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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/3343.txt b/3343.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..74b901e --- /dev/null +++ b/3343.txt @@ -0,0 +1,4690 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Wandering Jew, Book V., by Eugene Sue + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Wandering Jew, Book V. + +Author: Eugene Sue + +Release Date: October 25, 2004 [EBook #3343] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE WANDERING JEW, BOOK V. *** + + + + +Produced by David Widger and Pat Castevens + + + + + +THE WANDERING JEW + +By Eugene Sue + + + +BOOK V. + +XIV. The Eve of a Great Day +XV. The Thug +XVI. The Two Brothers of the Good Work +XVII. The House in the Rue Saint-Francois +XVIII. Debit and Credit +XIX. The Heir +XX. The Rupture +XXI. The Change +XXII. The Red Room +XXIII. The Testament +XXIV. The Last Stroke of Noon +XXV. The Deed of Gift + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +THE EVE OF A GREAT DAY. + +About two hours before the event last related took place at St. Mary's +Convent, Rodin and Abbe d'Aigrigny met in the room where we have already +seen them, in the Rue du Milieu-des-Ursins. Since the Revolution of July, +Father d'Aigrigny had thought proper to remove for the moment to this +temporary habitation all the secret archives and correspondence of his +Order--a prudent measure, since he had every reason to fear that the +reverend fathers would be expelled by the state from that magnificent +establishment, with which the restoration had so liberally endowed their +society. [11] + +Rodin, dressed in his usual sordid style, mean and dirty as ever, was +writing modestly at his desk, faithful to his humble part of secretary, +which concealed, as we have already seen a far more important +office--that of Socius--a function which, according to the constitutions +of the Order, consists in never quitting his superior, watching his least +actions, spying into his very thoughts, and reporting all to Rome. + +In spite of his usual impassibility, Rodin appeared visibly uneasy and +absent in mind; he answered even more briefly than usual to the commands +and questions of Father d'Aigrigny, who had but just entered the room. + +"Has anything new occurred during my absence?" asked he. "Are the reports +still favorable?" + +"Very favorable." + +"Read them to me." + +"Before giving this account to your reverence," said Rodin, "I must +inform you that Morok has been two days in Paris." + +"Morok?" said Abbe d'Aigrigny, with surprise. "I thought, on leaving +Germany and Switzerland, he had received from Friburg the order to +proceed southward. At Nismes, or Avignon, he would at this moment be +useful as an agent; for the Protestants begin to move, and we fear a +reaction against the Catholics." + +"I do not know," said Rodin, "if Morok may not have had private reasons +for changing his route. His ostensible reasons are, that he comes here to +give performances." + +"How so?" + +"A dramatic agent, passing through Lyons, engaged him and his menagerie +for the Port Saint-Martin Theatre at a very high price. He says that he +did not like to refuse such an offer." + +"Well," said Father d'Aigrigny, shrugging his shoulders, "but by +distributing his little books, and selling prints and chaplets, as well +as by the influence he would certainly exercise over the pious and +ignorant people of the South or of Brittany, he might render services, +such as he can never perform in Paris." + +"He is now below, with a kind of giant, who travels about with him. In +his capacity of your reverence's old servant, Morok hoped to have the +honor of kissing your hand this evening." + +"Impossible--impossible--you know how much I am occupied. Have you sent +to the Rue Saint-Francois?" + +"Yes, I have. The old Jew guardian has had notice from the notary. To +morrow, at six in the morning, the masons will unwall the door, and, for +the first time since one hundred and fifty years, the house will be +opened." + +Father d'Aigrigny remained in thought for a moment, and then said to +Rodin: "On the eve of such a decisive day, we must neglect nothing, and +call every circumstance to memory. Read me the copy of the note, inserted +in the archives of the society, a century and a half ago, on the subject +of Rennepont." + +The secretary took the note from the case, and read as follows: + +"'This 19th day of February, 1682, the Reverend Father-Provincial +Alexander Bourdon sent the following advice, with these words in the +margin: Of extreme importance for the future. + +"'We have just discovered, by the confession of a dying person to one of +our fathers, a very close secret. + +"'Marius de Rennepont, one of the most active and redoubtable partisans +of the Reformed Religion, and one of the most determined enemies of our +Holy Society, had apparently re-entered the pale of our Mother Church, +but with the sole design of saving his worldly goods, threatened with +confiscation because of his irreligious and damnable errors. Evidence +having been furnished by different persons of our company to prove that +the conversion of Rennepont was not sincere, and in reality covered a +sacrilegious lure, the possessions of the said gentleman, now considered +a relapsed heretic, were confiscated by our gracious sovereign, his +Majesty King Louis XIV, and the said Rennepont was condemned to the +galleys for life.[12] He escaped his doom by a voluntary death; in +consequence of which abominable crime, his body was dragged upon a +hurdle, and flung to the dogs on the highway. + +"'From these preliminaries, we come to the great secret, which is of such +importance to the future interests of our Society. + +"'His Majesty Louis XIV., in his paternal and Catholic goodness towards +the Church in general, and our Order in particular, had granted to us the +profit of this confiscation, in acknowledgment of our services in +discovering the infamous and sacrilegious relapse of the said Rennepont. + +"'But we have just learned, for certain, that a house situated in Paris, +No. 3, Rue Saint-Francois, and a sum of fifty thousand gold crowns, have +escaped this confiscation, and have consequently been stolen from our +Society. + +"'The house was conveyed, before the confiscation, by means of a feigned +purchase, to a friend of Rennepont's a good Catholic, unfortunately, as +against him we cannot take any severe measures. Thanks to the culpable, +but secure connivance of his friend, the house has been walled up, and is +only to be opened in a century and a half, according to the last will of +Rennepont. As for the fifty thousand gold crowns, they have been placed +in hands which, unfortunately, are hitherto unknown to us, in order to be +invested and put out to use for one hundred and fifty years, at the +expiration of which time they are to be divided between the then existing +descendants of the said Rennepont; and it is calculated that this sum, +increased by so many accumulations, will by then have become enormous, +and will amount to at least forty or fifty millions of livres tournois. +From motives which are not known, but which are duly stated in a +testamentary document, the said Rennepont has concealed from his family, +whom the edicts against the Protestants have driven out of France, the +investment of these fifty thousand crowns; and has only desired his +relations to preserve in their line from generation to generation, the +charge to the last survivors, to meet in Paris, Rue Saint-Francois, a +hundred and fifty years hence, on February the 13th, 1832. And that this +charge might not be forgotten, he employed a person, whose description is +known, but not his real occupation, to cause to be manufactured sundry +bronze medals, on which the request and date are engraved, and to deliver +one to each member of the family--a measure the more necessary, as, from +some other motive equally unknown, but probably explained in the +testament, the heirs are to present themselves on the day in question, +before noon, in person, and not by any attorney, or representative, or to +forfeit all claim to the inheritance. The stranger who undertook to +distribute the medals to the different members of the family of Rennepont +is a man of thirty to thirty-six years of age, of tall stature, and with +a proud and sad expression of countenance. He has black eyebrows, very +thick, and singularly joined together. He is known as JOSEPH, and is much +suspected of being an active and dangerous emissary of the wretched +republicans and heretics of the Seven United Provinces. It results from +these premises, that this sum, surreptitiously confided by a relapsed +heretic to unknown hands, has escaped the confiscation decreed in our +favor by our well-beloved king. A serious fraud and injury has therefore +been committed, and we are bound to take every means to recover this our +right, if not immediately, at least in some future time. Our Society +being (for the greater glory of God and our Holy Father) imperishable, it +will be easy, thanks to the connections we keep up with all parts of the +world, by means of missions and other establishments, to follow the line +of this family of Rennepont from generation to generation, without ever +losing sight of it--so that a hundred and fifty years hence, at the +moment of the division of this immense accumulation of property, our +Company may claim the inheritance of which it has been so treacherously +deprived, and recover it by any means in its power, fas aut nefas, even +by craft or violence--our Company not being bound to act tenderly with +the future detainers of our goods, of which we have been maliciously +deprived by an infamous and sacrilegious heretic--and because it is right +to defend, preserve, and recover one's own property by every means which +the Lord may place within one's reach. Until, therefore, the complete +restitution of this wealth, the family of Rennepont must be considered as +reprobate and damnable, as the cursed seed of a Cain, and always to be +watched with the utmost caution. And it is to be recommended, that, every +year from this present date, a sort of inquisition should be held as to +the situation of the successive members of this family.'" + +Rodin paused, and said to Father d'Aigrigny: "Here follows the account, +year by year, of the history of this family, from the year 1682, to our +own day. It will be useless to read this to your reverence." + +"Quite useless," said Abbe d'Aigrigny. "The note contains all the +important facts." Then, after a moment's silence, he exclaimed, with an +expression of triumphant pride: "How great is the power of the +Association, when founded upon tradition and perpetuity! Thanks to this +note, inserted in our archives a century and a half ago, this family has +been watched from generation to generation--our Order has always had its +eyes upon them, following them to all points of the globe, to which exile +had distributed them--and at last, to-morrow, we shall obtain possession +of this property, at first inconsiderable, but which a hundred and fifty +years have raised to a royal fortune. Yes, we shall succeed, for we have +foreseen every eventuality. One thing only troubles me." + +"What is that?" asked Rodin. + +"The information that we have in vain tried to obtain from the guardian +of the house in the Rue Saint-Francois. Has the attempt been once more +made, as I directed?" + +"It has been made." + +"Well?" + +"This time, as always before, the old Jew has remained impenetrable. +Besides he is almost in his second childhood, and his wife not much +better." + +"When I think," resumed Father d'Aigrigny, "that for a century and a +half, this house in the Rue Saint-Francois has remained walled up, and +that the care of it has been transmitted from generation to generation in +this family of the Samuels--I cannot suppose that they have all been +ignorant as to who were and are the successive holders of these funds, +now become immense by accumulation." + +"You have seen," said Rodin, "by the notes upon this affair, that the +Order has always carefully followed it up ever since 1682. At different +periods attempts have been made to obtain information upon subjects not +fully explained in the note of Father Bourdon. But this race of Jew +guardians has ever remained dumb, and we must therefore conclude that +they know nothing about it." + +"That has always struck me as impossible; for the ancestor of these +Samuels was present at the closing of the house, a hundred and fifty +years ago. He was according to the file, a servant or confidential clerk +of De Rennepont. It is impossible that he should not have known many +things, the tradition of which must have been preserved in the family." + +"If I were allowed to hazard a brief observation," began Rodin, humbly. + +"Speak." + +"A few years ago we obtained certain information through the +confessional, that the funds were in existence, and that they had risen +to an enormous amount." + +"Doubtless; and it was that which called the attention of the Reverend +Father-General so strongly to this affair." + +"We know, then, what probably the descendants of the family do not--the +immense value of this inheritance?" + +"Yes," answered Father d'Aigrigny, "the person who certified this fact in +confession is worthy of all belief. Only lately, the same declaration was +renewed; but all the efforts of the confessor could not obtain the name +of the trustee, or anything beyond the assertion, that the money could +not be in more honest hands." + +"It seems to me, then," resumed Rodin, "that we are certain of what is +most important." + +"And who knows if the holder of this enormous sum will appear to-morrow, +in spite of the honesty ascribed to him? The nearer the moment the more +my anxiety increases. Ah!" continued Father d'Aigrigny, after a moment's +silence, "the interests concerned are so immense that the consequences of +success are quite incalculable. However, all that it was possible to do, +has been at least tried." + +To these words, which Father d'Aigrigny addressed to Rodin, as if asking +for his assent, the socius returned no answer. + +The abbe looked at him with surprise, and said: "Are you not of my +opinion--could more have been attempted? Have we not gone to the extreme +limit of the possible?" + +Rodin bowed respectfully, but remained mute. + +"If you think we have omitted some precaution," cried Father d'Aigrigny, +with a sort of uneasy impatience, "speak out! We have still time. Once +more, do you think it is possible to do more than I have done? All the +other descendants being removed, when Gabriel appears to-morrow in the +Rue Saint-Francois, will he not be the only representative of this +family, and consequently the rightful possessor of this immense fortune? +Now, according to his act of renunciation, and the provisions of our +statutes, it is not to him, but to the Order, that these possessions must +fall. Could I have acted better, or in any other manner? Speak frankly!" + +"I cannot permit myself to offer an opinion on this subject," replied +Rodin, humbly, and again bowing; "the success of the measures taken must +answer your reverence." + +Father d'Aigrigny shrugged his shoulders, and reproached himself for +having asked advice of this writing-machine, that served him for a +secretary, and to whom he only ascribed three qualities--memory, +discretion, and exactness. + +[11] This was an idle fear, for we read in the Constitutionnel, Feb. 1st +1832, as follows: "When in 1822, M. de Corbiere abruptly abolished that +splendid Normal School, which, during its few years' existence, had +called forth or developed such a variety of talent, it was decided, as +some compensation, that a house in the Rue des Postes should be +purchased, where the congregation of the Holy Ghost should be located and +endowed. The Minister of Marine supplied the funds for this purpose, and +its management was placed at the disposal of the Society, which then +reigned over France. From that period it has held quiet possession of the +place, which at once became a sort of house of entertainment, where +Jesuitism sheltered, and provided for, the numerous novitiates that +flocked from all parts of the country, to receive instructions from +Father Ronsin. Matters were in this state when the Revolution of July +broke out, which threatened to deprive the Society of this establishment. +But it will hardly be believed; this was not done. It is true that they +suppressed their practice, but they left them in possession of the house +in the Rue des Postes; and to this very day, the 31st of January, 1832, +the members of the Sacred Heart are housed at the expense of government, +during the whole of which time the Normal School has been without a +shelter--and on its reorganization, thrust into a dirty hole, in a narrow +corner of the College of Louis the Great." + +The above appeared in the Constitutionnel, respecting the house in the +Rue des Posses. We are certainly ignorant as to the nature of the +transactions, since that period, that have taken place between the +reverend fathers and the government; but we read further, in a recently +published article that appeared in a journal, in reference to the Society +of Jesus, that the house in the Rue des Postes, still forms a part of +their landed property. We will here give some portions of the article in +question. + +"The following is a list of the property belonging to this branch of +Jesuits: + Fr. + House in the Rue de Postes, worth about 500,000 + One in the Rue de Sevres, estimated at 300,000 + Farm, two leagues from Paris . . . . .150,000 + House and church at Bourges . . . . . 100,000 + Notre Dame de Liesse, donation in 1843 60,000 + Saint Acheul, House for Novitiates . . 400,000 + Nantes, a house . . . . . . . . . . .100,000 + Quimper, ditto . . . . . . . . . . . 40,000 + Laval, house and church . . . . . . 150,000 + Rennes, a house . . . . . . . . . . 20,000 + Vannes, ditto . . . . . . . . . . . 20,000 + Metz, ditto . . . . . . . . . . . . 40,000 + Strasbourg . . . . . . . . . . . . 60,000 + Rouen, ditto . . . . . . . . . . . 15,000 + +"By this it appears that these various items amount to little less than +two millions. Teaching, moreover, is another important source of revenue +to the Jesuits. The college at Broyclette alone brings in 200,000 francs. +The two provinces in France (for the general of the Jesuits at Rome has +divided France into two provinces, Lyons and Paris) possess, besides a +large sum in ready money, Austrian bonds of more than 260,000 francs. +Their Propagation of Faith furnishes annually some 50,000 francs; and the +harvest which the priests collect by their sermons amounts to 150,000 +francs. The alms given for charity may be estimated at the same figure, +producing together a revenue of 540,000 francs. Now, to this revenue may +be added the produce of the sale of the Society's works, and the profit +obtained by hawking pictures. Each plate costs, design and engraving +included, about 600 francs, off which are struck about 10,000 copies, at +40 francs per thousand, and there is a further expense of 250 francs to +their publisher; and they obtain a net profit of 210 francs on every +thousand. This, indeed, is working to advantage. And it can easily be +imagined with what rapidity all these are sold. The fathers themselves +are the travellers for the Society, and it would be difficult to find +more zealous or persevering ones. They are always well received, and do +not know what it is to meet with a refusal. They always take care that +the publisher should be one of their own body. The first person whom they +selected for this occupation was one of their members, possessing some +money; but they were obliged, notwithstanding, to make certain advances +to enable him to defray the expenses of its first establishment. But, +when they became fully convinced of the success of their undertaking, +they suddenly called in these advances, which the publisher was not in a +condition to pay. They were perfectly aware of this, and superseded him +by a wealthy successor, with whom they could make a better bargain; and +thus, without remorse, they ruined the man, by thrusting him from an +appointment of which they had morally guaranteed the continuance." + +[12] Louis XIV., the great King, punished with the Galleys those +Protestants who, once converted, often by force, afterwards returned to +their first belief. As for those Protestants who remained in France, +notwithstanding the rigor of the edicts against them, they were deprived +of burial, dragged upon a hurdle, and given to the dogs.--E. S. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +THE THUG. + +After a moment's silence, Father d'Aigrigny resumed "Read me to-day's +report on the situation of each of the persons designated." + +"Here is that of this evening; it has just come." + +"Let us hear." + +Rodin read as follows: "Jacques Rennepont, alias Sleepinbuff, was seen in +the interior of the debtors' prison at eight o'clock this evening." + +"He will not disturb us to-morrow. One; go on." + +"The lady superior of St. Mary's Convent, warned by the Princess de +Saint-Dizier, has thought fit to confine still more strictly the +Demoiselles Rose and Blanche Simon. This evening, at nine o'clock, they +have been carefully locked in their cells, and armed men will make their +round in the convent garden during the night." + +"Thanks to these precautions, there is nothing to fear from that side," +said Father d'Aigrigny. "Go on." + +"Dr. Baleinier, also warned by the Princess de Saint-Dizier, continues to +have Mdlle. de Cardoville very closely watched. At a quarter to nine the +door of the building in which she is lodged was locked and bolted." + +"That is still another cause the less for uneasiness." + +"As for M. Hardy," resumed Rodin "I have received this morning, from +Toulouse, a letter from his intimate friend, M. de Bressac, who has been +of such service to us in keeping the manufacturer away for some days +longer. This letter contains a note, addressed by M. Hardy to a +confidential person, which M. de Bressac has thought fit to intercept, +and send to us as another proof of the success of the steps he has taken, +and for which he hopes we shall give him credit--as to serve us, he adds, +he betrays his friend in the most shameful manner, and acts a part in an +odious comedy. M. de Bressac trusts that, in return for these good +offices, we will deliver up to him those papers, which place him in our +absolute dependence, as they might ruin for ever a woman he loves with an +adulterous passion. He says that we ought to have pity on the horrible +alternative in which he is placed--either to dishonor and ruin the woman +he adores, or infamously to betray the confidence of his bosom friend." + +"These adulterous lamentations are not deserving of pity," answered +Father d'Aigrigny, with contempt. "We will see about that; M. de Bressac +may still be useful to us. But let us hear this letter of M. Hardy, that +impious and republican manufacturer, worthy descendant of an accursed +race, whom it is of the first importance to keep away." + +"Here is M. Hardy's letter," resumed Rodin. "To-morrow, we will send it +to the person to whom it is addressed." Rodin read as follows: + +"TOULOUSE, February the 10th. + +"At length I find a moment to write to you, and to explain the cause of +the sudden departure which, without alarming, must at least have +astonished you. I write also to ask you a service; the facts may be +stated in a few words. I have often spoken to you of Felix de Bressac, +one of my boyhood mates, though not nearly so old as myself. We have +always loved each other tenderly, and have shown too many proofs of +mutual affection not to count upon one another. He is a brother to me. +You know all I mean by that expression. Well--a few days ago, he wrote to +me from Toulouse, where he was to spend some time: 'If you love me, come; +I have the greatest need of you. At once! Your consolations may perhaps +give me the courage to live. If you arrive too late--why, forgive me--and +think sometimes of him who will be yours to the last.' Judge of my grief +and fear on receipt of the above. I seat instantly for post-horses. My +old foreman, whom I esteem and revere (the father of General Simon), +hearing that I was going to the south, begged me to take him with me, and +to leave him for some days in the department of the Creuse, to examine +some ironworks recently founded there. I consented willingly to this +proposition, as I should thus at least have some one to whom I could pour +out the grief and anxiety which had been caused by this letter from +Bressac. I arrive at Toulouse; they tell me that he left the evening +before, taking arms with him, a prey to the most violent despair. It was +impossible at first to tell whither he had gone; after two days, some +indications, collected with great trouble, put me upon his track. At +last, after a thousand adventures, I found him in a miserable village. +Never--no, never, have I seen despair like this. No violence, but a +dreadful dejection, a savage silence. At first, he almost repulsed me; +then, this horrible agony having reached its height, he softened by +degrees, and, in about a quarter of an hour, threw himself into my arms, +bathed in tears. Beside him were his loaded pistols: one day later, and +all would have been over. I cannot tell you the reason of his despair; I +am not at liberty to do so; but it did not greatly astonish me. Now there +is a complete cure to effect. We must calm, and soothe, and heal this +poor soul, which has been cruelly wounded. The hand of friendship is +alone equal to this delicate task, and I have good hope of success. I +have therefore persuaded him to travel for some time; movement and change +of scene will be favorable to him. I shall take him first to Nice; we set +out tomorrow. If he wishes to prolong this excursion. I shall do so too, +for my affairs do not imperiously demand my presence in Paris before the +end of March. As for the service I have to ask of you, it is conditional. +These are the facts. According to some family papers that belonged to my +mother, it seems I have a certain interest to present myself at No. 3, +Rue Saint-Francois, in Paris, on the 13th of February. I had inquired +about it, and could learn nothing, except that this house of very antique +appearance, has been shut up for the last hundred and fifty years, +through a whim of one of my maternal ancestors, and that it is to be +opened on the 13th of this month, in presence of the co-heirs who, if I +have any, are quite unknown to me. Not being able to attend myself, I +have written to my foreman, the father of General Simon, in whom I have +the greatest confidence, and whom I had left behind in the department of +the Creuse, to set out for Paris, and to be present at the opening of +this house, not as an agent (which would be useless), but as a spectator, +and inform me at Nice what has been the result of this romantic notion of +my ancestor's. As it is possible that my foreman may arrive too late to +accomplish this mission, I should be much obliged if you would inquire at +my house at Plessy, if he has yet come, and, in case of his still being +absent, if you would take his place at the opening of the house in the +Rue Saint-Francois. I believe that I have made a very small sacrifice for +my friend Bressac, in not being in Paris on that day. But had the +sacrifice been immense, I should have made it with pleasure, for my care +and friendship are at present most necessary to the man whom I look upon +as a brother. I count upon your compliance with my request, and, begging +you to be kind enough to write me, 'to be called for,' at Nice, the +result of your visit of inquiry, I remain, etc., etc. + +"FRANCIS HARDY." + +"Though his presence cannot be of any great importance, it would be +preferable that Marshal Simon's father should not attend at the opening +of this house to-morrow," said Father d'Aigrigny. "But no matter. M. +Hardy himself is out of the way. There only remains the young Indian." + +"As for him," continued the abbe, with a thoughtful air, "we acted wisely +in letting M. Norval set out with the presents of Mdlle. de Cardoville. +The doctor who accompanies M. Norval, and who was chosen by M. Baleinier, +will inspire no suspicion?" + +"None," answered Rodin. "His letter of yesterday is completely +satisfactory." + +"There is nothing, then, to fear from the Indian prince," said +D'Aigrigny. "All goes well." + +"As for Gabriel," resumed Rodin, "he has again written this morning, to +obtain from your reverence the interview that he has vainly solicited for +the last three days. He is affected by the rigor exercised towards him, +in forbidding him to leave the house for these five days past." + +"To-morrow, when we take him to the Rue Saint-Francois, I will hear what +he has to say. It will be time enough. Thus, at this hour," said Father +d'Aigrigny, with an air of triumphant satisfaction, "all the descendants +of this family, whose presence might ruin our projects, are so placed +that it is absolutely impossible for them to be at the Rue Saint-Francois +to-morrow before noon, while Gabriel will be sure to be there. At last +our end is gained." + +Two cautious knocks at the door interrupted Father d'Aigrigny. "Come in," +said he. + +An old servant in black presented himself, and said: "There is a man +downstairs who wishes to speak instantly to M. Rodin on very urgent +business." + +"His name?" asked Father d'Aigrigny. + +"He would not tell his name; but he says that he comes from M. Van Dael, +a merchant in Java." + +Father d'Aigrigny and Rodin exchanged a glance of surprise, almost of +alarm. + +"See what this man is," said D'Aigrigny to Rodin, unable to conceal his +uneasiness, "and then come and give me an account of it." Then, +addressing the servant, he added: "Show him in"--and exchanging another +expressive sign with Rodin, Father d'Aigrigny disappeared by a side-door. + +A minute after, Faringhea, the ex-chief of the Stranglers, appeared +before Rodin, who instantly remembered having seen him at Cardoville +Castle. + +The socius started, but he did not wish to appear to recollect his +visitor. Still bending over his desk, he seemed not to seen Faringhea, +but wrote hastily some words on a sheet of paper that lay before him. + +"Sir," said the servant, astonished at the silence of Rodin, "here is the +person." + +Rodin folded the note that he had so precipitately written, and said to +the servant: "Let this be taken to its address. Wait for an answer." + +The servant bowed, and went out. Then Rodin, without rising, fixed his +little reptile-eyes on Faringhea, and said to him courteously: "To whom, +sir, have I the honor of speaking?" + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +THE TWO BROTHERS OF THE GOOD WORK. + +Faringhea, as we have before stated, though born in India, had travelled +a good deal, and frequented the European factories in different parts of +Asia. Speaking well both English and French, and full of intelligence and +sagacity, he was perfectly civilized. + +Instead of answering Rodin's question, he turned upon him a fixed and +searching look. The socius, provoked by this silence, and forseeing +vaguely that Faringhea's arrival had some connection--direct or +indirect--with Djalma, repeated, though still with the greatest coolness: +"To whom, sir, have I the honor of speaking?" + +"Do you not recognize me," said Faringhea, advancing two steps nearer to +Rodin's chair. + +"I do not think I have ever had the honor of seeing you," answered the +other, coldly. + +"But I recognize you," said Faringhea; "I saw you at Cardoville Castle +the day that a ship and a steamer were wrecked together." + +"At Cardoville Castle? It is very possible, sir. I was there when a +shipwreck took place." + +"And that day I called you by your name, and you asked me what I wanted. +I replied: 'Nothing now, brother--hereafter, much.' The time has arrived. +I have come to ask for much." + +"My dear sir," said Rodin, still impassible, "before we continue this +conversation, which appears hitherto tolerably obscure, I must repeat my +wish to be informed to whom I have the advantage of speaking. You have +introduced yourself here under pretext of a commission from Mynheer +Joshua Van Dael, a respectable merchant of Batavia, and--" + +"You know the writing of M. Van Dael?" said Faringhea, interrupting +Rodin. + +"I know it perfectly." + +"Look!" The half-caste drew from his pocket (he was shabbily dressed in +European clothes) a long dispatch, which he had taken from one Mahal the +Smuggler, after strangling him on the beach near Batavia. These papers he +placed before Rodin's eyes, but without quitting his hold of them. + +"It is, indeed, M. Van Dael's writing," said Rodin, and he stretched out +his hard towards the letter, which Faringhea quickly and prudently +returned to his pocket. + +"Allow me to observe, my dear sir, that you have a singular manner of +executing a commission," said Rodin. "This letter, being to my address, +and having been entrusted to you by M. Van Dael, you ought--" + +"This letter was not entrusted to me by M. Van Dael," said Faringhea, +interrupting Rodin. + +"How, then, is it in your possession?" + +"A Javanese smuggler betrayed me. Van Dael had secured a passage to +Alexandria for this man, and had given him this letter to carry with him +for the European mail. I strangled the smuggler, took the letter, made +the passage--and here I am." + +The Thug had pronounced these words with an air of savage boasting; his +wild, intrepid glance did not quail before the piercing look of Rodin, +who, at this strange confession, had hastily raised his head to observe +the speaker. + +Faringhea thought to astonish or intimidate Rodin by these ferocious +words; but, to his great surprise, the socius, impassible as a corpse, +said to him, quite simply: "Oh! they strangle people in Java?" + +"Yes, there and elsewhere," answered Faringhea, with a bitter smile. + +"I would prefer to disbelieve you; but I am surprised at your sincerity +M.--, what is your name?" + +"Faringhea." + +"Well, then, M. Faringhea, what do you wish to come to? You have obtained +by an abominable crime, a letter addressed to me, and now you hesitate to +deliver it." + +"Because I have read it, and it may be useful to me." + +"Oh! you have read it?" said Rodin, disconcerted for a moment. Then he +resumed: "It is true, that judging by your mode of possessing yourself of +other people's correspondence, we cannot expect any great amount of +honesty on your part. And pray what have you found so useful to you in +this letter?" + +"I have found, brother, that you are, like myself, a son of the Good +Work." + +"Of what good work do you speak" asked Rodin not a little surprised. + +Faringhea replied with an expression of bitter irony. "Joshua says to you +in his letter--'Obedience and courage, secrecy and patience, craft and +audacity, union between us, who have the world for our country, the +brethren for our family, Rome for our queen.'" + +"It is possible that M. Van Dael has written thus to me Pray, sir, what +do you conclude from it?" + +"We, too, have the world for our country, brother, our accomplices for +our family, and for our queen Bowanee." + +"I do not know that saint," said Rodin, humbly. + +"It is our Rome," answered the Strangler. "Van Dael speaks to you of +those of your Order, who, scattered over all the earth, labor for the +glory of Rome, your queen. Those of our band labor also in divers +countries, for the glory of Bowanee." + +"And who are these sons of Bowanee, M. Faringhea?" + +"Men of resolution, audacious, patient, crafty, obstinate, who, to make +the Good Work succeed, would sacrifice country and parents, and sister +and brother, and who regard as enemies all not of their band!" + +"There seems to be much that is good in the persevering and exclusively +religious spirit of such an order," said Rodin, with a modest and +sanctified air; "only, one must know your ends and objects." + +"The same as your own, brother--we make corpses."[13] + +"Corpses!" cried Rodin. + +"In this letter," resumed Faringhea, "Van Dael tells you that the +greatest glory of your Order is to make 'a corpse of man.' Our work also +is to make corpses of men. Man's death is sweet to Bowanee." + +"But sir," cried Rodin, "M. Van Dael speaks of the soul, of the will, of +the mind, which are to be brought down by discipline." + +"It is true--you kill the soul, and we the body. Give me your hand, +brother, for you also are hunters of men." + +"But once more, sir,--understand, that we only meddle with the will, the +mind," said Rodin. + +"And what are bodies deprived of soul, will, thought, but mere corpses? +Come--come, brother; the dead we make by the cord are not more icy and +inanimate than those you make by your discipline. Take my hand, brother; +Rome and Bowanee are sisters." + +Notwithstanding his apparent calmness, Rodin could not behold, without +some secret alarm, a wretch like Faringhea in possession of a long letter +from Van Dael, wherein mention must necessarily have been made of Djalma. +Rodin believed, indeed, that he had rendered it impossible for the young +Indian to be at Paris on the morrow, but not knowing what connection +might have been formed, since the shipwreck, between the prince and the +half-caste, he looked upon Faringhea as a man who might probably be very +dangerous. But the more uneasy the socius felt in himself, the more he +affected to appear calm and disdainful. He replied, therefore: "This +comparison between Rome and Bowanee is no doubt very amusing; but what, +sir, do you deduce from it?" + +"I wish to show you, brother, what I am, and of what I am capable, to +convince you that it is better to have me for a friend than an enemy." + +"In other terms, sir," said Rodin, with contemptuous irony, "you belong +to a murderous sect in India, and, you wish, by a transparent allegory, +to lead me to reflect on the fate of the man from whom you have stolen +the letter addressed to me. In my turn, I will take the freedom just to +observe to you, in all humility, M. Faringhea, that here it is not +permitted to strangle anybody, and that if you were to think fit to make +any corpses for the love of Bowanee, your goddess, we should make you a +head shorter, for the love of another divinity commonly called justice." + +"And what would they do to me, if I tried to poison any one?" + +"I will again humbly observe to you, M. Faringhea, that I have no time to +give you a course of criminal jurisprudence; but, believe me, you had +better resist the temptation to strangle or poison any one. One word +more: will you deliver up to me the letters of M. Van Dael, or not?" + +"The letters relative to Prince Djalma?" said the half-caste, looking +fixedly at Rodin, who, notwithstanding a sharp and sudden twinge, +remained impenetrable, and answered with the utmost simplicity: "Not +knowing what the letters which you, sir, are pleased to keep from me, may +contain, it is impossible for me to answer your question. I beg, and if +necessary, I demand, that you will hand me those letters--or that you +will retire." + +"In a few minutes, brother, you will entreat me to remain." + +"I doubt it." + +"A few words will operate--this miracle. If just now I spoke to you about +poisoning, brother, it was because you sent a doctor to Cardoville +Castle, to poison (at least for a time) Prince Djalma." + +In spite of himself, Rodin started almost imperceptibly, as he replied: +"I do not understand you." + +"It is true, that I am a poor foreigner, and doubtless speak with an +accent; I will try and explain myself better. I know, by Van Dael's +letters, the interest you have that Prince Djalma should not be here to +morrow, and all that you have done with this view. Do you understand me +now?" + +"I have no answer for you." + +Two cautious taps at the door here interrupted the conversation. "Come +in," said Rodin. + +"The letter has been taken to its address, sir," said the old servant, +bowing, "and here is the answer." + +Rodin took the paper, and, before he opened it, said courteously to +Faringhea: "With your permission, sir?" + +"Make no ceremonies," said the half-caste. + +"You are very kind," replied Rodin, as, having read the letter he +received, he wrote hastily some words at the bottom, saying: "Send this +back to the same address." + +The servant bowed respectfully, and withdrew. + +"Now can I continue"' asked the half-caste, of Rodin. + +"Certainly." + +"I will continue, then," resumed Faringhea: + +"The day before yesterday, just as the prince, all wounded as he was, was +about, by my advice, to take his departure for Paris, a fine carriage +arrived, with superb presents for Djalma, from an unknown friend. In this +carriage were two men--one sent by the unknown friend--the other a +doctor, sent by you to attend upon Djalma, and accompany him to Paris. It +was a charitable act, brother--was it not so?" + +"Go on with your story, sir." + +"Djalma set out yesterday. By declaring that the prince's wound would +grow seriously worse, if he did not lie down in the carriage during all +the journey, the doctor got rid of the envoy of the unknown friend, who +went away by himself. The doctor wished to get rid of me too; but Djalma +so strongly insisted upon it, that I accompanied the prince and doctor. +Yesterday evening, we had come about half the distance. The doctor +proposed we should pass the night at an inn. 'We have plenty of time,' +said he, 'to reach Paris by to-morrow evening'--the prince having told +him, that he must absolutely be in Paris by the evening of the 12th. The +doctor had been very pressing to set out alone with the prince. I knew by +Van Dael's letter, that it was of great importance to you for Djalma not +to be here on the 13th; I had my suspicions, and I asked the doctor if he +knew you; he answered with an embarrassed air, and then my suspicion +became certainty. When we reached the inn, whilst the doctor was occupied +with Djalma, I went up to the room of the former, and examined a box full +of phials that he had brought with him. One of them contained opium--and +then I guessed--" + +"What did you guess, sir?" + +"You shall know. The doctor said to Djalma, before he left him: 'Your +wound is doing well, but the fatigue of the journey might bring on +inflammation; it will be good for you, in the course of to-morrow, to +take a soothing potion, that I will make ready this evening, to have with +us in the carriage.' The doctor's plan was a simple one," added +Faringhea; "to-day the prince was to take the potion at four or five +o'clock in the afternoon--and fall into a deep sleep--the doctor to grow +uneasy, and stop the carriage--to declare that it would be dangerous to +continue the journey--to pass the night at an inn, and keep close watch +over the prince, whose stupor was only, to cease when it suited your +purposes. That was your design--it was cleverly planned--I chose to make +use of it myself, and I have succeeded." + +"All that you are talking about, my dear sir," said Rodin, biting his +nails, "is pure Hebrew to me." + +"No doubt, because of my accent. But tell me, have you heard speak of +array--mow?" + +"No." + +"Your loss! It is an admirable production of the Island of Java, so +fertile in poisons." + +"What is that to me?" said Rodin, in a sharp voice, but hardly able to +dissemble his growing anxiety. + +"It concerns you nearly. We sons of Bowanee have a horror of shedding +blood," resumed Faringhea; "to pass the cord round the neck of our +victims, we wait till they are asleep. When their sleep is not deep +enough, we know how to make it deeper. We are skillful at our work; the +serpent is not more cunning, or the lion more valiant, Djalma himself +bears our mark. The array-mow is an impalpable powder, and, by letting +the sleeper inhale a few grains of it, or by mixing it with the tobacco +to be smoked by a waking man, we can throw our victim into a stupor, from +which nothing will rouse him. If we fear to administer too strong a dose +at once, we let the sleeper inhale a little at different times, and we +can thus prolong the trance at pleasure, and without any danger, as long +as a man does not require meat and drink--say, thirty or forty hours. You +see, that opium is mere trash compared to this divine narcotic. I had +brought some of this with me from Java--as a mere curiosity, you +know--without forgetting the counter poison." + +"Oh! there is a counter-poison, then?" said Rodin, mechanically. + +"Just as there are people quite contrary to what we are, brother of the +good work. The Javanese call the juice of this root tooboe; it dissipates +the stupor caused by the array-mow, as the sun disperses the clouds. Now, +yesterday evening, being certain of the projects of your emissary against +Djalma, I waited till the doctor was in bed and asleep. I crept into his +room, and made him inhale such a dose of array-mow--that he is probably +sleeping still." + +"Miscreant!" cried Rodin, more and more alarmed by this narrative, for +Faringhea had dealt a terrible blow at the machinations of the socius and +his friends. "You risk poisoning the doctor." + +"Yes, brother; just as he ran the risk of poisoning Djalma. This morning +we set out, leaving your doctor at the inn, plunged in a deep sleep. I +was alone in the carriage with Djalma. He smoked like a true Indian; some +grains of array-mow, mixed with the tobacco in his long pipe, first made +him drowsy; a second dose, that he inhaled, sent him to sleep; and so I +left him at the inn where we stopped. Now, brother, it depends upon me, +to leave Djalma in his trance, which will last till to-morrow evening or +to rouse him from it on the instant. Exactly as you comply with my +demands or not, Djalma will or will not be in the Rue Saint-Francois to +morrow." + +So saying, Faringhea drew from his pocket the medal belonging to Djalma, +and observed, as he showed it to Rodin: "You see that I tell you the +truth. During Djalma's sleep, took from him this medal, the only +indication he has of the place where he ought to be to-morrow. I finish, +then as I began: Brother, I have come to ask you for a great deal." + +For some minutes, Rodin had been biting his nails to the quick, as was +his custom when seized with a fit of dumb and concentrated rage. Just +then, the bell of the porter's lodge rang three times in a particular +manner. Rodin did not appear to notice it, and yet a sudden light +sparkled in his small reptile eyes; while Faringhea, with his arms +folded, looked at him with an expression of triumph and disdainful +superiority. The socius bent down his head, remained silent for some +seconds, took mechanically a pen from his desk, and began to gnaw the +feather, as if in deep reflection upon what Faringhea had just said. +Then, throwing down the pen upon the desk, he turned suddenly towards the +half-caste, and addressed him with an air of profound contempt "Now, +really, M. Faringhea--do you think to make game of us with your cock-and +bull stories?" + +Amazed, in spite of his audacity, the half-caste recoiled a step. + +"What, sir!" resumed Rodin. "You come here into a respectable house, to +boast that you have stolen letters, strangled this man, drugged that +other?--Why, sir, it is downright madness. I wished to hear you to the +end, to see to what extent you would carry your audacity--for none but a +monstrous rascal would venture to plume himself on such infamous crimes. +But I prefer believing, that they exist only in your imagination." + +As he barked out these words, with a degree of animation not usual in +him, Rodin rose from his seat, and approached the chimney, while +Faringhea, who had not yet recovered from his surprise, looked at him in +silence. In a few seconds, however, the half-caste returned, with a +gloomy and savage mien: "Take care, brother; do not force me to prove to +you that I have told the truth." + +"Come, come, sir; you must be fresh from the Antipodes, to believe us +Frenchmen such easy dupes. You have, you say, the prudence of a serpent, +and the courage of a lion. I do not know if you are a courageous lion, +but you are certainly not a prudent serpent. What! you have about you a +letter from M. Van Dael, by which I might be compromised--supposing all +this not to be a fable--you have left Prince Djalma in a stupor, which +would serve my projects, and from which you alone can rouse him--you are +able, you say, to strike a terrible blow at my interests--and yet you do +not consider (bold lion! crafty serpent as you are!) that I only want to +gain twenty-four hours upon you. Now, you come from the end of India to +Paris, an unknown stranger--you believe me to be as great a scoundrel as +yourself,--since you call me brother--and do not once consider, that you +are here in my power--that this street and house are solitary, and that I +could have three or four persons to bind you in a second, savage +Strangler though you are!--and that just by pulling this bell-rope," said +Rodin, as he took it in his hand. "Do not be alarmed," added he, with a +diabolical smile, as he saw Faringhea make an abrupt movement of surprise +and fright; "would I give you notice, if I meant to act in this +manner?