposite this window, on +the other side of the roof, there is another, which, if you can +only open it, will certainly let you into some empty lofts. Where +these lofts will take you I don't exactly know, for Ivan told me +once when he wanted to store some broken furniture there, that he +had not been able to find the entrance; but you will no doubt +discover some window near, by which you can get out upon the great +roof, half-way from your turret, and so you will be spared a great +deal of trouble and danger. Ah! if this proves so, how proud I +shall be of finding it out." + +"Now you are as I like to see you," said Gilbert; "instead of +prancing like a badly-bitted horse, you are calm, and you reason." + +"So to reward me you will permit me to accompany you." + +"God forbid! and if you presume to go without my permission, I +swear to you that I will never come here again." + +And as Stephane resisted and chafed, Gilbert took his head between +his hands, and drawing him to his breast, pressed a paternal kiss +on his forehead, just at the roots of his hair. This kiss produced +an extraordinary effect, which alarmed him; Stephane shuddered from +head to foot, and a cry escaped him. + +"Awkward fellow that I am," said Gilbert in an uneasy tone; "I have +wounded you without intending it." + +"No," murmured he, "it is of no consequence; but that was the place +where my mother used to kiss me. May the saints be with you. I +love you. Good-bye!" + +And thus speaking he covered his face which was on fire, with both +hands. + +Ah! if Gilbert had understood! But he divined nothing; he +descended to the roof, crossed it, and discovered as he groped +about, a window, all the panes of which were broken; which saved +him the trouble of opening it. When he found himself in the lofts, +he lighted the candle which he had taken the precaution to bring in +his pocket. The place which he had just entered was a wretched +garret, three or four feet wide. In front of him he noticed four +or five steps, ascended them, and opened an old door without any +fastening. This let him into a vast corridor, which had no visible +place of exit at the other end; it was infested by spiders and +rats, and encumbered with dilapidated old furniture. Gilbert +discovered, on raising his eyes, that he was in the mansard, +lighted by the great dormer window. The bolt which held the +shutter was so high up that he could not reach it with his hand. +An old rickety table stood in the corner, buried under a triple +coating of dust. Having reached the window by its aid, Gilbert +drew the bolt; he mounted upon the roof and, supporting himself by +one of the projecting timbers of the pediment, restored the shutter +to its embrasure and fastened it as well as he could; after which +he made his way once more towards the small roof; for, before +returning to his lodging, it was necessary at any cost to detach +and draw up the rope, an unimpeachable witness which would have +testified against him. While Gilbert was extended at length, fully +occupied in this delicate operation, Stephane, standing at his +window and trembling like a leaf, was tearing his handkerchief with +his beautiful teeth. The ladder withdrawn, Gilbert cried out to +him: + +"Your lofts are admirable. Hereafter, coming to see you will only +be a pleasure trip." + +When he found himself again upon his balcony, dawn began to break, +and a screech owl, returning from his hunt after field mice, passed +before him and regained his hole. Gilbert waved his hand to this +nocturnal adventurer whose confrere he felt himself, and leaping +lightly into his room, was sleeping profoundly in five minutes. At +the same moment Stephane, raising his eyes to the holy images to +which he had given such terrible blows, exclaimed with a passionate +gesture: "Oh! St. George, St. Sergius, help me to keep my secret." + + +XV + + +Yesterday evening I returned to Stephane by the dormer window and +the lofts; the journey took me but twenty minutes. There was a +slight wind, and I was glad to have nothing to do with the iron +corbel. Arriving at ten o'clock I returned half an hour after +midnight. On leaving the young man, I felt terrified and overjoyed +at the same time,--frightened at the impulsive ardor of his +temperament and at the efforts it will cost me to moderate his +impetuosity; but overjoyed, astonished at the quickness and grasp +of his mind, at his vivid imagination, and the truly Slavonian +flexibility of his naturally happy disposition. It is certain that +the sad and barren existence he has led for years would have +shattered the energies of a soul less finely tempered than his; the +vigor and elasticity of his temperament have saved him. But I +arrived just in time, for he confessed to me that the idea of +suicide had taken possession of him since that unlucky escapade +punished by fifteen hours' imprisonment. + +"My first attempt was unfortunate," said he, "but I was resolved to +try again; I had sounded the ford; another time I should have +crossed the stream." + +I hastened to turn the conversation, especially as he was not in +the humor to weary himself with such a gloomy subject. How happy +he appeared to see me again; how his joy expressed itself upon his +ingenuous face, and how speaking were his looks! We occupied +ourselves at first with the language of signs. Nothing escaped his +eager intellect; he complained only of my slow explanations. + +"I understand, I understand," he would cry; "something else, my +dear sir, something else, I'm not a fool." + +I certainly had no idea of such quickness of apprehension. "The +Slavonians learn quickly," said I, "and forget quickly too." + +To prove the contrary, he answered me by signs: + +"You are an impertinent fellow." + +I was confounded. Then all at once: + +"Extraordinary man," said, he, with a gravity which made me smile, +"tell me a little of your life." + +"Extraordinary I am not at all," said I. + +"And I affirm," answered he, "that humanity is composed of tyrants, +valets, and a single and only Gilbert." + +"Nonsense! Gilberts are abundant." + +"There is but one, there is but one," cried he, with a fire and +energy that enchanted me. + +I must own I am not sorry that for the time being he looks upon me +as an exceptional being; for it is well to keep him a little in awe +of me. To satisfy him I gave him the history of my youth. This +time he reproached me for being too brief, and not going enough +into detail. + +As his questions were inexhaustible, I said: "After today do not +let us waste our time upon this subject. Besides, the top of the +basket shows the best that's in it." + +"There may perhaps be something to hide from me?" + +"No; but I will confess that I do not like to talk about myself too +much. I get tired of it very soon." + +"What?" said he, in a tone of reproach, "are we not here to talk +endlessly about you, me, us?" + +"Certainly, and our favorite occupation will be to entertain +ourselves with ourselves; but to render this pastime more +delightful, it will be well for us to occupy ourselves sometimes +with something else." + +"With something else? With what?" + +"With that which is not ourselves." + +"And what do I care for anything which is neither you nor me?" + +"But at all events you sometimes work, you read, you study?" + +"At Martinique, Father Alexis gave me two or three hours of lessons +every day. He taught me history, geography, and among other stuff +of the same kind, the inconceivable merits and the superhuman +perfections of his eternal Panselinos. The dissertations of this +spiritual schoolmaster diverted me very little, as you may well +suppose, and I was furious that in spite of myself his tiresome +verbiage rooted itself in my memory, which is the most tenacious in +the world." + +"And did he continue his instructions to you?" + +"After our return to Europe, my father ordered him to teach me +nothing more but the catechism. He said it was the only study my +silly brain was fit for." + +"So for three years you have passed your days in absolute +idleness." + +"Not at all; I have always been occupied from morning till night." + +"And how?" + +"In sitting down, in getting up, in sitting down again, in pacing +the length and breadth of my room, in gaping at the crows, in +counting the squares of these flagstones, and the tiles of the +little roof, in looking at the iron corbel and the water-spout on +top of it, in watching the clouds sailing through the empty air, +and then in lying down there in that recess of the wall, to rest +quiet, with my eyes closed, ruminating over the problem of my +destiny, asking myself what I could have done to God, that he +chastised me so cruelly, recalling my past sufferings, enjoying in +advance my sufferings to come, weeping and dreaming, dreaming and +weeping, until overcome with lassitude and exhaustion I ended by +falling asleep; or else, driven to desperation by weariness, I ran +down to Ivan's lodging, and there gave vent to my scorn, fury, and +despair, at the top of my lungs." + +These words, pronounced in a tone breathing all the bitterness of +his soul, troubled me deeply. I trembled to think of this desolate +child, whose griefs were incessantly augmented by solitude and +idleness, of that soul defenselessly abandoned to its gloomy +reveries, of that poor heart maddened, and pouncing upon itself as +upon a prey; self-devouring, constantly reopening his wounds and +inflaming them, without work or study to divert him a single +instant from his monotonous torment. Oh! Count Kostia, how refined +is your hatred! + +"I have an idea," I said at last. "You love flowers and painting. +Paint an herbarium." + +"What's that?" + +"See this large paper. You will paint on it, in water colors, a +collection of all the flowers of this region, of all those, at +least, that you may find in your walks. If you don't know their +names, I will teach them to you, or we will seek for them +together." + +"Provided that books take no part in it." + +"We will dispense with them as much as possible. I will muster up +all my knowledge to tell you the history of these pretty painted +flowers; I will tell you of their families; I will teach you how to +classify them; in short, will give you little by little, all I know +of botany." + +He made a hundred absurd objections,--among others, that he found +in all the flowers of the fields and the woods in this country a +creeping and servile air; then this, and then that, expressing +himself in a sharp but sportive tone. + +"I shall teach you botany, my wild young colt," I said to myself, +"and not let you break loose." + +I have not been able, however, to draw from him any positive +promise. + + +July 14th. + +Victory! By persistent hammering I have succeeded in beating the +idea of the painted herbarium into this naughty, unruly head. + +But he has imposed his conditions. He consents to paint only the +flowers that I will gather myself, and bring to him. After some +discussion I yielded the point. + +"Ah!" said I, "take care to gather some yourself, for otherwise +Ivan . . ." + + +Sunday, July 15th. + +This afternoon I took a long walk in the woods. I had succeeded in +gathering some labiates, the dead nettle, the pyramidal bell-flower +and the wild thyme, when in the midst of my occupation, I heard the +trot of a horse. It was he, a bunch of herbs and flowers in his +hand. Ivan, who according to his custom, followed him at a +distance of ten paces, regarded me some way off with an uneasy air; +he evidently feared that I would accost them; but having arrived +within a few steps of me, Stephane, turning his head, started his +horse at full gallop, and Ivan, as he passed, smiled upon me with +an expression of triumphant pity. Poor, simple Ivan, did you not +hear our souls speak to each other? + + +July 16th. + +Yesterday I carried my labiates to him. After some desultory talk, +I endeavored to describe as best I could the characters of this +interesting family. He listened to me out of complaisance. In +time, he will listen to me out of curiosity, inasmuch as, to tell +the truth, I am not a tiresome master; but I dare not yet +interrogate him in a Socratic way. The SHORT LITTLE QUESTIONS +would make our hot-headed young man angry. The lesson finished, he +wished to commence his herbarium under my eyes. The honor of +precedence has been awarded to the wild thyme; its little white, +finely cut labias and the delicate appearance of the stem pleased +him, whilst he found the dead nettle and the bell flower extremely +common, and pronounced by him the word "extremely" is most +expressive. While he made pencil sketches, I told him three +stories, a fairy tale, an anecdote of Plutarch and some sketches of +the life of St. Francis of Assisi. He listened to the fairy tale +without uttering a word, and without a frown; but the other two +stories made him shake his head several times. + +"Is what you are telling me really true?" said he. "Would you +wager your life upon it?" And when I came to speak of St. Francis +embracing the lepers-- + +"Oh! now you're exaggerating." Then speaking to St. George: "Upon +your conscience now, would you have done as much?" + +He ended by becoming sportive and frolicsome. As he begged me to +sing him a little song, I hummed Cadet Roussel, which he did not +know; the "three hairs" made him laugh till the tears ran down his +cheeks, but he paid dearly for this excess of gayety. When I rose +to leave he was seized with a paroxysm of weeping, and I had much +trouble in consoling him. I repent having excited him so much. I +must humor his nerves, and never put him in that state of mind +which contrasts too strongly with the realities of his life. At +any cost I must prevent certain AWAKINGS. + + +July 19th. + +I admire his conduct at the table. Seated opposite me, he never +appears to see me, whilst you, grave Gilbert, do not know at times +what to do with your eyes; but the other day he crossed the great +hall with such a quick and elastic step that the Count's attention +was drawn to him. I must caution him to be more discreet. I am +also uneasy because in our nocturnal tete-a-tetes he often raises +his voice, moves the furniture, and storms round the room; but he +assures me there is nothing to fear. The walls are thick, and the +foot of the staircase is separated from the corridor by a +projection of masonry which would intercept the sound. Then the +alcove, the vestibule, the two solid oak doors! These two doors +are never locked. Ivan, he told me, is far from suspecting +anything, and the only thing which could excite his distrust would +be excessive precaution. + +"And besides," added he, "by the mercy of God he is beginning to +grow old, his mind is getting dull, and he is more credulous than +formerly. So I have easily persuaded him that I will never forgive +you, as long as I live, for the death of my dog. Then again, he is +growing hard of hearing, and sleeps like a top. Sometimes to +disturb his sleep, I amuse myself by imitating the bark of Vorace +but I have the trouble of my pains. The only sound which he never +fails to hear, is the ringing of my father's bell. I admit, +however, that if anyone presumed to touch his great ugly oak door, +he would wake up with a start. This is because his door is his +property, his object, his fixed idea: he has a way of looking at +it, which seems to say: 'you see this door? it is mine.' I +believe, that in his eyes there is nothing lovelier in the world +than a closed door. So he cherishes this horrible, this infamous +door: he smiles on it benignly, he counts its nails and covers them +with kisses." + +"And you say that after nine o'clock he never comes up here?" + +"Never, never. I should like to see him attempt it!" cried he, +raising his head with an indignant air. + +"You see then, that he is a jailer capable of behaving handsomely. +I imagine that you do not like him much; but after all, in keeping +you under lock and key, he is only obeying orders." + +"And I tell you he is happy in making me suffer. The wicked man +has done but one good action in his whole life,--that was in saving +you from the fury of Vorace. In consideration of this good action, +I no longer tell him what I think of him, but I think it none the +less, and it seems to me very singular that you should ask me to +love him." + +"Excuse me, I do not ask you to love him, but to believe that, at +heart, he loves you." + +At these words he became so furious, that I hastened to change the +subject. + +"Don't you sometimes regret Vorace?" + +"It was his duty to guard me against bugaboos, but I have had no +fear of them, since one of them has become my friend. + +"I am superstitious, I believe in ghosts; but I defy them to +approach my bed hereafter." + +He blushed and did not finish the sentence. Poor child! the +painful misery of his destiny, far from quenching his imagination, +has excited it to intoxication, and I am not surprised that he +shapes friendship to the romantic turn of his thoughts. + +"You're mistaken," I said to him, "it is not my image, it is botany +which guards you against spirits. There is no better remedy for +foolish terrors than the study of nature." + +"Always the pedant," he exclaimed, throwing his cap in my face. + + +July 23rd. + +Vladimir Paulitch appeared yesterday at the end of dinner. The +presence of this man occasions me an indefinable uneasiness. His +coldness freezes me, and then his dogmatic tone; his smile of +mocking politeness. He always knows in advance what you are going +to say to him, and listens to you out of politeness. This Vladimir +has the ironical intolerance characteristic of materialists. As to +his professional ability there can be no doubt. The Count has +entirely recovered; he is better than I have ever seen him. What +vigor, what activity of mind! What confounds me is, that in our +discussions, I come to see in him, in about the course of an hour, +only the historian, the superior mind, the scholar; I forget +entirely the man of the iron boots, the somnambulist, the +persecutor of my Stephane, and I yield myself unreservedly to the +charm of his conversation. Oh, men of letters! men of letters! + + +July 27th. + +He said to me: + +"I do not possess happiness yet; but it seems to me at moments, +that I see it, that I touch it." + + +July 28th. + +To-day, Doctor Vladimir appeared again at dessert. He aimed a few +sarcasms at me; I suspect that I do not please him much. Will his +affection for the Count go so far as to make him jealous of the +esteem which he evinces for me? We talked philosophy. He exerted +himself to prove that everything is matter. I stung him to the +quick in representing to him that all his arguments were found in +d'Holbach. I endeavored to show him that matter itself is +spiritual, that even the stones believe in spirit. Instead of +answering, he beat about the bush. Otherwise, he spoke well, that +is to say, he expressed his gross ideas with ingenuity. What he +lacks most, is humor. He has something of the saturnine in his +mind; his ideas have a leaden tint. The Count, prompted by good +taste, saw that he held out too obstinately, without taking into +account that Kostia Petrovitch himself detests the absolute as much +in the negative as in the affirmative. He thanked me with a smile +when I said to the doctor, in order to put an end to the +discussion: + +"Sir, no one could display more mind in denying its existence;" and +the Count added, alluding to the doctor's meagerness of person: + +"My dear Vladimir, if you deny the mind what will be left of you?" + + +July 30th. + +Yesterday, to my great chagrin, I found him in tears. + +"Let this inexorable father beat me," said he, "provided he tells +me his secret. I prefer bad treatment to his silence. When we +were at Martinique he had attacks of such violence that they made +my hair stand on end. I would gladly have sunk into the earth; I +trembled lest he should tear me in pieces; but he at least thought +about me. He looked at me; I existed for him, and in spite of my +terrors I felt less unhappy than now. Do not think it is my +captivity which grieves me most. At my age it is certainly very +hard and very humiliating to be kept out of sight and under lock +and key; but I should be very easily resigned to that if it were my +father who opened and closed the door. But alas! I am of so little +consequence in his eyes that he deputes the task of tyrannizing +over me to a serf. And then, during the brief moments when he +constrains himself to submit to my presence--what a severe aspect, +what threatening brows, what grim silence! Consider, too, the fact +that he has never entered this tower; no, has never had the +curiosity to know how my prison was made. Yet he cannot be +ignorant of the fact that I lodge above a precipice. He knows, +too, that once the idea of suicide took possession of me, and he +has not even thought of having this window barred." + +"That is because he did not consider your attempt a serious one." + +"Then how he despises me!" + +I represented to him that his father was sick, that he was the +victim of a nervous disorder which deranges the most robust +organizations, that Doctor Vladimir guaranteed his cure, that once +recovered, his temper would change, and that then would be the +moment to besiege this citadel thus rendered more vulnerable. + +"We must not, however, be precipitate," said I, "let us have +courage and patience." + +I reasoned so well that he finally overcame his despondency. When +I see him yield to my reasoning, I have a strong impulse to embrace +him; but it is a pleasure I deny myself, as I know by experience +what it costs him. A moment afterwards, I don't know why, he spoke +to me of his sister who died at Martinique. + +"Why did God take her from me?" + +"Alas!" said I, "she could not have supported the life to which you +have been condemned." + +"And why not, pray?" + +"Because she would have suffered ten times as much as you. Think +of it,--the nerves and heart of a woman!" + +He looked at me with a singular expression; apparently he could not +understand how anyone could suffer more than he. After this he +talked a long time about women, who are to him, from what he said, +an impenetrable mystery, and he repeated eagerly: + +"You do not despise them, as HE does?" + +"That would be impossible, I remember my mother." + +"Is that your only reason?" + +"Some day I will tell you the others." + +As I left and was already nearly out of the window, he seized me +impetuously by the arm, saying to me: + +"Could you swear to me that you would be less happy if you did not +know me?" + +"I swear it." + +His face brightened, and his eyes flashed. + + +August 8th. + +And you too are transformed, my dear Gilbert; you have visibly +rejuvenated. A new spirit has taken possession of you. Your blood +circulates more quickly; you carry your head more proudly, your +step is more elastic, there is more light in your eyes, more breath +in your lungs, and you feel a celestial leaven fermenting in your +heart. My old friend, you have emerged from your long uselessness +to give birth to a soul! Oh, glorious task! God bless mother and +daughter! + + +August 9th. + +Stephane is painfully astonished at the friendship which his father +displays towards me. + +"He has the power of loving then, and does not love me? It is +because I am destestable!" + +Poor innocent! It is certain that in spite of himself, the Count +has begun to like me. Good Father Alexis said to me the other +evening: + +"You are a clever man, my son; you have cast a spell upon Kostia +Petrovitch, and he entertains an affection for you, which he has +never before manifested for anyone." + + +August 11th. + +His painted herbarium is enriched every day. He already enumerates +twenty species and five families. Yesterday Stephane so far forgot +himself as to look at it with an air of satisfied pride. How happy +I was! I kept my joy to myself, however. He further delighted me +by deciding to write from memory at the bottom of each page the +French and Latin names for each plant. "It is a concession I have +made to the pedant," said he; but this did not prevent him from +being proud of having written these forty names without a mistake. +Last time I carried to him some crowsfeet and anemones. He took +the little celandine in his hand, crying: + +"Let me have it; I am going to tell you the history of this little +yellow fellow." + +And he then gave me all the characteristics with marvelous +accuracy. What a quick and luminous intellect, and what +overflowing humor! His hands trembled so much that I said to him: + +"Keep cool, keep cool. It requires a firm and steady hand to raise +the veil of Isis." + +I contented myself with explaining in a few words who Isis was, +which interested him but moderately. His masterpiece, as a +faithful reproduction of nature, is his marsh ranunculus, which I +had introduced to him under the Latin name of ranuncula scelerata. +He has so exquisitely represented these insignificant little yellow +flowers that it is impossible not to fall in love with them. + +"This little prisoner has inspired me," said he. "By dint of +practicing Father Alexis, I begin to wish good to the rascals." + +I rebuked him sharply, but he was not much affected by my rating. + + +August 13th. + +The Count's conduct is atrocious, and yet I understand it. His +pride, his whole character, despotic; the horror of having been +deceived. . . . And besides, is he really Stephane's father? . . . +These two children born after six years of marriage, and a few +years later to discover. . . . Suspicions often have less +foundation. And then this fatal resemblance which keeps the image +of the faithless one constantly before his eyes! The more decided +the resemblance, the greater must be his hatred. Even his smile, +that strange smile which belongs to him alone, Stephane according +to Father Alexis, must have inherited from his mother. "I HAVE +BURIED THE SMILE!" Frightful cry which I can hear still! Finally, +I believe that in the barbarous hatred of this father there is more +of instinct than of system. It lives from day to day. I am sure +that Count Kostia has never asked himself: "What shall I do with my +son when he is twenty?" + + +August 14th. + +Ivan, of whom I asked news of Stephane, said to me: + +"Do not be uneasy about him any more. He has become much better +within the past month, and he grows more gentle from day to day; +this is the result of seeing death so near." + +M. Leminof greatly astonished me this morning. + +"My dear Gilbert," said he unreservedly, "I do not claim that I am +a perfect man; but I am certainly what might be called a good sort +of fellow, and I possess, in the bargain, a certain delicacy of +conscience which sometimes inconveniences me. Without flattery, +you are, my dear Gilbert, a man of great merit. Very well! I am +using you unjustly, for you are at an age when a man makes a name +and a career for himself; and these decisive years you are spending +in working for me, in collecting, like a journeyman, the materials +of a great work which will bring neither glory nor profit to you. +I have a proposition to make to you. Be my coadjutor; we will +compose this monumental work together; it shall appear under our +two names, and I give you my head upon it, shall make you famous. +We agree upon nearly all questions of fact, and as to our +difference in ideas. . . Mon Dieu! we are neither of us born +quibblers; we shall end in agreeing, and even supposing we do not +agree, I will give you carte blanche; for, to speak frankly, an +idea is not just the thing I should be ready to die for. What say +you to it, my dear Gilbert? We will not part until the task is +finished, and I fancy that we shall lead a happy life together." + +In spite of his persuasions, I have not consented; he has only +drawn from me a promise that I will give him an answer within a +month. Stephane, Stephane, how awkward I shall be, if I do not +make this happy incident instrumental in accomplishing your +deliverance! The day will come when I can say to your father: For +the sake of your health, for the sake of your repose, of your +studies, of the work we have undertaken together, send this child +away from your house; his presence troubles and irritates you. +Send him to some school or college. By a single act you will make +two persons happy. Gracious Heaven, the stronghold will be hard to +take! But by dint of patience, skill and vigilance . . . have I +not already carried a fortress by storm--Stephane's heart? No, I +do not despair of success. But it will cost me dear, this success +that I hope for! To see him leave this house, to be separated from +him forever! At the very thought my heart bleeds. + + +August 16th. + +Doctor Vladimir will leave us during the early part of next month. +I shall not be sorry. Decidedly this man does not please me. The +other day at the table, he looked at Stephane in a way that alarmed +me. + + +August 18th. + +The sky is propitious for my nocturnal excursions. Not a drop of +rain has fallen for six weeks. The north wind, which sometimes +blows violently in the daytime, abates regularly in the evening. +As to the vertigo, no return of it. Oh! the power of habit! + + +August 19th. + +What a misfortune! Day before yesterday Stephane, in crossing a +vestibule in front of the great hall, impelled by some odd motive, +gave vent to a loud burst of laughter. The Count started from his +chair and his face became livid. To-day Soliman was sold. A horse +dealer is coming directly to take him away. Ivan, whom I just met, +had great tears in his eyes. Poor Stephane, what will he say? + + +August 20th. + +It is very singular! Yesterday I expected to find him in a state +of despair. He was gay, smiling. + +"I was sure," said he, "that I should pay dearly for that unlucky +burst of laughter. + +"My father is mistaken; it was not a burst of gayety, but purely +nervous spasm which seized me while thinking of certain things, and +at a moment when I was not at all merry. However, besides life, +there were but two things left to take from me, my horse and my +hair, and thank God, he was not happily inspired in his choice, and +has not struck me in the most sensitive place." + +"What! between Soliman and your hair." + +"Isn't it beautiful?" said he quickly. + +"Magnificent without any doubt!" I answered, smiling. + +"I've always been a little vain of it," continued he, waving his +curls upon his shoulders; "but I value it more since I know it +pleases you." + +"Oh! for that matter," I replied, "if you had your head shaved, I +should not love you any the less." + +This answer, I don't know why, seemed to affect him deeply. During +the rest of the evening he was thoughtful and gloomy. + + +August 24th. + +I thought it glorious to be able to communicate to him the +overtures which his father has made me, and the project they +suggested to me. I said to him: + +"What a joy it would be to me to release you from this prison, and +yet with what bitter sadness this joy would be mingled! But +wherever you go, we will find some means of writing and of seeing +each other. The friendship between us is one of those bonds which +destiny cannot break." + +"Oh, yes!" replied he in a sarcastic tone, "you will come to see me +once a year, upon my birthday, and will be careful to bring me a +bouquet." + +He burst into a fit of laughter which much resembled that of the +other day. + + +August 30th. + +How he made me suffer yesterday! I have not recovered from it yet. +What! was it he--was it to me? God! what bitterness of language; +what keen irony! Count Kostia, you make a mistake--this child is +really yours. He may have the features and smile of his mother, +but there is a little of your soul in his. What grievances can he +have against me? I can imagine but two. Sunday last, near three +o'clock, we were both at the window. He commenced a very animated +speech by signs, and prolonged it far beyond the prudential limits +which I have prescribed to him. He spoke, I believe, about +Soliman, and of a walk which he had refused to take with Ivan. I +did not pay close attention, for I was occupied in looking round to +see that no one was watching us. Suddenly I saw on the slope of +the hill big Fritz and the little goat girl, to whom he is paying +court, seated on a rock. At the moment I was about to answer +Stephane, they raised their eyes to me. I began then to look at +the landscape, and presently quitted the spot. Stephane could not +see them from his window, and of course did not understand the +cause of my retreat. The other grievance is, that for the first +time three days have passed without my paying him a visit; but day +before yesterday the wind was so violent that it overthrew a +chimney nearby, . . . and it was to punish me for such a grave +offense that he allowed himself to say that I was no doubt an +excellent botanist, an unparalleled philanthropist, but that I +understood nothing of the refinements of sentiment. + +"You are one of those men," said he, "who carry the whole world in +their hearts. It is useless for you to deny it. I am sure you +have at least a hundred intimate friends." + +"You are right," I replied; "it is even for the hundredth one that +I have risked my life." + + +September 7th. + +During the last week, I have seen him three times. He has given me +no cause for complaint; he works, he reflects; his judgment is +forming, not a moment of ill-humor; he is calm, docile, and gentle +as a lamb. Yes, but it is this excess of gentleness which disturbs +me. There is something unnatural to me, in his condition, and I am +forced to regret the absence of those transports, and the +childishness of which I have endeavored to cure him. "Stephane, +you have become too unlike yourself. But a short time since, your +feet hardly touched the ground; lively, impetuous, and violent, +there came from your lips by turns flashes of merriment or of +anger, and in an instant you passed from enthusiasm to despair; but +in our recent interviews I could scarcely recognize you. No more +freaks of the rebellious child; no more of those familiarities +which I loved! Your glances, even, as they meet mine, seem less +assured; sometimes they wander over me doubtfully, and from the +surprise they express, I am inclined to believe that my figure must +have grown some cubits, and you can no longer take it in at a +glance. And then those sighs which escape you! Besides, you no +longer complain of anything; your existence seems to have become a +stranger to you. It must be that without my knowledge--" Ah! +unhappy child, I will know. You shall speak; you shall tell +me. . . . + + +September 10. + +Heavens! what a flood of light! Father Alexis, you did not tell me +all! The more I think of it. . . . Ah! Gilbert, what scales +covered your eyes! Yesterday I carried him that copy of the poem +of the Metamorphoses, which I had promised him. A few fragments +that I had repeated to him had inspired him with the desire of +reading the whole piece, not from the book, but copied in my hand. +We read it together, distich by distich. I translated, explained, +and commented. When we arrived at these verses: "May you only +remember how the tie which first united our souls was a germ from +which grew in time a sweet and charming intimacy, and soon +friendship revealed its power in our hearts, until love, coming +last, crowned it with flowers and with fruit--" At these words he +became agitated and trembled violently. + +"Do not let us go any further," said he, pushing the paper away. +"That is poetry enough for this evening." + +Then leaning upon the table, he opened and turned the leaves of his +herbarium; but his eyes and his thoughts were elsewhere. Suddenly +he rose, took a few steps in the room, and then returning to me: + +"Do you think that friendship can change into love?" + +"Goethe says so; we must believe it." + +He took a flower from the table, looked at it a moment and dropping +it on the floor, he murmured, lowering his eyes: + +"I am an ignoramus; tell me what is this love?" + +"It is the folly of friendship." + +"Have you ever been foolish?" + +"No, and I do not imagine I ever shall be." + +He remained motionless for a moment, his arms hanging listlessly; +at length, raising them slowly, he crossed his hands over his head, +one of his favorite attitudes, raised his eyes from the ground, and +looked steadily at me. Oh! what a strange expression! His wild +look, a sad and mysterious smile wandering over his lips, his mouth +which tried to speak, but to which speech refused to come! That +face has been constantly before me since last night; it pursues me, +possesses me, and even at this moment its image is stamped in the +paper I am writing on. This black velvet tunic, then, may be a +forced disguise? Yes, the character of Stephane, his mind, his +singularity of conduct,--all these things which astonished and +frightened me are now explained. Gilbert, Gilbert! what have you +done? into what abyss. . . And yet, perhaps I am mistaken, for how +can I believe-- There is the dinner bell. . . I shall see HIM +again! + + +XVI + + +Some hours later, Gilbert entered Stephane's room, and struck by +his pallor and with the troubled expression of his voice, inquired +about him anxiously. + +"I assure you I am very well," Stephane replied, mastering his +emotion. "Have you brought me any flowers?" + +"No, I have had no time to go for them." + +"That is to say, you have not had time to think of me." + +"Oh! I beg your pardon! I can think of you while working, while +reading Greek, even while sleeping. And last night I saw you in my +dreams: you treated me as a pedant, and threw your cap in my face." + +"That was a very extravagant dream." + +"I am not so sure about that. It seems to me that one day--" + +"Yes, one day, two centuries ago." + +"Is it then so long since our acquaintance commenced?" + +"Perhaps not two centuries, but nearly. As for me, I have already +lived three lives: my first I passed with my mother. The second-- +let us not speak of that. The third began upon the night when, for +the first time, you climbed into this window. And that must have +been a long time ago, if I can judge of it by all which has passed +since then, in my soul, in my imagination, and in my mind. Is it +possible that these two centuries have only been two months? How +can it be that such great changes have been wrought in me, in so +short a time, for they are so marvelous that I can hardly recognize +myself?" + +"One of these changes, of which I am proud, is that you no longer +throw your cap at my head." + +"That was a liberty I took only with the pedant." + +"And are you at last reconciled to him?" + +"I have discovered that the pedant does not exist. There is a hero +and a philosopher in you." + +"That is a discovery I did not expect from you, and one that +astonishes as much as it flatters me." + +"When I tell you that I am changed throughout, and that I no longer +recognize myself--" + +"And I, in spite of your transformation, recognize you very easily. +My dear Stephane has preserved his habit of exaggerating all his +impressions. Once I was a man who ought to be smothered; now I am +an extraordinary being who passes his life in executing heroic +projects. No, my poet, I am neither a scoundrel nor a knight +errant, and the best that can be said of me is that I am not a +blockhead, that I do not lack heart, and that I run over the roofs +with remarkable agility." + +"No, I exaggerate nothing," he said. "I speak of things as they +are, and the proof that you are an extraordinary man is, that in +all you do, you appear perfectly simple and natural." + +And as Gilbert shrugged his shoulders and smiled: + +"Ah! you need not laugh!" he continued. "Feel my pulse, you will +see I have no fever. And have you not noticed how calm I have been +for several days?" + +I confess that your quietness surprises me; but is it really a +calm? I suspect that you have only covered the brazier, and that +the fire smoulders under the ashes." + +"And you stir up the ashes to draw out the sparks. As you please, +but I forewarn you, that you will not succeed, and that I shall +remain insensible to all your efforts." + +"So for a week, you have felt more tranquil in heart and mind?" + +"Yes, and I have a good reason for it. There was a great fomenter +of seditions in me, a great stirrer up of rebellion. It was my +pride." + +Stephane hid his face in his hands; then after a long silence: + +"No," said he, "I have not the courage to speak yet. Besides, +before making my revelation, which you will perhaps consider +extravagant, I want to prove to you more thoroughly that my senses +have been restored, and that I have become wise in your school. +Know then, that before I became acquainted with you, religion was +in my eyes, but a coarse magic in which I believed with passionate +irrationality. I considered prayer as a kind of sorcery, and +attributed to it the power of compelling the divine will; every day +I called upon Heaven to perform a miracle in my favor, and, finding +myself refused, my ungranted prayers fell back like lead upon my +heart. Then I rebelled against the celestial intelligences which +refused to yield to my enchantments, or else I sought in anguish to +ascertain to what error in form, to what neglected precaution, to +what sin of omission I could attribute the impotence of my +operations in magic and my formulas. + +"And now am I nothing but a charmed dreamer, a half-crazy child, a +sick brain feeding on crochets, an incorrigible, wrong-headed +fellow? No, you admit that I have profited by your lessons; that a +grain of wisdom has fallen into my brain, and that without having +seen the bottom of things, I have at least lucid intervals. If +this be so, my Gilbert, believe what I am going to say as you would +the Holy Bible. You have worked with all your strength to cure my +soul, and there is not a more skillful physician in the world than +you. But all of your trouble would have been lost, if you had not +had by your side an all-powerful ally, whom you don't know, and +whom I am about to reveal to you. Ah! tell me, when you came into +this room the first time, did you not feel that a celestial spirit +followed in your track and entered with you? You went, he +remained, and has not left me, and never will. Look, do not these +walls speak of him? Do not these saints move their lips to murmur +his name to you? And the air we breathe here, is it not full of +those delicious perfumes which these envoys of Heaven scatter in +their earthward journeys? How strange this spirit appeared to me +at first! His face was all unknown to me, it had never appeared to +me in my dreams. Startled and bewildered, I said to him: Who then +art thou? What is thy name? And, one day, Gilbert, one day, it +was through your mouth that he answered me. Gilbert, Gilbert, oh! +what a singular company you have introduced to me in his person. +Sometimes he seated himself near me, pale, melancholy, clothed in +mourning, and breathed into my heart a venomous bitterness, such as +I had never dreamed of. And feeling myself seized with an +inexpressible desire to die; I cried out 'I know you, you must be +the brother of death!' But all at once transforming himself, he +appeared to me holding a fool's cap in his hand. He shook the +bells and sang to me songs which filled my ears with feverish +murmurings. My head turned, smoke floated before me, my dazzled +eyes were intoxicated with visions, and it seemed to me, poor +child, nourished with gall and tears, that life was an eternal +fete, upon which Heaven looked down smiling. Then I said to the +spirit: 'Now I know you better, you are the brother of folly.' But +he changed himself again, and suddenly I saw him standing erect +before me folded in the long white wings of the seraphim; at once +serious and gentle, divine reason shone in his deep eyes and the +serenity on his brow announced an inhabitant of Heaven. In these +moments, my Gilbert, his voice was more penetrating and more +persuasive than yours; he repeated your words and gave me strength +to believe in them; he engraved your lessons on my mind; he +instilled your wisdom into my folly, your soul in my soul; and know +that if the lily has drunk the juices of the earth, if the lily has +grown, if the lily should blossom one day, it shall not be from the +impotent sun rays which you brought to me in your breast, to which +thanks must be rendered; but to him, the celestial spirit, to him +who lighted in my heart a divine flame with which, may it please +God that yours too may be illuminated!" And rising at these words, +he almost gasped: "Have I said enough? Do you understand me at +last?" + +"No!" answered Gilbert resolutely, "I do not understand this +celestial spirit at all." + +Stephane writhed his arms. + +"Cruel! you do not wish then to divine anything!" murmured he +distractedly. And going to the window, he stood some moments +leaning against it. When he turned towards Gilbert, his eyes were +wet with tears; but by one of those rapid changes which were +familiar to him, he had a smile upon his lips, "What I dare not say +to you, I have just now written," resumed he, drawing a letter from +his bosom. + +"It was a last resort which I hoped you would not force me to call +to my aid. Oh! hard heart! to what humiliations have you not +abased my pride!" He presented the letter, but changing his mind, +he said: + +"I wish to add a few words to it." + +And ran and seated himself at the table. His pen had fallen on the +floor, and not being able to find it, he quickly sharpened a pencil +with a keen-edged poniard which he drew from the depths of a +drawer. + +"What a singular penknife you have there," said Gilbert, +approaching him. + +"It is a Russian stiletto of Toula manufacture. It belongs to +Ivan, he lent it to me day before yesterday, when we were out +walking, to uproot a plant with. He has forgotten to take it +back." + +"You will oblige me by returning it to him," answered Gilbert; "it +is a plaything I don't like to see in your hands." + +Stephane gave a sign of assent, and bent over the paper. The +letter which he had written was as follows: + +"My Gilbert, listen to a story. I was eleven years old when MY +BROTHER STEPHANE died. Scarcely was he buried when my father +called me to him. He held in his hand a suit of clothes like these +I wear now, and he said to me: 'Stephane, understand me clearly. +It was my daughter that just died, my son lives still.' And as I +persisted in not understanding him, he had a coffin brought in, +placed on a table and he laid me in it; and closing the cover by +degrees, he said, 'My daughter, are you dead?' When it was +entirely closed, I decided to speak, and I cried out, 'Father, your +daughter is dead. It shall be as you desire.' Then he drew me out +of the coffin half dead with fear and horror, and exclaimed, +'Stephane, remember that my daughter is dead. Should you ever +happen to forget it' . . . He said no more, but his eyes finished +the sentence. Gilbert, at this moment the daughter of my father +comes back to life to tell you that she loves you with an +unconquerable love which she can no longer conceal. In my +simplicity, I thought at first that I loved you as you loved me; +but you yourself have taken care to undeceive me. One day you +spoke of our approaching separation, and you said to me: 'We shall +see each other sometimes!' And you did not hear the cry of my +heart which answered you; to pass a day without seeing you! What a +hell! + +"When I had fairly comprehended that your friendship was a +devotion, a virtue, a wisdom, and that mine was a folly, then the +daughter of my father thought of dying, so bitter were the torments +which her rebellious pride inflicted upon her. Ah! what would I +not have given, my Gilbert, if divining who I was, you had fallen +at my feet crying: 'I too know how to love madly!' + +"But no; you have understood nothing, suspected nothing. My hair, +the resemblance to my mother imprinted on my face, the smile, which +they tell me, passed from her lips to mine. . . . Oh! blindest of +men! how I have hated you at moments! But it does not really seem +that a fatality pursues me? That hand with its iron grip fastened +on my shoulder, and forcing me to prostrate myself before you, I +feel no longer, with its nails pressing into my flesh; and yet my +knees, trembling, powerless, bend under me, and again you see me +fall at your feet. Yes, my poor pride is dead indeed. The thunder +growled when it gave up its last breath. You remember that stormy +night. Glued at the window pane, I tried to pierce the darkness +with my eyes, to discern you in the midst of the tempest. All at +once the heavens were ablaze, and I saw you standing upon the ledge +of your window, bending proudly over the abyss, at which you seemed +to hurl defiance. Enveloped in flashing light, you appeared to me +like a blissful spirit, and I exclaimed to myself: 'This is one of +the elect of God! I can ask of him without shame for indulgence +and mercy!' And now, my Gilbert, do not presume to tell me that my +love is a malady, which needs only careful attention. Oh, God! all +that would be useless; the saints themselves have refused to cure +me. Do not try to terrify me, either, or speak to me of +insurmountable obstacles to our union; of dangers which threaten +us. The future! We will talk of that hereafter. Now, I want to +know but one thing; that is, if you are capable of loving me as I +love you? Friend, if hatred can change to love, would it be +impossible for friendship? . . . Gilbert, Gilbert, forget what the +refined barbarity of my father has made of me; forget my gusts of +passion, my violence, the unruliness of a badly educated child; +forget the vehemence of my language, the rudeness of my actions; +forget the fountain; my whip raised to you; forget those young +villagers I compelled to kiss my feet; forget even the cap which I +threw in your face, for, Heaven is my witness, I feel a woman's +heart awakened in my bosom; it shakes off its long sleep, it stirs, +it sighs, it speaks, and the first name it utters, the only one it +ever wants to know, is yours! . . . + +"What more shall I say? I would like to appear to you in your +dreams decked as if for a fete: clothed in white, a smile upon my +lips, pearls about my neck, around my head the flowers you love-- +white anemones and blue gentians. Only take care, some of the +henbane flowers have slipped into my crown. Tear them from my hair +yourself, lest their perfume instill a deadly poison into my heart. +But no, I do not wish to frighten you. Stephane is wise; she is +reasonable; she does not ask the impossible; she gives you time to +breathe; to recover yourself. Wait, if you wish it, a week, a +fortnight, a month, before coming here again; until that blessed +day dawns when you can say with your adored poet; 'In its turn, +friendship revealed its power to my heart, and at length love, +coming last, crowned it with flowers and fruit.'" + +To this letter Stephane added these words: "And if that day, +Gilbert, if that day should never come--" + +But here she hesitated; her hand trembled; she looked alternately +at Gilbert and the knife; then rising-- + +"I do not know how to finish my letter," she said. "You can easily +supply what is lacking. But you must not read it here; carry it to +your turret; you will meditate upon it there more at leisure." + +And at these words, having returned the paper to him, she burst +into a fit of laughter. + +"Again that same laugh, which I detest," said Gilbert, trying to +hide the anguish which was consuming him. + +"Do you want to know what it means?" said the young girl, looking +him in the face. "When we were at Baden-Baden, three years ago, +Father Alexis had a fancy to take me to a gambling house, and in +entering I heard a burst of laughter much resembling those which +shock you so. 