--But just answer me. Once bound and put in confinement for +twenty-four hours, how could you injure me? Would it not be easy for me +to possess myself of Van Dael's letter, and Djalma's medal? and the +latter, plunged in a stupor till to-morrow evening, need not trouble me +at all. You see, therefore, that your threats are vain because they rest +upon falsehood--because it is not true, that Prince Djalma is here and in +your power. Begone, sir--leave the house; and when next you wish to make +dupes, show more judgment in the selection." + +Faringhea seemed struck with astonishment. All that he had just heard +seemed very probable. Rodin might seize upon him, the letter, and the +medal, and, by keeping him prisoner, prevent Djalma from being awakened. +And yet Rodin ordered him to leave the house, at the moment when +Faringhea had imagined himself so formidable. As he thought for the +motives of this inexplicable conduct, it struck him that Rodin, +notwithstanding the proofs he had brought him, did not yet believe that +Djalma was in his power. On that theory, the contempt of Van Dael's +correspondent admitted of a natural explanation. But Rodin was playing a +bold and skillful game; and, while he appeared to mutter to himself, as +in anger, he was observing, with intense anxiety, the Strangler's +countenance. + +The latter, almost certain that he had divined the secret motive of +Rodin, replied: "I am going--but one word more. You think I deceive you?" + +"I am certain of it. You have told me nothing but a tissue of fables, and +I have lost much time in listening to them. Spare me the rest; it is +late--and I should like to be alone." + +"One minute more: you are a man, I see, from whom nothing should be hid," +said Faringhea, "from Djalma, I could now only expect alms and +disdain--for, with a character like this, to say to him, 'Pay me, because +I might have betrayed you and did not,' would be to provoke his anger and +contempt. I could have killed him twenty times over, but his day is not +yet come," said the Thug, with a gloomy air; "and to wait for that and +other fatal days, I must have gold, much gold. You alone can pay me for +the betrayal of Djalma, for you alone profit by it. You refuse to hear +me, because you think I am deceiving you. But I took the direction of the +inn where we stopped--and here it is. Send some one to ascertain the +truth of what I tell you, and then you will believe me. But the price of +my services will be high; for I told you that I wanted much." + +So saying, Faringhea offered a printed card to Rodin: the socius, who, +out of the corner of his eye, followed all the half-caste's movements, +appeared to be absorbed in thought, and taking no heed of anything. + +"Here is the address," repeated Faringhea, as he held out the card to +Rodin; "assure yourself that I do not lie." + +"Eh? what is it?" said the other, casting a rapid but stolen glance at +the address, which he read greedily, without touching the card. + +"Take this address," repeated the half-caste, "and you may then assure +yourself--" + +"Really, sir," cried Rodin, pushing back the card with his hand, "your +impudence confounds me. I repeat that I wish to have nothing in common +with you. For the last time, I tell you to leave the house. I know +nothing about your Prince Djalma. You say you can injure me--do so--make +no ceremonies--but, in heaven's name, leave me to myself." + +So saying, Rodin rang the bell violently. Faringhea made a movement as if +to stand upon the defensive; but only the old servant, with his quiet and +placid mien, appeared at the door. + +"Lapierre, light the gentleman out," said Rodin, pointing to Faringhea. + +Terrified at Rodin's calmness, the half-caste hesitated to leave the +room. + +"Why do you wait, sir?" said Rodin, remarking his hesitation. "I wish to +be alone." + +"So, sir," said Faringhea, as he withdrew, slowly, "you refuse my offers? +Take care! to-morrow it will be too late." + +"I have the honor to be your most humble servant, sir," said Rodin, +bowing courteously. The Strangler went out, and the door closed upon him. + +Immediately, Father d'Aigrigny entered from the next room. His +countenance was pale and agitated. + +"What have you done?" exclaimed he addressing Rodin. + +"I have heard all. I am unfortunately too sure that this wretch spoke the +truth. The Indian is in his power, and he goes to rejoin him." + +"I think not," said Rodin, humbly, as bowing, he reassumed his dull and +submissive countenance. + +"What will prevent this man from rejoining the prince?" + +"Allow me. As soon as the rascal was shown in, I knew him; and so, before +speaking a word to him, I wrote a few lines to Morok, who was waiting +below with Goliath till your reverence should be at leisure. Afterwards, +in the course of the conversation, when they brought me Morok's answer, I +added some fresh instructions, seeing the turn that affairs were taking." + +"And what was the use of all this, since you have let the man leave the +house?" + +"Your reverence will perhaps deign to observe that he did not leave it; +till he had given me the direction of the hotel where the Indian now is, +thanks to my innocent stratagem of appearing to despise him. But, if it +had failed, Faringhea would still have fallen into the hands of Goliath +and Morok, who are waiting for him in the street, a few steps from the +door. Only we should have been rather embarrassed, as we should not have +known where to find Prince Djalma." + +"More violence!" said Father d'Aigrigny, with repugnance. + +"It is to be regretted, very much regretted," replied Rodin; "but it was +necessary to follow out the system already adopted." + +"Is that meant for a reproach?" said Father d'Aigrigny, who began to +think that Rodin was something more than a mere writing-machine. + +"I could not permit myself to blame your reverence," said Rodin, cringing +almost to the ground. "But all that will be required is to confine this +man for twenty-four hours." + +"And afterwards--his complaints?" + +"Such a scoundrel as he is will not dare to complain. Besides, he left +this house in freedom. Morok and Goliath will bandage his eyes when they +seize him. The house has another entrance in the Rue Vieille-des-Ursins. +At this hour, and in such a storm, no one will be passing through this +deserted quarter of the town. The knave will be confused by the change of +place; they will put him into a cellar, of the new building, and to +morrow night, about the same hour, they will restore him to liberty with +the like precautions. As for the East Indian, we now know where to find +him; we must send to him a confidential person, and, if he recovers from +his trance, there would be, in my humble opinion," said Rodin, modestly, +"a very simple and quiet manner of keeping him away from the Rue Saint +Francois all day to-morrow." + +The same servant with the mild countenance, who had introduced and shown +out Faringhea, here entered the room, after knocking discreetly at the +door. He held in his hand a sort of game-bag, which he gave to Rodin, +saying: "Here is what M. Morok has just brought; he came in by the Rue +Vieille." + +The servant withdrew, and Rodin, opening the bag, said to Father +d'Aigrigny, as he showed him the contents: "The medal, and Van Dael's +letter. Morok has been quick at his work." + +"One more danger avoided," said the marquis; "it is a pity to be forced +to such measures." + +"We must only blame the rascal who has obliged us to have recourse to +them. I will send instantly to the hotel where the Indian lodges." + +"And, at seven in the morning, you will conduct Gabriel to the Rue Saint +Francois. It is there that I must have with him the interview which he +has so earnestly demanded these three days." + +"I informed him of it this evening, and he awaits your orders." + +"At last, then," said Father d'Aigrigny, "after so many struggles, and +fears, and crosses, only a few hours separate us from the moment which we +have so long desired." + +We now conduct the reader to the house in the Rue Saint-Francois. + +[13] The doctrine of passive and absolute obedience, the principal tool in +the hands of the Jesuits, as summed up in these terrible words of the +dying Loyola--that every member of the order should be in the hands of +his superiors as a dead body--'perinde ad cadaver'. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +THE HOUSE IN THE RUE SAINT-FRANCOIS. + +On entering the Rue Saint-Gervais, by the Rue Dore (in the Marais), you +would have found yourself, at the epoch of this narrative, directly +opposite to an enormously high wall, the stones of which were black and +worm-eaten with age. This wall, which extended nearly the whole length of +that solitary street, served to support a terrace shaded by trees of some +hundred years old, which thus grew about forty feet above the causeway. +Through their thick branches appeared the stone front, peaked roof and +tall brick chimneys of an antique house, the entrance of which was +situated in the Rue Saint-Francois, not far from the Rue Saint Gervais +corner. Nothing could be more gloomy than the exterior of this abode. On +the entrance-side also was a very high wall, pierced with two or three +loop-holes, strongly grated. A carriage gateway in massive oak, barred +with iron, and studded with large nail-heads, whose primitive color +disappeared beneath a thick layer of mud, dust, and rust, fitted close +into the arch of a deep recess, forming the swell of a bay window above. +In one of these massive gates was a smaller door, which served for +ingress and egress to Samuel the Jew, the guardian of this dreary abode. +On passing the threshold, you came to a passage, formed in the building +which faced in the street. In this building was the lodging of Samuel, +with its windows opening upon the rather spacious inner court yard, +through the railing of which you perceived the garden. In the middle of +this garden stood a two-storied stone house, so strangely built, that you +had to mount a flight of steps, or rather a double-flight of at least +twenty steps, to reach the door, which had been walled up a hundred and +fifty years before. The window-blinds of this habitation had been +replaced by large thick plates of lead, hermetically soldered and kept in +by frames of iron clamped in the stone. Moreover, completely to intercept +air and light, and thus to guard against decay within and without, the +roof had been covered with thick sheets of lead, as well as the vents of +the tall chimneys, which had previously been bricked up. The same +precautions had been taken with respect to a small square belvedere, +situated on the top of the house; this glass cage was covered with a sort +of dome, soldered to the roof. Only, in consequence of some singular +fancy, in every one of the leaden plates, which concealed the four sides +of the belvedere, corresponding to the cardinal points, seven little +round holes had been bored in the form of a cross, and were easily +distinguishable from the outside. Everywhere else the plates of lead were +completely unpierced. Thanks to these precautions, and to the substantial +structure of the building, nothing but a few outward repairs had been +necessary; and the apartments, entirely removed from the influence of the +external air, no doubt remained, during a century and a half, exactly in +the same state as at the time of their being shut up. The aspect of walls +in crevices, of broken, worm-eaten shutters, of a roof half fallen in, +and windows covered with wall-flowers, would perhaps have been less sad +than the appearance of this stone house, plated with iron and lead, and +preserved like a mausoleum. The garden, completely deserted, and only +regularly visited once a week by Samuel, presented to the view, +particularly in summer, an incredible confusion of parasites and +brambles. The trees, left to themselves, had shot forth and mingled their +branches in all directions; some straggling vines, reproduced from +offshoots, had crept along the ground to the foot of the trees, and, +climbing up their trunks, had twined themselves about them, and encircled +their highest branches with their inextricable net. You could only pass +through this virgin forest by following the path made by the guardian, to +go from the grating to the house, the approaches to which were a little +sloped to let the water run off, and carefully paved to the width of +about ten feet. Another narrow path which extended all around the +enclosure, was every night perambulated by two or three Pyrenees dogs--a +faithful race, which had been perpetuated in the house during a century +and a half. Such was the habitation destined for the meeting of the +descendants of the family of Rennepont. The night which separated the +12th from the 13th day of February was near its close. A calm had +succeeded the storm, and the rain had ceased; the sky was clear and full +of stars; the moon, on its decline, shone with a mild lustre, and threw a +melancholy light over that deserted, silent house, whose threshold for so +many years no human footstep had crossed. + +A bright gleam of light, issuing from one of the windows of the +guardian's dwelling, announced that Samuel was awake. Figure to yourself +a tolerably large room, lined from top to bottom with old walnut +wainscoting browned to an almost black, with age. Two half-extinguished +brands are smoking amid the cinders on the hearth. On the stone +mantelpiece, painted to resemble gray granite, stands an old iron +candlestick, furnished with a meagre candle, capped by an extinguisher. +Near it one sees a pair of double-barrelled pistols, and a sharp cutlass, +with a hilt of carved bronze, belonging to the seventeenth century. +Moreover, a heavy rifle rests against one of the chimney jambs. Four +stools, an old oak press, and a square table with twisted legs, formed +the sole furniture of this apartment. Against the wall were +systematically suspended a number of keys of different sizes, the shape +of which bore evidence to their antiquity, whilst to their rings were +affixed divers labels. The back of the old press, which moved by a secret +spring, had been pushed aside, and discovered, built in the wall, a large +and deep iron chest, the lid of which, being open, displayed the wondrous +mechanism of one of those Florentine locks of the sixteenth century, +which, better than any modern invention, set all picklocks at defiance; +and, moreover, according to the notions of that age, are supplied with a +thick lining of asbestos cloth, suspended by gold wire at a distance from +the sides of the chest, for the purpose of rendering incombustible the +articles contained in it. A large cedar-wood box had been taken from the +chest, and placed upon a stool; it contained numerous papers, carefully +arranged and docketed. By the light of a brass lamp, the old keeper +Samuel, was writing in a small register, whilst Bathsheba, his wife, was +dictating to him from an account. Samuel was about eighty two years old, +and, notwithstanding his advanced age, a mass of gray curling hair +covered his head. He was short, thin, nervous, and the involuntary +petulance of his movements proved that years had not weakened his energy +and activity; though, out of doors, where, however, he made his +appearance very seldom, he affected a sort of second childhood, as had +been remarked by Rodin to Father d'Aigrigny. An old dressing-gown, of +maroon-colored camlet, with large sleeves, completely enveloped the old +man, and reached to his feet. + +Samuel's features were cast in the pure, Eastern mould of his race. His +complexion was of a dead yellow, his nose aquiline, his chin shaded by a +little tuft of white beard, while projecting cheek-bones threw a harsh +shadow upon the hollow and wrinkled cheeks. His countenance was full of +intelligence, fine sharpness, and sagacity. On his broad, high forehead +one might read frankness, honesty, and firmness; his eyes, black and +brilliant as an Arab's, were at once mild and piercing. + +His wife, Bathsheba, some fifteen years younger than himself, was of tall +stature, and dressed entirely in black. A low cap, of starched lawn, +which reminded one of the grave head-dresses of Dutch matrons, encircled +a pale and austere countenance, formerly of a rare and haughty beauty, +and impressed with the Scriptural character. Some lines in the forehead, +caused by the almost continual knitting of her gray brows, showed that +this woman had often suffered from the pressure of intense grief. + +At this very moment her countenance betrayed inexpressible sorrow. Her +look was fixed, her head resting on her bosom. She had let her right +hand, which held a small account-book, fall upon her lap, while the other +hand grasped convulsively a long tress of jet-black hair, which she bore +about her neck. It was fastened by a golden clasp, about an inch square, +in which, under a plate of crystal, that shut in one side of it like a +relic-case, could be seen a piece of linen, folded square, and almost +entirely covered with dark red spots that resembled blood a long time +dried. + +After a short silence, during which Samuel was occupied with his +register, he read aloud what he had just been writing: "Per contra, 5,000 +Austrian Metallics of 1,000 florins, under date of October 19th, 1826." + +After which enumeration, Samuel raised his head, and said to his wife: +"Well, is it right, Bathsheba? Have you compared it with the account +book?" + +Bathsheba did not answer. Samuel looked at her, and, seeing that she was +absorbed in grief, said to her, with an expression of tender anxiety: +"What is the matter? Good heaven! what is the matter with you?" + +"The 19th of October, 1826," said she, slowly, with her eyes still fixed, +and pressing yet more closely the lock of black hair which she wore about +her neck; "It was a fatal day--for, Samuel, it was the date of the last +letter which we received from--" + +Bathsheba was unable to proceed. She uttered a long sigh, and concealed +her face in her hands. + +"Oh! I understand you," observed the old man, in a tremulous voice; "a +father may be taken up by the thought of other cares; but the heart of a +mother is ever wakeful." Throwing his pen down upon the table, Samuel +leaned his forehead upon his hands in sorrow. + +Bathsheba resumed, as if she found a melancholy pleasure in these cruel +remembrances: "Yes; that was the last day on which our son, Abel, wrote +to us from Germany, to announce to us that he had invested the funds +according to your desire and was going thence into Poland, to effect +another operation." + +"And in Poland he met the death of a martyr," added Samuel. "With no +motive and no proof, they accused him falsely of coming to organize +smuggling, and the Russian governor, treating him as they treat our +brothers in that land of cruel tyranny, condemned him to the dreadful +punishment of the knout, without even hearing him in his defence. Why +should they hear a Jew? What is a Jew? A creature below a serf, whom they +reproach for all the vices that a degrading slavery has engendered. A Jew +beaten to death? Who would trouble themselves about it?" + +"And poor Abel, so good, so faithful, died beneath their stripes, partly +from shame, partly from the wounds," said Bathsheba, shuddering. "One of +our Polish brethren obtained with great difficulty permission to bury +him. He cut off this lock of beautiful black hair--which, with this scrap +of linen, bathed in the blood of our dear son, is all that now remains to +us of him." Bathsheba covered the hair and clasp with convulsive kisses. + +"Alas!" said Samuel, drying his tears, which had burst forth at these sad +recollections, "the Lord did not at last remove our child, until the task +which our family has accomplished faithfully for a century and a half was +nearly at an end. Of what use will our race be henceforth upon earth?" +added Samuel, most bitterly. "Our duty is performed. This casket contains +a royal fortune--and yonder house, walled up for a hundred and fifty +years, will be opened to-morrow to the descendants of my ancestor's +benefactor." So saying, Samuel turned his face sorrowfully towards the +house, which he could see through the window. The dawn was just about to +appear. The moon had set; belvedere, roof, and chimneys formed a black +mass upon the dark blue of the starry firmament. + +Suddenly, Samuel grew pale, and, rising abruptly, said to his wife in a +tremulous tone, whilst he still pointed to the house: "Bathsheba! the +seven points of light--just as it was thirty years ago. Look! look:" + +Indeed, the seven round holes, bored in the form of a cross in the leaden +plates which covered the window of the belvedere, sparkled like so many +luminous points, as if some one in the house ascended with a light to the +roof. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +DEBIT AND CREDIT. + +For some seconds, Samuel and Bathsheba remained motionless, with their +eyes fixed in fear and uneasiness on the seven luminous points, which +shone through the darkness of the night from the summit of the belvedere; +while, on the horizon, behind the house, a pale, rosy hue announced the +dawn of day. + +Samuel was the first to break silence, and he said to his wife, as he +drew his hand across his brow: "The grief caused by the remembrance of +our poor child has prevented us from reflecting that, after all, there +should be nothing to alarm us in what we see." + +"How so, Samuel?" + +"My father always told me that he, and my grandfather before him, had +seen such lights at long intervals." + +"Yes, Samuel--but without being able, any more than ourselves, to explain +the cause." + +"Like my father and grandfather, we can only suppose that some secret +passage gives admittance to persons who, like us, have some mysterious +duty to fulfil in this dwelling. Besides, my father warned me not to be +uneasy at these appearances, foretold by him, and now visible for the +second time in thirty years." + +"No matter for that, Samuel, it does strike one as if it was something +supernatural." + +"The days of miracles are over." said the Jew, shaking his head +sorrowfully: "many of the old houses in this quarter have subterraneous +communications with distant places--some extending even to the Seine and +the Catacombs. Doubtless, this house is so situated, and the persons who +make these rare visits enter by some such means." + +"But that the belvedere should be thus lighted up?" + +"According to the plan of the building, you know that the belvedere forms +a kind of skylight to the apartment called the Great Hall of Mourning, +situated on the upper story. As it is completely dark, in consequence of +the closing of all the windows, they must use a light to visit this Hall +of Mourning--a room which is said to contain some very strange and gloomy +things," added the Jew, with a shudder. + +Bathsheba, as well as her husband, gazed attentively on the seven +luminous points, which diminished in brightness as the daylight gradually +increased. + +"As you say, Samuel, the mystery may be thus explained," resumed the +Hebrew's wife. "Besides, the day is so important a one for the family of +Rennepont, that this apparition: ought not to astonish us under the +circumstances." + +"Only to think," remarked Samuel, "that these lights have appeared at +several different times throughout a century and a half! There must, +therefore, be another family that, like ours, has devoted itself, from +generation to generation, to accomplish a pious duty." + +"But what is this duty? It will perhaps be explained today." + +"Come, come, Bathsheba," suddenly exclaimed Samuel, as if roused from his +reverie, and reproaching himself with idleness; this is the day, and, +before eight o'clock, our cash account must be in order, and these titles +to immense property arranged, so that they may be delivered to the +rightful owners"--and he pointed to the cedar-wood box. + +"You are right, Samuel; this day does not belong to us. It is a solemn +day--one that would have been sweet, oh! very sweet to you and me--if now +any days could be sweet to us," said Bathsheba bitterly, for she was +thinking of her son. + +"Bathsheba," said Samuel, mournfully, as he laid his hand on his wife's; +"we shall at least have the stern satisfaction of having done our duty. +And has not the Lord been very favorable to us, though He has thus +severely tried us by the death of our son? Is it not thanks to His +providence that three generations of my family have been able to +commence, continue, and finish this great work?" + +"Yes, Samuel," said the Jewess, affectionately, "and for you at least +this satisfaction will be combined with calm and quietness, for on the +stroke of noon you will be delivered from a very terrible +responsibility." + +So saying, Bathsheba pointed to the box. + +"It is true," replied the old man; "I had rather these immense riches +were in the hands of those to whom they belong, than in mine; but, to +day, I shall cease to be their trustee. Once more then, I will check the +account for the last time, and compare the register with the cash-book +that you hold in your hand." + +Bathsheba bowed her head affirmatively, and Samuel, taking up his pen, +occupied himself once more with his calculations. His wife, in spite of +herself, again yielded to the sad thoughts which that fatal date had +awakened, by reminding her of the death of her son. + +Let us now trace rapidly the history, in appearance so romantic and +marvellous, in reality so simple, of the fifty thousand crowns, which, +thanks to the law of accumulation, and to a prudent, intelligent and +faithful investment, had naturally, and necessarily, been transformed, in +the space of a century and a half, into a sum far more important than the +forty millions estimated by Father d'Aigrigny--who, partially informed on +this subject, and reckoning the disastrous accidents, losses, and +bankruptcies which might have occurred during so long a period, believed +that forty millions might well b e considered enormous. + +The history of this fortune being closely connected with that of the +Samuel family, by whom it had been managed for three generations, we +shall give it again in a few words. + +About the period 1670, some years before his death, Marius de Rennepont, +then travelling in Portugal, had been enabled, by means of powerful +interest, to save the life of an unfortunate Jew, condemned to be burnt +alive by the Inquisition, because of his religion. This Jew was Isaac +Samuel, grandfather of the present guardian of the house in the Rue +Saint-Francois. + +Generous men often attach themselves to those they have served, as much, +at least, as the obliged parties are attached to their benefactors. +Having ascertained that Isaac, who at that time carried on a petty +broker's business at Lisbon, was industrious, honest, active, laborious, +and intelligent, M. de Rennepont, who then possessed large property in +France, proposed to the Jew to accompany him, and undertake the +management of his affairs. The same hatred and suspicion with which the +Israelites have always been followed, was then at its height. Isaac was +therefore doubly grateful for this mark of confidence on the part of M. +de Rennepont. He accepted the offer, and promised from that day to devote +his existence to the service of him who had first saved his life, and +then trusted implicitly to his good faith and uprightness, although he +was a Jew, and belonged to a race generally suspected and despised. M. de +Rennepont, a man of great soul, endowed with a good spirit, was not +deceived in his choice. Until he was deprived of his fortune, it +prospered wonderfully in the hands of Isaac Samuel, who, gifted with an +admirable aptitude for business, applied himself exclusively to advance +the interests of his benefactor. + +Then came the persecution and ruin of M. de Rennepont, whose property was +confiscated and given up to the reverend fathers of the Company of Jesus +only a few days before his death. Concealed in the retreat he had chosen, +therein to put a violent end to his life, he sent secretly for Isaac +Samuel, and delivered to him fifty thousand crowns in gold, the last +remains of his fortune. This faithful servant was to invest the money to +the best advantage, and, if he should have a son, transmit to him the +same obligation; or, should he have no child, he was to seek out some +relation worthy of continuing this trust, to which would moreover be +annexed a fair reward. It was thus to be transmitted and perpetuated from +relative to relative, until the expiration of a century and a half. M. de +Rennepont also begged Isaac to take charge, during his life, of the house +in the Rue Saint-Francois, where he would be lodged gratis, and to leave +this function likewise to his descendants, if it were possible. + +If even Isaac Samuel had not had children, the powerful bond of union +which exists between certain Jewish families, would have rendered +practicable the last will of De Rennepont. The relations of Isaac would +have become partner; in his gratitude to his benefactor, and they, and +their succeeding generations, would have religiously accomplished the +task imposed upon one of their race. But, several years after the death +of De Rennepont, Isaac had a son. + +This son, Levy Samuel, born in 1689, not having had any children by his +first wife, married again at nearly sixty years of age, and, in 1750, he +also had a son--David Samuel, the guardian of the house in the Rue Saint +Francois, who, in 1832 (the date of this narrative), was eighty-two years +old, and seemed likely to live as long as his father, who had died at the +age of ninety-three. Finally, Abel Samuel, the son whom Bathsheba so +bitterly regretted, born in 1790, had perished under the Russian knout, +at the age of thirty-six. + +Having established this humble genealogy, we easily understand how this +successive longevity of three members of the Samuel family, all of whom +had been guardians of the walled house, by uniting, as it were, the +nineteenth with the seventeenth century, simplified and facilitated the +execution of M. de Rennepont's will; the latter having declared his +desire to the grandfather of the Samuels, that the capital should only be +augmented by interest at five per cent.--so that the fortune might come +to his descendants free from all taint of usurious speculation. + +The fellow men of the Samuel family, the first inventors of the bill of +exchange, which served them in the Middle Ages to transport mysteriously +considerable amounts from one end of the world to the other, to conceal +their fortune, and to shield it from the rapacity of their enemies--the +Jews, we say, having almost the monopoly of the trade in money and +exchanges, until the end of the eighteenth century, aided the secret +transactions and financial operations of this family, which, up to about +1820, placed their different securities, which had become progressively +immense, in the hands of the principal Israelitish bankers and merchants +of Europe. This sure and secret manner of acting had enabled the present +guardian of the house in the Rue Saint-Francois, to effect enormous +investments, unknown to all; and it was more especially during the period +of his management, that the capital sum had acquired, by the mere fact of +compound interest, an almost incalculable development. Compared with him, +his father and grandfather had only small amounts to manage. Though it +had only been necessary to find successively sure and immediate +investments, so that the money might not remain as it were one day +without bearing interest, it had acquired financial capacity to attain +this result, when so many millions were in question. The last of the +Samuels, brought up in the school of his father, had exhibited this +capacity in a very high degree, as will be seen immediately by the +results. Nothing could be more touching, noble, and respectable, than the +conduct of the members of this Jewish family, who, partners in the +engagement of gratitude taken by their ancestor, devote themselves for +long years, with as much disinterestedness as intelligence and honesty, +to the slow acquisition of a kingly fortune, of which they expect no part +themselves, but which, thanks to them, would come pure, as immense, to +the hands of the descendants of their benefactor! Nor could anything be +more honorable to him who made, and him who received this deposit, than +the simple promise by word of mouth, unaccompanied by any security save +mutual confidence and reciprocal esteem, when the result was only to be +produced at the end of a century and a half! + +After once more reading his inventory with attention, Samuel said to his +wife: "I am certain of the correctness of my additions. Now please to +compare with the account-book in your hand the summary of the investments +that I have just entered in the register. I will assure myself, at the +same time, that the bonds and vouchers are properly arranged in this +casket, that, on the opening of the will, they may be delivered in order +to the notary." + +"Begin, my dear, and I will check you," said Bathsheba. + +Samuel read as follows, examining as he went on, the contents of his +casket: + +Statement of the account of the heirs of M. DE RENNEPONT, delivered by +DAVID SAMUELS. + +DEBIT. + + 2,000,000 francs per annum, + in the French 5 P. C., + bought from 1825 to 1832, + at an average price of 99f. + 50c. . . . . . . . . . . . 39,800,000 + 900,000 francs, ditto, in + the French 3 P. C., + bought during the + same years, at an average + of 74f 25c . . . . . . . . 22,275,000 + 5;000 shares in the Bank + of France, bought at 1,900 9,500,000 + 3,000 shares in the Four + Canals, in a certificate + from the Company, + bought at 1,115f . . . . . 3,345,000 + 125,000 ducats of + Neapolitans, at an average + of 82. 2,050,000 ducats, + at 4f. 400 . . . . . . . 9,020,000 + 5,000 Austrian Metallics, + of 1,000 florins, at 93 + --say 4,650,000 florins, + at 2f. 50c . . . . . . . . 11,625,000 + 75,000 pounds sterling + per annum, English + Consolidated 3 P. C., + at 88 3/4--say 2,218,750, + at 25f . . . . . . . . . 55,468,750 + 1,200,000 florins, Dutch + 2 1/2 P. C., at 60-28, + 860,000 florins, at 2f. + 100. . . . . . . . . . . 60,606,000 + Cash in banknotes, gold + and silver . . . . . . . . 535,250 + _____________ + Francs 212,175,000 + + Paris, 12th February, 1832. + CREDIT. + + 150,000 francs + received from M. + de Rennepont, + in 1682, by Isaac + Samuel my grandfather; + and invested by him, + my father, and myself, + in different securities, + at Five per Cent. + Interest, with a + settlement of account + and Investment of + interest every six + months, producing, + as by annexed vouchers, 225,950,000 + + Less losses sustained + by failures, expenses of + commission and + brokerage, and + salary of three + generations of + trustees, as per + statement annexed 13,775,000 + ___________ + 212,175,000 + + Francs 212,175,000 + +"It is quite right," said Samuel, after examining the papers, contained +in the cedar-wood box. "There remains in hand, at the absolute disposal +of the heirs of the Rennepont family, the Sum Of TWO HUNDRED AND TWELVE +MILLIONS, ONE HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIVE THOUSAND FRANCS." And the old man +looked at his wife with an expression of legitimate pride. "It is hardly +credible!" cried Bathsheba, struck with surprise. "I knew that you had +immense property in your hands; but I could never have believed, that one +hundred and fifty thousand francs, left a century and a half ago, should +be the only source of this immense fortune." + +"It is even so, Bathsheba," answered the old man, proudly. "Doubtless, my +grandfather, my father, and myself, have all been exact and faithful in +the management of these funds; doubtless, we have required some sagacity +in the choice of investments, in times of revolution and commercial +panics; but all this was easy to us, thanks to our relations with our +brethren in all countries--and never have I, or any of mine, made an +usurious investment, or even taken the full advantage of the legal rate +of interest. Such were the positive demands of M. de Rennepont, given to +my grandfather; nor is there in the world a fortune that has been +obtained by purer means. Had it not been for this disinterestedness, we +might have much augmented this two hundred and twelve millions, only by +taking advantage of a few favorable circumstances." + +"Dear me! is it possible?" + +"Nothing is more simple, Bathsheba. Every one knows, that in fourteen +years a capital will be doubled, by the mere accumulation of interest and +compound interest at five per cent. Now reflect, that in a century and a +half there are ten times fourteen years, and that these one hundred and +fifty thousands francs have thus been doubled and redoubled, over and +over again. All that astonishes you will then appear plain enough. In +1682, M. de Rennepont entrusted my grandfather with a hundred and fifty +thousand francs; this sum, invested as I have told you, would have +produced in 1696, fourteen years after, three hundred thousand francs. +These last, doubled in 1710, would produce six hundred thousand. On the +death of my grandfather in 1719, the amount was already near a million; +in 1724, it would be twelve hundred thousand francs; in 1738, two +millions four hundred thousand; in 1752, about two years after my birth, +four millions eight hundred thousand; in 1766, nine millions six hundred +thousand; in 1780, nineteen millions two hundred thousand; in 1794, +twelve years after the death of my father, thirty-eight millions four +hundred thousand; in 1808, seventy-six millions eight hundred thousand; +in 1822, one hundred and fifty-three millions six hundred thousand; and, +at this time, taking the compound interest for ten years, it should be at +least two hundred and twenty-five millions. But losses and inevitable +charges, of which the account has been strictly kept, have reduced the +sum to two hundred and twelve millions one hundred and seventy-five +thousand francs, the securities for which are in this box." + +"I now understand you, my dear," answered Bathsheba, thoughtfully; "but +how wonderful is this power of accumulation! and what admirable provision +may be made for the future, with the smallest present resources!" + +"Such, no doubt, was the idea of M. de Rennepont; for my father has often +told me, and he derived it from his father, that M. de Rennepont was one +of the soundest intellects of his time," said Samuel, as he closed the +cedar-box. + +"God grant his descendants may be worthy of this kingly fortune, and make +a noble use of it!" said Bathsheba, rising. + +It was now broad day, and the clock had just struck seven. + +"The masons will soon be here," said Samuel, as he replaced the cedar-box +in the iron safe, concealed behind the antique press. "Like you, +Bathsheba, I am curious and anxious to know, what descendants of M. de +Rennepont will now present themselves." + +Two or three loud knocks on the outer gate resounded through the house. +The barking of the watch-dogs responded to this summons. + +Samuel said to his wife: "It is no doubt the masons, whom the notary has +sent with his clerk. Tie all the keys and their labels together; I will +come back and fetch them." + +So saying, Samuel went down to the door with much nimbleness, considering +his age, prudently opened a small wicket, and saw three workmen, in the +garb of masons, accompanied by a young man dressed in black. + +"What may you want, gentlemen?" said the Jew, before opening the door, as +he wished first to make sure of the identity of the personages. + +"I am sent by M. Dumesnil, the notary," answered the clerk, "to be +present at the unwalling of a door. Here is a letter from my master, +addressed to M. Samuel, guardian of the house." + +"I am he, sir," said the Jew; "please to put the letter through the +slide, and I will take it." + +The clerk did as Samuel desired, but shrugged his shoulders at what he +considered the ridiculous precautions of a suspicious old man. The +housekeeper opened the box, took the letter, went to the end of the +vaulted passage in order to read it, and carefully compared the signature +with that of another letter which he drew from the pocket of his long +coat; then, after all these precautions, he chained up his dogs, and +returned to open the gate to the clerk and masons. + +"What the devil, my good man!" said the clerk, as he entered; "there +would not be more formalities in opening the gates of a fortress!" + +The Jew bowed, but without answering. + +"Are you deaf, my good fellow?" cried the clerk, close to his ears. + +"No, sir," said Samuel, with a quiet smile, as he advanced several steps +beyond the passage. Then pointing to the old house, he added: "That, sir, +is the door which you will have to open; you will also have to remove the +lead and iron from the second window to the right." + +"Why not open all the windows?" asked the clerk. + +"Because, sir, as guardian of this house, I have received particular +orders on the subject." + +"Who gave you these orders?" + +"My father, sir, who received them from his father, who transmitted them +from the master of this house. When I cease to have the care of it, the +new proprietor will do as he pleases." + +"Oh! very well," said the clerk, not a little surprised. Then, addressing +himself to the masons, he added: "This is your business, my fine fellows; +you are to unwall the door, and remove the iron frame-work of the second +window to the right." + +Whilst the masons set to work, under the inspection of the notary's +clerk, a coach stopped before the outer gate, and Rodin, accompanied by +Gabriel, entered the house in the Rue Saint-Francois. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +THE HEIR + +Samuel opened the door to Gabriel and Rodin. + +The latter said to the Jew, "You, sir, are the keeper of this house?" + +"Yes, sir," replied Samuel. + +"This is Abbe Gabriel de Rennepont," said Rodin, as he introduced his +companion, "one of the descendants of the family of the Renneponts." + +"Happy to hear it, sir," said the Jew, almost involuntarily, struck with +the angelic countenance of Gabriel--for nobleness and serenity of soul +were visible in the glance of the young priest, and were written upon his +pure, white brow, already crowned with the halo of martyrdom. Samuel +looked at Gabriel with curiosity and benevolent interest; but feeling +that this silent contemplation must cause some embarrassment to his +guest, he said to him, "M. Abbe, the notary will not be here before ten +o'clock." + +Gabriel looked at him in turn, with an air of surprise, and answered, +"What notary, sir?" + +"Father d'Aigrigny will explain all this to you," said Rodin, hastily. +Then addressing Samuel, he added, "We are a little before the time. Will +you allow us to wait for the arrival of the notary?" + +"Certainly," said Samuel, "if you please to walk into my house." + +"I thank you, sir," answered Rodin, "and accept your offer." + +"Follow me, then, gentlemen," said the old man. + +A few moments after, the young priest and the socius, preceded by Samuel, +entered one of the rooms occupied by the latter, on the ground-floor of +the building, looking out upon the court-yard. + +"The Abbe d'Aigrigny, who has been the guardian of M. Gabriel, will soon +be coming to ask for us," added Rodin; "will you have the kindness, sir +to show him into this room?" + +"I will not fail to do so, sir," said Samuel, as he went out. + +The socius and Gabriel were left alone. To the adorable gentleness which +usually gave to the fine features of the missionary so touching a charm, +there had succeeded in this moment a remarkable expression of sadness, +resolution, and severity. Rodin not having seen Gabriel for some days, +was greatly struck by the change he remarked in him. He had watched him +silently all the way from the Rue des Postes to the Rue Saint-Francois. +The young priest wore, as usual, a long black cassock, which made still +more visible the transparent paleness of his countenance. When the Jew +had left the room, Gabriel said to Rodin, in a firm voice, "Will you at +length inform me, sir, why, for some days past, I have been prevented +from speaking to his reverence Father d'Aigrigny? Why has he chosen this +house to grant me an interview?" + +"It is impossible for me to answer these questions," replied Rodin, +coldly. "His reverence will soon arrive, and will listen to you. All I +can tell you is, that the reverend father lays as much stress upon this +meeting as you do. If he has chosen this house for the interview, it is +because you have an interest to be here. You know it well--though you +affected astonishment on hearing the guardian speak of a notary." + +So saying, Rodin fixed a scrutinizing, anxious look upon Gabriel, whose +countenance expressed only surprise. + +"I do not understand you," said he, in reply to Rodin. "What have I to do +with this house?" + +"It is impossible that you should not know it," answered Rodin, still +looking at him with attention. + +"I have told you, sir, that I do not know it," replied the other, almost +offended by the pertinacity of the socius. + +"What, then, did your adopted mother come to tell you yesterday? Why did +you presume to receive her without permission from Father d'Aigrigny, as +I have heard this morning? Did she not speak with you of certain family +papers, found upon you when she took you in?" + +"No, sir," said Gabriel; "those papers were delivered at the time to my +adopted mother's confessor, and they afterwards passed into Father +d'Aigrigny's hands. This is the first I hear for a long time of these +papers." + +"So you affirm that Frances Baudoin did not come to speak to you on this +subject?" resumed Rodin, obstinately, laying great emphasis on his words. + +"This is the second time, sir, that you seem to doubt my affirmation," +said the young priest, mildly, while he repressed a movement of +impatience, "I assure you that I speak the truth." + +"He knows nothing," thought Rodin; for he was too well convinced of +Gabriel's sincerity to retain the least doubt after so positive a +declaration. "I believe you," went on he. "The idea only occurred to me +in reflecting what could be the reason of sufficient weight to induce you +to transgress Father d'Aigrigny's orders with regard to the absolute +retirement he had commanded, which was to exclude all communication with +those without. Much more, contrary to all the rules of our house, you +ventured to shut the door of your room, whereas it ought to remain half +open, that the mutual inspection enjoined us might be the more easily +practiced. I could only explain these sins against discipline, by the +necessity of some very important conversation with your adopted mother." + +"It was to a priest, and not to her adopted son, that Madame Baudoin +wished to speak," replied Gabriel, in a tone of deep seriousness. "I +closed my door because I was to hear a confession." + +"And what had Frances Baudoin of such importance to confess?" + +"You will know that by-and-bye, when I speak to his reverence--if it be +his pleasure that you should hear me." + +These words were so firmly spoken, that a long silence ensued. Let us +remind the reader that Gabriel had hitherto been kept by his superiors in +the most complete ignorance of the importance of the family interests +which required his presence in the Rue Saint-Francois. The day before, +Frances Baudoin, absorbed in her own grief, had forgotten to tell him +that the two orphans also should be present at this meeting, and had she +even thought of it, Dagobert would have prevented her mentioning this +circumstance to the young priest. + +Gabriel was therefore quite ignorant of the family ties which united him +with the daughters of Marshal Simon, with Mdlle. de Cardoville, with M. +Hardy, Prince Djalma, and Sleepinbuff. In a word, if it had then been +revealed to him that he was the heir of Marius de Rennepont, he would +have believed himself the only descendant of the family. During the +moment's silence which succeeded his conversation with Rodin, Gabriel +observed through the windows the mason's at their work of unwalling the +door. Having finished this first operation, they set about removing the +bars of iron by which a plate of lead was fixed over the same entrance. + +At this juncture, Father d'Aigrigny, conducted by Samuel, entered the +room. Before Gabriel could turn around, Rodin had time to whisper to the +reverend father, "He knows nothing--and we have no longer anything to +fear from the Indian." + +Notwithstanding his affected calmness, Father d'Aigrigny's countenance +was pale and contracted, like that of a player who is about to stake all +on a last, decisive game. Hitherto, all had favored the designs of the +Society; but he could not think without alarm of the four hours which +still remained before they should reach the fatal moment. Gabriel having +turned towards him, Father d'Aigrigny offered him his hand with a smile, +and said to him in an affectionate and cordial tone, "My dear son, it has +pained me a good deal to have been obliged to refuse you till now the +interview that you so much desired. It has been no less distressing to me +to impose on you a confinement of some days. Though I cannot give any +explanation of what I may think fit to order, I will just observe to you +that I have acted only for your interest." + +"I am bound to believe your reverence," answered Gabriel, bowing his +head. + +In spite of himself, the young priest felt a vague sense of fear, for +until his departure for his American mission, Father d'Aigrigny, at whose +feet he had pronounced the formidable vows which bound him irrevocably to +the Society of Jesus, had exercised over him that frightful species of +influence which, acting only by despotism, suppression, and intimidation, +breaks down all the living forces of the soul, and leaves it inert, +trembling, and terrified. Impressions of early youth are indelible, and +this was the first time, since his return from America, that Gabriel +found himself in presence of Father d'Aigrigny; and although he did not +shrink from the resolution he had taken, he regretted not to have been +able, as he had hoped, to gather new strength and courage from an +interview with Agricola and Dagobert. Father d'Aigrigny knew mankind too +well not to have remarked the emotion of the young priest, and to have +endeavored to explain its cause. This emotion appeared to him a favorable +omen; he redoubled, therefore, his seductive arts, his air of tenderness +and amenity, reserving to himself, if necessary, the choice of assuming +another mask. He sat down, while Gabriel and Rodin remained standing in a +respectful position, and said to the former: "You desire, my dear son, to +have an important interview with me?" + +"Yes, father," said Gabriel, involuntarily casting down his eyes before +the large, glittering gray pupil of his superior. + +"And I also have matters of great importance to communicate to you. +Listen to me first; you can speak afterwards." + +"I listen, father." + +"It is about twelve years ago, my dear son," said Father d'Aigrigny, +affectionately, "that the confessor of your adopted mother, addressing +himself to me through M. Rodin, called my attention to yourself, by +reporting the astonishing progress you had made at the school of the +Brothers. I soon found, indeed, that your excellent conduct, your gentle, +modest character, and your precocious intelligence, were worthy of the +most tender interest. From that moment I kept my eyes upon you, and at +the end of some time, seeing that you did not fall off, it appeared to me +that there was something more in you than the stuff that makes a workman. +We agreed with your adopted mother, and through my intervention, you were +admitted gratuitously to one of the schools of our Company. Thus one +burden the less weighed upon the excellent woman who had taken charge of +you, and you received from our paternal care all the benefits of a +religious education. Is not this true, my dear son?" + +"It is true, father," answered Gabriel, casting down his eyes. + +"As you grew up, excellent and rare virtues displayed themselves in your +character. Your obedience and mildness were above all exemplary. You made +rapid progress in your studies. I knew not then to what career you wished +to devote yourself, but I felt certain that, in every station of life, +you would remain a faithful son of the Church. I was not deceived in my +hopes, or rather, my dear son, you surpassed them all. Learning, by a +friendly communication, that your adopted mother ardently desired to see +you take orders, you acceded generously and religiously to the wish of +the excellent woman to whom you owed so much. But as the Lord is always +just in His recompenses, He willed that the most touching work of +gratitude you could show to your adopted mother, should at the same time +be divinely profitable by making you one of the militant members of our +holy Church." + +At these words, Gabriel could not repress a significant start, as he +remembered Frances' sad confidences. But he restrained himself, whilst +Rodin stood leaning with his elbow on the corner of the chimney-piece, +continuing to examine him with singular and obstinate attention. + +Father d'Aigrigny resumed: "I do not conceal from you, my dear son, that +your resolution filled me with joy. I saw in you one of the future lights +of the Church, and I was anxious to see it shine in the midst of our +Company. You submitted courageously to our painful and difficult tests; +you were judged worthy of belonging to us, and, after taking in my +presence the irrevocable and sacred oath, which binds you for ever to our +Company for the greater glory of God, you answered the appeal of our Holy +Father[14] to willing souls, and offered yourself as a missionary, to +preach to savages the one Catholic faith. Though it was painful to us to +part with our dear son, we could not refuse to accede to such pious +wishes. You set out a humble missionary you return a glorious martyr--and +we are justly proud to reckon you amongst our number. This rapid sketch +of the past was necessary, my dear son to arrive at what follows, for we +wish now, if it be possible, to draw still closer the bonds that unite +us. Listen to me, my dear son; what I am about to say is confidential and +of the highest importance, not only for you, but the whole Company." + +"Then, father," cried Gabriel hastily, interrupting the Abbe d'Aigrigny, +"I cannot--I ought not to hear you." + +The young priest became deadly pale; one saw, by the alteration of his +features, that a violent struggle was taking place within him, but +recovering his first resolution, he raised his head, and casting an +assured look on Father d'Aigrigny and Rodin, who glanced at each other in +mute surprise, he resumed: "I repeat to you, father, that if it concerns +confidential matters of the Company, I must not hear you." + +"Really, my dear son, you occasion me the greatest astonishment. What is +the matter?