'Who is laughing in that way?' said I to the good +father. He found on inquiring that it was a man who had just +gained enormous sums, and who was preparing to play double or +quits. + +"Double or quits!" added she; "to play double or quits! If I +should lose--" + +All at once her eyes dilated, and shot fire; she turned her head +backward, and raising her arm towards Gilbert, she exclaimed: + +"You know who I am, and you have condemned me in your heart. Ah! +think twice; you have my life in your hands." And recoiling a few +steps she suddenly turned, fled across the room, threw open a small +side-door, and disappeared. + +How did Gilbert manage to reach his turret? + +All he knows himself is, that on coming out of the dormer window, +beside himself, forgetting all idea of danger, he committed, for +the first time, the signal imprudence of walking erectly over the +roof, which ordinarily he found difficult to cross even in +crawling; seeing and hearing nothing, entirely absorbed in a single +thought, he started forward at a quick pace. From his gait and +carriage, the moon, which shone brightly in the sky, must have +taken him for a madman, or a somnambulist. He reached the end of +the roof, when a broken slate slipped under his feet. He lost his +balance, fell heavily, and it would have been all over with him, +if, in falling, his hand had not by a miracle encountered the +trailing end of his ladder, by which he had strength enough to hold +himself. Slates are brittle, and when hurled against a hard +substance break in a thousand pieces. The one which Gilbert had +just precipitated into space met a point of rock which scattered it +into fragments, one of which struck, without wounding, the hand of +a man who happened to be rambling on the border of the ravine. + +As fate would have it, this evening M. Leminof had an important +letter to forward by the mail; and near nine o'clock, contrary to +all the usages and customs of his house, he had sent Fritz to a +large town about a league distant, where the courier passed during +the night. Unluckily, upon his return, Fritz saw a light shining +in the cottage of his Dulcinea. Appetite, the opportunity, some +devil also urging him, he left the road, walked straight to the +cabin, opened the door, which was only closed by a latch, entered +with stealthy tread, and surprised his beauty seated upon a stool +and mending her linen. He drew near her, said gallant things to +her, and soon began to take liberties. The damsel, frolicsome and +forward, instead of awakening her father, who slept in the +neighboring room, rushed to the door, darted out and gained upon a +run the serpentine path which ran along the edge of the ravine. A +hundred times more active than Fritz, she kept in advance of him; +then halted, called him, and the moment when he thought he was +going to seize her, she escaped and ran on faster. She continued +this game until becoming weary she hid herself behind a bush, and +laughing in her sleeve, saw the amorous giant pass her, continue to +ascend, reeking with sweat, slipping frequently, and constantly +fearing he would fall down the precipice. At length, by dint of +scrambling, he arrived at the place where the path ended at the +perpendicular fall of the precipice, a height of forty feet. By +what means had his fantastic princess scaled this wall? All at +once he heard a silvery voice which called him below. In his rage +he struck his forehead with his fist; but at the moment he was +about to descend, a singular noise struck his ear--a piece of slate +grazed his hand and drew from him an exclamation of surprise. +Raising his head quickly, and favored by the light of the moon, he +saw upon his right a shadow suspended in the air. It mounted, +stopped upon the ledge of a window, stooped down and soon +disappeared. + +"Oh! oh!" said he, much astonished, "here's something odd! +Monsieur secretary goes out at night, then, to make the rounds of +the roofs? And for this we have provided ourselves with rope +ladders. I am much mistaken if his Excellency, the Count, will +relish this little amusement. Peste, the jolly fellow has a good +foot and a good eye. There must be a great deal to gain to risk +his skin this way. Faith! these demure faces are not to be +trusted." + +The great Fritz was so stupefied with his discovery that he seated +himself a moment upon a stone to collect his thoughts. The fine +idea which his thick skull brought forth was that the secretary +belonged to the illustrious brotherhood of ambidexters, and that +his nocturnal circuits had for their object the search for hidden +treasure. Proud of his sagacity, and delighted with the +opportunity to satisfy his resentment, he descended the path, not +without trouble, and deaf to the voice and the laughter of his +enchantress, who challenged him to new trials, he regained the road +and strode on to the castle. + +"Oh! then, Mr. Secretary," said the knave to himself with a wicked +smile, "you threw me down a staircase, and thought you'd get me +turned out of doors. What will you say if I make you go out by the +window?" + + +XVII + + +The next day--it was the second Sunday of September--Gilbert went +out at about ten o'clock in the morning, and directed his steps to +a wild and solitary retreat. It was a narrow glade upon the +borders of a little pond dried up by the summer heat, near which he +had often gathered plants for Stephane. Among groups of trees +which straggled up on all sides, under a patch of blue sky, a +ground of blackish clay, cracked and creviced, herbage, dried +rushes; here and there some patches of stagnant water, the surface +of which was rippled by the gambols of the aquatic spider; further +on a large tuft of long-plumed reeds, which shivered at the least +breath and rocked upon their trembling stems drowsy red butterflies +and pensive dragonflies; upon the steep banks of the pond, sad +flowers, pond weed, the marsh clover, the sand plantain; in a +corner, a willow with roots laid bare, which hung over the +exhausted pool as if looking for its lost reflection; around about, +nettles, briars, dry heather, furze, stripped of its blossoms; that +damp and heavy atmosphere which is natural to humid places; the +light of day thinly veiled by the exhalations from the earth; an +odor of decaying plants, long silence interrupted by dull sounds; +an air of abandonment, of idleness, of lassitude, the melancholy +languor of a life departing regretfully; the recollection of +something which was, and will never reappear, never! Such was the +word which this wild solitude murmured to Gilbert's ear. Never! +repeated he to himself, and his heart was oppressed by a sense of +the irretrievable. He seated himself upon the sward, a few steps +from the willow, his elbows upon his knees, and his head in his +hands, and lost himself in long and painful meditation. I shall +tell all; he felt at intervals in the depths of his being, in the +very depths, the agitation of a secret joy which he dared not +confess to himself; but it was a passing movement of his soul which +he did not succeed in defining in the midst of the whirlwind which +shook him. And then, in such a moment, he thought but little of +asking himself what he could or could not feel. His mind was +elsewhere. Sometimes he sought to picture to himself all the +successive phases of this unhappy existence, of which, henceforth, +he held the key; sometimes he felt a tender admiration for the +energy and elasticity of this young soul which unparalleled +misfortunes had not been able to crush. And now to abandon him, to +break such close and sweet ties, was it not to condemn him to +despair, to deliver him up a victim to the violence of his passions +rendered more violent by unhappiness? Ought he not at least to +attempt to draw from his impulsive heart this fatal arrow, this +baleful love which to his eyes was a danger, an extravagance, a +calamity? And from reflection to reflection, from anxiety to +anxiety, he always returned to deplore his own blindness. The +eccentricities of Stephane's conduct, certain salient points in his +character, the passionate ABANDON of his language; his face, his +hair, his glances, the charm of his smile; how was it that so many +of his indications had escaped him? And this want of penetration +which resulted from the rather unromantic character of his mind, he +attributed to bluntness of sensibility and charged himself with it +as a crime. He was profoundly absorbed in his reverie when the cry +of a raven aroused him. He opened his eyes, and when he had lost +sight of the croaking bird, which crossed the glade in rapid +flight, he looked for a moment at a handsome variegated butterfly +which fluttered about the willow; then noticing in the grass, +within reach of his hand, a pretty little marsh flower, he drew it +carefully from the soil with its root and set about its examination +with an attentive eye. He admired the purple tint of its pistil +and the gold of its stamens, which contrasted charmingly with the +brilliant whiteness of the petals, and said unconsciously: "There +is a lovely flower which I have not yet shown to my Stephane: I +must carry it to him." + +But instantly recollecting himself, and throwing away the innocent +flower spitefully, he exclaimed: + +"Oh, fortune, what singular games you play!" + +"Yes, fortune is singular!" answered a voice which was not unknown +to him; and before he had time to turn, Dr. Vladimir was seated +beside him. + +Vladimir Paulitch had employed his morning well. Scarcely out of +bed, he had given a private audience to Fritz, who, not daring to +address his master directly, for his frowns always made him +tremble, had come to ask the doctor to receive his revelations and +obligingly transmit them to his Excellency. When in an excited and +mysterious tone he had disclosed his important secret: + +"There is nothing astonishing in that," replied Vladimir coldly. +"This young man is a somnambulist, and the conclusion of your +little story is, that his window must be barred. I will speak to +Count Kostia about it." + +Upon which Fritz slunk away discomfited and much confused at the +turn the adventure had taken. + +After his departure, Vladimir Paulitch concluded to take a walk +upon the grassy hillock, and on his way said to himself: "Have my +suspicions, then, been well founded?" + +He had passed an hour among the rocks, studying the spot, examining +the aspect of the castle from this side, and particularly the +irregularities of the roof. As his eyes rested on the square tower +which Stephane occupied, he saw him appear at the window, and +remain there some minutes, his eyes fixed upon Gilbert's turret. + +"Aha! Now we see how matters stand!" said he, "but to risk his +head in this way, our idealist must be desperately in love. And +he'll carry it through! We must find him and have a little chat." + +In reascending to the castle, Vladimir had seen Gilbert turn into +the woods, and without being perceived, had followed him at a +distance. + +"Yes, fortune is singular!" repeated he, "and we must resist it +boldly and brave it resolutely, or submit humbly to its caprices +and die. This is but reasonable; half measures are expedients of +fools. As for me, I have always been the partisan of sequere Deum, +which I interpret thus: 'Take luck for your guide, and walk on +blindly.'" + +And as Gilbert made no answer, he continued: + +"May I presume to ask you what caused you to say, just now, that +fortune plays us odd tricks?" + +"I was thinking," replied Gilbert, tranquilly, "of the emperor, +Constantine the Great, who you know--" + +"Ah! that is too much," interrupted Vladimir. "What! on a +beautiful morning, in the midst of the woods, before a little +dried-up pond, which is not without its poetry, seated in the grass +with a pretty white flower in your hand--the emperor, Constantine, +the subject of your meditations? As for me, I have not such a +well-balanced head, and I will confess to you that just now, in +rambling among the thickets, I was entirely occupied with the +singular games of my own destiny, and what is more singular still, +I felt the necessity of relating them to someone." + +"You surprise me," replied Gilbert; "I did not think you so +communicative." + +"And who of us," resumed Vladimir, "never contradicts his own +character? In Russia the duties of my position oblige me to be +reserved, secret, enveloped in mystery from head to foot, a great +pontiff of science, speaking but in brief sentences and in an +oracular tone; but here I am not obliged to play my role, and by a +natural reaction, finding myself alone in the woods with a man of +sense and heart, my tongue unloosens like a magpie's. Let us see; +if I tell you my history do you promise to be discreet?" + +"Undoubtedly. But if you must have a confidant, how happens it +that intimate as you are with Count Kostia--" + +"Ah, precisely! when you know my history you will understand for +what reason in my interviews with Kostia Petrovitch I speak often +of him, but rarely of myself." + +And at these words Vladimir Paulitch turned up his sleeves, and +showing his wrists to Gilbert; "Look!" he said. "Do you see any +mark, any scar?" + +"No, I cannot detect any." + +"That is strange. For forty years, however, I have worn handcuffs, +for such as you see me--I, Vladimir Paulitch; I, one of the first +physicians of Russia; I, the learned physiologist, I am the refuse +of the earth, I am Ivan's equal; in a word, I am a serf!" + +"You a serf!" exclaimed Gilbert, astonished. + +"You should not be so greatly surprised; such things are common in +Russia," said Vladimir Paulitch, with a faint smile. "Yes, sir," +he resumed, "I am one of Count Kostia's serfs, and you may imagine +whether or not I am grateful to him for having had the goodness to +fashion from the humble clay of which nature had formed one of his +moujiks, the glorious statue of Doctor Vladimir Paulitch. However, +of all the favors he has heaped upon me the one which troubles me +most is, that, thanks to his discretion, there were but two men in +the world, himself and myself, who knew me for what I am. Now +there are three. + +"My parents," continued he, "were Ukraine peasants, and my first +profession was taking care of sheep; but I was a born physician. +The sick, whether men or sheep, were to my mind the most +interesting of spectacles. I procured some books, acquired a +slight knowledge of anatomy and chemistry, and by turns I +dissected, and hunted for simples, the virtues of which I tried +with indefatigable ardor. Poor, lacking all resources, brought up +from infancy in foolish superstitions, from which I had the trouble +in emancipating myself; living in the midst of coarse, ignorant men +degraded by slavery, nothing could repulse me or discourage me. I +felt myself born to decipher the great book of nature, and to wring +from it her secrets. I had the good fortune to discover some +specifics against the rot and tag sore. That rendered me famous +within a circuit of three leagues. After quadrupeds, I tried my +hand on bipeds. I effected several happy cures, and people came +from all parts to consult me. Proud as Artaban, the little +shepherd, seated beneath the shade of a tree, uttered his +infallible oracles, and they were believed all the more implicitly, +as nature had given to his eyes that veiled and impenetrable +expression calculated to impose upon fools. The land to which I +belonged was owned by a venerable relative of Count Kostia. At her +death she left her property to him. He came to see his new domain; +heard of me, had me brought into his presence, questioned me, and +was struck with my natural gifts and precocious genius. He had +already proposed to found a hospital in one of his villages where +he resided during the summer, and it occurred to him that he could +some day make me useful there. I went with him to Moscow. +Concealing my position from everyone, he had me instructed with the +greatest care. Masters, books, money, I had in profusion. So +great was my happiness that I hardly dare to believe in it, and I +was sometimes obliged to bite my finger to assure myself that I was +not in a dream. When I reached the age of twenty, Kostia +Petrovitch made me enter the school of medicine, and some years +later I directed his hospital and a private asylum which he founded +by my advice. My talents and success soon made me known. I was +spoken of at Moscow, and was called there upon consultations. Thus +I was in a fair way to make a fortune, and what gratified me still +more, I was sought after, feted, courted, fawned upon. The little +shepherd, the moujik, had become King and more than King, for a +successful physician is adored as a god by his patients; and I do +not believe that a pretty woman gratifies her lovers with half the +smiles which she lavishes freely upon the magician upon whom depend +her life and her youth. At this time, sir, I was still religious. +Imagine the place Count Kostia held in my prayers, and with what +fervor I implored for him the intercession of the saints and of the +blessed Mary. Prosperity, nevertheless, has this much of evil in +it; it makes a man forget his former self. + +"Intoxicated with my glory and success, I forgot too soon my youth +and my sheep, and this forgetfulness ruined me. I was called to +attend a cavalry officer retired from service. He had a daughter +named Pauline; she was beautiful and charming. I thought myself +insensible to love, but I had hardly seen her before I conceived a +violent passion for her. Bear in mind that I had lived until that +time as pure as an ascetic monk; science had been my adored and +lofty mistress. When passion fires a chaste heart, it becomes a +fury there. I loved Pauline with frenzy, with idolatry. One day +she gave me to understand that my folly did not displease her. I +declared myself to her father, obtained his consent, and felt as if +I should die of happiness. The next day I sought Count Kostia, and +telling him my story, supplicated him to emancipate me. He +laughed, and declared such an extravagant idea was unworthy of me. +Marriage was not what I required. A wife, children, useless +encumbrances in my life! Petty delights and domestic cares would +extinguish the fire of my genius, would kill in me the spirit of +research and vigor of thought. Besides, was my passion serious? +From what he knew of my disposition, I was incapable of loving. It +was a fantastic trick which my imagination had played me. Only +remain a week without seeing Pauline, and I would be cured. My +only answer was to throw myself at his feet. I glued my mouth to +his hands, watered his knees with my tears, and kissed the ground +before him. He laughed throughout, and asked me with a sneer, if +to possess Pauline it were necessary to marry her. My love was an +adoration. At these insulting words anger took possession of me. +I poured forth imprecations and threats. Presently, however, +recovering myself, I begged him to forgive my transports, and +resuming the language of servile humility, I endeavored to soften +that heart of bronze with my tears. Trouble lost; he remained +inflexible. I rolled upon the floor and tore my hair; and he still +laughed-- That must have been a curious scene. Recollect that at +this epoch I was quite recherche in my costume. I had an +embroidered frill and very fine ruffles of point d'Alencon. I wore +rings on every finger, and my coat was of the latest style and of +elegant cut. Fancy, also, that my deportment, my gait, my air +breathed of pride and arrogance. Parvenus try it in vain, they +always betray themselves. I had a high tone, an overbearing +manner. I enveloped myself in mysterious darkness, which obscured +at times the brightness of my genius, and as I had accomplished +several extraordinary cures, strongly resembling miracles, or +tricks of sorcery, my airs of an inspired priest did not seem out +of place, and I had devotees who encouraged these licenses of my +pride by the excess of their humility. And then, behold, suddenly, +this man of importance, this miraculous personage, flat upon his +face, imploring the mercy of an inexorable master, writhing like a +worm of the earth under the foot which crushed his heart! At last +Kostia Petrovitch lost patience, seized me in his powerful hands, +set me upon my feet, and pushing me violently against the wall, +cried in a voice of thunder, 'Vladimir Paulitch, spare me your +effeminate contortions, and remember who I am and who you are. One +day I saw an ugly piece of charcoal in the road. I picked it up at +the risk of soiling my fingers, and, as I am something of a +chemist, I put it in my crucible and converted it into a diamond. +But just as I have set my jewel, and am about to wear it on my +finger, you ask me to give it up! Ah! my son, I do not know what +keeps me from sending you back to your sheep. Go, make an effort +to conquer your passion; be reasonable, be yourself again. Wait +until my death, my will shall emancipate you; but until then, even +at the risk of your displeasure, you shall be my THING, my +PROPERTY. Take care you do not forget it, or I will shatter you in +pieces like this glass;' and, seizing a phial from the table, he +threw it against the wall, where it broke in fragments. + +"Sir, Count Kostia displayed a little too much energy at the time, +but at bottom he was right. Was it just that he should lose all +the fruits of his trouble? Think what a gratification it was to +his pride, to be able to say to himself, 'The great doctor, so +feted, so admired, is my thing and my property.' His words were +true; he wore me as a ring upon his finger. And then he foresaw +the future. For two consecutive years it has only been necessary +for him to move the end of his forefinger, to make me run from the +heart of Russia to soothe his poor tormented nerves. You know how +the heart of man is made. If he had had the imprudence to +emancipate me, I should have come last year out of gratitude; but +this time--" + +While Vladimir spoke, Gilbert thought to himself, "This man is +truly the compatriot of Count Leminof." + +And then recalling the amiable and generous Muscovite with whom he +had once been intimate, he justly concluded that Russia is large, +and that nature, taking pleasure in contrasts, produces in that +great country alternately the hardest and the most tender souls in +the world. + +"One word more," continued Vladimir: "Count Kostia was right; but +unfortunately passion will not listen to reason. I left him with +death in my heart, but firmly resolved to cope with him and to +carry my point. You see that upon this occasion I observed but +poorly the great maxim, Sequere fatum. I flattered myself I should +be able to stem the current. Vain illusion!--but without it would +one be in love? Pauline lived in a small town at about two leagues +from our village. Whenever I had leisure, I mounted a horse and +flew to her. The third day after the terrible scene, I took a +drive with this amiable girl and her father. As we were about to +leave the village, I was seized with a sudden trembling at the +sight of Count Kostia on the footpath, holding his gold-headed cane +under his arm and making his way quietly toward us. He recognized +us, smiled agreeably, and signed to the coachman to stop and to me +to descend. + +"Plague upon the thoughtless fellow! whip up, coachman!" cried +Pauline gayly. + +But I had already opened the door. + +"Excuse me," said I, "I will be with you in a moment." And while +saying these words I was so pale that she became pale, too, as if +assailed by a dark presentiment. Kostia Petrovitch did not detain +me long. After saluting me with ceremonious politeness, he said in +a bantering tone: + +"Vladimir, faith she is really charming. But I am sorry to say +that if your engagement is not broken off before this evening, to- +morrow this pretty girl will learn from me who you are." + +After which, saluting me again, he walked away humming an aria. + +"Money, sir, had always appeared to me so small a thing compared +with science and glory; and besides, my love for Pauline was so +free from alloy, that I had never conceived the idea of informing +myself in regard to her fortune, or the dowry which she might bring +to me. That evening, as we took tea together in the parlor of my +expected father-in-law, I contrived to bring up this important +question for consideration, and expressed views of such a selfish +character, and displayed such a sordid cupidity, that the old +officer at last became indignant. Pauline had a proud soul; she +listened to us some time in silence, and then rising, she crushed +me with a look of scorn, and, extending her arm, pointed me the +door. That devil of a look, sir, I have not forgotten; it has long +pursued me, and now I often see it in my dreams. + +"Returning home, I tried to kill myself; but so awkwardly that I +failed. There are some things in which we never succeed the first +time. I was prevented from renewing the attempt by the Sequere +fatum, which returned to my memory. I said to the floods which +beat against my exhausted breast: 'Carry me where you please; you +are my masters, I am your slave.' + +"And believe me, sir, this unhappy adventure benefited me. It led +me to salutary reflection. For the first time I ventured to think, +I eradicated from my mind every prejudice which remained there, I +took leave of all chimeras, I saw life and the world as they are, +and decided that Heaven is a myth. My manners soon betrayed the +effect of the enlightenment of my mind. No more arrogance, no more +boasting. I did not divest myself of pride, but it became more +tractable and more convenient; it renounced ostentation and vain +display; the peacock changed into a man of good breeding. This, +sir, is what experience has done for me, assisted by Sequere fatum. +It has made me wise, an honest man and an atheist. So I said a +little while afterwards to Count Kostia: + +"'Of all the benefits I have received from you, the most precious +was that of delivering me from Pauline. That woman would have +ruined me. Ah, Count Kostia, how I laugh to myself when I recall +the ridiculous litanies with which I once regaled your ears. You +knew me well. A passing fancy--a fire of straw. Thanks to you, +Kostia Petrovitch, my mind has acquired a perspicuity for which I +shall be eternally grateful to you. + +"This declaration touched him; he loved me the more for it. He has +always had a weakness for men who listen to reason. Until then, +notwithstanding the marks of affection which he lavished upon me, +he had always made me feel the distance between us. But from that +day I became intimate with him; I participated in his secrets, and, +what cemented our friendship still more, was that one day I had an +opportunity of saving his life at the risk of my own." + +"And Pauline?" said the inquisitive and sympathetic Gilbert. + +"Ah! Pauline interests you! Comfort yourself. Six months after +our rupture she made a rich marriage. She still lives in her +little town; she is happy, and has lost none of her beauty. I meet +her sometimes in the street with her husband and children, and I +have the pleasure of seeing her turn her head always from me. And +I, too, sir, have children; they are my pupils. They are called in +Moscow THE LITTLE VLADIMIRS, and one of them will become some of +these days a great Vladimir. I have revealed all my secrets to +him, for I do not want them to die with me, and my end may be near. +I have yet an important work to accomplish; and when my task is +finished, let death take me. The life of the little shepherd of +Ukraine has been too exciting to last long. 'Short and sweet,' is +my motto." + +And at these words, leaning suddenly towards Gilbert, and looking +him in the eye: + +"Apropos," said he, "were you really thinking of Constantine, the +emperor, when you exclaimed: 'Oh, fortune! what strange tricks you +play?'" + +Gilbert was nearly disconcerted by this sudden attack, but promptly +recovered himself. + +"Ah! ah!" thought he, "it was not for nothing, then, that you told +me your history; you had a purpose! Who knows but that Count +Leminof has sent you to get my confidence?" + +Vladimir employed all the skill he possessed to make Gilbert speak; +his insidious questions were inexhaustible: Gilbert was +impenetrable. From time to time they looked steadily at each +other, each seeking to embarrass his adversary, and to surprise his +secret, but in vain; they fenced with glances, but they were both +so sure in the parries, that not a thrust succeeded. At last +Vladimir lost patience. + +"My dear sir," exclaimed he, "I have the weakness to put faith in +dreams, and I had one the other night which troubled me very much. +I dreamed that Count Kostia had a daughter, and that he made her +very unhappy, because she had the twofold misfortune of not being +his daughter, and of resembling in a striking manner a woman whose +remembrance he did not cherish. You see that dreams are as +singular as the tricks of fortune. But the most serious matter +was, that the unhappiness and beauty of this child had strongly +touched your heart and that you had conceived an ardent passion for +her. + +"'What must I do?' you said to me one day. + +"Then I related my story to you, and said: 'You know the character +of Kostia Petrovitch. Do not hope to move him, it would be an +amusement for him to break your heart. If I had been as much in +love as you are, I should have carried off Pauline and fled with +her to the ends of the world. An elopement!--that is your only +resource. And mark (it was in my dream that I spoke thus), and +mark--if you perform this bold stroke successfully, the Count, at +first furious to see his victim escape him, will at last be +reconciled to it. The sight of this child is a horror to him; even +the tyranny which he exercises over her excites him and disorders +his nerves. After she has left him, he will breathe more freely, +will enjoy better health, and will pardon the ravisher, who will +have relieved his life of the ferment of hatred which torments him. +Then you can treat with him, and I shall be much mistaken if it is +long before your dear mistress becomes your wife.' It was thus I +repeat, that I spoke to you in my dream, and I added: 'Do not lose +an instant; there is danger in remaining here. Kostia Petrovitch +has suspicions; to-morrow perhaps it will be too late!'" + +"And then you awoke," interrupted Gilbert, laughing. + +Then rising, he continued: + +"Your dreams have no common sense, my dear Doctor; for without +taking into consideration that M. Leminof has no daughter, the +faculty of loving has been denied to me by nature, and the only +abduction of which I am capable is that of ink spots from a folio. +With a little chlorine you see--" + +He took a few steps to pick up the little flower which he had +thrown away, and continued as he retraced with Vladimir the path +which led to the castle. "Let us speak of more serious things. Do +you know the family of this pretty flower?" + +Thus walking on they conversed exclusively upon botany, and having +arrived at the terrace, separated amicably. Vladimir saw Gilbert +move away, and then muttered between his teeth: + +"Ha! you won't speak, you refuse me your confidence, and you only +take off spots of ink! Then let your fate work itself out!" + +Shall I describe the feelings which agitated Gilbert's heart? They +will readily be divined. In addition to the anxiety which preyed +upon him, a further and greater source of uneasiness was the fear +that all had been discovered. "In spite of my precautions," +thought he, "some spy stationed by the Count may have seen me +running over the roof, but it is very improbable. + +"I am inclined to believe rather, that the lynx eyes of Vladimir +Paulitch have read Stephane's face. At the table he has watched +her narrowly. Perhaps, too, my glances have betrayed me. This +mind, coarse in its subtilty, has taken for a common love the +tender and generous pity with which a great misfortune has inspired +me. Doubtless he has informed the Count, and it was by his order +that he attempted to force my confidence and to draw out my +intentions. Stephane, Stephane, all my efforts then will have but +resulted in heaping upon your head new misfortunes!" He was calmed +a little, however, by the reflection that she had authorized him of +her own accord to remain away from her for at least two weeks. +"Before that time expires," thought he, "I shall have devised some +expedient. It is, first of all, important to throw this terrier, +who is upon our track, off the scent. Fortunately he will not be +here long. His departure will be a great relief to me, for he is a +dangerous person. If only Stephane will be prudent!" + +Dinner passed off well! Vladimir did not make his appearance. The +Count was amiable and gay. Stephane, although very pale, was as +calm as on the preceding days, and his eyes did not try to meet +those of Gilbert, who felt his alarm subsiding; but when they had +risen from the table, Kostia Petrovitch having left the room first, +his daughter had time, before following him, to turn quickly, draw +from her sleeve a little roll of paper, and throw it at Gilbert's +feet; he picked it up, and what was his chagrin when, after having +locked himself in his room, he read the following lines: "The +spirit of darkness has returned to me! I could not close my eyes +last night. My head is on fire. I fear, I doubt, I despair. My +Gilbert, I must at any cost see you this evening, for I feel myself +capable of anything. Oh, my friend! come at least to console me-- +come and take from my sight the knife which remains open on my +table." + +Gilbert passed two hours in indescribable anguish. Whilst day +lasted, he stood leaning upon his window sill, hoping all the time +that Stephane would appear at hers, and that he could communicate +to her by signs; but he waited in vain, and already night began to +fall. He deliberated, wavered, hesitated. At last, in this +internal struggle, one thought prevailed over all others. He +imagined he could see Stephane, pale, disheveled, despair in her +eyes; he thought he could see a knife in her hands, the slender +blade flashing in the darkness of the night. Terrified by these +horrible fancies, he turned a deaf ear to prudential counsels, +suspended his ladder, descended, crossed the roofs, clambered up +the window, and sprang into the room. Stephane awaited him, +crouching at the feet of the saints. She rose, bounded forward, +and seized the knife lying upon the table with a convulsive motion, +turned the point towards her heart, and cried in a vibrating voice: + +"Gilbert, for the first and last time, do you love me?" + +Terrified, trembling, beside himself, Gilbert opened his arms to +her. She threw the poniard away, uttered a cry of joy, of +delirium, leaped with a bound to her friend, threw her arms about +him, and hanging upon his lips she cried: + +"He loves me! he loves! I am saved." + +Gilbert, while returning her caresses, sought to calm her +excitement; but all at once he turned pale. From the neighboring +alcove came a sigh like that he had heard in one of the corridors +of the castle. + +"We are lost!" gasped he in a stifled voice. "They have surprised +us." + +But she, clinging to him, her face illuminated by delirious joy, +answered: + +"You love me! I am happy. What matters the rest?" + +At this moment the door of the alcove opened and Count Kostia +appeared upon the threshold, terrible, threatening, his lips +curling with a sinister smile. At this sight his daughter slowly +raised her head, then took a few steps towards him, and for the +first time dared to look that father in the face, who for so many +years had held her bowed and shuddering under his iron hand. Then +like a young lion with bristling mane, her hair floating in +disorder upon her shoulders, her body quivering, her brows +contracted, with flashing eyes and in a thrilling voice, she cried: + +"Ah! it really is you then, sir! + +"You are welcome. You here, great God! Truly these walls ought to +be surprised to see you. Yes, hear me, deaf old walls: the man you +see there upon the threshold is my father! Ah, tell me, would you +not have divined it by the tenderness in his face, by that smile +full of goodness playing about his lips?" And then she added: +"Unnatural father, do you remember yet that you once had a +daughter? Search well, you will find her, perhaps, at the bottom +of your memory. Very well! this daughter whom you killed, has just +left her coffin, and he who resuscitated her is the man before +you." Then more excitedly still: "Oh, how I love him, this divine +man! and in loving him, obedient daughter that I am, what have I +done but execute your will? for was it not you yourself who one day +threw me at his feet? I have remained there." + +At these words, exhausted by the excess of her emotion, her +strength deserted her. She uttered a cry, closed her eyes, and +sank down. Gilbert, however, had already sprang towards her; he +raised her in his arms and laid her inanimate form in an armchair; +then placing himself before her, made a rampart of his body. When +he turned his eyes upon the Count again, he could not repress a +shudder, for he fancied he saw the somnambulist. The features of +Kostia Petrovitch were distorted, his eyes bloodshot, and his fixed +and burning pupils seemed almost starting from their sockets. He +bent down slowly and picked up the knife, after which he remained +some time motionless without giving any signs of life except by +passing his tongue several times over his lips, as if to assuage +the thirst for blood which consumed him. At last he advanced, his +head erect, his arm holding the knife suspended in the air, ready +to strike. As he drew near, Gilbert recovered all his composure, +and in a clear, strong voice, cried out: + +"Count Leminof, control yourself, or you will lose your reason." + +And as the frightful phantom still advanced, he quickly uncovered +his breast, and exclaimed in a still louder voice: + +"Count Kostia, strike, here is my heart, but your blows will not +reach me,--the specter of Morlof is between us." + +At these words the Count uttered a cry like a fallow deer, followed +by a long and plaintive sigh. A terrible internal struggle +followed; his brow contracted; the convulsive movements which +agitated his body, and the flakes of foam which stood upon his +lips, testified to the violence of the effort he was making. +Reason at length returned; his arms fell and the knife dropped, the +muscles of his face relaxed, and his features by degrees resumed +their natural expression. Then turning in the direction of the +alcove, he called out: + +"Ivan, come and take care of your young mistress, she has fainted." + +Ivan appeared. Who could describe the look which he threw upon +Gilbert? Meanwhile the Count had reentered the alcove; but +returned immediately with a candle, which he lighted quietly, and +then, with an easy gesture, said to Gilbert: + +"My dear sir, it seems to me we are in the way here. Be good +enough to leave with me by the staircase; for please God, you do +not return by the roof. If an accident should happen to you, the +Byzantines and I would be inconsolable!" + +Gilbert was so constituted, that at this moment M. Leminof inspired +him more with pity than anger. He obeyed, and preceding him a few +steps, crossed the alcove and the vestibule and descended the +stairs. When at the entrance of the corridor, he turned, and +placing his back against the wall, said sadly: + +"I have a few words to say to you!" + +The Count, stopping upon the last step, leaned nonchalantly over +the balustrade and answered, smiling: + +"Speak, I am ready to hear you; you know it always gives me +pleasure to talk with you." + +"I beg you, sir," said Gilbert, "to pardon your daughter the +bitterness of her language. She spoke in delirium. I swear to you +that at the bottom of her heart, she respects you, and that you +have only to wish it to have her love you as a father." + +M. Leminof answered only by a shrug of the shoulders, which +signified--"What matters it to me?" + +"I am bound to say further," resumed Gilbert, "that your anger +ought to fall upon me alone. It was I who sought this child, who +hated me; and I constrained her to receive me. I pressed my +attentions upon her and had no peace or rest until I had gained her +affection." + +The Count shrugged his shoulders again, as much as to say: "I +believe you, but how does that change the situation?" + +"As for me," continued Gilbert, "I assure you, upon my honor, that +it was only yesterday I drew from your daughter her secret." + +The Count answered: + +"I believe you readily; but tell me, if you please, is it true that +you now love this little girl as she loves you?" + +Gilbert reflected a moment; then considering only the dignity and +interests of Stephane, he replied: + +"Yes, I love her with a pure, deep love." + +A sarcastic joy appeared upon the Count's face. + +"Admirable!" said he; "that is all I wish to know. We have nothing +more to say." + +Gilbert raised his head: "One word more, sir!" he exclaimed. "I do +not leave you until you have sworn to me that you will not touch a +hair of your daughter's head, and that you will not revenge +yourself upon her for my well-meant imprudence." + +"Peste!" said the Count, laughing, "you are taking great airs; but +I owe you some gratitude, inasmuch as your coolness has saved me +from committing a crime which would have been a great folly, for +only fools avenge themselves with the knife. So I shall grant you +even more than you ask. Hereafter, my daughter shall have no cause +to complain of me, and I will interest myself paternally in her +happiness. It displeases her to be under Ivan's charge; he shall +be only her humble servant. I intend that she shall be as free as +air, and all of her caprices will be sacred to me. I will begin by +restoring her horse, if he is not already sold. I will do more: I +will permit her to resume the garments of her sex. But for these +favors I exact two conditions: first, that you shall remain here at +least six months; second, that you will try neither to see, speak, +nor write to my doll, without my consent." + +Gilbert breathed a deep sigh. + +"I swear it, on my honor!" replied he. + +"Enough! Enough!" resumed M. Leminof, "I have your promise, and I +believe in it as I do in the Gospels." + +When the Count reentered his study, Doctor Vladimir, who was +patiently awaiting him, examined him from head to foot, as if +seeking to discover upon his garments or his hands some stain of +blood, then controlling his emotion: + +"Well," said he coolly, "how did the affair terminate?" + +"Very well," said the Count, throwing himself in a chair. "I have +not killed anyone. This young man's reason restored mine." + +Vladimir Paulitch turned pale. + +"So," said he, with a forced smile, "this audacious seducer gets +off with a rating." + +"You haven't common sense, Vladimir Paulitch! What are you saying +about seduction? Gilberts are an enigma to you. They are not born +under the same planets as Doctors Vladimir and Counts Leminof. +There is a mixture in them of the humanitarian, the knight-errant, +the gray sister, and the St. Vincent de Paul, added to all which, +our philanthropist has a passion for puppets, and from the time of +his arrival he has forewarned me that he intended to make them +play. He must have wanted, I think, to give himself a +representation of some sacramental act, of some mystery play of the +middle ages. The piece began well. The principal personages were +faith, hope, and charity. Unfortunately, love got into the party, +and the mystery was transformed into a drama of cloak and sword. I +am sorry for him; these things always end badly." + +"You are mistaken, Count Kostia!" replied Vladimir ironically; +"they often end with a wedding." + +"Vladimir Paulitch!" exclaimed the Count, stamping his foot, "you +have the faculty of exasperating me. Today you spent an hour in +kindling the fire of vengeance in my soul. You hate this young +man. I believe, on my honor, that you are jealous of him. You are +afraid, perhaps, that I may put him in my will in place of the +little shepherd of Ukraine? Think of it as you please, my dear +doctor; it is certain that if I had had the awkwardness to kill +this admirable companion of my studies, I should lament him now in +tears of blood, for I know not why, but he is dear to me in spite +of all. But who loves well, chastises well, and I cannot help +pitying him in thinking of all the sufferings which I shall make +him undergo. Now go to bed, doctor. To-morrow morning you will go +on your nimble feet, three leagues from here, on the other side of +the mountain, to a little inn, which I will direct you how to find. +I will follow on horseback. I need exercise and diversion. We +will meet there and dine together. At dessert we will talk +physiology, and you will exert yourself to entertain me." + +"But what are you thinking of?" exclaimed Vladimir, surprised to +the last degree. "Will you permit these two lovers--" + +"Oh! you have but a dull mind, in spite of your wisdom," +interrupted the Count. "In matters of vengeance, you only know the +calicoes and cottons. Mine I prefer to weave of silk and threads +of gold." + +On returning to his room, Vladimir Paulitch said to himself: + +"These two men are too rational. The piece moves too slowly. I +must hasten the denouement." + + +XVIII + + +Early in the morning Ivan entered Gilbert's room. The face of the +poor serf was distressing to see. His eyes were red and swollen, +and his features bloated. The bloody marks of his nails were +visible on his face; forehead and cheeks were furrowed with them. +He informed Gilbert that towards noon Count Kostia would go out +with Vladimir Paulitch and would be absent the rest of the day. + +"He left me here to watch you and to render an account to him upon +his return of all I should see and hear. I am not ugly;--but after +what has passed, you would be foolish to expect the least favor +from me. My eyes, ears, and tongue will do their duty. You must +know, too, that the barine is in a very gloomy mood to-day. His +lips are white, and he frequently passes his left hand over his +forehead, a sure sign that a storm is raging within." + +"My dear Ivan," answered Gilbert, "I also shall be absent all day; +so you see your task of watching will be easy." + +Ivan breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed as if a mountain had +been taken from his breast. + +"I see with pleasure," said he, "that you repent of your sin, and +that you promise to be wiser in the future; ah, if my young master +would only listen to reason, like you." + +"Your young master, as you call him, will be as rational as myself. +But do me the favor to tell me--" + +"Oh! don't be alarmed; his fainting fit was not long. I had hardly +got to him, when he opened his eyes and asked me if you were still +alive. On hearing my answer he exclaimed: 'Ah! my God! how happy I +am! He lives and loves me!' Then he tried to rise, but was so +weak that he fell back. I carried him to his bed and he said to +me: 'Ivan, for four nights I have not closed my eyes,' and at these +words he smiled and fell asleep, smiling, and he is asleep yet." + +"In order to be wise, Stephane must be occupied. She must work +with her mind and her hands. Here, take this little white flower," +added he, handing him the one he had plucked the day before; "ask +her, for me, to paint it in her herbarium to-day." + +And as Ivan examined the plant with an air of distrust, he added: + +"Go, and fear nothing. I've not hidden a note in it. I am a man +of honor, my dear Ivan, and never break my word." + +Ivan hid the flower in one of his sleeves and went out muttering to +himself: + +"How is all this going to end? Ah! may the Holy Trinity look down +in pity upon this house. We are all lost!" + +Gilbert went out. Leaving upon his right the plateau and its close +thickets, he gained the main road and followed the bank of the +Rhine for a long distance. A thousand thoughts crowded in +confusion through his mind; but he always came to the same +conclusion: + +"I will save this child, or lose my life in the attempt." + +As the sun began to sink towards the horizon, he returned to the +castle. He went in search of Father Alexis and found him in the +chapel. The good father had learned from Ivan what had happened +the night before. He reproached Gilbert severely, but +nevertheless, after hearing his explanations, softened +considerably, and in a tone of grumbling indulgence, repeated the +old proverb, "Everyone to his trade." "Oxen," added he, "are born +to draw the plow, birds to fly, bees to make honey, Gilberts to +read and make great books, and Father Alexis to edify and console +his fellow-creatures. You have encroached upon my prerogatives. +You wanted to walk in my shoes. And what has been the result of +your efforts? The spoiling of my task! Have you not observed how +much better this child has been for the last two months, how much +more tranquil, gentle, and resigned? I had preached so well to +her, that she at last listened to reason. And you must come to put +in her head a silly love which will cost both of you many tears." + +Upon which, seizing him rudely by the arm, he continued: + +"And what need had we of your assistance, the good God and I? Have +you forgotten? Open your eyes and look! To-day, my child, even +to-day I have put the finishing touch to my great work." + +Then he pointed his finger to two long rows of sallow faces, +surmounted by golden halos, which two lamps suspended from the +ceiling illuminated with a mysterious light. Like a general +enumerating his troops, he said: + +"Look at these graybeards. That is Isaac, this Jeremiah, and this +Ezekiel. On the other side are the holy warrior martyrs. Then St. +Procopius, there St. Theodore, who burnt the temple of Cybele. His +torch may yet be relighted. And these archangels, do you think +their arms will be forever nerveless and their swords always asleep +in their scabbards?" + +Then, falling upon his knees, he prayed aloud: + +"And thou, holy mother of God, suffer thy unworthy servant to +summon thee to keep thy promise. Let thy august power at last be +made manifest. At the sight of thy frowning brows let there be +accomplished a mystery of terror and tears in hardened hearts. Let +the neck of the proud be broken, and let his haughty head, bent +down by the breath of thy lips, as by the wind of a tempest, bow to +the very earth and its hair sweep the dust of this pavement." + +Just then they heard a voice calling: + +"Father Alexis, Father Alexis, where are you?" + +The priest turned pale and trembled. He tried in vain to rise, his +knees seemed nailed to the ground. + +"Ah! my child, did you not hear a divine voice answer me?" + +But helping him to his feet, Gilbert said with a sad smile: + +"There is nothing divine in that voice. It has a strongly-marked +Provencal accent, and if I am not mistaken, it belongs to Jasmin +the cook, who is there in the court with a lantern in his hand, and +is calling you." + +"Perhaps you are right," answered the good father, shaking his head +and passing his hand over his forehead, which was bathed in +perspiration. "Let us see what this good Jasmin wants. Perhaps he +brings my dinner. I had notified him, however, that I proposed to +fast to-day." + +Jasmin no sooner saw them come out of the chapel than he ran +towards them and said to the priest: + +"I don't know, father, what has happened to Ivan, but when I went +into his room to carry him his dinner, I found him stretched on his +bed. I called him and shook him, but couldn't wake him up." + +A shudder ran through Gilbert's whole body. Seizing the lantern +from Jasmin he darted off on a run; in two seconds he was with +Ivan. Jasmin had told the truth; the serf slept heavily and +profoundly. By dint of pulling him by the arm, Gilbert succeeded +in making him open his eyes; but he soon closed them again, turned +towards the wall, and slept on. + +"Someone must have given him a narcotic," said Gilbert, whispering +to Father Alexis who had just joined him. + +And addressing Jasmin, who had followed the priest. + +"Has anyone been here this afternoon?" + +"I ask your pardon," said the cook. "Doctor Vladimir returned from +his walk at about five o'clock. This surprised me very much, as +Count Kostia told me before he left, that M. Stephane would dine +here alone to-day." + +"The doctor is at the table then, now." + +"Pardon, pardon! He didn't wish any dinner. He told me in a +joking way, that he would shortly go to a grand dinner in the other +world." + +"But where is he then? In his study?" + +"Two hours afterwards, he went out with M. Stephane." + +"Which way did they go?" cried Gilbert, shaking him violently by +the arm. + +"Ah! pardon, sir, take care, you'll put my arm out of joint," +answered the huge Provencal. + +"Jasmin, my good Jasmin, answer me: which way did they go?" + +"Ah! I remember now, they took the road to the woods." + +Gilbert darted off instantly. Father Alexis cried after him in +vain: + +"Wait for me, my child, I will accompany you. I am a man of good +judgment." As if carried by the wind, Gilbert was already in the +woods. His head bare, pale, out of breath, he ran at the top of +his speed. Night had come, and the moon began to silver over the +foliage which quivered at every breath of wind. Gilbert was blind +to the moon's brightness, deaf to the sighing of the wind. He +heard nothing but the diminishing sound of steps in the distance, +he saw nothing but a cloud of blood which floated before his eyes +and indicated the path; the sole thought which shed any light upon +his mind, filled with gloomiest apprehensions, was this: + +"I did not understand this man! It was an offensive alliance which +he proposed to me yesterday. I refused to avenge him: he is going +to revenge himself, and a Russian serf seeking vengeance is capable +of anything." + +On he ran with unabated speed, and would have run to the end of the +world if, in an elbow of the road, some steps before him, he had +not suddenly perceived Stephane. Standing in the moonlight erect +and motionless, Gilbert stopped, held out his arms, and uttered a +cry. She trembled, turned, and running to him, cried: + +"Gilbert, do you love me?" + +He answered only by pressing her to his heart; and then perceiving +Doctor Vladimir, who was sitting on the edge of a ditch, his head +in his hands, he stammered: + +"This man here with you!" + +"I do not know," said she in a trembling voice, "whether he is a +mad man or a villain; but it is certain that he is going to die, +for he has poisoned himself." + +"What have you to say?" said Gilbert, looking wildly at the +dejected face of the doctor, upon which the moon was shining full. +"Explain I beg of you." + +"What do I know?" said she; "I think I have been dreaming since +yesterday evening. It seems to me, however, that this man came to +my room for me. He had taken the precaution to drug Ivan. I was +dying with melancholy. He persuaded me that you, my Gilbert, were +waiting for me in one of the paths of this forest, to fly with me +to a distant country. 