--Your countenance changes, your emotion is visible. Speak +without fear; why can you not hear me?" + +"I cannot tell you, father, until I also have, in my turn, rapidly +sketched the past--such as I have learned to judge it of late. You will +then understand, father, that I am no longer entitled to your confidence, +for an abyss will doubtlessly soon separate us." + +At these words, it is impossible to paint the look rapidly exchanged +between Rodin and Father d'Aigrigny. The socius began to bite his nails, +fixing his reptile eye angrily upon Gabriel; Father d'Aigrigny grew +livid, and his brow was bathed in cold sweat. He asked himself with +terror, if, at the moment of reaching the goal, the obstacle was going to +come from Gabriel, in favor of whom all other obstacles had been removed. +This thought filled him with despair. Yet the reverend father contained +himself admirably, remained calm, and answered with affectionate unction: +"It is impossible to believe, my dear son, that you and I can ever be +separated by an abyss--unless by the abyss of grief, which would be +caused by any serious danger to your salvation. But speak; I listen to +you." + +"It is true, that, twelve years ago, father," proceeded Gabriel, in a +firm voice, growing more animated as he proceeded, "I entered, through +your intervention, a college of the Company of Jesus. I entered it +loving, truthful, confiding. How did they encourage those precious +instincts of childhood? I will tell you. The day of my entrance, the +Superior said to me, as he pointed out two children a little older than +myself: 'These are the companions that you will prefer. You will always +walk three together. The rules of the house forbid all intercourse +between two persons only. They also require, that you should listen +attentively to what your companions say, so that you may report it to me; +for these dear children may have, without knowing it, bad thoughts or +evil projects. Now, if you love your comrades, you must inform me of +these evil tendencies, that my paternal remonstrances may save them from +punishment; it is better to prevent evil than to punish it.'" + +"Such are, indeed, my dear son," said Father d'Aigrigny, "the rules of +our house, and the language we hold to all our pupils on their entrance." + +"I know it, father," answered Gabriel, bitterly; "three days after, a +poor, submissive, and credulous child, I was already a spy upon my +comrades, hearing and remembering their conversation, and reporting it to +the superior, who congratulated me on my zeal. What they thus made me do +was shameful, and yet, God knows! I thought I was accomplishing a +charitable duty. I was happy in obeying the commands of a superior whom I +respected, and to whose words I listened, in my childish faith, as I +should have listened to those of Heaven. One day, that I had broken some +rule of the house, the superior said to me: 'My child, you have deserved +a severe punishment; but you will be pardoned, if you succeed in +surprising one of your comrades in the same fault that you have +committed.' And for that, notwithstanding my faith and blind obedience, +this encouragement to turn informer, from the motive of personal +interest, might appear odious to me, the superior added. 'I speak to you, +my child, for the sake of your comrade's salvation. Were he to escape +punishment, his evil habits would become habitual. But by detecting him +in a fault, and exposing him to salutary correction, you will have the +double advantage of aiding in his salvation, and escaping yourself a +merited punishment, which will have been remitted because of your zeal +for your neighbor--" + +"Doubtless," answered Father d'Aigrigny, more and more terrified by +Gabriel's language; "and in truth, my dear son, all this is conformable +to the rule followed in our colleges, and to the habits of the members of +our Company, 'who may denounce each other without prejudice to mutual +love and charity, and only for their greater spiritual advancement, +particularly when questioned by their superior, or commanded for the +greater glory of God,' as our Constitution has it." + +"I know it," cried Gabriel; "I know it. 'Tis in the name of all that is +most sacred amongst men, that we are encouraged to do evil." + +"My dear son," said Father d'Aigrigny, trying to conceal his secret and +growing terror beneath an appearance of wounded dignity, "from you to me +these words are at least strange." + +At this, Rodin quitted the mantelpiece, on which he had been leaning, +begin to walk up and down the room, with a meditative air, and without +ceasing to bite his nails. + +"It is cruel to be obliged to remind you, my dear son, that your are +indebted to us for the education you have received," added Father +d'Aigrigny. + +"Such were its fruits, father," replied Gabriel. "Until then I had been a +spy on the other children, from a sort of disinterestedness; but the +orders of the superior made me advance another step on that shameful +road. I had become an informer, to escape a merited punishment. And yet, +such was my faith, my humility, my confidence, that I performed with +innocence and candor this doubly odious part. Once, indeed, tormented by +vague scruples, the last remains of generous aspirations that they were +stifling within me, I asked myself if the charitable and religious end +could justify the means, and I communicated my doubts to the superior. He +replied, that I had not to judge, but to obey, and that to him alone +belonged the responsibility of my acts." + +"Go on, my dear son," said Father d'Aigrigny, gelding, in spite of +himself, to the deepest dejection. "Alas! I was right in opposing your +travel to America." + +"And yet it was the will of Providence, in that new, productive, and free +country, that, enlightened by a singular chance, on past and present, my +eyes were at length opened. Yes!" cried Gabriel, "it was in America that, +released from the gloomy abode where I had spent so many years of my +youth, and finding myself for the first time face to face with the divine +majesty of Nature, in the heart of immense solitudes through which I +journeyed--it was there that, overcome by so much magnificence and +grandeur, I made a vow--" Here Gabriel interrupted himself, to continue: +"Presently, father, I will explain to you that vow; but believe me," +added the missionary, with an accent of deep sorrow, "it was a fatal day +to me when I first learned to fear and condemn all that I had hitherto +most revered and blessed. Oh! I assure you father," added Gabriel, with +moist eyes, "it was not for myself alone, that I then wept." + +"I know the goodness of your heart, my dear son," replied Father +d'Aigrigny, catching a glimpse of hope, on seeing Gabriel's emotion; "I +fear that you have been led astray. But trust yourself to us, as to your +spiritual fathers, and I doubt not we shall confirm your faith, so +unfortunately shaken, and disperse the darkness which at present obscures +your sight. Alas, my dear son, in your vain illusions, you have mistaken +some false glimmer for the pure light of day. But go on." + +Whilst Father d'Aigrigny was thus speaking, Rodin stopped, took a pocket +book from his coat, and wrote down several notes. Gabriel was becoming +more and more pale and agitated. It required no small courage in him, to +speak as he was speaking, for, since his journey to America, he had +learned to estimate the formidable power of the Company. But this +revelation of the past, looked at from the vantage-ground of a more +enlightened present, was for the young priest the excuse, or rather the +cause of the determination he had just signified to his superior, and he +wished to explain all faithfully, notwithstanding the danger he knowingly +encountered. He continued therefore, in an agitated voice: + +"You know, father, that the last days of my childhood, that happy age of +frankness and innocent joy, were spent in an atmosphere of terror, +suspicion, and restraint. Alas! how could I resign myself to the least +impulse of confiding trust, when I was recommended to shun the looks of +him who spoke with me, in order to hide the impression that his words +might cause--to conceal whatever I felt, and to observe and listen to +everything? Thus I reached the age of fifteen; by degrees, the rare +visits that I was allowed to pay, but always in presence of one of our +fathers, to my adopted mother and brother, were quite suppressed, so as +to shut my heart against all soft and tender emotions. Sad and fearful in +that large, old noiseless, gloomy house, I felt that I became more and +more isolated from the affections and the freedom of the world. My time +was divided between mutilated studies, without connection and without +object, and long hours of minute devotional exercises. I ask you, father, +did they ever seek to warm our young souls by words of tenderness or +evangelic love? Alas, no! For the words of the divine Saviour--Love ye +one another, they had substituted the command: Suspect ye one another. +Did they ever, father, speak to us of our country or of liberty?--No! ah, +no! for those words make the heart beat high; and with them, the heart +must not beat at all. To our long hours of study and devotion, there only +succeeded a few walks, three by three--never two and two--because by +threes, the spy-system is more practicable, and because intimacies are +more easily formed by two alone; and thus might have arisen some of those +generous friendships, which also make the heart beat more than it +should.15 And so, by the habitual repression of every feeling, there came +a time when I could not feel at all. For six months, I had not seen my +adopted mother and brother; they came to visit me at the college; a few +years before, I should have received them with transports and tears; this +time my eyes were dry, my heart was cold. My mother and brother quitted +me weeping. The sight of this grief struck me and I became conscious of +the icy insensibility which had been creeping upon me since I inhabited +this tomb. Frightened at myself, I wished to leave it, while I had still +strength to do so. Then, father, I spoke to you of the choice of a +profession; for sometimes, in waking moments, I seemed to catch from afar +the sound of an active and useful life, laborious and free, surrounded by +family affections. Oh! then I felt the want of movement and liberty, of +noble and warm emotions--of that life of the soul, which fled before me. +I told it you, father on my knees, bathing your hands with my tears. The +life of a workman or a soldier--anything would have suited me. It was +then you informed me, that my adopted mother, to whom I owed my life--for +she had taken me in, dying of want, and, poor herself, had shared with me +the scanty bread of her child--admirable sacrifice for a mother!--that +she," continued Gabriel, hesitating and casting down his eyes, for noble +natures blush for the guilt of others, and are ashamed of the infamies of +which they are themselves victims, "that she, that my adopted mother, had +but one wish, one desire--" + +"That of seeing you takes orders, my dear son," replied Father +d'Aigrigny; "for this pious and perfect creature hoped, that, in securing +your salvation, she would provide for her own: but she did not venture to +inform you of this thought, for fear you might ascribe it to an +interested motive." + +"Enough, father!" said Gabriel, interrupting the Abbe d'Aigrigny, with a +movement of involuntary indignation; "it is painful for me to hear you +assert an error. Frances Baudoin never had such a thought." + +"My dear son, you are too hasty in your judgments," replied Father +d'Aigrigny, mildly. "I tell you, that such was the one, sole thought of +your adopted mother." + +"Yesterday, father, she told me all. She and I were equally deceived." + +"Then, my dear son," said Father d'Aigrigny, sternly, "you take the word +of your adopted mother before mine?" + +"Spare me an answer painful for both of us, father," said Gabriel, +casting down his eyes. + +"Will you now tell me," resumed Father d'Aigrigny, with anxiety, "what +you mean to--" + +The reverend father was unable to finish. Samuel entered the room, and +said: "A rather old man wishes to speak to M. Rodin." + +"That is my name, sir," answered the socius, in surprise; "I am much +obliged to you." But, before following the Jew, he gave to Father +d'Aigrigny a few words written with a pencil upon one of the leaves of +his packet-book. + +Rodin went out in very uneasy mood, to learn who could have come to seek +him in the Rue Saint-Francois. Father d'Aigrigny and Gabriel were left +alone together. + +[14] It is only in respect to Missions that the Jesuits acknowledge the +papal supremacy. + +[15] This rule is so strict in Jesuit Colleges, that if one of three pupils +leaves the other two, they separate out of earshot till the first comes +back. + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + +THE RUPTURE. + +Plunged into a state of mortal anxiety, Father d'Aigrigny had taken +mechanically the note written by Rodin, and held it in his hand without +thinking of opening it. The reverend father asked himself in alarm, what +conclusion Gabriel would draw from these recriminations upon the past; +and he durst not make any answer to his reproaches, for fear of +irritating the young priest, upon whose head such immense interests now +reposed. Gabriel could possess nothing for himself, according to the +constitutions of the Society of Jesus. Moreover, the reverend father had +obtained from him, in favor of the Order, an express renunciation of all +property that might ever come to him. But the commencement of his +conversation seemed to announce so serious a change in Gabriel's views +with regard to the Company, that he might choose to break through the +ties which attached him to it; and in that case, he would not be legally +bound to fulfil any of his engagements.[16] The donation would thus be +cancelled de facto, just at the moment of being so marvellously realized +by the possession of the immense fortune of the Rennepont family, and +d'Aigrigny's hopes would thus be completely and for ever frustrated. Of +all these perplexities which the reverend father had experienced for some +time past, with regard to this inheritance, none had been more unexpected +and terrible than this. Fearing to interrupt or question Gabriel, Father +d'Aigrigny waited, in mute terror, the end of this interview, which +already bore so threatening an aspect. + +The missionary resumed: "It is my duty, father, to continue this sketch +of my past life, until the moment of my departure for America. You will +understand, presently, why I have imposed on myself this obligation." + +Father d'Aigrigny nodded for him to proceed. + +"Once informed of the pretended wishes of my adopted mother, I resigned +myself to them, though at some cost of feeling. I left the gloomy abode, +in which I had passed my childhood and part of my youth, to enter one of +the seminaries of the Company. My resolution was not caused by an +irresistible religious vocation, but by a wish to discharge the sacred +debt I owed my adopted mother. Yet the true spirit of the religion of +Christ is so vivifying, that I felt myself animated and warmed by the +idea of carrying out the adorable precepts of our Blessed Saviour. To my +imagination, a seminary, instead of resembling the college where I had +lived in painful restraint, appeared like a holy place, where all that +was pure and warm in the fraternity of the Gospel would be applied to +common life--where, for example, the lessons most frequently taught would +be the ardent love of humanity, and the ineffable sweets of commiseration +and tolerance--where the everlasting words of Christ would be interpreted +in their broadest sense--and where, in fine, by the habitual exercise and +expansion of the most generous sentiments, men were prepared for the +magnificent apostolic mission of making the rich and happy sympathize +with the sufferings of their brethren, by unveiling the frightful +miseries of humanity--a sublime and sacred morality, which none are able +to withstand, when it is preached with eyes full of tears, and hearts +overflowing with tenderness and charity!" + +As he delivered these last words with profound emotion, Gabriel's eyes +became moist, and his countenance shone with angelic beauty. + +"Such is, indeed, my dear son, the spirit of Christianity; but one must +also study and explain the letter," answered Father d'Aigrigny, coldly. +"It is to this study that the seminaries of our Company are specially +destined. Now the interpretation of the letter is a work of analysis, +discipline, and submission--and not one of heart and sentiment." + +"I perceive that only too well, father. On entering this new house, I +found, alas! all my hopes defeated. Dilating for a moment, my heart soon +sunk within me. Instead of this centre of life, affection, youth, of +which I had dreamed. I found, in the silent and ice-cold seminary, the +same suppression of every generous emotion, the same inexorable +discipline, the same system of mutual prying, the same suspicion, the +same invincible obstacles to all ties of friendship. The ardor which had +warmed my soul for an instant soon died out; little by little, I fell +back into the habits of a stagnant, passive, mechanical life, governed by +a pitiless power with mechanical precision, just like the inanimate works +of a watch." + +"But order, submission and regularity are the first foundations of our +Company, my dear son." + +"Alas, father! it was death, not life, that I found thus organized. In +the midst of this destruction of every generous principle, I devoted +myself to scholastic and theological studies--gloomy studies--a wily, +menacing, and hostile science which, always awake to ideas of peril, +contest, and war, is opposed to all those of peace, progress, and +liberty." + +"Theology, my dear son," said Father d'Aigrigny, sternly, "is at once a +buckler and a sword; a buckler, to protect and cover the Catholic +faith--a sword, to attack and combat heresy." + +"And yet, father, Christ and His apostles knew not this subtle science: +their simple and touching words regenerated mankind, and set freedom over +slavery. Does not the divine code of the Gospel suffice to teach men to +love one another? But, alas! far from speaking to us this language, our +attention was too often occupied with wars of religion, and the rivers of +blood that had flowed in honor of the Lord, and for the destruction of +heresy. These terrible lessons made our life still more melancholy. As we +grew near to manhood, our relations at the seminary assumed a growing +character of bitterness, jealousy and suspicion. The habit of tale +bearing against each other, applied to more serious subjects, engendered +silent hate and profound resentments. I was neither better nor worse than +the others. All of us, bowed down for years beneath the iron yoke of +passive obedience, unaccustomed to reflection or free-will, humble and +trembling before our superiors, had the same pale, dull, colorless +disposition. At last I took orders; once a priest, you invited me, +father, to enter the Company of Jesus, or rather I found myself +insensibly brought to this determination. How, I do not know. For a long +time before, my will was not my own. I went through all my proofs; the +most terrible was decisive; for some months, I lived in the silence of my +cell, practicing with resignation the strange and mechanical exercises +that you ordered me. With the exception of your reverence, nobody +approached me during that long space of time; no human voice but yours +sounded in my ear. Sometimes, in the night, I felt vague terrors; my +mind, weakened by fasting, austerity, and solitude, was impressed with +frightful visions. At other times, on the contrary, I felt a sort of +quiescence, in the idea that, having once pronounced my vows, I should be +delivered for ever from the burden of thought and will. Then I abandoned +myself to an insurmountable torpor, like those unfortunate wretches, who, +surprised by a snow-storm, yield to a suicidal repose. Thus I awaited the +fatal moment. At last, according to the rule of discipline, choking with +the death rattle,[17] I hastened the moment of accomplishing the final act +of my expiring will--the vow to renounce it for ever." + +"Remember, my dear son," replied Father d'Aigrigny, pale and tortured by +increasing anguish, "remember, that, on the eve of the day fixed for the +completion of your vows; I offered, according to the rule of our Company, +to absolve you from joining us--leaving you completely free, for we +accept none but voluntary vocations." + +"It is true, father," answered Gabriel, with sorrowful bitterness; "when, +worn out and broken by three months of solitude and trial, I was +completely exhausted, and unable to move a step, you opened the door of +my cell, and said to me: 'If you like, rise and walk; you are free; Alas! +I had no more strength. The only desire of my soul, inert and paralyzed +for so long a period, was the repose of the grave; and pronouncing those +irrevocable vows, I fell, like a corpse, into your hands." + +"And, till now, my dear son, you have never failed in this corpse--like +obedience,--to use the expression of our glorious founder--because, the +more absolute this obedience, the more meritorious it must be." + +After a moment's silence, Gabriel resumed: "You had always concealed from +me, father, the true ends of the Society into which I entered. I was +asked to abandon my free-will to my superiors, in the name of the Greater +Glory of God. My vows once pronounced, I was to be in your hands a docile +and obedient instrument; but I was to be employed, you told me, in a +holy, great and beauteous work. I believed you, father--how should I not +have believed you? but a fatal event changed my destiny--a painful malady +caused by--" + +"My son," cried Father d'Aigrigny, interrupting Gabriel, "it is useless +to recall these circumstances." + +"Pardon me, father, I must recall them. I have the right to be heard. I +cannot pass over in silence any of the facts, which have led me to take +the immutable resolution that I am about to announce to you." + +"Speak on, my son," said Father d'Aigrigny, frowning; for he was much +alarmed at the words of the young priest, whose cheeks, until now pale, +were covered with a deep blush. + +"Six months before my departure for America," resumed Gabriel, casting +down his eyes, "you informed me, that I was destined to confess +penitents; and to prepare then for that sacred ministry, you gave me a +book." + +Gabriel again hesitated. His blushes increased. Father d'Aigrigny could +scarcely restrain a start of impatience and anger. + +"You gave me a book," resumed the young priest, with a great effort to +control himself, "a book containing questions to be addressed by a +confessor to youths, and young girls, and married women, when they +present themselves at the tribunal of penance. My God!" added Gabriel, +shuddering at the remembrance. "I shall never forget that awful moment. +It was night. I had retired to my chamber, taking with me this book, +composed, you told me, by one of our fathers, and completed by a holy +bishop.[18] Full of respect, faith, and confidence, I opened those pages. +At first, I did not understand them--afterwards I understood--and then I +was seized with shame and horror--struck with stupor--and had hardly +strength to close, with trembling hand, this abominable volume. I ran to +you, father, to accuse myself of having involuntarily cast my eyes on +those nameless pages, which, by mistake, you had placed in my hands." + +"Remember, also, my dear son," said Father d'Aigrigny, gravely, "that I +calmed your scruples, and told you that a priest, who is bound to hear +everything under the seal of confession, must be able to know and +appreciate everything; and that our Company imposes the task of reading +this Compendium, as a classical work, upon young deacons seminarists, and +priests, who are destined to be confessors." + +"I believed you, father. In me the habit of inert obedience was so +powerful, and I was so unaccustomed to independent reflection, that, +notwithstanding my horror (with which I now reproached myself as with a +crime), I took the volume back into my chamber, and read. Oh, father! +what a dreadful revelation of criminal fancies, guilty of guiltiest in +their refinement!" + +"You speak of this book in blamable terms," skid Father d'Aigrigny, +severely; "you were the victim of a too lively imagination. It is to it +that you must attribute this fatal impression, and not to an excellent +work, irreproachable for its special purpose, and duly authorized by the +Church. You are not able to judge of such a production." + +"I will speak of it no more, father," said Gabriel: and he thus resumed: +"A long illness followed that terrible night. Many times, they feared for +my reason. When I recovered, the past appeared to me like a painful +dream. You told me, then, father, that I was not yet ripe for certain +functions; and it was then that I earnestly entreated you to be allowed +to go on the American missions. After having long refused my prayer, you +at length consented. From my childhood, I had always lived in the college +or seminary, to a state of continual restraint and subjection. By +constantly holding down my head and eyes, I had lost the habit of +contemplating the heavens and the splendors of nature. But, oh! what +deep, religious happiness I felt, when I found myself suddenly +transported to the centre of the imposing grandeur of the seas-half-way +between the ocean and the sky!--I seemed to come forth from a place of +thick darkness; for the first time, for many years, I felt my heart beat +freely in my bosom; for the first time, I felt myself master of my own +thoughts, and ventured to examine my past life, as from the summit of a +mountain, one looks down into a gloomy vale. Then strange doubts rose +within me. I asked myself by what right, and for what end, any beings had +so long repressed, almost annihilated, the exercise of my will, of my +liberty, of my reason, since God had endowed me with these gifts. But I +said to myself, that perhaps, one day, the great, beauteous, and holy +work, in which I was to have my share, would be revealed to me, and would +recompense my obedience and resignation." + +At this moment, Rodin re-entered the room. Father d'Aigrigny questioned +him with a significant look. The socius approached, and said to him in a +low voice, so, that Gabriel could not hear: "Nothing serious. It was only +to inform me, that Marshal Simon's father is arrived at M. Hardy's +factory." + +Then, glancing at Gabriel, Rodin appeared to interrogate Father +d'Aigrigny, who hung his head with a desponding air. Yet he resumed, +again addressing Gabriel, whilst Rodin took his old place, with his elbow +on the chimney-piece: "Go on, my dear son. I am anxious to learn what +resolution you have adopted." + +"I will tell you in a moment, father. I arrived at Charleston. The +superior of our establishment in that place, to whom I imparted my doubts +as to the object of our Society, took upon himself to clear them up, and +unveiled it all to me with alarming frankness. He told me the tendency +not perhaps of all the members of the Company, for a great number must +have shared my ignorance--but the objects which our leaders have +pertinaciously kept in view, ever since the foundation of the Order. I +was terrified. I read the casuists. Oh, father! that was a new and +dreadful revelation, when, at every page, I read the excuse and +justification of robbery, slander, adultery, perjury, murder, regicide. +When I considered that I, the priest of a God of charity, justice, +pardon, and love, was to belong henceforth to a Company, whose chiefs +professed and glorified in such doctrines, I made a solemn oath to break +for ever the ties which bound me to it!"[19] + +On these words of Gabriel, Father d'Aigrigny and Rodin exchanged a look +of terror. All was lost; their prey had escaped them. Deeply moved by the +remembrances he recalled, Gabriel did not perceive the action of the +reverend father and the socius, and thus continued: "In spite of my +resolution, father, to quit the Company, the discovery I had made was +very painful to me. Oh! believe me, for the honest and loving soul, +nothing is more frightful than to have to renounce what it has long +respected!--I suffered so much, that, when I thought of the dangers of my +mission, I hoped, with a secret joy, that God would perhaps take me to +Himself under these circumstances: but, on the contrary, He watched over +me with providential solicitude." + +As he said this, Gabriel felt a thrill, for he remembered a Mysterious +Woman who had saved his life in America. After a moment's silence, he +resumed: "My mission terminated, I returned hither to beg, father, that +you would release me from my vows. Many times but in vain, I solicited an +interview. Yesterday, it pleased Providence that I should have a long +conversation with my adopted mother; from her I learned the trick by +which my vocation had been forced upon me--and the sacrilegious abuse of +the confessional, by which she had been induced to entrust to other +persons the orphans that a dying mother had confided to the care of an +honest soldier. You understand, father, that, if even I had before +hesitated to break these bonds, what I have heard yesterday must have +rendered my decision irrevocable. But at this solemn moment, father, I am +bound to tell you, that I do not accuse the whole Society; many simple, +credulous, and confiding men, like myself, must no doubt form part of it. +Docile instruments, they see not in their blindness the work to which +they are destined. I pity them, and pray God to enlighten them, as he has +enlightened me." + +"So, my son," said Father d'Aigrigny, rising with livid and despairing +look, "you come to ask of me to break the ties which attach you to the +Society?" + +"Yes, father; you received my vows--it is for you to release me from +them." + +"So, my son, you understand that engagements once freely taken by you, +are now to be considered as null and void?" + +"Yes, father." + +"So, my son, there is to be henceforth nothing in common between you and +our Company?" + +"No, father--since I request you to absolve me of my vows." + +"But, you know, my son, that the Society may release you--but that you +cannot release yourself." + +"The step I take proves to you, father, the importance I attach to an +oath, since I come to you to release me from it. Nevertheless, were you +to refuse me, I should not think myself bound in the eyes of God or man." + +"It is perfectly clear," said Father d'Aigrigny to Rodin, his voice +expiring upon his lips, so deep was his despair. + +Suddenly, whilst Gabriel, with downcast eyes, waited for the answer of +Father d'Aigrigny, who remained mute and motionless, Rodin appeared +struck with a new idea, on perceiving that the reverend father still held +in his hand the note written in pencil. The socius hastily approached +Father d'Aigrigny, and said to him in a whisper, with a look of doubt and +alarm: "Have you not read my note?" + +"I did not think of it," answered the reverend father, mechanically. + +Rodin appeared to make a great effort to repress a movement of violent +rage. Then he said to Father d'Aigrigny, in a calm voice: "Read it now." + +Hardly had the reverend father cast his eyes upon this note, than a +sudden ray of hope illumined his hitherto despairing countenance. +Pressing the hand of the socius with an expression of deep gratitude, he +said to him in a low voice: "You are right. Gabriel is ours." + +[16] The statutes formally state that the Company can expel all drones and +wasps, but that no man can break his ties, if the Order wishes to retain +him. + +[17] This is their own command. The constitution expressly bids the novice +wait for this decisive climax of the ordeal before taking the vows of +God. + +[18] It is impossible, even in Latin, to give our readers an idea of this +infamous work. + +[19] This is true. See the extracts from the Compendium for the use of +Schools, published under the title of "Discoveries by a Bibliophilist." +Strasburg, 1843. For regicide, see Sanchez and others. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + +THE CHANGE. + +Before again addressing Gabriel, Father d'Aigrigny carefully reflected; +and his countenance, lately so disturbed, became gradually once more +serene. He appeared to meditate and calculate the effects of the +eloquence he was about to employ, upon an excellent and safe theme, which +the socius struck with the danger of the situation, had suggested in a +few lines rapidly written with a pencil, and which, in his despair, the +reverend father had at first neglected. Rodin resumed his post of +observation near the mantelpiece, on which he leaned his elbow, after +casting at Father d'Aigrigny a glance of disdainful and angry +superiority, accompanied by a significant shrug of the shoulders. + +After this involuntary manifestation, which was luckily not perceived by +Father d'Aigrigny, the cadaverous face of the socius resumed its icy +calmness, and his flabby eyelids, raised a moment with anger and +impatience, fell, and half-veiled his little, dull eyes. It must be +confessed that Father d'Aigrigny, notwithstanding the ease and elegance +of his speech, notwithstanding the seduction of his exquisite manners, +his agreeable features, and the exterior of an accomplished and refined +man of the world, was often subdued and governed by the unpitying +firmness, the diabolical craft and depth of Rodin, the old, repulsive, +dirty, miserably dressed man, who seldom abandoned his humble part of +secretary and mute auditor. The influence of education is so powerful, +that Gabriel, notwithstanding the formal rupture he had just provoked, +felt himself still intimidated in presence of Father d'Aigrigny, and +waited with painful anxiety for the answer of the reverend father to his +express demand to be released from his old vows. His reverence having, +doubtless, regularly laid his plan of attack, at length broke silence, +heaved a deep sigh, gave to his countenance, lately so severe and +irritated, a touching expression of kindness, and said to Gabriel, in an +affectionate voice: "Forgive me, my dear son, for having kept silence so +long; but your abrupt determination has so stunned me, and has raised +within me so many painful thoughts, that I have had to reflect for some +moments, to try and penetrate the cause of this rupture, and I think I +have succeeded. You have well considered, my dear son, the serious nature +of the step you are taking?" + +"Yes, father." + +"And you have absolutely decided to abandon the Society, even against my +will?" + +"It would be painful to me, father--but I must resign myself to it." + +"It should be very painful to you, indeed, my dear son; for you took the +irrevocable vow freely, and this vow, according to our statutes, binds +you not to quit the Society, unless with the consent of your superiors." + +"I did not then know, father, the nature of the engagement I took. More +enlightened now, I ask to withdraw myself; my only desire is to obtain a +curacy in some village far from Paris. I feel an irresistible vocation +for such humble and useful functions. In the country, there is so much +misery, and such ignorance of all that could contribute to ameliorate the +condition of the agricultural laborer, that his existence is as unhappy +as that of a negro slave; for what liberty has he? and what instruction? +Oh! it seems to me, that, with God's help, I might, as a village curate, +render some services to humanity. It would therefore be painful to me, +father, to see you refuse--" + +"Be satisfied, my son," answered Father d'Aigrigny; "I will no longer +seek to combat your desire to separate yourself from us." + +"Then, father, you release me from my vows?" + +"I have not the power to do so, my dear son; but I will write immediately +to Rome, to ask the necessary authority from our general." + +"I thank you, father." + +"Soon, my dear son, you will be delivered from these bonds, which you +deem so heavy; and the men you abandon will not the less continue to pray +for you, that God may preserve you from still greater wanderings. You +think yourself released with regard to us, my dear son; but we do not +think ourselves released with regard to you. It is not thus that we can +get rid of the habit of paternal attachment. What would you have? We look +upon ourselves as bound to our children, by the very benefits with which +we have loaded them. You were poor, and an orphan; we stretched out our +arms to you, as much from the interest which you deserved, my dear son, +as to spare your excellent adopted mother too great a burden." + +"Father," said Gabriel, with suppressed emotion, "I am not ungrateful." + +"I wish to believe so, my dear son. For long years, we gave to you, as to +our beloved child, food for the body and the soul. It pleases you now to +renounce and abandon us. Not only do we consent to it--but now that I +have penetrated the true motives of your rupture with us, it is my duty +to release you from your vow." + +"Of what motives do you speak, Father?" + +"Alas! my dear son, I understand your fears. Dangers menace us--you know +it well." + +"Dangers, father?" cried Gabriel. + +"It is impossible, my dear son, that you should not be aware that, since +the fall of our legitimate sovereigns, our natural protectors, +revolutionary impiety becomes daily more and more threatening. We are +oppressed with persecutions. I can, therefore, comprehend and appreciate, +my dear son, the motive which under such circumstances, induces you to +separate from us." + +"Father!" cried Gabriel, with as much indignation as grief, "you do not +think that of me--you cannot think it." + +Without noticing the protestations of Gabriel, Father d'Aigrigny +continued his imaginary picture of the dangers of the Company, which, far +from being really in peril, was already beginning secretly to recover its +influence. + +"Oh! if our Company were now as powerful as it was some years ago," +resumed the reverend father; "if it were still surrounded by the respect +and homage which are due to it from all true believers--in spite of the +abominable calumnies with which we are assailed--then, my dear son, we +should perhaps have hesitated to release you from your vows, and have +rather endeavored to open your eyes to the light, and save you from the +fatal delusion to which you are a prey. But now that we are weak, +oppressed, threatened on every side, it is our duty, it is an act of +charity, not to force you to share in perils from which you have the +prudence to wish to withdraw yourself." + +So, saying, Father d'Aigrigny cast a rapid glance at his socius, who +answered with a nod of approbation, accompanied by a movement of +impatience that seemed to say: "Go on! go on!" + +Gabriel was quite overcome. There was not in the whole world a heart more +generous, loyal, and brave than his. We may judge of what he must have +suffered, on hearing the resolution he had come to thus misinterpreted. + +"Father," he resumed, in an agitated voice, whilst his eyes filled with +tears, "your words are cruel and unjust. You know that I am not a +coward." + +"No," said Rodin, in his sharp, cutting voice, addressing Father +d'Aigrigny, and pointing to Gabriel with a disdainful look; "your dear +son is only prudent." + +These words from Rodin made Gabriel start; a slight blush colored his +pale cheeks; his large and blue eyes sparkled with a generous anger; +then, faithful to the precepts of Christian humility and resignation, he +conquered this irritable impulse, hung down his head, and, too much +agitated to reply, remained silent, and brushed away an unseen tear. This +tear did not escape the notice of the socius. He saw in it no doubt, a +favorable symptom, for he exchanged a glance of satisfaction with Father +d'Aigrigny. The latter was about to touch on a question of great +interest, so, notwithstanding his self-command, his voice trembled +slightly; but encouraged, or rather pushed on by a look from Rodin, who +had become extremely attentive, he said to Gabriel: "Another motive +obliges us not to hesitate in releasing you from your vow, my dear son. +It is a question of pure delicacy. You probably learned yesterday from +your adopted mother, that you will perhaps be called upon to take +possession of an inheritance, of which the value is unknown." + +Gabriel raised his head hastily and said to Father d'Aigrigny: "As I have +already stated to M. Rodin, my adopted mother only talked of her scruples +of conscience, and I was completely ignorant of the existence of the +inheritance of which you speak." + +The expression of indifference with which the young priest pronounced +these last words, was remarked by Rodin. + +"Be it so," replied Father d'Aigrigny. "You were not aware of it--I +believe you--though all appearances would tend to prove the contrary--to +prove, indeed, that the knowledge of this inheritance was not unconnected +with your resolution to separate from us." + +"I do not understand you, Father." + +"It is very simple. Your rupture with us would then have two motives. +First, we are in danger, and you think it prudent to leave us--" + +"Father!" + +"Allow me to finish, my dear son, and come to the second motive. If I am +deceived, you can tell me so. These are the facts. Formerly, on the +hypothesis that your family, of which you knew nothing, might one day +leave you some property, you made, in return for the care bestowed on you +by the Company, a free gift of all you might hereafter possess, not to +us--but to the poor, of whom we are the born shepherds." + +"Well, father?" asked Gabriel, not seeing to what this preamble tended. + +"Well, my dear son--now that you are sure of enjoying a competence, you +wish, no doubt, by separating from us, to annul this donation made under +other circumstances." + +"To speak plainly, you violate your oath, because we are persecuted, and +because you wish to take back your gifts," added Rodin, in a sharp voice, +as if to describe in the clearest and plainest manner the situation of +Gabriel with regard to the Society. + +At this infamous accusation, Gabriel could only raise his hands and eyes +to heaven, and exclaim, with an expression of despair, "Oh, heaven!" + +Once more exchanging a look of intelligence with Rodin, Father d'Aigrigny +said to him, in a severe tone, as if reproaching him for his too savage +frankness: "I think you go too far. Our dear son could only have acted in +the base and cowardly manner you suggest, had he known his position as an +heir; but, since he affirms the contrary, we are bound to believe him--in +spite of appearances." + +"Father," said Gabriel, pale, agitated trembling, and with half +suppressed grief and indignation, "I thank you, at least, for having +suspended your judgment. No, I am not a coward; for heaven is my witness, +that I knew of no danger to which the Society was exposed. Nor am I base +and avaricious; for heaven is also my witness, that only at this moment I +learn from you, father, that I may be destined to inherit property, +and--" + +"One word, my dear son. It is quite lately that I became informed of this +circumstance, by the greatest chance in the world," said Father +d'Aigrigny, interrupting Gabriel; "and that was thanks to some family +papers which your adopted mother had given to her confessor, and which +were entrusted to us when you entered our college. A little before your +return from America, in arranging the archives of the Company, your file +of papers fell into the hands of our father-attorney. It was examined, +and we thus learned that one of your paternal ancestors, to whom the +house in which we now are belonged, left a will which is to be opened to +day at noon. Yesterday, we believed you one of us; our statutes command +that we should possess nothing of our own; you had corroborated those +statutes, by a donation in favor of the patrimony of the poor--which we +administer. It was no longer you, therefore, but the Company, which, in +my person, presented itself as the inheritor in your place, furnished +with your titles, which I have here ready in order. But now, my clear +son, that you separate from us, you must present yourself in your own +name. We came here as the representatives of the poor, to whom in former +days you piously abandoned whatever goods might fall to your share. Now, +on the contrary, the hope of a fortune changes your sentiments. You are +free to resume your gifts." + +Gabriel had listened to Father d'Aigrigny with painful impatience. At +length he exclaimed. "Do you mean to say, father, that you think me +capable of canceling a donation freely made, in favor of the Company, to +which I am indebted for my education? You believe me infamous enough to +break my word, in the hope of possessing a modest patrimony?" + +"This patrimony, my dear, son, may be small; but it may also be +considerable." + +"Well, father! if it were a king's fortune," cried Gabriel, with proud +and noble indifference, "I should not speak otherwise--and I have, I +think, the right to be believed listen to my fixed resolution. The +Company to which I belong runs, you say, great dangers. I will inquire +into these dangers. Should they prove threatening--strong in the +determination which morally separates me from you--I will not leave you +till I see the end of your perils. As for the inheritance, of which you +believe me so desirous, I resign it to you formally, father, as I once +freely promised. My only wish is, that this property may be employed for +the relief of the poor. I do not know what may be the amount of this +fortune, but large or small, it belongs to the Company, because I have +thereto pledged my word. I have told you, father, that my chief desire is +to obtain a humble curacy in some poor village--poor, above all--because +there my services will be most useful. Thus, father, when a man, who +never spoke falsehood in his life, affirms to you, that he only sighs for +so humble an existence, you ought, I think, to believe him incapable of +snatching back, from motives of avarice, gifts already made." + +Father d'Aigrigny had now as much trouble to restrain his joy, as he +before had to conceal his terror. He appeared, however, tolerably calm, +and said to Gabriel: "I did not expect less from you, my dear son." + +Then he made a sign to Rodin, to invite him to interpose. The latter +perfectly understood his superior. He left the chimney, drew near to +Gabriel, and leaned against the table, upon which stood paper and +inkstand. Then, beginning mechanically to beat the tattoo with the tips +of his coarse fingers, in all their array of flat and dirty nails, he +said to Father d'Aigrigny: "All this is very fine! but your dear son +gives you no security for the fulfilment of his promise except an +oath--and that, we know, is of little value." + +"Sir!" cried Gabriel + +"Allow me," said Rodin, coldly. "The law does not acknowledge our +existence and therefore can take no cognizance of donations made in favor +of the Company. You might resume to-morrow what you are pleased to give +us to-day." + +"But my oath, sir!" cried Gabriel. + +Rodin looked at him fixedly, as he answered: "Your oath? Did you not +swear eternal obedience to the Company, and never to separate from +us?--and of what weight now are these oaths?" + +For a moment Gabriel was embarrassed; but, feeling how false was this +logic, he rose, calm and dignified, went to seat himself at the desk, +took up a pen, and wrote as follows: + +"Before God, who sees and hears me, and in the presence of you, Father +d'Aigrigny and M. Rodin, I renew and confirm, freely and voluntarily, the +absolute donation made by me to the Society of Jesus, in the person of +the said Father d'Aigrigny, of all the property which may hereafter +belong to me, whatever may be its value. I swear, on pain of infamy, to +perform tis irrevocable promise, whose accomplishment I regard, in my +soul and conscience, as the discharge of a debt, and the fulfilment of a +pious duty. + +"This donation having for its object the acknowledgment of past services, +and the relief of the poor, no future occurrences can at all modify it. +For the very reason that I know I could one day legally cancel the +present free and deliberate act, I declare, that if ever I were to +attempt such a thing, under any possible circumstances, I should deserve +the contempt and horror of all honest people. + +"In witness whereof I have written this paper, on the 13th of February, +1832, in Paris, immediately before the opening of the testament of one of +my paternal ancestors. + +"GABRIEL DE RENNEPONT." + +As he rose, the young priest delivered this document to Rodin, without +uttering a word. The socius read it attentively, and, still impassible, +answered, as he looked at Gabriel: "Well, it is a written oath--that is +all." + +Gabriel dwelt stupefied at the audacity of Rodin, who ventured to tell +him, that this document, in which he renewed his donation in so noble, +generous, and spontaneous a manner, was not all sufficient. The socius +was the first again to break the silence, and he said to Father +d'Aigrigny, with his usual cool impudence. "One of two things must be. +Either your dear son means to render his donation absolutely valuable and +irrevocable,--or--" + +"Sir," exclaimed Gabriel, interrupting him, and hardly able to restrain +himself, "spare yourself and me such a shameful supposition." + +"Well, then," resumed Rodin, impassible as ever, "as you are perfectly +decided to make this donation a serious reality, what objection can you +have to secure it legally?" + +"None, sir," said Gabriel, bitterly, "since my written and sworn promise +will not suffice you." + +"My dear son," said Father d'Aigrigny, affectionately, "if this were a +donation for my own advantage, believe me I should require no better +security than your word. But here I am, as it were, the agent of the +Society, or rather the trustee of the poor, who will profit by your +generosity. For the sake of humanity, therefore, we cannot secure this +gift by too many legal precautions, so that the unfortunate objects of +our care may have certainty instead of vague hopes to depend upon. God +may call you to him at any moment, and who shall say that your heirs will +be so ready to keep the oath you have taken?" + +"You are right, father," said Gabriel, sadly; "I had not thought of the +case of death, which is yet so probable." + +Hereupon, Samuel opened the door of the room, and said: "Gentlemen, the +notary has just arrived. Shall I show him in? At ten o'clock precisely, +the door of the house will be opened." + +"We are the more glad to see the notary," said Rodin, "as we just happen +to have some business with him. Pray ask him to walk in." + +"I will bring him to you instantly," replied Samuel, as he went out. + +"Here is a notary," said Rodin to Gabriel. "If you have still the same +intentions, you can legalize your donation in presence of this public +officer, and thus save yourself from a great burden for the future." + +"Sir," said Gabriel, "happen what may, I am as irrevocably engaged by +this written promise, which I beg you to keep, father"--and he handed the +paper to Father d'Aigrigny "as by the legal document, which I am about to +sign," he added, turning to Rodin. + +"Silence, my dear son," said Father d'Aigrigny; "here is the notary," +just as the latter entered the room. + +During the interview of the administrative officer with Rodin, Gabriel, +and Father d'Aigrigny, we shall conduct the reader to the interior of the +walled-up house. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + +THE RED ROOM. + +As Samuel had said, the door of the walled-up house had just been +disencumbered of the bricks, lead, and iron, which had kept it from view, +and its panels of carved oak appeared as fresh and sound, as on the day +when they had first been withdrawn from the influence of the air and +time. The laborers, having completed their work, stood waiting upon the +steps, as impatient and curious as the notary's clerk, who had +superintended the operation, when they saw Samuel slowly advancing across +the garden, with a great bunch of keys in his hand. + +"Now, my friends," said the old man, when he had reached the steps, "your +work is finished. The master of this gentleman will pay you, and I have +only to show you out by the street door." + +"Come, come, my good fellow," cried the clerk, "you don't think. We are +just at the most interesting and curious moment; I and these honest +masons are burning to see the interior of this mysterious house, and you +would be cruel enough to send us away? Impossible!" + +"I regret the necessity, sir, but so it must he. I must be the first to +enter this dwelling, absolutely alone, before introducing the heirs, in +order to read the testament." + +"And who gave you such ridiculous and barbarous orders?" cried the clerk, +singularly disappointed. + +"My father, sir." + +"A most respectable authority, no doubt; but come, my worthy guardian, my +excellent guardian," resumed the clerk, "be a good fellow, and let us +just take a peep in at the door." + +"Yes, yes, sir, only a peep!" cried the heroes of the trowel, with a +supplicating air. + +"It is disagreeable to have to refuse you, gentlemen," answered Samuel; +"but I cannot open this door, until I am alone." + +The masons, seeing the inflexibility of the old man, unwillingly +descended the steps; but the clerk had resolved to dispute the ground +inch by inch, and exclaimed: "I shall wait for my master. I do not leave +the house without him. He may want me--and whether I remain on these +steps or elsewhere, can be of little consequence to you my worthy +keeper." + +The clerk was interrupted in his appeal by his master himself, who called +out from the further side of the courtyard, with an air of business: "M. +Piston! quick, M. Piston--come directly!" + +"What the devil does he want with me?" cried the clerk, in a passion. "He +calls me just at the moment when I might have seen something." + +"M. Piston," resumed the voice, approaching, "do you not hear?" + +While Samuel let out the masons, the clerk saw, through a clump of trees, +his master running towards him bareheaded, and with an air of singular +haste and importance. The clerk was therefore obliged to leave the steps, +to answer the notary's summons, towards whom he went with a very bad +grace. + +"Sir, sir," said M. Dumesnil, "I have been calling you this hour with all +my might." + +"I did not hear you sir," said M. Piston. + +"You must be deaf, then. Have you any change about you?" + +"Yes sir," answered the clerk, with some surprise. + +"Well, then, you must go instantly to the nearest stamp-office, and fetch +me three or four large sheets of stamped paper, to draw up a deed. Run! +it is wanted directly." + +"Yes, sir," said the clerk, casting a rueful and regretful glance at the +door of the walled-up house. + +"But make haste, will you, M. Piston," said the notary. + +"I do not know, sir, where to get any stamped paper." + +"Here is the guardian," replied M. Dumesnil. "He will no doubt be able to +tell you." + +At this instant, Samuel was returning, after showing the masons out by +the street-door. + +"Sir," said the notary to him, "will you please to tell me where we can +get stamped paper?" + +"Close by, sir," answered Samuel; "in the tobacconist's, No. 17, Rue +Vieille-du-Temple." + +"You hear, M. Piston?" said the notary to his clerk. "You can get the +stamps at the tobacconist's, No. 17, Rue Vieille-du-Temple. Be quick! for +this deed must be executed immediately before the opening of the will. +Time presses." + +"Very well, sir; I will make haste," answered the clerk, discontentedly, +as he followed his master, who hurried back into the room where he had +left Rodin, Gabriel, and Father d'Aigrigny. + +During this time, Samuel, ascending the steps, had reached the door, now +disencumbered of the stone, iron, and lead with which it had been blocked +up. It was with deep emotion that the old man having selected from his +bunch of keys the one he wanted, inserted it in the keyhole, and made the +door turn upon its hinges. Immediately he felt on his face a current of +damp, cold air, like that which exhales from a cellar suddenly opened. +Having carefully re-closed and double-locked the door, the Jew advanced +along the hall, lighted by a glass trefoil over the arch of the door. The +panes had lost their transparency by the effect of time, and now had the +appearance of ground-glass. This hall, paved with alternate squares of +black and white marble, was vast, sonorous, and contained a broad +staircase leading to the first story. The walls of smooth stone offered +not the least appearance of decay or dampness; the stair-rail of wrought +iron presented no traces of rust; it was inserted, just above the bottom +step, into a column of gray granite, which sustained a statue of black +marble, representing a negro bearing a flambeau. This statue had a +strange countenance, the pupils of the eyes being made of white marble. + +The Jew's heavy tread echoed beneath the lofty dome of the hall. The +grandson of Isaac Samuel experienced a melancholy feeling, as he +reflected that the footsteps of his ancestor had probably been the last +which had resounded through this dwelling, of which he had closed the +doors a hundred and fifty years before; for the faithful friend, in favor +of whom M. de Rennepont had made a feigned transfer of the property, had +afterwards parted with the same, to place it in the name of Samuel's +grandfather, who had transmitted it to his descendants, as if it had been +his own inheritance. + +To these thoughts, in which Samuel was wholly absorbed, was joined the +remembrance of the light seen that morning through the seven openings in +the leaden cover of the belvedere; and, in spite of the firmness of his +character, the old man could not repress a shudder, as, taking a second +key from his bunch, and reading upon the label, The Key of the Red Room, +he opened a pair of large folding doors, leading to the inner apartments. +The window which, of all those in the house, had alone been opened, +lighted this large room, hung with damask, the deep purple of which had +undergone no alteration. A thick Turkey carpet covered the floor, and +large arm-chairs of gilded wood, in the severe Louis XIV. style, were +symmetrically arranged along the wall. A second door, leading to the next +room, was just opposite the entrance. The wainscoting and the cornice +were white, relieved with fillets and mouldings of burnished gold. On +each side of this door was a large piece of buhl-furniture, inlaid with +brass and porcelain, supporting ornamental sets of sea crackle vases. The +window was hung with heavy deep-fringed damask curtains, surmounted by +scalloped drapery, with silk tassels, directly opposite the chimney-piece +of dark-gray marble, adorned with carved brass-work. Rich chandeliers, +and a clock in the same style as the furniture, were reflected in a large +Venice glass, with basiled edges. A round table, covered with a cloth of +crimson velvet, was placed in the centre of this saloon. + +As he approached this table, Samuel perceived a piece of white vellum, on +which were inscribed these words: "My testament is to be opened in this +saloon. The other apartments are to remain closed, until after the +reading of my last will--M. De R." + +"Yes," said the Jew, as he perused with emotion these lines traced so +long ago; "this is the same recommendation as that which I received from +my father; for it would seem that the other apartments of this house are +filled with objects, on which M. de Rennepont set a high value, not for +their intrinsic worth, but because of their origin. The Hall of Mourning +must be a strange and mysterious chamber. Well," added Samuel, as he drew +from his pocket a register bound in black shagreen, with a brass lock, +from which he drew the key, after placing it upon the table, "here is the +statement of the property in hand, which I have been ordered to bring +hither, before the arrival of the heirs." + +The deepest silence reigned in the room, at the moment when Samuel placed +the register on the table. Suddenly a simple and yet most startling +occurrence roused him from his reverie. In the next apartment was heard +the clear, silvery tone of a clock, striking slowly ten. And the hour was +ten! Samuel had too much sense to believe in perpetual motion, or in the +possibility of constructing a clock to go far one hundred and fifty +years. He asked himself, therefore, with surprise and alarm, how this +clock could still be going, and how it could mark so exactly the hour of +the day. Urged with restless curiosity, the old man was about to enter +the room; but recollecting the recommendation of his father, which had +now been confirmed by the few lines he had just read from De Rennepont's +pen, he stopped at the door, and listened with extreme attention. + +He heard nothing--absolutely nothing, but the last dying vibration of the +clock. After having long reflected upon this strange fact, Samuel, +comparing it with the no less extraordinary circumstance of the light +perceived that morning through the apertures in the belvedere, concluded +that there must be some connection between these two incidents. If the +old man could not penetrate the true cause of these extraordinary +appearances, he at least explained them to himself, by remembering the +subterraneous communications, which, according to tradition, were said to +exist between the cellars of this house and distant places; and he +conjectured that unknown and mysterious personages thus gained access to +it two or three times in a century. Absorbed in these thoughts Samuel +approached the fireplace, which, as we have said, was directly opposite +the window. Just then, a bright ray of sunlight, piercing the clouds, +shone full upon two large portraits, hung upon either side of the +fireplace, and not before remarked by the Jew. They were painted life +size, and represented one a woman, the other a man. By the sober yet +powerful coloring of these paintings, by the large and vigorous style, it +was easy to recognize a master's hand. It would have been difficult to +find models more fitted to inspire a great painter. The woman appeared to +be from five-and-twenty to thirty years of age. Magnificent brown hair, +with golden tints, crooned a forehead, white, noble, and lofty. Her +head-dress, far from recalling the fashion, which Madame de Sevigne +brought in during the age of Louis XIV., reminded one rather of some of +the portraits of Paul Veronese, in which the hair encircles the face in +broad, undulating bands, surmounted by a thick plait, like a crown, at +the back of the head. The eyebrows, finely pencilled, were arched over +large eyes of bright, sapphire blue. Their gaze at once proud and +mournful, had something fatal about it. The nose, finely formed, +terminated in slight dilated nostrils: a half smile, almost of pain, +contracted the mouth; the face was a long oval, and the complexion, +extremely pale, was hardly shaded on the cheek by a light rose-color. The +position of the head and neck announced a rare mixture of grace and +dignity. A sort of tunic or robe, of glossy black material, came as high +as the commencement of her shoulders, and just marking her lithe and tall +figure, reached down to her feet, which were almost entirely concealed by +the folds of this garment. + +The attitude was full of nobleness and simplicity. The head looked white +and luminous, standing out from a dark gray sky, marbled at the horizon +by purple clouds, upon which were visible the bluish summits of distant +hills, in deep shadow. The arrangement of the picture, as well as the +warm tints of the foreground, contrasting strongly with these distant +objects, showed that the woman was placed upon an eminence, from which +she could view the whole horizon. The countenance was deeply pensive and +desponding. There was an expression of supplicating and resigned grief, +particularly in her look, half raised to heaven, which one would have +thought impossible to picture. On the left side of the fireplace was the +other portrait, painted with like vigor. It represented a man, between +thirty and thirty-five years of age, of tall stature. A large brown +cloak, which hung round him in graceful folds, did not quite conceal a +black doublet, buttoned up to the neck, over which fell a square white +collar. The handsome and expressive head was marked with stern powerful +lines, which did not exclude an admirable air of suffering, resignation, +and ineffable goodness. The hair, as well as the beard and eyebrows, was +black; and the latter, by some singular caprice of nature, instead of +being separated and forming two distinct arches, extended from one temple +to the other, in a single bow, and seemed to mark the forehead of this +man with a black line. + +The background of this picture also represented a stormy sky; but, beyond +some rocks in the distance, the sea was visible, and appeared to mingle +with the dark clouds. The sun, just now shining upon these two remarkable +figures (which it appeared impossible to forget, after once seeing them), +augmented their brilliancy. + +Starting from his reverie, and casting his eyes by chance upon these +portraits, Samuel was greatly struck with them. They appeared almost +alive. "What noble and handsome faces!" he exclaimed, as he approached to +examine them more closely. "Whose are these portraits? They are not those +of any of the Rennepont family, for my father told me that they are all +in the Hall of Mourning. Alas!" added the old man, "one might think, from +the great sorrow expressed in their countenances, that they ought to have +a place in that mourning-chamber." + +After a moment's silence, Samuel resumed: "Let me prepare everything for +this solemn assembly, for it has struck ten." So saying, he placed the +gilded arm-chairs round the table, and then continued, with a pensive +air: "The hour approaches, and of the descendants of my grandfather's +benefactor, we have seen only this young priest, with the angelic +countenance. Can he be the sole representative of the Rennepont family? +He is a priest, and this family will finish with him! Well! the moment is +come when I must open this door, that the will may be read. Bathsheba is +bringing hither the notary. They knock at the door; it is time!" And +Samuel, after casting a last glance towards the place where the clock had +struck ten, hastened to the outer door, behind which voices were now +audible. + +He turned the key twice in the lock, and threw the portals open. To his +great regret, he saw only Gabriel on the steps, between Rodin and Father +d'Aigrigny. The notary, and Bathsheba, who had served them as a guide, +waited a little behind the principal group. + +Samuel could not repress a sigh, as he stood bowing on the threshold, and +said to them: "All is ready, gentlemen. You may walk in." + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + +THE TESTAMENT. + +When Gabriel, Rodin, and Father d'Aigrigny entered the Red Room, they +were differently affected. Gabriel, pale and sad, felt a kind of painful +impatience. He was anxious to quit this house, though he had already +relieved himself of a great weight, by executing before the notary, +secured by every legal formality, a deed making over all his rights of +inheritance to Father d'Aigrigny. Until now it had not occurred to the +young priest, that in bestowing the care upon him, which he was about to +reward so generously, and in forcing his vocation by a sacrilegious +falsehood, the only object of Father d'Aigrigny might have been to secure +the success of a dark intrigue. In acting as he did, Gabriel was not +yielding, in his view of the question, to a sentiment of exaggerated +delicacy. He had made this donation freely, many years before. He would +have looked upon it as infamy now to withdraw it. It was hard enough to +be suspected of cowardice: for nothing in the world would he have +incurred the least reproach of cupidity. + +The missionary must have been endowed with a very rare and excellent +nature, or this flower of scrupulous probity would have withered beneath +the deleterious and demoralizing influence of his education; but happily, +as cold sometimes preserves from corruption, the icy atmosphere in which +he had passed a portion of his childhood and youth had benumbed, but not +vitiated, his generous qualities, which had indeed soon revived in the +warm air of liberty. Father d'Aigrigny, much paler and more agitated than +Gabriel, strove to excuse and explain his anxiety by attributing it to +the sorrow he experienced at the rupture of his dear son with the Order. +Rodin, calm, and perfectly master of himself, saw with secret rage the +strong emotion of Father d'Aigrigny, which might have inspired a man less +confiding than Gabriel with strange suspicions. Yet, notwithstanding his +apparent indifference, the socius was perhaps still more ardently +impatient than his superior for the success of this important affair. +Samuel appeared quite desponding, no other heir but Gabriel having +presented himself. No doubt the old man felt a lively sympathy for the +young priest; but then he was a priest, and with him would finish the +line of Rennepont; and this immense fortune, accumulated with so much +labor, would either be again distributed, or employed otherwise than the +testator had desired. The different actors in this scene were standing +around the table. As they were about to seat themselves, at the +invitation of the notary, Samuel pointed to the register bound in black +shagreen, and said: "I was ordered, sir, to deposit here this register. +It is locked. I will deliver up the key, immediately after the reading of +the will." + +"This course is, in fact, directed by the note which accompanies the +will," said M. Dumesnil, "as it was deposited, in the year 1682, in the +hands of Master Thomas Le Semelier, king's counsel, and notary of the +Chatelet of Paris, then living at No. 13, Place Royale." + +So saying, M. Dumesnil drew from a portfolio of red morocco a large +parchment envelope, grown yellow with time; to this envelope was annexed, +by a silken thread, a note also upon vellum. + +"Gentlemen," said the notary, "if you please to sit down, I will read the +subjoined note, to regulate the formalities at the opening of the will." + +The notary, Rodin, Father d'Aigrigny, and Gabriel, took seats. The young +priest, having his back turned to the fireplace, could not see the two +portraits. In spite of the notary's invitation, Samuel remained standing +behind the chair of that functionary, who read as follows: + +"'On the 13th February, 1832, my will shall be carried to No. 3, in the +Rue Saint-Francois. + +"'At ten o'clock precisely, the door of the Red Room shall be opened to +my heirs, who will no doubt have arrived long before at Paris, in +anticipation of this day, and will have had time to establish their line +of descent. + +"'As soon as they are assembled, the will shall be read, and, at the last +stroke of noon, the inheritance shall be finally settled in favor of +those of my kindred, who according to my recommendation (preserved, I +hope, by tradition in my family, during a century and a half); shall +present themselves in person, and not by agents, before twelve o'clock, +on the 13th of February, in the Rue Saint-Francois.'" + +Having read these words in a sonorous voice, the notary stopped an +instant, and resumed, in a solemn tone: "M. Gabriel Francois Marie de +Rennepont, priest, having established, by legal documents, his descent on +the father's side, and his relationship to the testator, and being at +this hour the only one of the descendants of the Rennepont family here +present, I open the testament in his presence, as it has been ordered." + +So saying, the notary drew from its envelope the will, which had been +previously opened by the President of the Tribunal, with the formalities +required by law. Father d'Aigrigny leaned forward, and resting his elbow +on the table, seemed to pant for breath. Gabriel prepared himself to +listen with more curiosity than interest. Rodin was seated at some +distance from the table, with his old hat between his knees, in the +bottom of which, half hidden by the folds of a shabby blue cotton +handkerchief, he had placed his watch. The attention of the socius was +divided between the least noise from without, and the slow evolution of +the hands of the watch, which he followed with his little, wrathful eye, +as if hastening their progress, so great was his impatience for the hour +of noon. + +The notary, unfolding the sheet of parchment, read what follows, in the +midst of profound attention: + +Hameau de Villetaneuse, + +"'February 13th, 1682. + +"'I am about to escape, by death, from the disgrace of the galleys, to +which the implacable enemies of my family have caused me to be condemned +as a relapsed heretic. + +"'Moreover, life is too bitter for me since the death of my son, the +victim of a mysterious crime. + +"'At nineteen years of age--poor henry!--and his murderers unknown--no, +not unknown--if I may trust my presentiments. + +"'To preserve my fortune for my son, I had feigned to abjure the +Protestant faith. As long as that beloved boy lived, I scrupulously kept +up Catholic appearances. The imposture revolted me, but the interest of +my son was concerned. + +"'When they killed him, this deceit became insupportable to me. I was +watched, accused, and condemned as relapsed. My property has been +confiscated, and I am sentenced to the galleys. + +"'Tis a terrible time we live in! Misery and servitude! sanguinary +despotism and religious intolerance! Oh, it is sweet to abandon life! +sweet to rest and see no more such evils and such sorrows! + +"'In a few hours, I shall enjoy that rest. I shall die. Let me think of +those who will survive--or rather, of those who will live perhaps in +better times. + +"'Out of all my fortune, there remains to me a sum of fifty thousand +crowns, deposited in a friend's hands. + +"'I have no longer a son; but I have numerous relations, exiled in +various parts of Europe. This sum of fifty thousand crowns, divided +between them, would profit each of them very little. I have disposed of +it differently. + +"'In this I have followed the wise counsels of a man, whom I venerate as +the image of God on earth, for his intelligence, wisdom, and goodness are +almost divine. + +"'Twice in the course of my life have I seen this man, under very fatal +circumstances--twice have I owed him safety, once of the soul, once of +the body. + +"'Alas! he might perhaps have saved my poor child, but he came too +late--too late. + +"'Before he left me, he wished to divert me from the intention of +dying--for he knew all. But his voice was powerless. My grief, my regret, +my discouragement, were too much for him. + +"'It is strange! when he was convinced of my resolution to finish my days +by violence, some words of terrible bitterness escaped him, making me +believe that he envied me--my fate--my death! + +"'Is he perhaps condemned to live? + +"'Yes; he has, no doubt, condemned himself to be useful to humanity, and +yet life is heavy on him, for I heard him repeat one day, with an +expression of despair and weariness that I have never forgotten: "Life! +life! who will deliver me from it?" + +"'Is life then so very burdensome to him? + +"'He is gone. His last words have made me look for my departure with +serenity. Thanks to him, my death shall not be without fruit. + +"'Thanks to him, these lines, written at this moment by a man who, in a +few hours, will have ceased to live, may perhaps be the parents of great +things a century and a half hence--yes! great and noble things, if my +last will is piously followed by my descendants, for it is to them that I +here address myself. + +"'That they may understand and appreciate this last will--which I commend +to the care of the unborn, who dwell in the future whither I am +hastening--they must know the persecutors of my family and avenge their +ancestor, but by a noble vengeance. + +"'My grandfather was a Catholic. Induced by perfidious counsels rather +than religious zeal, he attached himself, though a layman, to a Society +whose power has always been terrible and mysterious--the Society of +Jesus--'" + +At these words of the testament, Father d'Aigrigny, Rodin, and Gabriel +looked involuntarily at each other: The notary, who had not perceived +this action, continued to read: + +"'After some years, during which he had never ceased to profess the most +absolute devotion to this Society, he was suddenly enlightened by fearful +revelations as to the secret ends it pursued, and the means it employed. + +"'This was in 1510, a month before the assassination of Henry IV. + +"'My grandfather, terrified at the secret of which he had become the +unwilling depositary, and which was to be fully explained by the death of +the best of kings, not only broke with the Society, but, as if +Catholicism itself had been answerable for the crimes of its members, he +abandoned the Romish religion, in which he had hitherto lived, and became +a Protestant. + +"'Undeniable proofs, attesting the connivance of two members of the +Company with Ravaillac, a connivance also proved in the case of Jean +Chatel, the regicide, were in my grandfather's possession. + +"'This was the first cause of the violent hatred of the Society for our +family. Thank Heaven, these papers have been placed in safety, and if my +last will is executed, will be found marked A. M.C. D. G., in the ebony +casket in the Hall of Mourning, in the house in the Rue Saint-Francois. + +"'My father was also exposed to these secret persecutions. His ruin, and +perhaps his death, would have been the consequence, had it not been for +the intervention of an angelic woman, towards whom he felt an almost +religious veneration. + +"'The portrait of this woman, whom I saw a few years ago, as well as that +of the man whom I hold in the greatest reverence, were painted by me from +memory, and have been placed in the Red Room in the Rue +Saint-Francois--to be gratefully valued, I hope, by the descendants of my +family.'" + +For some moments Gabriel had become more and more attentive to the +reading of this testament. He thought within himself by how strange a +coincidence one of his ancestors had, two centuries before, broken with +the Society of Jesus, as he himself had just done; and that from this +rupture, two centuries old, dated also that species of hatred with which +the Society of Jesus had always pursued his family. Nor did the young +priest find it less strange that this inheritance, transmitted to him +after a lapse of a hundred and fifty years, from one of his kindred (the +victim of the Society of Jesus), should return by a voluntary act to the +coffers of this same society. When the notary read the passage relative +to the two portraits, Gabriel, who, like Father d'Aigrigny, sat with his +back towards the pictures, turned round to look at them. Hardly had the +missionary cast his eyes on the portrait of the woman, than he uttered a +loud cry of surprise, and almost terror. The notary paused in his +reading, and looked uneasily at the young priest. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + +THE LAST STROKE OF NOON. + +At the cry uttered by Gabriel, the notary had stopped reading the +testament, and Father d'Aigrigny hastily drew near the young priest. The +latter rose trembling from his seat and gazed with increasing stupor at +the female portrait. + +Then he said in a low voice, as if speaking to himself. "Good Heaven! is +it possible that nature can produce such resemblances? Those eyes--so +proud and yet so sad--that forehead--that pale complexion--yes, all her +features, are the same--all of them!" + +"My dear son, what is the matter?" said Father d'Aigrigny, as astonished +as Samuel and the notary. + +"Eight months ago," replied the missionary, in a voice of deep emotion, +without once taking his eyes from the picture, "I was in the power of the +Indians, in the heart of the Rocky Mountains. They had crucified, and +were beginning to scalp me; I was on the point of death, when Divine +Providence sent me unexpected aid--sent me this woman for a deliverer." + +"That woman!" cried Samuel, Father d'Aigrigny, and the notary, all +together. + +Rodin alone appeared completely indifferent to this episode of the +picture. His face contracted with angry impatience, he bit his nails to +the quick, as he contemplated with agony the slow progress of the hands +of his watch. + +"What! that woman saved your life?" resumed Father d'Aigrigny. + +"Yes, this woman," replied Gabriel, in a still lower and more trembling +voice; "this woman--or rather a woman so much resembling her, that if +this picture had not been here for a century and a half, I should have +felt sure it was the same--nor can I explain to myself that so striking a +resemblance could be the effect of chance. Well," added he, after a +moment's silence, as he heaved a profound sigh, "the mysteries of Nature, +and the will of God, are impenetrable." + +Gabriel fell back into his chair, in the midst of a general silence, +which was broken by Father d'Aigrigny saying, "It is a case of +extraordinary resemblance; that is all, my dear son. Only, the natural +gratitude which you feel towards your benefactress, makes you take a deep +interest in this singular coincidence." + +Rodin, bursting with impatience, here said to the notary, by whose side +he stood, "It seems to me, sir, that all this little romance has nothing +to do with the testament." + +"You are right," answered the notary, resuming his seat; "but the fact is +so extraordinary, and as you say, romantic, that one cannot help sharing +in this gentleman's astonishment." + +He pointed to Gabriel, who, with his elbow resting on the arms of the +chair, leaned his forehead upon his hand, apparently quite absorbed in +thought. The notary continued the reading of the will, as follows: + +"'Such are the persecutions to which my family has been exposed on the +part of the Society of Jesus. + +"'The Society possesses at this hour the whole of my confiscated +property. I am about to die. May its hatred perish with me, and spare my +kindred, whose fate at this solemn moment is my last and only thought. + +"'This morning I sent for a man of long tried probity Isaac Samuel. He +owes his life to me, and every day I congratulate myself on having been +able to preserve to the world so honest and excellent a creature. + +"'Before the confiscation of my property, Isaac Samuel had long managed +it with as much intelligence as uprightness. I have entrusted him with +the fifty thousand crowns, returned to me by a faithful friend. Isaac +Samuel, and his descendants after him, to whom he will leave this debt of +gratitude, will invest the above sum, and allow it to accumulate, until +the expiration of the hundred and fiftieth year from this time. + +"'The amount thus accumulated may become enormous, and constitute a royal +fortune, if no unfavorable event should occur. May my descendants attend +to my wishes, as to the division and employment of this immense sum! + +"'In a century and a half, there happen so many changes, so many +varieties of fortunes, such a rise and fall in the condition of the +successive generations of a family, that probably, a hundred and fifty +years hence, my descendants will belong to various classes of society, +and thus represent the divers social elements of their time. + +"'There may, perhaps, be among them men of great intelligence great +courage, or great virtue--learned men, or names illustrious in arts and +arms. There may, perhaps, also be obscure workmen, or humble +citizens--perhaps, also, alas! great criminals. + +"'However, this may be, my most earnest desire is that my descendants +should combine together, and, reconstituting one family, by a close and +sincere union, put into practice the divine words of Christ, "Love ye one +another." + +"'This union would have a salutary tendency; for it seems to me that upon +union, upon the association of men together, must depend the future +happiness of mankind. + +"'The Company, which so long persecuted my family, is one of the most +striking examples of the power of association, even when applied to evil. + +"'There is something so fruitful and divine in this principle, that it +sometimes forces to good the worst and most dangerous combinations. + +"'Thus, the missions have thrown a scanty but pure and generous light on +the darkness of this Company of Jesus--founded with the detestable and +impious aim of destroying, by a homicidal education, all will, thought, +liberty, and intelligence, in the people, so as to deliver them, +trembling, superstitious, brutal, and helpless, to the despotism of +kings, governed in their turn by confessors belonging to the Society.'" + +At this passage of the will, there was another strange look exchanged +between Gabriel and Father d'Aigrigny. The notary continued: + +"'If a perverse association, based upon the degradation of humanity, upon +fear and despotism, and followed by the maledictions of the people, has +survived for centuries, and often governed the world by craft and +terror--how would it be with an association, which, taking fraternity and +evangelic love for its means, had for its end to deliver man and woman +from all degrading slavery, to invite to the enjoyment of terrestrial +happiness those who have hitherto known nothing of life but its sorrows +and miseries, and to glorify and enrich the labor that feeds the +state?--to enlighten those whom ignorance has depraved?--to favor the +free expansion of all the passions, which God, in His infinite wisdom, +and inexhaustible goodness, gave to man as so many powerful levers?--to +sanctify all the gifts of Heaven: love, maternity, strength, +intelligence, beauty, genius?--to make men truly religious, and deeply +grateful to their Creator, by making them understand the splendors of +Nature, and bestowing on them their rightful share in the treasures which +have been poured upon us? + +"'Oh! if it be Heaven's will that, in a century and a half, the +descendants of my family, faithful to the last wishes of a heart that +loved humanity, meet in this sacred union!--if it be Heaven's will that +amongst them be found charitable and passionate souls, full of +commiseration for those who suffer, and lofty minds, ardent for liberty! +warm and eloquent natures! resolute characters! women, who unite beauty +and wit with goodness--oh! then, how fruitful, how powerful will be the +harmonious union of all these ideas, and influences, and forces--of all +these attractions grouped round that princely fortune, which, +concentrated by association, and wisely managed, would render practicable +the most admirable Utopias! + +"'What a wondrous centre of fertile and generous thoughts! What precious +and life-giving rays would stream incessantly from this focus of charity, +emancipation, and love! What great things might be attempted what +magnificent examples given to the world! What a divine mission! What an +irresistible tendency towards good might be impressed on the whole human +race by a family thus situated, and in possession of such means! + +"'And, then, such a beneficent association would be able to combat the +fatal conspiracy of which I am the victim, and which, in a century and a +half, may have lost none of its formidable power. + +"'So, to this work of darkness, restraint, and despotism, which weighs +heavily on the Christian world, my family would oppose their work of +light, expansion, and liberty! + +"'The genii of good and evil would stand face to face. The struggle would +commence, and God would protect the right. + +"'And that these immense pecuniary resources, which will give so much +power to my family, may not be exhausted by the course of years, my +heirs, following my last will, are to place out, upon the same +conditions, double the sum that I have invested--so that, a century and a +half later, a new source of power and action will be at the disposal of +their descendants. What a perpetuity of good! + +"'In the ebony cabinet of the Hall of Mourning will be found some +practical suggestions on the subject of this association. + +"'Such is my last will--or rather, such are my last hopes. + +"'When I require absolutely that the members of my family should appear +in person in the Rue Saint-Francois, on the day of the opening of this +testament, it is so that, united in that solemn moment, they may see and +know each other. My words may then, perhaps, have some effect upon them; +and, instead of living divided, they will combine together. It will be +for their own interest, and my wishes will thus be accomplished. + +"'When I sent, a few days ago, to those of my family whom exile has +dispersed over Europe, a medal on which is engravers the date of the +convocation of my heirs, a century and a half from this time, I was +forced to keep secret my true motive, and only to tell them, that my +descendants would find it greatly to their interest to attend this +meeting. + +"'I have acted thus, because I know the craft and perseverance of the +society of which I have been the victim. If they could guess that my +descendants would hereafter have to divide immense sums between them, my +family would run the risk of much fraud and malice, through the fatal +recommendations handed down from age to age in the Society of Jesus. + +"'May these precautions be successful! May the wish, expressed upon these +medals, be faithfully transmitted from generation to generation! + +"'If I fix a day and hour, in which my inheritance shall irrevocably fall +to those of my descendants who shall appear in the Rue Saint-Francois on +the 13th February, in 1832, it is that all delays must have a term, and +that my heirs will have been sufficiently informed years before of the +great importance of this meeting. + +"'After the reading of my testament, the person who shall then be the +trustee of the accumulated funds, shall make known their amount, so that, +with the last stroke of noon, they may be divided between my heirs then +and there present. + +"'The different apartments of the house shall then be opened to them. +They will see in them divers objects, well worthy of interest, pity, and +respect--particularly in the Hall of Mourning. + +"'My desire is, that the house may not be sold, but that it may remain +furnished as it is, and serve as a place of meeting for my descendants, +if, as I hope, they attend to my last wishes. + +"'If, on the contrary, they are divided amongst themselves--if, instead +of uniting for one of the most generous enterprises that ever signalized +an age, they yield to the influence of selfish passions--if they prefer a +sterile individuality to a fruitful association--if, in this immense +fortune, they see only an opportunity for frivolous dissipation, or +sordid interest--may they be accursed by all those whom they might have +loved, succored, and disfettered!--and then let this house be utterly +demolished and destroyed, and the papers, of which Isaac Samuel possesses +the inventory, as well as the two portraits in the Red Room, be burnt by +the guardian of the property. + +"'I have spoken. My duty is accomplished. In all this, I have followed +the counsels of the man whom I revere and love as the image of God upon +earth. + +"'The faithful friend, who preserved for me the fifty thousand crowns, +the wreck of my fortune, knows the use I mean to make of them. I could +not refuse his friendship this mark of confidence. But I have concealed +from him the name of Isaac Samuel--for to have mentioned it might have +exposed this latter and his descendants to great dangers. + +"'In a short time, this friend, who knows not that my resolution to die +is so near its accomplishment, will come hither with my notary. Into +their hands, after the usual formalities, I shall deliver my sealed +testament. + +"'Such is my last will. I leave its execution to the superintending care +of Providence. God will protect the cause of love, peace, union, and +liberty. + +"'This mystic testament,[20] having been freely made by me, and written +entirely with my own hand, I intend and will its scrupulous execution +both in spirit and the letter. + +"'This 13th day of February, 1682, at one o'clock in the +afternoon. + + "'MARIUS DE RENNEPONT.'" + +As the notary had proceeded with the reading of the testament, Gabriel +was successively agitated by divers painful impressions. At first, as we +have before said, he was struck with the singular fatality which restored +this immense fortune, derived from a victim of the Society of Jesus, to +the hands of that very association, by the renewal of his deed of gift. +Then, as his charitable and lofty soul began fully to comprehend the +admirable tendency of the association so earnestly recommended by Marius +de Rennepont, he reflected with bitter remorse, that, in consequence of +his act of renunciation, and of the absence of any other heir, this great +idea would never be realized, and a fortune, far more considerable than +had even been expected, would fall to the share of an ill-omened society, +in whose hands it would become a terrible means of action. At the same +time, it must be said that the soul of Gabriel was too pure and noble to +feel the slightest personal regret, on hearing the great probable value +of the property he had renounced. He rejoiced rather in withdrawing his +mind, by a touching contrast, from the thought of the wealth he had +abandoned, to the humble parsonage, where he hoped to pass the remainder +of his life, in the practice of most evangelical virtue. + +These ideas passed confusedly through his brain. The sight of that +woman's portrait, the dark revelations contained in the testament, the +grandeur of the views exhibited in this last will of M. de Rennepont, all +these extraordinary incidents had thrown Gabriel into a sort of stupor, +in which he was still plunged, when Samuel offered the key of the +register to the notary, saying: "You will find, sir, in this register, +the exact statement of the sums in my possession, derived from the +investment and accumulation of the one hundred and fifty thousand francs, +entrusted to my grandfather by M. Marius de Rennepont." + +"Your grandfather!" cried Father d'Aigrigny, with the utmost surprise; +"it is then your family that has always had the management of this +property." + +"Yes, sir; and, in a few minutes, my wife will bring hither the casket +which contains the vouchers." + +"And to what sum does this property amount?" asked Rodin, with an air of +the most complete indifference. + +"As M. Notary may convince himself by this statement," replied Samuel, +with perfect frankness, and as if he were only talking of the original +one hundred and fifty thousand francs, "I have in my possession various +current securities to the amount of two hundred and twelve millions, one +hundred and seventy--" + +"You say, sir'" cried Father d'Aigrigny, without giving Samuel time to +finish, for the odd money did not at all interest his reverence. + +"Yes, the sum!" added Rodin, in an agitated voice, and, for the first +time, perhaps, in his life losing his presence of mind; "the sum--the +sum--the sum!" + +"I say, sir," resumed the old man, "that I hold securities for two +hundred and twelve millions, one hundred and seventy-five thousand +francs, payable to self or bearer--as you may soon convince yourself, M. +Notary, for here is my wife with the casket." + +Indeed, at this moment, Bathsheba entered, holding in her arms the cedar +wood chest, which contained the securities in question; she placed it +upon the table, and withdrew, after exchanging an affectionate glance +with Samuel. When the latter declared the enormous amount of the sum in +hand, his words were received with silent stupor. All the actors in this +scene, except himself, believed that they were the sport of some +delusion. Father d'Aigrigny and Rodin had counted upon forty millions. +This sum, in itself enormous, was more than quintupled. Gabriel, when he +heard the notary read those passages in the testament, which spoke of a +princely fortune, being quite ignorant of the prodigious effects of +eligible investments, had valued the property at some three or four +millions. He was, therefore, struck dumb with amazement at the exorbitant +amount named. Notwithstanding his admirable disinterestedness and +scrupulous honor, he felt dazzled and giddy at the thought, that all +these immense riches might have belonged to him--alone. The notary, +almost as much amazed as Gabriel, examined the statement, and could +hardly believe his eyes. The Jew also remained mute, and seemed painfully +absorbed in thought, that no other heir made his appearance. + +In the depth of this profound silence, the clock in the next room began +slowly to strike twelve. Samuel started, and heaved a deep sigh. A few +seconds more, and the fatal term would be at an end. Rodin, Father +d'Aigrigny, Gabriel, and the notary, were all under the influence of such +complete surprise, that not one of them even remarked how strange it was +to hear the sound of this clock. + +"Noon!" cried Rodin, as, by an involuntary movement, he hastily placed +his two hands upon the casket, as if to take possession of it. + +"At last!" cried Father d'Aigrigny, with an expression of joy, triumph +transport, which it is impossible to describe. Then he added, as he threw +himself into Gabriel's arms, whom he embraced warmly: "Oh, my dear son! +how the poor will bless you! You will be a second Vincent de Paul. You +will be canonized, I promise you." + +"Let us first thank Providence," said Rodin, in a grave and solemn tone, +as he fell upon his knees, "let us thank Providence, that He has +permitted so much wealth to be employed for His glory!"' + +Father d'Aigrigny, having again embraced Gabriel, took him by the hand, +and said: "Rodin is right. Let us kneel, my dear son, and render thanks +to Providence!" + +So saying, Father d'Aigrigny knelt down, dragging Gabriel with him, and +the latter, confused and giddy with so many precipitate events, yielded +mechanically to the impulse. It was the last stroke of twelve when they +all rose together. + +Then said the notary, in a slightly agitated voice, for there was +something extraordinary and solemn in this scene-- + +"No other heir of M. Marius de Rennepont having presented himself, before +noon on this day, I execute the will of the testator, by declaring, in +the name of law and justice, that M. Francois Marie Gabriel de Rennepont, +here present, is the sole heir and possessor of all the estate, real and +personal, bequeathed under the said will; all which estate the said +Gabriel de Rennepont, priest, has freely and voluntarily made over by +deed of gift to Frederic Emanuel de Bordeville, Marquis d'Aigrigny, +priest, who has accepted the same, and is, therefore, the only legal +holder of such property, in the room of the said Gabriel de Rennepont, by +virtue of the said deed, drawn up and engrossed by me this morning, and +signed in my presence by the said Gabriel de Rennepont and Frederic +d'Aigrigny." + +At this moment, the sound of loud voices was heard from the garden. +Bathsheba entered hastily, and said to her husband with an agitated air: +"Samuel--a soldier--who insists--" + +She had not time to finish. Dagobert appeared at the door of the Red +Room. The soldier was fearfully pale. He seemed almost fainting; his left +arm was in a sling, and he leaned upon Agricola. At sight of Dagobert, +the pale and flabby eyelids of Rodin were suddenly distended, as if all +the blood in his body had flowed towards the head. Then the socius threw +himself upon the casket, with the haste of ferocious rage and avidity, as +if he were resolved to cover it with his body, and defend it at the peril +of his life. + +[20] This term is sanctioned by legal usage. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV. + +THE DEED OF GIFT. + +Father d'Aigrigny did not recognize Dagobert, and had never seen +Agricola. He could not therefore, at first explain the kind of angry +alarm exhibited by Rodin. But the reverend father understood it all, when +he heard Gabriel utter a cry of joy, and saw him rush into the arms of +the smith, exclaiming: "My brother! my second father--oh! it is heaven +that sends you to me." + +Having pressed Gabriel's hand, Dagobert advanced towards Father +d'Aigrigny, with a rapid but unsteady step. As he remarked the soldier's +threatening countenance, the reverend father, strong in his acquired +rights, and feeling that, since noon, he was at home here; drew back a +little, and said imperiously to the veteran: "Who are you, sir!