'Let us go, let us go,' I cried; but on the +way I began to think, I grew suspicious, and at this turning of the +road I said to my gloomy companion: 'Bring my Gilbert to me here; I +will go no further.' Then he looked at me with frightful eyes, and +I believe said to me: 'What is your Gilbert to me? Follow me or +you die;' and then he fumbled in his bosom as if to find a +concealed weapon; but if I am not mistaken, I looked at him +steadily, and crossing my arms, said to him: 'Kill me, but you +shall not make me take another step.'" + +Vladimir raised his head. + +"How deceptive resemblances are," said he in a hollow voice. "I +once knew a woman who had the same contour of face, and one +evening, by the sole power of my eye, I compelled her to fall at my +feet, crying: 'Vladimir Paulitch, do with me what you will.' But +your young friend has a soul made of different stuff. You can +believe me if you wish, sir; but the fact is that her charming face +suddenly struck me with an involuntary respect. It seemed to me +that her head was adorned with a royal diadem. Her eyes glowed +with a noble pride; anger dilated her nostrils, and while a +scornful smile flitted over her lips, her whole face expressed the +innocence of a soul as pure as the rays of the moon shining upon +us. At this sight I thought of the woman of whom I spoke to you +yesterday, and I felt a sensation of horror at the crime I had +premeditated, and I, Doctor Vladimir, I prostrated myself at the +feet of this child, saying to her: 'Forgive me, I am a wretch;' +after which I swallowed a strong dose of poison of my own +composition, whose antidote I do not know, and in two hours I shall +be no more." + +Gilbert looked steadily at him. + +"Ah! great God," thought he, "it was not the life but the honor of +Stephane which was in danger! But the promised miracle has been +wrought, only this is not the one which Father Alexis expected, +since it has been the work of the God of nature." + +Stephane approached him, and taking his hands murmured: + +"Gilbert, Gilbert, let us fly--let us fly together! There is yet +time!" + +But he only muttered: + +"I see through it all!" Then turning to Vladimir he said in a tone +of authority, "Follow me, sir! It is right that Count Kostia +should receive your last breath." + +Vladimir reflected for a moment, then rising, said: + +"You are right. I must see him again before I die; but give me +your arm, for the poison begins to work and my legs are very weak." + +They began to walk, Stephane preceding them a few steps. At +intervals, Vladimir would exclaim: + +"To die--to breathe no more--no more to see the sun--no more to +remember--to forget all!" And then he added, "One thing disturbs +my happiness. I am not sufficiently revenged!" + +At last his voice died upon his lips and his legs failed him. +Gilbert was obliged to carry him on his shoulders, and was nearly +giving out under the burden when he saw Father Alexis coming +towards them breathless. He gave him no time to recover breath, +but cried: + +"Take this man by the feet. I will support his shoulders. +Forward! my good father, forward! We have no time to lose." + +Father Alexis hastened to comply with Gilbert's request, and they +continued on their way with bowed heads and in gloomy silence. +Stephane alone, with her cap drawn over her eyes, occasionally +uttered disconnected words and alternately cast a furtive glance at +Gilbert, or gazed sadly at the moon. Arriving at the castle, they +crossed the court and ascended the stairs without meeting anyone; +but entering the vestibule of the first story, in which all the +lamps were lighted, they heard a noise of steps in the corridor +which led to the square tower. + +"M. Leminof has returned," said Gilbert, trembling. "Father +Alexis, carry this man to his room. I will go and speak to the +Count, and will bring him to you in a moment." + +Then taking Stephane by the arm, he whispered to her: + +"In the name of Heaven, keep out of the way. Go down on the +terrace and conceal yourself. Your father must not see you until +he has heard me." + +"Do you think I am afraid, then?" she replied, and escaping from +him, darted off in the direction of the corridor. + +Meanwhile Father Alexis had entered the room of Vladimir Paulitch, +whom he sustained with difficulty in his trembling arms. At the +moment he laid him upon his bed, a voice, which reached even to +them, uttered these terrible words: + +"Ah! this is braving me too much! Let her die!" Then a sharp cry +pierced the air, followed by the dull noise of a body falling +heavily upon the floor. + +Father Alexis looked at Vladimir with horror. "The mother was not +enough," cried he, "thou hast just killed the daughter!" + +And he sprang out of the room distracted. + +Vladimir sat up. An atrocious joy gleamed in his face; and +recovering the use of his speech, he murmured, "My vengeance is +complete!" + +But at these words a groan escaped him--the poison began to burn +his vitals. Nevertheless he forgot his sufferings when he saw the +Count appear, followed by the priest, and holding in his hand a +sword, which he threw in the corner. + +"Count Kostia," cried the dying man, "what have you done with your +daughter?" + +"I have killed her," answered he sternly, questioning him with his +eyes. + +Vladimir remained silent a moment. + +"My good master," resumed he, "do you remember that Pauline whom I +loved? Do you also remember having seen me crouched at your feet +crying, 'Mercy! Mercy! for her and for me'? My good master, have +you forgotten that corner of the street where you said to me one +day: 'This woman is charming; but if your marriage is not broken +off before evening, to-morrow she will learn from me who you are'? +That day, Count Kostia Petrovitch, you had a happy and smiling air. +Say, Kostia Petrovitch, do you recollect it?" + +The Count answered only by a disdainful smile. + +"Oh! most simple and most credulous of men," continued Vladimir, +"how could you think that I would empty the cup of sorrow and of +shame to the very dregs, and not revenge myself upon him who smiled +as he made me drink it." + +"Six months later, you saved my life," said the Count, slightly +shrugging his shoulders. + +"Because your days were dear to me. You do not know then the +tenderness of hatred! I wished you to live, and that your life +should be a hell." + +And then he added, panting: + +"The lover of the Countess Olga, . . . was I." + +The Count staggered as if struck by lightning. He supported +himself by the back of a chair, to avoid falling; then springing to +the table, he seized a carafe full of water and emptied it in a +single draught. Then in a convulsed voice, he exclaimed: + +"You lie! The Countess Olga could never have given herself to a +serf!" + +"Refer to your memory once more, Kostia Petrovitch. You forget +that in her eyes I was not a serf, but an illustrious physician, a +sort of great man. However, I will console you. The Countess Olga +loved me no more than I loved her. My magnetic eyes, my threats +had, as it were, bewitched her poor head; in my arms she was dying +with fear, and when at the end of one of these sweet interviews, +she heard me cry out, 'Olga Vassilievna, your lover is a serf,' she +nearly perished of shame and horror." + +The Count cast upon his serf a look of indescribable disgust, and, +making a superhuman effort to speak, once more exclaimed: +"Impossible! That letter which you addressed to me at Paris--" + +"I feared that your dishonor might be concealed from you, and what +would life have been to me then?" + +M. Leminof turned to the priest who remained standing at the other +end of the room. "Father Alexis, is what this man says true?" + +The priest silently bowed. + +"And was it for this, foolish priest, that you have endured death +and martyrdom--to prolong the days of a worm of the earth?" + +"I cared little for his life," answered the priest, with dignity, +"but much for my conscience, and for the inviolable secrecy of the +confessional." + +"And for two years in succession you have suffered my mortal enemy +to lodge under my roof without warning me?" + +"I was ignorant of his history and of the fact that he had reasons +for hating you. I fancied that a mad passion had made him a +traitor to friendship, and that in repentance he sought to expiate +his fault, by the assiduous attentions which he lavished upon you." + +"Poor fellow!" said the Count, crushing him with a look of pity. + +Then Vladimir resumed in a voice growing more and more feeble: + +"Since that cursed hour, when I crawled at your feet, without being +able to soften your stony heart with my tears, I became disgusted +with life. To feel that I belonged to you was every instant a +torment. But if you ask me why I have deferred my death so long, I +answer that while you had a daughter living my vengeance was not +complete. I let this child grow up; but when the clock of fate +struck the hour I waited for, courage suddenly failed me, and I was +seized with scruples, which still astonish me. But what am I +saying? I bless my weakness, since I brought home a victim pure +and without stain, and since her virginal innocence adds to the +horror of your crime. Ah! tell me, was the steel which pierced her +heart the same that silenced Morlof's? Oh, sword, thou art +predestinated!" + +Count Kostia's eyes brightened. He had something like a +presentiment that he was about to be delivered from that fatal +doubt which for so many years had poisoned his life, and he fixed +his vulture-like eyes upon Vladimir. + +"That child," said he, "was not my daughter." + +Vladimir opened his vest, tore the lining with his nails and drew +out a folded paper, which he threw at the Count's feet: + +"Pick up that letter!" cried he, "the writing is known to you. I +meant to have sent it to you by your dishonored daughter. Go and +read it near your dead child." + +M. Leminof picked up the letter, unfolded it, and read it to the +end with bearing calm and firm. The first lines ran thus: "Vile +Moujik. Thou hast made me a mother. Be happy and proud. Thou +hast revealed to me that maternity can be a torture. In my +ignorant simplicity, I did not know until now it could be aught +else than an intoxication, a pride, a virtue, which God and the +church regard with favor, and the angels shelter with their white +wings. When for the first time I felt my Stephan and my Stephane +stir within me, my heart leaped for joy, and I could not find words +enough to bless Heaven which at last rewarded six years of +expectation; but now it is not a child I carry in bosom, it is a +crime. . . ." + +This letter of four pages shed light, and carried conviction into +the mind of Count Kostia. + +"She was really my daughter," said he, coolly. . . "Fortunately I +have not killed her." + +He left the room, and an instant after re-appeared, accompanied by +Gilbert, and carrying in his arms his daughter, pale and +disheveled, but living. He advanced into the middle of the room. +There, as if speaking to himself, he said: + +"This young man is my good genius. He tore my sword from me. God +be praised! he has saved her and me. This dear child was +frightened, she fell, but she is unhurt. You see her, she is +alive, her eyes are open, she hears, she breathes. To-morrow she +shall smile, to-morrow we shall all be happy. + +Then drawing her to the head of the bed and calling Gilbert to him, +he placed his hands together, and standing behind them, embracing +their shoulders in his powerful arms, and thrusting his head +between theirs, he forced them, in spite of themselves, to bend +with him over the dying man. + +Gilbert and Stephane closed their eyes. + +The Count's and Vladimir's were wide open devouring each other. +The master's flamed like torches; the serf's were sunken, glassy, +and filled with the fear and horror of death. He seemed almost +petrified, and murmured in a failing voice: + +"I am lost. I have undone my own work. To-morrow, to-morrow, they +will be happy." + +One last look, full of hatred, flashed from his eyes, over which +the eternal shadow was creeping, his features contracted, his mouth +became distorted, and, uttering a frightful cry, he rendered up his +soul. + +Then the Count slowly raised himself. His arms, in which he held +the two young people as in a living vice, relaxed, and Stephane +fell upon Gilbert's breast. Confused, colorless, wild-eyed, +intoxicated with joy and terror at the same time, clinging to her +friend as the sailor to his plank of safety, she said in an +indistinct voice: + +"In the life to which you condemn me, my father, the joys are as +terrible as the sorrows." + +The Count said to Gilbert: + +"Console her, calm her emotion. She is yours. I have given her to +you. Do not fear that I shall take her back again." Then, turning +again to the bed, he exclaimed: "What a terrible thorn death has +just drawn from my heart!" + +In the midst of so many tragic sensations, who was happy? Father +Alexis was, and he had no desire to hide it. He went and came, +moved the furniture, passed his hand over his beard, struck his +chest with all his might, and presently in his excess of joy threw +himself upon Stephane and then upon Gilbert, caressing and +embracing them. At last, kneeling down by the bed of death, under +the eyes of the Count, he took the head of the dead man between his +hands and kissed him upon the mouth and cheeks, saying: + +"My poor brother, thou hast perhaps been more unfortunate than +guilty. May God, in the unfathomable mystery of his infinite +mercy, give thee one day, as I have, the kiss of peace! Then +raising his clasped hands, he said: "Holy mother of God: blessed be +thy name. Thou hast done more than I dared to ask." + +At that moment Ivan, roused at last from his long lethargy, +appeared at the threshold of the door. For some minutes he +remained paralyzed by astonishment, and looked around distractedly; +then, throwing himself at his master's feet and tearing his hair, +he cried: + +"Seigneur Pere, I am not a traitor! That man mixed some drug in my +tea which put me to sleep. Seigneur Pere, kill me, but do not say +that I am a traitor." + +"Rise," returned the Count gayly, "rise, I say. I shall not kill +thee. I am not going to kill anybody. My son, thou'rt a rusty old +tool. Dost know what I shall do with thee? I shall slip thee in +among the wedding presents of Madame Gilbert Saville." + + + +Paul Bourget + +Andre Cornelis + + +I + + +I was nine years old. It was in 1864, in the month of June at the +close of a warm, bright afternoon. I was at my studies in my room +as usual, having come in from the Lycee Bonaparte, and the outer +shutters were closed. We lived in the Rue Tronchet, near the +Madeleine, in the seventh house on the left, coming from the +church. Three highly-polished steps (how often have I slipped on +them!) led to the little room, so prettily furnished, all in blue, +within whose walls I passed the last completely happy days of my +life. Everything comes back to me. I was seated at my table, +dressed in a large black overall, and engaged in writing out the +tenses of a Latin verb on a ruled sheet divided into several +compartments. All of a sudden I heard a loud cry, followed by a +clamor of voices; then rapid steps trod the corridor outside my +room. Instinctively I rushed to the door and came up against a +man-servant, who was deadly pale, and had a roll of linen in his +hand. I understood the use of this afterwards. I had not to +question this man, for at sight of me he exclaimed, as though +involuntarily: + +"Ah! M. Andre, what an awful misfortune!" + +Then, regaining his presence of mind, he said: + +"Go back into your room--go back at once!" + +Before I could answer, he caught me up in his arms, rather threw +than placed me on the upper step of my staircase, locked the door +of the corridor, and walked rapidly away. + +"No, no," I cried, flinging myself against the door, "tell me all; +I will, I must know." No answer. I shook the lock, I struck the +panel with my clenched fists, I dashed my shoulder against the +door. Vain was my frenzy! Then, sitting upon the lowest step, I +listened, in an agony of fear, to the coming and going of people +outside, who knew of "the awful misfortune," but what was it they +knew? Child as I was, I understood the terrible signification +which the servant's exclamation bore under the actual +circumstances. Two days previously, my father had gone out after +breakfast, according to custom, to the place of business which he +had occupied for over four years, in the Rue de la Victoire. He +had been thoughtful during breakfast, indeed for some months past +he had lost his accustomed cheerfulness. When he rose to go out, +my mother, myself, and one of the habitual frequenters of our +house, M. Jacques Termonde, a fellow student of my father's at the +Ecole de Droit, were at table. My father left his seat before +breakfast was over, having looked at the clock, and inquired +whether it was quite right. + +"Are you in such a hurry, Cornelis?" asked Termonde. + +"Yes," answered my father, "I have an appointment with a client who +is ill--a foreigner--I have to call on him at his hotel to procure +some important papers. He is an odd sort of man, and I shall not +be sorry to see something of him at closer quarters. I have taken +certain steps on his behalf, and I am almost tempted to regret +them." + +And since then, no news! In the evening of that day, when dinner, +which had been put off for one quarter of an hour after another, +was over, and my father, who was always so methodical, so punctual, +had not come in, my mother began to betray increasing uneasiness, +and could not conceal from me that his last words dwelt upon her +mind. It was a rare occurrence for him to speak with misgiving of +his undertakings! + +The night passed, then the next morning and afternoon, and once +more it was evening. My mother and I were once more seated at the +square table, where the cover laid for my father in front of his +empty chair gave, as it were, a form to our nameless dread. + +My mother had written to M. Jacques Termonde, and he came after +dinner. I was sent away immediately, but not without my having had +time to remark the extraordinary brightness of M. Termonde's eyes, +which were blue, and usually shone coldly in his thin, sharp face. +He had fair hair and a beard best described as pale. Thus do +children take note of small details, which are speedily effaced +from their minds, but afterwards reappear, at the contact of life, +just as certain invisible marks come out upon paper when it is held +to the fire. + +While begging to be allowed to remain, I was mechanically observing +the hurried and agitated turning and returning of a light cane--I +had long coveted it--held behind his back in his remarkably +beautiful hands. If I had not admired the cane so much, and the +fighting centaurs on its handle--a fine piece of Renaissance work-- +this symptom of extreme disturbance might have escaped me. But, +how could M. Termonde fail to be disturbed by the disappearance of +his best friend? Nevertheless, his voice, a soft voice which made +all his phrases melodious, was quite calm. + +"To-morrow," he said, "I will have every inquiry made, if Cornelis +has not returned; but he will come back, and all will be explained. +Depend on it, he went away somewhere on the business he told you +of, and left a letter for you to be sent by a commissionaire who +has not delivered it." + +"Ah!" said my mother, "you think that is possible?" + +How often, in my dark hours, have I recalled this dialogue, and the +room in which it took place--a little salon, much liked by my +mother, with hangings and furniture of some foreign stuff all +striped in red and white, black and yellow, that my father had +brought from Morocco; and how plainly have I seen my mother in my +mind's eye, with her black hair, her brown eyes, her quivering +lips. She was as white as the summer gown she wore that evening. +M. Termonde was dressed with his usual correctness, and I remember +well his slender and elegant figure. + +I attended the two classes at the Lycee, if not with a light, at +least with a relieved heart. But, while I was sitting upon the +lower step of my little staircase, all my uneasiness revived. I +hammered at the door again, I called as loudly as I could; but no +one answered me, until the good woman who had been my nurse came +into my room. + +"My father!" I cried, "where is my father?" + +"Poor child, poor child," said nurse, and took me in her arms. + +She had been sent to tell me the awful truth, but her strength +failed her. I escaped from her, ran out into the corridor, and +reached my father's bedroom before anyone could stop me. Ah! upon +the bed lay a rigid form covered by a white sheet, upon the pillow +a bloodless, motionless face, with fixed, wide-open eyes, for the +lids had not been closed; the chin was supported by a bandage, a +napkin was bound around the forehead; at the bed's foot knelt a +woman, still dressed in her white summer gown, crushed and helpless +with grief. These were my father and my mother. + +I flung myself madly upon her, and she clasped me passionately, +with the piercing cry, "My Andre, my Andre!" In that cry there was +such intense grief, in that embrace there was such frenzied +tenderness, her heart was then so big with tears, that it warms my +own even now to think of it. The next moment she rose and carried +me out of the room, that I might see the dreadful sight no more. +She did this easily, her terrible excitement had doubled her +strength. "God punishes me! God punishes me!" she said over and +over again taking no heed of her words. She had always been given, +by fits and starts, to mystical piety. Then she covered my face, +my neck, and my hair with kisses and tears. May all that we +suffered, the dead and I, be forgiven you, poor mother, for the +sincerity of those tears at that moment! + + +II + + +When I asked my mother, on the instant, to tell me all about the +awful event, she said that my father had been seized with a fit in +a hackney carriage, and that as no papers were found upon him, he +had not been recognized for two days. + +Grown-up people are much too ready to think it is equally easy to +tell lies to all children. + +Now, I was a child who pondered long in my thoughts over things +that were said to me, and by dint of putting a number of small +facts together, I came to the conviction that I did not know the +whole truth. If my father's death had occurred in the manner +stated to me, why should the man-servant have asked me, one day +when he took me out to walk, what had been said to me about it? +And when I answered him, why did he say no more, and, being a very +talkative person, why had he kept silence ever since? Why, too, +did I feel the same silence all around me, in the air, sitting on +every lip, hidden in every look? Why was the subject of +conversation constantly changed whenever I drew near? I guessed +this by many trifling signs. Why was not a single newspaper left +lying about, whereas, during my father's lifetime, the three +journals to which we subscribed were always to be found on a table +in the salon? Above all, why did both the masters and my +schoolfellows look at me so curiously, when I went back to school +early in October, four months after our great misfortune? Alas! it +was their curiosity which revealed the full extent of the +catastrophe to me. + +It was only a fortnight after the reopening of the school, when I +happened to be playing one morning with two new boys; I remember +their names, Rastonaix and Servoin, now, and I can see the big fat +cheeks of Rastonaix and the ferret-like face of Servoin. Although +we were day pupils, we were allowed a quarter of an hour's +recreation at school, between the Latin and English lessons. The +two boys had engaged me on the previous day for a game of ninepins, +and when it was over, they came close to me, and looking at each +other to keep up their courage, they put to me the following +questions, point-blank: + +"Is it true that the murderer of your father has been arrested?" + +"And that he is to be guillotined?" + +This occurred sixteen years ago, but I cannot now recall the +beating of my heart at those words without horror. I must have +turned frightfully pale, for the two boys, who had struck me this +blow with the carelessness of their age--of our age--stood there +disconcerted. A blind fury seized upon me, urging me to command +them to be silent, and to hit them with my fists if they spoke +again; but at the same time I felt a wild impulse of curiosity-- +what if this were the explanation of the silence by which I felt +myself surrounded?--and also a pang of fear, the fear of the +unknown. The blood rushed into my face, and I stammered out: + +"I do not know." + +The drum-tap, summoning us back to the schoolroom, separated us. +What a day I passed, bewildered by my trouble, turning the two +terrible sentences over and over again. + +It would have been natural for me to question my mother; but the +truth is, I felt quite unable to repeat to her what my unconscious +tormentors had said. It was strange but true, that thenceforth my +mother, whom nevertheless I loved with all my heart, exercised a +paralyzing influence over me. She was so beautiful in her pallor, +so royally beautiful and proud. + +No, I should never have ventured to reveal to her that an +irresistible doubt of the story she had told me was implanted in my +mind merely by the two questions of my schoolfellows; but, as I +could not keep silence entirely and live, I resolved to have +recourse to Julie, my former nurse. She was a little woman, fifty +years of age, an old maid too, with a flat, wrinkled face, like an +over-ripe apple; but her eyes were full of kindness, and indeed so +was her whole face, although her lips were drawn in by the loss of +her front teeth, and this gave her a witch-like mouth. She had +deeply mourned my father in my company, for she had been in his +service before his marriage. Julie was retained specially on my +account, and in addition to her the household consisted of the +cook, the man-servant, and the femme de chambre. Julie put me to +bed and tucked me in, heard me say my prayers, and listened to my +little troubles. + +"Oh! the wretches!" she exclaimed, when I opened my heart to her +and repeated the words that had agitated me so terribly. "And yet +it could not have been hidden from you forever." Then it was that +she told me all the truth, there in my little room, speaking very +low and bending over me, while I lay sobbing in my narrow bed. She +suffered in the telling of that truth as much as I in the hearing +of it, and the touch of her dry old hand, with fingers scarred by +the needle, fell softly on my curly head as she stroked it. + +That ghastly story, which bore down my youth with the weight of an +impenetrable mystery, I have found written in the newspapers of the +day, but not more clearly than it was narrated by my dear old +Julie. Here it is, plainly set forth, as I have turned and re- +turned it over and over again in my thoughts, day after day, with +the vain hope of penetrating it. + +My father, who was a distinguished advocate, had resigned his +practice in court some years previously, and set up as a financial +agent, hoping by that means to make a fortune more rapidly than by +the law. His good official connection, his scrupulous probity, his +extensive knowledge of the most important questions, and his great +capacity for work, had speedily secured him an exceptional +position. He employed ten secretaries, and the million and a half +francs which my mother and I inherited formed only the beginnings +of the wealth to which he aspired, partly for his own sake, much +more for his son's but, above all, for his wife's--he was +passionately attached to her. Notes and letters found among his +papers proved that at the time of his death, he had been for a +month previously in correspondence with a certain person named, or +calling himself, William Henry Rochdale, who was commissioned by +the firm of Crawford, in San Francisco, to obtain a railway +concession in Cochin China, then recently conquered, from the +French Government. It was with Rochdale that my father had the +appointment of which he spoke before he left my mother, M. +Termonde, and myself, after breakfast, on the last fatal morning. +The Instruction had no difficulty in establishing this fact. The +appointed place of meeting was the Imperial Hotel, a large +building, with a long facade, in the Rue de Rivoli, not far from +the Ministere de la Marine. The entire block of houses was +destroyed by fire in the Commune; but during my childhood I +frequently begged Julie to take me to the spot, that I might gaze, +with an aching heart, upon the handsome courtyard adorned with +green shrubs, the wide, carpeted staircase, and the slab of black +marble, encrusted with gold, that marked the entrance to the place +whither my father wended his way, while my mother was talking with +M. Termonde, and I was playing in the room with them. My father +had left us at a quarter-past twelve, and he must have taken a +quarter of an hour to walk to the Imperial Hotel, for the +concierge, having seen the corpse, recognized it, and remembered +that it was just about half-past twelve when my father inquired of +him what was the number of Mr. Rochdale's rooms. This gentleman, a +foreigner, had arrived on the previous day, and had fixed, after +some hesitation, upon an apartment situated on the second floor, +and composed of a salon and a bedroom, with a small ante-room, +which separated the apartment from the landing outside. From that +moment he had not gone out and he dined the same evening and +breakfasted the next morning in his salon. The concierge also +remembered that Rochdale came down alone, at about two o'clock on +the second day; but he was too much accustomed to the continual +coming and going to notice whether the visitor who arrived at half- +past twelve had or had not gone away again. Rochdale handed the +key of his apartment to the concierge, with directions that anybody +who came, wanting to see him, should be asked to wait in his salon. +After this he walked away in a leisurely manner, with a business- +like portfolio under his arm, smoking a cigar, and he did not +reappear. + +The day passed on, and towards night two housemaids entered the +apartment of the foreign gentlemen to prepare his bed. They passed +through the salon without observing anything unusual. The +traveler's luggage, composed of a large and much-used trunk and a +quite new dressing-bag, were there. His dressing-things were +arranged on the top of a cabinet. The next day, towards noon, the +same housemaids entered the apartment, and finding that the +traveler had slept out, they merely replaced the day-covering upon +the bed, and paid no attention to the salon. Precisely the same +thing occurred in the evening; but on the following day, one of the +women having come into the apartment early, and again finding +everything intact, began to wonder what this meant. She searched +about, and speedily discovered a body, lying at full length +underneath the sofa, with the head wrapped in towels. She uttered +a scream which brought other servants to the spot, and the corpse +of my father--alas! it was he--was removed from the hiding-place in +which the assassin had cunningly concealed it. It was not +difficult to reconstruct the scene of the murder. A wound in the +back of the neck indicated that the unfortunate man had been shot +from behind, while seated at the table examining papers, by a +person standing close beside him. The report had not been heard, +on account of the proximity of the weapon, and also because of the +constant noise in the street, and the position of the salon at the +back of the ante-room. Besides, the precautions taken by the +murderer rendered it reasonable to believe that he had carefully +chosen a weapon which would produce but little sound. The ball had +penetrated the spinal marrow and death had been instantaneous. The +assassin had placed new unmarked towels in readiness, and in these +he wrapped up the head and neck of his victim, so that there were +no traces of blood. He had dried his hands on a similar towel, +after rinsing them with water taken from the carafe; this water he +had poured back into the same bottle, which was found concealed +behind the drapery of the mantel-piece. Was the robbery real or +pretended? My father's watch was gone, and neither his letter-case +nor any paper by which his identity could be proved was found upon +his body. An accidental indication led, however, to his immediate +recognition. Inside the pocket of his waistcoat was a little band +of tape, bearing the address of the tailor's establishment. +Inquiry was made there, in the afternoon the sad discovery ensued, +and after the necessary legal formalities, the body was brought +home. + +And the murderer? The only data on which the police could proceed +were soon exhausted. The trunk left by the mysterious stranger, +whose name was certainly not Rochdale, was opened. It was full of +things bought haphazard, like the trunk itself, from a bric-a-brac +seller who was found, but who gave a totally different description +of the purchaser from that which had been obtained from the +concierge of the Imperial Hotel. The latter declared that Rochdale +was a dark, sunburnt man with a long thick beard; the former +described him as of fair complexion and beardless. The cab on +which the trunk had been placed immediately after the purchase, was +traced, and the deposition of the driver coincided exactly with +that of the bric-a-brac seller. The assassin had been taken in the +cab, first to a shop, where he bought a dressing-bag, next to a +linen-draper's where he bought the towels, thence to the Lyons +railway station, and there he had deposited the trunk and the +dressing-bag at the parcels office. Then the other cab which had +taken him, three weeks afterwards, to the Imperial Hotel, was +traced, and the description given by the second driver agreed with +the deposition of the concierge. From this it was concluded that +in the interval formed by these three weeks, the assassin had dyed +his skin and his hair, for all the depositions were in agreement +with respect to the stature, figure, bearing, and tone of voice of +the individual. This hypothesis was confirmed by one Jullien, a +hairdresser, who came forward of his own accord to make the +following statement: + +On the day in the preceding month, a man who answered to the +description of Rochdale given by the first driver and the bric-a- +brac seller, being fair-haired, pale, tall, and broad-shouldered, +came to his shop to order a wig and a beard; these were to be so +well constructed that no one could recognize him, and were +intended, he said, to be worn at a fancy ball. The unknown person +was accordingly furnished with a black wig and a black beard, and +he provided himself with all the necessary ingredients for +disguising himself as a native of South America, purchasing kohl +for blackening his eyebrows, and a composition of Sienna earth and +amber for coloring his complexion. He applied these so skilfully, +that when he returned to the hairdresser's shop, Jullien did not +recognize him. The unusualness of a fancy ball given in the middle +of summer, and the perfection to which his customer carried the art +of disguise, astonished the hairdresser so much that his attention +was immediately attracted by the newspaper articles upon "The +Mystery of the Imperial Hotel," as the affair was called. At my +father's house two letters were found; both bore the signature of +Rochdale, and were dated from London, but without envelopes, and +were written in a reversed hand, pronounced by experts to be +disguised. He would have had to forward a certain document on +receipt of these letters; probably that document was in the letter- +case which the assassin carried off after the crime. The firm of +Crawford had a real existence at San Francisco, but had never +formed the project of making a railroad in Cochin China. The +authorities were confronted by one of those criminal problems which +set imagination at defiance. It was probably not for the purpose +of theft that the assassin had resorted to such numerous and clever +devices; he would hardly have led a man of business into so +skilfully laid a trap merely to rob him of a few thousand francs +and a watch. + +Was the murder committed for revenge? + +A search into the life of my father revealed nothing whatever that +could render such a theory tenable. Every suspicion, every +supposition, was routed by the indisputable and inexplicable fact +that Rochdale was a reality whose existence could not be contested, +that he had been at the Imperial Hotel from seven o'clock in the +evening of one day until two o'clock in the afternoon of the next, +and that he had then vanished, like a phantom, leaving one only +trace behind--ONE ONLY. This man had come there, other men had +spoken to him; the manner in which he had passed the night and the +morning before the crime was known. He had done his deed of +murder, and then--nothing. "All Paris" was full of this affair, +and when I made a collection, long afterwards, of newspapers which +referred to it, I found that for six whole weeks it occupied a +place in the chronicle of every day. + +At length the fatal heading, "The Mystery of the Imperial Hotel," +disappeared from the columns of the newspapers, as the remembrance +of that ghastly enigma faded from the minds of their readers, and +solicitude about it ceased to occupy the police. The tide of life, +rolling that poor waif amid its waters, had swept on. Yes; but I, +the son? How should I ever forget the old woman's story that had +filled my childhood with tragic horror? How should I ever cease to +see the pale face of the murdered man, with its fixed, open eyes? +How should I not say: "I will avenge thee, thou poor ghost?" Poor +ghost! When I read Hamlet for the first time, with that passionate +avidity which comes from an analogy between the moral situation +depicted in a work of art and some crisis of our own life, I +remember that I regarded the Prince of Denmark with horror. Ah! if +the ghost of my father had come to relate the drama of his death to +me, with his unbreathing lips, would I have hesitated one instant? +No! I protested to myself; and then? I learned all, and yet I +hesitated, like him, though less than he, to dare the terrible +deed. Silence! silence! Let me go back to the facts. + + +III + + +I remember little of the succeeding events. All was so trivial, so +insignificant, between that first vision of horror and the vision +of woe which came to me two years later, that, with one exception, +I hardly recall the intervening time. + +In 1864, my father died; in 1866, my mother married M. Jacques +Termonde. The exceptional period of the interval was the only one +during which my mother bestowed constant attention upon me. Before +the fatal date my father was the only person who had cared for me; +at a later period there was no one at all to do so. Our apartment +in the Rue Tronchet became unbearable to us; there we could not +escape from the remembrance of the terrible event, and we removed +to a small hotel in the Boulevard de Latour-Maubourg. The house +had belonged to a painter, and stood in a small garden which seemed +larger than it was because other gardens adjoined it, and over- +shadowed its boundary wall and greenery. The center of the house +was a kind of hall, in the English style, which the former occupant +had used as a studio; my mother made this her ordinary sitting- +room. + +Now, at this distance of time, I can understand my mother's +character, and recognize that there was something about her, which, +although it was very harmless, led her to exaggerate the outward +expression of all her feelings. While she occupied herself in +studying the attitudes by which her emotions were to be fittingly +expressed, the sentiments themselves were fading away. For +instance, she chose to condemn herself to voluntary exile and +seclusion after her bereavement, receiving only a very few friends, +of whom M. Jacques Termonde was one; but she very soon began to +adorn herself and everything around her, with the fine and subtle +tastefulness that was innate in her. + +My mother was a very lovely woman; her beauty was of a refined and +pensive order, her figure was tall and slender, her dark hair was +very luxuriant and of remarkable length. No doubt it was to the +Greek blood in her veins that she owed the classical lines of her +profile, her full-lidded soft eyes, and the willowy grace of her +form. Her maternal grandfather was a Greek merchant, of the name +of Votronto, who had come from the Levant to Marcielles when the +Ionian Islands were annexed to France. + +Many times in after years I have recalled the strange contrast +between her rare and refined beauty and my father's stolid sturdy +form, and my own, and wondered whether the origin of many +irreparable mistakes might not be traced to that contrast. But I +did not reason in those days; I was under the spell of the fair +being who called me, "My son." I used to look at her with a kind +of idolatry when she was seated at her piano in that elegant +sanctum of hers, which she had hung with draped foreign stuffs, and +decorated with tall green plants and various curious things, after +a fashion entirely her own. For her sake, and in spite of my +natural awkwardness and untidiness, I strove to keep myself very +clean and neat in the more and more elaborate costumes which she +made me wear, and also more and more did the terrible image of the +murdered man fade away from that home, which, nevertheless, was +provided and adorned by the fortune which he had earned for us and +bequeathed to us. All the ways of modern life are so opposed to +the tragic in events, so far removed from the savage realities of +passion and bloodshed, that when such things intrude upon the +decorous life of a family, they are put out of sight with all +speed, and soon come to be looked upon as a bad dream, impossible +to doubt, but difficult to realize. + +Yes, our life had almost resumed its normal course when my mother's +second marriage was announced to me. This time I accurately +remember not only the period, but also the day and hour. + +I was spending my holidays with my spinster aunt, my father's +sister, who lived at Compiegne, in a house situated at the far end +of the town. She had three servants, one of whom was my dear old +Julie, who had left us because my mother could not get on with her. +My aunt Louise was a little woman of fifty, with countrified looks +and manners; she had hardly ever consented to stay two whole days +in Paris during my father's lifetime. Her almost invariable attire +was a black silk gown made at home, with just a line of white at +the neck and wrists, and she always wore a very long gold chain of +ancient date, which was passed under the bodice of her gown and +came out at the belt. To this chain her watch and a bunch of seals +and charms were attached. Her cap, plainly trimmed with ribbon, +was black like her dress, and the smooth bands of her hair, which +was turning gray, framed a thoughtful brow and eyes so kind that +she was pleasant to behold, although her nose was large and her +mouth and chin were heavy. She had brought up my father in this +same little town of Compiegne, and had given him, out of her +fortune, all that she could spare from the simple needs of her +frugal life, when he wished to marry Mdlle. de Slane, in order to +induce my mother's family to listen to his suit. + +The contrast between the portrait in my little album of my aunt and +her face as I saw it now, told plainly enough how much she had +suffered during the past two years. Her hair had become more +white, the lines which run from the nostrils to the corners of the +mouth were deepened, her eyelids had a withered look. And yet she +had never been demonstrative in her grief. I was an observant +little boy, and the difference between my mother's character and +that of my aunt was precisely indicated to my mind by the +difference in their respective sorrow. At that time it was hard +for me to understand my aunt's reserve, while I could not suspect +her of want of feeling. Now it is to the other sort of nature that +I am unjust. My mother also had a tender heart, so tender that she +did not feel able to reveal her purpose to me, and it was my Aunt +Louise who undertook to do so. She had not consented to be present +at the marriage, and M. Termonde, as I afterwards learned, +preferred that I should not attend on the occasion, in order, no +doubt, to spare the feelings of her who was to become his wife. + +In spite of all her self-control, Aunt Louise had tears in her +brown eyes when she led me to the far end of the garden, where my +father had played when he was a child like myself. The golden +tints of September had begun to touch the foliage of the trees. A +vine spread its tendrils over the arbor in which we seated +ourselves, and wasps were busy among the ripening grapes. My aunt +took both my hands in hers, and began: + +"Andre, I have to tell you a great piece of news." + +I looked at her apprehensively. The shock of the dreadful event in +our lives had left its mark upon my nervous system, and at the +slightest surprise my heart would beat until I nearly fainted. She +saw my agitation and said simply: + +"Your mother is about to marry." + +It was strange this sentence did not immediately produce the +impression which my look at her had led my aunt to expect. I had +thought from the tone of her voice, that she was going to tell me +of my mother's illness or death. My sensitive imagination readily +conjured up such fears. I asked calmly: + +"Whom?" + +"You do not guess?" + +"M. Termonde?" I cried. + +Even now I cannot define the reasons which sent this name to my +lips so suddenly, without a moment's thought. No doubt M. Termonde +had been a good deal at our house since my father's death; but had +he not visited us as often, if not more frequently, before my +mother's widowhood? Had he not managed every detail of our affairs +for us with care and fidelity, which even then I could recognize as +very rare? Why should the news of his marriage with my mother seem +to me on the instant to be much worse news than if she had married +no matter whom? Exactly the opposite effect ought to have been +produced, surely? I had known this man for a long time; he had +been very kind to me formerly--they said he spoiled me--and he was +very kind to me still. My best toys were presents from him, and my +prettiest books; a wonderful wooden horse which moved by clockwork, +given to me when I was seven--how much my poor father was amused +when I told him this horse was "a double thoroughbred"--"Don +Quixote," with Dore's illustrations, this very year; in fact some +new gift constantly, and yet I was never easy and light-hearted in +his presence as I had formerly been. When had this restraint +begun? I could not have told that, but I thought he came too often +between my mother and me. I was jealous of him, I may as well +confess it, with that unconscious jealousy which children feel, and +which made me lavish kisses on my mother when he was by, in order +to show him that she was my mother, and nothing at all to him. Had +he discovered my feelings? Had they been his own also? However +that might be, I now never failed to discern antipathy similar to +my own in his looks, notwithstanding his flattering voice and his +over-polite ways. At my then age, instinct is never deceived about +such impressions. + +Without any other cause than the weakness of nerves to which I had +been subject ever since my father's death, I burst into tears. The +same thing happened to me sometimes when I was shut up in my room +alone, with the door bolted, suffering from a dread which I could +not conquer, like that of a coming danger. I would forecast the +worst accidents that could happen; for example, that my mother +would be murdered, like my father, and then myself, and I peered +under all the articles of furniture in the room. It had occurred +to me, when out walking with a servant, to imagine that the +harmless man might be an accomplice of the mysterious criminal, and +have it in charge to take me to him, or at all events to have it in +charge to take place. My too highly-wrought imagination +overmastered me. I fancied myself, however, escaping from the +deadly device, and in order to hide myself more effectually, making +for Compiegne. Should I have enough money? Then I reflected that +it might be possible to sell my watch to an old watchmaker whom I +used to see, when on my way to the Lycee, at work behind the window +of his little shop, with a glass fixed in his right eye. That was +a sad faculty of foresight which poisoned so many of the harmless +hours of my childhood! It was the same faculty that now made me +break out into choking sobs when my aunt asked me what I had in my +mind against M. Termonde. I related the worst of my grievances to +her then, leaning my head on her shoulder, and in this one all the +others were summed up. It dated from two months before. I had +come back from school in a merry mood, contrary to my habit. My +teacher had dismissed me with praise of my compositions and +congratulations on my prizes. What good news this was to take home +and how tenderly my mother would kiss me when she heard it! I put +away my books, washed my hands carefully, and flew to the salon +where my mother was. I entered the room without knocking at the +door, and in such haste that as I sprang towards her to throw +myself into her arms, she gave a little cry. She was standing +beside the mantlepiece, her face was very pale, and near her stood +M. Termonde. He seized me by the arm and held me back from her. + +"Oh, how you frightened me!" said my mother. + +"Is that the way to come into a salon?" said M. Termonde. + +His voice had turned rough like his gesture. He had grasped my arm +so tightly that where his fingers had fastened on it I found black +marks that night when I undressed myself. But it was neither his +insolent words nor the pain of his grasp which made me stand there +stupidly, with a swelling heart. No, it was hearing my mother say +to him: + +"Don't scold Andre too much; he is so young. He will improve." + +Then she drew me towards her, and rolled my curls round her +fingers; but in her words, in their tone, in her glance, in her +faint smile, I detected a singular timidity, almost a supplication, +directed to the man before her, who frowned as he pulled his +moustache with his restless fingers, as if in impatience of my +presence. By what right did he, stranger, speak in the tone of a +master in our house? Why had he laid his hand on me ever so +lightly? Yes, by what right? Was I his son or his ward? Why did +not my mother defend me against him? Even if I were in fault it +was towards her only. A fit of rage seized upon me; I burned with +longing to spring upon M. Termonde like a beast, to tear his face +and bite him. I darted a look of fury at him and at my mother, and +left the room without speaking. I was of a sullen temper, and I +think this defect was due to my excessive and almost morbid +sensitiveness. All my feelings were exaggerated, so that the least +thing angered me, and it was misery to me to recover myself. Even +my father had found it very difficult to get the better of those +fits of wounded feeling, during which I strove against my own +relentings with a cold and concentrated anger which both relieved +and tortured me. I was well aware of this moral infirmity, and as +I was not a bad child in reality, I was ashamed of it. Therefore, +my humiliation was complete when, as I went out of the room, M. +Termonde said: + +"Now for a week's sulk! His temper is really insufferable." + +His remark had one advantage, for I made it a point of honor to +give the lie to it, and did not sulk; but the scene had hurt me too +deeply for me to forget it, and now my resentment was fully +revived, and grew stronger and stronger while I was telling the +story to my aunt. Alas! my almost unconscious second-sight, that +of a too sensitive child, was not in error. That puerile but +painful scene symbolized the whole history of my youth, my +invincible antipathy to the man who was about to take my father's +place, and the blind partiality in his favor of her who ought to +have defended me from the first and always. + +"He detests me!" I said through my tears; "what have I done to +him?" + +"Calm yourself," said the kind woman. "You are just like your poor +father, making the worst of all your little troubles. And now you +must try to be nice to him on account of your mother, and not to +give way to this violent feeling, which frightens me. Do not make +an enemy of him," she added. + +It was quite natural that she should speak to me in this way, and +yet her earnestness appeared strange to me from that moment out. I +do not know why she also seemed surprised at my answer to her +question, "What do you know?" She wanted to quiet me, and she +increased the apprehension with which I regarded the usurper--so I +called him ever afterwards--by the slight faltering of her voice +when she spoke to him. + +"You will have to write to them this evening," said she at length. + +Write to them! The words sickened me. They were united; never, +nevermore should I be able to think of the one without thinking of +the other. + +"And you?" + +"I have already written." + +"When are they to be married?" + +"They were married yesterday," she answered, in so low a tone that +I hardly heard the words. + +"And where?" I asked, after a pause. + +"In the country, at the house of some friends." Then she added +quickly: "They preferred that you should not be there on account of +the interruption of your holidays. They have gone away for three +weeks; then they will go to see you in Paris before they start for +Italy. You know I am not well enough to travel. I will keep you +here until then. Be a good boy, and go now and write." + +I had many other questions to put to her, and many more tears to +weep, but I restrained myself, and a quarter of an hour later, I +was seated at my dear good aunt's writing-table in her salon. + +How I loved that room on the ground floor, with its glass door +opening on the garden. It was filled with remembrance for me. On +the wall at the side of the old-fashioned "secretary" hung the +portraits, in frames of all shapes and sizes, of those whom the +good and pious soul had loved and lost. This funereal little +corner spoke strongly to my fancy. One of the portraits was a +colored miniature, representing my great-grandmother in the costume +of the Directory, with a short waist, and her hair dressed a la +Proudhon. There was also a miniature of my great-uncle, her son. +What an amiable, self-important visage was that of the staunch +admirer of Louis Philippe and M. Thiers! Then came my paternal +grandfather, with his strong parvenu physiognomy, and my father at +all ages. Underneath these works of art was a bookcase, in which I +found all my father's school prizes, piously preserved. What a +feeling of protection I derived from the portieres in green velvet, +with long bands of needlework, my aunt's masterpieces, which hung +in wide folds over the doors! With what admiration I regarded the +faded carpet, with its impossible flowers, which I had so often +tried to gather in my babyhood! This was one of the legends of my +earliest years, one of those anecdotes which are told of a beloved +son, and which make him feel that the smallest details of his +existence have been observed, understood, and loved. In later days +I have been frozen by the ice of indifference. And my aunt, she +whose life had been lived among these old-fashioned things, how I +loved her, with that face in which I read nothing but supreme +tenderness for me, those eyes whose gaze did me good in some +mysterious part of my soul! I felt her so near to me, only through +her likeness to my father, that I rose from my task four or five +times to kiss her, during the time it took me to write my letter of +congratulation to the worst enemy I had, to my knowledge, in the +world. + +And this was the second indelible date in my life. + + +IV + + +I once spoke to my aunt of the vow I had taken, the solemn promise +I had made to myself that I would discover the murderer of my +father, and take vengeance upon him, and she laid her hand upon my +mouth. She was a pious woman, and she repeated the words of the +gospel: "Vengeance is mine, saith the Lord." Then she added: "We +must leave the punishment of the crime to Him; His will is hidden +from us. Remember the divine precept and promise, 'Forgive and you +shall be forgiven.' Never say: 'An eye for an eye, a tooth for a +tooth.' Ah, no; drive this enmity out of your heart, Cornelis; +yes, even this." And there were tears in her eyes. + +My poor aunt! She thought me made of sterner stuff than I really +was. There was no need of her advice to prevent my being consumed +by the desire for vengeance which had been the fixed star of my +early youth, the blood-colored beacon aflame in my night. Ah! the +resolutions of boyhood, the "oaths of Hannibal" taken to ourselves, +the dream of devoting all our strength to one single and unchanging +aim--life sweeps all that away, together with our generous +illusions, ardent enthusiasm, and noble hopes. What a difference +there is--what a falling off--between the boy of fifteen, unhappy +indeed, but so bold and proud in 1870, and the young man of eight +years later, in 1878! And to think, only to think, that but for +chance occurrences, impossible to foresee, I should still be, at +this hour, the young man whose portrait hangs upon the wall above +the table at which I am writing. Of a surety, the visitors to the +Salon of that year (1878) who looked at this portrait among so many +others, had no suspicion that it represented the son of a father +who had come to so tragic an end. And I, when I look at that +commonplace image of an ordinary Parisian, with eyes unlit by any +fire or force of will, complexion paled by the fatigues of fashion, +hair cut in the mode of the day, strictly correct dress and +attitude, I am astonished to think that I could have lived as I +actually did live at that period. Between the misfortunes that +saddened my childhood, and those of quite recent date which have +finally laid waste my life, the course of my existence was +colorless, monotonous, vulgar, just like that of anybody else. I +shall merely note the stages of it. + +In the second half of 1870, the Franco-Prussian war takes place. +The invasion finds me at Compiegne, where I am passing my holidays +with my aunt. My stepfather and my mother remain in Paris during +the siege. I go on with my studies under the tuition of an old +priest belonging to the little town, who prepared my father for his +first communion. In the autumn of 1871 I return to Versailles; in +August, 1873, I take my bachelor's degree, and then I do my one +year's voluntary service in the army at Angers under the easiest +possible conditions. My colonel was the father of my old +schoolfellow, Rocquin. In 1874 I am set free from tutelage by my +stepfather's advice. This was the moment at which my task was to +have been begun, the time appointed with my own soul; yet, four +years afterwards, in 1878, not only was the vengeance that had been +the tragic romance, and, so to speak, the religion of my childhood, +unfulfilled, but I did not trouble myself about it. + +I was cruelly ashamed of my indifference when I thought about it; +but I am now satisfied that it was not so much the result of +weakness of character as of causes apart from myself which would +have acted in the same way upon any young man placed in my +situation. From the first, and when I faced my task of vengeance, +an insurmountable obstacle arose before me. It is equally easy and +sublime to strike an attitude and exclaim: "I swear that I will +never rest until I have punished the guilty one." In reality, one +never acts except in detail, and what could I do? I had to proceed +in the same way as justice had proceeded, to reopen the inquiry +which had been pushed to its extremity without any result. + +I began with the Judge of Instruction,* who had had the carriage of +the matter, and who was now a Counsellor of the Court. He was a +man of fifty, very quiet and plain in his way, and he lived in the +Ile de Paris, on the first floor of an ancient house, from whose +windows he could see Notre Dame, primitive Paris, and the Seine, +which is as narrow as a canal at that place. + + +* The translator renders literally those terms and phrases relating +to the French criminal law and procedure which have no analogous +expression in English. + + +M. Massol, so he was named, was quite willing to resume with me the +analysis of the data which had been furnished by the Instruction. +No doubt existed either as to the personality of the assassin, or +the hour at which the crime was committed. My father had been +killed between two and three o'clock in the day, without a +struggle, by that tall, broad-shouldered personage whose +extraordinary disguise indicated, according to the magistrate, "an +amateur." Excess of complication is always an imprudence, for it +multiplies the chances of failure. Had the assassin dyed his skin +and worn a wig because my father knew him by sight? + +To this M. Massol said "No; for M. Cornelis, who was very +observant, and who, besides, was on his guard--this is evident from +his last words when he left you--would have recognized him by his +voice, his glance, and his attitude. A man cannot change his +height and his figure, although he may change his face." + +M. Massol's theory of this disguise was that the wearer had adopted +it in order to gain time to get out of France, should the corpse be +discovered on the day of the murder. Supposing that a description +of a man with a very brown complexion and a black beard had been +telegraphed in every direction, the assassin, having washed off his +paint, laid aside his wig and beard, and put on other clothes, +might have crossed the frontier without arousing the slightest +suspicion. There was reason to believe that the pretended Rochdale +lived abroad. He had spoke in English at the hotel, and the people +there had taken him for an American; it was therefore presumable +either that he was a native of the United States, or that he +habitually resided there. The criminal was, then, a foreigner, +American or English, or perhaps a Frenchman settled in America. As +for the motive of so complicated a crime, it was difficult to admit +that it could be robbery alone. "And yet," observed the Judge of +Instruction, "we do not know what the note-case carried off by the +assassin contained. But," he added, "the hypothesis of robbery +seems to me to be utterly routed by the fact that, while Rochdale +stripped the dead man of his watch, he left a ring, which was much +more valuable, on his finger. From this I conclude that he took +the watch merely as a precaution to throw the police off the scent. +My supposition is that the man killed M. Cornelis for revenge. + +Then the former Judge of Instruction gave me some singular examples +of the resentment cherished against medical experts employed in +legal cases, Procureurs of the Republic, and Presidents of Assize. +His theory was, that in the course of his practice at the bar my +father might have excited resentment of a fierce and implacable +kind; for he had won many suits of importance, and no doubt had +made enemies of those against whom he employed his great powers. +Supposing one of those persons, being ruined by the result, had +attributed that ruin to my father, there would be an explanation of +all the apparatus of this deadly vengeance. + +M. Massol begged me to observe that the assassin, whether he were a +foreigner or not, was known in Paris. Why, if this were not so, +should the man have so carefully avoided being seen in the street? +He had been traced out during his first stay in Paris, when he +bought the wig and the beard, and that time he put up at a small +hotel in the Rue d'Aboukir under the name of Rochdale, and +invariably went out in a cab. "Observe also," said the Judge, +"that he kept his room on the day before the murder, and on the +morning of the actual day. He breakfasted in his apartment, having +breakfasted and dined there the day before. But, when he was in +London, and when he lived at the hotel to which your father +addressed his first letters, he came and went without any +precautions." + +And this was all. The addresses of three hotels--such were the +meagre particulars that formed the whole of the information to +which I listened with passionate eagerness; the magistrate had no +more to tell me. He had small, twinkling, very light eyes, and his +smooth face wore an expression of extreme keenness. His language +was measured, his general demeanor was cold, obliging, and mild, he +was always closely shaven, and in him one recognized at once the +well-balanced and methodical mind which had given him great +professional weight. He acknowledged that he had been unable to +discover anything, even after a close analysis of the whole +existing situation of my father, as well as his past. + +"Ah, I have thought a great deal about this said he, adding that +before he resigned his post as Judge of Instruction he had +carefully reperused the notes of the case. He had again questioned +the concierge of the Imperial Hotel and other persons. Since he +had become Counsellor to the Court, he had indicated to his +successor what he believed to be a clue; a robbery committed by a +carefully made-up Englishman had led him to believe the thief to be +identical with the pretended Rochdale. Then there was nothing +more. + +These steps had, however, been of use inasmuch as they barred the +rule of limitation, and he laid stress on that fact. I consulted +him then as to how much time still remained for me to seek out the +truth on my own account. The last Act of Instruction dated from +1873, so that