--What do +you want here?" + +Instead of answering, the soldier continued to advance, then, stopping +just facing Father d'Aigrigny, he looked at him for a second with such an +astounding mixture of curiosity, disdain, aversion, and audacity, that +the ex-colonel of hussars quailed before the pale face and glowing eye of +the veteran. The notary and Samuel, struck with surprise, remained mute +spectators of this scene, while Agricola and Gabriel followed with +anxiety Dagobert's least movements. As for Rodin, he pretended to be +leaning on the casket, in order still to cover it with his body. + +Surmounting at length the embarrassment caused by the steadfast look of +the soldier, Father d'Aigrigny raised his head, and repeated. "I ask you, +sir, who you are, and what you want?" + +"Do you not recognize me?" said Dagobert, hardly able to restrain +himself. + +"No, sir--" + +"In truth," returned the soldier, with profound contempt, "You cast down +your eyes for shame when, at Leipsic, you fought for the Russians against +the French, and when General Simon, covered with wounds, answered you, +renegade that you were, when you asked him for his sword, 'I do not +surrender to a traitor!'--and dragged himself along to one of the Russian +grenadiers, to whom he yielded up his weapon. Well! there was then a +wounded soldier by the side of General Simon--I am he." + +"In brief, sir, what do you want?" said Father d'Aigrigny, hardly, able +to control himself. + +"I have come to unmask you--you, that are as false and hateful a priest, +as Gabriel is admirable and beloved by all." + +"Sir!" cried the marquis, becoming livid with rage and emotion. + +"I tell you, that you are infamous," resumed the soldier, with still +greater force. "To rob Marshal Simon's daughters, and Gabriel, and Mdlle. +de Cardoville of their inheritance, you have had recourse to the most +shameful means." + +"What do you say?" cried Gabriel. "The daughters of Marshal Simon?" + +"Are your relations, my dear boy, as is also that worthy Mdlle. de +Cardoville, the benefactress of Agricola. Now, this priest," he added, +pointing to Father d'Aigrigny, "has had them shut up--the one as mad, in +a lunatic asylum--the others in a convent. As for you, my dear boy, I did +not hope to find you here, believing that they would have prevented you, +like the others, from coming hither this morning. But, thank God, you are +here, and I arrive in time. I should have been sooner, but for my wound. +I have lost so much blood, that I have done nothing but faint all the +morning." + +"Truly!" cried Gabriel, with uneasiness. "I had not remarked your arm in +a sling. What is the wound?" + +At a sign from Agricola, Dagobert answered: "Nothing; the consequence of +a fall. But here I am, to unveil many infamies." + +It is impossible to paint the curiosity, anguish, surprise, or fear, of +the different actors in this scene, as they listened to Dagobert's +threatening words. But the most overcome was Gabriel. His angelic +countenance was distorted, his knees trembled under him. Struck by the +communication of Dagobert which revealed the existence of other heirs, he +was unable to speak for some time; at length, he cried out, in a tone of +despair: "And it is I--oh, God! I--who am the cause of the spoliation of +this family!" + +"You, brother?" exclaimed Agricola. + +"Did they not wish to rob you also?" added Dagobert. + +"The will," cried Gabriel, with increasing agony, "gave the property to +those of the heirs that should appear before noon." + +"Well?" said Dagobert, alarmed at the emotion of the young priest. + +"Twelve o'clock has struck," resumed the latter. "Of all the family, I +alone was present. Do you understand it now? The term is expired. The +heirs have been thrust aside by me!" + +"By you!" said Dagobert, stammering with joy. "By you, my brave boy! then +all is well." + +"But--" + +"All is well," resumed Dagobert, radiant with delight. "You will share +with the others--I know you." + +"But all this property I have irrevocably, made over to another," cried +Gabriel, in despair. + +"Made over the property!" cried Dagobert, quite petrified. "To whom, +then?--to whom?" + +"To this gentleman," said Gabriel, pointing to Father d'Aigrigny. + +"To him!" exclaimed Dagobert, overwhelmed by the news; "to him--the +renegade--who has always been the evil genius of this family!" + +"But, brother," cried Agricola, "did you then know your claim to this +inheritance?" + +"No," answered the young priest, with deep dejection; "no--I only learned +it this morning, from Father d'Aigrigny. He told me, that he had only +recently been informed of my rights, by family papers long ago found upon +me, and sent by our mother to her confessor." + +A sudden light seemed to dawn upon the mind of the smith, as he +exclaimed: "I understand it all now. They discovered in these papers, +that you would one day have a chance of becoming rich. Therefore, they +interested themselves about you--therefore, they took you into their +college, where we could never see you--therefore, they deceived you in +your vocation by shameful falsehoods, to force you to become a priest, +and to lead you to make this deed of gift. Oh, sir!" resumed Agricola, +turning towards Father d'Aigrigny, with indignation, "my father is +right--such machinations are indeed infamous!" + +During this scene, the reverend father and his socius, at first alarmed +and shaken in their audacity, had by degrees recovered all their +coolness. Rodin, still leaning upon the casket, had said a few words in a +low voice to Father d'Aigrigny. So that when Agricola, carried away by +his indignation, reproached the latter with his infamous machinations, he +bowed his head humbly, and answered: "We are bound to forgive injuries, +and offer them to the Lord as a mark of our humility." + +Dagobert, confounded at all he had just heard, felt his reason begin to +wander. After so much anxiety, his strength failed beneath this new and +terrible blow. Agricola's just and sensible words, in connection with +certain passages of the testament, at once enlightened Gabriel as to the +views of Father d'Aigrigny, in taking charge of his education, and +leading him to join the Society of Jesus. For the first time in his life, +Gabriel was able to take in at a glance all the secret springs of the +dark intrigue, of which he had been the victim. Then, indignation and +despair surmounting his natural timidity, the missionary, with flashing +eye, and cheeks inflamed with noble wrath, exclaimed, as he addressed +Father d'Aigrigny: "So, father, when you placed me in one of your +colleges, it was not from any feeling of kindness or commiseration, but +only in the hope of bringing me one day to renounce in favor of your +Order my share in this inheritance; and it did not even suffice you to +sacrifice me to your cupidity, but I must also be rendered the +involuntary instrument of a shameful spoliation! If only I were +concerned--if you only coveted my claim to all this wealth, I should not +complain. I am the minister of a religion which honors and sanctifies +poverty; I have consented to the donation in your favor, and I have not, +I could never have any claim upon it. But property is concerned which +belong to poor orphans, brought from a distant exile by my adopted +father, and I will not see them wronged. But the benefactress of my +adopted brother is concerned, and I will not see her wronged. But the +last will of a dying man is concerned, who, in his ardent love of +humanity, bequeathed to his descendants an evangelic mission--an +admirable mission of progress, love, union, liberty--and I will not see +this mission blighted in its bud. No, no; I tell you, that this his +mission shall be accomplished, though I have to cancel the donation I +have made." + +On these words, Father d'Aigrigny and Rodin looked at each other with a +slight shrug of the shoulders. At a sign from the socius, the reverend +father began to speak with immovable calmness, in a slow and sanctified +voice, keeping eyes constantly cast down: "There are many incidents +connected with this inheritance of M. de Rennepont, which appear very +complicated--many phantoms, which seem un usually menacing--and yet, +nothing could be really more simple and natural. Let us proceed in +regular order. Let us put aside all these calumnious imputations; we will +return to them afterwards. M. Gabriel de Rennepont--and I humbly beg him +to contradict me, if I depart in the least instance from the exact +truth--M. Gabriel de Rennepont, in acknowledgment of the care formerly +bestowed on him by the society to which I have the honor to belong, made +over to me, as its representative, freely and voluntarily, all the +property that might come to him one day, the value of which was unknown +to him, as well as to myself." + +Father d'Aigrigny here looked at Gabriel, as if appealing to him for the +truth of this statement. + +"It is true," said the young priest: "I made this donation freely." + +"This morning, in consequence of a private conversation, which I will not +repeat--and in this, I am certain beforehand, of the Abbe Gabriel--" + +"True," replied Gabriel, generously; "the subject of this conversation is +of little importance." + +"It was then, in consequence of this conversation that the Abbe Gabriel +manifested the desire to confirm this donation--not in my favor, for I +have little to do with earthly wealth--but in favor of the sacred and +charitable works of which our Company is the trustee. I appeal to the +honor of M. Gabriel to declare if he have not engaged himself towards us, +not only by a solemn oath, but by a perfectly legal act, executed in +presence of M. Dumesnil, here present?" + +"It is all true," answered Gabriel. + +"The deed was prepared by me," added the notary. + +"But Gabriel could only give you what belonged to him," cried Dagobert. +"The dear boy never supposed that you were making use of him to rob other +people." + +"Do me the favor, sir, to allow me to explain myself," replied Father +d'Aigrigny, courteously; "you can afterwards make answer." + +Dagobert repressed with difficulty his painful impatience. The reverend +father continued: "The Abbe Gabriel has therefore, by the double +engagement of an oath and a legal act, confirmed his donation. Much +more," resumed Father d'Aigrigny: "when to his great astonishment and to +ours, the enormous amount of the inheritance became known, the Abbe +Gabriel, faithful to his own admirable generosity, far from repenting of +his gifts, consecrated them once more by a pious movement of gratitude to +Providence--for M. Notary will doubtless remember, that, after embracing +the Abbe Gabriel with transport, and telling him that he was a second +Vincent de Paul in charity, I took him by the hand, and we both knelt +down together to thank heaven for having inspired him with the thought +too offer these immense riches to the Greater Glory of the Lord." + +"That is true, also," said Gabriel, honestly; "so long as myself was +concerned, though I might be astounded for a moment by the revelation of +so enormous a fortune, I did not think for an instant of cancelling the +donation I had freely made." + +"Under these circumstances," resumed Father d'Aigrigny, "the hour fixed +for the settlement of the inheritance having struck, and Abbe Gabriel +being the only heir that presented himself, he became necessarily the +only legitimate possessor of this immense wealth--enormous, no doubt--and +charity makes me rejoice that it is enormous, for, thanks to it, many +miseries will be relieved and many tears wiped away. But, all on a +sudden, here comes this gentleman," said Father d'Aigrigny, pointing to +Dagobert; "and, under some delusion, which I forgive from the bottom of +my soul, and which I am sure he will himself regret, accuses me, with +insults and threats, with having carried off (I know not where) some +persons (I know not whom), in order to prevent their being here at the +proper time--" + +"Yes, I accuse you of this infamy!" cried the soldier exasperated by the +calmness and audacity of the reverend father: "yes--and I will--" + +"Once again, sir, I conjure you to be so good as to let me finish; you +can reply afterwards," said Father d'Aigrigny, humbly, in the softest and +most honeyed accents. + +"Yes, I will reply, and confound you!" cried Dagobert. + +"Let him finish, father. You can speak presently," said Agricola. + +The soldier was silent as Father d'Aigrigny continued with new assurance: +"Doubtless, if there should really be any other heirs, besides the Abbe +Gabriel, it is unfortunate for them that they have not appeared in proper +time. And if, instead of defending the cause of the poor and needy, I had +only to look to my own interest, I should be far from availing myself of +this advantage, due only to chance; but, as a trustee for the great +family of the poor, I am obliged to maintain my absolute right to this +inheritance; and I do not doubt that M. Notary will acknowledge the +validity of my claim, and deliver to me these securities, which are now +my legitimate property." + +"My only mission," replied the notary, in an agitated voice, "is +faithfully to execute the will of the testator. The Abbe Gabriel de +Rennepont alone presented himself, within the term fixed by the +testament. The deed of gift is in due form; I cannot refuse, therefore, +to deliver to the person named in the deed the amount of the heritage--" + +On these words Samuel hid his face in his hands, and heaved a deep sigh; +he was obliged to acknowledge the rigorous justice of the notary's +observations. + +"But, sir," cried Dagobert, addressing the man of law, "this cannot be. +You will not allow two poor orphans to be despoiled. It is in the name of +their father and mother that I speak to you. I give you my honor--the +honor of a soldier!--that they took advantage of the weakness of my wife +to carry the daughters of Marshal Simon to a convent, and thus prevent me +bringing them here this morning. It is so true, that I have already laid +my charge before a magistrate." + +"And what answer did you receive?" said the notary. + +"That my deposition was not sufficient for the law to remove these young +girls from the convent in which they were, and that inquiries would be +made--" + +"Yes, sir," added Agricola, "and it was the same with regard to Mdlle. de +Cardoville, detained as mad in a lunatic asylum, though in the full +enjoyment of her reason. Like Marshal Simon's daughters, she too has a +claim to this inheritance. I took the same steps for her, as my father +took for Marshal Simon's daughters." + +"Well?" asked the notary. + +"Unfortunately, sir," answered Agricola, "they told me; as they did my +father, that my deposition would not suffice, and that they must make +inquiries." + +At this moment, Bathsheba, having heard the street-bell ring, left the +Red Room at a sign from Samuel. The notary resumed, addressing Agricola +and his father: "Far be it from me, gentlemen, to call in question your +good faith; but I cannot, to my great regret, attach such importance to +your accusations, which are not supported by proof, as to suspend the +regular legal course. According to your own confession, gentlemen, the +authorities, to whom you addressed yourselves, did not see fit to +interfere on your depositions, and told you they would inquire further. +Now, really, gentlemen, I appeal to you: how can I, in so serious a +matter, take upon myself a responsibility, which the magistrates +themselves have refused to take?" + +"Yes, you should do so, in the name of justice and honor?" cried +Dagobert. + +"It may be so, sir, in your opinion; but in my view of the case, I remain +faithful to justice and honor, by executing with exactness the last will +of the dead. For the rest you have no occasion to despair. If the +persons, whose interests you represent, consider themselves injured, they +may hereafter have recourse to an action at law, against the person +receiving as donee of the Abbe Gabriel--but in the meanwhile, it is my +duty to put him in immediate possession of the securities. I should be +gravely injured, were I to act in any, other manner." + +The notary's observations seemed so reasonable, that Samuel, Dagobert and +Agricola were quite confounded. After a moment's thought, Gabriel +appeared to take a desperate resolution, and said to the notary, in a +firm voice-- + +"Since, under these circumstances, the law is powerless to obtain the +right, I must adopt, sir, an extreme course. Before doing so, I will ask +M. l'Abbe d'Aigrigny, for the last time, if he will content himself with +that portion of the property which falls justly to me, on condition that +the rest shall be placed in safe hands, till the heirs, whose names have +been brought forward, shall prove their claim." + +"To this proposition I must answer as I have done already," replied +Father d'Aigrigny; "it is not I who am concerned, but an immense work of +charity. I am, therefore, obliged to refuse the part-offer of the Abbe +Gabriel, and to remind him of his engagements of every kind." + +"Then you refuse this arrangement?" asked Gabriel, in an agitated voice. + +"Charity commands me to do so." + +"You refuse it--absolutely?" + +"I think of all the good and pious institutions that these treasures will +enable us to establish for the Greater Glory of the Lord, and I have +neither the courage nor the desire to make the least concession." + +"Then, sir," resumed the good priest, in a still more agitated manner, +"since you force me to do it, I revoke my donation. I only intended to +dispose of my own property, and not of that which did not belong to me." + +"Take care M. l'Abbe," said rather d'Aigrigny; "I would observe that I +hold in my hand a written, formal promise." + +"I know it, sir; you have a written paper, in which I take an oath never +to revoke this donation, upon any pretext whatever, and on pain of +incurring the aversion and contempt of all honest men. Well, sir! be it +so," said Gabriel, with deep bitterness; "I will expose myself to all the +consequences of perjury; you may proclaim it everywhere. I may be hated +and despised by all--but God will judge me!" The young priest dried a +tear, which trickled from his eye. + +"Oh! do not be afraid, my dear boy!" cried Dagobert, with reviving hope. +"All honest men will be on your side!" + +"Well done, brother!" said Agricola. + +"M. Notary," said Rodin, in his little sharp voice, "please to explain to +Abbe Gabriel, that he may perjure himself as much as he thinks fit, but +that the Civil Code is much less easy to violate than a mere promise, +which is only--sacred!" + +"Speak, sir," said Gabriel. + +"Please to inform Abbe Gabriel," resumed Rodin, "that a deed of gift, +like that made in favor of Father d'Aigrigny, can only be cancelled for +one of three reasons--is it not so?" + +"Yes, sir, for three reasons," said the notary. + +"The first is in case of the birth of a child," said Rodin, "and I should +blush to mention such a contingency to the Abbe Gabriel. The second is +the ingratitude of the donee--and the Abbe Gabriel may be certain of our +deep and lasting gratitude. The last case is the non-fulfilment of the +wishes of the donor, with regard to the employment of his gifts. + +"Now, although the Abbe Gabriel may have suddenly conceived a very bad +opinion of us, he will at least give us some time to show that his gifts +have been disposed of according to his wishes, and applied to the Greater +Glory of the Lord." + +"Now, M. Notary," added Father d'Aigrigny, "it is for you to decide and +say, if Abbe Gabriel can revoke the donation he has made." + +Just as the notary was going to answer, Bathsheba reentered the room, +followed by two more personages, who appeared in the Red Room at a little +distance from each other. + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's The Wandering Jew, Book V., by Eugene Sue + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE WANDERING JEW, BOOK V. *** + +***** This file should be named 3343.txt or 3343.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + https://www.gutenberg.org/3/3/4/3343/ + +Produced by David Widger and Pat Castevens + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN ETEXTS*Ver.12.12.00*END* + + + + + +This etext was produced by David Widger <widger@cecomet.net> +and Pat Castevens <patcat@ctnet.net> + + + + + +The Wandering Jew + +by Eugene Sue + + + + +BOOK V. + +XIV. The Eve of a Great Day +XV. The Thug +XVI. The Two Brothers of the Good Work +XVII. The House in the Rue Saint-Francois +XVIII. Debit and Credit +XIX. The Heir +XX. The Rupture +XXI. The Change +XXII. The Red Room +XXIII. The Testament +XXIV. The Last Stroke of Noon +XXV. The Deed of Gift + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +THE EVE OF A GREAT DAY. + +About two hours before the event last related took place at St. Mary's +Convent, Rodin and Abbe d'Aigrigny met in the room where we have already +seen them, in the Rue du Milieu-des-Ursins. Since the Revolution of +July, Father d'Aigrigny had thought proper to remove for the moment to +this temporary habitation all the secret archives and correspondence of +his Order--a prudent measure, since he had every reason to fear that the +reverend fathers would be expelled by the state from that magnificent +establishment, with which the restoration had so liberally endowed their +society.[11] + +Rodin, dressed in his usual sordid style, mean and dirty as ever, was +writing modestly at his desk, faithful to his humble part of secretary, +which concealed, as we have already seen a far more important office-- +that of Socius--a function which, according to the constitutions of the +Order, consists in never quitting his superior, watching his least +actions, spying into his very thoughts, and reporting all to Rome. + +In spite of his usual impassibility, Rodin appeared visibly uneasy and +absent in mind; he answered even more briefly than usual to the commands +and questions of Father d'Aigrigny, who had but just entered the room. + +"Has anything new occurred during my absence?" asked he. "Are the +reports still favorable?" + +"Very favorable." + +"Read them to me." + +"Before giving this account to your reverence," said Rodin, "I must +inform you that Morok has been two days in Paris." + +"Morok?" said Abbe d'Aigrigny, with surprise. "I thought, on leaving +Germany and Switzerland, he had received from Friburg the order to +proceed southward. At Nismes, or Avignon, he would at this moment be +useful as an agent; for the Protestants begin to move, and we fear a +reaction against the Catholics." + +"I do not know," said Rodin, "if Morok may not have had private reasons +for changing his route. His ostensible reasons are, that he comes here +to give performances." + +"How so?" + +"A dramatic agent, passing through Lyons, engaged him and his menagerie +for the Port Saint-Martin Theatre at a very high price. He says that he +did not like to refuse such an offer." + +"Well," said Father d'Aigrigny, shrugging his shoulders, "but by +distributing his little books, and selling prints and chaplets, as well +as by the influence he would certainly exercise over the pious and +ignorant people of the South or of Brittany, he might render services, +such as he can never perform in Paris." + +"He is now below, with a kind of giant, who travels about with him. In +his capacity of your reverence's old servant, Morok hoped to have the +honor of kissing your hand this evening." + +"Impossible--impossible--you know how much I am occupied. Have you sent +to the Rue Saint-Francois?" + +"Yes, I have. The old Jew guardian has had notice from the notary. To- +morrow, at six in the morning, the masons will unwall the door, and, for +the first time since one hundred and fifty years, the house will be +opened." + +Father d'Aigrigny remained in thought for a moment, and then said to +Rodin: "On the eve of such a decisive day, we must neglect nothing, and +call every circumstance to memory. Read me the copy of the note, +inserted in the archives of the society, a century and a half ago, on the +subject of Rennepont." + +The secretary took the note from the case, and read as follows: + +"`This 19th day of February, 1682, the Reverend Father-Provincial +Alexander Bourdon sent the following advice, with these words in the +margin: Of extreme importance for the future. + +"'We have just discovered, by the confession of a dying person to one of +our fathers, a very close secret. + +"`Marius de Rennepont, one of the most active and redoubtable partisans +of the Reformed Religion, and one of the most determined enemies of our +Holy Society, had apparently re-entered the pale of our Mother Church, +but with the sole design of saving his worldly goods, threatened with +confiscation because of his irreligious and damnable errors. Evidence +having been furnished by different persons of our company to prove that +the conversion of Rennepont was not sincere, and in reality covered a +sacrilegious lure, the possessions of the said gentleman, now considered +a relapsed heretic, were confiscated by our gracious sovereign, his +Majesty King Louis XIV, and the said Rennepont was condemned to the +galleys for life.[12] He escaped his doom by a voluntary death; in +consequence of which abominable crime, his body was dragged upon a +hurdle, and flung to the dogs on the highway. + +"`From these preliminaries, we come to the great secret, which is of such +importance to the future interests of our Society. + +"`His Majesty Louis XIV., in his paternal and Catholic goodness towards +the Church in general, and our Order in particular, had granted to us the +profit of this confiscation, in acknowledgment of our services in +discovering the infamous and sacrilegious relapse of the said Rennepont. + +"`But we have just learned, for certain, that a house situated in Paris, +No. 3, Rue Saint-Francois, and a sum of fifty thousand gold crowns, have +escaped this confiscation, and have consequently been stolen from our +Society. + +"`The house was conveyed, before the confiscation, by means of a feigned +purchase, to a friend of Rennepont's a good Catholic, unfortunately, as +against him we cannot take any severe measures. Thanks to the culpable, +but secure connivance of his friend, the house has been walled up, and is +only to be opened in a century and a half, according to the last will of +Rennepont. As for the fifty thousand gold crowns, they have been placed +in hands which, unfortunately, are hitherto unknown to us, in order to be +invested and put out to use for one hundred and fifty years, at the +expiration of which time they are to be divided between the then existing +descendants of the said Rennepont; and it is calculated that this sum, +increased by so many accumulations, will by then have become enormous, +and will amount to at least forty or fifty millions of livres tournois. +From motives which are not known, but which are duly stated in a +testamentary document, the said Rennepont has concealed from his family, +whom the edicts against the Protestants have driven out of France, the +investment of these fifty thousand crowns; and has only desired his +relations to preserve in their line from generation to generation, the +charge to the last survivors, to meet in Paris, Rue Saint-Francois, a +hundred and fifty years hence, on February the 13th, 1832. And that this +charge might not be forgotten, he employed a person, whose description is +known, but not his real occupation, to cause to be manufactured sundry +bronze medals, on which the request and date are engraved, and to deliver +one to each member of the family--a measure the more necessary, as, from +some other motive equally unknown, but probably explained in the +testament, the heirs are to present themselves on the day in question, +before noon, in person, and not by any attorney, or representative, or to +forfeit all claim to the inheritance. The stranger who undertook to +distribute the medals to the different members of the family of Rennepont +is a man of thirty to thirty-six years of age, of tall stature, and with +a proud and sad expression of countenance. He has black eyebrows, very +thick, and singularly joined together. He is known as JOSEPH, and is +much suspected of being an active and dangerous emissary of the wretched +republicans and heretics of the Seven United Provinces. It results from +these premises, that this sum, surreptitiously confided by a relapsed +heretic to unknown hands, has escaped the confiscation decreed in our +favor by our well-beloved king. A serious fraud and injury has therefore +been committed, and we are bound to take every means to recover this our +right, if not immediately, at least in some future time. Our Society +being (for the greater glory of God and our Holy Father) imperishable, it +will be easy, thanks to the connections we keep up with all parts of the +world, by means of missions and other establishments, to follow the line +of this family of Rennepont from generation to generation, without ever +losing sight of it--so that a hundred and fifty years hence, at the +moment of the division of this immense accumulation of property, our +Company may claim the inheritance of which it has been so treacherously +deprived, and recover it by any means in its power, fas aut nefas, even +by craft or violence--our Company not being bound to act tenderly with +the future detainers of our goods, of which we have been maliciously +deprived by an infamous and sacrilegious heretic--and because it is right +to defend, preserve, and recover one's own property by every means which +the Lord may place within one's reach. Until, therefore, the complete +restitution of this wealth, the family of Rennepont must be considered as +reprobate and damnable, as the cursed seed of a Cain, and always to be +watched with the utmost caution. And it is to be recommended, that, +every year from this present date, a sort of inquisition should he held +as to the situation of the successive members of this family.'" + +Rodin paused, and said to Father d'Aigrigny: "Here follows the account, +year by year, of the history of this family, from the year 1682, to our +own day. It will be useless to read this to your reverence." + +"Quite useless," said Abbe d'Aigrigny. "The note contains all the +important facts." Then, after a moment's silence, he exclaimed, with an +expression of triumphant pride: "How great is the power of the +Association, when founded upon tradition and perpetuity! Thanks to this +note, inserted in our archives a century and a half ago, this family has +been watched from generation to generation--our Order has always had its +eyes upon them, following them to all points of the globe, to which exile +had distributed them--and at last, to-morrow, we shall obtain possession +of this property, at first inconsiderable, but which a hundred and fifty +years have raised to a royal fortune. Yes, we shall succeed, for we have +foreseen every eventuality. One thing only troubles me." + +"What is that?" asked Rodin. + +"The information that we have in vain tried to obtain from the guardian +of the house in the Rue Saint-Francois. Has the attempt been once more +made, as I directed?" + +"It has been made." + +"Well?" + +"This time, as always before, the old Jew has remained impenetrable. +Besides he is almost in his second childhood, and his wife not much +better." + +"When I think," resumed Father d'Aigrigny, "that for a century and a +half, this house in the Rue Saint-Francois has remained walled up, and +that the care of it has been transmitted from generation to generation in +this family of the Samuels--I cannot suppose that they have all been +ignorant as to who were and are the successive holders of these funds, +now become immense by accumulation." + +"You have seen," said Rodin, "by the notes upon this affair, that the +Order has always carefully followed it up ever since 1682. At different +periods attempts have been made to obtain information upon subjects not +fully explained in the note of Father Bourdon. But this race of Jew +guardians has ever remained dumb, and we must therefore conclude that +they know nothing about it." + +"That has always struck me as impossible; for the ancestor of these +Samuels was present at the closing of the house, a hundred and fifty +years ago. He was according to the file, a servant or confidential clerk +of De Rennepont. It is impossible that he should not have known many +things, the tradition of which must have been preserved in the family." + +"If I were allowed to hazard a brief observation," began Rodin, humbly. + +"Speak." + +"A few years ago we obtained certain information through the +confessional, that the funds were in existence, and that they had risen +to an enormous amount." + +"Doubtless; and it was that which called the attention of the Reverend +Father-General so strongly to this affair." + +"We know, then, what probably the descendants of the family do not--the +immense value of this inheritance?" + +"Yes," answered Father d'Aigrigny, "the person who certified this fact in +confession is worthy of all belief. Only lately, the same declaration +was renewed; but all the efforts of the confessor could not obtain the +name of the trustee, or anything beyond the assertion, that the money +could not be in more honest hands." + +"It seems to me, then," resumed Rodin, "that we are certain of what is +most important." + +"And who knows if the holder of this enormous sum will appear to-morrow, +in spite of the honesty ascribed to him? The nearer the moment the more +my anxiety increases. Ah!" continued Father d'Aigrigny, after a moment's +silence, "the interests concerned are so immense that the consequences of +success are quite incalculable. However, all that it was possible to do, +has been at least tried." + +To these words, which Father d'Aigrigny addressed to Rodin, as if asking +for his assent, the socius returned no answer. + +The abbe looked at him with surprise, and said: "Are you not of my +opinion--could more have been attempted? Have we not gone to the extreme +limit of the possible?" + +Rodin bowed respectfully, but remained mute. + +"If you think we have omitted some precaution," cried Father d'Aigrigny, +with a sort of uneasy impatience, "speak out! We have still time. Once +more, do you think it is possible to do more than I have done? All the +other descendants being removed, when Gabriel appears to-morrow in the +Rue Saint-Francois, will he not be the only representative of this +family, and consequently the rightful possessor of this immense fortune? +Now, according to his act of renunciation, and the provisions of our +statutes, it is not to him, but to the Order, that these possessions must +fall. Could I have acted better, or in any other manner? Speak +frankly!" + +"I cannot permit myself to offer an opinion on this subject," replied +Rodin, humbly, and again bowing; "the success of the measures taken must +answer your reverence." + +Father d'Aigrigny shrugged his shoulders, and reproached himself for +having asked advice of this writing-machine, that served him for a +secretary, and to whom he only ascribed three qualities--memory, +discretion, and exactness. + +[11] This was an idle fear, for we read in the Constitutionnel, Feb. 1st +1832, as follows: "When in 1822, M. de Corbiere abruptly abolished that +splendid Normal School, which, during its few years' existence, had +called forth or developed such a variety of talent, it was decided, as +some compensation, that a house in the Rue des Postes should be +purchased, where the congregation of the Holy Ghost should be located and +endowed. The Minister of Marine supplied the funds for this purpose, and +its management was placed at the disposal of the Society, which then +reigned over France. From that period it has held quiet possession of +the place, which at once became a sort of house of entertainment, where +Jesuitism sheltered, and provided for, the numerous novitiates that +flocked from all parts of the country, to receive instructions from +Father Ronsin. Matters were in this state when the Revolution of July +broke out, which threatened to deprive the Society of this establishment. +But it will hardly be believed; this was not done. It is true that they +suppressed their practice, but they left them in possession of the house +in the Rue des Postes; and to this very day, the 31st of January, 1832, +the members of the Sacred Heart are housed at the expense of government, +during the whole of which time the Normal School has been without a +shelter--and on its reorganization, thrust into a dirty hole, in a narrow +corner of the College of Louis the Great." + +The above appeared in the Constitutionnel, respecting the house in the +Rue des Posses. We are certainly ignorant as to the nature of the +transactions, since that period, that have taken place between the +reverend fathers and the government; but we read further, in a recently +published article that appeared in a journal, in reference to the Society +of Jesus, that the house in the Rue des Postes, still forms a part of +their landed property. We will here give some portions of the article in +question. + +"The following is a list of the property belonging to this branch of +Jesuits + Fr. +House in the Rue de Postes, worth about . . . . 500,000 +One in the Rue de Sevres, estimated at . . . . 300,000 +Farm, two leagues from Paris . . . . . . . 150,000 +House and church at Bourges . . . . . . . 100,000 +Notre Dame de Liesse, donation in 1843 . . . . 60,000 +Saint Acheul, House for Novitiates . . . . . 400,000 +Nantes, a house . . . . . . . . . . . 100,000 +Quimper, ditto . . . . . . . . . . . 40,000 +Laval, house and church . . . . . . . . 150,000 +Rennes, a house . . . . . . . . . . 20,000 +Vannes, ditto . . . . . . . . . . . 20,000 +Metz, ditto . . . . . . . . . . . . 40,000 +Strasbourg . . . . . . . . . . . . 60,000 +Rouen, ditto . . . . . . . . . . . 15,000 + +By this it appears that these various items amount to little less than +two millions. Teaching, moreover, is another important source of revenue +to the Jesuits. The college at Broyclette alone brings in 200,000 +francs. The two provinces in France (for the general of the Jesuits at +Rome has divided France into two provinces, Lyons and Paris) possess, +besides a large sum in ready money, Austrian bonds of more than 260,000 +francs. Their Propagation of Faith furnishes annually some 50,000 +francs; and the harvest which the priests collect by their sermons +amounts to 150,000 francs. The alms given for charity may be estimated +at the same figure, producing together a revenue of 540,000 francs. Now, +to this revenue may be added the produce of the sale of the Society's +works, and the profit obtained by hawking pictures. Each plate costs, +design and engraving included, about 600 francs, off which are struck +about 10,000 copies, at 40 francs per thousand, and there is a further +expense of 250 francs to their publisher; and they obtain a net profit of +210 francs on every thousand. This, indeed, is working to advantage. +And it can easily be imagined with what rapidity all these are sold. The +fathers themselves are the travellers for the Society, and it would be +difficult to find more zealous or persevering ones. They are always well +received, and do not know what it is to meet with a refusal. They always +take care that the publisher should he one of their own body. The first +person whom they selected for this occupation was one of their members, +possessing some money; but they were obliged, notwithstanding, to make +certain advances to enable him to defray the expenses of its first +establishment. But, when they became fully convinced of the success of +their undertaking, they suddenly called in these advances, which the +publisher was not in a condition to pay. They were perfectly aware of +this, and superseded him by a wealthy successor, with whom they could +make a better bargain; and thus, without remorse, they ruined the man, by +thrusting him from an appointment of which they had morally guaranteed +the continuance." + +[12] Louis XIV., the great King, punished with the Baileys those +Protestants who, once converted, often by force, afterwards returned to +their first belief. As for those Protestants who remained in France, +notwithstanding the rigor of the edicts against them, they were deprived +of burial, dragged upon a hurdle, and given to the dogs.--E. S. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +THE THUG. + +After a moment's silence, Father d'Aigrigny resumed "Read me to-day's +report on the situation of each of the persons designated." + +"Here is that of this evening; it has just come." + +"Let us hear." + +Rodin read as follows: "Jacques Rennepont, alias Sleepinbuff, was seen in +the interior of the debtors' prison at eight o'clock this evening." + +"He will not disturb us to-morrow. One; go on." + +"The lady superior of St. Mary's Convent, warned by the Princess de +Saint-Dizier, has thought fit to confine still more strictly the +Demoiselles Rose and Blanche Simon. This evening, at nine o'clock, they +have been carefully locked in their cells, and armed men will make their +round in the convent garden during the night." + +"Thanks to these precautions, there is nothing to fear from that side," +said Father d'Aigrigny. "Go on." + +"Dr. Baleinier, also warned by the Princess de Saint-Dizier, continues to +have Mdlle. de Cardoville very closely watched. At a quarter to nine the +door of the building in which she is lodged was locked and bolted." + +"That is still another cause the less for uneasiness." + +"As for M. Hardy," resumed Rodin "I have received this morning, from +Toulouse, a letter from his intimate friend, M. de Bressac, who has been +of such service to us in keeping the manufacturer away for some days +longer. This letter contains a note, addressed by M. Hardy to a +confidential person, which M. de Bressac has thought fit to intercept, +and send to us as another proof of the success of the steps he has taken, +and for which he hopes we shall give him credit--as to serve us, he adds, +he betrays his friend in the most shameful manner, and acts a part in an +odious comedy. M. de Bressac trusts that, in return for these good +offices, we will deliver up to him those papers, which place him in our +absolute dependence, as they might ruin for ever a woman he loves with an +adulterous passion. He says that we ought to have pity on the horrible +alternative in which he is placed--either to dishonor and ruin the woman +he adores, or infamously to betray the confidence of his bosom friend." + +"These adulterous lamentations are not deserving of pity," answered +Father d'Aigrigny, with contempt. "We will see about that; M. de Bressac +may still be useful to us. But let us hear this letter of M. Hardy, that +impious and republican manufacturer, worthy descendant of an accursed +race, whom it is of the first importance to keep away." + +"Here is M. Hardy's letter," resumed Rodin. "To-morrow, we will send it +to the person to whom it is addressed." Rodin read as follows: + +"TOULOUSE, February the 10th. + +"At length I find a moment to write to you, and to explain the cause of +the sudden departure which, without alarming, must at least have +astonished you. I write also to ask you a service; the facts may be +stated in a few words. I have often spoken to you of Felix de Bressac, +one of my boyhood mates, though not nearly so old as myself. We have +always loved each other tenderly, and have shown too many proofs of +mutual affection not to count upon one another. He is a brother to me. +You know all I mean by that expression. Well--a few days ago, he wrote +to me from Toulouse, where he was to spend some time: `If you love me, +come; I have the greatest need of you. At once! Your consolations may +perhaps give me the courage to live. If you arrive too late--why, +forgive me--and think sometimes of him who will be yours to the last.' +Judge of my grief and fear on receipt of the above. I seat instantly for +post-horses. My old foreman, whom I esteem and revere (the father of +General Simon), hearing that I was going to the south, begged me to take +him with me, and to leave him for some days in the department of the +Creuse, to examine some ironworks recently founded there. I consented +willingly to this proposition, as I should thus at least have some one to +whom I could pour out the grief and anxiety which had been caused by this +letter from Bressac. I arrive at Toulouse; they tell me that he left the +evening before, taking arms with him, a prey to the most violent despair. +It was impossible at first to tell whither he had gone; after two days, +some indications, collected with great trouble, put me upon his track. +At last, after a thousand adventures, I found him in a miserable village. +Never--no, never, have I seen despair like this. No violence, but a +dreadful dejection, a savage silence. At first, he almost repulsed me; +then, this horrible agony having reached its height, he softened by +degrees, and, in about a quarter of an hour, threw himself into my arms, +bathed in tears. Beside him were his loaded pistols: one day later, and +all would have been over. I cannot tell you the reason of his despair; I +am not at liberty to do so; but it did not greatly astonish me. Now +there is a complete cure to effect. We must calm, and soothe, and heal +this poor soul, which has been cruelly wounded. The hand of friendship +is alone equal to this delicate task, and I have good hope of success. I +have therefore persuaded him to travel for some time; movement and change +of scene will be favorable to him. I shall take him first to Nice; we +set out tomorrow. If he wishes to prolong this excursion. I shall do so +too, for my affairs do not imperiously demand my presence in Paris before +the end of March. As for the service I have to ask of you, it is +conditional. These are the facts. According to some family papers that +belonged to my mother, it seems I have a certain interest to present +myself at No. 3, Rue Saint-Francois, in Paris, on the 13th of February. +I had inquired about it, and could learn nothing, except that this house +of very antique appearance, has been shut up for the last hundred and +fifty years, through a whim of one of my maternal ancestors, and that it +is to be opened on the 13th of this month, in presence of the co-heirs +who, if I have any, are quite unknown to me. Not being able to attend +myself, I have written to my foreman, the father of General Simon, in +whom I have the greatest confidence, and whom I had left behind in the +department of the Creuse, to set out for Paris, and to be present at the +opening of this house, not as an agent (which would be useless), but as a +spectator, and inform me at Nice what has been the result of this +romantic notion of my ancestor's. As it is possible that my foreman may +arrive too late to accomplish this mission, I should be much obliged if +you would inquire at my house at Plessy, if he has yet come, and, in case +of his still being absent, if you would take his place at the opening of +the house in the Rue Saint-Francois. I believe that I have made a very +small sacrifice for my friend Bressac, in not being in Paris on that day. +But had the sacrifice been immense, I should have made it with pleasure, +for my care and friendship are at present most necessary to the man whom +I look upon as a brother. I count upon your compliance with my request, +and, begging you to be kind enough to write me, `to be called for,' at +Nice, the result of your visit of inquiry, I remain, etc., etc. + +"FRANCIS HARDY." + + +"Though his presence cannot be of any great importance, it would be +preferable that Marshal Simon's father should not attend at the opening +of this house to-morrow," said Father d'Aigrigny. "But no matter. M. +Hardy himself is out of the way. There only remains the young Indian." + +"As for him," continued the abbe, with a thoughtful air, "we acted wisely +in letting M. Norval set out with the presents of Mdlle. de Cardoville. +The doctor who accompanies M. Norval, and who was chosen by M. Baleinier, +will inspire no suspicion?" + +"None," answered Rod in. "His letter of yesterday is completely +satisfactory." + +"There is nothing, then, to fear from the Indian prince," said +D'Aigrigny. "All goes well." + +"As for Gabriel," resumed Rodin, "he has again written this morning, to +obtain from your reverence the interview that he has vainly solicited for +the last three days. He is affected by the rigor exercised towards him, +in forbidding him to leave the house for these five days past." + +"To-morrow, when we take him to the Rue Saint-Francois, I will hear what +he has to say. It will be time enough. Thus, at this hour," said Father +d'Aigrigny, with an air of triumphant satisfaction, "all the descendants +of this family, whose presence might ruin our projects, are so placed +that it is absolutely impossible for them to be at the Rue Saint-Francois +to-morrow before noon, while Gabriel will he sure to be there. At last +our end is gained." + +Two cautious knocks at the door interrupted Father d'Aigrigny. "Come +in," said he. + +An old servant in black presented himself, and said: "There is a man +downstairs who wishes to speak instantly to M. Rodin on very urgent +business." + +"His name?" asked Father d'Aigrigny. + +"He would not tell his name; but he says that he comes from M. Van Dael, +a merchant in Java." + +Father d'Aigrigny and Rodin exchanged a glance of surprise, almost of +alarm. + +"See what this man is," said D'Aigrigny to Rodin, unable to conceal his +uneasiness, "and then come and give me an account of it." Then, +addressing the servant, he added: "Show him in"--and exchanging another +expressive sign with Rodin, Father d'Aigrigny disappeared by a side-door. + +A minute after, Faringhea, the ex-chief of the Stranglers, appeared +before Rodin, who instantly remembered having seen him at Cardoville +Castle. + +The socius started, but he did not wish to appear to recollect his +visitor. Still bending over his desk, he seemed not to seen Faringhea, +but wrote hastily some words on a sheet of paper that lay before him. + +"Sir," said the servant, astonished at the silence of Rodin, "here is the +person." + +Rodin folded the note that he had so precipitately written, and said to +the servant: "Let this be taken to its address. Wait for an answer." + +The servant bowed, and went out. Then Rodin, without rising, fixed his +little reptile-eyes on Faringhea, and said to him courteously: "To whom, +sir, have I the honor of speaking?" + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +THE TWO BROTHERS OF THE GOOD WORK. + +Faringhea, as we have before stated, though born in India, had travelled +a good deal, and frequented the European factories in different parts of +Asia. Speaking well both English and French, and full of intelligence +and sagacity, he was perfectly civilized. + +Instead of answering Rodin's question, he turned upon him a fixed and +searching look. The socius, provoked by this silence, and forseeing +vaguely that Faringhea's arrival had some connection--direct or indirect- +-with Djalma, repeated, though still with the greatest coolness: "To +whom, sir, have I the honor of speaking?" + +"Do you not recognize me," said Faringhea, advancing two steps nearer to +Rodin's chair. + +"I do not think I have ever had the honor of seeing you," answered the +other, coldly. + +"But I recognize you," said Faringhea; "I saw you at Cardoville Castle +the day that a ship and a steamer were wrecked together." + +"At Cardoville Castle? It is very possible, sir. I was there when a +shipwreck took place." + +"And that day I called you by your name, and you asked me what I wanted. +I replied: `Nothing now, brother--hereafter, much.' The time has +arrived. I have come to ask for much." + +"My dear sir," said Rodin, still impassible, "before we continue this +conversation, which appears hitherto tolerably obscure, I must repeat my +wish to be informed to whom I have the advantage of speaking. You have +introduced yourself here under pretext of a commission from Mynheer +Joshua Van Dael, a respectable merchant of Batavia, and--" + +"You know the writing of M. Van Dael?" said Faringhea, interrupting +Rodin. + +"I know it perfectly." + +"Look!" The half-caste drew from his pocket (he was shabbily dressed in +European clothes) a long dispatch, which he had taken from one Mahal the +Smuggler, after strangling him on the beach near Batavia. These papers +he placed before Rodin's eyes, but without quitting his hold of them. + +"It is, indeed, M. Van Dael's writing," said Rodin, and he stretched out +his hard towards the letter, which Faringhea quickly and prudently +returned to his pocket. + +"Allow me to observe, my dear sir, that you have a singular manner of +executing a commission," said Rodin. "This letter, being to my address, +and having been entrusted to you by M. Van Dael, you ought--" + +"This letter was not entrusted to me by M. Van Dael," said Faringhea, +interrupting Rodin. + +"How, then, is it in your possession?" + +"A Javanese smuggler betrayed me. Van Dael had secured a passage to +Alexandria for this man, and had given him this letter to carry with him +for the European mail. I strangled the smuggler, took the letter, made +the passage--and here I am." + +The Thug had pronounced these words with an air of savage boasting; his +wild, intrepid glance did not quail before the piercing look of Rodin, +who, at this strange confession, had hastily raised his head to observe +the speaker. + +Faringhea thought to astonish or intimidate Rodin by these ferocious +words; but, to his great surprise, the socius, impassible as a corpse, +said to him, quite simply: "Oh! they strangle people in Java?" + +"Yes, there and elsewhere," answered Faringhea, with a bitter smile. + +"I would prefer to disbelieve you; but I am surprised at your sincerity +M.--, what is your name?" + +"Faringhea." + +"Well, then, M. Faringhea, what do you wish to come to? You have +obtained by an abominable crime, a letter addressed to me, and now you +hesitate to deliver it " + +"Because I have read it, and it may be useful to me." + +"Oh! you have read it?" said Rodin, disconcerted for a moment. Then he +resumed: "It is true, that judging by your mode of possessing yourself of +other people's correspondence, we cannot expect any great amount of +honesty on your part. And pray what have you found so useful to you in +this letter?" + +"I have found, brother, that you are, like myself, a son of the Good +Work." + +"Of what good work do you speak" asked Rodin not a little surprised. + +Faringhea replied with an expression of bitter irony. "Joshua says to +you in his letter--`Obedience and courage, secrecy and patience, craft +and audacity, union between us, who have the world for our country, the +brethren for our family, Rome for our queen.'" + +"It is possible that M. Van Dael has written thus to me Pray, sir, what +do you conclude from it?" + +"We, too, have the world for our country, brother, our accomplices for +our family, and for our queen Bowanee." + +"I do not know that saint," said Rodin, humbly. + +"It is our Rome," answered the Strangler. "Van Dael speaks to you of +those of your Order, who, scattered over all the earth, labor for the +glory of Rome, your queen. Those of our band labor also in divers +countries, for the glory of Bowanee." + +"And who are these sons of Bowanee, M. Faringhea?" + +"Men of resolution, audacious, patient, crafty, obstinate, who, to make +the Good Work succeed, would sacrifice country and parents, and sister +and brother, and who regard as enemies all not of their band!" + +"There seems to be much that is good in the persevering and exclusively +religious spirit of such an order," said Rodin, with a modest and +sanctified air; "only, one must know your ends and objects." + +"The same as your own, brother--we make corpses."[13] + +"Corpses!" cried Rodin. + +"In this letter," resumed Faringhea, "Van Dael tells you that the +greatest glory of your Order is to make `a corpse of man.' Our work also +is to make corpses of men. Man's death is sweet to Bowanee." + +"But sir," cried Rodin, "M. Van Dael speaks of the soul, of the will, of +the mind, which are to be brought down by discipline." + +"It is true--you kill the soul, and we the body. Give me your hand, +brother, for you also are hunters of men." + +"But once more, sir,--understand, that we only meddle with the will, the +mind," said Rodin. + +"And what are bodies deprived of soul, will, thought, but mere corpses? +Come--come, brother; the dead we make by the cord are not more icy and +inanimate than those you make by your discipline. Take my hand, brother; +Rome and Bowanee are sisters." + +Notwithstanding his apparent calmness, Rodin could not behold, without +some secret alarm, a wretch like Faringhea in possession of a long letter +from Van Dael, wherein mention must necessarily have been made of Djalma. +Rodin believed, indeed, that he had rendered it impossible for the young +Indian to be at Paris on the morrow, but not knowing what connection +might have been formed, since the shipwreck, between the prince and the +half-caste, he looked upon Faringhea as a man who might probably be very +dangerous. But the more uneasy the socius felt in himself, the more he +affected to appear calm and disdainful. He replied, therefore: " This +comparison between Rome and Bowanee is no doubt very amusing; but what, +sir, do you deduce from it?" + +"I wish to show you, brother, what I am, and of what I am capable, to +convince you that it is better to have me for a friend than an enemy." + +"In other terms, sir," said Rodin, with contemptuous irony, "you belong +to a murderous sect in India, and, you wish, by a transparent allegory, +to lead me to reflect on the fate of the man from whom you have stolen +the letter addressed to me. In my turn, I will take the freedom just to +observe to you, in all humility, M. Faringhea, that here it is not +permitted to strangle anybody, and that if you were to think fit to make +any corpses for the love of Bowanee, your goddess, we should make you a +head shorter, for the love of another divinity commonly called justice." + +"And what would they do to me, if I tried to poison any one?" + +"I will again humbly observe to you, M. Faringhea, that I have no time to +give you a course of criminal jurisprudence; but, believe me, you had +better resist the temptation to strangle or poison any one. One word +more: will you deliver up to me the letters of M. Van Dael, or not?" + +"The letters relative to Prince Djalma?" said the half-caste, looking +fixedly at Rodin, who, notwithstanding a sharp and sudden twinge, +remained impenetrable, and answered with the utmost simplicity: "Not +knowing what the letters which you, sir, are pleased to keep from me, may +contain, it is impossible for me to answer your question. I beg, and if +necessary, I demand, that you will hand me those letters--or that you +will retire." + +"In a few minutes, brother, you will entreat me to remain." + +"I doubt it." + +"A few words will operate--this miracle. If just now I spoke to you +about poisoning, brother, it was because you sent a doctor to Cardoville +Castle, to poison (at least for a time) Prince Djalma." + +In spite of himself, Rodin started almost imperceptibly, as he replied: +"I do not understand you." + +"It is true, that I am a poor foreigner, and doubtless speak with an +accent; I will try and explain myself better. I know, by Van Dael's +letters, the interest you have that Prince Djalma should not be here to- +morrow, and all that you have done with this view. Do you understand me +now?" + +"I have no answer for you." + +Two cautious taps at the door here interrupted the conversation. "Come +in," said Rodin. + +"The letter has been taken to its address, sir," said the old servant, +bowing, "and here is the answer." + +Rodin took the paper, and, before he opened it, said courteously to +Faringhea: "With your permission, sir?" + +"Make no ceremonies," said the half-caste. + +"You are very kind," replied Rodin, as, having read the letter he +received, he wrote hastily some words at the bottom, saying: "Send this +back to the same address." + +The servant bowed respectfully, and withdrew. + +"Now can I continue"' asked the half-caste, of Rodin. + +"Certainly." + +"I will continue, then," resumed Faringhea: + +"The day before yesterday, just as the prince, all wounded as he was, was +about, by my advice, to take his departure for Paris, a fine carriage +arrived, with superb presents for Djalma, from an unknown friend. In +this carriage were two men--one sent by the unknown friend--the other a +doctor, sent by you to attend upon Djalma, and accompany him to Paris. +It was a charitable act, brother--was it not so?" + +"Go on with your story, sir." + +"Djalma set out yesterday. By declaring that the prince's wound would +grow seriously worse, if he did not lie down in the carriage during all +the journey, the doctor got rid of the envoy of the unknown friend, who +went away by himself. The doctor wished to get rid of me too; but Djalma +so strongly insisted upon it, that I accompanied the prince and doctor. +Yesterday evening, we had come about half the distance. The doctor +proposed we should pass the night at an inn. `We have plenty of time,' +said he, `to reach Paris by to-morrow evening'--the prince having told +him, that he must absolutely be in Paris by the evening of the 12th. The +doctor had been very pressing to set out alone with the prince. I knew +by Van Dael's letter, that it was of great importance to you for Djalma +not to be here on the 13th; I had my suspicions, and I asked the doctor +if he knew you; he answered with an embarrassed air, and then my +suspicion became certainty. When we reached the inn, whilst the doctor +was occupied with Djalma, I went up to the room of the former, and +examined a box full of phials that he had brought with him. One of them +contained opium--and then I guessed--" + +"What did you guess, sir?" + +"You shall know. The doctor said to Djalma, before he left him: `Your +wound is doing well, but the fatigue of the journey might bring on +inflammation; it will be good for you, in the course of to-morrow, to +take a soothing potion, that I will make ready this evening, to have with +us in the carriage.' The doctor's plan was a simple one," added +Faringhea; "to-day the prince was to take the potion at four or five +o'clock in the afternoon--and fall into a deep sleep--the doctor to grow +uneasy, and stop the carriage--to declare that it would be dangerous to +continue the journey -to pass the night at an inn, and keep close watch +over the prince, whose stupor was only, to cease when it suited your +purposes. That was your design--it was cleverly planned--I chose to make +use of it myself, and I have succeeded." + +"All that you are talking about, my dear sir," said Rodin, biting his +nails, "is pure Hebrew to me." + +"No doubt, because of my accent. But tell me, have you heard speak of +array--mow?" + +"No." + +"Your loss! It is an admirable production of the Island of Java, so +fertile in poisons." + +"What is that to me?" said Rodin, in a sharp voice, but hardly able to +dissemble his growing anxiety. + +"It concerns you nearly. We sons of Bowanee have a horror of shedding +blood," resumed Faringhea; "to pass the cord round the neck of our +victims, we wait till they are asleep. When their sleep is not deep +enough, we know how to make it deeper. We are skillful at our work; the +serpent is not more cunning, or the lion more valiant, Djalma himself +bears our mark. The array-mow is an impalpable powder, and, by letting +the sleeper inhale a few grains of it, or by mixing it with the tobacco +to be smoked by a waking man, we can throw our victim into a stupor, from +which nothing will rouse him. If we fear to administer too strong a dose +at once, we let the sleeper inhale a little at different times, and we +can thus prolong the trance at pleasure, and without any danger, as long +as a man does not require meat and drink--say, thirty or forty hours. +You see, that opium is mere trash compared to this divine narcotic. I +had brought some of this with me from Java--as a mere curiosity, you +know--without forgetting the counter poison." + +"Oh! there is a counter-poison, then?" said Rodin, mechanically. + +"Just as there are people quite contrary to what we are, brother of the +good work. The Javanese call the juice of this root tooboe; it +dissipates the stupor caused by the array-mow, as the sun disperses the +clouds. Now, yesterday evening, being certain of the projects of your +emissary against Djalma, I waited till the doctor was in bed and asleep. +I crept into his room, and made him inhale such a dose of array-mow--that +he is probably sleeping still." + +"Miscreant!" cried Rodin, more and more alarmed by this narrative, for +Faringhea had dealt a terrible blow at the machinations of the socius and +his friends. "You risk poisoning the doctor." + +"Yes, brother; just as he ran the risk of poisoning Djalma. This morning +we set out, leaving your doctor at the inn, plunged in a deep sleep. I +was alone in the carriage with Djalma. He smoked like a true Indian; +some grains of array-mow, mixed with the tobacco in his long pipe, first +made him drowsy; a second dose, that he inhaled, sent him to sleep; and +so I left him at the inn where we stopped. Now, brother, it depends upon +me, to leave Djalma in his trance, which will last till to-morrow evening +or to rouse him from it on the instant. Exactly as you comply with my +demands or not, Djalma will or will not be in the Rue Saint-Francois to- +morrow." + +So saying, Faringhea drew from his pocket the medal belonging to Djalma, +and observed, as he showed it to Rodin: "You see that I tell you the +truth. During Djalma's sleep, took from him this medal, the only +indication he has of the place where he ought to be to-morrow. I finish, +then as I began: Brother, I have come to ask you for a great deal." + +For some minutes, Rodin had been biting his nails to the quick, as was +his custom when seized with a fit of dumb and concentrated rage. Just +then, the bell of the porter's lodge rang three times in a particular +manner. Rodin did not appear to notice it, and yet a sudden light +sparkled in his small reptile eyes; while Faringhea, with his arms +folded, looked at him with an expression of triumph and disdainful +superiority. The socius bent down his head, remained silent for some +seconds, took mechanically a pen from his desk, and began to gnaw the +feather, as if in deep reflection upon what Faringhea had just said. +Then, throwing down the pen upon the desk, he turned suddenly towards the +half-caste, and addressed him with an air of profound contempt "Now, +really, M. Faringhea--do you think to make game of us with your cock-and- +bull stories?" + +Amazed, in spite of his audacity, the half-caste recoiled a step. + +"What, sir!" resumed Rodin. "You come here into a respectable house, to +boast that you have stolen letters, strangled this man, drugged that +other?--Why, sir, it is downright madness. I wished to hear you to the +end, to see to what extent you would carry your audacity--for none but a +monstrous rascal would venture to plume himself on such infamous crimes. +But I prefer believing, that they exist only in your imagination." + +As he barked out these words, with a degree of animation not usual in +him, Rodin rose from his seat, and approached the chimney, while +Faringhea, who had not yet recovered from his surprise, looked at him in +silence. In a few seconds, however, the half-caste returned, with a +gloomy and savage mien: "Take care, brother; do not force me to prove to +you that I have told the truth." + +"Come, come, sir; you must be fresh from the Antipodes, to believe us +Frenchmen such easy dupes. You have, you say, the prudence of a serpent, +and the courage of a lion. I do not know if you are a courageous lion, +but you are certainly not a prudent serpent. What! you have about you a +letter from M. Van Dael, by which I might be compromised--supposing all +this not to be a fable--you have left Prince Djalma in a stupor, which +would serve my projects, and from which you alone can rouse him--you are +able, you say, to strike a terrible blow at my interests--and yet you do +not consider (bold lion! crafty serpent as you are!) that I only want to +gain twenty-four hours upon you. Now, you come from the end of India to +Paris, an unknown stranger--you believe me to be as great a scoundrel as +yourself,--since you call me brother--and do not once consider, that you +are here in my power--that this street and house are solitary, and that I +could have three or four persons to bind you in a second, savage +Strangler though you are!--and that just by pulling this bell-rope," said +Rodin, as he took it in his hand. "Do not be alarmed," added he, with a +diabolical smile, as he saw Faringhea make an abrupt movement of surprise +and fright; "would I give you notice, if I meant to act in this manner?-- +But just answer me. Once bound and put in confinement for twenty-four +hours, how could you injure me? Would it not be easy for me to possess +myself of Van Dael's letter, and Djalma's medal? and the latter, plunged +in a stupor till to-morrow evening, need not trouble me at all. You see, +therefore, that your threats are vain) because they rest upon falsehood-- +because it is not true, that Prince Djalma is here and in your power. +Begone, sir--leave the house; and when next you wish to make dupes, show +more judgment in the selection." + +Faringhea seemed struck with astonishment. All that he had just heard +seemed very probable. Rodin might seize upon him, the letter, and the +medal, and, by keeping him prisoner, prevent Djalma from being awakened. +And yet Rodin ordered him to leave the house, at the moment when +Faringhea had imagined himself so formidable. As he thought for the +motives of this inexplicable conduct, it struck him that Rodin, +notwithstanding the proofs he had brought him, did not yet believe that +Djalma was in his power. On that theory, the contempt of Van Dael's +correspondent admitted of a natural explanation. But Rodin was playing a +bold and skillful game; and, while he appeared to mutter to himself, as +in anger, he was observing, with intense anxiety, the Strangler's +countenance. + +The latter, almost certain that he had divined the secret motive of +Rodin, replied: "I am going--but one word more. You think I deceive +you?" + +"I am certain of it. You have told me nothing but a tissue of fables, +and I have lost much time in listening to them. Spare me the rest; it is +late--and I should like to be alone." + +"One minute more: you are a man, I see, from whom nothing should be hid," +said Faringhea, "from Djalma, I could now only expect alms and disdain-- +for, with a character like this, to say to him, `Pay me, because I might +have betrayed you and did not,' would be to provoke his anger and +contempt. I could have killed him twenty times over, but his day is not +yet come," said the Thug, with a gloomy air; "and to wait for that and +other fatal days, I must have gold, much gold. You alone can pay me for +the betrayal of Djalma, for you alone profit by it. You refuse to hear +me, because you think I am deceiving you. But I took the direction of +the inn where we stopped--and here it is. Send some one to ascertain the +truth of what I tell you, and then you will believe me. But the price of +my services will be high; for I told you that I wanted much." + +So saying, Faringhea offered a printed card to Rodin: the socius, who, +out of the corner of his eye, followed all the half-caste's movements, +appeared to be absorbed in thought, and taking no heed of anything. + +"Here is the address,' repeated Faringhea, as he held out the card to +Rodin; "assure yourself that I do not lie." + +"Eh? what is it?" said the other, casting a rapid but stolen glance at +the address, which he read greedily, without touching the card. + +"Take this address," repeated the half-caste, "and you may then assure +yourself--" + +"Really, sir," cried Rodin, pushing back the card with his hand, "your +impudence confounds me. I repeat that I wish to have nothing in common +with you. For the last time, I tell you to leave the house. I know +nothing about your Prince Djalma. You say you can injure me--do so--make +no ceremonies--but, in heaven's name, leave me to myself." + +So saying, Rodin rang the bell violently. Faringhea made a movement as +if to stand upon the defensive; but only the old servant, with his quiet +and placid mien, appeared at the door. + +"Lapierre, light the gentleman out," said Rodin, pointing to Faringhea. + +Terrified at Rodin's calmness, the half-caste hesitated to leave the +room. + +"Why do you wait, sir?" said Rodin, remarking his hesitation. "I wish to +be alone." + +"So, sir," said Faringhea, as he withdrew, slowly, "you refuse my offers? +Take care! to-morrow it will be too late." + +"I have the honor to be your most humble servant, sir," said Rodin, +bowing courteously. The Strangler went out, and the door closed upon +him. + +Immediately, Father d'Aigrigny entered from the next room. His +countenance was pale and agitated. + +"What have you done?" exclaimed he addressing Rodin. + +"I have heard all. I am unfortunately too sure that this wretch spoke +the truth. The Indian is in his power, and he goes to rejoin him." + +"I think not," said Rodin, humbly, as bowing, he reassumed his dull and +submissive countenance. + +"What will prevent this man from rejoining the prince?" + +"Allow me. As soon as the rascal was shown in, I knew him; and so, +before speaking a word to him, I wrote a few lines to Morok, who was +waiting below with Goliath till your reverence should be at leisure. +Afterwards, in the course of the conversation, when they brought me +Morok's answer, I added some fresh instructions, seeing the turn that +affairs were taking." + +"And what was the use of all this, since you have let the man leave the +house?" + +"Your reverence will perhaps deign to observe that he did not leave it; +till he had given me the direction of the hotel where the Indian now is, +thanks to my innocent stratagem of appearing to despise him. But, if it +had failed, Faringhea would still have fallen into the hands of Goliath +and Morok, who are waiting for him in the street, a few steps from the +door. Only we should have been rather embarrassed, as we should not have +known where to find Prince Djalma." + +"More violence!" said Father d'Aigrigny, with repugnance. + +"It is to be regretted, very much regretted," replied Rodin; "but it was +necessary to follow out the system already adopted." + +"Is that meant for a reproach?" said Father d'Aigrigny, who began to +think that Rodin was something more than a mere writing-machine. + +"I could not permit myself to blame your reverence," said Rodin, cringing +almost to the ground. "But all that will be required is to confine this +man for twenty-four hours." + +"And afterwards--his complaints?" + +"Such a scoundrel as he is will not dare to complain. Besides, he left +this house in freedom. Morok and Goliath will bandage his eyes when they +seize him. The house has another entrance in the Rue Vieille-des-Ursins. +At this hour, and in such a storm, no one will be passing through this +deserted quarter of the town. The knave will be confused by the change +of place; they will put him into a cellar, of the new building, and to- +morrow night, about the same hour, they will restore him to liberty with +the like precautions. As for the East Indian, we now know where to find +him; we must send to him a confidential person, and, if he recovers from +his trance, there would be, in my humble opinion," said Rodin, modestly, +"a very simple and quiet manner of keeping him away from the Rue Saint- +Francois all day to-morrow." + +The same servant with the mild countenance, who had introduced and shown +out Faringhea, here entered the room, after knocking discreetly at the +door. He held in his hand a sort of game-bag, which he gave to Rodin, +saying: "Here is what M. Morok has just brought; he came in by the Rue +Vieille." + +The servant withdrew, and Rodin, opening the bag, said to Father +d'Aigrigny, as he showed him the contents: "The medal, and Van Dael's +letter. Morok has been quick at his work." + +"One more danger avoided," said the marquis; "it is a pity to be forced +to such measures." + +"We must only blame the rascal who has obliged us to have recourse to +them. I will send instantly to the hotel where the Indian lodges." + +"And, at seven in the morning, you will conduct Gabriel to the Rue Saint- +Francois. It is there that I must have with him the interview which he +has so earnestly demanded these three days." + +"I informed him of it this evening, and he awaits your orders." + +"At last, then," said Father d'Aigrigny, "after so many struggles, and +fears, and crosses, only a few hours separate us from the moment which we +have so long desired." + +We now conduct the reader to the house in the Rue Saint-Francois. + +[13] The doctrine of passive and absolute obedience, the principal tool +in the hands of the Jesuits, as summed up in these terrible words of the +dying Loyola--that every member of the order should be in the hands of +his superiors as a dead body--'perinde ad cadaver'. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +THE HOUSE IN THE RUE SAINT-FRANCOIS. + +On entering the Rue Saint-Gervais, by the Rue Dore (in the Marais), you +would have found yourself, at the epoch of this narrative, directly +opposite to an enormously high wall, the stones of which were black and +worm-eaten with age. This wall, which extended nearly the whole length +of that solitary street, served to support a terrace shaded by trees of +some hundred years old, which thus grew about forty feet above the +causeway. Through their thick branches appeared the stone front, peaked +roof and tall brick chimneys of an antique house, the entrance of which +was situated in the Rue Saint-Francois, not far from the Rue Saint- +Gervais corner. Nothing could be more gloomy than the exterior of this +abode. On the entrance-side also was a very high wall, pierced with two +or three loop-holes, strongly grated. A carriage gateway in massive oak, +barred with iron, and studded with large nail-heads, whose primitive +color disappeared beneath a thick layer of mud, dust, and rust, fitted +close into the arch of a deep recess, forming the swell of a bay window +above. In one of these massive gates was a smaller door, which served +for ingress and egress to Samuel the Jew, the guardian of this dreary +abode. On passing the threshold, you came to a passage, formed in the +building which faced in the street. In this building was the lodging of +Samuel, with its windows opening upon the rather spacious inner court- +yard, through the railing of which you perceived the garden. In the +middle of this garden stood a two-storied stone house, so strangely +built, that you had to mount a flight of steps, or rather a double-flight +of at least twenty steps, to reach the door, which had been walled up a +hundred and fifty years before. The window-blinds of this habitation had +been replaced by large thick plates of lead, hermetically soldered and +kept in by frames of iron clamped in the stone. Moreover, completely to +intercept air and light, and thus to guard against decay within and +without, the roof had been covered with thick sheets of lead, as well as +the vents of the tall chimneys, which had previously been bricked up. +The same precautions had been taken with respect to a small square +belvedere, situated on the top of the house; this glass cage was covered +with a sort of dome, soldered to the roof. Only, in consequence of some +singular fancy, in every one of the leaden plates, which concealed the +four sides of the belvedere, corresponding to the cardinal points, seven +little round holes had been bored in the form of a cross, and were easily +distinguishable from the outside. Everywhere else the plates of lead +were completely unpierced. Thanks to these precautions, and to the +substantial structure of the building, nothing but a few outward repairs +had been necessary; and the apartments, entirely removed from the +influence of the external air, no doubt remained, during a century and a +half, exactly in the same state as at the time of their being shut up. +The aspect of walls in crevices, of broken, worm-eaten shutters, of a +roof half fallen in, and windows covered with wall-flowers, would perhaps +have been less sad than the appearance of this stone house, plated with +iron and lead, and preserved like a mausoleum. The garden, completely +deserted, and only regularly visited once a week by Samuel, presented to +the view, particularly in summer, an incredible confusion of parasites +and brambles. The trees, left to themselves, had shot forth and mingled +their branches in all directions; some straggling vines, reproduced from +offshoots, had crept along the ground to the foot of the trees, and, +climbing up their trunks, had twined themselves about them, and encircled +their highest branches with their inextricable net. You could only pass +through this virgin forest by following the path made by the guardian, to +go from the grating to the house, the approaches to which were a little +sloped to let the water run off, and carefully paved to the width of +about ten feet. Another narrow path which extended all around the +enclosure, was every night perambulated by two or three Pyrenees dogs--a +faithful race, which had been perpetuated in the house during a century +and a half. Such was the habitation destined for the meeting of the +descendants of the family of Rennepont. The night which separated the +12th from the 13th day of February was near its close. A calm had +succeeded the storm, and the rain had ceased; the sky was clear and full +of stars; the moon, on its decline, shone with a mild lustre, and threw a +melancholy light over that deserted, silent house, whose threshold for so +many years no human footstep had crossed. + +A bright gleam of light, issuing from one of the windows of the +guardian's dwelling, announced that Samuel was awake. Figure to yourself +a tolerably large room, lined from top to bottom with old walnut +wainscoting browned to an almost black, with age. Two half-extinguished +brands are smoking amid the cinders on the hearth. On the stone +mantelpiece, painted to resemble gray granite, stands an old iron +candlestick, furnished with a meagre candle, capped by an extinguisher. +Near it one sees a pair of double-barrelled pistols, and a sharp cutlass, +with a hilt of carved bronze, belonging to the seventeenth century. +Moreover, a heavy rifle rests against one of the chimney jambs. Four +stools, an old oak press, and a square table with twisted legs, formed +the sole furniture of this apartment. Against the wall were +systematically suspended a number of keys of different sizes, the shape +of which bore evidence to their antiquity, whilst to their rings were +affixed divers labels. The back of the old press, which moved by a +secret spring, had been pushed aside, and discovered, built in the wall, +a large and deep iron chest, the lid of which, being open, displayed the +wondrous mechanism of one of those Florentine locks of the sixteenth +century, which, better than any modern invention, set all picklocks at +defiance; and, moreover, according to the notions of that age, are +supplied with a thick lining of asbestos cloth, suspended by gold wire at +a distance from the sides of the chest, for the purpose of rendering +incombustible the articles contained in it. A large cedar-wood box had +been taken from the chest, and placed upon a stool; it contained numerous +papers, carefully arranged and docketed. By the light of a brass lamp, +the old keeper Samuel, was writing in a small register, whilst Bathsheba, +his wife, was dictating to him from an account. Samuel was about eighty- +two years old, and, notwithstanding his advanced age, a mass of gray +curling hair covered his head. He was short, thin, nervous, and the +involuntary petulance of his movements proved that years had not weakened +his energy and activity; though, out of doors, where, however, he made +his appearance very seldom, he affected a sort of second childhood, as +had been remarked by Rodin to Father d'Aigrigny. An old dressing-gown, +of maroon-colored camlet, with large sleeves, completely enveloped the +old man, and reached to his feet. + +Samuel's features were cast in the pure, Eastern mould of his race. His +complexion was of a dead yellow, his nose aquiline, his chin shaded by a +little tuft of white beard, while projecting cheek-bones threw a harsh +shadow upon the hollow and wrinkled cheeks. His countenance was full of +intelligence, fine sharpness, and sagacity. On his broad, high forehead +one might read frankness, honesty, and firmness; his eyes, black and +brilliant as an Arab's, were at once mild and piercing. + +His wife, Bathsheba, some fifteen years younger than himself, was of tall +stature, and dressed entirely in black. A low cap, of starched lawn, +which reminded one of the grave head-dresses of Dutch matrons, encircled +a pale and austere countenance, formerly of a rare and haughty beauty, +and impressed with the Scriptural character. Some lines in the forehead, +caused by the almost continual knitting of her gray brows, showed that +this woman had often suffered from the pressure of intense grief. + +At this very moment her countenance betrayed inexpressible sorrow. Her +look was fixed, her head resting on her bosom. She had let her right +hand, which held a small account-book, fall upon her lap, while the other +hand grasped convulsively a long tress of jet-black hair, which she bore +about her neck. It was fastened by a golden clasp, about an inch square, +in which, under a plate of crystal, that shut in one side of it like a +relic-case, could be seen a piece of linen, folded square, and almost +entirely covered with dark red spots that resembled blood a long time +dried. + +After a short silence, during which Samuel was occupied with his +register, he read aloud what he had just been writing: "Per contra, 5,000 +Austrian Metallics of 1,000 florins, under date of October 19th, 1826." + +After which enumeration, Samuel raised his head, and said to his wife: +"Well, is it right, Bathsheba? Have you compared it with the account- +book?" + +Bathsheba did not answer. Samuel looked at her, and, seeing that she was +absorbed in grief, said to her, with an expression of tender anxiety: +"What is the matter? Good heaven! what is the matter with you?" + +"The 19th of October, 1826," said she, slowly, with her eyes still fixed, +and pressing yet more closely the lock of black hair which she wore about +her neck; "It was a fatal day--for, Samuel, it was the date of the last +letter which we received from--" + +Bathsheba was unable to proceed. She uttered a long sigh, and concealed +her face in her hands. + +"Oh! I understand you," observed the old man, in a tremulous voice; "a +father may be taken up by the thought of other cares; but the heart of a +mother is ever wakeful." Throwing his pen down upon the table, Samuel +leaned his forehead upon his hands in sorrow. + +Bathsheba resumed, as if she found a melancholy pleasure in these cruel +remembrances: "Yes; that was the last day on which our son, Abel, wrote +to us from Germany, to announce to us that he had invested the funds +according to your desire and was going thence into Poland, to effect +another operation." + +"And in Poland he met the death of a martyr," added Samuel. "With no +motive and no proof, they accused him falsely of coming to organize +smuggling, and the Russian governor, treating him as they treat our +brothers in that land of cruel tyranny, condemned him to the dreadful +punishment of the knout, without even hearing him in his defence. Why +should they hear a Jew? What is a Jew? A creature below a serf, whom +they reproach for all the vices that a degrading slavery has engendered. +A Jew beaten to death? Who would trouble themselves about it?" + +"And poor Abel, so good, so faithful, died beneath their stripes, partly +from shame, partly from the wounds, said Bathsheba, shuddering. "One of +our Polish brethren obtained with great difficulty permission to bury +him. He cut off this lode of beautiful black hair--which, with this +scrap of linen, bathed in the blood of our dear son, is all that now +remains to us of him." Bathsheba covered the hair and clasp with +convulsive kisses. + +"Alas!" said Samuel, drying his tears, which had burst forth at these sad +recollections, "the Lord did not at last remove our child, until the task +which our family has accomplished faithfully for a century and a half was +nearly at an end. Of what use will our race be henceforth upon earth?" +added Samuel, most bitterly. "Our duty is performed. This casket +contains a royal fortune--and yonder house, walled up for a hundred and +fifty years, will be opened to-morrow to the descendants of my ancestor's +benefactor." So saying, Samuel turned his face sorrowfully towards the +house, which he could see through the window. The dawn was just about to +appear. The moon had set; belvedere, roof, and chimneys formed a black +mass upon the dark blue of the starry firmament. + +Suddenly, Samuel grew pale, and, rising abruptly, said to his wife in a +tremulous tone, whilst he still pointed to the house: "Bathsheba! the +seven points of light--just as it was thirty years ago. Look! look:" + +Indeed, the seven round holes, bored in the form of a cross in the leaden +plates which covered the window of the belvedere, sparkled like so many +luminous points, as if some one in the house ascended with a light to the +roof. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +DEBIT AND CREDIT. + +For some seconds, Samuel and Bathsheba remained motionless, with their +eyes fixed in fear and uneasiness on the seven luminous points, which +shone through the darkness of the night from the summit of the belvedere; +while, on the horizon, behind the house, a pale, rosy hue announced the +dawn of day. + +Samuel was the first to break silence, and he said to his wife, as he +drew his hand across his brow: "The grief caused by the remembrance of +our poor child has prevented us from reflecting that, after all, there +should be nothing to alarm us in what we see." + +"How so, Samuel?" + +"My father always told me that he, and my grandfather before him, had +seen such lights at long intervals." + +"Yes, Samuel--but without being able, any more than ourselves, to explain +the cause." + +"Like my father and grandfather, we can only suppose that some secret +passage gives admittance to persons who, like us, have some mysterious +duty to fulfil in this dwelling. Besides, my father warned me not to be +uneasy at these appearances, foretold by him, and now visible for the +second time in thirty years." + +"No matter for that, Samuel, it does strike one as if it was something +supernatural." + +"The days of miracles are over." said the Jew, shaking his head +sorrowfully: "many of the old houses in this quarter have subterraneous +communications with distant places--some extending even to the Seine and +the Catacombs. Doubtless, this house is so situated, and the persons who +make these rare visits enter by some such means." + +"But that the belvedere should be thus lighted up?" + +"According to the plan of the building, you know that the belvedere forms +a kind of skylight to the apartment called the Great Hall of Mourning, +situated on the upper story. As it is completely dark, in consequence of +the closing of all the windows, they must use a light to visit this Hall +of Mourning--a room which is said to contain some very strange and gloomy +things," added the Jew, with a shudder. + +Bathsheba, as well as her husband, gazed attentively on the seven +luminous points, which diminished in brightness as the daylight gradually +increased. + +"As you say, Samuel, the mystery may be thus explained," resumed the +Hebrew's wife. "Besides, the day is so important a one for the family of +Rennepont, that this apparition: ought not to astonish us under the +circumstances." + +"Only to think," remarked Samuel, "that these lights have appeared at +several different times throughout a century and a half! There must, +therefore, be another family that, like ours, has devoted itself, from +generation to generation, to accomplish a pious duty." + +"But what is this duty? It will perhaps be explained today." + +"Come, come, Bathsheba," suddenly exclaimed Samuel, as if roused from his +reverie, and reproaching himself with idleness; this is the day, and, +before eight o'clock, our cash account must be in order, and these titles +to immense property arranged, so that they may be delivered to the +rightful owners"--and he pointed to the cedar-wood box. + +"You are right, Samuel; this day does not belong to us. It is a solemn +day--one that would have been sweet, oh! very sweet to you and me--if now +any days could be sweet to us," said Bathsheba bitterly, for she was +thinking of her son. + +"Bathsheba," said Samuel, mournfully, as he laid his hand on his wife's; +"we shall at least have the stern satisfaction of having done our duty. +And has not the Lord been very favorable to us, though He has thus +severely tried us by the death of our son? Is it not thanks to His +providence that three generations of my family have been able to +commence, continue, and finish this great work?" + +"Yes, Samuel," said the Jewess, affectionately, "and for you at least +this satisfaction will be combined with calm and quietness, for on the +stroke of noon you will be delivered from a very terrible +responsibility." + +So saying, Bathsheba pointed to the box. + +"It is true," replied the old man; "I had rather these immense riches +were in the hands of those to whom they belong, than in mine; but, to- +day, I shall cease to be their trustee. Once more then, I will check the +account for the last time, and compare the register with the cash-book +that you hold in your hand." + +Bathsheba bowed her head affirmatively, and Samuel, taking up his pen, +occupied himself once more with his calculations. His wife, in spite of +herself, again yielded to the sad thoughts which that fatal date had +awakened, by reminding her of the death of her son. + +Let us now trace rapidly the history, in appearance so romantic and +marvellous, in reality so simple, of the fifty thousand crowns, which, +thanks to the law of accumulation, and to a prudent, intelligent and +faithful investment, had naturally, and necessarily, been transformed, in +the space of a century and a half, into a sum far more important than the +forty millions estimated by Father d'Aigrigny--who, partially informed on +this subject, and reckoning the disastrous accidents, losses, and +bankruptcies which might have occurred during so long a period, believed +that forty millions might well b e considered enormous. + +The history of this fortune being closely connected with that of the +Samuel family, by whom it had been managed for three generations, we +shall give it again in a few words. + +About the period 1670, some years before his death, Marius de Rennepont, +then travelling in Portugal, had been enabled, by means of powerful +interest, to save the life of an unfortunate Jew, condemned to be burnt +alive by the Inquisition, because of his religion. This Jew was Isaac +Samuel, grandfather of the present guardian of the house in the Rue +Saint-Francois. + +Generous men often attach themselves to those they have served, as much, +at least, as the obliged parties are attached to their benefactors. +Having ascertained that Isaac, who at that time carried on a petty +broker's business at Lisbon, was industrious, honest, active, laborious, +and intelligent, M. de Rennepont, who then possessed large property in +France, proposed to the Jew to accompany him, and undertake the +management of his affairs. The same hatred and suspicion with which the +Israelites have always been followed, was then at its height. Isaac was +therefore doubly grateful for this mark of confidence on the part of M. +de Rennepont. He accepted the offer, and promised from that day to +devote his existence to the service of him who had first saved his life, +and then trusted implicitly to his good faith and uprightness, although +he was a Jew, and belonged to a race generally suspected and despised. +M. de Rennepont, a man of great soul, endowed with a good spirit, was not +deceived in his choice. Until he was deprived of his fortune, it +prospered wonderfully in the hands of Isaac Samuel, who, gifted with an +admirable aptitude for business, applied himself exclusively to advance +the interests of his benefactor. + +Then came the persecution and ruin of M. de Rennepont, whose property was +confiscated and given up to the reverend fathers of the Company of Jesus +only a few days before his death. Concealed in the retreat he had +chosen, therein to put a violent end to his life, he sent secretly for +Isaac Samuel, and delivered to him fifty thousand crowns in gold, the +last remains of his fortune. This faithful servant was to invest the +money to the best advantage, and, if he should have a son, transmit to +him the same obligation; or, should he have no child, he was to seek out +some relation worthy of continuing this trust, to which would moreover be +annexed a fair reward. It was thus to be transmitted and perpetuated +from relative to relative, until the expiration of a century and a half. +M. de Rennepont also begged Isaac to take charge, during his life, of the +house in the Rue Saint-Francois, where he would be lodged gratis, and to +leave this function likewise to his descendants, if it were possible. + +If even Isaac Samuel had not had children, the powerful bond of union +which exists between certain Jewish families, would have rendered +practicable the last will of De Rennepont. The relations of Isaac would +have become partner; in his gratitude to his benefactor, and they, and +their succeeding generations, would have religiously accomplished the +task imposed upon one of their race. But, several years after the death +of De Rennepont, Isaac had a son. + +This son, Levy Samuel, born in 1689, not having had any children by his +first wife, married again at nearly sixty years of age, and, in 1750, he +also had a son--David Samuel, the guardian of the house in the Rue Saint- +Francois, who, in 1832 (the date of this narrative), was eighty-two years +old, and seemed likely to live as long as his father, who had died at the +age of ninety-three. Finally, Abel Samuel, the son whom Bathsheba so +bitterly regretted, born in 1790, had perished under the Russian knout, +at the age of thirty-six. + +Having established this humble genealogy, we easily understand how this +successive longevity of three members of the Samuel family, all of whom +had been guardians of the walled house, by uniting, as it were, the +nineteenth with the seventeenth century, simplified and facilitated the +execution of M. de Rennepont's will; the latter having declared his +desire to the grandfather of the Samuels, that the capital should only be +augmented by interest at five per cent.--so that the fortune might come +to his descendants free from all taint of usurious speculation. + +The fellow men of the Samuel family, the first inventors of the bill of +exchange, which served them in the Middle Ages to transport mysteriously +considerable amounts from one end of the world to the other, to conceal +their fortune, and to shield it from the rapacity of their enemies--the +Jews, we say, having almost the monopoly of the trade in money and +exchanges, until the end of the eighteenth century, aided the secret +transactions and financial operations of this family, which, up to about +1820, placed their different securities, which had become progressively +immense, in the hands of the principal Israelitish bankers and merchants +of Europe. This sure and secret manner of acting had enabled the present +guardian of the house in the Rue Saint-Francois, to effect enormous +investments, unknown to all; and it was more especially during the period +of his management, that the capital sum had acquired, by the mere fact of +compound interest, an almost incalculable development. Compared with +him, his father and grandfather had only small amounts to manage. Though +it had only been necessary to find successively sure and immediate +investments, so that the money might not remain as it were one day +without bearing interest, it had acquired financial capacity to attain +this result, when so many millions were in question. The last of the +Samuels, brought up in the school of his father, had exhibited this +capacity in a very high degree, as will be seen immediately by the +results. Nothing could be more touching, noble, and respectable, than +the conduct of the members of this Jewish family, who, partners in the +engagement of gratitude taken by their ancestor, devote themselves for +long years, with as much disinterestedness as intelligence and honesty, +to the slow acquisition of a kingly fortune, of which they expect no part +themselves, but which, thanks to them, would come pure, as immense, to +the hands of the descendants of their benefactor! Nor could anything be +more honorable to him who made, and him who received this deposit, than +the simple promise by word of mouth, unaccompanied by any security save +mutual confidence and reciprocal esteem, when the result was only to be +produced at the end of a century and a half! + +After once more reading his inventory with attention, Samuel said to his +wife: "I am certain of the correctness of my additions. Now please to +compare with the account-book in your hand the summary of the investments +that I have just entered in the register. I will assure myself, at the +same time, that the bonds and vouchers are properly arranged in this +casket, that, on the opening of the will, they may be delivered in order +to the notary." + +"Begin, my dear, and I will check you," said Bathsheba. + +Samuel read as follows, examining as he went on, the contents of his +casket: + +Statement of the account of the heirs of M. DE RENNEPONT, delivered by +DAVID SAMUELS. + +DEBIT. + +2,000,000 francs per annum, + in the French 5 P. C., + bought from 1825 to 1832, + at an average price of 99f. + 50c. . . . . . . . . . . . 