I had until 1883 to discover the criminal and deliver +him up to public justice. What madness! Ten years had already +elapsed since the crime, and I, all alone, insignificant, not +possessed of the vast resources at the disposal of the police, I +presumed to imagine that I should triumph, where so skillful a +ferret as he had failed! Folly! Yes; it was so. + +And still there was nothing, no indication whatever. Nevertheless, +I tried. + +I began a thorough and searching investigation of all the dead +man's papers. With that unbounded tenderness of hers for my +stepfather, which made me so miserable, my mother had placed all +these papers in M. Termonde's keeping. Alas! Why should she have +understood those niceties of feeling on my part, which rendered the +fusion of her present with her past so repugnant to me, any more +clearly on this point than on any other? M. Termonde had at least +scrupulously respected the whole of those papers, from plans of +association and prospectuses to private letters. Among the latter +were several from M. Termonde himself, which bore testimony to the +friendship that had formerly subsisted between my mother's first +husband and her second. Had I not known this always? Why should I +suffer from the knowledge? + +And still there was nothing, no indication whatever to put me on +the track of a suspicion. + +I evoked the image of my father as he lived, just as I had seen him +for the last time; I heard him replying to M. Termonde's question +in the dining-room of the Rue Tronchet, and speaking of the man who +awaited him to kill him: "A singular man whom I shall not be sorry +to observe more closely." And then he had gone out and was walking +towards his death while I was playing in the little salon, and my +mother was talking to the friend who was one day to be her master +and mine. What a happy home-picture, while in that hotel room-- +Ah! was I never to find the key of the terrible enigma? Where was +I to go? What was I to do? At what door was I to knock? + +At the same time that a sense of the responsibility of my task +disheartened me, the novel facilities of my new way of life +contributed to relax the tension of my will. During my school +days, the sufferings I underwent from jealousy of my stepfather, +the disappointment of my repressed affections, the meanness and +penury of my surroundings, many grievous influences, had maintained +the restless ardor of my feelings; but this also had undergone a +change. No doubt I still continued to love my mother deeply and +painfully, but I now no longer asked her for what I knew she would +not give me, my unshared place, a separate shrine in her heart. I +accepted her nature instead of rebelling against it. + +Neither had I ceased to regard my stepfather with morose antipathy; +but I no longer hated him with the old vehemence. His conduct to +me after I had left school was irreproachable. Just as in my +childhood, he had made it a point of honor never to raise his voice +in speaking to me, so he now seemed to pique himself upon an entire +absence of interference in my life as a young man. When, having +passed my baccalaureate, I announced that I did not wish to adopt +any profession, but without a reason--the true one was my +resolution to devote myself entirely to the fulfillment of my task +of justice--he had not a word to say against that strange decision; +nay, more, he brought my mother to consent to it. + +When my fortune was handed over to me, I found that my mother, who +had acted as my guardian, and my stepfather, her co-trustee, had +agreed not to touch my funds during the whole period of my +education; the interest had been re-invested, and I came into +possession, not of 750,000 francs, but of more than a million. +Painful as I felt the obligation of gratitude towards the man whom +I had for years regarded as my enemy, I was bound to acknowledge +that he had acted an honorable part towards me. I was well aware +that no real contradiction existed between these high-minded +actions and the harshness with which he had imprisoned me at +school, and, so to speak, relegated me to exile. Provided that I +renounced all attempts to form a third between him and his wife, he +would have no relations with me but those of perfect courtesy; but +I must not be in my mother's house. His will was to reign entirely +alone over the heart and life of the woman who bore his name. + +How could I have contended with him? Why, too, should I have +blamed him, since I knew so well that in his place, jealous as I +was, my own conduct would have been exactly similar? + +I yielded, therefore, because I was powerless to contend with a +love which made my mother happy; because I was weary of keeping up +the daily constraint of my relations with her and him, and also +because I hoped that when once I was free I should be better fitted +for my task as a doer of justice. I myself asked to be permitted +to leave the house, so that at nineteen I possessed absolute +independence, an apartment of my own in the Avenue Montaigne, close +to the round-point in the Champs Elysees, a yearly income of 50,000 +francs, the entree to all the salons frequented by my mother, and +the entree, too, to all the places at which one may amuse one's +self. How could I have resisted the influences of such a position? + +Yes, I had dreamed of being an avenger, a justiciary, and I allowed +myself to be caught up almost instantly into the whirlwind of that +life of pleasure whose destructive power those who see it only from +the outside cannot measure. It is a futile and exacting existence +which fritters away your hours as it fritters away your mind, +raveling out the stuff of time thread by thread with irreparable +loss, and also the more precious stuff of mental and moral +strength. + +With respect to that task of mine, my task as an avenger, I was +incapable of immediate action--what and whom was I to attack? + +And so I availed myself of all the opportunities that presented +themselves of disguising my inaction by movement, and soon the days +began to hurry on, and press one upon the other, amid those +innumerable amusements of which the idle rich make a code of duties +to be performed. What with the morning ride in the Bois, afternoon +calls, dinner parties, parties to the theater and after midnight, +play at the club, or the pursuit of pleasure elsewhere--how was I +to find leisure for the carrying out of a project? I had horses, +intrigues, an absurd duel in which I acquitted myself well, +because, as I believe, the tragic ideas that were always at the +bottom of my life favored me. + +A woman of forty persuaded me that I was her first love; then I +persuaded myself that I was in love with a Russian great lady, who +was living in Paris. The latter was--indeed she still is--one of +those incomparable actresses in society, who, in order to surround +themselves with a sort of court, composed of admirers who are more +or less rewarded, employ all the allurements of luxury, wit, and +beauty, but who have not a particle of either imagination or heart, +although they fascinate by a display of the most refined fancies +and the most vivid emotions. I led the life of a slave to the +caprices of this soulless coquette for nearly six months, and +learned that women of the fashionable world and women of "the half- +world" are very much alike in point of worth. The former are +intolerable on account of their lies, their assumption, and their +vanity; the others are equally odious by reason of their vulgarity, +their stupidity, and their sordid love of lucre. + +I forgot all my absurd relations with women of both orders in the +excitement of play, and yet I was well aware of the meanness of +that diversion, which only ceases to be insipid when it becomes +odious, because it is a clever calculation upon money to be gained +without working for it. There was in me something at once wildly +dissipated and yet disgusted, which drove me to excess, and at the +same time inspired me with bitter self-contempt. In the innermost +recesses of my being the memory of my father dwelt, and poisoned my +thoughts at their source. An impression of dark fatalism invaded +my sick mind; it was so strange that I should live as I was living, +nevertheless, I did live thus, and the visible "I" had but little +likeness to the real. + +Upon me, then, poor creature that I was, as upon the whole +universe, a fate rested. "Let it drive me," I said, and yielded +myself up to it. I went to sleep, pondering upon ideas of the most +somber philosophy, and I awoke to resume an existence without worth +or dignity, in which I was losing not only my power of carrying out +my design of reparation towards the phantom which haunted my dreams +but all self-esteem, and all conscience. + +Who could have helped me reascend this fatal stream? My mother? +She saw nothing but the fashionable exterior of my life, and she +congratulated herself that I had "ceased to be a savage." My +stepfather? But he had been, voluntarily or not, favorable to my +disorderly life. Had he not made me master of my fortune at the +most dangerous age? Had he not procured me admission, at the +earliest moment, to the clubs to which he belonged, and in every +way facilitated my entrance into society? My aunt? Ah, yes, my +aunt was grieved by my mode of life; and yet, was she not glad that +at any rate I had forgotten the dark resolution of hate that had +always frightened her? And, besides, I hardly ever saw her now. +My visits to Compiegne were few, for I was at the age when one +always finds time for one's pleasures, but never has any for one's +nearest duties. If, indeed, there was a voice that was constantly +lifted up against the waste of my life in vulgar pleasures, it was +that of the dead, who slept in the day, unavenged; that voice rose, +rose, rose unceasingly, from the depths of all my musings, but I +had accustomed myself to pay it no heed, to make it no answer. Was +it my fault that everything, from the most important to the +smallest circumstance, conspired to paralyze my will? And so I +existed, in a sort of torpor which was not dispelled even by the +hurly-burly of my mock passions and my mock pleasures. + +The falling of a thunderbolt awoke me from this craven slumber of +the will. My Aunt Louise was seized with paralysis, towards the +end of the sad year 1878, in the month of December. I had come in +at night, or rather in the morning, having won a large sum at play. +Several letters and also a telegram awaited me. I tore open the +blue envelope, while I hummed the air of a fashionable song, with a +cigarette between my lips, untroubled by an idea that I was about +to be apprised of an event which would become, after my father's +death and my mother's second marriage, the third great date in my +life. The telegram was signed by Julie, my former nurse, and it +told me that my aunt had been taken ill quite suddenly, also that I +must come at once, although there was a hope of her recovery. + +This bad news was the more terrible to me because I had received a +letter from my aunt just a week previously, and in it the dear old +lady complained, as usual, that I did not come to see her. My +answer to her letter was lying half-written upon my writing-table. +I had not finished it; God knows for what futile reason. It needs +the advent of that dread visitant, Death, to make us understand +that we ought to make good haste and love WELL those whom we do +love, if we would not have them pass away from us forever, before +we have loved them enough. + +Bitter remorse, in that I had not proved to her sufficiently how +dear she was to me, increased my anxiety about my aunt's state. It +was two o'clock a. m., the first train for Compiegne did not start +until six; in the interval she might die. Those were very long +hours of waiting, which I killed by turning over in my mind all my +shortcomings towards my father's only sister, my sole kinswoman. +The possibility of an irrevocable parting made me regard myself as +utterly ungrateful! My mental pain grew keener when I was in the +train speeding through the cold dawn of a winter's day, along the +road I knew so well. + +As I recognized each familiar feature of the way, I became once +more the schoolboy whose heart was full of unuttered tenderness, +and whose brain was laden with the weight of a terrible mission. +My thoughts outstripped the engine, moving too slowly, to my +impatient fancy, which summoned up that beloved face, so frank and +so simple, the mouth with its thickish lips and its perfect +kindliness, the eyes out of which goodness looked, with their +wrinkled, tear-worn lids, the flat bands of grizzled hair. In what +state should I find her? Perhaps, if on that night of repentance, +wretchedness, and mental disturbance, my nerves had not been +strained to the utmost--yes, perhaps I should not have experienced +those wild impulses when by the side of my aunt's deathbed, which +rendered me capable of disobeying the dying woman. But how can I +regret my disobedience, since it was the one thing that set me on +the track of the truth? No, I do not regret anything, I am better +pleased to have done what I have done. + + +V + + +My good old Julie was waiting for me at the station. Her eyes had +failed her of late, for she was seventy years old, nevertheless she +recognized me as I stepped out of the train, and began to talk to +me in her usual interminable fashion so soon as we were seated in +the hired coupe, which my aunt had sent to meet me whenever I came +to Compiegne, from the days of my earliest childhood. How well I +knew the heavy old vehicle, with its worn cushions of yellow +leather, and the driver, who had been in the service of the livery +stable keeper as long as I could remember. He was a little man +with a merry, roguish face, and eyes twinkling with fun; but he +tried to give a melancholy tone to his salutation that morning. + +"It took her yesterday," said Julie, while the vehicle rumbled +heavily through the streets, "but you see it had to happen. Our +poor demoiselle had been changing for weeks past. She was so +trustful, so gentle, so just; she scolded, she ferreted about, she +suspected--there, then, her head was all astray. She talked of +nothing but thieves and assassins; she thought everybody wanted to +do her some harm, the tradespeople, Jean Mariette, myself--yes, I +too. She went into the cellar every day to count the bottles of +wine, and wrote the number down on a paper. The next day she found +the same number, and she would maintain the paper was not the same, +she disowned her own handwriting. I wanted to tell you this the +last time you came here, but I did not venture to say anything; I +was afraid it would worry you, and then I thought these were only +freaks, that she was a little crazy, and it would pass off. Well, +then, I came down yesterday to keep her company at her dinner, as +she always liked me to do, because, you know, she was fond of me in +reality, whether she was ill or well. I could not find her. +Mariette, Jean, and I searched everywhere, and at last Jean +bethought him of letting the dog loose; the animal brought us +straight to the wood-stock, and there we found her lying at full +length upon the ground. No doubt she had gone to the stack to +count the logs. We lifted her up, our poor dear demoiselle! Her +mouth was crooked, and one side of her could not move. She began +to talk. Then we thought she was mad, for she said senseless words +which we could not understand; but the doctor assures us that she +is perfectly clear in her head, only that she utters one word when +she means another. She gets angry if we do not obey her on the +instant. Last night when I was sitting up with her she asked for +some pins. I brought them and she was angry. Would you believe +that it was the time of night she wanted to know? At length, by +dint of questioning her, and by her yesses and noes, which she +expresses with her sound hand, I have come to make out her meaning. +If you only knew how troubled she was all night about you; I saw +it, and when I uttered your name her eyes brightened. She repeats +words, you would think she raves: she calls for you. Now look +here, M. Andre, it was the ideas she had about your poor father +that brought on her illness. All these last weeks she talked of +nothing else. She would say: 'If only they do not kill Andre also. +As for me, I am old, but he so young, so good, so gentle.' And she +cried--yes, she cried incessantly. 'Who is it that you think wants +to harm M. Andre?' I asked her. Then she turned away from me with +a look of distrust that cut me to the heart, although I knew that +her head was astray. The doctor says that she believes herself +persecuted, and that it is a mania; he also says that she may +recover, but will never have her speech again." + +I listened to Julie's talk in silence; I made no answer. I was not +surprised that my Aunt Louise had begun to be attacked by a mental +malady; the trials of her life sufficiently explained this, and I +could also account for several singularities that I had observed in +her attitude towards me of late. She had surprised me much by +asking me to bring back a book of my father's which I had never +thought of taking away. "Return it to me," she said, insisting +upon it so strongly, that I instituted a search for the book, and +at last unearthed it from the bottom of a cupboard where it had +been placed, as if on purpose, under a heap of other books. +Julie's prolix narrative only enlightened me as to the sad cause of +what I had taken for the oddity of a fidgety and lonely old maid. + +On the other hand, I could not take the ideas of my father's death +so philosophically as Julie accepted them. What were those ideas? +Many a time, in the course of conversation with her, I had vaguely +felt that she was not opening her heart quite freely to me. Her +determined opposition to my plans of a personal inquiry might +proceed from her piety, which would naturally cause her to +disapprove of any thought or project of vengeance, but was there +nothing else, nothing besides that piety in question? Her strange +solicitude for my personal safety, which even led her to entreat me +not to go out unarmed in the evening, or get into an empty +compartment in a train, with other counsels of the same kind, was +no doubt caused by morbid excitement; still her constant and +distressing dread might possibly rest upon a less vague foundation +than I imagined. + +I also recalled, with a certain apprehension, that so soon as she +ceased to be able completely to control her mind these strange +fears took stronger possession of her than before. "What!" said I +to myself, "am I becoming like her, that I let such things occur to +me? Are not these fixed ideas quite natural in a person whose +brain is racked by the mania of persecution, and who has lost a +beloved brother under circumstances equally mysterious and +tragical?" + +"She is awake," said Julie, who had taken the maid's place at the +foot of the bed. I approached my aunt and called her by her name. +I then clearly saw her poor face distorted by paralysis. + +She recognized me, and as I bent down to kiss her, she stroked my +cheek with her sound hand. This caress, which was habitual with +her, she repeated slowly several times. I placed her, with Julie's +assistance, on her back, so that she could see me distinctly; she +looked at me for a long time, and two heavy tears fell from the +eyes in which I read boundless tenderness, supreme anguish, and +inexpressible pity. I answered them by my own tears, which she +dried with the back of her hand; then she strove to speak to me, +but could only pronounce an incoherent sentence that struck me to +the heart. She saw, by the expression of my face, that I had not +understood her, and she made a desperate effort to find words in +which to render the thought evidently precise and lucid in her +mind. Once more she uttered an unintelligible phrase, and began +again to make the feeble gesture of despairing helplessness which +had so shocked me at her waking. She appeared, however, to take +courage when I put the question to her: "What do you want of me, +dear aunt?" She made a sign that Julie was to leave the room, and +no sooner were we alone than her face changed. With my help she +was able to slip her hand under her pillow, and withdraw her bunch +of keys; then separating one key from the others she imitated the +opening of a lock. I immediately remembered her groundless fears +of being robbed and I asked her whether she wanted the box to which +that key belonged. It was a small key of a kind that is specially +made for safety locks. I saw that I had guessed aright; she was +able to get out the word "yes," and her eyes brightened. + +"But where is this box?" I asked. Once more she replied by a +sentence of which I could make nothing; and, seeing that she was +relapsing into a state of agitation, with the former heart-rending +movement, I begged her to allow me to question her and to answer by +gestures only. After some minutes, I succeeded in discovering that +the box in question was locked up in one of the two large cupboards +below stairs, and that the key of the cupboard was on the ring with +the others. I went downstairs, leaving her alone, as she had +desired me by signs to do. I had no difficulty in finding the +casket to which the little key adapted itself; although it was +carefully placed behind a bonnet-box and a case of silver forks. +The casket was of sweet-scented wood, and the initials J. C. were +inlaid upon the lid in gold and platinum. J. C., Justin Cornelies-- +so, it had belonged to my father. I tried the key in the lock, to +make quite sure that I was not mistaken. + +I then raised the lid, and glanced at the contents almost +mechanically, supposing that I was about to find a roll of business +papers, probably shares, a few trinket-cases, and rouleaux of +napoleons, a small treasure in fact, hidden away from motives of +fear. Instead of this, I beheld several small packets carefully +wrapped in paper, each being endorsed with the words, "Justin's +Letters," and the year in which they were written. My aunt had +preserved these letters with the same pious care that had kept her +from allowing anything whatever belonging to him in whom the +deepest affection of her life had centered, to be lost, parted +with, or injured. + +But why had she never spoken to me of this treasure, which was more +precious to me than to anyone else in the world? I asked myself +that question as I closed the box; then I reflected that no doubt +she desired to retain the letters to the last hour of her life; +and, satisfied with this explanation, I went upstairs again. + +From the doorway my eyes met hers, and I could not mistake their +look of impatience and intense anxiety. I placed the little coffer +on her bed and she instantly opened it, took out a packet of +letters, then another, finally kept only one out, replaced those +she had removed at first, locked the box, and signed to me to place +it on the chest of drawers. While I was clearing away the things +on the top of the drawers, to make a clear space for the box, I +caught sight, in the glass opposite to me, of the sick woman. By a +great effort she had turned herself partly on her side, and she was +trying to throw the packet of letters which she had retained into +the fireplace; it was on the right of her bed, and only about a +yard away from the foot. But she could hardly raise herself at +all, the movement of her hand was too weak, and the little parcel +fell on the floor. I hastened to her, to replace her head on the +pillows and her body in the middle of the bed, and then, with her +powerless arm she again began to make that terrible gesture of +despair, clutching the sheet with her thin fingers, while tears +streamed from her poor eyes. + +Ah! how bitterly ashamed I am of what I am going to write in this +place! I will write it, however, for I have sworn to myself that I +will be true, even to the avowal of that fault, even to the avowal +of a worse still. I had no difficulty in understanding what was +passing in my aunt's mind; the little packet--it had fallen on the +carpet close to the fender--evidently contained letters which she +wished to destroy, so that I should not read them. She might have +burned them, dreading as she did their fatal influence upon me, +long since; yet I understood why she had shrunk from doing this, +year after year, I, who knew with what idolatry she worshipped the +smallest objects that had belonged to my father. Had I not seen +her put away the blotting-book which he used when he came to +Compiegne, with the paper and envelopes that were in it at his last +visit? + +Yes, she had gone on waiting, still waiting, before she could bring +herself to part forever with those dear and dangerous letters, and +then her sudden illness came, and with it the terrible thought that +these papers would come into my possession. I could also take into +account that the unreasonable distrust which she had yielded to of +late had prevented her from asking Jean or Julie for the little +coffer. This was the secret--I understood it on the instant--of +the poor thing's impatience for my arrival, the secret also of the +trouble I had witnessed. And now her strength had betrayed her. +She had vainly endeavored to throw the letters into the fire, that +fire which she could hear crackling, without being able to raise +her head so as to see the flame. All these notions which presented +themselves suddenly to my thoughts took form afterwards; at the +moment they melted into pity for the suffering of the helpless +creature before me. + +"Do not disturb yourself, dear aunt," said I, as I drew the +coverlet up to her shoulders, "I am going to burn those letters." + +She raised her eyes, full of eager supplication. I closed the lids +with my lips and stooped to pick up the little packet. On the +paper in which it was folded, I distinctly read this date: "1864-- +Justin's letters." 1864! that was the last year of my father's +life. I know it, I feel it, that which I did was infamous; the +last wishes of the dying are sacred. I ought not, no, I ought not +to have deceived her who was on the point of leaving me forever. I +heard her breathing quicken at that very moment. Then came a +whirlwind of thought too strong for me. If my Aunt Louise was so +wildly, passionately eager that those letters should be burned, it +was because they could put me on the right track of vengeance. +Letters written in the last year of my father's life, and she had +never spoken of them to me! I did not reason, I did not hesitate, +in a lightning-flash I perceived the possibility of learning--what? +I know not; but--of learning. Instead of throwing the packet of +letters into the fire, I flung it to one side, under a chair, +returned to the bedside and told her in a voice which I endeavored +to keep steady and calm, that her directions had been obeyed, that +the letters were burning. She took my hand and kissed it. Oh, +what a stab that gentle caress inflicted upon me! I knelt down by +her bedside, and hid my head in the sheets, so that her eyes should +not meet mine. Alas! it was not for long that I had to dread her +glance. At ten she fell asleep, but at noon her restlessness +recurred. At two the priest came, and administered the last +sacraments to her. She had a second stroke towards evening, never +recovered consciousness, and died in the night. + + +VI + + +At three o'clock in the morning Julie came in to take my place, and +I retired to my room, which was on the same floor as my aunt's. A +boxroom divided the two. I threw myself on my bed, worn out with +fatigue, and nature triumphed over my grief. I fell into that +heavy sleep which follows the expenditure of nerve power, and from +which one awakes able to bear life again and to carry the load that +seemed unendurable. When I awoke it was day, and the wintry sky +was dull and dark like that of yesterday, but it also wore a +threatening aspect, from the great masses of black cloud that +covered it. I went to the window and looked out for a long time at +the gloomy landscape closed in by the edge of the forest. I note +these small details in order that I may more faithfully recall my +exact impression at the time. In turning away from the window and +going towards the fire which the maid had just lighted, my eye fell +upon the packet of letters stolen from my aunt. Yes, stolen--'tis +the word. It was in the place where I had put it last night, on +the mantel-shelf, with my purse, rings, and cigar-case. I took up +the little parcel with a beating heart. I had only to stretch out +my hand and those papers would fall into the flames and my aunt's +dying wish be accomplished. I sank into an easy-chair and watched +the yellow flame gaining on the logs, while I weighed the packet in +my hand. I thought there must be a good many letters in it. I +suffered from the physical uneasiness of indecision. I am not +trying to justify this second failure of my loyalty to my dear +aunt, I am trying to understand it. + +Those letters were not mine, I never ought to have appropriated +them. I ought now to destroy them unopened; all the more that the +excitement of the first moment, the sudden rush of ideas which had +prevented me from obeying the agonized supplication of my poor +aunt, had subsided. I asked myself once more what was the cause of +her misery, while I gazed at the inscription upon the cover, in my +aunt's hand: "Justin's Letters, 1864." The very room which I +occupied was an evil counsellor to me in this strife between an +indisputable duty and my ardent desire to know; for it had formerly +been my father's room, and the furniture had not been changed since +his time. The color of the hangings was faded, that was all. He +had warmed himself by a fire which burned upon that self-same +hearth, and he had used the same low, wide chair in which I now +sat, thinking many somber thoughts. He had slept in the bed from +which I had just risen, he had written at the table on which I +rested my arms. No, that room deprived me of free will to act, it +made my father too living. It was as though the phantom of the +murdered man had come out of his grave to entreat me to keep the +oft-sworn vow of vengeance. Had these letters offered me no more +than one single chance, one against a thousand, of obtaining one +single indication of the secrets of my father's private life, I +could not have hesitated. With such sacrilegious reasoning as this +did I dispel the last scruples of pious respect; but I had no need +of arguments for yielding to the desire which increased with every +moment. + +I had there before me those letters, the last his hand had traced; +those letters which would lay bare to me the recesses of his life, +and I was not to read them! What an absurdity! Enough of such +childish hesitation. I tore off the cover which hid the papers; +the yellow sheets with their faded characters shook in my hands. I +recognized the compact, square, clear writing, with spaces between +the words. The dates had been omitted by my father in several +instances, and then my aunt had repaired the omission by writing in +the day of the month herself. My poor aunt! this pious carefulness +was a fresh testimony to her constant tenderness; and yet, in my +wild excitement I no longer thought of her who lay dead within a +few yards of me. + +Presently Julie came to consult me upon all the material details +which accompany death; but I told her I was too much overwhelmed, +that she must do as she thought fit, and leave me quite alone for +the whole of the morning. Then I plunged so deeply into the +reading of the letters, that I forgot the hour, the events taking +place around me, forgot to dress myself, to eat, even to go and +look upon her whom I had lost while yet I could behold her face. +Traitor and ingrate that I was! I had devoured only a few lines +before I understood only too well why she had been desirous to +prevent me from drinking the poison which entered with each +sentence into my heart, as it had entered into hers. Terrible, +terrible letters! Now it was as though the phantom had spoken, and +a hidden drama of which I had never dreamed unfolded itself before +me. + +I was quite a child when the thousand little scenes which this +correspondence recorded in detail took place. I was too young then +to solve the enigma of the situation; and, since, the only person +who could have initiated me into that dark history was she who had +concealed the existence of the too-eloquent papers from me all her +life long, and on her deathbed had been more anxious for their +destruction than for her eternal salvation--she, who had no doubt +accused herself of having deferred the burning of them from day to +day as of a crime. When at last she had brought herself to do +this, it was too late. + +The first letter, written in January, 1864, began with thanks to my +aunt for her New Year's gift to me--a fortress with tin soldiers-- +with which I was delighted, said the letter, because the cavalry +were in two pieces, the man detaching himself from his horse. +Then, suddenly, the commonplace sentences changed into utterances +of mournful tenderness. An anxious mind, a heart longing for +affection, and discontent with the existing state of things, might +be discerned in the tone of regret with which the brother dwelt +upon his childhood, and the days when his own and his sister's life +were passed together. There was a repressed repining in that first +letter that immediately astonished and impressed me, for I had +always believed my father and mother to have been perfectly happy +with each other. Alas! that repining did but grow and also take +definite form as I read on. My father wrote to his sister every +Sunday, even when he had seen her in the course of the week. As it +frequently happens in cases of regular and constant correspondence, +the smallest events were recorded in minute detail, so that all our +former daily life was resuscitated in my thoughts as I perused the +lines, but accompanied by a commentary of melancholy which revealed +irreparable division between those whom I had believed to be so +closely united. Again I saw my father in his dressing-gown, as he +greeted me in the morning at seven o'clock, on coming out of his +room to breakfast with me before I started for school at eight. He +would go over my lessons with me briefly, and then we would seat +ourselves at the table (without a tablecloth) in the dining-room, +and Julie would bring us two cups of chocolate, deliciously +sweetened to my childish taste. My mother rose much later, and, +after my school days, my father occupied a separate room in order +to avoid waking her so early. How I enjoyed that morning meal, +during which I prattled at my ease, talking of my lessons, my +exercises, and my schoolmates! What a delightful recollection I +retained of those happy, careless, cordial hours! In his letters +my father also spoke of our early breakfasts, but in a way that +showed how often he was wounded by finding out from my talk that my +mother took too little care of me, according to his notions--that I +filled too small a place in her dreamy, wilfully frivolous life. +There were passages which the then future had since turned into +prophecies. "Were I to be taken from him, what would become of +him?" was one of these. At ten I came back from school; by that +time my father would be occupied with his business. I had lessons +to prepare, and I did not see him again until half-past eleven, at +the second breakfast. Then mamma would appear in one of those +tasteful morning costumes which suited her slender and supple +figure so well. From afar, and beyond the cold years of my +boyhood, that family table came before me like a mirage of warm +homelife; how often had it become a sort of nostalgia to me when I +sat between my mother and M. Termonde on my horrid half-holidays. + +And now I found proof in my father's letters that a divorce of the +heart already existed between the two persons who, to my filial +tenderness, were but one. My father loved his wife passionately, +and he felt that his wife did not love him. This was the feeling +continually expressed in his letters--not in words so plain and +positive, indeed; but how should I, whose boyhood had been +strangely analogous with this drama of a man's life, have failed to +perceive the secret signification of all he wrote? My father was +taciturn, like me--even more so than I--and he allowed irreparable +misunderstandings to grow up between my mother and himself. Like +me afterwards, he was passionate, awkward, hopelessly timid in the +presence of that proud, aristocratic woman, so different from him, +the self-made man of almost peasant origin, who had risen to +professional prosperity by the force of his genius. Like me--ah! +not more than I--he had known the torture of false positions, which +cannot be explained except by words that one will never have +courage to utter. And, oh, the pity of it, that destiny should +thus repeat itself; the same tendencies of the mind developing +themselves in the son after they had developed themselves in the +father, so that the misery of both should be identical! + +My father's letters breathed sighs that my mother had never +suspected--vain sighs for a complete blending of their two hearts; +tender sighs for the fond dream of fully-shared happiness; +despairing sighs for the ending of a moral separation, all the more +complete because its origin was not to be sought in their +respective faults (mutual love pardons everything), but in a +complete, almost animal, contrast between the two natures. Not one +of his qualities was pleasing to her; all his defects were +displeasing to her. And he adored her. I had seen enough of many +kinds of ill-assorted unions since I had been going about in +society, to understand in full what a silent hell that one must +have been, and the two figures rose up before me in perfect +distinctness. I saw my mother with her gestures--a little +affectation was, so to speak, natural to her--the delicacy of her +hands, her fair, pale complexion, the graceful turn of her head, +her studiously low-pitched voice, the something un-material that +pervaded her whole person, her eyes, whose glance could be so cold, +so disdainful; and, on the other hand, I saw my father with his +robust, workingman's frame, his hearty laugh when he allowed +himself to be merry, the professional, utilitarian, in fact, +plebeian, aspect of him, in his ideas and ways, his gestures and +his discourse. But the plebeian was so noble, so lofty in his +generosity, in his deep feeling. He did not know how to show that +feeling; therein lay his crime. On what wretched trifles, when we +think of it, does absolute felicity or irremediable misfortune +depend! + +The name of M. Termonde occurred several times in the earlier +letters, and, when I came to the eleventh, I found it mentioned in +a way which brought tears to my eyes, set my hands shaking, and +made my heart leap as at the sound of a cry of sharp agony. In the +pages which he had written during the night--the writing showed how +deeply he was moved--the husband, hitherto so self-restrained, +acknowledged to his sister, his kind and faithful confidante, that +he was jealous. He was jealous, and of whom? Of that very man who +was destined to fill his place at our fireside, to give a new name +to her who had been Madame Cornelis; of the man with cat-like ways, +with pale eyes, whom my childish instinct had taught me to regard +with so precocious and so fixed a hate. He was jealous of Jacques +Termonde. In his sudden confession he related the growth of this +jealousy, with the bitterness of tone that relieves the heart of +misery too long suppressed. In that letter, the first of a series +which death only was destined to interrupt, he told how far back +was the date of his jealousy, and how it awoke to life with his +detection of one look cast at my mother by Termonde. He told how +he had at once suspected a dawning passion on the part of this man, +then that Termonde had gone away on a long journey, and that he, my +father, had attributed his absence to the loyalty of a sincere +friend, to a noble effort to fight from the first against a +criminal feeling. Termonde came back; his visits to us were soon +resumed, and they became more frequent than before. There was +every reason for this; my father had been his chum at the Ecole de +Droit, and would have chosen him to be his best man at his marriage +had not Termonde's diplomatic functions kept him out of France at +the time. In this letter and the following ones my father +acknowledged that he had been strongly attached to Termonde, so +much so, indeed, that he had considered his own jealousy as an +unworthy feeling and a sort of treachery. But it is all very well +to reproach one's self for a passion; it is there in our hearts all +the same, tearing and devouring them. After Termonde's return, my +father's jealousy increased, with the certainty that the man's love +for the wife of his friend was also growing; and yet, the unhappy +husband did not think himself entitled to forbid him the house. +Was not his wife the most pure and upright of women? Her very +inclination to mysticism and exaggerated devotion, although he +sometimes found fault with her for it, was a pledge that she would +never yield to anything by which her conscience could be stained. +Besides, Termonde's assiduity was accompanied by such evident, such +absolute respect, that it afforded no ground for reproach. What +was he to do? Have an explanation with his wife--he who could not +bring himself to enter upon the slightest discussion with her? +Require her to decline to receive his own friend? But, if she +yielded, he would have deprived her of a real pleasure, and for +that he should be unable to forgive himself. If she did not yield? +So, my poor father had preferred to toss about in that Gehenna of +weakness and indecision wherein dwell timid and taciturn souls. +All this misery he revealed to my aunt, dwelling upon the morbid +nature of his feelings, imploring advice and pity, deciding and +blaming the puerility of his jealousy, but jealous all the same, +unable to refrain from recurring again and again to the open wound +in his heart, and incapable of the energy and decision that would +have cured it. + +The letters became more and more gloomy, as it always happens when +one has not at once put an end to a false position; my father +suffered from the consequences of his weakness, and allowed them to +develop without taking action, because he could not now have +checked them without painful scenes. After having tolerated the +increased frequency of his friend's visits, it was torture to him +to observe that his wife was sensibly influenced by this +encroaching intimacy. He perceived that she took Termonde's advice +on all little matters of daily life--upon a question of dress, the +purchase of a present, the choice of a book. He came upon the +traces of the man in the change of my mother's tastes, in music for +instance. When we were alone in the evenings, he liked her to go +to the piano and play to him, for hours together, at haphazard; now +she would play nothing but pieces selected by Termonde, who had +acquired an extensive knowledge of the German masters during his +residence abroad. My father, on the contrary, having been brought +up in the country with his sister, who was herself taught by a +provincial music-master, retained his old-fashioned taste for +Italian music. + +My mother belonged, by her own family, to a totally different +sphere of society from that into which her marriage with my father +had introduced her. At first she did not feel any regret for her +former circle, because her extreme beauty secured her a triumphant +success in the new one; but it was another thing when her intimacy +with Termonde, who moved in the most worldly and elegant of the +Parisian "world," was perpetually reminding her of all its +pleasures and habits. My father saw that she was bored and weary +while doing the honors of her own salon with an absent mind. He +even found the political opinions of his friend echoed by his wife, +who laughed at him for what she called his Utopian liberalism. Her +mockery had no malice in it; but still it was mockery, and behind +it was Termonde, always Termonde. Nevertheless, he said nothing, +and the shyness, which he had always felt in my mother's presence +increased with his jealousy. The more unhappy he was, the more +incapable of expressing his pain he became. There are minds so +constituted that suffering paralzes them into inaction. And then +there was the ever-present question, what was he to do? How was he +to approach an explanation, when he had no positive accusation to +bring? He remained perfectly convinced of the fidelity of his +wife, and he again and again affirmed this, entreating my aunt not +to withdraw a particle of her esteem from his dear Marie, and +imploring her never to make an allusion to the sufferings of which +he was ashamed, before their innocent cause. And then he dwelt +upon his own faults; he accused himself of lack of tenderness, of +failing to win love, and would draw pictures of his sorrowful home, +in a few words, with heart-rending humility. + +Rough, commonplace minds know nothing of the scruples that rent and +tortured my father's soul. They say, "I am jealous," without +troubling themselves as to whether the words convey an insult or +not. They forbid the house to the person to whom they object, and +shut their wives mouths with, "Am I master here?" taking heed of +their own feelings merely. Are they in the right? I know not; I +only know that such rough methods were impossible to my poor +father. He had sufficient strength to assume an icy mien towards +Termonde, to address him as seldom as possible, to give him his +hand with the insulting politeness that makes a gulf between two +sincere friends; but Termonde affected unconsciousness of all this. +My father, who did not want to have a scene with him, because the +immediate consequence would have been another scene with my mother, +multiplied these small affronts, and then Termonde simply changed +the time of his visits, and came during my father's business hours. +How vividly my father depicted his stormy rage at the idea that his +wife and the man of whom he was jealous were talking together, +undisturbed, in the flower-decked salon, while he was toiling to +procure all the luxury that money could purchase for that wife who +could never, never love him, although he believed her faithful. +But, oh, that cold fidelity was not what he longed for--he who +ended his letter by these words--how often have I repeated them to +myself: + +"It is so sad to feel that one is in the way in one's own house, +that one possesses a woman by every right, that she gives one all +that her duty obliges her to give, all, except her heart, which is +another's unknown to herself, perhaps, unless, indeed, that-- My +sister, there are terrible hours in which I say to myself that I am +a fool, a coward, that they laugh together at me, at my blindness, +my stupid trust. Do not scold me, dear Louise. This idea is +infamous, and I drive it away by taking refuge with you, to whom, +at least, I am all the world." + +"Unless, indeed, that--" This letter was written on the first +Sunday in June, 1864; and on the following Thursday, four days +later, he who had written it, and had suffered all it revealed, +went out to the appointment at which he met with his mysterious +death, that death by which his wife was set free to marry his felon +friend. What was the idea, as dreadful, as infamous as the idea of +which my father accused himself in his terrible last letter, that +flashed across me now? I placed the packet of papers upon the +mantelpiece, and pressed my two hands to my head, as though to +still the tempest of cruel fancies which made it throb with fever. + +Ah, the hideous, nameless thing! My mind got a glimpse of it only +to reject it. + +But, had not my aunt also been assailed by the same monstrous +suspicion? A number of small facts rose up in my memory, and +convinced me that my father's faithful sister had been a prey to +the same idea which had just laid hold of me so strongly. How many +strange things I now understood, all in a moment! On that day when +she told me of my mother's second marriage, and I spontaneously +uttered the accursed name of Termonde, why had she asked me, in a +trembling voice: "What do you know?" + +What was it she feared that I had guessed? What dreaded +information did she expect to receive from my childish observation +of things? + +Afterwards, and when she implored me to abandon the task of +avenging our beloved dead, when she quoted to me the sacred words, +"Vengeance is mine, saith the Lord," who were the guilty ones whom +she foresaw I must meet on my path? When she entreated me to bear +with my stepfather, even to conciliate him, not to make an enemy of +him, had her advice any object except the greater ease of my daily +life, or did she think danger might come to me from that quarter? +When she became more afraid for me, owing to the weakening of her +brain by illness, and again and again enjoined upon me to beware of +going out alone in the evening, was the vision of terror that came +to her that of a hand which would fain strike me in the dark--the +same hand that had struck my father? When she summoned up all her +strength in her last moments, that she might destroy this +correspondence, what was the clue which she supposed the letters +would furnish? A terrific light shone upon me; what my aunt had +perceived beyond the plain purport of the letters, I too perceived. +Ah! I dared to entertain this idea, yet now I am ashamed to write +it down. But could I have escaped from the hard logic of the +situation? If my aunt had handed over those letters to the Judge +of Instruction in the matter, would he not have arrived at the same +conclusion that I drew from them? No, I could not. A man who has +no known enemies is assassinated; it is alleged that robbery is not +the motive of the murder; his wife has a lover, and shortly after +the death of her husband she marries that lover. "But it is they-- +it is they who are guilty, they have killed the husband," the judge +would say, and so would the first-comer. Why did not my aunt place +those letters of my father's in the hands of justice? I understood +the reason too well; she would not have me think of my mother what +I was now in a fit of distraction thinking. + +To conceive of this as merely possible was to be guilty of moral +parricide, to commit the inexpiable sin against her who had borne +me. I had always loved my mother so tenderly, so mournfully; +never, never had I judged her. How many times--happening to be +alone with her, and not knowing how to tell her what was weighing +on my heart--how many times I had dreamed that the barrier between +us would not for ever divide us. Some day I might, perhaps, become +her only support, then she should see how precious she still was to +me. My sufferings had not lessened my love for her; wretched as I +was because she refused me a certain sort of affection, I did not +condemn her for lavishing that affection upon another. As a matter +of fact, until those fatal letters had done their work of +disenchantment, of what was she guilty in my eyes? Of having +married again? Of having chosen, being left a widow at thirty, to +construct a new life for herself? What could be more legitimate? +Of having failed to understand the relations of the child who +remained to her with the man whom she had chosen? What was more +natural? She was more wife than mother, and besides, fanciful and +fragile beings such as she was recoil from daily contests; they +shrink from facing realities which would demand sustained courage +and energy on their part. I had admitted all these explanations of +my mother's attitude towards me, at first from instinct and +afterwards on reflection. But now, the inexhaustible spring of +indulgence for those who really hold our heart-strings was dried up +in a moment, and a flood of odious, abominable suspicion +overwhelmed me instead. + +This sudden invasion of a horrible, torturing idea was not lasting. +I could not have borne it. Had it implanted itself in me then and +there, definite, overwhelming in evidence, impossible of rejection, +I must have taken a pistol and shot myself, to escape from agony +such as I endured in the few minutes which followed my reading of +the letters. But the tension was relaxed, I reflected, and my love +for my mother began to strive against the horrible suggestion. To +the onslaught of these execrable fancies I opposed the facts, in +their certainty and completeness. I recalled the smallest +particulars of that last occasion on which I saw my father and +mother in each other's presence. It was at the table from which he +rose to go forth and meet his murderer. But was not my mother +cheerful and smiling that morning, as usual? Was not Jacques +Termonde with us at breakfast, and did he not stay on, after my +father had gone out, talking with my mother while I played with my +toys in the room? It was at that very time, between one and two +o'clock, that the mysterious Rochdale committed the crime. + +Termonde could not be, at one and the same moment, in our salon and +at the Imperial Hotel, any more than my mother, impressionable and +emotional as I knew her to be, could have gone on talking quietly +and happily, if she had known that her husband was being murdered +at that very hour. Why, I must have been mad to allow such a +notion to present its monstrous image before my eyes for a single +moment, and it was infamous of me to have gone so far beyond the +most insulting of my father's suspicions. + +Already, and without any proof except the expression of jealousy +acknowledged by himself to be unreasonable, I had reached a point +to which the unhappy but still loving man had not dared to go, even +to the extreme outrage against my mother. What if, during the +lifetime of her first husband, she had inspired him whom she was +one day to marry with too strong a sentiment, did this prove that +she had shared it? If she had shared it, would that have proved +her to be a fallen woman? Why should she not have entertained an +affection for Termonde, which, while it in no wise interfered with +her fidelity to her wifely duties, made my father not unnaturally +jealous? + +Thus did I justify her, not only from any participation in the +crime, but from any failure in her duty. And then again my ideas +changed; I remembered the cry that she had uttered in presence of +my father's dead body: "I am punished by God!" I was not +sufficiently charitable to her to admit that those words might be +merely the utterance of a refined and scrupulous mind which +reproached itself even with its thoughts. I also recalled the +gleaming eyes and shaking hands of Termonde, when he was talking +with my mother about my father's mysterious disappearance. If they +were accomplices, this was a piece of acting performed before me, +an innocent witness, so that they might invoke my childish +testimony on occasion. These recollections once more drove me upon +my fated way. The idea of a guilty tie between her and him now +took possession of me, and then came swiftly the thought that they +had profited by the murder, that they alone had an engrossing +interest in it. So violent was the assault of suspicion that it +overthrew all the barriers I had raised against it. I accumulated +all the objections founded upon a physical alibi and a moral +improbability, and thence I forced myself to say it was, strictly +speaking, impossible they could have anything to do with the +murder; impossible, impossible! I repeated this frantically; but +even as it passed my lips, the hallucination returned, and struck +me down. There are moments when the disordered mind is unable to +quell visions which it knows to be false, when the imaginary and +the real mingle in a nightmare-panic, and the judgment is powerless +to distinguish between them. Who is there that, having been +jealous, does not know this condition of mind? What did I not +suffer from it during the day after I had read those letters! I +wandered about the house, incapable of attending to any duty, +struck stupid by emotions which all around me attributed to grief +for my aunt's death. Several times I tried to sit for a while +beside her bed; but the sight of her pale face, with its pinched +nostrils, and its deepening expression of sadness, was unbearable +to me. It renewed my miserable doubts. + +At four o'clock I received a telegram. It was from my mother, and +announced her arrival by evening train. When the slip of blue +paper was in my hand my wretchedness was for a moment relieved. +She was coming. She had thought of my trouble; she was coming. +That assurance [error in text--line missing] criminal thoughts in +my face? + +But those absurd and infamous notions took possession of me once +more. Perhaps she thinks, so ran my thoughts, that the +correspondence between my father and my aunt had not been +destroyed, and she is coming in order to get hold of those letters +before I see them, and to find out what my aunt said to me when she +was dying. If she and Termonde are guilty, they must have lived in +constant dread of the old maid's penetration. Ah! I had been very +unhappy in my childhood, but how gladly would I have gone back to +be the school-boy, meditating during the dull and interminable +evening hours of study, and not the young man who walked to and fro +that night in the station at Compiegne, awaiting the arrival of a +mother, suspected