39,800,000 +900,000 francs, ditto, in + the French 3 P. C., + bought during the + same years, at an average + of 74f 25c . . . . . . . . 22,275,000 +5;000 shares in the Bank + of France, bought at 1,900 9,500,000 +3,000 shares in the Four + Canals, in a certificate + from the Company, + bought at 1,115f . . . . . 3,345,000 +125,000 ducats of + Neapolitans, at an average + of 82. 2,050,000 ducats, + at 4f. 400 . . . . . . . 9,020,000 +5,000 Austrian Metallics, + of 1,000 florins, at 93 + --say 4,650,000 florins, + at 2f. 50c . . . . . . . . 11,625,000 +75,000 pounds sterling + per annum, English + Consolidated 3 P. C., + at 88 3/4--say 2,218,750, + at 25f . . . . . . . . . 55,468,750 +1,200,000 florins, Dutch +2 1/2 P. C., at 60-28, +860,000 florins, at 2f. +100. . . . . . . . . . . 60,606,000 +Cash in banknotes, gold +and silver . . . . . . . . 535,250 + _____________ + Francs 212,175,000 + +Paris, 12th February, 1832. + +CREDIT. + +150,000 francs + received from M. + de Rennepont, + in 1682, by Isaac + Samuel my grandfather; + and invested by him, + my father, and myself, + in different securities, + at Five per Cent. + Interest, with a + settlement of account + and Investment of + interest every six + months, producing, + as by annexed vouchers, 225,950,000 + +Less losses sustained + by failures, expenses of + commission and + brokerage, and + salary of three + generations of + trustees, as per + statement annexed 13,775,000 + ____________ + 212,175,000 + +Francs 212,175,000 + +"It is quite right," said Samuel, after examining the papers, contained +in the cedar-wood box. "There remains in hand, at the absolute disposal +of the heirs of the Rennepont family, the Sum Of TWO HUNDRED AND TWELVE +MILLIONS, ONE HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIVE THOUSAND FRANCS." And the old man +looked at his wife with an expression of legitimate pride. "It is hardly +credible!" cried Bathsheba, struck with surprise. "I knew that you had +immense property in your hands; but I could never have believed, that one +hundred and fifty thousand francs, left a century and a half ago, should +be the only source of this immense fortune." + +"It is even so, Bathsheba," answered the old man, proudly. `Doubtless, +my grandfather, my father, and myself, have all been exact and faithful +in the management of these funds; doubtless, we have required some +sagacity in the choice of investments, in times of revolution and +commercial panics; but all this was easy to us, thanks to our relations +with our brethren in all countries--and never have I, or any of mine, +made an usurious investment, or even taken the full advantage of the +legal rate of interest. Such were the positive demands of M. de +Rennepont, given to my grandfather; nor is there in the world a fortune +that has been obtained by purer means. Had it not been for this +disinterestedness, we might have much augmented this two hundred and +twelve millions, only by taking advantage of a few favorable +circumstances." + +"Dear me! is it possible?" + +"Nothing is more simple, Bathsheba. Every one knows, that in fourteen +years a capital will be doubled, by the mere accumulation of interest and +compound interest at five per cent. Now reflect, that in a century and a +half there are ten times fourteen years, and that these one hundred and +fifty thousands francs have thus been doubled and redoubled, over and +over again. All that astonishes you will then appear plain enough. In +1682, M. de Rennepont entrusted my grandfather with a hundred and fifty +thousand francs; this sum, invested as I have told you, would have +produced in 1696, fourteen years after, three hundred thousand francs. +These last, doubled in 1710, would produce six hundred thousand. On the +death of my grandfather in 1719, the amount was already near a million; +in 1724, it would be twelve hundred thousand francs; in 1738, two +millions four hundred thousand; in 1752, about two years after my birth, +four millions eight hundred thousand; in 1766, nine millions six hundred +thousand; in 1780, nineteen millions two hundred thousand; in 1794, +twelve years after the death of my father, thirty-eight millions four +hundred thousand; in 1808, seventy-six millions eight hundred thousand; +in 1822, one hundred and fifty-three millions six hundred thousand; and, +at this time, taking the compound interest for ten years, it should be at +least two hundred and twenty-five millions. But losses and inevitable +charges, of which the account has been strictly kept, have reduced the +sum to two hundred and twelve millions one hundred and seventy-five +thousand francs, the securities for which are in this box." + +"I now understand you, my dear," answered Bathsheba, thoughtfully; "but +how wonderful is this power of accumulation! and what admirable provision +may be made for the future, with the smallest present resources!" + +"Such, no doubt, was the idea of M. de Rennepont; for my father has often +told me, and he derived it from his father, that M. de Rennepont was one +of the soundest intellects of his time," said Samuel, as he closed the +cedar-box. + +"God grant his descendants may be worthy of this kingly fortune, and make +a noble use of it!" said Bathsheba, rising. + +It was now broad day, and the clock had just struck seven. + +"The masons will soon be here," said Samuel, as he replaced the cedar-box +in the iron safe, concealed behind the antique press. "Like you, +Bathsheba, I am curious and anxious to know, what descendants of M. de +Rennepont will now present themselves." + +Two or three loud knocks on the outer gate resounded through the house. +The barking of the watch-dogs responded to this summons. + +Samuel said to his wife: "It is no doubt the masons, whom the notary has +sent with his clerk. Tie all the keys and their labels together; I will +come back and fetch them." + +So saying, Samuel went down to the door with much nimbleness, considering +his age, prudently opened a small wicket, and saw three workmen, in the +garb of masons, accompanied by a young man dressed in black. + +"What may you want, gentlemen?" said the Jew, before opening the door, as +he wished first to make sure of the identity of the personages. + +"I am sent by M. Dumesnil, the notary," answered the clerk, "to be +present at the unwalling of a door. Here is a letter from my master, +addressed to M. Samuel, guardian of the house." + +"I am he, sir," said the Jew; "please to put the letter through the +slide, and I will take it." + +The clerk did as Samuel desired, but shrugged his shoulders at what he +considered the ridiculous precautions of a suspicious old man. The +housekeeper opened the box, took the letter, went to the end of the +vaulted passage in order to read it, and carefully compared the signature +with that of another letter which he drew from the pocket of his long +coat; then, after all these precautions, he chained up his dogs, and +returned to open the gate to the clerk and masons. + +"What the devil, my good man!" said the clerk, as he entered; "there +would not be more formalities in opening the gates of a fortress!" + +The Jew bowed, but without answering. + +"Are you deaf, my good fellow?" cried the clerk, close to his ears. + +"No, sir," said Samuel, with a quiet smile, as he advanced several steps +beyond the passage. Then pointing to the old house, he added.: "That, +sir, is the door which you will have to open; you will also have to +remove the lead and iron from the second window to the right." + +"Why not open all the windows?" asked the clerk. + +"Because, sir, as guardian of this house, I have received particular +orders on the subject." + +"Who gave you these orders?" + +"My father, sir, who received them from his father, who transmitted them +from the master of this house. When I cease to have the care of it, the +new proprietor will do as he pleases." + +"Oh! very well," said the clerk, not a little surprised. Then, +addressing himself to the masons, he added: "This is your business, my +fine fellows; you are to unwall the door, and remove the iron frame-work +of the second window to the right." + +Whilst the masons set to work, under the inspection of the notary's +clerk, a coach stopped before the outer gate, and Rodin, accompanied by +Gabriel, entered the house in the Rue Saint-Francois. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +THE HEIR + +Samuel opened the door to Gabriel and Rodin. + +The latter said to the Jew, "You, sir, are the keeper of this house?" + +"Yes, sir," replied Samuel. + +"This is Abbe Gabriel de Rennepont," said Rodin, as he introduced his +companion, "one of the descendants of the family of the Renneponts." + +"Happy to hear it, sir," said the Jew, almost involuntarily, struck with +the angelic countenance of Gabriel--for nobleness and serenity of soul +were visible in the glance of the young priest, and were written upon his +pure, white brow, already crowned with the halo of martyrdom. Samuel +looked at Gabriel with curiosity and benevolent interest; but feeling +that this silent contemplation must cause some embarrassment to his +guest, he said to him, "M. Abbe, the notary will not be here before ten +o'clock." + +Gabriel looked at him in turn, with an air of surprise, and answered, +"What notary, sir?" + +"Father d'Aigrigny will explain all this to you," said Rodin, hastily. +Then addressing Samuel, he added, "We are a little before the time. Will +you allow us to wait for the arrival of the notary?" + +"Certainly," said Samuel, "if you please to walk into my house." + +"I thank you, sir," answered Rodin, "and accept your offer." + +"Follow me, then, gentlemen," said the old man. + +A few moments after, the young priest and the socius, preceded by Samuel, +entered one of the rooms occupied by the latter, on the ground-floor of +the building, looking out upon the court-yard. + +"The Abbe d'Aigrigny, who has been the guardian of M. Gabriel, will soon +be coming to ask for us," added Rodin; "will you have the kindness, sir +to show him into this room?" + +"I will not fail to do so, sir," said Samuel, as he went out. + +The socius and Gabriel were left alone. To the adorable gentleness which +usually gave to the fine features of the missionary so touching a charm, +there had succeeded in this moment a remarkable expression of sadness, +resolution, and severity. Rodin not having seen Gabriel for some days, +was greatly struck by the change he remarked in him. He had watched him +silently all the way from the Rue des Postes to the Rue Saint-Francois. +The young priest wore, as usual, a long black cassock, which made still +more visible the transparent paleness of his countenance. When the Jew +had left the room, Gabriel said to Rodin, in a firm voice, "Will you at +length inform me, sir, why, for some days past, I have been prevented +from speaking to his reverence Father d'Aigrigny? Why has he chosen this +house to grant me an interview?" + +"It is impossible for me to answer these questions," replied Rodin, +coldly. "His reverence will soon arrive, and will listen to you. All I +can tell you is, that the reverend father lays as much stress upon this +meeting as you do. If he has chosen this house for the interview, it is +because you have an interest to be here. You know it well--though you +affected astonishment on hearing the guardian speak of a notary." + +So saying, Rodin fixed a scrutinizing, anxious look upon Gabriel, whose +countenance expressed only surprise. + +"I do not understand you," said he, in reply to Rodin. "What have I to +do with this house?" + +"It is impossible that you should not know it," answered Rodin, still +looking at him with attention. + +"I have told you, sir, that I do not know it," replied the other, almost +offended by the pertinacity of the socius. + +"What, then, did your adopted mother come to tell you yesterday? Why did +you presume to receive her without permission from Father d'Aigrigny, as +I have heard this morning? Did she not speak with you of certain family +papers, found upon you when she took you in?" + +"No, sir," said Gabriel; "those papers were delivered at the time to my +adopted mother's confessor, and they afterwards passed into Father +d'Aigrigny's hands. This is the first I hear for a long time of these +papers." + +"So you affirm that Frances Baudoin did not come to speak to you on this +subject?" resumed Rodin, obstinately, laying great emphasis on his words. + +"This is the second time, sir, that you seem to doubt my affirmation," +said the young priest, mildly, while he repressed a movement of +impatience, "I assure you that I speak the truth." + +"He knows nothing," thought Rodin; for he was too well convinced of +Gabriel's sincerity to retain the least doubt after so positive a +declaration. "I believe you," went on he. "The idea only occurred to me +in reflecting what could be the reason of sufficient weight to induce you +to transgress Father d'Aigrigny's orders with regard to the absolute +retirement he had commanded, which was to exclude all communication with +those without. Much more, contrary to all the rules of our house, you +ventured to shut the door of your room, whereas it ought to remain half- +open, that the mutual inspection enjoined us might be the more easily +practiced. I could only explain these sins against discipline, by the +necessity of some very important conversation with your adopted mother." + +"It was to a priest, and not to her adopted son, that Madame Baudoin +wished to speak," replied Gabriel, in a tone of deep seriousness. "I +closed my door because I was to hear a confession." + +"And what had Frances Baudoin of such importance to confess?" + +"You will know that by-and-bye, when I speak to his reverence--if it be +his pleasure that you should hear me." + +These words were so firmly spoken, that a long silence ensued. Let us +remind the reader that Gabriel had hitherto been kept by his superiors in +the most complete ignorance of the importance of the family interests +which required his presence in the Rue Saint-Francois. The day before, +Frances Baudoin, absorbed in her own grief, had forgotten to tell him +that the two orphans also should be present at this meeting, and had she +even thought of it, Dagobert would have prevented her mentioning this +circumstance to the young priest. + +Gabriel was therefore quite ignorant of the family ties which united him +with the daughters of Marshal Simon, with Mdlle. de Cardoville, with M. +Hardy, Prince Djalma, and Sleepinbuff. In a word, if it had then been +revealed to him that he was the heir of Marius de Rennepont, he would +have believed himself the only descendant of the family. During the +moment's silence which succeeded his conversation with Rodin, Gabriel +observed through the windows the mason's at their work of unwalling the +door. Having finished this first operation, they set about removing the +bars of iron by which a plate of lead was fixed over the same entrance. + +At this juncture, Father d'Aigrigny, conducted by Samuel, entered the +room. Before Gabriel could turn around, Rodin had time to whisper to the +reverend father, "He knows nothing--and we have no longer anything to +fear from the Indian." + +Notwithstanding his affected calmness, Father d'Aigrigny's countenance +was pale and contracted, like that of a player who is about to stake all +on a last, decisive game. Hitherto, all had favored the designs of the +Society; but he could not think without alarm of the four hours which +still remained before they should reach the fatal moment. Gabriel having +turned towards him, Father d'Aigrigny offered him his hand with a smile, +and said to him in an affectionate and cordial tone, "My dear son, it has +pained me a good deal to have been obliged to refuse you till now the +interview that you so much desired. It has been no less distressing to +me to impose on you a confinement of some days. Though I cannot give any +explanation of what I may think fit to order, I will just observe to you +that I have acted only for your interest." + +"I am bound to believe your reverence," answered Gabriel, bowing his +head. + +In spite of himself, the young priest felt a vague sense of fear, for +until his departure for his American mission, Father d'Aigrigny, at whose +feet he had pronounced the formidable vows which bound him irrevocably to +the Society of Jesus, had exercised over him that frightful species of +influence which, acting only by despotism, suppression, and intimidation, +breaks down all the living forces of the soul, and leaves it inert, +trembling, and terrified. Impressions of early youth are indelible, and +this was the first time, since his return from America, that Gabriel +found himself in presence of Father d'Aigrigny; and although he did not +shrink from the resolution he had taken, he regretted not to have been +able, as he had hoped, to gather new strength and courage from an +interview with Agricola and Dagobert. Father d'Aigrigny knew mankind too +well not to have remarked the emotion of the young priest, and to have +endeavored to explain its cause. This emotion appeared to him a +favorable omen; he redoubled, therefore, his seductive arts, his air of +tenderness and amenity, reserving to himself, if necessary, the choice of +assuming another mask. He sat down, while Gabriel and Rodin remained +standing in a respectful position, and said to the former: "You desire, +my dear son, to have an important interview with me?" + +"Yes, father," said Gabriel, involuntarily casting down his eyes before +the large, glittering gray pupil of his superior. + +"And I also have matters of great importance to communicate to you. +Listen to me first; you can speak afterwards." + +"I listen, father." + +"It is about twelve years ago, my dear son," said Father d'Aigrigny, +affectionately, "that the confessor of your adopted mother, addressing +himself to me through M. Rodin, called my attention to yourself, by +reporting the astonishing progress you had made at the school of the +Brothers. I soon found, indeed, that your excellent conduct, your +gentle, modest character, and your precocious intelligence, were worthy +of the most tender interest. From that moment I kept my eyes upon you, +and at the end of some time, seeing that you did not fall off, it +appeared to me that there was something more in you than the stuff that +makes a workman. We agreed with your adopted mother, and through my +intervention, you were admitted gratuitously to one of the schools of our +Company. Thus one burden the less weighed upon the excellent woman who +had taken charge of you, and you received from our paternal care all the +benefits of a religious education. Is not this true, my dear son?" + +"It is true, father," answered Gabriel, casting down his eyes. + +"As you grew up, excellent and rare virtues displayed themselves in your +character. Your obedience and mildness were above all exemplary. You +made rapid progress in your studies. I knew not then to what career you +wished to devote yourself, but I felt certain that, in every station of +life, you would remain a faithful son of the Church. I was not deceived +in my hopes, or rather, my dear son, you surpassed them all. Learning, +by a friendly communication, that your adopted mother ardently desired to +see you take orders, you acceded generously and religiously to the wish +of the excellent woman to whom you owed so much. But as the Lord is +always just in His recompenses, He willed that the most touching work of +gratitude you could show to your adopted mother, should at the same time +be divinely profitable by making you one of the militant members of our +holy Church." + +At these words, Gabriel could not repress a significant start, as he +remembered Frances' sad confidences. But he restrained himself, whilst +Rodin stood leaning with his elbow on the corner of the chimney-piece, +continuing to examine him with singular and obstinate attention. + +Father d'Aigrigny resumed: "I do not conceal from you, my dear son, that +your resolution filled me with joy. I saw in you one of the future +lights of the Church, and I was anxious to see it shine in the midst of +our Company. You submitted courageously to our painful and difficult +tests; you were judged worthy of belonging to us, and, after taking in my +presence the irrevocable and sacred oath, which binds you for ever to our +Company for the greater glory of God, you answered the appeal of our Holy +Father[14] to willing souls, and offered yourself as a missionary, to +preach to savages the one Catholic faith. Though it was painful to us to +part with our dear son, we could not refuse to accede to such pious +wishes. You set out a humble missionary you return a glorious martyr-- +and we are justly proud to reckon you amongst our number. This rapid +sketch of the past was necessary, my dear son to arrive at what follows, +for we wish now, if it be possible, to draw still closer the bonds that +unite us. Listen to me, my dear son; what I am about to say is +confidential and of the highest importance, not only for you, but the +whole Company." + +"Then, father," cried Gabriel hastily, interrupting the Abbe d'Aigrigny, +"I cannot--I ought not to hear you." + +The young priest became deadly pale; one saw, by the alteration of his +features, that a violent struggle was taking place within him, but +recovering his first resolution, he raised his head, and casting an +assured look on Father d'Aigrigny and Rodin, who glanced at each other in +mute surprise, he resumed: "I repeat to you, father, that if it concerns +confidential matters of the Company, I must not hear you." + +"Really, my dear son, you occasion me the greatest astonishment. What is +the matter?--Your countenance changes, your emotion is visible. Speak +without fear; why can you not hear me?" + +"I cannot tell you, father, until I also have, in my turn, rapidly +sketched the past--such as I have learned to judge it of late. You will +then understand, father, that I am no longer entitled to your confidence, +for an abyss will doubtlessly soon separate us." + +At these words, it is impossible to paint the look rapidly exchanged +between Rodin and Father d'Aigrigny. The socius began to bite his nails, +fixing his reptile eye angrily upon Gabriel; Father d'Aigrigny grew +livid, and his brow was bathed in cold sweat. He asked himself with +terror, if, at the moment of reaching the goal, the obstacle was going to +come from Gabriel, in favor of whom all other obstacles had been removed. +This thought filled him with despair. Yet the reverend father contained +himself admirably, remained calm, and answered with affectionate unction: +"It is impossible to believe, my dear son, that you and I can ever be +separated by an abyss--unless by the abyss of grief, which would be +caused by any serious danger to your salvation. But speak; I listen to +you." + +"It is true, that, twelve years ago, father," proceeded Gabriel, in a +firm voice, growing more animated as he proceeded, "I entered, through +your intervention, a college of the Company of Jesus. I entered it +loving, truthful, confiding. How did they encourage those precious +instincts of childhood? I will tell you. The day of my entrance, the +Superior said to me, as he pointed out two children a little older than +myself: `These are the companions that you will prefer. You will always +walk three together. The rules of the house forbid all intercourse +between two persons only. They also require, that you should listen +attentively to what your companions say, so that you may report it to me; +for these dear children may have, without knowing it, bad thoughts or +evil projects. Now, if you love your comrades, you must inform me of +these evil tendencies, that my paternal remonstrances may save them from +punishment; it is better to prevent evil than to punish it.'" + +"Such are, indeed, my dear son," said Father d'Aigrigny, "the rules of +our house, and the language we hold to all our pupils on their entrance." + +"I know it, father," answered Gabriel, bitterly; "three days after, a +poor, submissive, and credulous child, I was already a spy upon my +comrades, hearing and remembering their conversation, and reporting it to +the superior, who congratulated me on my zeal. What they thus made me do +was shameful, and yet, God knows! I thought I was accomplishing a +charitable duty. I was happy in obeying the commands of a superior whom +I respected, and to whose words I listened, in my childish faith, as I +should have listened to those of Heaven. One day, that I had broken some +rule of the house, the superior said to me: `My child, you have deserved +a severe punishment; but you will be pardoned, if you succeed in +surprising one of your comrades in the same fault that you have +committed.' And for that, notwithstanding my faith and blind obedience, +this encouragement to turn informer, from the motive of personal +interest, might appear odious to me, the superior added. `I speak to +you, my child, for the sake of your comrade's salvation. Were he to +escape punishment, his evil habits would become habitual. But by +detecting him in a fault, and exposing him to salutary correction, you +will have the double advantage of aiding in his salvation, and escaping +yourself a merited punishment, which will have been remitted because of +your zeal for your neighbor--" + +"Doubtless," answered Father d'Aigrigny, more and more terrified by +Gabriel's language; "and in truth, my dear son, all this is conformable +to the rule followed in our colleges, and to the habits of the members of +our Company, `who may denounce each other without prejudice to mutual +love and charity, and only for their greater spiritual advancement, +particularly when questioned by their superior, or commanded for the +greater glory of God,' as our Constitution has it." + +"I know it," cried Gabriel; "I know it. 'Tis in the name of all that is +most sacred amongst men, that we are encouraged to do evil." + +"My dear son," said Father d'Aigrigny, trying to conceal his secret and +growing terror beneath an appearance of wounded dignity, "from you to me +these words are at least strange." + +At this, Rodin quitted the mantelpiece, on which he had been leaning, +begin to walk up and down the room, with a meditative air, and without +ceasing to bite his nails. + +"It is cruel to be obliged to remind you, my dear son, that your are +indebted to us for the education you have received," added Father +d'Aigrigny. + +"Such were its fruits, father," replied Gabriel. "Until then I had been +a spy on the other children, from a sort of disinterestedness; but the +orders of the superior made me advance another step on that shameful +road. I had become an informer, to escape a merited punishment. And +yet, such was my faith, my humility, my confidence, that I performed with +innocence and candor this doubly odious part. Once, indeed, tormented by +vague scruples, the last remains of generous aspirations that they were +stifling within me, I asked myself if the charitable and religious end +could justify the means, and I communicated my doubts to the superior. +He replied, that I had not to judge, but to obey, and that to him alone +belonged the responsibility of my acts." + +"Go on, my dear son," said Father d'Aigrigny, gelding, in spite of +himself, to the deepest dejection. "Alas! I was right in opposing your +travel to America." + +"And yet it was the will of Providence, in that new, productive, and free +country, that, enlightened by a singular chance, on past and present, my +eyes were at length opened. Yes!" cried Gabriel, "it was in America +that, released from the gloomy abode where I had spent so many years of +my youth, and finding myself for the first time face to face with the +divine majesty of Nature, in the heart of immense solitudes through which +I journeyed--it was there that, overcome by so much magnificence and +grandeur, I made a vow--" Here Gabriel interrupted himself, to continue: +"Presently, father, I will explain to you that vow; but believe me," +added the missionary, with an accent of deep sorrow, "it was a fatal day +to me when I first learned to fear and condemn all that I had hitherto +most revered and blessed. Oh! I assure you father," added Gabriel, with +moist eyes, "it was not for myself alone, that I then wept." + +"I know the goodness of your heart, my dear son," replied Father +d'Aigrigny, catching a glimpse of hope, on seeing Gabriel's emotion; "I +fear that you have been led astray. But trust yourself to us, as to your +spiritual fathers, and I doubt not we shall confirm your faith, so +unfortunately shaken, and disperse the darkness which at present obscures +your sight. Alas, my dear son, in your vain illusions, you have mistaken +some false glimmer for the pure light of day. But go on." + +Whilst Father d'Aigrigny was thus speaking, Rodin stopped, took a pocket- +book from his coat, and wrote down several notes. Gabriel was becoming +more and more pale and agitated. It required no small courage in him, to +speak as he was speaking, for, since his journey to America, he had +learned to estimate the formidable power of the Company. But this +revelation of the past, looked at from the vantage-ground of a more +enlightened present, was for the young priest the excuse, or rather the +cause of the determination he had just signified to his superior, and he +wished to explain all faithfully, notwithstanding the danger he knowingly +encountered. He continued therefore, in an agitated voice: + +"You know, father, that the last days of my childhood, that happy age of +frankness and innocent joy, were spent in an atmosphere of terror, +suspicion, and restraint. Alas! how could I resign myself to the least +impulse of confiding trust, when I was recommended to shun the looks of +him who spoke with me, in order to hide the impression that his words +might cause--to conceal whatever I felt, and to observe and listen to +everything? Thus I reached the age of fifteen; by degrees, the rare +visits that I was allowed to pay, but always in presence of one of our +fathers, to my adopted mother and brother, were quite suppressed, so as +to shut my heart against all soft and tender emotions. Sad and fearful +in that large, old noiseless, gloomy house, I felt that I became more and +more isolated from the affections and the freedom of the world. My time +was divided between mutilated studies, without connection and without +object, and long hours of minute devotional exercises. I ask you, +father, did they ever seek to warm our young souls by words of tenderness +or evangelic love? Alas, no! For the words of the divine Saviour--Love +ye one another, they had substituted the command: Suspect ye one another. +Did they ever, father, speak to us of our country or of liberty?--No! ah, +no! for those words make the heart beat high; and with them, the heart +must not beat at all. To our long hours of study and devotion, there +only succeeded a few walks, three by three--never two and two--because by +threes, the spy-system is more practicable, and because intimacies are +more easily formed by two alone; and thus might have arisen some of those +generous friendships, which also make the heart beat more than it +should.[15] And so, by the habitual repression of every feeling, there +came a time when I could not feel at all. For six months, I had not seen +my adopted mother and brother; they came to visit me at the college; a +few years before, I should have received them with transports and tears; +this time my eyes were dry, my heart was cold. My mother and brother +quitted me weeping. The sight of this grief struck me and I became +conscious of the icy insensibility which had been creeping upon me since +I inhabited this tomb. Frightened at myself, I wished to leave it, while +I had still strength to do so. Then, father, I spoke to you of the +choice of a profession; for sometimes, in waking moments, I seemed to +catch from afar the sound of an active and useful life, laborious and +free, surrounded by family affections. Oh! then I felt the want of +movement and liberty, of noble and warm emotions--of that life of the +soul, which fled before me. I told it you, father on my knees, bathing +your hands with my tears. The life of a workman or a soldier--anything +would have suited me. It was then you informed me, that my adopted +mother, to whom I owed my life--for she had taken me in, dying of want, +and, poor herself, had shared with me the scanty bread of her child-- +admirable sacrifice for a mother!--that she," continued Gabriel, +hesitating and casting down his eyes, for noble natures blush for the +guilt of others, and are ashamed of the infamies of which they are +themselves victims, "that she, that my adopted mother, had but one wish, +one desire--" + +"That of seeing you takes orders, my dear son," replied Father +d'Aigrigny; "for this pious and perfect creature hoped, that, in securing +your salvation, she would provide for her own: but she did not venture to +inform you of this thought, for fear you might ascribe it to an +interested motive." + +"Enough, father!" said Gabriel, interrupting the Abbe d'Aigrigny, with a +movement of involuntary indignation; "it is painful for me to hear you +assert an error. Frances Baudoin never had such a thought." + +"My dear son, you are too hasty in your judgments," replied Father +d'Aigrigny, mildly. "I tell you, that such was the one, sole thought of +your adopted mother." + +"Yesterday, father, she told me all. She and I were equally deceived." + +"Then, my dear son," said Father d'Aigrigny, sternly, "you take the word +of your adopted mother before mine?" + +"Spare me an answer painful for both of us, father," said Gabriel, +casting down his eyes. + +"Will you now tell me," resumed Father d'Aigrigny, with anxiety, "what +you mean to--" + +The reverend father was unable to finish. Samuel entered the room, and +said: "A rather old man wishes to speak to M. Rodin." + +"That is my name, sir," answered the socius, in surprise; "I am much +obliged to you." But, before following the Jew, he gave to Father +d'Aigrigny a few words written with a pencil upon one of the leaves of +his packet-book. + +Rodin went out in very uneasy mood, to learn who could have come to seek +him in the Rue Saint-Francois. Father d'Aigrigny and Gabriel were left +alone together. + +[14] It is only in respect to Missions that the Jesuits acknowledge the +papal supremacy. + +[15] This rule is so strict in Jesuit Colleges, that if one of three +pupils leaves the other two, they separate out of earshot till the first +comes back. + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + +THE RUPTURE. + +Plunged into a state of mortal anxiety, Father d'Aigrigny had taken +mechanically the note written by Rodin, and held it in his hand without +thinking of opening it. The reverend father asked himself in alarm, what +conclusion Gabriel would draw from these recriminations upon the past; +and he durst not make any answer to his reproaches, for fear of +irritating the young priest, upon whose head such immense interests now +reposed. Gabriel could possess nothing for himself, according to the +constitutions of the Society of Jesus. Moreover, the reverend father had +obtained from him, in favor of the Order, an express renunciation of all +property that might ever come to him. But the commencement of his +conversation seemed to announce so serious a change in Gabriel's views +with regard to the Company, that he might choose to break through the +ties which attached him to it; and in that case, he would not be legally +bound to fulfil any of his engagements.[16] The donation would thus be +cancelled de facto, just at the moment of being so marvellously realized +by the possession of the immense fortune of the Rennepont family, and +d'Aigrigny's hopes would thus be completely and for ever frustrated. Of +all these perplexities which the reverend father had experienced for some +time past, with regard to this inheritance, none had been more unexpected +and terrible than this. Fearing to interrupt or question Gabriel, Father +d'Aigrigny waited, in mute terror, the end of this interview, which +already bore so threatening an aspect. + +The missionary resumed: "It is my duty, father, to continue this sketch +of my past life, until the moment of my departure for America. You will +understand, presently, why I have imposed on myself this obligation." + +Father d'Aigrigny nodded for him to proceed. + +"Once informed of the pretended wishes of my adopted mother, I resigned +myself to them, though at some cost of feeling. I left the gloomy abode, +in which I had passed my childhood and part of my youth, to enter one of +the seminaries of the Company. My resolution was not caused by an +irresistible religious vocation, but by a wish to discharge the sacred +debt I owed my adopted mother. Yet the true spirit of the religion of +Christ is so vivifying, that I felt myself animated and warmed by the +idea of carrying out the adorable precepts of our Blessed Saviour. To my +imagination, a seminary, instead of resembling the college where I had +lived in painful restraint, appeared like a holy place, where all that +was pure and warm in the fraternity of the Gospel would be applied to +common life--where, for example, the lessons most frequently taught would +be the ardent love of humanity, and the ineffable sweets of commiseration +and tolerance--where the everlasting words of Christ would be interpreted +in their broadest sense--and where, in fine, by the habitual exercise and +expansion of the most generous sentiments, men were prepared for the +magnificent apostolic mission of making the rich and happy sympathize +with the sufferings of their brethren, by unveiling the frightful +miseries of humanity--a sublime and sacred morality, which none are able +to withstand, when it is preached with eyes full of tears, and hearts +overflowing with tenderness and charity!" + +As he delivered these last words with profound emotion, Gabriel's eyes +became moist, and his countenance shone with angelic beauty. + +"Such is, indeed, my dear son, the spirit of Christianity; but one must +also study and explain the letter," answered Father d'Aigrigny, coldly. +"It is to this study that the seminaries of our Company are specially +destined. Now the interpretation of the letter is a work of analysis, +discipline, and submission--and not one of heart and sentiment." + +"I perceive that only too well, father. On entering this new house, I +found, alas! all my hopes defeated. Dilating for a moment, my heart soon +sunk within me. Instead of this centre of life, affection, youth, of +which I had dreamed. I found, in the silent and ice-cold seminary, the +same suppression of every generous emotion, the same inexorable +discipline, the same system of mutual prying, the same suspicion, the +same invincible obstacles to all ties of friendship. The ardor which had +warmed my soul for an instant soon died out; little by little, I fell +back into the habits of a stagnant, passive, mechanical life, governed by +a pitiless power with mechanical precision, just like the inanimate works +of a watch." + +"But order, submission and regularity are the first foundations of our +Company, my dear son." + +"Alas, father! it was death, not life, that I found thus organized. In +the midst of this destruction of every generous principle, I devoted +myself to scholastic and theological studies--gloomy studies--a wily, +menacing, and hostile science which, always awake to ideas of peril, +contest, and war, is opposed to all those of peace, progress, and +liberty." + +"Theology, my dear son," said Father d'Aigrigny, sternly, "is at once a +buckler and a sword; a buckler, to protect and cover the Catholic faith-- +a sword, to attack and combat heresy." + +"And yet, father, Christ and His apostles knew not this subtle science: +their simple and touching words regenerated mankind, and set freedom over +slavery. Does not the divine code of the Gospel suffice to teach men to +love one another? But, alas! far from speaking to us this language, our +attention was too often occupied with wars of religion, and the rivers of +blood that had flowed in honor of the Lord, and for the destruction of +heresy. These terrible lessons made our life still more melancholy. As +we grew near to manhood, our relations at the seminary assumed a growing +character of bitterness, jealousy and suspicion. The habit of tale- +bearing against each other, applied to more serious subjects, engendered +silent hate and profound resentments. I was neither better nor worse +than the others. All of us, bowed down for years beneath the iron yoke +of passive obedience, unaccustomed to reflection or free-will, humble and +trembling before our superiors, had the same pale, dull, colorless +disposition. At last I took orders; once a priest, you invited me, +father, to enter the Company of Jesus, or rather I found myself +insensibly brought to this determination. How, I do not know. For a +long time before, my will was not my own. I went through all my proofs; +the most terrible was decisive; for some months, I lived in the silence +of my cell, practicing with resignation the strange and mechanical +exercises that you ordered me. With the exception of your reverence, +nobody approached me during that long space of time; no human voice but +yours sounded in my ear. Sometimes, in the night, I felt vague terrors; +my mind, weakened by fasting, austerity, and solitude, was impressed with +frightful visions. At other times, on the contrary, I felt a sort of +quiescence, in the idea that, having once pronounced my vows, I should be +delivered for ever from the burden of thought and will. Then I abandoned +myself to an insurmountable torpor, like those unfortunate wretches, who, +surprised by a snow-storm, yield to a suicidal repose. Thus I awaited +the fatal moment. At last, according to the rule of discipline, choking +with the death rattle,[17] I hastened the moment of accomplishing the +final act of my expiring will--the vow to renounce it for ever." + +"Remember, my dear son," replied Father d'Aigrigny, pale and tortured by +increasing anguish, "remember, that, on the eve of the day fixed for the +completion of your vows; I offered, according to the rule of our Company, +to absolve you from joining us--leaving you completely free, for we +accept none but voluntary vocations." + +"It is true, father," answered Gabriel, with sorrowful bitterness; "when, +worn out and broken by three months of solitude and trial, I was +completely exhausted, and unable to move a step, you opened the door of +my cell, and said to me: 'If you like, rise and walk; you are free; Alas! +I had no more strength. The only desire of my soul, inert and paralyzed +for so long a period, was the repose of the grave; and pronouncing those +irrevocable vows, I fell, like a corpse, into your hands." + +"And, till now, my dear son, you have never failed in this corpse--like +obedience,--to use the expression of our glorious founder--because, the +more absolute this obedience, the more meritorious it must be." + +After a moment's silence, Gabriel resumed: "You had always concealed from +me, father, the true ends of the Society into which I entered. I was +asked to abandon my free-will to my superiors, in the name of the Greater +Glory of God. My vows once pronounced, I was to be in your hands a +docile and obedient instrument; but I was to be employed, you told me, in +a holy, great and beauteous work. I believed you, father--how should I +not have believed you? but a fatal event changed my destiny--a painful +malady caused by--" + +"My son," cried Father d'Aigrigny, interrupting Gabriel, "it is useless +to recall these circumstances." + +"Pardon me, father, I must recall them. I have the right to be heard. I +cannot pass over in silence any of the facts, which have led me to take +the immutable resolution that I am about to announce to you." + +"Speak on, my son," said Father d'Aigrigny, frowning; for he was much +alarmed at the words of the young priest, whose cheeks, until now pale, +were covered with a deep blush. + +"Six months before my departure for America," resumed Gabriel, casting +down his eyes, "you informed me, that I was destined to confess +penitents; and to prepare then for that sacred ministry, you gave me a +book." + +Gabriel again hesitated. His blushes increased. Father d'Aigrigny could +scarcely restrain a start of impatience and anger. + +"You gave me a book," resumed the young priest, with a great effort to +control himself, "a book containing questions to be addressed by a +confessor to youths, and young girls, and married women, when they +present themselves at the tribunal of penance. My God!" added Gabriel, +shuddering at the remembrance. "I shall never forget that awful moment. +It was night. I had retired to my chamber, taking with me this book, +composed, you told me, by one of our fathers, and completed by a holy +bishop.[18] Full of respect, faith, and confidence, I opened those pages. +At first, I did not understand them--afterwards I understood--and then I +was seized with shame and horror--struck with stupor--and had hardly +strength to close, with trembling hand, this abominable volume. I ran to +you, father, to accuse myself of having involuntarily cast my eyes on +those nameless pages, which, by mistake, you had placed in my hands." + +"Remember, also, my dear son," said Father d'Aigrigny, gravely, "that I +calmed your scruples, and told you that a priest, who is bound to hear +everything under the seal of confession, must be able to know and +appreciate everything; and that our Company imposes the task of reading +this Compendium, as a classical work, upon young deacons seminarists, and +priests, who are destined to be confessors." + +"I believed you, father. In me the habit of inert obedience was so +powerful, and I was so unaccustomed to independent reflection, that, +notwithstanding my horror (with which I now reproached myself as with a +crime), I took the volume back into my chamber, and read. Oh, father! +what a dreadful revelation of criminal fancies, guilty of guiltiest in +their refinement!" + +"You speak of this book in blamable terms," skid Father d'Aigrigny, +severely; "you were the victim of a too lively imagination. It is to it +that you must attribute this fatal impression, and not to an excellent +work, irreproachable for its special purpose, and duly authorized by the +Church. You are not able to judge of such a production." + +"I will speak of it no more, father," said Gabriel: and he thus resumed: +"A long illness followed that terrible night. Many times, they feared +for my reason. When I recovered, the past appeared to me like a painful +dream. You told me, then, father, that I was not yet ripe for certain +functions; and it was then that I earnestly entreated you to be allowed +to go on the American missions. After having long refused my prayer, you +at length consented. From my childhood, I had always lived in the +college or seminary, to a state of continual restraint and subjection. +By constantly holding down my head and eyes, I had lost the habit of +contemplating the heavens and the splendors of nature. But, oh! what +deep, religious happiness I felt, when I found myself suddenly +transported to the centre of the imposing grandeur of the seas-half-way +between the ocean and the sky!--I seemed to come forth from a place of +thick darkness; for the first time, for many years, I felt my heart beat +freely in my bosom; for the first time, I felt myself master of my own +thoughts, and ventured to examine my past life, as from the summit of a +mountain, one looks down into a gloomy vale. Then strange doubts rose +within me. I asked myself by what right, and for what end, any beings +had so long repressed, almost annihilated, the exercise of my will, of my +liberty, of my reason, since God had endowed me with these gifts. But I +said to myself, that perhaps, one day, the great, beauteous, and holy +work, in which I was to have my share, would be revealed to me, and would +recompense my obedience and resignation." + +At this moment, Rodin re-entered the room. Father d'Aigrigny questioned +him with a significant look. The socius approached, and said to him in a +low voice, so, that Gabriel could not hear: "Nothing serious. It was +only to inform me, that Marshal Simon's father is arrived at M. Hardy's +factory." + +Then, glancing at Gabriel, Rodin appeared to interrogate Father +d'Aigrigny, who hung his head with a desponding air. Yet he resumed, +again addressing Gabriel, whilst Rodin took his old place, with his elbow +on the chimney-piece: "Go on, my dear son. I am anxious to learn what +resolution you have adopted." + +"I will tell you in a moment, father. I arrived at Charleston. The +superior of our establishment in that place, to whom I imparted my doubts +as to the object of our Society, took upon himself to clear them up, and +unveiled it all to me with alarming frankness. He told me the tendency- +not perhaps of all the members of the Company, for a great number must +have shared my ignorance--but the objects which our leaders have +pertinaciously kept in view, ever since the foundation of the Order. I +was terrified. I read the casuists. Oh, father! that was a new and +dreadful revelation, when, at every page, I read the excuse and +justification of robbery, slander, adultery, perjury, murder, regicide. +When I considered that I, the priest of a God of charity, justice, +pardon, and love, was to belong henceforth to a Company, whose chiefs +professed and glorified in such doctrines, I made a solemn oath to break +for ever the ties which bound me to it!"[19] + +On these words of Gabriel, Father d'Aigrigny and Rodin exchanged a look +of terror. All was lost; their prey had escaped them. Deeply moved by +the remembrances he recalled, Gabriel did not perceive the action of the +reverend father and the socius, and thus continued: "In spite of my +resolution, father, to quit the Company, the discovery I had made was +very painful to me. Oh! believe me, for the honest and loving soul, +nothing is more frightful than to have to renounce what it has long +respected!