as mine was. Just God! Did not I expiate +everything in anticipation by that one hour? + + +VII + + +The train from Paris approached, and stopped. The railway +officials called out the name of the station, as they opened the +doors of the carriages one after another, very slowly as it seemed +to me. I went from carriage to carriage seeking my mother. Had +she at the last moment decided not to come! What a trial to me if +it were so! What a night I should have to pass in all the torment +of suspicions which, I knew too well, her mere presence would +dispel. + +A voice called me. It was hers. Then I saw her, dressed in black, +and never in my life did I clasp her in my arms as I did then, +utterly forgetting that we were in a public place, and why she had +come, in the joy of feeling my horrible imaginations vanish, melt +away at the mere touch of the being whom I loved so profoundly, the +only one who was dear to me, notwithstanding our differences, in +the very depths of my heart, now that I had lost my Aunt Louise. + +After that first movement, which resembled the grasp in which a +drowning man seizes the swimmer who dives for him, I looked at my +mother without speaking, holding both her hands. She had thrown +back her veil, and in the flickering light of the station I saw +that she was very pale and had been weeping. I had only to meet +her eyes, which were still wet with tears, to know that I had been +mad. I felt this, with the first words she uttered, telling me so +tenderly of her grief, and that she had resolved to come at once, +although my stepfather was ill. M. Termonde had suffered of late +from frequent attacks of liver-complaint. + +But neither her grief nor her anxiety about her husband had +prevented my poor mother from providing herself, for this little +excursion of a few hours, with all her customary appliances of +comfort and elegance. Her maid stood behind her, accompanied by a +porter, and both were laden with three or four bags of different +sizes, of the best English make, carefully buttoned up in their +waterproof covers; a dressing-case, a writing-case, an elegant +wallet to hold the traveler's purse, handkerchief, book, and second +veil; a hot-water bottle for her feet, two cushions for her head, +and a little clock suspended from a swinging disc. + +"You see," said she, while I was pointing out the carriage to the +maid, so that she might get rid of her impedimenta, "I shall not +have my right mourning until to-morrow"--and now I perceived that +her gown was dark brown and only braided with black--"they could +not have the things ready in time, but will send them as early as +possible." Then, as I placed her in the carriage, she added: +"There is still a trunk and a bonnet-box." She half smiled in +saying this, to make me smile too, for the mass of luggage and the +number of small parcels with which she encumbered herself had been +of old a subject of mild quarrel between us. + +In any other state of mind I should have been pained to find the +unfailing evidence of her frivolity side by side with the mark of +affection she had given me by coming. Was not this one of the +small causes of my great misery? True, but her frivolity was +delightful to me at that moment. This then was the woman whom I +had been picturing to myself as coming to the house of death, with +the sinister purpose of searching my dead aunt's papers and +stealing or destroying any accusing pages which she might find +among them! This was the woman whom I had represented to myself, +that morning, as a criminal steeped in the guilt of a cowardly +murder! Yes! I had been mad! had been like a runaway horse +galloping after its own shadow. But what a relief to make sure +that it was madness, what a blessed relief! It almost made me +forget the dear dead woman. + +I was very sad at heart in reality, and yet I was happy, while we +were rattling through the town in the old coupe, past the long +lines of lighted windows. I held my mother's hand; I longed to beg +her pardon, to kiss the hem of her dress, to tell her again and +again that I loved and revered her. She perceived my emotion very +plainly; but she attributed it to the affliction that had just +befallen me, and she condoled with me. She said, "My Andre," +several times. How rare it was for me to have her thus, all my +own, and just in that mood of feeling for which my sick heart +pined! + +I had had the room on the ground floor, next to the salon, prepared +for my mother. I remembered that she had occupied it, when she +came to Compiegne with my father, a few days after her marriage, +and I felt sure that the impression which would be produced upon +her by the sight of the house in the first instance, and then by +the sight of the room, would help me to get rid of my dreadful +suspicions. I was determined to note minutely the slightest signs +of agitation which she might betray at the contact of a +resuscitated past, rendered more striking by the aspect of things +that do not change so quickly as the heart of a woman. And now, I +blushed for that idea, worthy of a detective; for I felt it a +shameful thing to judge one's mother: one ought to make an Act of +Faith in her which would resist any evidence. I felt this, alas! +all the more, because the innocent woman was quite off her guard, +as was perfectly natural. + +She entered the room with a thoughtful look, seated herself before +the fire, and held her slender feet towards the flames, which +touched her pale cheeks with red; and, with her jet black hair, her +elegant figure, which still retained its youthful grace, she shed +upon the dim twilight of the old-fashioned room that refined and +aristocratic charm of which my father spoke in his letters. She +looked slowly all around her, recognizing most of the things which +my aunt's pious care had preserved in their former place, and said, +sorrowfully: "What recollections!" But there was no bitterness in +the emotion depicted on her face. Ah! no; a woman who is brought, +after twenty years, into the room which she had occupied, as a +bride, with the husband whose murder she had contrived after having +betrayed him, has not such eyes, such a brow, such a mouth as hers. + + +VIII + + +There was but one remedy to be applied to my unbearable malady-- +that remedy which had already been successful in the case of my +suspicions of my mother. I must at once proceed to place the real +in opposition to the suggestions of imagination. I must seek the +presence of the man whom I suspected, look him straight in the +face, and see him as he was, not as my fancy, growing more feverish +day by day, represented him. Then I should discern whether I had +or had not been the sport of a delusion; and the sooner I resorted +to this test the better, for my sufferings were terribly increased +by solitude. + +My head became confused; at last I ceased even to doubt. That +which ought to have been only a faint indication, assumed to my +mind the importance of an overwhelming proof. In the interest of +my inquiry itself it was full time to resist this, if I were ever +to pursue my inquiry farther, or else I should fall into the +nervous state which I knew so well, and which rendered any kind of +action in cold blood impossible to me. + +I made up my mind to leave Compiegne, see my stepfather, and form +my judgment of whether there was or was not anything in my +suspicions upon the first effect produced on him by my sudden and +unexpected appearance before him. I founded this hope on an +argument which I had already used in the case of my mother, namely, +that if M. Termonde had really been concerned in the assassination +of my father, he had dreaded my aunt's penetration beyond all +things. Their relations had been formal, with an undercurrent of +enmity on her part which had assuredly not escaped a man so astute +as he. If he were guilty, would he not have feared that my aunt +would have confided her thoughts to me on her death-bed? The +attitude that he should assume towards me, at and after our first +interview, would be a proof, complete in proportion to its +suddenness, and he must have no time for preparation. + +I returned to Paris, therefore, without having informed even my +valet of my intention, and proceeded almost immediately to my +mother's hotel. + +I rang the bell. + +The door was opened, and the narrow court, the glass porch, the red +carpet of the staircase, were before me. The concierge, who +saluted me, was not he by whom I had fancied myself slighted in my +childhood; but the old valet de chambre who opened the door to me +was the same. His close-shaven face wore its former impassive +expression, the look that used to convey to me such an impression +of insult and insolence when I came home from school. What +childish absurdity! + +To my question the man replied that my mother was in, also H. +Termonde, and Madame Bernard, a friend of theirs. The latter name +brought me back at once to the reality of the situation. Madame +Bernard was a prettyish woman, very slight and very dark, with a +"tip-tilted" nose, frizzy hair worn low upon her forehead, very +white teeth which were continually shown by a constant smile, a +short upper lip, and all the manners and ways of a woman of society +well up to its latest gossip. I fell at once from my fancied +height as an imaginary Grand Judiciary into the shallows of +Parisian frivolity. I felt about to hear chatter upon the last new +play, the latest suit for separation, the latest love affairs, and +the newest bonnet. It was for this that I had eaten my heart out +all these days! + +The servant preceded me to the hall I knew so well, with its +Oriental divan, its green plants, its strange furniture, its +slightly faded carpet, its Meissonier on a draped easel, in the +place formerly occupied by my father's portrait, its crowd of +ornamental trifles, and the wide-spreading Japanese parasol open in +the middle of the ceiling. The walls were hung with large pieces +of Chinese stuff embroidered in black and white silk. My mother +was half-reclining in an American rocking-chair, and shading her +face from the fire with a hand-screen; Madame Bernard, who sat +opposite to her, was holding her muff with one hand and +gesticulating with the other; M. Termonde, in walking-dress, was +standing with his back to the chimney, smoking a cigar, and warming +the sole of one of his boots. + +On my appearance, my mother uttered a little cry of glad surprise, +and rose to welcome me. Madame Bernard instantly assumed the air +with which a well-bred woman prepares to condole with a person of +her acquaintance upon a bereavement. All these little details I +perceived in a moment, and also the shrug of M. Termonde's +shoulders, the quick flutter of his eyelids, the rapidly-dismissed +expression of disagreeable surprise which my sudden appearance +called forth. But what then? Was it not the same with myself? I +could have sworn that at the same moment he experienced sensations +exactly similar to those which were catching me at the chest and by +the throat. What did this prove but that a current of antipathy +existed between him and me? Was it a reason for the man's being a +murderer? He was simply my stepfather, and a stepfather who did +not like his stepson. + +Matters had stood thus for years, and yet, after the week of +miserable suspicion I had lived through, the quick look and shrug +struck me strangely, even while I took his hand after I had kissed +my mother and saluted Madame Bernard. His hand? No, only his +finger tips as usual, and they trembled a little as I touched them. +How often had my own hand shrunk with unconquerable repugnance from +that contact! I listened while he repeated the same phrases of +sympathy with my sorrow which he had already written to me while I +was at Compiegne. I listened while Madame Bernard uttered other +phrases to the same effect; and then the conversation resumed its +course, and, during the half-hour that ensued, I looked on, +speaking hardly at all, but mentally comparing the physiognomy of +my stepfather with that of the visitor, and that of my mother. The +contemplation of those three faces produced a curious impression +upon me; it was that of their difference, not only of age, but of +intensity, of depth. There was no mystery in my mother's face, it +was as easy to read as a page in dear handwriting! The mind of +Madame Bernard, a worldly, trumpery, poor mind, but harmless +enough, was readily to be discerned in her features which were at +once refined and commonplace. How little there was of reflection, +of decision, of exercise of will, in short of individuality, behind +the poetic grace of the one and the pretty affectations of the +other! What a face, on the contrary, was that of my stepfather, +with its strong individuality, and its vivid expression! In this +man of the world, as he stood there talking with two women of the +world, in his blue, furtive eyes, too wide apart, and always +seeming to shun observation, in his prematurely gray hair, his +mouth set round with deep wrinkles, in his dark, blotched, bilious +complexion, there seemed to be a creature of another race. What +passions had worn those furrows? what vigils had hollowed those +eyeballs? Was this the face of a happy man, with whom everything +had succeeded, who, having been born to wealth and of an excellent +family, had married the woman he loved; who had known neither the +wearing cares of ambition, the toil of money-getting, nor the +stings of wounded self-love? It is true, he suffered from liver +complaint; but why was it that, although I had hitherto been +satisfied with this answer, it now appeared to me childish and even +foolish? Why did all these marks of trouble and exhaustion +suddenly strike me as effects of a secret cause, and why was I +astonished that I had not sooner sought for it? Why was it that in +his presence, contrary to my expectations, contrary to what had +happened about my mother, I was plunged more deeply into the gulf +of suspicion from which I had hoped to emerge with a free mind? +Why, when our eyes met for just one second, was I afraid that he +might read my thoughts in my glance, and why did I shift them with +a pang of shame and terror? Ah! coward that I was, triple coward! +Either I was wrong to think thus, and at any price I must know that +I was wrong; or, I was right and I must know that too. The sole +resource henceforth remaining to me for the preservation of my +self-respect was ardent and ceaseless search after certainty. + +That such a search was beset with difficulty I was well aware. How +was I to get at facts? The very position of the problem which I +had before me forbade all hope of discovering anything whatsoever +by a formal inquiry. What, in fact, was the matter in question? +It was to make myself certain whether M. Termonde was or was not +the accomplice of the man who had led my father into the trap in +which he had lost his life. But I did not know that man himself; I +had no data to go upon except the particulars of his disguise and +the vague speculations of a Judge of Instruction. If I could only +have consulted that Judge, and availed myself of his experience? +How often since have I taken out the packet containing the +denunciatory letters, with the intention of showing them to him and +imploring advice, support, suggestions, from him. But I have +always stopped short before the door of his house; the thought of +my mother barred its entrance against me. What if he, the Judge of +Instruction in the case, were to suspect her as my aunt had done? +Then I would go back to my own abode, and shut myself up for hours, +lying on the divan in my smoking-room and drugging my senses with +tobacco. During that time I read and re-read the fatal letters, +although I knew them by heart, in order to verify my first +impression with the hope of dispelling it. It was, on the +contrary, deepened. The only gain I obtained from my repeated +perusals was the knowledge that this certainty, of which I had made +a point of honor to myself, could only be psychological. In short, +all my fancies started from the moral data of the crime, apart from +physical data which I could not obtain. I was therefore obliged to +rely entirely, absolutely, upon those moral data, and I began again +to reason as I had done at Compiegne. "Supposing," said I to +myself, "that M. Termonde is guilty, what state of mind must he be +in? This state of mind being once ascertained, how can I act so as +to wrest some sign of his guilt from him?" As to his state of mind +I had no doubt. Ill and depressed as I knew him to be, his mind +troubled to the point of torment, if that suffering, that gloom, +that misery were accompanied by the recollection of a murder +committed in the past, the man was the victim of secret remorse. +The point was then to invent a plan which should give, as it were, +a form to his remorse, to raise the specter of the deed he had done +roughly and suddenly before him. If guilty, it was impossible but +that he would tremble; if innocent, he would not even be aware of +the experiment. But how was this sudden summoning-up of his crime +before the man whom I suspected to be accomplished? On the stage +and in novels one confronts an assassin with the spectacle of his +crime, and keeps watch upon his face for the one second during +which he loses his self-possession; but in reality there is no +instrument except unwieldy, unmanageable speech wherewith to probe +a human conscience. I could not, however, go straight to M. +Termonde and say to his face: "You had my father killed!" Innocent +or guilty, he would have had me turned from the door as a madman! + +After several hours of reflection, I came to the conclusion that +only one plan was reasonable, and available: this was to have a +private talk with my stepfather at a moment when he would least +expect it, an interview in which all should be hints, shades, +double meanings, in which each word should be like the laying of a +finger upon the sorest spots in his breast, if indeed his +reflections were those of a murderer. + +Every sentence of mine must be so contrived as to force him to ask +himself: "Why does he say this to me if he knows nothing? He does +know something. How much does he know?" + +So well acquainted was I with every physical trait of his, the +slightest variations of his countenance, his simplest gestures, +that no sign of disturbance on his part, however slight, could +escape me. If I did not succeed in discovering the seat of the +malady by this process, I should be convinced of the baselessness +of those suspicions which were constantly springing up afresh in my +mind since the death of my aunt. I would then admit the simple and +probable explanation--nothing in my father's letters discredited +it--that M. Termonde had loved my mother without hope in the +lifetime of her first husband, and had then profited by her +widowhood, of which he had not even ventured to think. + +If, on the contrary, I observed during our interview that he was +alive to my suspicions, that he divined them, and anxiously +followed my words; if I surprised that swift gleam in his eye which +reveals the instinctive terror of an animal, attacked at the moment +of its fancied security, if the experiment succeeded, then--then--I +dared not think of what then? + +The mere possibility was too overwhelming. + +But should I have the strength to carry on such a conversation? At +the mere thought of it my heart-beats were quickened, and my nerves +thrilled. What! this was the first opportunity that had been +offered to me of action, of devoting myself to the task of +vengeance, so coveted, so fully accepted during all my early years, +and I could hesitate? + +Happily, or unhappily, I had near me a counsellor stronger than my +doubts, my father's portrait, which was hung in my smoking-room. +When I awoke in the night and plunged into those thoughts, I would +light my candle and go to look at the picture. How like we were to +each other, my father and I, although I was more slightly built! +How exactly the same we were! How near to me I felt him, and how +dearly I loved him! With what emotion I studied those features, +the lofty forehead, the brown eyes, the rather large mouth, the +rather long chin, the mouth especially half-hidden by a black +moustache cut like my own; it had no need to open, and cry out: +"Andre, Andre, remember me!" Ah, no, my dear dead father, I could +not leave you thus, without having done my utmost to avenge you, +and it was only an interview to be faced, only an interview! + +My nervousness gave way to determination at once feverish and +fixed--yes, it was both--and it was in a mood of perfect self- +mastery, that, after a long period of mental conflict, I repaired +to the hotel on the boulevard, with the plan of my discourse +clearly laid out. I felt almost sure of finding my stepfather +alone; for my mother was to breakfast on that day with Madame +Bernard. M. Termonde was at home, and, as I expected, alone in his +study. + +When I entered the room, he was sitting in a low chair, close to +the fire, looking chilly, and smoking. Like myself in my dark +hours, he drugged himself with tobacco. The room was a large one, +and both luxurious and ordinary. A handsome bookcase lined one of +the walls. Its contents were various, ranging from grave works on +history and political economy, to the lightest novels of the day. +A large, flat writing-table, on which every kind of writing- +material was carefully arranged, occupied the middle of the room, +and was adorned with photographs in plain leather cases. These +were portraits of my mother and M. Termonde's father and mother. +At least one prominent trait of its owner's character, his +scrupulous attention to order and correctness of detail, was +revealed by the aspect of my stepfather's study; but this quality, +which is common to so many persons of his position in the world, +may belong to the most commonplace character as well as to the most +refined hypocrite. It was not only in the external order and +bearing of his life that my stepfather was impenetrable, none could +tell whether profound thoughts were or were not hidden behind his +politeness and elegance of manner. I had often reflected on this, +at a period when as yet I had no stronger motive for examining into +the recesses of the man's character than curiosity, and the +impression came to me with extreme intensity at the moment when I +entered his presence with a firm resolve to read in the book of his +past life. + +We shook hands, I took a seat opposite to his on the other side of +the hearth, lighted a cigar, and said, as if to explain my +unaccustomed presence: + +"Mamma is not here?" + +"Did she not tell you, the other day, that she was to breakfast +with Madame Bernard? There's an expedition to Lozano's studio" +(Lozano was a Spanish painter much in vogue just then), "to see a +portrait he is painting of Madame Bernard. Is there anything you +want to have told to your mother?" he added, simply. + +These few words were sufficient to show me that he had remarked the +singularity of my visit. Ought I to regret or to rejoice at this? +He was, then, already aware that I had some particular motive for +coming; but this very fact would give all their intended weight to +my words. I began by turning the conversation on an indifferent +matter, talking of the painter Lozano and a good picture of his +which I knew, "A Gipsy-dance in a Tavern-yard at Grenada." I +described the bold attitudes, the pale complexions, the Moorish +faces of the "gitanas," and the red carnations stuck into the heavy +braids of their black hair, and I questioned him about Spain. + +He answered me, but evidently out of mere politeness. + +While continuing to smoke his cigar, he raked the fire with the +tongs, taking up one small piece of charred wood after another +between their points. By the quivering of his fingers, the only +sign of his nervous sensitiveness which he was unable entirely to +keep down, I could observe that my presence was then, as it always +was, disagreeable to him. Nevertheless he talked on with his +habitual courtesy, in his low voice, almost without tone or accent, +as though he had trained himself to talk thus. His eyes were fixed +on the flame, and his face, which I saw in profile, wore the +expression of infinite weariness that I knew well, in indescribable +stillness and sadness, with long deep lines, and the mouth was +contracted as though by some bitter thought ever present. +Suddenly, I looked straight at that detested profile, concentrating +all the attention I had in me upon it, and, passing from one +subject to another without transition, I said: + +"I paid a very interesting visit this morning." + +"In that you are agreeably distinguished from me," was his reply, +made in a tone of utter indifference, "for I wasted my morning in +putting my correspondence in order." + +"Yes," I continued, "very interesting. I passed two hours with M. +Massol." + +I had reckoned a good deal on the effect of this name, which must +have instantly recalled the inquiry into the mystery of the +Imperial Hotel to his memory. The muscles of his face did not +move. He laid down the tongs, leaned back in his chair, and said +in an absent manner: + +"The former Judge of Instruction? What is he doing now?" + +Was it possible that he really did not know where the man, whom, if +he were guilty, he ought to have dreaded most of all men, was then +living? How was I to know whether this indifference was feigned? +The trap I had set appeared to me all at once a childish notion. +Admitting that my stepfather's pulses were even now throbbing with +fever, and that he was saying to himself with dread: "What is he +coming to? What does he mean?" why, this was a reason why he +should conceal his emotion all the more carefully. No matter. I +had begun; I was bound to go on, and to hit hard. + +"M. Massol is Counsellor to the Court," I replied, and I added-- +although this was not true--"I see him often. We were talking this +morning of criminals who have escaped punishment. Only fancy his +being convinced that Troppman had an accomplice. He founds his +belief on the details of the crime, which presuppose two men, he +says. If this be true it must be admitted that 'Messieurs les +assassins' have a kind of honor of their own, however odd that may +appear, since the child-killing monster let his own head be cut off +without denouncing the other. Nevertheless, the accomplice must +have put some bad time over him, after the discovery of the bodies +and the arrest of his comrade. I, for my part, would not trust to +that honor, and if the humor took me to commit a crime, I should do +it by myself. Would you?" I asked jestingly. + +These two little words meant nothing, were merely an insignificant +jest, if the man to whom I put my odd question was innocent. But, +if he were guilty, those two little words were enough to freeze the +marrow in his bones. He surrounded himself with smoke while +listening to me, his eye-lids half veiled his eyes; I could no +longer see his left hand, which hung over the far side of his +chair, and he had put the right into the pocket of his morning- +coat. There was a short pause before he answered me--very short-- +but the interval, perhaps a minute, that divided his reply from my +question, was a burning one for me. But what of this? It was not +his way to speak in a hurry; and besides, my question had nothing +interesting in it if he were not guilty, and if he were, would he +not have to calculate the bearing of the phrase which he was about +to utter with the quickness of thought? He closed his eyes +completely--his constant habit--and said, in the unconcerned tone +of a man who is talking generalities: + +"It is a fact that scraps of conscience do remain intact in very +depraved individuals. One sees instances of this especially in +countries where habits and morals are more genuine and true to +nature than ours. There's Spain, for instance, the country that +interests you so much; when I lived in Spain, it was still infested +by brigands. One had to make treaties with them in order to cross +the Sierras in safety; there was no case known in which they broke +the contract. The history of celebrated criminal cases swarms with +scoundrels who have been excellent friends, devoted sons, and +constant lovers. But I am of your opinion, and I think it is best +not to count too much upon them." + +He smiled as he uttered the last words, and now he looked full at +me with those light blue eyes which were so mysterious and +impassible. No, I was not of stature to cope with him, to read his +heart by force. It needed capacity of another kind than mine to +play in the case of this personage the part of the magnate of +police who magnetizes a criminal. And yet, why did my suspicions +gather force as I felt the masked, dissimulating, guarded nature of +the man in all its strength? Are there not natures so constituted +that they shut themselves up without cause, just as others reveal +themselves; are there not souls that love darkness as others love +daylight? Courage, then, let me strike again. + +"M. Massol and I," I resumed, "have been talking about what kind of +life Troppmann's accomplice must be leading; and also Rochdale's; +for neither of us has relinquished the intention of finding him. +Before M. Massol's retirement he took the precaution to bar the +limitation by a formal notice, and we have several years before us +in which to search for the man. Do these criminals sleep in peace? +Are they punished by remorse, or by the apprehension of danger, +even in their momentary security? It would be strange if they were +both at this moment good, quiet citizens, smoking their cigars like +you and me, loved and loving. Do you believe in remorse?" + +"Yes, I do believe in remorse," he answered. + +Was it the contrast between the affected levity of my speech, and +the seriousness with which he had spoken, that caused his voice to +sound grave and deep to my ears? No, no; I was deceiving myself, +for without a thrill he had heard the news that the limitation had +been barred, that the case might be reopened any day--terrible news +for him if he were mixed up with the murder--and he added, calmly, +referring to the philosophic side of my question only: + +"And does M. Massol believe in remorse?" + +"M. Massol," said I, "is a cynic. He has seen too much wickedness, +known too many terrible stories. He says that remorse is a +question of stomach and religious education, and that a man with a +sound digestion, who had never heard anything about hell in his +childhood, might rob and kill from morning to night without feeling +any other remorse than fear of the police. He also maintains, +being a sceptic, that we do not know what part that question of the +other life plays in solitude; and I think he is right, for I often +begin to think of death, at night, and I am afraid;-- yes, I, who +don't believe in anything very much, am afraid. And you," I +continued, "do you believe in another world?" + +"Yes." This time I was sure that there was an alteration in his +voice. + +"And in the justice of God?" + +"In His justice and His mercy," he answered, in a strange tone. + +"Singular justice," I said vehemently, "which is able to do +everything, and yet delays to punish! My poor aunt used always to +say to me when I talked to her about avenging my father: 'I leave +it to God to punish,' but, for my part, if I had got hold of the +murderer, and he was there before me--if I were sure--no, I would +not wait for the hour of that tardy justice of God." + +I had risen while uttering these words, carried away by involuntary +excitement which I knew to be unwise. M. Termonde had bent over +the fire again, and once more taken up the tongs. He made no +answer to my outburst. Had he really felt some slight disturbance, +as I believed for an instant, at hearing me speak of that +inevitable and dreadful morrow of the grave which fills myself with +such fear now that there is blood upon my hands? + +I could not tell. His profile was, as usual, calm and sad. + +The restlessness of his hands--recalling to my mind the gesture +with which he turned and returned his cane while my mother was +telling him of the disappearance of my father--yes, the +restlessness of his hands was extreme; but he had been working at +the fire with the same feverish eagerness just before. Silence had +fallen between us suddenly; but how often had the same thing +happened? Did it ever fail to happen when he and I were in each +other's company? And then, what could he have to say against the +outburst of my grief and wrath, orphan that I was? Guilty or +innocent, it was for him to be silent, and he held his peace. My +heart sank; but, at the same time, a senseless rage seized upon me. +At that moment I would have given my remaining life for the power +of forcing their secret from those shut lips, by any mode of +torture. + +My stepfather looked at the clock--he, too, had risen now--and +said: "Shall I put you down anywhere? I have ordered the carriage +for three o'clock, as I have to be at the club at half-past. +There's a ballot coming off tomorrow." Instead of the down- +stricken criminal I had dreamed of, there stood before me a man of +society thinking about the affairs of his club. He came with me so +far as the hall, and took leave of me with a smile. + +Why, then, a quarter of an hour afterwards, when we passed each +other on the quay, I going homeward on foot, he in his coupe--yes-- +why was his face so transformed, so dark and tragic? He did not +see me. He was sitting back in the corner, and his clay-colored +face was thrown out by the green leather behind his head. His eyes +were looking--where, and at what? The vision of distress that +passed before me was so different from the smiling countenance of a +while ago that it shook me from head to foot with an extraordinary +emotion, and forced me to exclaim, as though frightened at my own +success: + +"Have I struck home?" + + +IX + + +This impression of dread kept hold of me during the whole of that +evening, and for several days afterwards. There is an infinite +distance between our fancies, however precise they may be, and the +least bit of reality. + +My father's letters had stirred my being to its utmost depths, had +summoned up tragic pictures before my eyes; but the simple fact of +my having seen the agonized look in my stepfather's face, after my +interview with him, gave me a shock of an entirely different kind. + +Even after I had read the letters repeatedly, I had cherished a +secret hope that I was mistaken, that some slight proof would arise +and dispel suspicions which I denounced as senseless, perhaps +because I had a foreknowledge of the dreadful duty that would +devolve upon me when the hour of certainty had come. Then I should +be obliged to act on a resolution, and I dared not look the +necessity in the face. No, I had not so regarded it, previous to +my meeting with my enemy, when I saw him cowering in anguish upon +the cushions of his carriage. Now I would force myself to +contemplate it. What should my course be, if he were guilty? I +put this question to myself plainly, and I perceived all the horror +of the situation. On whatever side I turned I was confronted with +intolerable misery. + +That things should remain as they were I could not endure. I saw +my mother approach M. Termonde, as she often did, and touch his +forehead caressingly with her hand or her lips. That she should do +this to the murderer of my father! My very bones burned at the +mere thought of it, and I felt as though an arrow pierced my +breast. So be it! I would act; I would find strength to go to my +mother and say: "This man is an assassin," and prove it to her--and +lo! I was already shrinking from the pain that my words must +inflict on her. It seemed to me that while I was speaking I should +see her eyes open wide, and, through the distended pupils, discern +the rending asunder of her being, even to her heart, and that she +would go mad or fall down dead on the spot, before my eyes. No, I +would speak to her myself. If I held the convincing proof in my +hands I would appeal to justice. + +But then a new scene arose before me. I pictured my mother at the +moment of her husband's arrest. She would be there, in the room, +close to him. "Of what crime is he accused?" she would ask, and +she would have to hear the inevitable answer. And I should be the +voluntary cause of this, I, who, since my childhood, and to spare +her a pang, had stifled all my complaints at the time when my heart +was laden with so many sighs, so many tears, so much sorrow, that +it would have been a supreme relief to have poured them out to her. +I had not done so then, because I knew that she was happy in her +life, and that it was her happiness only that blinded her to my +pain. I preferred that she should be blind and happy. And now? +Ah! how could I strike her such a cruel blow, dear and fragile +being that she was? + +The first glimpse of the double prospect of misery which my future +offered if my suspicions proved just was too terrible for +endurance, and I summoned all my strength of will to shut out a +vision which must bring about such consequences. Contrary to my +habit, I persuaded myself into a happy solution. My stepfather +looked sad when he passed me in his coupe; true, but what did this +prove? Had he not many causes of care and trouble, beginning with +his health, which was failing from day to day? + +One fact only would have furnished me with absolute, indisputable +proof; if he had been shaken by a nervous convulsion while we were +talking, if I had seen him (as Hamlet, my brother in anguish, saw +his uncle) start up with distorted face, before the suddenly-evoked +specter of his crime. Not a muscle of his face had moved, not an +eyelash had quivered;--why, then, should I set down this untroubled +calm to amazing hypocrisy, and take the discomposure of his +countenance half an hour later for a revelation of the truth? This +was just reasoning, or at least it appears so to me, now that I am +writing down my recollections in cold blood. They did not prevail +against the sort of fatal instinct which forced me to follow this +trail. Yes, it was absurd, it was mad, gratuitously to imagine +that M. Termonde had employed another person to murder my father; +yet I could not prevent myself constantly admitting that this most +unlikely suggestion of my fancy was possible, and sometimes that it +was certain. + +When a man has given place in his mind to ideas of this kind he is +no longer his own master; either he is a coward, or the thing must +be fought out. It was due to my father, my mother, and myself that +I should KNOW. + +I walked about my rooms for hours, revolving these thoughts, and +more than once I took up a pistol, saying to myself: "Just a touch, +a slight movement like this"--I made the gesture--"and I am cured +forever of my mortal pain." But the very handling of the weapon, +the touch of the smooth barrel, reminded me of the mysterious scene +of my father's death. It called up before me the sitting-room in +the Imperial Hotel, the disguised man waiting, my father coming in, +taking a seat at the table, turning over the papers laid before +him, while a pistol, like this one in my hand, was levelled at him, +close to the back of his neck; and then the fatal crack of the +weapon, the head dropping down upon the table, the murderer +wrapping the bleeding neck in towels and washing his hands, coolly, +leisurely, as though he had just completed some ordinary task. The +picture roused in me a raging thirst for vengeance. I approached +the portrait of the dead man, which looked at me with its +motionless eyes. What! I had my suspicions of the instigator of +this murder, and I would leave them unverified because I was afraid +of what I should have to do afterwards! No, no; at any price, I +must in the first place know! + +Three days elapsed. I was suffering tortures of irresolution, +mingled with incoherent projects no sooner formed than they were +rejected as impracticable. To know?--this was easily said, but I, +who was so eager, nervous, and excitable, so little able to +restrain my quickly-varying emotions, would never be able to extort +his secret from so resolute a man, one so completely master of +himself as my stepfather. My consciousness of his strength and my +weakness made me dread his presence as much as I desired it. I was +like a novice in arms who was about to fight a duel with a very +skillful adversary; he desires to defend himself and to be +victorious, but he is doubtful of his own coolness. What was I to +do now, when I had struck a first blow and it had not been +decisive? If our interview had really told upon his conscience, +how was I to proceed to the redoubling of the first effect, to the +final reduction of that proud spirit? + +My reflections had arrived and stopped at this point, I was forming +and re-forming plans only to abandon them, when a note reached me +from my mother, complaining that I had not gone to her house since +the day on which I had missed seeing her, and telling me that my +stepfather had been very ill indeed two days previously with his +customary liver complaint. + +Two days previously, that was on the day after my conversation with +him. + +Here again it might be said that fate was making sport of me, +redoubling the ambiguity of the signs, the chief cause of my +despair. Was the imminence of this attack explanatory of the +agonized expression on my stepfather's face when he passed me in +his carriage? Was it a cause, or merely the effect of the terror +by which he had been assailed, if he was guilty, under his mask of +indifference, while I flung my menacing words in his face? Oh, how +intolerable was this uncertainty, and my mother increased it, when +I went to her, by her first words. + +"This," she said, "is the second attack he has had in two months; +they have never come so near together until now. What alarms me +most is the strength of the doses of morphine he takes to lull the +pain. He has never been a sound sleeper, and for some years he has +not slept one single night without having recourse to narcotics; +but he used to be moderate--whereas, now--" + +She shook her head dejectedly, poor woman, and I, instead of +compassionating her sorrow, was conjecturing whether this, too, was +not a sign, whether the man's sleeplessness did not arise from +terrible, invincible remorse, or whether it also could be merely +the result of illness. + +"Would you like to see him?" asked my mother, almost timidly, and +as I hesitated she added, under the impression that I was afraid of +fatiguing him, whereas I was much surprised by the proposal, "he +asked to see you himself; he wants to hear the news from you about +yesterday's ballot at the club." Was this the real motive of a +desire to see me, which I could not but regard as singular, or did +he want to prove that our interview had left him wholly unmoved? +Was I to interpret the message which he had sent me by my mother as +an additional sign of the extreme importance that he attached to +the details of "society" life, or was he, apprehending my +suspicions, forestalling them? Or, yet again, was he, too, +tortured by the desire TO KNOW, by the urgent need of satisfying +his curiosity by the sight of my face, whereon he might decipher my +thoughts? + +I entered the room--it was the same that had been mine when I was a +child, but I had not been inside its door for years--in a state of +mind similar to that in which I had gone to my former interview +with him. I had, however, no hope now that M. Termonde would be +brought to his knees by my direct allusion to the hideous crime of +which I imagined him to be guilty. My stepfather occupied the room +as a sleeping-apartment when he was ill, ordinarily he only dressed +there. The walls, hung with dark green damask, ill-lighted by one +lamp, with a pink shade, placed upon a pedestal at some distance +from the bed, to avoid fatigue to the sick man's eyes, had for +their only ornament a likeness of my mother by Bonnat, one of his +first female portraits. The picture was hung between the two +windows, facing the bed, so that M. Termonde, when he slept in that +room, might turn his last look at night and his first look in the +morning upon the face whose long-descended beauty the painter had +very finely rendered. No less finely had he conveyed the something +half-theatrical which characterized that face, the slightly +affected set of the mouth, the far-off look in the eyes, the +elaborate arrangement of the hair. + +First, I looked at this portrait; it confronted me on entering the +room; then my glance fell on my stepfather in the bed. His head, +with its white hair, and his thin yellow face were supported by the +large pillows, round his neck was tied a handkerchief of pale blue +silk which I recognized, for I had seen it on my mother's neck, and +I also recognized the red woollen coverlet that she had knitted for +him; it was exactly the same as one she had made for me; a pretty +bit of woman's work on which I had seen her occupied for hours, +ornamented with ribbons and lined with silk. Ever and always the +smallest details were destined to renew that impression of a shared +interest in my mother's life from which I suffered so much, and +more cruelly than ever now, by reason of my suspicion. + +I felt that my looks must needs betray the tumult of such feelings, +and, while I seated myself by the side of the bed, and asked my +stepfather how he was, in a voice that sounded to me like that of +another person, I avoided meeting his eyes. + +My mother had gone out immediately after announcing me, to attend +to some small matters relative to the well-being of her dear +invalid. My stepfather questioned me upon the ballot at the club +which he had assigned as a pretext for his wish to see me. I sat +with my elbow on the marble top of the table and my forehead +resting in my hand; although I did not catch his eye I felt that he +was studying my face, and I persisted in looking fixedly into the +half-open drawer where a small pocket-pistol, of English make, lay +side by side with his watch, and a brown silk purse, also made for +him by my mother. What were the dark misgivings revealed by the +presence of this weapon placed within reach of his hand and +probably habitually placed there? Did he interpret my thoughts +from my steady observation? Or had he, too, let his glance fall by +chance upon the pistol, and was he pursuing the ideas that it +suggested in order to keep up the talk it was always so difficult +to maintain between us? The fact is that he said, as though +replying to the question in my mind: "You are looking at that +pistol, it is a pretty thing, is it not?" He took it up, turned in +about in his hand, and then replaced it in the drawer, which he +closed. "I have a strange fancy, quite a mania; I could not sleep +unless I had a loaded pistol there, quite close to me. After all, +it is a habit which does no harm to anyone, and might have its +advantages. If your poor father had carried a weapon like that +upon him when he went to the Imperial Hotel, things would not have +gone so easily with the assassin." + +This time I could not refrain from raising my eyes and seeking his. +How, if he were guilty, did he dare to recall this remembrance? +Why, if he were not, did his glance sink before mine? Was it +merely in following out an association of ideas that he referred +thus to the death of my father; was it for the purpose of +displaying his entire unconcern respecting the subject-matter of +our last interview; or was he using a probe to discover the depth +of my suspicion? After this allusion to the mysterious murder +which had made me fatherless, he went on to say: + +"And, by-the-bye, have you seen M. Massol again?" + +"No," said I, "not since the other day." + +"He is a very intelligent man. At the time of that terrible +affair, I had a great deal of talk with him, in my capacity as the +intimate friend of both your father and mother. If I had known +that you were in the habit of seeing him latterly, I should have +asked you to convey my kind regards." + +"He has not forgotten you," I answered. In this I lied; for M. +Massol had never spoken of my stepfather to me; but that frenzy +which had made me attack him almost madly in the conversation of +the other evening had seized upon me again. Should I never find +the vulnerable spot in that dark soul for which I was always +looking? This time his eyes did not falter, and whatever there was +of the enigmatical in what I had said, did not lead him to question +me farther. On the contrary, he put his finger on his lips. Used +as he was to all the sounds of the house, he had heard a step +approaching, and knew it was my mother's. + +Did I deceive myself, or was there an entreaty that I would respect +the unsuspecting security of an innocent woman in the gesture by +which he enjoined silence? + +Was I to translate the look that accompanied the sign into: "Do not +awaken suspicion in your mother's mind, she would suffer too much;" +and was his motive merely the solicitude of a man who desires to +save his wife from the revival of a sad remembrance. + +She came in; with the same glance she saw us both, lighted by the +same ray from the lamp, and she gave us a smile, meant for both of +us in common, and fraught with the same tenderness for each. It +had been the dream of her life that we should be together thus, and +both of us with her, and, as she had told me at Compiegne, she +imputed the obstacles which had hindered the realization of her +dream to my moody disposition. She came towards us, smiling, and +carrying a silver tray with a glass of Vichy water upon it; this +she held out to my stepfather, who drank the water eagerly, and, +returning the glass to her, kissed her hand. + +"Let us leave him to rest," she said, "his head is burning." +Indeed, in merely touching the tips of his fingers, which he placed +in mine, I could feel that he was highly feverish; but how was I to +interpret this symptom, which was ambiguous like all the others, +and might, like them, signify either moral or physical distress? I +had sworn to myself that I would KNOW; but how? how? + +I had been surprised by my stepfather's having expressed a wish to +see me during his illness; but I was far more surprised when, a +fortnight later, my servant announced M. Termonde in person, at my +abode. I was in my study, and occupied in arranging some papers of +my father's which I had brought up from Compiegne. I had passed +these two weeks at my poor aunt's house, making a pretext of a +final settlement of affairs, but in reality because I needed to +reflect at leisure upon the course to be taken with respect to M. +Termonde, and my reflections had increased my doubts. At my +request, my mother had written to me three times, giving me news of +the patient, so that I was aware he was now better and able to go +out. On my return, the day before, I had selected a time at which +I was almost sure not to see anyone for my visit to my mother's +home. And now, here was my stepfather, who had not been inside my +door ten times since I had been installed in an apartment of my +own, paying me a visit without the loss of an hour. My mother, he +said, had sent him with a message to me. She had lent me two +numbers of a review, and she now wanted them back as she was +sending the yearly volume to be bound; so, as he was passing the +door, he had stepped in to ask me for them. I examined him closely +while he was giving this simple explanation of his visit, without +being able to decide whether the pretext did or did not conceal his +real motive. His complexion was more sallow than usual, the look +in his eyes was more glittering, he handled his hat nervously. + +"The reviews are not here," I answered; "we shall probably find +them in the smoking-room." + +It was not true that the two numbers were not there; I knew their +exact place on the table in my study; but my father's portrait hung +in the smoking-room, and the notion of bringing M. Termonde face to +face with the picture, to see how he would bear the confrontation, +had occurred to me. At first he did not observe the portrait at +all; but I went to the side of the room on which the easel +supporting it stood, and his eyes, following all my movements, +encountered it. His eyelids opened and closed rapidly, and a sort +of dark thrill passed over his face; then he turned his eyes +carelessly upon another little picture hanging upon the wall. I +did not give him time to recover from the shock; but, in pursuance +of the almost brutal method from which I had hitherto gained so +little, I persisted: + +"Do you not think," said I, "that my father's portrait is +strikingly like me? A friend of mine was saying the other day +that, if I had my hair cut in the same way, my head would be +exactly like--" + +He looked first at me, and then at the picture, in the most +leisurely way, like an expert in painting examining a work of art, +without any other motive than that of establishing its +authenticity. If this man had procured the death of him whose +portrait he studied thus, his power over himself was indeed +wonderful. But--was not the experiment a crucial one for him? To +betray his trouble would be to avow all? How ardently I longed to +place my hand upon his heart at that moment and to count its beats. + +"You do resemble him," he said at length, "but not to that degree. +The lower part of the chin especially, the nose and the mouth, are +alike, but you have not the same look in the eyes, and the brows, +forehead, and cheeks are not the same shape." + +"Do you think," said I, "that the resemblance is strong enough for +me to startle the murderer if he were to meet me suddenly here, and +thus?"--I advanced upon him, looking into the depths of his eyes as +though I were imitating a dramatic scene. "Yes," I continued, +"would the likeness of feature enable me to produce the effect of a +specter, on saying to the man, 'Do you recognize the son of him +whom you killed?"' + +"Now we are returning to our former discussion," he replied, +without any farther alteration of his countenance; "that would +depend upon the man's remorse, if he had any, and on his nervous +system." + +Again we were silent. His pale and sickly but motionless face +exasperated me by its complete absence of expression. In those +minutes--and how many such scenes have we not acted together since +my suspicion was first conceived--I felt myself as bold and +resolute as I was the reverse when alone with my own thoughts. His +impassive manner drove me wild again; I did not limit myself to +this second experiment, but immediately devised a third, which +ought to make him suffer as much as the two others, if he were +guilty. I was like a man who strikes his enemy with a broken- +handled knife, holding it by the blade in his shut hand; the blow +draws his own blood also. But no, no; I was not exactly that man; +I could not doubt or deny the harm that I was doing to myself by +these cruel experiments, while he, my adversary, hid his wound so +well that I saw it not. No matter, the mad desire TO KNOW overcame +my pain. + +"How strange those resemblances are," I said. "My father's +handwriting and mine are exactly the same. Look here." + +I opened an iron safe built into the wall, in which I kept papers +which I especially valued, and took out first the letters from my +father to my aunt which I had selected and placed on top of the +packet. These were the latest in date, and I held them out to him, +just as I had arranged them in their envelopes. The letters were +addressed to "Mademoiselle Louise Cornelis, Compiegne;" they bore +the postmark and the quite legible stamp of the days on which they +were posted in the April and May of 1864. It was the former +process over again. If M. Termonde were guilty, he would be +conscious that the sudden change of my attitude towards himself, +the boldness of my allusions, the vigor of my attacks were all +explained by these letters, and also that I had found the documents +among my dead aunt's papers. It was impossible that he should not +seek with intense anxiety to ascertain what was contained in those +letters that had aroused such suspicions in me. When he had the +envelopes in his hands I saw him bend his brows, and I had a +momentary hope that I had shattered the mask that hid his true +face, that face in which the inner workings of the soul are +reflected. The bent brow was, however, merely a contraction of the +muscles of the eye, caused by regarding an object closely, and it +cleared immediately. He handed me back the letters without any +question as to their contents. + +"This time," said he simply, "there really is an astonishing +resemblance." Then, returning to the ostensible object of his +visit--"And the reviews?" he asked. + +I could have shed tears of rage. Once more I was conscious that I +was a nervous youth engaged in a struggle with a resolutely self- +possessed man. I locked up the letters in the safe, and I now +rummaged the small bookcase in the smoking-room, then the large one +in my study, and finally pretended to be greatly astonished at +finding the two reviews under a heap of newspapers on my table. +What a silly farce! Was my stepfather taken in by it? When I had +handed him the two numbers, he rose from the chair that he had sat +in during my pretended search in the chimney-corner of the smoking- +room, with his back to my father's portrait. But, again, what did +this attitude prove? Why should he care to contemplate an image +which could not be anything but painful to him, even if he were +innocent? + +"I am going to take advantage of the sunshine to have a turn in the +Bois," said he. "I have my coupe; will you come with me?" + +Was he sincere in proposing this tete-a-tete drive which was so +contrary to our habits? What was his motive: the wish to show me +that he had not even understood my attack, or the yearning of the +sick man who dreads to be alone? + +I accepted the offer at all hazards, in order to continue my +observation of him, and a quarter of an hour afterwards we were +speeding towards the Arc de Triomphe in that same carriage in which +I had seen him pass by me, beaten, broken, almost killed, after our +first interview. + +This time, he looked like another man. Warmly wrapped in an +overcoat lined with seal fur, smoking a cigar, waving his hand to +this person or that through the open window, he talked on and on, +telling me anecdotes of all sorts, which I had either heard or not +heard previously, about people whose carriages crossed ours. He +seemed to be talking before me and not with me, so little heed did +he take of whether he was telling what I might know, or apprising +me of what I did not know. I concluded from this--for, in certain +states of mind, every mood is significant--that he was talking thus +in order to ward off some fresh attempt on my part. But I had not +the courage to recommence my efforts to open the wound in his heart +and set it bleeding afresh so soon. I merely listened to him, and +once again I remarked the strange contrast between his private +thoughts and the rigid doctrines which he generally professed. One +would have said that in his eyes the high society, whose principles +he habitually defended, was a brigand's cave. It was the hour at +which women of fashion go out for their shopping and their calls, +and he related all the scandals of their conduct, false or true. +He dwelt on all these stories and calumnies with a horrid pleasure, +as though he rejoiced in the vileness of humanity. Did this mean +the facile misanthropy of a profligate, accustomed to such +conversations at the club, or in sporting circles, during which +each man lays bare his brutal egotism, and voluntarily exaggerates +the depth of his own disenchantment that he may boast more largely +of his experience? Was this the cynicism of a villain, guilty of +the most hideous of crimes, and glad to demonstrate that others +were less worthy than he? To hear him laugh and talk thus threw me +into a singular state of dejection. + +We had passed the last houses in the Avenue de Bois, and were +driving along an alley on the right in which there were but few +carriages. On the bare hedgerows a beautiful light shone, coming +from that lofty, pale blue sky which is seen only over Paris. + +He continued to sneer and chuckle, and I reflected that perhaps he +was right, that the seamy side of the world was what he depicted +it. Why not? Was not I there, in the same carriage with this man, +and I suspected him of having had my father murdered! All the +bitterness of life filled my heart with a rush. Did my stepfather +perceive, by my silence and my face, that his gay talk was +torturing me? Was he weary of his own effort? + +He suddenly left off talking, and as we had reached a forsaken +corner of the Bois, we got out of the carriage to walk a little. +How strongly present to my mind is that by-path, a gray line +between the poor spare grass and the bare trees, the cold winter +sky, the wide road at a little distance with the carriage advancing +slowly, drawn by the bay horse, shaking its head and its bit, and +driven by a wooden-faced coachman--then, the man. He walked by my +side, a tall figure in a long overcoat. The collar of dark brown +fur brought out the premature whiteness of his hair. He held a +cane in his gloved hand, and struck away the pebbles with it +impatiently. Why does his image return to me at this hour with an +unendurable exactness? It is because, as I observed him walking +along the wintry road, with his head bent forward, I was struck as +I had never been before with the sense of his absolute unremitting +wretchedness. Was this due to the influence of our conversation of +that afternoon, to the dejection which his sneering, sniggering +talk had produced in me, or to the death of nature all around us? +For the first time since I knew him, a pang of pity mingled with my +hatred of him, while he walked by my side, trying to warm himself +in the pale sunshine, a shrunken, weary, lamentable creature. +Suddenly he turned his face, which was contracted with pain, to me, +and said: + +"I do not feel well. Let us go home." When we were in the +carriage, he said, putting his sudden seizure upon the pretext of +his health: + +"I have not long to live, and I suffer so much that I should have +made an end of it all years ago, had it not been for your mother." +Then he went on talking of her with the blindness that I had +already remarked in him. Never, in my most hostile hours, had I +doubted that his worship of his wife was perfectly sincere, and +once again I listened to him, as we drove rapidly into Paris in the +gathering twilight, and all that he said proved how much he loved +her. Alas! his passion rated her more highly than my tenderness. +He praised the exquisite tact with which my mother discerned the +things of the heart, to me, who knew so well her want of feeling! +He lauded the keenness of her intelligence to me, whom she had so +little understood! And he added, he who had so largely contributed +to our separation: + +"Love her dearly; you will soon be the only one to love her." + +If he were the criminal I believed him to be, he was certainly +aware that in thus placing my mother between himself and me he was +putting in my way the only barrier which I could never, never break +down, and I on my side understood clearly, and with bitterness of +soul, that the obstacles so placed would be stronger than even the +most fatal certainty. What, then, was the good of seeking any +further? Why not renounce my useless quest at once? But it was +already too late. + + +X + + +At the beginning of the summer, six months after my aunt's death, I +was in exactly the same position with respect to my stepfather as +on that already distant day when, maddened with suspicion by my +father's letters, I entered his study, to play the part of the +physician who examines a man's body, searching with his finger for +the tender spot that is probably a symptom of a hidden abscess. + +I was full of intuitions now, just as I was at the moment when he +passed me in his carriage with his terrible face, but I did not +grasp a single certainty. Would I have persisted in a struggle in +which I felt beforehand that I must be beaten? + +I cannot tell; for, when I no longer expected any solution to the +problem set before me for my grief, a grief, too, that was both +sterile and mortal, a day came on which I had a conversation with +my mother so startling and appalling that to this hour my heart +stands still when I think of it. I have spoken of dates; among +them is the 25th of May, 1879. + +My stepfather, who was on the eve of his departure for Vichy, had +just had a severe attack of liver-complaint, the first since his +illness after our terrible conversation in the month of January. I +know that I counted for nothing--at least in any direct or positive +way--in this acute revival of his malady. The fight between us, +which went on without the utterance of a word on either side, and +with no witnesses except ourselves, had not been marked by any +fresh episode; I therefore attributed this complication to the +natural development of the disease under which he labored. + +I can exactly recall what I was thinking of on the 25th of May, at +five o'clock in the evening, as I walked up the stairs in the hotel +on the Boulevard de Latour-Marbourg. I hoped to learn that my +stepfather was better, because I had been witnessing my mother's +distress for a whole week, and also--I must tell all--because to +know he was going to the watering-place was a great relief to me, +on account of the separation it would bring about. I was so tired +of my unprofitable pain! My wretched nerves were in such a state +of tension that the slightest disagreeable impression became a +torment. I could not sleep without the aid of narcotics, and such +sleep as these procured was full of cruel dreams in which I walked +by my father's side, while knowing and feeling that he was dead. + +One particular nightmare used to recur so regularly that it +rendered my dread of the night almost unbearable. I stood in a +street crowded with people and was looking into a shop window; on a +sudden I heard a man's step approaching, that of M. Termonde. I +did not see him, and yet I was certain it was he. I tried to move +on, but my feet were leaden; to turn my head, but my neck was +immovable. The step drew nearer, my enemy was behind me, I heard +his breathing, and knew that he was about to strike me. He passed +his arm over my shoulder. I saw his hand, it grasped a knife, and +sought for the spot where my heart lay; then it drove the blade in, +slowly, slowly, and I awoke in unspeakable agony. + +So often had this nightmare recurred within a few weeks, that I had +taken to counting the days until my stepfather's departure, which +had been at first fixed for the 21st, and then put off until he +should be stronger. I hoped that when he was absent I should be at +rest at least for a time. I had not the courage to go away myself, +attracted as I was every day by that presence which I hated, and +yet sought with feverish eagerness; but I secretly rejoiced that +the obstacle was of his raising, that his absence gave me +breathing-time, without my being obliged to reproach myself with +weakness. + +Such were my reflections as I mounted the wooden staircase, covered +with a red carpet, and lighted by stained-glass windows, that led +to my mother's favorite hall. The servant who opened the door +informed me in answer to my question that my stepfather was better, +and I entered the room with which my saddest recollections were +connected, more cheerfully than usual. Little did I think that the +dial hung upon one of the walls was ticking off in minutes one of +the most solemn hours of my life! + +My mother was seated before a small writing-table, placed in a +corner of the deep glazed projection which formed the garden-end of +the hall. Her left hand supported her head, and in the right, +instead of going on with the letter she had begun to write, she +held her idle pen, in a golden holder with a fine pearl set in the +top of it (the latter small detail was itself a revelation of her +luxurious habits). She was so lost in reverie that she did not +hear me enter the room, and I looked at her for some time without +moving, startled by the expression of misery in her refined and +lovely face. What dark thought was it that closed her mouth, +furrowed her brow, and transformed her features? The alteration in +her looks and the evident absorption of her mind contrasted so +strongly with the habitual serenity of her countenance that it at +once alarmed me. But, what was the matter? Her husband was +better; why, then, should the anxiety of the last few days have +developed into this acute trouble? Did she suspect what had been +going on close to her, in her own house, for months past? Had M. +Termonde made up his mind to complain to her, in order to procure +the cessation of the torture inflicted upon him by my assiduity? +No. If he had divined my meaning from the very first day, as I +thought he had, unless he were sure he could not have said to her: +"Andre suspects me of having had his father killed." Or had the +doctor discerned dangerous symptoms behind this seeming improvement +in the invalid? + +Was my stepfather in danger of death? + +At the idea, my first feeling was joy, my second was rage--joy that +he should disappear from my life, and for ever; rage that, being +guilty, he should die without having felt my full vengeance. +Beneath all my hesitation, my scruples, my doubts, there lurked +that savage appetite for revenge which I had allowed to grow up in +me, revenge that is not satisfied with the death of the hated +object unless it be caused by one's self. I thirsted for revenge +as a dog thirsts for water after running in the sun on a summer +day. I wanted to roll myself in it, as the dog in question rolls +himself in the water when he comes to it, were it the sludge of a +swamp. I continued to gaze at my mother without moving. Presently +she heaved a deep sigh and said aloud: "Oh, me, oh, me! what misery +it is!" Then lifting up her tear-stained face, she saw me, and +uttered a cry of surprise. I hastened towards her. + +"You are in trouble, mother," I said. "What ails you?" + +Dread of her answer made my voice falter; I knelt down before her +as I used to do when a child, and, taking both her hands, I covered +them with kisses. Again, at this solemn hour, my lips were met by +that golden wedding-ring which I hated like a living person; yet +the feeling did not hinder me from speaking to her almost +childishly. "Ah," I said, "you have troubles, and to whom should +you tell them if not to me? Where will you find anyone to love you +more? Be good to me," I went on; "do you not feel how dear you are +to me?" + +She bent her head twice, made a sign that she could not speak, and +burst into painful sobs. + +"Has your trouble anything to do with me?" I asked. + +She shook her head as an emphatic negative, and then said in a +half-stifled voice, while she smoothed my hair with her hands, as +she used to do in the old times: + +"You are very nice to me, my Andre." + +How simple those few words were, and yet they caught my heart and +gripped it as a hand might do. How had I longed for some of those +little words which she had never uttered, some of those gracious +phrases which are like the gestures of the mind, some of her +involuntary tender caresses. Now I had what I had so earnestly +desired, but at what a moment and by what means! It was, +nevertheless, very sweet to feel that she loved me. I told her so, +employing words which scorched my lips, so that I might be kind to +her. + +"Is our dear invalid worse?" + +"No, he is better. He is resting now," she answered, pointing in +the direction of my stepfather's room. + +"Mother, speak to me," I urged, "trust yourself to me; let me +grieve with you, perhaps I may help you. It is so cruel for me +that I must take you by surprise in order to see your tears." + +I went on, pressing her by my questions and my complaining. What, +then, did I hope to tear from those lips which quivered but yet +kept silence? At any price I WOULD know; I was in no state to +endure fresh mysteries, and I was certain that my stepfather was +somehow concerned in this inexplicable trouble, for it was only he +and I who so deeply moved that woman's heart of hers. She was not +thus troubled on account of me, she had just told me so; the cause +of her grief must have reference to him, and it was not his health. +Had she, too, made any discovery? Had the terrible suspicion +crossed her mind also? At the mere idea a burning fever seized +upon me; I insisted and insisted again. I felt that she was +yielding, if it were only by the leaning of her head towards me, +the passing of her trembling hand over my hair, and the quickening +of her breath. + +"If I were sure," said she at length, "that this secret would die +with you and me." + +"Oh, mother!" I exclaimed, in so reproachful a tone that the blood +flew to her cheeks. Perhaps this little betrayal of shame decided +her; she pressed a lingering kiss on my forehead, as though she +would have effaced the frown which her unjust distrust had set +there. + +"Forgive me, my Andre," she said, "I was wrong. In whom should I +trust, to whom confide this thing, except to you? From whom ask +counsel?" And then she went on as though she were speaking to +herself, "If he were ever to apply to him?" + +"He! Whom?" + +"Andre, will you swear to me by your love for me, that you will +never, you understand me, never, make the least illusion to what I +am going to tell you?" + +"Mother!" I replied, in the same tone of reproach, and then added +at once, to draw her on, "I give you my word of honor!" + +"Nor--" she did not pronounce a name, but she pointed anew to the +door of the sick man's room. + +"Never." + +"You have heard of Edmond Termonde, his brother?" Her voice was +lowered, as though she were afraid of the words she uttered, and +now her eyes only were turned towards the closed door, indicating +that she meant the brother of her husband. I had a vague knowledge +of the story; it was of this brother I had thought when I was +reviewing the mental history of my stepfather's family. I knew +that Edmond Termonde had dissipated his share of the family +fortune, no less than 1,200,000 francs, in a few years; that he had +been enlisted, that he had gone on leading a debauched life in his +regiment; that, having no money to come into from any quarter, and +after a heavy loss at cards, he had been tempted into committing +both theft and forgery. Then, finding himself on the brink of +being detected, he had deserted. The end was that he did justice +on himself by drowning himself in the Seine, after he had implored +his brother's forgiveness in terms which proved that some sense of +moral decency still lingered in him. The stolen money was made +good by my stepfather; the scandal was hushed up, thanks to the +scoundrel's disappearance. I had reconstructed the whole story in +my mind from the gossip of my good old nurse, and also from certain +traces of it which I had found in some passages of my father's +correspondence. Thus, when my mother put her question to me in so +agitated a way, I supposed she was about to tell me of family +grievances on the part of her husband which were totally +indifferent to me, and it was with a feeling of disappointment that +I asked her: + +"Edmond Termonde? The man who killed himself?" + +She bent her head to answer, yes, to the first part of my question; +then, in a still lower voice, she said: + +"He did not kill himself, he is still alive." + +"He is still alive," I repeated mechanically, and without a notion +of what could be the relation between the existence of this brother +and the tears which I had seen her shed. + +"Now you know the secret of my sorrow," she resumed, in a firmer, +almost a relieved tone. "This infamous brother is a tormentor of +my Jacques; he puts him to death daily by the agonies which he +inflicts upon him. No; the suicide never took place. Such men as +he have not the courage to kill themselves. Jacques dictated that +letter to save him from penal servitude after he had arranged +everything for his flight, and given him the wherewithal to lead a +new life, if he would have done so. My poor love, he hoped at +least to save the integrity of his name out of all the terrible +wreck. Edmond had, of course, to renounce the name of Termonde, to +escape pursuit, and he went to America. There he lived--as he had +lived here. The money he took with him was soon exhausted, and +again he had recourse to his brother. Ah! the wretch knew well +that Jacques had made all these sacrifices to the honor of his +name, and when my husband refused him the money he demanded, he +made use of the weapon which he knew would avail. + +"Then began the vilest persecution, the most atrocious levying of +black-mail. Edmond threatened to return to France; between going +to the galleys here or starving in America, he said, he preferred +the galleys here and Jacques yielded the first time--he loved him; +after all, he was his only brother. You know when you have once +shown weakness in dealing with people of this sort you are lost. +The threat to return had succeeded, and the other has since used it +to extort sums of which you have no idea. + +"This abominable persecution has been going on for years, but I +have only been aware of it since the war. I saw that my husband +was utterly miserable about something; I knew that a hidden trouble +was preying on him, and then, one day, he told me all. Would you +believe it? It was for me that he was afraid. 'What can he +possibly do to me?' I asked my Jacques. 'Ah,' he said, 'he is +capable of anything for the sake of revenge. And then he saw me so +overwhelmed by distress at his fits of melancholy, and I so +earnestly entreated him, that at length he made a stand. He +positively refused to give any more money. We have not heard of +the wretch for some time--he has kept his word--Andre he is in +Paris!" + +I had listened to my mother with growing attention. At any period +of my life, I, who had not the same notions of my stepfather's +sensitiveness of feeling which my dear mother entertained, would +have been astonished at the influence exercised by this disgraced +brother. There are similar pests in so many families, that it is +plainly to the interest of society to separate the various +representatives of the same name from each other. At any time I +should have doubted whether M. Termonde, a bold and violent man as +I knew him to be, had yielded under the menace of a scandal whose +real importance he would have estimated quite correctly. Then I +would have explained this weakness by the recollections of his +childhood, by a promise made to his dying parents; but now, in the +actual state of my mind, full as I was of the suspicions which had +been occupying my thoughts for weeks, it was inevitable that +another idea should occur to me. And that idea grew, and grew, +taking form as my mother went on speaking. No doubt my face +betrayed the dread with which the notion inspired me, for she +interrupted her narrative to ask me: + +"Are you feeling ill, Andre?" + +I found strength to answer, "No; I am upset by having found you in +tears. It is nothing." + +She believed me; she had just seen me overcome by her emotion; she +kissed me tenderly, and I begged her to continue. She then told me +that one day in the previous week a stranger, coming ostensibly +from one of their friends in London, had asked to see my +stepfather. He was ushered into the hall, and into her presence, +and she guessed at once by the extraordinary agitation which M. +Termonde displayed that the man was Edmond. The two brothers went +into my stepfather's private room, while my mother remained in the +hall, half dead with anxiety and suspense, every now and then +hearing the angry tones of their voices, but unable to distinguish +any words. At length the brother came out, through the hall, and +looked at her as he passed by with eyes that transfixed her with +fear. + +"And the same evening," she went on, "Jacques took to his bed. +Now, do you understand my despair? Ah, it is not our name that I +care for. I wear myself out with repeating, 'What has this to do +with us? How can we be spattered by this mud?' It is his health, +his precious health! The doctor says that every violent emotion is +a dose of poison to him. Ah!" she cried, with a gesture of +despair, "this man will kill him." + +To hear that cry, which once again revealed to me the depth of her +passion for my stepfather, to hear it at this moment, and to think +what I was thinking! + +"You saw him?" I asked, hardly knowing what I said. "Have I not +told you that he passed by me, there?" and with terror depicted in +her face, she showed me the place on the carpet. + +"And you are sure that the man was his brother?" + +"Jacques told me so in the evening; but I did not require that; I +should have recognized him by the eyes. How strange it is! Those +two brothers, so different; Jacques so refined, so distinguished, +so noble-minded, and the other, a big, heavy, vulgar lout, common- +looking, and a rascal--well, they have the same look in their +eyes." + +"And under what name is he in Paris?" + +"I do not know. I dare not speak of him any more. If he knew that +I have told you this, with his ideas! But then, dear, you would +have heard it at some time or other; and besides," she added with +firmness, "I would have told you long ago about this wretched +secret if I had dared! You are a man now, and you are not bound by +this excessively scrupulous fraternal affection. Advise me, Andre; +what is to be done?" + +"I do not understand you." + +"Yes, yes. There must be some means of informing the police and +having this man arrested without its being talked of in the +newspapers or elsewhere. Jacques would not do this, because the +man is his brother; but if we were to act, you and I, on our own +side? I have heard you say that you visit M. Massol, whom we knew +at the time of our great misfortune; suppose I were to go to him +and ask his advice? Ah! I must keep my husband alive--he must be +saved! I love him too much!" + +Why was I seized with a panic at the idea that she might carry out +this project, and apply to the former Judge of Instruction--I, who +had not ventured to go to his house since my aunt's death for fear +he should divine my suspicions merely by looking at me? What was +it that I saw so clearly, that made me implore her to abandon her +idea in the very name of the love she bore her husband? + +"You will not do this," I said; "you have no right to do it. He +would never forgive you, and he would have just cause; it would be +betraying him." + +"Betraying him! It would be saving him!" + +"And if his brother's arrest were to strike him a fresh blow? If +you were to see him ill, more ill than ever, on account of what you +had done?" + +I had used the only argument that could have convinced her. +Strange irony of fate! I calmed her, I persuaded her not to act-- +I, who had suddenly conceived the monstrous notion that the doer of +the murderous deed, the docile instrument in my stepfather's hands, +was this infamous brother--that Edmond Termonde and Rochdale were +one and the same man! + + +XI + + +The night which followed that conversation with my mother remains +in my memory as the most wretched I had hitherto endured; and yet +how many sleepless nights had I passed, while all the world around +me slept, in bitter conflict with a thought which held mine eyes +waking and devoured my heart! I was like a prisoner who has +sounded every inch of his dungeon--the walls, the floor, the +ceiling--and who, on shaking the bars of his window for the +hundredth time, feels one of the iron rods loosen under the +pressure. He hardly dares to believe in his good fortune, and he +sits down upon the ground almost dazed by the vision of deliverance +that has dawned upon him. "I must be cool-headed now," said I to +myself, as I walked to and fro in the smoking-room, whither I had +retired without tasting the meal that was served on my return. +Evening came, then the black night; the dawn followed, and once +more the full day. Still I was there, striving to see clearly amid +the cloud of suppositions in which an event, simple in itself (only +that in my state of mind no event would have seemed simple), had +wrapped me. + +I was too well used to these mental tempests not to know that the +only safety consisted in clinging to the positive facts, as though +to immovable rocks. + +In the present instance, the positive facts reduced themselves to +two: first, I had just learned that a brother of M. Termonde, who +passed for dead, and of whom my stepfather never spoke, existed; +secondly, that this man, disgraced, proscribed, ruined, an outlaw +in fact, exercised a dictatorship of terror over his rich, honored, +and irreproachable brother. The first of these two facts explained +itself. It was quite natural that Jacques Termonde should not +dispel the legend of the suicide, which was of his own invention, +and had saved the other from the galleys. It is never pleasant to +have to own a thief, a forger, or a deserter, for one's nearest +relation; but this, after all, is only an excessively disagreeable +matter. + +The second fact was of a different kind. The disproportion between +the cause assigned by my stepfather and its result in the terror +from which he was suffering was too great. The dominion which +Edmond Termonde exercised over his brother was not to be justified +by the threat of his return, if that return were not to have any +other consequence than a transient scandal. My mother, who +regarded her husband as a noble-minded, high-souled, great-hearted +man, might be satisfied with the alleged reason; but not I. It +occurred to me to consult the Code of Military Justice, and I +ascertained, by the 184th clause, that a deserter cannot claim +immunity from punishment until after he has attained his forty- +seventh year, so that it was most likely Edmond Termonde was still +within the reach of the law. + +Was it possible that his desire to shield his brother from the +punishment of the offense of desertion should throw my stepfather +into such a state of illness and agitation? I discerned another +reason for this dominion--some dark and terrible bond of complicity +between the two men. What if Jacques Termonde had employed his +brother to kill my father, and proof of the transaction was still +in the murderer's possession? No doubt his hands would be tied so +far as the magistrates were concerned; he had it in his power to +enlighten my mother, and the mere threat of doing this would +suffice to make a loving husband tremble, and tame his fierce +pride. + +"I must be cool," I repeated, "I must be cool;" and I put all my +strength to recalling the physical and moral particulars respecting +the crime which were in my possession. It was my business now to +try whether one single point remained obscure when tested by the +theory of the identity of Rochdale with Edmond Termonde. The +witnesses were agreed in representing Rochdale as tall and stout, +my mother had described Edmond Termonde as a big, heavy man. +Fifteen years lay between the assassin of 1864, and the elderly +rake of 1879; but nothing prevented the two from being identical. +My mother had dwelt upon the color of Edmond Termonde's eyes, pale +blue like those of his brother; the concierge of the Imperial Hotel +had mentioned the pale blue color and the brightness of Rochdale's +eyes in his deposition, which I knew by heart. He had noticed this +peculiarity on account of the contrast of the eyes with the man's +bronzed complexion. Edmond Termonde had taken refuge in America +after his alleged suicide, and what had M. Massol said? I could +hear him repeat, with his well-modulated voice, and methodical +movement of the hand: "A foreigner, American or English, or, +perhaps, a Frenchman settled in America." Physical impossibility +there existed none. + +And moral impossibility? That was equally absent. In order to +convince myself more fully of this, I took up the history of the +crime from the moment at which my father's correspondence +concerning Jacques Termonde became explicit, that is to say, in +January, 1864. + +So as to rid my judgment of every trace of personal enmity, I +suppressed the names in my thoughts, reducing the dreadful +occurrence by which I had suffered to the bareness of an abstract +narrative. A man is desperately in love with the wife of one of +his intimate friends, a woman whom he knows to be absolutely, +spotlessly virtuous; he knows, he feels, that if she were free she +would love him; but that, not being free, she will never, never be +his. This man is of the temperament which makes criminals, his +passions are violent in the extreme, he has no scruples and a +despotic will; he is accustomed to see everything give way to his +desires. He perceives that his friend is growing jealous; a little +later and the house will no longer be open to him. + +Would not the thought come to him--if the husband could be got rid +of? And yet--? + +This dream of the death of him, who forms the sole obstacle to his +happiness, troubles the man's head, it recurs once, twice, many +times, and he turns the fatal idea over and over again in his brain +until he becomes used to it. He arrives at the "If I dared," which +is the starting point of the blackest villainies. The idea takes a +precise form; he conceives that he might have the man whom he now +hates, and by whom he feels that he is hated, killed. Has he not, +far away, a wretch of a brother, whose actual existence, to say +nothing of his present abode, is absolutely unknown? What an +admirable instrument of murder he should find in this infamous, +depraved, and needy brother, whom he holds at his beck and call by +the aid in money that he sends him! And the temptation grows and +grows. An hour comes when it is stronger than all besides, and the +man, resolved to play this desperate game, summons his brother to +Paris. How? By one or two letters in which he excites the +rascal's hopes of a large sum of money to be gained, at the same +time that he imposes the condition of absolute secrecy as to his +voyage. The other accepts; he is a social failure, a bankrupt in +life, he has neither relations nor ties, he has been leading an +anonymous and haphazard existence for years. The two brothers are +face to face. Up to that point all is logical, all is in +conformity with the possible stages of a project of this order. + +I arrived at the execution of it; and I continued to reason in the +same way, impersonally. The rich brother proposes the blood- +bargain to the poor brother. He offers him money; a hundred +thousand francs, two hundred thousand, three hundred thousand. + +From what motive should the scoundrel hesitate to accept the offer? + +Moral ideas? What is the morality of a rake who has gone from +libertinism to theft? Under the influence of my vengeful thoughts +I had read the criminal news of the day in the journals, and the +reports of criminal trials, too assiduously for years past, not to +know how a man becomes a murderer. How many cases of stabbing, +shooting, and poisoning have there not been, in which the gain was +entirely uncertain, and the conditions of danger extreme, merely to +enable the perpetrators to go, presently, and expend the murder- +money in some low haunt of depravity? + +Fear of the scaffold? Then nobody would kill. Besides, +debauchees, whether they stop short at vice or roll down the +descent into crime, have no foresight of the future. Present +sensation is too strong for them; its image abolishes all other +images, and absorbs all the vital forces of the temperament and the +soul. An old dying mother, children perishing of hunger, a +despairing wife; have these pictures of their deeds ever arrested +drunkards, gamblers, or profligates? No more have the tragic +phantoms of the tribunal, the prison, and the guillotine, when, +thirsting for gold, they kill to procure it. The scaffold is far +off, the brothel is at the street corner, and the being sunk in +vice kills a man, just as a butcher would kill a beast, that he may +go thither, or to the tavern, or to the low gaming-house, with a +pocket full of money. This is the daily mode of procedure in +crime. + +Why should not the desire of a more elevated kind of debauch +possess the same wicked attraction for men who are indeed more +refined, but are quite as incapable of moral goodness as the +rascally frequenters of the lowest dens of iniquity? + +Ah! the thought that my father's blood might have paid for suppers +in a New York night-house was too cruel and unendurable. I lost +courage to pursue my cold, calm, reasonable deductions, a kind of +hallucination came upon me--a mental picture of the hideous scene-- +and I felt my reason reel. With a great effort I turned to the +portrait of my father, gazed at it long, and spoke to him as if he +could have heard me, aloud, in abject entreaty. "Help me, help +me!" + +And then, I once more became strong enough to resume the dreadful +hypothesis, and to criticise it point by point. Against it was its +utter unlikelihood; it resembled nothing but the nightmare of a +diseased imagination. A brother who employs his brother as the +assassin of a man whose wife he wants to marry! Still, although +the conception of such a devilish plot belonged to the domain of +the wildest fantasies, I said to myself: "This may be so, but in +the way of crime, there is no such thing as unlikelihood. The +assassin ceases to move in the habitual grooves of social life by +the mere fact that he makes up his mind to murder." And then a +score of examples of crimes committed under circumstances as +strange and exceptional as those whose greater or less probability +I was then discussing with myself recurred to my memory. + +One objection arose at once. Admitting this complicated crime to +be possible only, how came I to be the first to form a suspicion of +it? Why had not the keen, subtle, experienced old magistrate, M. +Massol, looked in that direction for an explanation of the mystery +in whose presence he confessed himself powerless? The answer came +ready. M. Massol did not think of it, that was all. The important +thing is to know, not whether the Judge of Instruction suspected +the fact, or did not suspect it; but whether the fact itself is, or +is not, real. + +Again, what indications had reached M. Massol to put him on this +scent? If he had thoroughly studied my father's home and his +domestic life, he had acquired the certainty that my mother was a +faithful wife and a good woman. He had witnessed her sincere +grief, and he had not seen, as I had, letters written by my father +in which he acknowledged his jealousy, and revealed the passion of +his false friend. + +But, even supposing the judge had from the first suspected the +villainy of my future stepfather, the discovery of his accomplices +would have been the first thing to be done, since, in any case, the +presence of M. Termonde in our house at the time of the murder was +an ascertained fact. + +Supposing M. Massol had been led to think of the brother who had +disappeared, what then? Where were the traces of that brother to +be found? Where and how? If Edmond and Jacques had been +accomplices in the crime, would not their chief care be to contrive +a means of correspondence which should defy the vigilance of the +police? Did they not cease for a time to communicate with each +other by letters? What had they to communicate, indeed? Edmond +was in possession of the price of the murder, and Jacques was +occupied in completing his conquest of my mother's heart. + +I resumed my argument; all this granted again, but, although M. +Massol was ignorant of the essential factor in the case, although +he was unaware of Jacques Termonde's passion for the wife of the +murdered man, my aunt knew it well, she had in her hands +indisputable proofs of my father's suspicions; how came she not to +have thought as I was now thinking. And how did I know that she +had NOT thought just as I was thinking? She had been tormented by +suspicions, even she, too; she had lived and died haunted by them. +The only difference was that she had included my mother in them, +being incapable of forgiving her the sufferings of the brother whom +she loved so deeply. To act against my mother was to act against +me, so she had forsworn that idea forever. But if she would have +acted against my mother, how could she have gone beyond the domain +of vague inductions, since she, no more than I, could have divined +my stepfather's alibi, or known of the actual existence of Edmond +Termonde? No; that I should be the first to explain the murder of +my father as I did, proved only that I had come into possession of +additional information respecting the surroundings of the crime, +and not that the conjectures drawn from it were baseless. + +Other objections presented themselves. If my stepfather had +employed his brother to commit the murder, how came he to reveal +the existence of that brother to his wife? An answer to this +question was not far to seek. If the crime had been committed +under conditions of complicity, only one proof of the fact could +remain, namely, the letters written by Jacques Termonde to Edmond, +in which the former recalled the latter to Europe and gave him +instructions for his journey; these letters Edmond had of course +preserved, and it was through them, and by the threat of showing +them to my mother, that he kept a hold over his brother. To tell +his wife so much as he had told her was to forestall and neutralize +this threat, at least to a certain extent; for, if the doer of the +deed should ever resolve on revealing the common secret to the +victim's widow, now the wife of him who had inspired it, the latter +would be able to deny the authenticity of the letters, to plead the +former confidence reposed in her respecting his brother, and to +point out that the denunciation was an atrocious act of revenge +achieved by a forgery. And, besides, if indeed the crime had been +committed in the manner that I imagined, was not that revelation to +my mother justified by another reason? + +The remorseful moods by which I believed my stepfather to be +tortured were not likely to escape the observant affection of his +wife; she could not fail to know that there was a dark shadow on +his life which even her love could not dispel. Who knows but she +had suffered from the worst of all jealousy, that which is inspired +by a constant thought not imparted, a strange emotion hidden from +one? And he had revealed a portion of the truth to her so as to +spare her uneasiness of that kind, and to protect himself from +questions which his conscience rendered intolerable to him. There +was then no contradiction between this half-revelation made to my +mother, and my own theory of the complicity of the two brothers. +It was also clear to me that in making that revelation he had been +unable to go beyond a certain point in urging upon her the +necessity of silence towards me--silence which would never have +been broken but for her unforeseen emotion, but for my affectionate +entreaties, but for the sudden arrival of Edmond Termonde, which +had literally bewildered the poor woman. But how was my +stepfather's imprudence in refusing money to this brother, who was +at bay and ready to dare any and every thing, to be explained? +This, too, I succeeded in explaining to myself. It had happened +before my aunt's death, at a period when my stepfather believed +himself to be guaranteed from all risk on my side. He believed +himself to be sheltered from justice by the statute of limitations. +He was ill. What, then, was more natural than that he should wish +to recover those papers which might become a means of levying +blackmail upon his widow after his death, and dishonoring his +memory in the heart of that woman whom he had loved--even to crime-- +at any price? Such a negotiation could only be conducted in +person. My stepfather would have reflected that his brother would +not fulfil his threat without making a last attempt; he would come +to Paris, and the accomplices would again be face to face after all +these years. A fresh but final offer of money would have to be +made to Edmond, the price of the relinquishment of the sole proof +whereby the mystery of the Imperial Hotel could be cleared up. In +this calculation my stepfather had omitted to forecast the chance +that his brother might come to the hotel on the Boulevard de +Latour-Maubourg, that he would be ushered into my mother's +presence, and that the result of the shock to himself--his health +being already undermined by his prolonged mental anguish--would be +a fresh attack of his malady. In events, there is always the +unexpected to put to rout the skillful calculations of the most +astute and the most prudent, and when I reflected that so much +cunning, such continual watchfulness over himself and others had +all come to this--unless indeed these surmises of mine were but +fallacies of a brain disturbed by fever and the consuming desire +for vengeance--I once more felt the passage of the wind of destiny +over us all. + +However, whether reality or fancy, there they were, and I could not +remain in ignorance or in doubt. At the end of all my various +arguments for and against the probability of my new explanation of +the mystery, I arrived at a positive fact: rightly or wrongly I had +conceived the possibility of a plot in which Edmond Termonde had +served as the instrument of murder in his brother's hand. Were +there only one single chance, one against a thousand, that my +father had been killed in this way, I was bound to follow up the +clew to the end, on pain of having to despise myself as the veriest +coward that lived. The time of sorrowful dreaming was over; it was +now necessary to act, and to act was to know. + +Morning dawned upon these thoughts of mine. I opened my window, I +saw the faces of the lofty houses livid in the first light of day, +and I swore solemnly to myself, in the presence of re-awakening +life, that this day should see me begin to do what I ought, and the +morrow should see me continue, and the following days should see +the same, until I could say to myself: "I am certain." + +I resolutely repressed the wild feelings which had taken hold of me +during the night, and I fixed my mind upon the problem: "Does there +exist any means of making sure whether Edmond Termonde is, or is +not, identical with the man who in 1864 called himself Rochdale?" + +For the answer to this question I had only myself, the resources of +my own intelligence, and my personal will to rely upon. I must do +myself the justice to state that not for one minute, during all +those cruel hours, was I tempted to rid myself once for all of the +difficulties of my tragic task by appealing to justice, as I should +have done had I not taken my mother's sufferings into account. I +had resolved that the terrible blow of learning that for fifteen +years she had been the wife of an assassin should never be dealt to +her by me. In order that she might always remain in ignorance of +this story of crime, it was necessary for the struggle to be +strictly confined to my stepfather and myself. + +And yet, I thought, what if I find that he is guilty? + +At this idea, no longer vague and distant, but liable today, to- +morrow, at any time, to become an indisputable truth, a terrible +project presented itself to my mind. But I would not look in that +direction, I made answer to myself: "I will think of this later +on," and I forced myself to concentrate all my reflections upon the +actual day and its problem: How to verify the identity of Edmond +Termonde with the false Rochdale? + +To tear the secret from my stepfather was impossible. I had vainly +endeavored for months to find the flaw in his armor of +dissimulation; I had but broken not one dagger, but twenty against +the plates of that cuirass. If I had had all the tormentors of the +Middle Ages at my service, I could not have forced his fast-shut +lips to open, or extorted an admission from his woebegone and yet +impenetrable face. + +There remained the other; but in order to attack him, I must first +discover under what name he was hiding in Paris, and where. No +great effort of imagination was required to hit upon a certain +means of discovering these particulars. I had only to recall the +circumstances under which I had learned the fact of Edmond +Termonde's arrival in Paris. For some reason or other--remembrance +of a guilty complicity or fear of a scandal--my stepfather trembled +with fear at the mere idea of his brother's return. His brother +had returned, and my stepfather would undoubtedly make every effort +to induce him to go away again. He would see him, but not at the +house on the Boulevard de Latour-Maubourg, on account of my mother +and the servants. I had, therefore, a sure means of finding out +where Edmond Termonde was living; I would have his brother +followed. + +There were two alternatives: either he would arrange a meeting in +some lonely place, or he would go himself to Edmond Termonde's +abode. In the latter case, I should have the information I wanted +at once; in the former, it would be sufficient to give the +description of Edmond Termonde just as I had received it from my +mother, and to have him also followed on his return from the place +of meeting. The spy-system has always seemed to me to be infamous, +and even at that moment I felt all the ignominy of setting this +trap for my stepfather; but when one is fighting, one must use the +weapons that will avail. To attain my end, I would have trodden +everything under foot except my mother's grief. + +And then? Supposing myself in possession of the false name of +Edmond Termonde and his address, WHAT WAS I TO DO? I could not, in +imitation of the police, lay my hand upon him and his papers, and +get off with profuse excuses for the action when the search was +finished. I remember to have turned over twenty plans in my mind, +all more or less ingenious, and rejected them all in succession, +concluding by again fixing my mind on the bare facts. + +Supposing the man really had killed my father, it was impossible +that the scene of the murder should not be indelibly impressed upon +his memory. In his dark hours the face of the dead man, whom I +resembled so closely, must have been visible to his mind's eye. + +Once more I studied the portrait at which my stepfather had hardly +dared to glance, and recalled my own words: "Do you think the +likeness is sufficiently strong for me to have the effect of a +specter upon the criminal?" + +Why not utilize this resemblance? I had only to present myself +suddenly before Edmond Termonde, and call him by the name-- +Rochdale--to his ears its syllables would have the sound of a +funeral bell. Yes! that was the way to do it; to go into the room +he now occupied, just as my father had gone into the room at the +Imperial Hotel, and to ask for him by the name under which my +father had asked for him, showing him the very face of his victim. +If he was not guilty, I should merely have to apologize for having +knocked at his door by mistake; if he was guilty, he would be so +terrified for some minutes that his fear would amount to an avowal. +It would then be for me to avail myself of that terror to wring the +whole of his secret from him. + +What motives would inspire him? Two, manifestly--the fear of +punishment, and the love of money. It would then be necessary for +me to be provided with a large sum when taking him unawares, and to +let him choose between two alternatives, either that he should sell +me the letters which had enabled him to blackmail his brother for +years past, or that I should shoot him on the spot. + +And what if he refused to give up the letters to me? Is it likely +that a ruffian of his kind would hesitate? + +Well, then, he would accept the bargain, hand me over the papers by +which my stepfather is convicted of murder, and take himself off; +and I must let him go away just as he had gone away from the +Imperial Hotel, smoking a cigar, and paid for his treachery to his +brother, even as he had been paid for his treachery to my father! +Yes, I must let him go away thus, because to kill him with my own +hand would be to place myself under the necessity of revealing the +whole of the crime, which I am bound to conceal at all hazards. + +"Ah, mother! what will you not cost me!" I murmured with tears. + +Fixing my eyes again upon the portrait of the dead man, it seemed +to me that I read in its eyes and mouth an injunction never to +wound the heart of the woman he had so dearly loved--even for the +sake of avenging him. "I will obey you," I made answer to my +father, and bade adieu to that part of my vengeance. + +It was very hard, very cruel to myself; nevertheless, it was +possible; for, after all, did I hate the wretch himself? He had +struck the blow, it is true, but only as a servile tool in the hand +of another. + +Ah! that other, I would not let HIM escape, when he should be in my +grip; he who had conceived, meditated, arranged, and paid for the +deed; he who had stolen all from me, all, all, from my father's +life even to my mother's love; he, the real, the only culprit. +Yes, I would lay hold of him, and contrive and execute my +vengeance, while my mother should never suspect the existence of +that duel out of which I should come triumphant. I was intoxicated +beforehand with the idea of the punishment which I would find means +to inflict upon the man whom I execrated. It warmed my heart only +to think of how this would repay my long, cruel martyrdom. + +"To work! to work!" I cried aloud. + +I trembled lest this should be nothing but a delusion, lest Edmond +Termonde should have already left the country, my stepfather having +previously purchased his silence. + +At nine o'clock I was in an abominable Private Inquiry Office-- +merely to have passed its threshold would have seemed to me a +shameful action, only a few hours before. At ten I was with my +broker, giving him instructions to sell out 100,000 francs' worth +of shares for me. That day passed, and then a second. How I bore +the succession of the hours, I know not. I do know that I had not +courage to go to my mother's house, or to see her again. I feared +she might detect my wild hope in my eyes, and unconsciously +forewarn my stepfather by a sentence or a word, as she had +unconsciously informed me. + +Towards noon, on the third day, I learned that my stepfather had +gone out that morning. It was a Wednesday, and on that day my +mother always attended a meeting for some charitable purpose in the +Grenelle quarter. M. Termonde had changed his cab twice, and had +alighted from the second vehicle at the Grand Hotel. There he had +paid a visit to a traveler who occupied a room on the second floor +(No. 353); this person's name was entered in the list of arrivals +as Stanbury. At noon I was in possession of these particulars, and +at two o'clock I ascended the staircase of the Grand Hotel, with a +loaded revolver and a note-case containing one hundred banknotes, +wherewith to purchase the letters, in my pocket. + +Was I about to enter on a formidable scene in the drama of my life, +or was I about to be convinced that I had been once more made the +dupe of my own imagination? + +At all events, I should have done my duty. + + +XII + + +I had reached the second floor. At one corner of the long corridor +there was a notification that the numbers ran from 300 to 360. A +waiter passed me, whistling; two girls were chattering and laughing +in a kind of office at the stair-head; the various noises of the +courtyard came up through the open windows. + +The moment was opportune for the execution of my project. With +these people about the man could not hope to escape from the house. +345, 350, 351, 353--I stood before the door of Edmond Termonde's +room; the key was in the lock; chance had served my purpose better +than I had ventured to hope. This trifling particular bore witness +to the security in which the man whom I was about to surprise was +living. Was he even aware that I existed? + +I paused a moment before the closed door. I wore a short coat, so +as to have my revolver within easy reach in the pocket, and I put +my right hand upon it, opened the door with my left, and entered +without knocking. + +"Who is there?" said a man who was lying rather than sitting in an +arm-chair, with his feet on a table; he was reading a newspaper and +smoking, and his back was turned to the door. He did not trouble +himself to rise and see whose hand had opened the door, thinking, +no doubt, that a servant had come in; he merely turned his head +slightly, and I did not give him time to look completely round. + +"M. Rochdale?" I asked. + +He started to his feet, pushed away the chair, and rushed to the +other side of the table, staring at me with a terrified +countenance; his light blue eyes were unnaturally distended, his +face was livid, his mouth was half open, his legs bent under him. +His tall, robust frame had sustained one of those shocks of +excessive terror which almost paralyze the forces of life. He +uttered but one word--"Cornelis!" + +At last I held in my victorious hand the proof that I had been +seeking for months, and in that moment I was master of all the +resources of my being. Yes, I was as calm, as clear of purpose, as +my adversary was the reverse. He was not accustomed to live, like +his accomplice, in the daily habits of studied dissimulation. The +name, "Rochdale," the terrifying likeness, the unlooked-for +arrival! I had not been mistaken in my calculation. With the +amazing rapidity of thought that accompanies action I perceived the +necessity of following up this first shock of moral terror by a +shock of physical terror. Otherwise, the man would hurl himself +upon me, in the moment of reaction, thrust me aside and rush away +like a madman, at the risk of being stopped on the stairs by the +servants, and then? But I had already taken out my revolver, and I +now covered the wretch with it, calling him by his real name, to +prove that I knew all about him. + +"M. Edmond Termonde," I said, "if you make one step towards me, I +will kill you, like the assassin that you are, as you killed my +father." + +Pointing to a chair at the corner of the half-open window, I added: + +"Sit down!" + +He obeyed mechanically. At that instant I exercised absolute +control over him; but I felt sure this would cease so soon as he +recovered his presence of mind. But even though the rest of the +interview were now to go against me, that could not alter the +certainty which I had acquired. I had wanted to know whether +Edmond Termonde was the man who had called himself Rochdale, and I +had secured undeniable proof of the fact. Nevertheless, it was due +to myself that I should extract from my enemy the proof of the +truth of all my conjectures, that proof which would place my +stepfather at my mercy. This was a fresh phase of the struggle. + +I glanced round the room in which I was shut up with the assassin. +On the bed, placed on my left, lay a loaded cane, a hat and an +overcoat; on a small table were a steel "knuckle-duster" and a +revolver. Among the articles laid out on a chest of drawers on my +right a bowie-knife was conspicuous, a valise was placed against an +unused door, a wardrobe with a looking-glass stood before another +unused door, then came the toilet-stand, and the man, crouching +under the aim of my revolver, between the table and the window. He +could neither escape, nor reach to any means of defense without a +personal struggle with me; but he would have to stand my fire +first, and besides, if he was tall and robust, I was neither short +or feeble. I was twenty-five, he was fifty. All the moral forces +were for me, I must win. + +"Now," said I, as I took a seat, but without releasing him from the +covering barrel of my pistol, "let us talk." + +"What do you want of me?" he asked roughly. His voice was both +hoarse and muffled; the blood had gone back into his cheeks, his +eyes, those eyes so exactly like his brother's, sparkled. The +brute-nature was reviving in him after having sustained a fearful +shock, as though astonished that it still lived. + +"Come, then," he added, clenching his fists, "I am caught. Fire on +me, and let this end." + +Then, as I made him no answer, but continued to threaten him with +my pistol, he exclaimed: + +"Ah! I understand; it is that blackguard Jacques who has sold me to +you in order to get rid of me himself. There's the statute of +limitations--he thinks he is safe! But has he told you that he was +in it himself, good, honest man, and that I have the proof of this? +Ah! he thinks I am going to let you kill me, like that, without +speaking? No, I shall call out, we shall be arrested, and all will +be known." + +Fury had seized upon him; he was about to shout "Help!" and the +worst of it was that rage was rising in me also. It was he, with +that same hand which I saw creeping along the table, strong, hairy, +seeking something to throw at me--yes--it was he who had killed my +father. + +One impulse more of anger and I was lost; a bullet was lodged in +his body, and I saw his blood flow. Oh, what good it would have +done me to see that sight! + +But no, I soon made the sacrifice of this particular vengeance. In +a second, I beheld myself arrested, obliged to explain everything, +and my mother exposed to all the misery of it. + +Happily for me, he also had an interval of reflection. The first +idea that must have occurred to him was that his brother had +betrayed him, by telling me one-half of the truth, so as to deliver +him up to my vengeance. The second, no doubt, was that, for a son +who came to avenge his dead father, I was making a good deal of +delay about it. There was a momentary silence between us. This +allowed me to regain my coolness, and to say: "You are mistaken," +so quietly that his amazement was visible in his face. He looked +at me, then closed his eyes, and knitted his brow. I felt that he +could not endure my resemblance to my father. + +"Yes, you are mistaken," I continued deliberately, giving the tone +of a business conversation to this terrible interview. "I have not +come here either to have you arrested or to kill you. Unless," I +added, "you oblige me to do so yourself, as I feared just now you +would oblige me. I have come to propose a bargain to you, but it +is on the condition that you listen, as I shall speak, with +coolness." + +Once more we were both silent. In the corridor, almost at the door +of the room, there were sounds of feet, voices, and peals of +laughter. This was enough to recall me to the necessity of +controlling myself, and him to the consciousness that he was +playing a dangerous game. A shot, a cry, and someone would enter +the room, for it opened upon the corridor. Edmond Termonde had +heard me with extreme attention; a gleam of hope, succeeded by a +singular look of suspicion, had passed over his face. + +"Make your conditions," said he. + +"If I had intended to kill you," I resumed, so as to convince him +of my sincerity by the evidence of his senses, "you would be dead +already." I raised the revolver. "If I had intended to have you +arrested, I would not have taken the trouble to come here myself; +two policemen would have been sufficient, for you don't forget that +you are a deserter, and still amenable to the law." + +"True," he replied simply, and then added, following out a mental +argument which was of vital importance to the issue of our +interview: + +"If it is not Jacques, then who is it that has sold me?" + +"I held you at my disposal," I continued, without noticing what he +had said, "and I have not availed myself of that. Therefore I had +a strong reason for sparing you yesterday, ere yesterday, this +morning, a little while ago, at the present moment; and it depends +upon yourself whether I spare you altogether." + +"And you want me to believe you," he answered, pointing to my +revolver which I still continued to hold in my hand, but no longer +covering him with it. "No, no," and he added, with an expression +which smacked of the barrack-room, "I don't tumble to that sort of +thing." + +"Listen to me," said I, now assuming a tone of extreme contempt. +"The powerful motive which I have for not shooting you like a mad +dog, you shall learn. I do not choose that my mother should ever +know what a man she married in your brother. Do you now understand +why I resolved to let you go? Provided you are of the same mind, +however; for even the idea of my mother would not stop me, if you +pushed me too far. I will add, for your guidance, that the +limitation by which you supposed yourself to be safe from pursuit +for the murder in 1864 has been traversed; you are therefore +staking your head at this moment. For ten years past you have been +successfully levying blackmail on your brother. I do not suppose +you have merely played upon the chord of fraternal love. When you +came from America to assume the personality of Rochdale, it was +clearly necessary that he should send you some instructions. You +have kept those letters. I offer you one hundred thousand francs +for them." + +"Sir," he replied slowly, and his tone showed me that for the +moment he had recovered his self-control, "how can you imagine that +I should take such a proposal seriously? Admitting that any such +letters were ever written, and that I had kept them, why should I +give up a document of this kind to you? What security should I +have that you would not have me laid by the heels the moment after! +Ah!" he cried, looking me straight in the face, "you know nothing! +That name! That likeness! Idiot that I am, you have tricked me." + +His face turned crimson with rage, and he uttered an oath. + +"You shall pay for this!" he cried; and at the same instant, when +he was no longer covered by my pistol, he pushed the table upon me +so violently, that if I had not sprung backwards I must have been +thrown down; but he already had time to fling himself upon me and +seize me round the body. Happily for me the violence of the attack +had knocked the pistol out of my hands, so that I could not be +tempted to use it, and a struggle began between us in which not one +word was spoken by either. + +With his first rush he had flung me to the ground; but I was +strong, and the strange premonitions of danger, from which I +suffered in my youth, had led me to develop all my physical energy +and adroitness. + +I felt his breath on my face, his skin upon my skin, his muscles +striving against mine, and at the same time the dread that our +conflict might be overheard gave me the coolness which he had lost. +After a few minutes of this tussle, and just as his strength was +failing, he fastened his teeth in my shoulder so savagely that the +pain of the bite maddened me. I wrenched one of my arms from his +grasp and seized him by the throat at the risk of choking him. I +held him under me now, and I struck his bead against the floor as +though I meant to smash it. He remained motionless for a minute, +and I thought I had killed him. I first picked up my pistol, which +had rolled away to the door, and then bathed his forehead with +water in order to revive him. + +When I caught sight of myself in the glass, with my coat-collar +torn, my face bruised, my cravat in rags, I shuddered as if I had +seen the specter of another Andre Cornelis. The ignoble nature of +this adventure filled me with disgust; but it was not a question of +fine-gentleman fastidiousness. My enemy was coming to himself, I +must end this. I knew in my conscience I had done all that was +possible to fulfill my vow in regard to my mother. The blame must +fall upon destiny. the wretch had half-raised himself, and was +looking at me; I bent over him, and put the barrel of my revolver +within a hair's breadth of his temple. + +"There is still time," I said. "I give you five minutes to decide +upon the bargain which I proposed to you just now; the letters, and +one hundred thousand francs, with your liberty; if not, a bullet in +your head. Choose. I wished to spare you on account of my mother; +but I will not lose my vengeance both ways. I shall be arrested, +your papers will be searched, the letters will be found, it will be +known that I had a right to shoot you. My mother will go mad with +grief; but I shall be avenged. I have spoken. You have five +minutes, not one more." + +No doubt my face expressed invincible resolution. The assassin +looked at that face, then at the clock. He tried to make a +movement, but saw that my finger was about to press the trigger. + +"I yield," he said. + +I ordered him to rise, and he obeyed me. + +"Where are the letters?" + +"When you have them," he implored, with the terror of a trapped +beast in his abject face, "you will let me go away?" + +"I swear it," I answered; and, as I saw doubt and dread in his +quailing eyes, I added, "by the memory of my father. Where are the +letters?" + +"There." + +He pointed to a valise in a corner of the room. + +"Here is the money." + +I flung him the note-case which contained it. Is there a sort of +moral magnetism in the tone of certain words and in certain +expressions of countenance? Was it the nature of the oath which I +had just taken, so deeply impressive at that moment, or had this +man sufficient strength of mind to say to himself that his single +chance of safety resided in belief in my good faith? However that +may be, he did not hesitate for a moment; he opened the iron-bound +valise, took out a yellow-leather box with a patent lock, and, +having opened it, flung its contents--a large sealed envelope-to +me, exactly as I had flung the banknotes to him. I, too, for my +part, had not a moment's fear that he would produce a weapon from +the valise and attack me while I was verifying the contents of the +envelope. These consisted of three letters only; the two first +bore the double stamp of Paris and New York, the third those of New +York and Liverpool, and all three bore the January or February +post-marks of the year 1864. + +"Is that all?" he asked. + +"Not yet," I answered; "you must undertake to leave Paris this +evening by the first train, without having seen your brother or +written to him." + +"I promise; and then?" + +"When was he to come back here to see you?" + +"On Saturday," he answered, with a shrug of his shoulders. "The +bargain was concluded. He was determined to wait until the day +came for me to set out for Havre before paying me the money, so +that he might make quite sure I should not stay on in Paris.--The +game is up," he added, "and now I wash my hands of it." + +"Edmond Termonde," said I, rising, but not loosing him from the +hold of my eye, "remember that I have spared you; but you must not +tempt me a second time by putting yourself in my way, or crossing +the path of any whom I love." + +Then, with a threatening gesture, I quitted the room, leaving him +seated at the table near the window. I had hardly reached the +corridor when my nerves, which had been so strangely under my +control during the struggle, failed me. My legs bent under me, and +I feared I was about to fall. How was I to account for the +disorder of my clothes? I made a great effort, concealed the torn +ends of my cravat, turned up the collar of my coat to hide the +condition of my shirt, and did my best to repair the damage that +had been done to my hat. I then wiped my face with my +handkerchief, and went downstairs with a slow and careless step. +The inspector of the first floor was, doubtless, occupied at the +other end of the corridor; but two of the waiters saw me and were +evidently surprised at my aspect. They were, however, too busy, +luckily for me, to stop me and inquire into the cause of my +discomposure. At last I reached the courtyard. If anybody who +knew me had been there? I got into the first cab and gave my +address. I had kept my word. I had conquered. + +I am afraid to kill; but had I been born in Italy, in the fifteenth +century, would I have hesitated to poison my father's murderer? +Would I have hesitated to shoot him, had I been born in Corsica +fifty years ago? Am I then nothing but a civilized person, a +wretched and impotent dreamer, who would fain act, but shrinks from +soiling his hands in the action? I forced myself to contemplate +the dilemma in which I stood, in its absolute, imperative, +inevitable distinctness. I must either avenge my father by handing +over his murderer to be dealt with by the law, since M. Massol had +prudently fulfilled all the formalities necessary to bar the +limitation, or I must be my own minister of justice. There was a +third alternative; that I should spare the murderous wretch, allow +him to live on in occupation of his victim's place in my mother's +home, from which he had driven me; but at the thought of this my +rage revived. The scruples of the civilized man did indeed give +him pause; but that hesitation did not hinder the savage, who +slumbers in us all, from feeling the appetite for retaliation which +stirs the animal nature of man--all his flesh, and all his blood-- +as hunger and thirst stir it. "Well, then," said I to myself, "I +will assassinate my stepfather, since that is the right word. Was +he afraid to assassinate my father? He killed; he shall be killed. +An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth; that is the primitive law, +and all the rest is a lie." + +Evening had come while this strife was raging in my soul. I was +laboring under excitement which contrasted strangely with the +calmness I had felt a few hours previously, when ascending the +stairs in the Grand Hotel. The situation also had undergone a +change; then I was preparing for a struggle, a kind of duel; I was +about to confront a man whom I had to conquer, to attack him face +to face without any treachery, and I had not flinched. It was the +mean hypocrisy of clandestine murder that had made me shrink from +the idea of killing my stepfather, by luring him into a snare. I +had controlled this trembling the first time; but I was afraid of +its coming again, and that I should have a sleepless night, and be +unfit to act next day with the cool calmness I desired. + +I felt that I could not bear suspense; on the morrow I must act. +The plan on which I should decide, be it what it might, must be +executed within the twenty-four hours. + +The best means of calming my nerves was by making a beginning now, +at once; by doing something beforehand to guard against suspicion. +I determined upon letting myself be seen by persons who could bear +witness, if necessary, that they had seen me, careless, easy, +almost gay. I dressed and went out, intending to dine at a place +where I was known, and to pass the most of the night at the club. + +When I was in the Avenue des Champs-Elysees, crowded with carriages +and people on foot--the May evening was delicious--I shared the +physical sensation of the joy of living, which was abroad in the +air. The sky quivered with the innumerable throbs of the stars, +and the young leaves shook at the touch of a slow and gentle +breeze. Garlands of light illumined the various pleasure-gardens. +I passed in front of a restaurant where the tables extended to the +edge of the footpath, and young men and women were finishing their +dinner gaily. + +The contrast between the spring-festival aspect of Paris and the +tragedy of my own destiny came home to me too strongly. What had I +done to Fate to deserve that I should be the one only person, amid +all this crowd, condemned to such an experience? Why had my path +been crossed by a man capable of pushing passion to the point of +crime, in a society in which passion is ordinarily so mild, so +harmless, and so lukewarm? Probably there did not exist in all the +"good" society of Paris four persons with daring enough to conceive +such a plan as that which Jacques Termonde had executed with such +cool deliberation under the influence of his passion. And this +villain, who could love so intensely, was my stepfather! + +Once more the breath of fatality, which had already thrilled me +with a kind of mysterious horror, passed over me, and I felt that I +could no longer bear the sight of the human face. Turning my back +upon the lit-up, noisy quarter of the Champs Elysees, I walked on +towards the Arc de Triomphe. Without thinking about it I took the +road to the Bois, bore to the right to avoid the vehicles, and +turned into one of the loneliest paths. Had I unconsciously obeyed +one of those almost animal impulses of memory, which bring us back +to ways that we have already trodden? By the soft, bluish light of +the spring moon I recognized the place where I had walked with my +stepfather in the winter, on the occasion of our first drive to the +Bois. It was on that day I obliged him to look the portrait of his +victim in the face, on that day he came to me on the pretext of +asking for the Review which my mother had lent me. In my thoughts +I beheld him, as he then was, and recalled the strange pity which +had stirred my heart at the sight of him, so sad, broken-down, and, +so to speak, conquered. He stood before me, in the light of that +remembrance, as living and real as if he had been there, close +beside me, and the acute sensation of his existence made me feel at +the same time all the signification of those fearful and mysterious +words: to kill. To kill? I was going to kill him, in a few hours +it might be, at the latest in a few days. + +I heard voices, and I withdrew into the shade. Two forms passed +me, a young man and a girl, lovers, who did not see me. The +moonlight fell upon them, as they went on their way, hand in hand. +I burst into tears, and wept long, unrestrainedly; for I too was +young; in my heart there was a flood of pent-up tenderness, and +here I was, on this perfumed, moonlit, starlit night, crouching in +a dark corner, meditating murder! + +No, not murder, an execution. Has my stepfather deserved death? +Yes. Is the executioner who lets down the knife on the neck of the +condemned criminal to be called an assassin? No! Well, then I +shall be the executioner and nothing else. I rose from the bench +where I had shed my last tears of resolution and cowardice--for +thus I regarded those hot tears to which I now appeal, as a last +proof that I was not born for what I have done. + +While walking back to Paris, I multiplied and reiterated my +arguments. Sometimes I succeeded in silencing a voice within me, +stronger than my reasoning and my longing for vengeance, a voice +which pronounced the words formerly uttered by my aunt: "Vengeance +is mine, saith the Lord God." And if there be no God? And if +there be, is not the fault His, for He has let this thing be? Yes, +such were my wild words and thoughts; and then all these scruples +of my conscience appeared to me mere vain, futile quibbles, fitting +for philosophers and confessors. + +There remained one indisputable, absolute fact; I could not endure +that the murderer of my father should continue to be the husband of +my mother. + +There was a second no less evident fact; I could not place this man +in the hands of justice without, probably, killing my mother on the +spot, or, quite certainly, laying her whole life waste. Therefore +I would have to be my own tribunal, judge, and executioner in my +own cause. What mattered to me the arguments for or against? I +was bound to give heed first to my final instinct, and it cried out +to me "Kill!" + +I walked fast, keeping my mind fixed on this idea with a kind of +tragic pleasure, for I felt that my irresolution was gone, and that +I should act. All of a sudden, as I came close to the Arc de +Triomphe, I remembered how, on that very spot, I had met one of my +club companions for the last time. He shot himself the next day. +Why did this remembrance suddenly suggest to me a series of new +thoughts? + +I stopped short with a beating heart. I had caught a glimpse of +the way of safety. Fool that I had been, led away as usual by an +undisciplined imagination! My stepfather should die. I had +sentenced him in the name of my inalienable right as an avenging +son; but could I not condemn him to die by his own hand? Had I not +that in my possession which would drive him to suicide? If I went +to him without any more reserves or circumlocution, and if I said +to him, "I hold the proof that you are the murderer of my father. +I give you the choice--either you will kill yourself, or I denounce +you to my mother," what would his answer be? He, who loved his +wife with that reciprocated devotion by which I had suffered so +much, would he consent that she should know the truth, that she +should regard him as a base, cowardly assassin? No, never; he +would rather die. + +My heart, weary and worn with pain, rushed towards this door of +hope, so suddenly opened. "I shall have done my duty," I thought, +"and I shall have no blood on my hands. My conscience will not be +stained." I experienced an immense relief from the weight of +foreseen remorse that had caused me such agony, and I went on +drawing a picture of the future, freed at last from one dark image +which had veiled the sunshine of my youth. "He will kill himself; +my mother will weep for him; but I shall be able to dry her tears. +Her heart will bleed, but I will heal the wound with the balm of my +tenderness. When the assassin is no longer there, she and I will +live over again all the dear time that he stole from us, and then I +shall be able to show her how I love her. The caresses which I did +not give her when I was a child, because the other froze me by his +mere presence, I will give her then; the words which I did not +speak, the tender words that were stopped upon my lips, she shall +hear then. We will leave Paris, and get rid of these sad +remembrances. We will retire to some quiet spot, far, far away, +where she will have none but me, I none but her, and I will devote +myself to her old age. What do I want with any other love, with +any other tie? Suffering softens the heart; her grief will make +her love me more. Ah! how happy we shall be." But once more the +voice within resumed: "What if the wretch refuse to kill himself? +What if he were not to believe me when I threaten to denounce him?" +Had I not been acting for months as his accomplice in maintaining +the deceit practiced upon my mother? Did he not know how much I +loved her, he who had been jealous of me as her son, as I had been +jealous of him as her husband? Would he not answer: "Denounce me!" +being well assured that I would not deal such a blow at the poor +woman? To these objections I replied, that, whereas I had +suspected previously, now I knew. No, he will not be entirely +convinced that the evidence I hold will make me dare everything. +Well then, if he refuse, I shall have attempted the impossible to +avoid murder--let destiny be accomplished! + + +XIII + + +It was four o'clock in the afternoon on the following day, when I +presented myself at the hotel on the Boulevard de Latour-Maubourg. +I knew that my mother would most probably be out. I also thought +it likely my stepfather would he feeling none the better of his +early excursion to the Grand Hotel on the previous day, and I +therefore hoped to find him at home, perhaps in his bed. I was +right; my mother was out, and he had remained at home. He was in +his study, the room in which our first explanation had taken place. +That upon which I was now bent was of far greater importance, and +yet I was less agitated than on the former occasion. At last I was +completely certain of the facts, and with that certainty a strange +calmness had come to me. I can recall my having talked for a few +moments with the servant who announced me, about a child of his who +was ill. I also remember to have observed for the first time that +the smoky chimney of some manufacturing works at the back of the +garden, built, no doubt, during the last winter, was visible +through the window of the staircase. + +I record these things because I am bound to recognize that my mind +was quite clear and free--for I will be sincere to the end--when I +entered the spacious room. + +My stepfather was reclining in a deep armchair at the far side of +the fireplace, and occupied in cutting the pages of a new book with +a dagger. The blade of this weapon was broad, short, and strong. +He had brought the knife back from Spain, with several other kinds +of arms, which lay about in the rooms he habitually occupied. I +now understood the order of ideas which this singular taste +indicated. He was dressed for walking; but his altered looks bore +witness to the intensity of the crisis through which he had passed. +It had affected his whole being. + +Very likely my face was expressive of an extraordinary resolution, +for I saw by his eyes, as our looks met, that he had read the +depths of my thoughts at a glance. Nevertheless, he said: "Ah, is +it you, Andre? It is very kind of you to come," thus exhibiting +once more the power of his self-control, and he put out his hand. +I did not take it, and my refusal, contrasting with his gesture of +welcome, the silence which I kept for some minutes, the contraction +of my features, and, no doubt, the menace in my eyes, entirely +enlightened him as to the mood in which I came to him. Very +quietly, he laid down his book and the Spanish knife he had been +using, on a large table within his reach, and then he rose from his +chair, leaned his back against the mantelpiece, and crossing his +arms, looked at me with the haughty stare I knew so well, and which +had so often humiliated me in my boyhood. I was the first to break +the silence; replying to his polite greeting in a harsh tone, and +looking him straight in the face, I said: + +"The time of lies is past. You have guessed that I know all?" + +He bent his brows into the stern frown he always assumed when he +felt anger he was bound to suppress, his eyes met mine with +indomitable pride, and he merely replied: + +"I do not understand you." + +"You do not understand me? Very well, I am about to enlighten +you." My voice shook in uttering these words; my coolness was +forsaking me. The day before, and in my conversation with the +brother, I had come in contact with the vile infamy of a knave and +a coward; but the enemy whom I was now facing, although a greater +scoundrel than the other, found means to preserve a sort of moral +superiority, even in that terrible hour when he knew well he was +face to face with his crime. + +Yes, this man was a criminal, but of a grand kind, and there was no +cowardice in him. Pride sat upon that brow so laden with dark +thoughts, but fear set no mark upon it, any more than did +repentance. In his eyes--exactly like those of his brother--a +fierce resolution shone; I felt that he would defend himself to the +end. He would yield to evidence only, and such strength of mind +displayed at such a moment had the effect of exasperating me. The +blood flew to my head, and my heart beat rapidly, as I went on: + +"Allow me to take up the matter a little farther back. In 1864, +there was in Paris a man who loved the wife of his most intimate +friend. Although that friend was very trusting, very noble, very +easily duped, he became aware of this love, and he began to suffer +from it. He grew jealous--although he never doubted his wife's +purity of heart--jealous as everyone is who loves too well. + +"The man who was the object of his jealousy perceived it, +understood that he was about to be forbidden the house, knew that +the woman whom he loved would never degrade herself by listening to +a lover, and this is the plan which be conceived: + +"He had a brother somewhere in a distant land, an infamous +scoundrel who was supposed to be dead, a creature sunk in shame, a +thief, a forger, a deserter, and he bethought him of this brother +as an instrument ready to his hand wherewith to rid himself of the +friend who stood in the way of his passion. He sent for the fellow +secretly, he appointed to meet him in one of the loneliest corners +of Paris--in a street adjoining the Jardin des Plantes, and at +night--you see I am well informed. It is easy to imagine how he +persuaded the former thief to play the part of bravo. A few months +after, the husband was assassinated by this brother, who eluded +justice. The felon-friend married almost immediately the woman +whom he loved; he is now a man in society, wealthy and respected, +and his pure and pious wife loves, admires, nay, worships him. Do +you now begin to understand?" + +"No more than before," he answered, with the same impassive face. +He did well not to flinch. What I had said might be only an +attempt to wrest his secret from him by feigning to know all. +Nevertheless, the detail concerning the place where he had +appointed to meet his brother had made him start. That was the +spot to hit, and quickly. + +"The cowardly assassin," I continued, "yes, the coward, because he +dared not commit the crime himself, had carefully calculated all +the circumstances of the murder; but he had reckoned without +certain little accidents, for instance, that his brother would keep +the three letters he had received, the first two at New York, the +last at Liverpool, and which contained instructions relating to the +stages of this clandestine journey. Neither had he taken into +account that the son of his victim would grow up, would become a +man, would conceive certain suspicions of the true cause of his +father's death, and would succeed in procuring overwhelming proof +of the dark conspiracy. Come, then," I added fiercely, "off with +the mask! M. Jacques Termonde, it is you who had my unhappy father +killed by your brother Edmond. I have in my possession the letters +you wrote him in January, 1864, to induce him to come to Europe, +first under the false name of Rochester and afterwards under that +of Rochdale. It is not worth your while to play the indignant or +the astonished with me--the game is up." + +He had turned frightfully pale; but his arms still remained +crossed, and his bold eyes did not droop. He made one last attempt +to parry the straight blow I had aimed at him, and he had the +hardihood to say: + +"How much did that wretch Edmond ask as the price of the forgery +which he fabricated in revenge for my refusal to give him money?" + +"Be silent, you--" said I still more fiercely. "Is it to me that +you dare to speak thus--to me? Did I need those letters in order +to learn all? Have we not known for weeks past, I, that you had +committed the crime, and you, that I had divined your guilt? What +I still needed was the written, indisputable, undeniable proof, +that which can be laid before a magistrate. You refused him money? +You were about to give him money, only that you mistrusted him, and +chose to wait until the day of his departure. You did not suspect +that I was upon your track. Shall I tell you when it was you saw +him for the last time? Yesterday, at ten o'clock in the morning, +you went out, you changed your cab first at the Place de la +Concorde, and a second time at the Palais Royal. You went to the +Grand Hotel, and you asked whether Mr. Stanbury was in his room. A +few hours later I, myself, was in that same room. Ah! how much did +Edmond Termonde ask from me for the letters? Why, I tore them from +him, pistol in hand, after a struggle in which I was nearly killed. +You see now that you can deceive me no more, and that it is no +longer worth your while to deny." + +I thought he was about to drop dead before me. His face changed, +until it was hardly human, as I went on, on, on, piling up the +exact facts, tracking his falsehood, as one tracks a wild beast, +and proving to him that his brother had defended himself after his +fashion, even as he had done. He clasped his hands about his head, +when I ceased to speak, as though to compress the maddening +thoughts which rushed upon him; then, once more looking me in the +face, but this time with infinite despair in his eyes, he uttered +exactly the same sentence as his brother had spoken, but with quite +another expression and tone: + +"This hour too was bound to come. What do you want from me now?" + +"That you should do justice on yourself," I answered. "You have +twenty-four hours before you. If, to-morrow at this hour, you are +still living, I place the letters in my mother's hands." + +Every sort of feeling was depicted upon his livid face while I +placed this ultimatum before him, in a firm voice which admitted of +no farther discussion. I was standing up, and I leaned against the +large table; he came towards me, with a sort of delirium in his +eyes as they strove to meet mine. + +"No," he cried, "no, Andre, not yet! Pity me, Andre, pity me! See +now, I am a condemned man, I have not six months to live. Your +revenge! Ah! you had no need to undertake it. What! If I have +done a terrible deed, do you think I have not been punished for it? +Look at me, only look at me; I am dying of this frightful secret. +It is all over; my days are numbered. The few that remain, leave, +oh, leave them to me! Understand this, I am not afraid to die; but +to kill myself, to go away, leaving this grief to her whom you love +as I do! It is true that, to win her, I have done an atrocious +deed; but say, answer, has there ever been an hour, a minute since, +in which her happiness was not my only aim? And you would have me +leave her thus, inflict upon her the torment of thinking that while +I might have grown old by her side, I preferred to go away, to +forsake her before the time? No, Andre--this last year, leave it +to me! Ah, leave it to me, leave it to us, for I assure you that I +am hopelessly ill, that I know it, that the doctors have not hidden +it from me. In a few months--fix a date--if the disease has not +carried me off, you can come back. But I shall be dead. She will +weep for me, without the horror of that idea that I have +forestalled my hour, she who is so pious! You only will be there +to console her, to love her. Have pity upon her, if not upon me. +See, I have no more pride towards you, I entreat you in her name, +in the name of her dear heart, for well you know its tenderness. +You love her, I know that; I have guessed truly that you hid your +suspicions to spare her pain. I tell you once again, my life is a +hell, and I would joyfully give it to you in expiation of what I +have done; but she, Andre, she, your mother, who has never, never +cherished a thought that was not pure and noble, no, do not inflict +this torture upon her." + +"Words, words!" I answered, moved to the bottom of my soul in spite +of myself, by the outburst of an anguish in which I was forced to +recognize sincerity. "It is because my mother is noble and pure +that I will not have her remain the wife of a vile murderer for a +day longer. You shall kill yourself, or she shall know all." + +"Do it then if you dare," he replied, with a return to the natural +pride of his character, at the ferocity of my answer. "Do it if +you dare! Yes, she is my wife, yes, she loves me; go and tell her, +and kill her yourself with the words. Ha, you see! You turn pale +at the mere thought. I have allowed you to live, yes, I, on +account of her, and do you suppose I do not hate you as much as you +hate me? Nevertheless, I have respected you because you were dear +to her, and you will have to do the same with me. Yes, do you +hear, it must be so--" + +It was he who was giving orders now, he who was threatening. How +plainly had he read my mind, to stand up before me in such an +attitude! Furious passion broke loose in me; I took in the facts +of the situation. This man had loved my mother madly enough to +purchase her at the cost of the murder of his most intimate friend, +and he loved her after all those years passionately enough to +desire that not one of the days he had still to pass with her might +be lost to him. And it was also true that never, never should I +have the courage to reveal the terrific truth to the poor woman. + +I was suddenly carried away by rage to the point of losing all +control over my frenzy. "Ah!" I cried, "since you will not do +justice on yourself, die then, at once!" I stretched out my hand +and seized the dagger which he had recently placed upon the table. +He looked at me without flinching, or recoiling; indeed presenting +his breast to me, as though to brave my childish rage. I was on +his left bending down, and ready to spring. I saw his smile of +contempt, and then with all my strength I struck him with the knife +in the direction of the heart. + +The blade entered his body to the hilt. + +No sooner had I done this thing than I recoiled, wild with terror +at the deed. He uttered a cry. His face was distorted with +terrible agony, and he moved his right hand towards the wound, as +though he would draw out the dagger. He looked at me, convulsed; I +saw that he wanted to speak; his lips moved, but no sound issued +from his mouth. The expression of a supreme effort passed into his +eyes, he turned to the table, took a pen, dipped it into the +inkstand, and traced two lines on a sheet of paper within his +reach. He looked at me again, his lips moved once more, then he +fell down like a log. + +I remember--I saw the body stretched upon the carpet, between the +table and the tall mantelpiece, within two feet of me. I +approached him, I bent over his face. His eyes seemed to follow me +even after death. + +Yes, he was dead. + +The doctor who certified the death explained afterwards that the +knife had passed through the cardiac muscle without completely +penetrating the left cavity of the heart, and that, the blood not +being shed all at once, death had not been instantaneous. + +I cannot tell how long he lived after I struck him, nor do I know +how long I remained in the same place, overwhelmed by the thought: +"Someone will come, and I am lost." It was not for myself that I +trembled. What could be done to a son who had but avenged his +murdered father? But, my mother? This was what all my resolutions +to spare her at any cost, my daily solicitude for her welfare, my +unseen tears, my tender silence, had come to in the end! I must +now, inevitably, either explain myself, or leave her to think I was +a mere murderer. I was lost. But if I called, if I cried out +suddenly that my stepfather had just killed himself in my presence, +should I be believed? And, besides, had he not written what would +convict me of murder, on that sheet of paper lying on the table? +Was I going to destroy it, as a practiced criminal destroys every +vestige of his presence before he leaves the scene of his crime? + +I seized the sheet of paper; the lines were written upon it in +characters rather larger than usual. How it shook in my hand while +I read these words: "Forgive me, Marie. I was suffering too much. +I wanted to be done with it." And he had had the strength to affix +his signature! + +So then, his last thought had been for her. In the brief moments +that had elapsed between my blow with the knife, and his death, he +had perceived the dreadful truth, that I should be arrested, that I +would speak to explain my deed, that my mother would then learn his +crime--and he had saved me by compelling me to silence. + +But was I going to profit by this means of safety? Was I going to +accept the terrible generosity by which the man, whom I had so +profoundly detested, would stand acquitted towards me for evermore? +I must render so much justice to my honor; my first impulse was to +destroy that paper, to annihilate with it even the memory of the +debt imposed upon my hatred by the atrocious but sublime action of +the murderer of my father. + +At that moment I caught sight of a portrait of my mother, on the +table, close to where he had been sitting. It was a photograph, +taken in her youth; she was represented in brilliant evening +attire, her bare arms shaded with lace, pearls in her hair, gay, +ay, better than gay, happy, with an ineffably pure expression +overspreading her face. My stepfather had sacrificed all to save +her from despair on learning the truth, and was she to receive the +fatal blow from me, to learn at the same moment that the man she +loved had killed her first husband, and that he had been killed by +her son? + +I desire to believe, so that I may continue to hold myself in some +esteem, that only the vision of her grief led me to my decision. I +replaced the sheet of paper on the table, and turned away from the +corpse lying on the carpet, without casting a glance at it. The +remembrance of my flight from the Grand Hotel, on the previous day, +gave me courage; I must try a second time to get away without +betraying discomposure. + +I found my hat, left the room, and closed the door carelessly. I +crossed the hall and went down the staircase, passing by the +footman who stood up mechanically, and then the concierge who +saluted me. The two servants had not even put me out of +countenance. + +I returned to my room as I had done the day before, but in a far +more tragic state of suspense. Was I saved? Was I lost? All +depended on the moment at which somebody might go into my +stepfather's room. If my mother were to return within a few +minutes of my departure; if the footman were to go upstairs with +some letter, I should instantly be suspected, in spite of the +declaration written by M. Termonde. I felt that my courage was +exhausted. I knew that, if accused, I should not have moral +strength to defend myself, for my weariness was so overwhelming +that I did not suffer any longer. The only thing I had strength to +do was to watch the swing of the pendulum of the timepiece on the +mantelshelf, and to mark the movement of the hands. A quarter of +an hour elapsed, half an hour, a whole hour. + +It was an hour and a half after I had left the fatal room, when the +bell at the door was rung. I heard it through the walls. A +servant brought me a laconic note from my mother scribbled in +pencil and hardly legible. It informed me that my stepfather had +destroyed himself in an attack of severe pain. The poor woman +implored me to go to her immediately. Ah, she would now never know +the truth! + + +XIV + + +The confession that I wished to write is written. To what end +could I add fresh facts to it now? I hoped to ease my heart by +passing in review all the details of this dark story, but I have +only revived the dread memory of the scenes in which I have been an +actor; from the first--when I saw my father stretched dead upon his +bed, and my mother weeping by his side, to the last--when I +noiselessly entered a room in which the unhappy woman was again +kneeling and weeping. Again upon the bed there lay a corpse, and +she rose as she had done before, and uttered the same despairing +cry: "My Andre--my son." And I had to answer her questions; I had +to invent for her a false conversation with my stepfather, to tell +her that I left him rather depressed, but with nothing in his +appearance or manner to indicate a fatal resolution. I had to take +the necessary steps to prevent this alleged suicide from getting +known, to see the commissary of police and the "doctor of the +dead." I had to preside at the funeral ceremonies, to receive the +guests and act as chief mourner. And always, always, he was +present to me, with the dagger in his breast, writing the lines +that had saved me, and looking at me, while his lips moved. + +Ah, begone, begone, abhorred phantom! Yes! I have done it; yes! I +have killed you; yes! it was just. You know well that it was just. +Why are you still here now? Ah! I WILL live; I WILL forget. If I +could only cease to think of you for one day, only one day, just to +breathe, and walk, and see the sky, without your image returning to +haunt my poor head which is racked by this hallucination, and +troubled? My God! have pity on me. I did not ask for this +dreadful fate; it is Thou that hast sent it to me. Why dost Thou +punish me? Oh, my God, have pity on me! Miserere mei, Domine. + +Vain prayers! Is there any God, any justice, is there either good +or evil? None, none, none, none! There is nothing but a pitiless +destiny which broods over the human race, iniquitous and blind, +distributing joy and grief at haphazard. A God who says, "Thou +shalt not kill," to him whose father has been killed? No, I don't +believe it. No, if hell were there before me, gaping open, I would +make answer: "I have done well," and I would not repent. I do not +repent. My remorse is not for having seized the weapon and struck +the blow, it is that I owe to him--to him--that infamous good +service which he did me--that I cannot to the present hour shake +from me the horrible gift I have received from that man. If I had +destroyed the paper, if I had gone and given myself up, if I had +appeared before a jury, revealing, proclaiming my deed, I should +not be ashamed; I could still hold up my head. What relief, what +joy it would be if I might cry aloud to all men that I killed him, +that he lied, and I lied, that it was I, I, who took the weapon and +plunged it into him! And yet, I ought not to suffer from having +accepted--no--endured the odious immunity. Was it from any motive +of cowardice that I acted thus? What was I afraid of? Of +torturing my mother, nothing more. Why, then, do I suffer this +unendurable anguish? Ah, it is she, it is my mother who, without +intending it, makes the dead so living to me, by her own despair. +She lives, shut up in the rooms where they lived together for +sixteen years; she has not allowed a single article of furniture to +be touched; she surrounds the man's accursed memory with the same +pious reverence that my aunt formerly lavished on my unhappy +father. I recognize the invincible influence of the dead in the +pallor of her cheeks, the wrinkles in her eyelids, the white +streaks in her hair. He disputes her with me from the darkness of +his coffin; he takes her from me, hour by hour, and I am powerless +against that love. If I were to tell her, as I would like to tell +her, all the truth, from the hideous crime which he committed, down +to the execution carried out by me, it is I whom she would hate, +for having killed him. She will grow old thus and I shall see her +weep, always, always-- What good is it to have done what I did, +since I have not killed him in her heart? + + + +Anonymous + + +The Last of the Costellos + + +After several years' service on the staff of a great daily +newspaper in San Francisco, Gerald Ffrench returned to his home in +Ireland to enjoy a three months' vacation. A brief visit, when the +time consumed in traveling was deducted, and the young journalist, +on this January afternoon, realized that it was nearly over, and +that his further stay in the country of his birth was now to be +reckoned by days. + +He had been spending an hour with his old friend, Dr. Lynn, and the +clergyman accompanied him to the foot of the rectory lawn, and +thence, through a wicket gate that opened upon the churchyard, +along the narrow path among the graves. It was an obscure little +country burying-ground, and very ancient. The grass sprang +luxuriant from the mouldering dust of three hundred years; for so +long at least had these few acres been consecrated to their present +purpose. + +"Well, I won't go any further," says Dr. Lynn, halting at the +boundary wall, spanned by a ladder-like flight of wooden steps +which connected the churchyard with the little bye-road. "I'll say +good evening, Gerald, and assure you I appreciate your kindness in +coming over to see a stupid old man." + +"I would not hear thine enemy say that," quoted Gerald with a light +laugh. "I hope to spend another day as pleasantly before I turn my +back on old Ireland." He ran up the steps as he spoke and stood on +the top of the wall, looking back to wave a last greeting before he +descended. Suddenly he stopped. + +"What's that?" he asked, pointing down among the graves. + +The rector turned, but the tall grass and taller nettles concealed +from his view the object, whatever it might be, which Gerald had +seen from his temporary elevation. + +"It looks like a coffin," and coming rapidly down again the young +man pushed his way through the rank growth. The clergyman +followed. + +In a little depression between the mounds of two graves lay a plain +coffin of stained wood. It was closed, but an attempt to move it +showed that it was not empty. A nearer inspection revealed that +the lid was not screwed down in the usual manner, but hastily +fastened with nails. Dr. Lynn and Gerald looked at each other. +There was something mysterious in the presence of this coffin above +ground. + +"Has there been a funeral--interrupted--or anything of that kind?" +asked Gerald. + +"Nothing of the sort. I wish Bolan were here. He might have +something to say about it." + +Bolan was the sexton. Gerald knew where he lived, within a stone's +throw of the spot, and volunteered to fetch him. Dr. Lynn looked +all over the sinister black box, but no plate or mark of any kind +rewarded his search. Meanwhile, young Ffrench sped along the lower +road to Bolan's house. + +The sexton was in, just preparing for a smoke in company with the +local blacksmith, when Gerald entered with the news of the uncanny +discovery in the churchyard. Eleven young Bolans, grouped around +the turf fire, drank in the intelligence and instantly scattered to +spread the report in eleven different directions. A tale confided +to the Bolan household was confided to rumor. + +Blacksmith and sexton rose together and accompanied Gerald to the +spot where he had left Dr. Lynn, but Dr. Lynn was no longer alone. +The rector had heard steps in the road; it was a constabulary +patrol on its round, and the old gentleman's hail had brought two +policemen to his side. There they stood, profoundly puzzled and +completely in the dark, except for the light given by their bull's- +eye lanterns. But the glare of these lanterns had been seen from +the road. Some people shunned them, as lights in a graveyard +should always be shunned; but others, hearing voices, had suffered +their curiosity to overcome their misgivings, and were gathered +around, silent, open-mouthed, wondering. So stood the group when +Gerald and his companions joined it. + +In reply to general questions Bolan was dumb. In reply to +particular interrogations he did not hesitate to admit that he was +"clane bate." Gerald, seeing that no one had ventured to touch the +grim casket, hinted that it would be well to open it. There was a +dubious murmur from the crowd and a glance at the constables as the +visible representatives of the powers that be. The officers +tightened their belts and seemed undecided, and Dr. Lynn took the +lead with a clear, distinct order, "Take off the lid, Andy," he +said. + +"An' why not? Isn't his riverince a magistrate? Go in, Andy, yer +sowl ye, and off wid it." Thus the crowd. + +So encouraged, the blacksmith stepped forward. Without much +difficulty he burst the insecure fastenings and removed the lid. +The constables turned their bull's-eyes on the inside of the +coffin. The crowd pressed forward, Gerald in the front rank. + +There was an occupant. A young girl, white with the pallor of +death, lay under the light of the lanterns. The face was as placid +and composed as if she had just fallen asleep, and it was a +handsome face with regular features and strongly defined black +eyebrows. The form was fully dressed, and the clothes seemed +expensive and fashionable. A few raven locks straggled out from +beneath a lace scarf which was tied around the head. The hands, +crossed below the breast, were neatly gloved. There she lay, a +mystery, for not one of those present had ever seen her face +before. + +Murmurs of wonder and sympathy went up from the bystanders. "Ah, +the poor thing!" "Isn't she purty?" "So young, too!" "Musha, +it's the beautiful angel she is be this time." + +"Does anyone know her?" asked the rector; and then, as there was no +reply, he put a question that was destined for many a day to +agitate the neighborhood of Drim, and ring through the length and +breadth of Ireland--"How did she come here?" + +The investigation made at the moment was unsatisfactory. The grass +on all sides had been trampled and pressed down by the curious +throng, and such tracks as the coffin-bearers had made were +completely obliterated. It was clearly a case for the coroner, and +when that official arrived and took charge the crowd slowly +dispersed. + +The inquest furnished no new light. Medical testimony swept away +the theory of murder, for death was proved to have resulted from +organic disease of the heart. The coffin might have been placed +where it was found at any time within thirty-six hours, for it +could not be shown that anyone had crossed the churchyard path +since the morning previous, and indeed a dozen might have passed +that way without noticing that which Gerald only discovered through +the accident of having looked back at the moment that he mounted +the wall. Still, it did not seem likely that an object of such +size could have lain long unnoticed, and the doctors were of +opinion that the woman had been alive twenty-four hours before her +body was found. + +In the absence of suspicion of any crime--and the medical +examination furnished none--interest centered in the question of +identity; and this was sufficiently puzzling. + +The story got into the newspapers--into the Dublin papers; +afterwards into the great London journals, and was widely discussed +under the title of "The Drim Churchyard Mystery," but all this +publicity and a thorough investigation of the few available clues +led to nothing. No one was missing; widely distributed photographs +of the deceased found no recognition; and the quest was finally +abandoned even in the immediate neighborhood. The unknown dead +slept beneath the very sod on which they had found her. + +Gerald Ffrench, who, like most good journalists, had a strongly +developed detective instinct, alone kept the mystery in mind and +worked at it incessantly. He devoted the few remaining days of his +stay in Ireland to a patient, systematic inquiry, starting from the +clues that had developed at the inquest. He had provided himself +with a good photograph of the dead girl, and a minute, carefully +written description of her apparel, from the lace scarf which had +been wound round her head to the dainty little French boots on her +feet. The first examination had produced no result. Railway +officials and hotel-keepers, supplied with the photographs, could +not say that they had ever seen the original in life. Even the +coffin, a cheap, ready-made affair, could be traced to no local +dealer in such wares. A chatelaine bag, slung round the waist of +the dead girl, had evidently been marked with initials, for the +leather showed the holes in which the letters had been fastened, +and the traces of the knife employed in their hurried removal. But +the pretty feminine trifle was empty, and in its present condition +had nothing to suggest save that a determined effort had been made +to hide the identity of the dead. The linen on the corpse was new +and of good material, but utterly without mark. Only a +handkerchief which was found in the pocket bore a coat of arms +exquisitely embroidered on the corner. + +The shield showed the head and shoulders of a knight with visor +closed, party per fess on counter-vair. Gerald, whose smattering +of heraldry told him so much, could not be sure that the lines of +the embroidery properly indicated the colors of the shield; but he +was sanguine that a device so unusual would be recognized by the +learned in such matters, and, having carefully sketched it, he sent +a copy to the Heralds' College, preserving the original drawing for +his own use. The handkerchief itself, with the other things found +on the body, was of course beyond his reach. + +The answer from the Heralds' College arrived a day or two before +the approaching close of his vacation forced Gerald to leave +Ireland, but the information furnished served only to make the +mystery deeper. + +The arms had been readily recognized from his sketch, and the +college, in return for his fee, had furnished him with an +illuminated drawing, showing that the embroidery had been accurate. +The shield was party per fess, argent above, azure below, and from +this Gerald concluded that the handkerchief had been marked by +someone accustomed to blazonries; he thought it likely that the +work had been done in a French convent. The motto, Nemo me impune +lacessit, appeared below. The bearings and cognizance were those +of the noble family of Costello, which had left Ireland about the +middle of the seventeenth century and had settled in Spain. The +last representative had fallen some sixty years ago at the battle +of Vittoria, in the Peninsular war, and the name was now extinct. +So pronounced the unimpeachable authority of the Heralds' College. + +And yet Gerald had seen those very arms embroidered on a +handkerchief which had been found in the pocket of a nameless girl, +whose corpse he himself had been the first to discover some two +weeks before, in the lonely little burying-ground at Drim. What +was he to think? Through what strange, undreamed-of ramifications +was this affair to be pursued? + +The day before his departure, Ffrench walked over to the rectory to +say good-bye to Dr. Lynn. Gerald knew that the rector was an +authority in county history, and thought it possible that the old +gentleman could tell him something about the Costellos, a name +linked with many a Westmeath tradition. He was not disappointed, +and the mystery he was investigating took on a new interest from +what he heard. The Costellos had been one of the midland +chieftains in Cromwell's time; the clan had offered the most +determined resistance, and it had been extirpated root and branch +by the Protector. The Ffrench estate of Ballyvore had once formed +portion of the Costello property, and had been purchased by +Gerald's ancestor from the Cromwellian Puritan to whom it had been +granted on confiscation. + +The young man was now deeply interested in the inquiry, and to it +he devoted every movement of the time he could still call his own. + +But the last day of Gerald's visit slipped away without result, and +one fine morning Larry, his brother's servant, drove him into +Athlone to take the train for Queenstown. + +"Ye'll not be lettin' another six years go by without comin' home +agen, will ye, sir?" said the groom, who was really concerned at +Gerald's departure. + +"I don't know," answered Gerald; "it all depends. Say, Larry!" + +"Sir." + +"Keep an eye out, and if anything turns up about that dead girl, +let me know, won't you?" Ffrench had already made a similar +request of his brother, but he was determined to leave no chance +untried. + +"An' are ye thinkin' of that yet, an' you goin' to America?" said +Larry with admiring wonder. + +"Of course I'm thinking of it. I can't get it out of my head," +replied Gerald impatiently. + +"Well, well d'ye mind that now?" said the groom meditatively. +"Well, sir, if anything does turn up, I'll let ye know, never fear; +but sure she's underground now, an' if we'd been goin' to larn +anything about the matter, we'd ha' had it long ago." + +Gerald shook hands with the faithful Larry at parting, and left a +sovereign in his palm. + +The groom watched the train moving slowly out of the station. + +"It's a mortal pity to see a fine young jintleman like that so far +gone in love with a dead girl." + +This was Larry's comment on his young master's detective tastes. + +At Queenstown Ffrench bought a paper and looked over it while the +tender was carrying him, in company with many a weeping emigrant, +to the great steamer out in the bay. From time to time the +journals still contained references to the subject which was +uppermost in Gerald's thoughts. The familiar words, "The Drim +Churchyard Mystery," caught his eye, and he read a brief paragraph, +which had nothing to say except that all investigations had failed +to throw any light on the strange business. + +"Ay, and will fail," he mused, as the tender came alongside the +steamer; "at any rate, if anything is found out it won't be by me, +for I shall be in California, and I can scarcely run across any +clues there." + +And yet, as Gerald paced the deck, and watched the bleak shores of +Cork fading in the distance, his thoughts were full of the banished +Costellos, and he wondered with what eyes those exiles had looked +their last on the Old Head of Kinsale a quarter of a millennium +ago. Those fierce old chieftains, to whom the Ffrenches--proud +county family as they esteemed themselves--were but as mushrooms; +what lives had they lived, what deaths had they died, and how came +their haughty cognizance, so well expressing its defiant motto, on +the handkerchief of the nameless stranger who slept in Drim +churchyard--Drim, the old, old graveyard; Drim, that had been +fenced in as God's acre in the days of the Costellos themselves? +Was it mere chance that had selected this spot as the last resting- +place of one who bore the arms of the race? Was it possible the +girl had shared the Costello blood? + +Gerald glanced over his letter from the Heralds' College and shook +his head. The family had been extinct for more than sixty years. + +About two months after Gerald's return to California a despatch was +received from the Evening Mail's regular correspondent in +Marysville, relating the particulars of an encounter between the +Mexican holders of a large ranch in Yuba County and certain +American land-grabbers who had set up a claim to a portion of the +estate. The matter was in course of adjudication in the Marysville +courts, but the claimants, impatient at the slow process of the +law, had endeavored to seize the disputed land by force. Shots had +been fired, blood had been spilled, and the whole affair added +nothing to Yuba County's reputation for law and order. The matter +created some talk in San Francisco, and the Evening Mail, among +other papers, expressed its opinion in one of those trenchant +personal articles which are the spice of Western journalism. Two +or three days later, when the incident had been almost forgotten in +the office, the city editor sent for Gerald Ffrench. + +"Ffrench," said that gentleman, as the young man approached his +desk, "I've just received a letter from Don Miguel y--y--something +or other. I can't read his whole name, and it don't matter much. +It's Vincenza, you know, the owner of that ranch where they had the +shooting scrape the other day. He is anxious to make a statement +of the matter for publication, and has come down to the Bay on +purpose. Suppose you go and see what he has to say? He's staying +at the Lick." + +The same morning Gerald sent up his card and was ushered into the +apartment of Don Miguel Vincenza at the Lick House. + +The senor was a young man, not much older than Gerald himself. He +had the appearance and manners of a gentleman, as Ffrench quickly +discovered, and he spoke fluent, well-chosen English with scarcely +a trace of accent, a circumstance for which the interviewer felt he +could not be sufficiently grateful. + +"Ah, you are from the Evening Mail," said the young Spaniard, +rising as Gerald entered; "most kind of you to come, and to come so +promptly. Won't you be seated? Try a cigar. No? You'll excuse +me if I light a cigarette. I want to make myself clear, and I'm +always clearest when I'm in a cloud." He gave a little laugh, and +with one twirl of his slender fingers he converted a morsel of +tissue paper and a pinch of tobacco into a compact roll, which he +lighted, and exhausted in half-a-dozen puffs as he spoke. + +"This man, this Jenkinson's claim is perfectly preposterous," he +began, "but I won't go into that. The matter is before the courts. +What I want to give you is a true statement of that unfortunate +affair at the ranch, with which, I beg you to believe, I had +nothing whatever to do." + +Senor Vincenza's tale might have had the merit of truth; it +certainly lacked that of brevity. He talked on, rolling a fresh +cigarette at every second sentence, and Gerald made notes of such +points as he considered important, but at the conclusion of the +Spaniard's statement the journalist could not see that it had +differed much from the published accounts, and he told the other as +much. + +"Well, you see," said Vincenza, "I am in a delicate position. It +is not as if I were acting for myself. I am only my sister's +agent--my half-sister's, I should say--poor little Catalina;" and +the speaker broke off with a sigh and rolled a fresh cigarette +before he resumed. + +"It's her property, all of it, and I cannot bear to have her +misrepresented in any way." + +"I understand," said Gerald, making a note of the fact. "The +property, I suppose, passed to your sister from--" + +"From her father. I was in the land of the living some years +before he met and wooed and won my widowed mother. They are both +dead now, and Catalina has none but myself to look out for her, +except distant relatives on the father's side, who will inherit the +property if she dies unmarried, and whom she cordially detests." + +Gerald was not particularly romantic, but the idea of this fair +young Spaniard, owner of one of the finest ranches in Yuba County, +unmarried, and handsome too, if she were anything like her mother, +inflamed his imagination a little. He shook hands cordially with +the young man as he rose to go, and could not help wishing they +were better acquainted. + +"You may be sure I will publish your statement exactly as you have +given it to me, and as fully as possible," said Gerald. Before the +young heiress had been mentioned, the journalist had scarcely seen +material enough in the interview for a paragraph. + +It is fair to presume that Senor Vincenza was satisfied with the +treatment he received in the Evening Mail, for a polite note +conveyed to Ffrench the expression of his thanks. So that incident +passed into the limbo of forgetfulness, though Gerald afterwards +took more interest in the newspaper paragraphs, often scant enough, +which told of the progress of the great land case in the Marysville +courts. + +A curt despatch, worded with that exasperating brevity which is a +peculiarity of all but the most important telegrams, wound up the +matter with an announcement that a decision had been reached in +favor of the defendant, and that Mr. Isaac Hall, of the law firm of +Hall and McGowan, had returned to San Francisco, having conducted +the case to a successful issue. Gerald was pleased to hear that +the young lady had been sustained in her rights, and determined to +interview Mr. Hall, with whom he was well acquainted. Accordingly, +after two or three unsuccessful attempts, he managed to catch the +busy lawyer with half an hour's spare time on his hands, and well +enough disposed to welcome his young friend. + +"Mr. Hall," said Gerald, dropping into the spare chair in the +attorney's private room, "I want to ask you a few questions about +that Marysville land case." + +"Fire ahead, my boy; I can give you twenty minutes," answered the +lawyer, who was disposed to make a great deal more of the victory +he had won than the newspapers had hitherto done, and who was +consequently by no means averse from an interview. "What do you +want to know?" + +"Hard fight, wasn't it?" asked the journalist. + +"Yes," replied Mr. Hall, "tough in a way; but we had right on our +side as well as possession. A good lawyer ought always to win when +he has those; to beat law and facts and everything else is harder +scratching; though I've done that too," and the old gentleman +chuckled as if well satisfied with himself. + +"That's what your opponents had to do here, I suppose?" remarked +Gerald, echoing the other's laugh. + +"Pretty much, only they didn't do it," said the lawyer. + +"I met Vincenza when he was down last month," pursued Gerald. "He +seems a decentish sort of a fellow for a greaser." + +"He's no greaser; he's a pure-blooded Castilian, and very much of +the gentleman," answered Hall. + +"So I found him," said Gerald. "I only used the 'greaser' as a +generic term. He talks English as well as I do." + +"That's a great compliment from an Irishman," remarked Mr. Hall +with another chuckle. + +"I suppose the sister's just as nice in her own way," went on +Gerald, seeing an opportunity to satisfy a certain curiosity he had +felt about the heiress since he first heard of her existence. "Did +she make a good witness?" + +"Who? What sister? What the deuce are you talking about?" asked +the lawyer. + +"Why, Vincenza's sister, half-sister, whatever she is. I +understood from him that she was the real owner of the property." + +"Oh, ay, to be sure," said Mr. Hall slowly; "these details escape +one. Vincenza was my client; he acts for the girl under power of +attorney, and really her name has hardly come up since the very +beginning of the case." + +"You didn't see her, then?" said Gerald, conscious of a vague sense +of disappointment. + +"See her?" repeated the lawyer. "No; how could I? She's in Europe +for educational advantages--at a convent somewhere, I believe." + +"Oh," said Gerald, "a child, is she? I had fancied, I don't know +why, that she was a grown-up young lady." + +"I couldn't tell you what her age is, but it must be over twenty- +one or she couldn't have executed the power of attorney, and that +was looked into at the start and found quite regular." + +"I see," replied Gerald slowly; but the topic had started Mr. Hall +on a fresh trail, and he broke in-- + +"And it was the only thing in order in the whole business. Do you +know we came within an ace of losing, all through their confounded +careless way of keeping their papers?" + +"How did they keep them?" inquired Gerald listlessly. The suit +appeared to be a commonplace one, and the young man's interest +began to wane. + +"They didn't keep them at all," exclaimed Mr. Hall indignantly. +"Fancy, the original deed--the old Spanish grant--the very keystone +of our case, was not to be found till the last moment, and then +only by the merest accident, and where do you suppose it was?" + +"I haven't an idea," answered Gerald, stifling a yawn. + +"At the back of an old print of the Madonna. It had been framed +and hung up as an ornament, I suppose, Heaven knows when; and by- +and-by some smart Aleck came along and thought the mother and child +superior as a work of art and slapped it into the frame over the +deed, and there it has hung for ten years anyhow." + +"That's really very curious," said Gerald, whose attention began to +revive as he saw a possible column to be compiled on the details of +the case that had seemed so uninteresting to his contemporaries. + +"Curious! I call it sinful--positively wicked," said the old +gentleman wrathfully. "Just fancy two hundred thousand dollars +hanging on the accident of finding a parchment in such a place as +that." + +"How did you happen to find it?" asked Gerald. "I should never +have thought of looking for it there." + +"No; nor any other sane man," sputtered the lawyer, irritated, as +he recalled the anxiety the missing deed had caused him. "It was +found by accident, I tell you. Some blundering, awkward, heaven- +guided servant knocked the picture down and broke the frame. The +Madonna was removed, and the missing paper came to light." + +"And that was the turning-point of the case. Very interesting +indeed," said Gerald, who saw in the working out of this legal +romance a bit of detective writing such as his soul loved. "I +suppose they'll have sense enough to put it in a safer place next +time?" + +"I will, you may bet your life. I've taken charge of all the +family documents; and if they get away from me, they'll do +something that nothing's ever done before;" and the old lawyer +chuckled with renewed satisfaction as he pointed to the massive +safe in a corner of the office. + +"So the deed is there, is it?" asked Gerald, following Mr. Hall's +eyes. + +"Yes, it's there. A curious old document too; one of the oldest +grants I have ever come across. Would you like to see it?" and the +lawyer rose and opened the safe. + +It was a curious old document drawn up in curious old Spanish, on +an old discolored piece of parchment. The body of the instrument +was unintelligible to Ffrench, but down in one corner was something +that riveted his attention in a moment and seemed to make his heart +stand still. + +There was a signature in old-fashioned angular handwriting, +Rodriguez Costello y Ugarte, and opposite to it a large, spreading +seal. The impression showed a knight's head and shoulders in full +armor, below it the motto, Nemo me impune lacessit, and a shield of +arms, party per fess, azure below, argent above, counter-vair on +the argent. Point for point the identical blazonry which Ffrench +had received from the Heralds' College in England--the shield that +he had first seen embroidered on the dead girl's handkerchief at +Drim. + +"What's the matter with you? Didn't you ever see an old Spanish +deed before, or has it any of the properties of Medusa's head?" +inquired Mr. Hall, noticing Gerald's start of amazement and intent +scrutiny of the seal. + +"I've seen these arms before," said the young man slowly. "But the +name--" He placed his finger on the signature. "Of course, I knew +Vincenza's name must be different from his half-sister's; but is +that hers?" + +"Ugarte? Yes," said the lawyer, glancing at the parchment. + +"I mean the whole name," and Gerald pointed again. + +"Costello!" Mr. Hall gave the word its Spanish pronunciation, +"Costelyo," and it sounded strange and foreign in the young man's +ears. "Costello, yes, I suppose so; but I don't try to keep track +of more of these Spaniards' titles than is absolutely necessary." + +"But Costello is an Irish name," said Gerald. + +"Is it? You ought to know. Well Costelyo is Spanish; and now, my +dear boy, I must positively turn you out." + +Gerald went straight home without returning to the office. + +He unlocked his desk, and took from it the two results of his first +essay in detective craft. Silently he laid them side by side and +scrutinized each closely in turn. The pale, set face of the +beautiful dead, as reproduced by the photographer's art, told him +nothing. He strove to trace some resemblance, to awaken some +memory, by long gazing at the passionless features, but it was in +vain. Then he turned to the illuminated shield. Every line was +familiar to him, and a glance sufficed. It was identical in all +respects with the arms on the seal. Of this he had been already +convinced, and his recollection had not betrayed him. Then he +placed the two--the piteous photograph and the proud blazonry--in +his pocket-book, and left the room. The same evening he took his +place on the Sacramento train en route for Marysville. + +When Gerald reached San Luis, the postoffice address of the Ugarte +ranch, a disappointment awaited him. Evening was falling, and +inquiry elicited the fact that Don Vincenza's residence was still +twelve miles distant. Ffrench, after his drive of eighteen miles +over the dusty road from Marysville, was little inclined to go +further, so he put up his horse at a livery stable, resolved to +make the best of such accommodations as San Luis afforded. + +The face of the man who took the reins when Ffrench alighted seemed +familiar. The young fellow looked closer at him, and it was +evident the recognition was mutual, for the stableman accosted him +by name, and in the broad, familiar dialect of western Leinster. + +"May I niver ate another bit if it isn't Masther Gerald Ffrench!" +he said. "Well, well, well, but it's good for sore eyes to see ye. +Come out here, Steve, an' take the team. Jump down, Masther +Gerald, an' stretch yer legs a bit. It's kilt ye are entirely." + +A swarthy little Mexican appeared, and led the tired horses into +the stable. Then the young journalist took a good look at the man +who seemed to know him so well, and endeavored, as the phrase goes, +to "place him." + +"Ye don't mind me, yer honor, an' how wud ye? But I mind yersilf +well. Sure it's often I've druv ye and Mr. Edward too. I used to +wurruk for Mr. Ross of Mullinger. I was Denny the postboy--Denis +Driscoll, yer honor; sure ye must know me?" + +"Oh yes, to be sure--I remember," said Gerald, as recollection +slowly dawned upon him. "But who'd have thought of finding you in +a place like this? I didn't even know you'd left Ross's stables." + +"Six or siven months ago, yer honor." + +"And have you been here ever since? I hope you are doing well," +said Gerald. + +"Iver since, sor, an' doin' finely, wid the blessin' o' God. I own +that place," pointing to the stable, "an' four as good turnouts as +ye'd ax to sit behind." + +"I'm glad of it," said Gerald heartily. "I like to hear of the +boys from the old neighborhood doing well." + +"Won't ye step inside, sor, an' thry a drop of something? Ye must +be choked intirely wid the dust." + +"I don't care if I do," answered Gerald. "I feel pretty much as if +I'd swallowed a limekiln." + +A minute later the two were seated in Denny's own particular room, +where Gerald washed the dust from his throat with some capital +bottled beer, while his host paid attention to a large demijohn +which contained, as he informed the journalist in an impressive +whisper, "close on to a gallon of the real ould stuff." + +Their conversation extended far into the night; but long before +they separated Gerald induced Denny to despatch his Mexican helper, +on a good mustang, to the Ugarte ranch, bearing to Senor Vincenza +Mr. Ffrench's card, on which were penciled the words: "Please come +over to San Luis as soon as possible. Most important business." + +For the tale told by the ex-postboy, his change of residence and +present prosperity, seemed to throw a curious light on the Drim +churchyard mystery. + +Senor Vincenza appeared the following morning just as Gerald had +finished breakfast. The ranchero remembered the representative of +the Evening Mail and greeted him cordially, expressing his surprise +at Gerald's presence in that part of the country. The Spaniard +evidently imagined that this unexpected visit had some bearing on +the recently decided lawsuit, but the other's first words dispelled +the illusion. + +"Senor Vincenza," Ffrench said, "I have heard a very strange story +about your sister, and I have come to ask you for an explanation of +it." + +The young Spaniard changed color and looked uneasily at the +journalist. + +"What do you mean?" he asked. "I do not understand you. My sister +is in Europe." + +"Yes," answered Gerald, "she is in Europe--in Ireland. She fills a +nameless grave in Drim churchyard." + +Vincenza leaped to his feet, and the cigarette he had lighted +dropped from his fingers. They were in Gerald's room at the hotel, +and the young man had placed his visitor so that the table was +between them. He suspected that he might have to deal with a +desperate man. Vincenza leaned over the narrow table, and his +breath blew hot in Ffrench's face as he hissed, "Carambo! What do +you mean? How much do you know?" + +"I know everything. I know how she died in the carriage on your +way from Mullingar; how you purchased a coffin and bribed the +undertaker to silence; how you laid her, in the dead of night, +among the weeds in the graveyard; how you cut her name from the +chatelaine bag, and did all in your power to hide her identity, +even carrying off with you the postboy who drove you and aided you +to place her where she was found. Do you recognize that +photograph? Have you ever seen that coat-of-arms before?" and +Ffrench drew the two cards from his pocket and offered them to +Vincenza. + +The Spaniard brushed them impatiently aside and crouched for a +moment as if to spring. Gerald never took his eyes off him, and +presently the other straightened up, and, sinking into the chair +behind him, attempted to roll a cigarette. But his hand trembled, +and half the tobacco was spilled on the floor. + +"You know a great deal, Mr. Gerald Ffrench. Do you accuse me of my +sister's murder?" + +"No," answered Gerald. "She died from natural causes. But I do +accuse you of fraudulently withholding this property from its +rightful owners, and of acting on a power of attorney which has +been cancelled by the death of the giver." + +There was a moment's silence, broken only by a muttered oath from +Vincenza as he threw the unfinished cigarette to the ground, and +began to roll another, this time with better success. It was not +till it was fairly alight that he spoke again. + +Listen to me, young man," he said, "and then judge me as you hope +to be judged hereafter--with mercy. My sister was very dear to me; +I loved her, O God, how I loved her!" His voice broke, and Gerald, +recalling certain details of Denny's narrative, felt that the +Spaniard was speaking the truth. It was nearly a minute before +Vincenza recovered his self-command and resumed. + +"Yes, we were very dear to each other; brought up as brother and +sister, how could we fail to be? But her father never liked me, +and he placed restrictions upon the fortune he left her so that it +could never come to me. My mother--our mother--had died some years +before. Well, Catalina was wealthy; I was a pauper, but that made +no difference while she lived. We were as happy and fond a brother +and sister as the sun ever shone upon. When she came of age she +executed the power of attorney that gave me the charge of her +estate. She was anxious to spend a few years in Europe. I was to +take her over, and after we had traveled a little she was to go to +a convent in France and spend some time there while I returned +home. But she was one of the old Costellos, and she was anxious to +visit the ancient home of her race. That was what brought us to +Ireland." + +"I thought the Costello family was extinct," said Gerald. + +"The European branch has been extinct since 1813, when Don Lopez +Costello fell at Vittoria; but the younger branch, which settled in +Mexico towards the end of the eighteenth century, survived until a +few months ago--until Catalina's death, in fact, for she was the +last of the Costellos." + +"I see," said Gerald; "go on." + +"She was very proud of the name, poor Catalina, and she made me +promise in case anything happened to her while we were abroad that +she should be laid in the ancient grave of her race--in the +churchyard of Drim. She had a weak heart, and she knew that she +might die suddenly. I promised. And it was on our way to the spot +she was so anxious to visit that death claimed her, only a few +miles from the place where her ancestors had lived in the old days, +and where all that remains of them has long mouldered to dust. So +you see, Mr. Ffrench, that I had no choice but to lay her there." + +"That is not the point," said Gerald; "why this secrecy? Why this +flight? Dr. Lynn, I am sure, would have enabled you to obey your +sister's request in the full light of day; you need not have thrown +her coffin on the ground and left to strangers the task of doing +for the poor girl the last duties of civilization." Gerald spoke +with indignant heat, for this looked to him like the cruellest +desertion. + +"I know how it must seem to you," said Vincenza, "and I have no +excuse to offer for my conduct but this. My sister's death would +have given all she possessed to people whom she disliked. It would +have thrown me, whom she loved, penniless on the world. I acted as +if she were still living, and as I am sure she would have wished me +to act; no defence, I know, in your eyes, but consider the +temptation." + +"And did you not realize that all this must come out some day?" +asked Ffrench. + +"Yes, but not for several years. Indeed, I cannot imagine how it +is that you have stumbled on the truth." + +And Gerald, remembering the extraordinary chain of circumstances +which had led him to the root of the mystery, could not but +acknowledge that, humanly speaking, Vincenza's confidence was +justified. + +"And now you have found this out, what use do you intend to make of +it?" asked the Spaniard after a pause. + +"I shall publish the whole story as soon as I return to San +Francisco," answered Gerald promptly. + +"So for a few hundred dollars, which is all that you can possibly +get out of it, you will make a beggar of me." + +"Right is right," said the young Irishman. "This property does not +belong to you." + +"Will you hold your tongue--or your pen--for fifty thousand +dollars?" asked the Spaniard eagerly. + +"No, nor for every dollar you have in the world. I don't approve +your practice and I won't share your plunder. I am sorry for you +personally, but I can't help that. I won't oust you. I will make +such use of the story as any newspaper man would make, and so I +give you fair warning. You may save yourself if you can." + +"Then you do not intend to communicate with the heirs?" began +Vincenza eagerly. + +"I neither know nor care who they are," interrupted Gerald. "I am +not a detective, save in the way of my profession, and I shall +certainly not tell what I have discovered to any individual till I +give it to the press." + +"And that will be?" asked the Spaniard. + +"As soon as I return to San Francisco," answered Ffrench. "It may +appear in a week or ten days." + +"Thank you, senor; good morning," said Vincenza, rising and leaving +the room. + +Three days later Senor Miguel Vincenza sailed on the outgoing +Pacific mail steamer bound for Japan and China. He probably took a +considerable sum of money with him, for the heirs of Catalina +Costello y Ugarte found the affairs of the deceased in a very +tangled state, and the ranch was mortgaged for nearly half its +value. + +Gerald Ffrench's story occupied four pages of the next issue of the +Golden Fleece, and was widely copied and commented on over two +continents. Larry, the groom at Ballyvire, read the account in his +favorite Westmeath Sentinel, and as he laid the paper down +exclaimed in wonder-- + +"Begob, he found her!" + + + +Lady Betty's Indiscretion + + +"Horry! I am sick to death of it!" + +There was a servant in the room gathering the tea-cups; but Lady +Betty Stafford, having been brought up in the purple, was not to be +deterred from speaking her mind by a servant. Her cousin was +either more prudent or less vivacious; he did not answer on the +instant, but stood looking through one of the windows at the +leafless trees and slow-dropping rain in the Mall, and only turned +when Lady Betty pettishly repeated her statement. + +"Had a bad time?" he then vouchsafed, dropping into a chair near +her, and looking first at her, in a good-natured way, and then at +his boots, which he seemed to approve. + +"Horrid!" she replied. + +"Many people here?" + +"Hordes of them! Whole tribes!" she exclaimed. She was a little +lady, plump and pretty, with a pale, clear complexion, and bright +eyes. "I am bored beyond belief. And--and I have not seen +Stafford since morning," she added. + +"Cabinet council?" + +"Yes!" she answered viciously. "A cabinet council, and a privy +council, and a board of trade, and a board of green cloth, and all +the other boards! Horry, I am sick to death of it! What is the +use of it all?" + +"Country go to the dogs!" he said oracularly, still admiring his +boots. + +"Let it!" she retorted, not relenting a whit. " I wish it would; I +wish the dogs joy of it!" + +He made an extraordinary effort at diffuseness. "I thought," he +said, "that you were becoming political, Betty. Going to write +something, and all that." + +"Rubbish! But here is Mr. Atley. Mr. Atley, will you have a cup +of tea," she continued, speaking to the newcomer. "There will be +some here presently. Where is Mr. Stafford?" + +"Mr. Stafford will take a cup of tea in the library, Lady Betty," +replied the secretary. "He asked me to bring it to him. He is +copying an important paper." + +Sir Horace forsook his boots, and in a fit of momentary interest +asked, "They have come to terms?" + +The secretary nodded. Lady Betty said "Pshaw!" A man brought in +the fresh teapot. The next moment Mr. Stafford himself came +quickly into the room, an open telegram in his hand. + +He nodded pleasantly to his wife and her cousin. But his thin, +dark face wore--it generally did--a preoccupied look. Country +people to whom he was pointed out in the streets called him, +according to their political leanings, either insignificant, or a +prig, or a "dry sort;" or sometimes said, "How young he is!" But +those whose fate it was to face the Minister in the House knew that +there was something in him more to be feared even than his +imperturability, his honesty, or his precision--and that was a +certain sudden warmth, which was apt to carry away the House at +unexpected times. On one of these occasions, it was rumored, Lady +Betty Champion had seen him, and fallen in love with him. Why he +had thrown the handkerchief to her--well that was another matter; +and whether the apparently incongruous match would answer--that, +too, remained to be seen. + +"More telegrams?" she cried now. "It rains telegrams! how I hate +them!" + +"Why?" he said. "Why should you?" He really wondered. + +She made a face at him. "Here is your tea," she said abruptly. + +"Thank you; you are very good," he replied. He took the cup and +set it down absently. "Atley," he continued, speaking to the +secretary, "you have not corrected the report of my speech at the +Club, have you? No, I know you have had no time. Will you run +your eye over it presently, and see if it is all right, and send it +to the Times--I do not think I need see it--by eleven o'clock at +latest. The editor," he added, tapping the pink paper in his hand, +"seemed to doubt us. I have to go to Fitzgerald's now, so you must +copy Lord Pilgrimstone's terms, too, please. I had meant to do it +myself, but I shall be with you before you have finished." + +"What are the terms?" Lady Betty asked. "Lord Pilgrimstone has not +agreed to--" + +"To permit me to communicate them?" he replied, with a grave smile. +"No. So you must pardon me, my dear, I have passed my word for +absolute secrecy. And, indeed, it is as important to me as to +Pilgrimstone that they should not be divulged." + +"They are sure to leak out," she retorted. "They always do." + +"Well, it will not be through me, I hope." + +She stamped her foot on the carpet. "I should like to get them, +and send them to the Times!" she exclaimed, her eyes flashing--he +was so provoking! "And let all the world know them! I should!" + +He looked his astonishment, while the other two laughed softly, +partly to avoid embarrassment, perhaps. My Lady often said these +things, and no one took them seriously. + +"You had better play the secretary for once, Lady Betty," said +Atley, who was related to his chief. "You will then be able to +satisfy your curiosity. Shall I resign pro tem?" + +She looked eagerly at her husband for the third part of a second-- +looked for assent, perhaps. But she read no playfulness in his +face, and her own fell. He was thinking about other things. "No," +she said, almost sullenly, dropping her eyes to the carpet; "I +should not spell well enough." + +Soon after that they dispersed, this being Wednesday, Mr. +Stafford's day for dining out. Everyone knows that Ministers dine +only twice a week in session--on Wednesday and Sunday; and Sunday +is often sacred to the children where there are any, lest they +should grow up and not know their father by sight. Lady Betty came +into the library at a quarter to eight, and found her husband still +at his desk, a pile of papers before him waiting for his signature. +As a fact, he had only just sat down, displacing his secretary, who +had gone upstairs to dress. + +"Stafford!" she said. + +She did not seem quite at her ease, but his mind was troubled, and +he failed to notice this. "Yes, my dear," he answered politely, +shuffling the papers before him into a heap. He knew he was late, +and he could see that she was dressed. "Yes, I am going upstairs +this minute. I have not forgotten." + +"It is not that," she said, leaning with one hand on the table; "I +only want to ask you--" + +"My dear, you really must tell it to me in the carriage." He was +on his feet already, making some hasty preparations. "Where are we +to dine? At the Duke's? Then we shall have nearly a mile to +drive. Will not that do for you?" He was working hard while he +spoke. There was a great oak post-box within reach, and another +box for letters which were to be delivered by hand, and he was +thrusting a handful of notes into each of these. Other packets he +swept into different drawers of the table. Still standing, he +stooped and signed his name to half a dozen letters, which he left +open on the blotting-pad. "Atley will see to these when he is +dressed," he murmured. "Would you oblige me by locking the +drawers, my dear--it will save me a minute--and giving me the keys +when I come down?" + +He was off then, two or three papers in his hand, and almost ran +upstairs. Lady Betty stood a moment on the spot on which he had +left her, looking in an odd way, just as if it were new to her, +round the grave, spacious room, with its somber Spanish-leather- +covered furniture, its ponderous writing-tables and shelves of +books, its three lofty curtained windows. When her eyes at last +came back to the lamp, and dwelt on it, they were very bright, and +her face was flushed. Her foot could be heard tapping on the +carpet. Presently she remembered herself and fell to work, +vehemently slamming such drawers as were open, and locking them. + +The private secretary found her doing this when he came in. She +muttered something--still stooping with her face over the drawers-- +and almost immediately went out. He looked after her, partly +because there was something odd in her manner--she kept her face +averted; and partly because she was wearing a new and striking +gown, and he admired her; and he noticed, as she passed through the +doorway, that she had some papers held down by her side. But, of +course, he thought nothing of this. + +He was hopelessly late for his own dinner-party, and only stayed a +moment to slip the letters just signed into envelopes prepared for +them. Then he made hastily for the door, opened it, and came into +abrupt collision with Sir Horace, who was strolling in. + +"Beg pardon!" said that gentleman, with irritating placidity. +"Late for dinner?" + +"Rather!" cried the secretary, trying to get round him. + +"Well," drawled the other, "which is the hand-box, old fellow?" + +"It has just been cleared. Here, give it me. The messengers is in +the hall now." + +And Atley snatched the letter from his companion, the two going out +into the hall together. Marcus, the butler, a couple of tall +footmen, and the messenger were sorting letters at the table. +"Here, Marcus," said the secretary, pitching his letter on the +slab, "let that go with the others. And is my hansom here?" + +In another minute he was speeding one way, and the Staffords in +their brougham another, while Sir Horace walked at his leisure down +to his club. The Minister and his wife drove along in silence, for +he forgot to ask her what she wanted; and, strange to say, Lady +Betty forgot to tell him. At the party she made quite a sensation; +never had she seemed more recklessly gay, more piquant, more +audaciously witty, than she showed herself this evening. There +were illustrious personages present, but they paled beside her. +The Duke, with whom she was a great favorite, laughed at her +sallies until he could laugh no more; and even her husband, her +very husband, forgot for a time the country and the crisis, and +listened, half-proud and half-afraid. But she was not aware of +this; she could not see his face where she was sitting. To all +seeming, she never looked that way. She was quite a model society +wife. + +Mr. Stafford himself was an early riser. It was his habit to be up +by six; to make his own coffee over a spirit lamp, and then not +only to get through much work in his dressing-room, but to take his +daily ride also before breakfast. On the morning after the Duke's +party, however, he lay later than usual; and as there was more +business to be done--owing to the crisis--the canter in the Park +had to be omitted. He was still among his papers--though +momentarily awaiting the breakfast-gong, when a hansom cab driven +at full speed stopped at the door. He glanced up wearily as he +heard the doors of the cab flung open with a crash. There had been +a time when the stir and bustle of such arrivals had been sweet to +him--not so sweet as to some, for he had never been deeply in love +with the parade of office--but sweeter than to-day, when they were +no more to him than the creaking of the mill to the camel that +turns it blindfold and in darkness. + +Naturally he was thinking of Lord Pilgrimstone this morning, and +guessed, before he opened the note which the servant brought in to +him, who was its writer. But its contents had, nevertheless, an +electrical effect upon him. His brow reddened. With a quite +unusual display of emotion he sprang to his feet, crushing the +fragment of paper in his fingers. "Who brought this?" he asked +sharply. "Who brought it?" he repeated, before the servant could +explain. + +The man had never seen him so moved. "Mr. Scratchley, sir," he +answered. + +"Ha! Then, show him into the library," was the quick reply. And +while the servant went to do his bidding, the Minister hastily +changed his dressing-gown for a coat, and ran down a private +staircase, reaching the room he had mentioned by one door as Mr. +Scratchley, Lord Pilgrim-stone's secretary, entered in through +another. + +By that time he had regained his composure, and looked much as +usual. Still, when he held up the crumpled note, there was a +brusqueness in the gesture which would have surprised his ordinary +acquaintances, and did remind Mr. Scratchley of certain "warm +nights" in the House. "You know the contents of this, Mr. +Scratchley?" he said without prelude, and in a tone which matched +his gesture. + +The visitor bowed. He was a grave middle-aged man, who seemed +oppressed and burdened by the load of cares and responsibilities +which his smiling chief carried so jauntily. People said that he +was the proper complement of Lord Pilgrimstone, as the more +volatile Atley was of his leader. + +"And you are aware," continued Mr. Stafford, still more harshly, +"that Lord Pilgrimstone gives yesterday's agreement to the winds?" + +"I have never seen his lordship so deeply moved," replied the +discreet one. + +"He says: 'Our former negotiation was ruined by premature talk, but +this last disclosure can only be referred to treachery or gross +carelessness.' What does this mean? I know of no disclosure, Mr. +Scratchley. I must have an explanation, and you, I presume, are +here to give me one." + +For a moment the other seemed taken aback. "You have not seen the +Times?" he murmured. + +"This morning's? No. But it is here." + +He snatched it, as he spoke, from a table at his elbow, and +unfolded it. The secretary approached and pointed to the head of a +column--the most conspicuous, the column most readily to be found +in the paper. "They are crying it at every street corner I +passed," he added apologetically. "There is nothing to be heard in +St. James's Street and Pall Mall but 'Detailed Programme of the +Coalition.' The other dailies are striking off second editions to +contain it!" + +Mr. Stafford's eyes were riveted to the paper, and there was a long +pause, a pause on his part of dismay and consternation. He could +scarcely--to repeat a common phrase--believe his eyes. "It seems," +he muttered at length, "it seems fairly accurate--a tolerably +precise account, indeed." + +"It is a verbatim copy," said the secretary drily. "The question +is, who furnished it. Lord Pilgrimstone, I am authorized to say, +has not permitted his note of the agreement to pass out of his +possession--even up to the present moment." + +"And so he concludes," the Minister said thoughtfully--"it is a +fair inference enough, perhaps--that the Times must have procured +its information from my note?" + +"No!" the secretary objected sharply and forcibly. "It is not a +matter of inference, Mr. Stafford. I am directed to say that. I +have inquired, early as it is, at the Times office, and learned +that the copy printed came directly from the hands of your +messenger." + +"Of my messenger!" Mr. Stafford cried, thunderstruck. "You are +sure of that?" + +"I am sure that the sub-editor says so." + +And again there was silence. "This must be looked into," said Mr. +Stafford at length, controlling himself by an effort. "For the +present, I agree with Lord Pilgrimstone, that it alters the +position--and perhaps finally." + +"Lord Pilgrimstone will be damaged in the eyes of a large section +of his supporters--seriously damaged," said Mr. Scratchley, shaking +his head, and frowning. + +"Possibly. From every point of view the thing is to be deplored. +But I will call on Lord Pilgrimstone," continued the Minister, +"after lunch. Will you tell him so?" + +A curious embarrassment showed itself in the secretary's manner. +He twisted his hat in his hands, and looked suddenly sick and sad-- +as if he were about to join in the groan at a prayer-meeting. +"Lord Pilgrimstone," he said, in a voice he vainly strove to render +commonplace, "is going to Sandown Spring Meeting to-day." + +The tone was really so lugubrious--to say nothing of a shake of the +head with which he could not help accompanying the statement--that +a faint smile played on Mr. Stafford's lip. "Then I must take the +next possible opportunity. I will see him to-morrow." + +Mr. Scratchley assented to that, and bowed himself out, after +another word or two, looking more gloomy and careworn than usual. +The interview had not been altogether to his mind. He wished now +that he had spoken more roundly to Mr. Stafford; perhaps even asked +for a categorical denial of the charge. But the Minister's manner +had overawed him. He had found it impossible to put the question. +And then the pitiful degrading confession he had had to make for +Lord Pilgrimstone! That had put the coping-stone to his +dissatisfaction. + +"Oh!" sighed Mr. Scratchley, as he stepped into his cab. "Oh, that +men so great should stoop to things so little!" + +It did not occur to him that there is a condition of things even +more sad: when little men meddle with great things. + +Meanwhile Mr. Stafford, left alone, stood at the window deep in +unpleasant thoughts, from which the entrance of the butler sent to +summon him to breakfast first aroused him. "Stay a moment, +Marcus!" he said, turning with a sigh, as the man was leaving the +room after doing his errand. "I want to ask you a question. Did +you make up the messenger's bag last evening?" + +"Yes, sir." + +"Did you notice a letter addressed to the Times office?" + +The servant had prepared himself to cogitate. But he found it +unnecessary. "Yes, sir," he replied smartly, "Two." + +"Two?" repeated Mr. Stafford, dismay in his tone, though this was +just what he had reason to expect. + +"Yes, sir. There was one I took from the band-box, and one Mr. +Atley gave me in the hall at the last moment," explained the +butler. + +"Ha! Thank you, Marcus. Then ask Mr. Atley if he will kindly come +to me. No doubt he will be able to tell me what I want to know." + +The words were commonplace, but the speaker's anxiety was so +evident that Marcus when he delivered the message--which he did +with all haste--added a word or two of warning. "It is about a +letter to the Times, sir, I think. Mr. Stafford seemed a good deal +put out," he said, confidentially. + +"Indeed?" Atley replied. "I will go down." And he started at +once. But before he reached the library he met someone. Lady +Betty looked out of the breakfast-room, and saw him descending the +stairs with the butler behind him. + +"Where is Mr. Stafford, Marcus?" she asked impatiently, as she +stood with her hand on the door. "Good morning, Mr. Atley," she +added, her eyes descending to him. "Where is my husband? The +coffee is getting quite cold." + +"He has just sent to ask me to come to him," Atley answered. +"Marcus tells me there is something in the Times which has annoyed +him, Lady Betty; I will send him up as quickly as I can." + +But Lady Betty had not stayed to receive this last assurance. She +had drawn back and shut the door smartly; yet not so quickly but +that the private secretary had seen her change color. "Umph!" he +ejaculated to himself--the lady was not much given to blushing as a +rule--"I wonder what is wrong with HER this morning. She is not +generally rude to me." + +It was not long before he got some light on the matter. "Come +here, Atley," said his employer, the moment he entered the library. +"Look at this!" + +The secretary took the Times, folded back at the important column, +and read the letter. Meanwhile the Minister read the secretary. +He saw surprise and consternation on his face, but no trace of +guilt. Then he told him what Marcus said about the two letters +which had gone the previous evening from the house addressed to the +Times office. "One," he said, "contained the notes of my speech. +The other--" + +"The other--" replied the secretary, thinking while he spoke, "was +given to me at the last moment by Sir Horace. I threw it to Marcus +in the hall." + +"Ah!" said his chief, trying very hard to express nothing by the +exclamation, but not quite succeeding. "Did you see that that +letter was addressed to the editor of the Times?" + +The secretary reddened, and betrayed sudden confusion. "I did," he +said hurriedly. "I saw so much of the address as I threw the +letter on the slab--though I thought nothing of it at the time." + +Mr. Stafford looked at him fixedly. "Come," he said, "this is a +grave matter, Atley. You noticed, I can see, the handwriting. Was +it Sir Horace's?" + +"No," replied the secretary. + +"Whose was it?" + +"I think--I think, Mr. Stafford--that it was Lady Betty's. But I +should be sorry, having seen it only for a moment--so say for +certain." + +"Lady Betty's?" + +Mr. Stafford repeated the exclamation three times, in pure +surprise, in anger, a third time in trembling. In this last stage +he walked away to the window, and turning his back on his companion +looked out. He recalled at once his wife's petulant exclamation of +yesterday, the foolish desire expressed, as he had supposed in +jest. Had she really been in earnest? And had she carried out her +threat? Had she--his wife--done this thing so compromising to his +honor, so mischievous to the country, so mad, reckless, wicked? +Impossible. It was impossible. And yet--and yet Atley was a man +to be trusted, a gentleman, his own relation! And Atley's eye was +not likely to be deceived in a matter of handwriting. That Atley +had made up his mind he could see. + +The statesman turned from the window, and walked to and fro, his +agitation betrayed by his step. The third time he passed in front +of his secretary--who had riveted his eyes to the Times and +appeared to be reading the money article--he stopped. "If this be +true--mind I say if, Atley--" he cried, jerkily, "what was my +wife's motive? I am in the dark, blindfolded! Help me! Tell me +what has been passing round me that I have not seen. You would not +have my wife--a spy?" + +"No! no! no!" cried the other, as he dropped the paper, his +vehemence and his working features showing that he felt the pathos +of the appeal. "It is not that. Lady Betty is jealous, if I may +venture to judge, of your devotion to politics. She sees little of +you. You are wrapped up in public affairs and matters of state. +She feels herself neglected and set aside. And she has been +married no more than a year." + +"But she has her society," objected the Minister, compelling +himself to speak calmly, "and her cousin, and--and many other +things." + +"For which she does not care," returned the secretary. + +It was a simple answer, but something in it touched a tender place. +Mr. Stafford winced and cast a queer startled look at the speaker. +Before he could reply, however--if he intended to reply--a knock +came at the door and Marcus put in his head. "My lady is waiting +breakfast, sir," he suggested timidly. What could a poor butler do +between an impatient mistress and an obdurate master? + +"I will come," said Mr. Stafford hastily. "I will come at once. +For this matter, Atley," he continued when the door was closed +again, "let it rest for the present where it is. I am aware I can +depend upon your--" he paused, seeking a word--"your discretion. +One thing is certain, however. There is an end of the arrangement +made yesterday. Probably the Queen will send for Templeton. I +shall see Lord Pilgrimstone tomorrow, but probably that will be the +end of it." + +Atley went away marveling at his coolness, trying to retrace the +short steps of their conversation, and so to discern how far the +Minister had gone with him, and where he had turned off upon a +resolution of his own. He failed to see the clue, however, and +marveled still more as the day went on and others succeeded it, +days of political crisis. Out of doors the world, or that little +jot of it which has its center at Westminster, was in confusion. +The newspapers, morning or evening, found ready sale, and had no +need of recourse to murder-panics, or prurient discussions. The +Coalition scandal, the resignation of Ministers, the sending for +Lord This and Mr. That, the certainty of a dissolution, provided +matter enough. In all this Atley found nothing to wonder at. He +had seen it all before. That which did cause him surprise was the +calm--the unnatural calm as it seemed to him--which prevailed in +the house in Carlton Terrace. For a day or two, indeed, there was +much going to and fro, much closeting and button-holing; for rather +longer the secretary read anxiety and apprehension in one +countenance--Lady Betty's. But things settled down. The knocker +presently found peace, such comparative peace as falls to knockers +in Carlton Terrace. Lady Betty's brow grew clear as her eye found +no reflection of its anxiety in Mr. Stafford's face. In a word the +secretary failed to discern the faintest sign of domestic trouble. + +The late Minister, indeed, was taking things with wonderful +coolness. Lord Pilgrimstone had failed to taunt him, and the +triumph of old foes had failed to goad him into a last effort. +Apparently it had occurred to him that the country might for a time +exist without him. He was standing aside with a shade on his face, +and there were rumors that he would take a long holiday. + +A week saw all these things happen. And then, one day as Atley sat +writing in the library--Mr. Stafford being out--Lady Betty came +into the room for something. Rising to find her what she wanted, +he was holding the door open for her to pass out, when she paused. + +"Shut the door, Mr. Atley," she said, pointing to it. "I want to +ask you a question." + +"Pray do, Lady Betty," he answered. + +"It is this," she said, meeting his eyes boldly--and a brighter, a +more dainty little creature than she looked then had seldom tempted +man. "Mr. Stafford's resignation--had it anything, Mr. Atley, to +do with--" her face colored a very little--"something that was in +the Times this day week?" + +His own cheek colored violently enough. "If ever," he was saying +to himself, "I meddle or mar between husband and wife again, may +I--" But aloud he answered quietly, "Something perhaps." The +question was sudden. Her eyes were on his face. He found it +impossible to prevaricate. + +"My husband has never spoken to me about it," she replied, +breathing quickly. + +He bowed, having no words adapted to the situation. But he +repeated his resolution (as above) more furiously. + +"He has never appeared even aware of it," she persisted. "Are you +sure that he saw it?" + +He wondered at her innocence or her audacity. That such a baby +should do so much mischief. The thought irritated him. "It was +impossible that he should not see it, Lady Betty," he said, with a +touch of asperity. "Quite impossible!" + +"Ah," she replied with a faint sigh. "Well, he has never spoken to +me about it. And you think it had really something to do with his +resignation, Mr. Atley?" + +"Most certainly," he said. He was not inclined to spare her this +time. + +She nodded thoughtfully, and then with a quiet "Thank you," went +out. + +"Well," muttered the secretary to himself when the door was fairly +shut behind her, "she is--upon my word she is a fool! And he"-- +appealing to the inkstand--"he has never said a word to her about +it. He is a new Don Quixote! a second Job, new Sir Isaac Newton! +I do not know what to call him." + +It was Sir Horace, however, who precipitated the catastrophe. He +happened to come in about tea-time that afternoon, before, in fact, +my lady had had an opportunity of seeing her husband. He found her +alone and in a brown study, a thing most unusual with her and +portending something. He watched her for a time in silence, seemed +to draw courage from a still longer inspection of his boots, and +then said, "So the cart is clean over, Betty?" + +She nodded. + +"Driver much hurt?" + +"Do you mean, does Stafford mind it?" she replied impatiently. + +He nodded. + +"Well, I do not know. It is hard to say." + +"Think so?" he persisted. + +"Good gracious, Horry!" my lady retorted, losing patience. "I say +I do not know, and you say 'Think so!' If you want to learn so +particularly, ask him yourself. Here he is!" + +Mr. Stafford had just entered the room. Perhaps she really wished +to satisfy herself as to the state of his feelings. Perhaps she +only desired in her irritation to put her cousin in a corner. At +any rate she coolly turned to her husband and said, "Here is Horace +wishing to know if you mind being turned out much?" + +Mr. Stafford's face flushed a little at the home-thrust which no +one else would have dared to deal him. But he showed no +displeasure. "Well, not so much as I should have thought," he +answered frankly, pausing to weigh a lump of sugar, and, as it +seemed, his feelings. "There are compensations, you know." + +"Pity all the same those terms came out," grunted Sir Horace. + +"It was." + +"Stafford!" Lady Betty struck in on a sudden, speaking fast and +eagerly, "is it true, I want to ask you, it is true that that led +you to resign?" + + + + + +End of The Project Gutenberg Etext of Stories by Modern French Novels + diff --git a/2047.zip b/2047.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..c215bb2 --- /dev/null +++ b/2047.zip diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. 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