--I suffered so much, that, when I thought of the dangers of my +mission, I hoped, with a secret joy, that God would perhaps take me to +Himself under these circumstances: but, on the contrary, He watched over +me with providential solicitude." + +As he said this, Gabriel felt a thrill, for he remembered a Mysterious +Woman who had saved his life in America. After a moment's silence, he +resumed: "My mission terminated, I returned hither to beg, father, that +you would release me from my vows. Many times but in vain, I solicited +an interview. Yesterday, it pleased Providence that I should have a long +conversation with my adopted mother; from her I learned the trick by +which my vocation had been forced upon me--and the sacrilegious abuse of +the confessional, by which she had been induced to entrust to other +persons the orphans that a dying mother had confided to the care of an +honest soldier. You understand, father, that, if even I had before +hesitated to break these bonds, what I have heard yesterday must have +rendered my decision irrevocable. But at this solemn moment, father, I +am bound to tell you, that I do not accuse the whole Society; many +simple, credulous, and confiding men, like myself, must no doubt form +part of it. Docile instruments, they see not in their blindness the work +to which they are destined. I pity them, and pray God to enlighten them, +as he has enlightened me." + +"So, my son," said Father d'Aigrigny, rising with livid and despairing +look, "you come to ask of me to break the ties which attach you to the +Society?" + +"Yes, father; you received my vows--it is for you to release me from +them." + +"So, my son, you understand that engagements once freely taken by you, +are now to be considered as null and void?" + +"Yes, father." + +"So, my son, there is to be henceforth nothing in common between you and +our Company?" + +"No, father--since I request you to absolve me of my vows." + +"But, you know, my son, that the Society may release you--but that you +cannot release yourself." + +"The step I take proves to you, father, the importance I attach to an +oath, since I come to you to release me from it. Nevertheless, were you +to refuse me, I should not think myself bound in the eyes of God or man." + +"It is perfectly clear," said Father d'Aigrigny to Rodin, his voice +expiring upon his lips, so deep was his despair. + +Suddenly, whilst Gabriel, with downcast eyes, waited for the answer of +Father d'Aigrigny, who remained mute and motionless, Rodin appeared +struck with a new idea, on perceiving that the reverend father still held +in his hand the note written in pencil. The socius hastily approached +Father d'Aigrigny, and said to him in a whisper, with a look of doubt and +alarm: "Have you not read my note?" + +"I did not think of it," answered the reverend father, mechanically. + +Rodin appeared to make a great effort to repress a movement of violent +rage. Then he said to Father d'Aigrigny, in a calm voice: "Read it now." + +Hardly had the reverend father cast his eyes upon this note, than a +sudden ray of hope illumined his hitherto despairing countenance. +Pressing the hand of the socius with an expression of deep gratitude, he +said to him in a low voice: "You are right. Gabriel is ours." + +[16] The statutes formally state that the Company can expel all drones +and wasps, but that no man can break his ties, if the Order wishes to +retain him. + +[17] This is their own command. The constitution expressly bids the +novice wait for this decisive climax of the ordeal before taking the vows +of God. + +[18] It is impossible, even in Latin, to give our readers an idea of this +infamous work. + +[19] This is true. See the extracts from the Compendium for the use of +Schools, published under the title of "Discoveries by a Bibliophilist." +Strasburg, 1843. For regicide, see Sanchez and others. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + +THE CHANGE. + +Before again addressing Gabriel, Father d'Aigrigny carefully reflected; +and his countenance, lately so disturbed, became gradually once more +serene. He appeared to meditate and calculate the effects of the +eloquence he was about to employ, upon an excellent and safe theme, which +the socius struck with the danger of the situation, had suggested in a +few lines rapidly written with a pencil, and which, in his despair, the +reverend father had at first neglected. Rodin resumed his post of +observation near the mantelpiece, on which he leaned his elbow, after +casting at Father d'Aigrigny a glance of disdainful and angry +superiority, accompanied by a significant shrug of the shoulders. + +After this involuntary manifestation, which was luckily not perceived by +Father d'Aigrigny, the cadaverous face of the socius resumed its icy +calmness, and his flabby eyelids, raised a moment with anger and +impatience, fell, and half-veiled his little, dull eyes. It must be +confessed that Father d'Aigrigny, notwithstanding the ease and elegance +of his speech, notwithstanding the seduction of his exquisite manners, +his agreeable features, and the exterior of an accomplished and refined +man of the world, was often subdued and governed by the unpitying +firmness, the diabolical craft and depth of Rodin, the old, repulsive, +dirty, miserably dressed man, who seldom abandoned his humble part of +secretary and mute auditor. The influence of education is so powerful, +that Gabriel, notwithstanding the formal rupture he had just provoked, +felt himself still intimidated in presence of Father d'Aigrigny, and +waited with painful anxiety for the answer of the reverend father to his +express demand to be released from his old vows. His reverence having, +doubtless, regularly laid his plan of attack, at length broke silence, +heaved a deep sigh, gave to his countenance, lately so severe and +irritated, a touching expression of kindness, and said to Gabriel, in an +affectionate voice: "Forgive me, my dear son, for having kept silence so +long; but your abrupt determination has so stunned me, and has raised +within me so many painful thoughts, that I have had to reflect for some +moments, to try and penetrate the cause of this rupture, and I think I +have succeeded. You have well considered, my dear son, the serious +nature of the step you are taking?" + +"Yes, father." + +"And you have absolutely decided to abandon the Society, even against my +will?" + +"It would be painful to me, father--but I must resign myself to it." + +"It should be very painful to you, indeed, my dear son; for you took the +irrevocable vow freely, and this vow, according to our statutes, binds +you not to quit the Society, unless with the consent of your superiors." + +"I did not then know, father, the nature of the engagement I took. More +enlightened now, I ask to withdraw myself; my only desire is to obtain a +curacy in some village far from Paris. I feel an irresistible vocation +for such humble and useful functions. In the country, there is so much +misery, and such ignorance of all that could contribute to ameliorate the +condition of the agricultural laborer, that his existence is as unhappy +as that of a negro slave; for what liberty has he? and what instruction? +Oh! it seems to me, that, with God's help, I might, as a village curate, +render some services to humanity. It would therefore be painful to me, +father, to see you refuse--" + +"Be satisfied, my son," answered Father d'Aigrigny ; "I will no longer +seek to combat your desire to separate yourself from us." + +"Then, father, you release me from my vows?" + +"I have not the power to do so, my dear son; but I will write immediately +to Rome, to ask the necessary authority from our general." + +"I thank you, father." + +"Soon, my dear son, you will be delivered from these bonds, which you +deem so heavy; and the men you abandon will not the less continue to pray +for you, that God may preserve you from still greater wanderings. You +think yourself released with regard to us, my dear son; but we do not +think ourselves released with regard to you. It is not thus that we can +get rid of the habit of paternal attachment. What would you have? We +look upon ourselves as bound to our children, by the very benefits with +which we have loaded them. You were poor, and an orphan; we stretched +out our arms to you, as much from the interest which you deserved, my +dear son, as to spare your excellent adopted mother too great a burden." + +"Father," said Gabriel, with suppressed emotion, "I am not ungrateful." + +"I wish to believe so, my dear son. For long years, we gave to you, as +to our beloved child, food for the body and the soul. It pleases you now +to renounce and abandon us. Not only do we consent to it--but now that I +have penetrated the true motives of your rupture with us, it is my duty +to release you from your vow." + +"Of what motives do you speak, Father?" + +"Alas! my dear son, I understand your fears. Dangers menace us--you know +it well." + +"Dangers, father?" cried Gabriel. + +"It is impossible, my dear son, that you should not be aware that, since +the fall of our legitimate sovereigns, our natural protectors, +revolutionary impiety becomes daily more and more threatening. We are +oppressed with persecutions. I can, therefore, comprehend and +appreciate, my dear son, the motive which under such circumstances, +induces you to separate from us." + +"Father!" cried Gabriel, with as much indignation as grief, "you do not +think that of me--you cannot think it." + +Without noticing the protestations of Gabriel, Father d'Aigrigny +continued his imaginary picture of the dangers of the Company, which, far +from being really in peril, was already beginning secretly to recover its +influence. + +"Oh! if our Company were now as powerful as it was some years ago," +resumed the reverend father; "if it were still surrounded by the respect +and homage which are due to it from all true believers--in spite of the +abominable calumnies with which we are assailed--then, my dear son, we +should perhaps have hesitated to release you from your vows, and have +rather endeavored to open your eyes to the light, and save you from the +fatal delusion to which you are a prey. But now that we are weak, +oppressed, threatened on every side, it is our duty, it is an act of +charity, not to force you to share in perils from which you have the +prudence to wish to withdraw yourself." + +So, saying, Father d'Aigrigny cast a rapid glance at his socius, who +answered with a nod of approbation, accompanied by a movement of +impatience that seemed to say: "Go on! go on!" + +Gabriel was quite overcome. There was not in the whole world a heart +more generous, loyal, and brave than his. We may judge of what he must +have suffered, on hearing the resolution he had come to thus +misinterpreted. + +"Father," he resumed, in an agitated voice, whilst his eyes filled with +tears, "your words are cruel and unjust. You know that I am not a +coward." + +"No," said Rodin, in his sharp, cutting voice, addressing Father +d'Aigrigny, and pointing to Gabriel with a disdainful look; "your dear +son is only prudent." + +These words from Rodin made Gabriel start; a slight blush colored his +pale cheeks; his large and blue eyes sparkled with a generous anger; +then, faithful to the precepts of Christian humility and resignation, he +conquered this irritable impulse, hung down his head, and, too much +agitated to reply, remained silent, and brushed away an unseen tear. +This tear did not escape the notice of the socius. He saw in it no +doubt, a favorable symptom, for he exchanged a glance of satisfaction +with Father d'Aigrigny. The latter was about to touch on a question of +great interest, so, notwithstanding his self-command, his voice trembled +slightly; but encouraged, or rather pushed on by a look from Rodin, who +had become extremely attentive, he said to Gabriel: "Another motive +obliges us not to hesitate in releasing you from your vow, my dear son. +It is a question of pure delicacy. You probably learned yesterday from +your adopted mother, that you will perhaps be called upon to take +possession of an inheritance, of which the value is unknown." + +Gabriel raised his head hastily and said to Father d'Aigrigny: "As I have +already stated to M. Rodin, my adopted mother only talked of her scruples +of conscience, and I was completely ignorant of the existence of the +inheritance of which you speak." + +The expression of indifference with which the young priest pronounced +these last words, was remarked by Rodin. + +"Be it so," replied Father d'Aigrigny. "You were not aware of it--I +believe you--though all appearances would tend to prove the contrary--to +prove, indeed, that the knowledge of this inheritance was not unconnected +with your resolution to separate from us." + +"I do not understand you, Father." + +"It is very simple. Your rupture with us would then have two motives. +First, we are in danger, and you think it prudent to leave us--" + +"Father!" + +"Allow me to finish, my dear son, and come to the second motive. If I am +deceived, you can tell me so. These are the facts. Formerly, on the +hypothesis that your family, of which you knew nothing, might one day +leave you some property, you made, in return for the care bestowed on you +by the Company, a free gift of all you might hereafter possess, not to +us--but to the poor, of whom we are the born shepherds." + +"Well, father?" asked Gabriel, not seeing to what this preamble tended. + +"Well, my dear son--now that you are sure of enjoying a competence, you +wish, no doubt, by separating from us, to annul this donation made under +other circumstances." + +"To speak plainly, you violate your oath, because we are persecuted, and +because you wish to take back your gifts," added Rodin, in a sharp voice, +as if to describe in the clearest and plainest manner the situation of +Gabriel with regard to the Society. + +At this infamous accusation, Gabriel could only raise his hands and eyes +to heaven, and exclaim, with an expression of despair, "Oh, heaven!" + +Once more exchanging a look of intelligence with Rodin, Father d'Aigrigny +said to him, in a severe tone, as if reproaching him for his too savage +frankness: "I think you go too far. Our dear son could only have acted +in the base and cowardly manner you suggest, had he known his position as +an heir; but, since he affirms the contrary, we are bound to believe him- +-in spite of appearances." + +"Father," said Gabriel, pale, agitated trembling, and with half- +suppressed grief and indignation, "I thank you, at least, for having +suspended your judgment. No, I am not a coward; for heaven is my +witness, that I knew of no danger to which the Society was exposed. Nor +am I base and avaricious; for heaven is also my witness, that only at +this moment I learn from you, father, that I may be destined to inherit +property, and--" + +"One word, my dear son. It is quite lately that I became informed of +this circumstance, by the greatest chance in the world," said Father +d'Aigrigny, interrupting Gabriel; "and that was thanks to some family +papers which your adopted mother had given to her confessor, and which +were entrusted to us when you entered our college. A little before your +return from America, in arranging the archives of the Company, your file +of papers fell into the hands of our father-attorney. It was examined, +and we thus learned that one of your paternal ancestors, to whom the +house in which we now are belonged, left a will which is to be opened to- +day at noon. Yesterday, we believed you one of us; our statutes command +that we should possess nothing of our own; you had corroborated those +statutes, by a donation in favor of the patrimony of the poor--which we +administer. It was no longer you, therefore, but the Company, which, in +my person, presented itself as the inheritor in your place, furnished +with your titles, which I have here ready in order. But now, my clear +son, that you separate from us, you must present yourself in your own +name. We came here as the representatives of the poor, to whom in former +days you piously abandoned whatever goods might fall to your share. Now, +on the contrary, the hope of a fortune changes your sentiments. You are +free to resume your gifts." + +Gabriel had listened to Father d'Aigrigny with painful impatience. At +length he exclaimed. "Do you mean to say, father, that you think me +capable of canceling a donation freely made, in favor of the Company, to +which I am indebted for my education? You believe me infamous enough to +break my word, in the hope of possessing a modest patrimony?" + +"This patrimony, my dear, son, may be small; but it may also be +considerable." + +"Well, father! if it were a king's fortune," cried Gabriel, with proud +and noble indifference, "I should not speak otherwise--and I have, I +think, the right to be believed listen to my fixed resolution. The +Company to which I belong runs, you say, great dangers. I will inquire +into these dangers. Should they prove threatening--strong in the +determination which morally separates me from you--I will not leave you +till I see the end of your perils. As for the inheritance, of which you +believe me so desirous, I resign it to you formally, father, as I once +freely promised. My only wish is, that this property may be employed for +the relief of the poor. I do not know what may be the amount of this +fortune, but large or small, it belongs to the Company, because I have +thereto pledged my word. I have told you, father, that my chief desire +is to obtain a humble curacy in some poor village--poor, above all-- +because there my services will be most useful. Thus, father, when a man, +who never spoke falsehood in his life, affirms to you, that he only sighs +for so humble an existence, you ought, I think, to believe him incapable +of snatching back, from motives of avarice, gifts already made." + +Father d'Aigrigny had now as much trouble to restrain his joy, as he +before had to conceal his terror. He appeared, however, tolerably calm, +and said to Gabriel: "I did not expect less from you, my dear son." + +Then he made a sign to Rodin, to invite him to interpose. The latter +perfectly understood his superior. He left the chimney, drew near to +Gabriel, and leaned against the table, upon which stood paper and +inkstand. Then, beginning mechanically to beat the tattoo with the tips +of his coarse fingers, in all their array of flat and dirty nails, he +said to Father d'Aigrigny: "All this is very fine! but your dear son +gives you no security for the fulfilment of his promise except an oath-- +and that, we know, is of little value." + +"Sir!" cried Gabriel + +"Allow me," said Rodin, coldly. "The law does not acknowledge our +existence and therefore can take no cognizance of donations made in favor +of the Company. You might resume to-morrow what you are pleased to give +us to-day." + +"But my oath, sir!" cried Gabriel. + +Rodin looked at him fixedly, as he answered: "Your oath? Did you not +swear eternal obedience to the Company, and never to separate from us?-- +and of what weight now are these oaths?" + +For a moment Gabriel was embarrassed; but, feeling how false was this +logic, he rose, calm and dignified, went to seat himself at the desk, +took up a pen, and wrote as follows: + +"Before God, who sees and hears me, and in the presence of you, Father +d'Aigrigny and M. Rodin, I renew and confirm, freely and voluntarily, the +absolute donation made by me to the Society of Jesus, in the person of +the said Father d'Aigrigny, of all the property which may hereafter +belong to me, whatever may be its value. I swear, on pain of infamy, to +perform tis irrevocable promise, whose accomplishment I regard, in my +soul and conscience, as the discharge of a debt, and the fulfilment of a +pious duty. + +"This donation having for its object the acknowledgment of past services, +and the relief of the poor, no future occurrences can at all modify it. +For the very reason that I know I could one day legally cancel the +present free and deliberate act, I declare, that if ever I were to +attempt such a thing, under any possible circumstances, I should deserve +the contempt and horror of all honest people. + +"In witness whereof I have written this paper, on the 13th of February, +1832, in Paris, immediately before the opening of the testament of one of +my paternal ancestors. + +"GABRIEL DE RENNEPONT." + + +As he rose, the young priest delivered this document to Rodin, without +uttering a word. The socius read it attentively, and, still impassible, +answered, as he looked at Gabriel: "Well, it is a written oath--that is +all." + +Gabriel dwelt stupefied at the audacity of Rodin, who ventured to tell +him, that this document, in which he renewed his donation in so noble, +generous, and spontaneous a manner, was not all sufficient. The socius +was the first again to break the silence, and he said to Father +d'Aigrigny, with his usual cool impudence. "One of two things must be. +Either your dear son means to render his donation absolutely valuable +and irrevocable,--or--" + +"Sir," exclaimed Gabriel, interrupting him, and hardly able to restrain +himself, "spare yourself and me such a shameful supposition." + +"Well, then," resumed Rodin, impassible as ever, "as you are perfectly +decided to make this donation a serious reality, what objection can you +have to secure it legally?" + +"None, sir," said Gabriel, bitterly, "since my written and sworn promise +will not suffice you." + +"My dear son," said Father d'Aigrigny, affectionately, "if this were a +donation for my own advantage, believe me I should require no better +security than your word. But here I am, as it were, the agent of the +Society, or rather the trustee of the poor, who will profit by your +generosity. For the sake of humanity, therefore, we cannot secure this +gift by too many legal precautions, so that the unfortunate objects of +our care may have certainty instead of vague hopes to depend upon. God +may call you to him at any moment, and who shall say that your heirs will +be so ready to keep the oath you have taken?" + +"You are right, father," said Gabriel, sadly; "I had not thought of the +case of death, which is yet so probable." + +Hereupon, Samuel opened the door of the room, and said: "Gentlemen, the +notary has just arrived. Shall I show him in? At ten o'clock precisely, +the door of the house will be opened." + +"We are the more glad to see the notary," said Rodin, "as we just happen +to have some business with him. Pray ask him to walk in." + +"I will bring him to you instantly," replied Samuel, as he went out." + +"Here is a notary," said Rodin to Gabriel. "If you have still the same +intentions, you can legalize your donation in presence of this public +officer, and thus save yourself from a great burden for the future." + +"Sir," said Gabriel, "happen what may, I am as irrevocably engaged by +this written promise, which I beg you to keep, father"--and he handed the +paper to Father d'Aigrigny "as by the legal document, which I am about to +sign," he added, turning to Rodin. + +"Silence, my dear son," said Father d'Aigrigny; "here is the notary," +just as the latter entered the room. + +During the interview of the administrative officer with Rodin, Gabriel, +and Father d'Aigrigny, we shall conduct the reader to the interior of the +walled-up house. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + +THE RED ROOM. + +As Samuel had said, the door of the walled-up house had just been +disencumbered of the bricks, lead, and iron, which had kept it from view, +and its panels of carved oak appeared as fresh and sound, as on the day +when they had first been withdrawn from the influence of the air and +time. The laborers, having completed their work, stood waiting upon the +steps, as impatient and curious as the notary's clerk, who had +superintended the operation, when they saw Samuel slowly advancing across +the garden, with a great bunch of keys in his hand. + +"Now, my friends," said the old man, when he had reached the steps, "your +work is finished. The master of this gentleman will pay you, and I have +only to show you out by the street door." + +"Come, come, my good fellow," cried the clerk, "you don't think. We are +just at the most interesting and curious moment; I and these honest +masons are burning to see the interior of this mysterious house, and you +would be cruel enough to send us away? Impossible!" + +"I regret the necessity, sir, but so it must he. I must be the first to +enter this dwelling, absolutely alone, before introducing the heirs, in +order to read the testament." + +"And who gave you such ridiculous and barbarous orders?" cried the clerk, +singularly disappointed. + +"My father, sir." + +"A most respectable authority, no doubt; but come, my worthy guardian, my +excellent guardian," resumed the clerk, "be a good fellow, and let us +just take a peep in at the door." + +"Yes, yes, sir, only a peep!" cried the heroes of the trowel, with a +supplicating air. + +"It is disagreeable to have to refuse you, gentlemen," answered Samuel; +"but I cannot open this door, until I am alone." + +The masons, seeing the inflexibility of the old man, unwillingly +descended the steps; but the clerk had resolved to dispute the ground +inch by inch, and exclaimed: "I shall wait for my master. I do not leave +the house without him. He may want me--and whether I remain on these +steps or elsewhere, can be of little consequence to you my worthy +keeper." + +The clerk was interrupted in his appeal by his master himself, who called +out from the further side of the courtyard, with an air of business: "M. +Piston! quick, M. Piston--come directly!" + +"What the devil does he want with me?" cried the clerk, in a passion. +"He calls me just at the moment when I might have seen something." + +"M. Piston," resumed the voice, approaching, "do you not hear?" + +While Samuel let out the masons, the clerk saw, through a clump of trees, +his master running towards him bareheaded, and with an air of singular +haste and importance. The clerk was therefore obliged to leave the +steps, to answer the notary's summons, towards whom he went with a very +bad grace. + +"Sir, sir," said M. Dumesnil, "I have been calling you this hour with all +my might." + +"I did not hear you sir," said M. Piston. + +"You must be deaf, then. Have you any change about you?" + +"Yes sir," answered the clerk, with some surprise. + +"Well, then, you must go instantly to the nearest stamp-office, and fetch +me three or four large sheets of stamped paper, to draw up a deed. Run! +it is wanted directly." + +"Yes, sir," said the clerk, casting a rueful and regretful glance at the +door of the walled-up house. + +"But make haste, will you, M. Piston," said the notary. + +"I do not know, sir, where to get any stamped paper." + +"Here is the guardian," replied M. Dumesnil. "He will no doubt be able +to tell you." + +At this instant, Samuel was returning, after showing the masons out by +the street-door. + +"Sir," said the notary to him, "will you please to tell me where we can +get stamped paper?" + +"Close by, sir," answered Samuel; "in the tobacconist's, No. 17, Rue +Vieille-du-Temple." + +"You hear, M. Piston?" said the notary to his clerk. "You can get the +stamps at the tobacconist's, No. 17, Rue Vieille-du-Temple. Be quick! +for this deed must be executed immediately before the opening of the +will. Time presses." + +"Very well, sir; I will make haste," answered the clerk, discontentedly, +as he followed his master, who hurried back into the room where he had +left Rodin, Gabriel, and Father d'Aigrigny. + +During this time, Samuel, ascending the steps, had reached the door, now +disencumbered of the stone, iron, and lead with which it had been blocked +up. It was with deep emotion that the old man having selected from his +bunch of keys the one he wanted, inserted it in the keyhole, and made the +door turn upon its hinges. Immediately he felt on his face a current of +damp, cold air, like that which exhales from a cellar suddenly opened. +Having carefully re-closed and double-locked the door, the Jew advanced +along the hall, lighted by a glass trefoil over the arch of the door. +The panes had lost their transparency by the effect of time, and now had +the appearance of ground-glass. This hall, paved with alternate squares +of black and white marble, was vast, sonorous, and contained a broad +staircase leading to the first story. The walls of smooth stone offered +not the least appearance of decay or dampness; the stair-rail of wrought +iron presented no traces of rust; it was inserted, just above the bottom +step, into a column of gray granite, which sustained a statue of black +marble, representing a negro bearing a flambeau. This statue had a +strange countenance, the pupils of the eyes being made of white marble. + +The Jew's heavy tread echoed beneath the lofty dome of the hall. The +grandson of Isaac Samuel experienced a melancholy feeling, as he +reflected that the footsteps of his ancestor had probably been the last +which had resounded through this dwelling, of which he had closed the +doors a hundred and fifty years before; for the faithful friend, in favor +of whom M. de Rennepont had made a feigned transfer of the property, had +afterwards parted with the same, to place it in the name of Samuel's +grandfather, who had transmitted it to his descendants, as if it had been +his own inheritance. + +To these thoughts, in which Samuel was wholly absorbed, was joined the +remembrance of the light seen that morning through the seven openings in +the leaden cover of the belvedere; and, in spite of the firmness of his +character, the old man could not repress a shudder, as, taking a second +key from his bunch, and reading upon the label, The Key of the Red Room, +he opened a pair of large folding doors, leading to the inner apartments. +The window which, of all those in the house, had alone been opened, +lighted this large room, hung with damask, the deep purple of which had +undergone no alteration. A thick Turkey carpet covered the floor, and +large arm-chairs of gilded wood, in the severe Louis XIV. style, were +symmetrically arranged along the wall. A second door, leading to the +next room, was just opposite the entrance. The wainscoting and the +cornice were white, relieved with fillets and mouldings of burnished +gold. On each side of this door was a large piece of buhl-furniture, +inlaid with brass and porcelain, supporting ornamental sets of sea- +crackle vases. The window vas hung with heavy deep-fringed damask +curtains, surmounted by scalloped drapery, with silk tassels, directly +opposite the chimney-piece of dark-gray marble, adorned with carved +brass-work. Rich chandeliers, and a clock in the same style as the +furniture, were reflected in a large Venice glass, with basiled edges. +A round table, covered with a cloth of crimson velvet, was placed in the +centre of this saloon. + +As he approached this table, Samuel perceived a piece of white vellum, on +which were inscribed these words: "My testament is to be opened in this +saloon. The other apartments are to remain closed, until after the +reading of my last will--M. De R." + +"Yes," said the Jew, as he perused with emotion these lines traced so +long ago; "this is the same recommendation as that which I received from +my father; for it would seem that the other apartments of this house are +filled with objects, on which M. de Rennepont set a high value, not for +their intrinsic worth, but because of their origin. The Hall of Mourning +must be a strange and mysterious chamber. Well," added Samuel, as he +drew from his pocket a register bound in black shagreen, with a brass +lock, from which he drew the key, after placing it upon the table, "here +is the statement of the property in hand, which I have been ordered to +bring hither, before the arrival of the heirs." + +The deepest silence reigned in the room, at the moment when Samuel placed +the register on the table. Suddenly a simple and yet most startling +occurrence roused him from his reverie. In the next apartment was heard +the clear, silvery tone of a clock, striking slowly ten. And the hour +was ten! Samuel had too much sense to believe in perpetual motion, or in +the possibility of constructing a clock to go far one hundred and fifty +years. He asked himself, therefore, with surprise and alarm, how this +clock could still be going, and how it could mark so exactly the hour of +the day. Urged with restless curiosity, the old man was about to enter +the room; but recollecting the recommendation of his father, which had +now been confirmed by the few lines he had just read from De Rennepont's +pen, he stopped at the door, and listened with extreme attention. + +He heard nothing--absolutely nothing, but the last dying vibration of the +clock. After having long reflected upon this strange fact, Samuel, +comparing it with the no less extraordinary circumstance of the light +perceived that morning through the apertures in the belvedere, concluded +that there must be some connection between these two incidents. If the +old man could not penetrate the true cause of these extraordinary +appearances, he at least explained them to himself, by remembering the +subterraneous communications, which, according to tradition, were said to +exist between the cellars of this house and distant places; and he +conjectured that unknown and mysterious personages thus gained access to +it two or three times in a century. Absorbed in these thoughts Samuel +approached the fireplace, which, as we have said, was directly opposite +the window. Just then, a bright ray of sunlight, piercing the clouds, +shone full upon two large portraits, hung upon either side of the +fireplace, and not before remarked by the Jew. They were painted life- +size, and represented one a woman, the other a man. By the sober yet +powerful coloring of these paintings, by the large and vigorous style, it +was easy to recognize a master's hand. It would have been difficult to +find models more fitted to inspire a great painter. The woman appeared +to be from five-and-twenty to thirty years of age. Magnificent brown +hair, with golden tints, crooned a forehead, white, noble, and lofty. +Her head-dress, far from recalling the fashion, which Madame de Sevigne +brought in during the age of Louis XIV., reminded one rather of some of +the portraits of Paul Veronese, in which the hair encircles the face in +broad, undulating bands, surmounted by a thick plait, like a crown, at +the back of the head. The eyebrows, finely pencilled, were arched over +large eyes of bright, sapphire blue. Their gaze at once proud and +mournful, had something fatal about it. The nose, finely formed, +terminated in slight dilated nostrils: a half smile, almost of pain, +contracted the mouth; the face was a long oval, and the complexion, +extremely pale, was hardly shaded on the cheek by a light rose-color. +The position of the head and neck announced a rare mixture of grace and +dignity. A sort of tunic or robe, of glossy black material, came as high +as the commencement of her shoulders, and just marking her lithe and tall +figure, reached down to her feet, which were almost entirely concealed by +the folds of this garment. + +The attitude was full of nobleness and simplicity. The head looked white +and luminous, standing out from a dark gray sky, marbled at the horizon +by purple clouds, upon which were visible the bluish summits of distant +hills, in deep shadow. The arrangement of the picture, as well as the +warm tints of the foreground, contrasting strongly with these distant +objects, showed that the woman was placed upon an eminence, from which +she could view the whole horizon. The countenance was deeply pensive and +desponding. There was an expression of supplicating and resigned grief, +particularly in her look, half raised to heaven, which one would have +thought impossible to picture. On the left side of the fireplace was the +other portrait, painted with like vigor. It represented a man, between +thirty and thirty-five years of age, of tall stature. A large brown +cloak, which hung round him in graceful folds, did not quite conceal a +black doublet, buttoned up to the neck, over which fell a square white +collar. The handsome and expressive head was marked with stern powerful +lines, which did not exclude an admirable air of suffering, resignation, +and ineffable goodness. The hair, as well as the beard and eyebrows, was +black; and the latter, by some singular caprice of nature, instead of +being separated and forming two distinct arches, extended from one temple +to the other, in a single bow, and seemed to mark the forehead of this +man with a black line. + +The background of this picture also represented a stormy sky; but, beyond +some rocks in the distance, the sea was visible, and appeared to mingle +with the dark clouds. The sun, just now shining upon these two +remarkable figures (which it appeared impossible to forget, after once +seeing them), augmented their brilliancy. + +Starting from his reverie, and casting his eyes by chance upon these +portraits, Samuel was greatly struck with them. They appeared almost +alive. "What noble and handsome faces!" he exclaimed, as he approached +to examine them more closely. "Whose are these portraits? They are not +those of any of the Rennepont family, for my father told me that they are +all in the Hall of Mourning. Alas!" added the old man, "one might think, +from the great sorrow expressed in their countenances, that they ought to +have a place in that mourning-chamber." + +After a moment's silence, Samuel resumed: "Let me prepare everything for +this solemn assembly, for it has struck ten." So saying, he placed the +gilded arm-chairs round the table, and then continued, with a pensive +air: "The hour approaches, and of the descendants of my grandfather's +benefactor, we have seen only this young priest, with the angelic +countenance. Can he be the sole representative of the Rennepont family? +He is a priest, and this family will finish with him! Well! the moment +is come when I must open this door, that the will may be read. Bathsheba +is bringing hither the notary. They knock at the door; it is time!" And +Samuel, after casting a last glance towards the place where the clock had +struck ten, hastened to the outer door, behind which voices were now +audible. + +He turned the key twice in the lock, and threw the portals open. To his +great regret, he saw only Gabriel on the steps, between Rodin and Father +d'Aigrigny. The notary, and Bathsheba, who had served them as a guide, +waited a little behind the principal group. + +Samuel could not repress a sigh, as he stood bowing on the threshold, and +said to them: "All is ready, gentlemen. You may walk in." + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + +THE TESTAMENT. + +When Gabriel, Rodin, and Father d'Aigrigny entered the Red Room, they +were differently affected. Gabriel, pale and sad, felt a kind of painful +impatience. He was anxious to quit this house, though he had already +relieved himself of a great weight, by executing before the notary, +secured by every legal formality, a deed making over all his rights of +inheritance to Father d'Aigrigny. Until now it had not occurred to the +young priest, that in bestowing the care upon him, which he was about to +reward so generously, and in forcing his vocation by a sacrilegious +falsehood, the only object of Father d'Aigrigny might have been to secure +the success of a dark intrigue. In acting as he did, Gabriel was not +yielding, in his view of the question, to a sentiment of exaggerated +delicacy. He had made this donation freely, many years before. He would +have looked upon it as infamy now to withdraw it. It was hard enough to +be suspected of cowardice: for nothing in the world would he have +incurred the least reproach of cupidity. + +The missionary must have been endowed with a very rare and excellent +nature, or this flower of scrupulous probity would have withered beneath +the deleterious and demoralizing influence of his education; but happily, +as cold sometimes preserves from corruption, the icy atmosphere in which +he had passed a portion of his childhood and youth had benumbed, but not +vitiated, his generous qualities, which had indeed soon revived in the +warm air of liberty. Father d'Aigrigny, much paler and more agitated +than Gabriel, strove to excuse and explain his anxiety by attributing it +to the sorrow he experienced at the rupture of his dear son with the +Order. Rodin, calm, and perfectly master of himself, saw with secret +rage the strong emotion of Father d'Aigrigny, which might have inspired a +man less confiding than Gabriel with strange suspicions. Yet, +notwithstanding his apparent indifference, the socius was perhaps still +more ardently impatient than his superior for the success of this +important affair. Samuel appeared quite desponding, no other heir but +Gabriel having presented himself. No doubt the old man felt a lively +sympathy for the young priest; but then he was a priest, and with him +would finish the line of Rennepont; and this immense fortune, accumulated +with so much labor, would either be again distributed, or employed +otherwise than the testator had desired. The different actors in this +scene were standing around the table. As they were about to seat +themselves, at the invitation of the notary, Samuel pointed to the +register bound in black shagreen, and said: "I was ordered, sir, to +deposit here this register. It is locked. I will deliver up the key, +immediately after the reading of the will." + +"This course is, in fact, directed by the note which accompanies the +will," said M. Dumesnil, "as it was deposited, in the year 1682, in the +hands of Master Thomas Le Semelier, king's counsel, and notary of the +Chatelet of Paris, then living at No. 13, Place Royale." + +So saying, M. Dumesnil drew from a portfolio of red morocco a large +parchment envelope, grown yellow with time; to this envelope was annexed, +by a silken thread, a note also upon vellum. + +"Gentlemen," said the notary, "if you please to sit down, I will read the +subjoined note, to regulate the formalities at the opening of the will." + +The notary, Rodin, Father d'Aigrigny, and Gabriel, took seats. The young +priest, having his back turned to the fireplace, could not see the two +portraits. In spite of the notary's invitation, Samuel remained standing +behind the chair of that functionary, who read as follows: + +"`On the 13th February, 1832, my will shall be carried to No. 3, in the +Rue Saint-Francois. + + `At ten o'clock precisely, the door of the Red Room shall be opened to +my heirs, who will no doubt have arrived long before at Paris, in +anticipation of this day, and will have had time to establish their line +of descent. + +"`As soon as they are assembled, the will shall be read, and, at the last +stroke of noon, the inheritance shall be finally settled in favor of +those of my kindred, who according to my recommendation (preserved, I +hope, by tradition in my family, during a century and a half); shall +present themselves in person, and not by agents, before twelve o'clock, +on the 13th of February, in the Rue Saint-Francois.'" + +Having read these words in a sonorous voice, the notary stopped an +instant, and resumed, in a solemn tone: "M. Gabriel Francois Marie de +Rennepont, priest, having established, by legal documents, his descent on +the father's side, and his relationship to the testator, and being at +this hour the only one of the descendants of the Rennepont family here +present, I open the testament in his presence, as it has been ordered." + +So saying, the notary drew from its envelope the will, which had been +previously opened by the President of the Tribunal, with the formalities +required by law. Father d'Aigrigny leaned forward, and resting his elbow +on the table, seemed to pant for breath. Gabriel prepared himself to +listen with more curiosity than interest. Rodin was seated at some +distance from the table, with his old hat between his knees, in the +bottom of which, half hidden by the folds of a shabby blue cotton +handkerchief, he had placed his watch. The attention of the socius was +divided between the least noise from without, and the slow evolution of +the hands of the watch, which he followed with his little, wrathful eye, +as if hastening their progress, so great was his impatience for the hour +of noon. + +The notary, unfolding the sheet of parchment, read what follows, in the +midst of profound attention: + +Hameau de Villetaneuse, + +"`February 13th, 1682. + +"`I am about to escape, by death, from the disgrace of the galleys, to +which the implacable enemies of my family have caused me to be condemned +as a relapsed heretic. + +"`Moreover, life is too bitter for me since the death of my son, the +victim of a mysterious crime. + +"`At nineteen years of age--poor henry!--and his murderers unknown--no, +not unknown--if I may trust my presentiments. + +"`To preserve my fortune for my son, I had feigned to abjure the +Protestant faith. As long as that beloved boy lived, I scrupulously kept +up Catholic appearances. The imposture revolted me, but the interest of +my son was concerned. + +"`When they killed him, this deceit became insupportable to me. I was +watched, accused, and condemned as relapsed. My property has been +confiscated, and I am sentenced to the galleys. + +"'Tis a terrible time we live in! Misery and servitude! sanguinary +despotism and religious intolerance! Oh, it is sweet to abandon life! +sweet to rest and see no more such evils and such sorrows! + +"`In a few hours, I shall enjoy that rest. I shall die. Let me think of +those who will survive--or rather, of those who will live perhaps in +better times. + +"`Out of all my fortune, there remains to me a sum of fifty thousand +crowns, deposited in a friend's hands. + +"`I have no longer a son; but I have numerous relations, exiled in +various parts of Europe. This sum of fifty thousand crowns, divided +between them, would profit each of them very little. I have disposed of +it differently. + +"`In this I have followed the wise counsels of a man, whom I venerate as +the image of God on earth, for his intelligence, wisdom, and goodness are +almost divine. + +"`Twice in the course of my life have I seen this man, under very fatal +circumstances--twice have I owed him safety, once of the soul, once of +the body. + +"'Alas! he might perhaps have saved my poor child, but he came too late-- +too late. + +"`Before he left me, he wished to divert me from the intention of dying-- +for he knew all. But his voice was powerless. My grief, my regret, my +discouragement, were too much for him. + +"`It is strange! when he was convinced of my resolution to finish my days +by violence, some words of terrible bitterness escaped him, making me +believe that he envied me--my fate--my death! + +"`Is he perhaps condemned to live? + +"`Yes; he has, no doubt, condemned himself to be useful to humanity, and +yet life is heavy on him, for I heard him repeat one day, with an +expression of despair and weariness that I have never forgotten: "Life! +life! who will deliver me from it?" + +"`Is life then so very burdensome to him? + +"`He is gone. His last words have made me look for my departure with +serenity. Thanks to him, my death shall not be without fruit. + +"`Thanks to him, these lines, written at this moment by a man who, in a +few hours, will have ceased to live, may perhaps be the parents of great +things a century and a half hence--yes! great and noble things, if my +last will is piously followed by my descendants, for it is to them that I +here address myself. + +"`That they may understand and appreciate this last will--which I commend +to the care of the unborn, who dwell in the future whither I am +hastening--they must know the persecutors of my family and avenge their +ancestor, but by a noble vengeance. + +"`My grandfather was a Catholic. Induced by perfidious counsels rather +than religious zeal, he attached himself, though a layman, to a Society +whose power has always been terrible and mysterious--the Society of +Jesus--'" + +At these words of the testament, Father d'Aigrigny, Rodin, and Gabriel +looked involuntarily at each other: The notary, who had not perceived +this action, continued to read: + +"`After some years, during which he had never ceased to profess the most +absolute devotion to this Society, he was suddenly enlightened by fearful +revelations as to the secret ends it pursued, and the means it employed. + +"`This was in 1510, a month before the assassination of Henry IV. + +"`My grandfather, terrified at the secret of which he had become the +unwilling depositary, and which was to be fully explained by the death of +the best of kings, not only broke with the Society, but, as if +Catholicism itself had been answerable for the crimes of its members, he +abandoned the Romish religion, in which he had hitherto lived, and became +a Protestant. + +"`Undeniable proofs, attesting the connivance of two members of the +Company with Ravaillac, a connivance also proved in the case of Jean +Chatel, the regicide, were in my grandfather's possession. + +"'This was the first cause of the violent hatred of the Society for our +family. Thank Heaven, these papers have been placed in safety, and if my +last will is executed, will be found marked A. M.C. D. G., in the ebony +casket in the Hall of Mourning, in the house in the Rue Saint-Francois. + +"'My father was also exposed to these secret persecutions. His ruin, and +perhaps his death, would have been the consequence, had it not been for +the intervention of an angelic woman, towards whom he felt an almost +religious veneration. + +"`The portrait of this woman, whom I saw a few years ago, as well as that +of the man whom I hold in the greatest reverence, were painted by me from +memory, and have been placed in the Red Room in the Rue Saint-Francois-- +to be gratefully valued, I hope, by the descendants of my family.'" + +For some moments Gabriel had become more and more attentive to the +reading of this testament. He thought within himself by how strange a +coincidence one of his ancestors had, two centuries before, broken with +the Society of Jesus, as he himself had just done; and that from this +rupture, two centuries old, dated also that species of hatred with which +the Society of Jesus had always pursued his family. Nor did the young +priest find it less strange that this inheritance, transmitted to him +after a lapse of a hundred and fifty years, from one of his kindred (the +victim of the Society of Jesus), should return by a voluntary act to the +coffers of this same society. When the notary read the passage relative +to the two portraits, Gabriel, who, like Father d'Aigrigny, sat with his +back towards the pictures, turned round to look at them. Hardly had the +missionary cast his eyes on the portrait of the woman, than he uttered a +loud cry of surprise, and almost terror. The notary paused in his +reading, and looked uneasily at the young priest. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + +THE LAST STROKE OF NOON. + +At the cry uttered by Gabriel, the notary had stopped reading the +testament, and Father d'Aigrigny hastily drew near the young priest. The +latter rose trembling from his seat and gazed with increasing stupor at +the female portrait. + +Then he said in a low voice, as if speaking to himself. "Good Heaven! +is it possible that nature can produce such resemblances? Those eyes--so +proud and yet so sad--that forehead--that pale complexion--yes, all her +features, are the same--all of them!" + +"My dear son, what is the matter?" said Father d'Aigrigny, as astonished +as Samuel and the notary. + +"Eight months ago," replied the missionary, in a voice of deep emotion, +without once taking his eyes from the picture, "I was in the power of the +Indians, in the heart of the Rocky Mountains. They had crucified, and +were beginning to scalp me; I was on the point of death, when Divine +Providence sent me unexpected aid--sent me this woman for a deliverer." + +"That woman!" cried Samuel, Father d'Aigrigny, and the notary, all +together. + +Rodin alone appeared completely indifferent to this episode of the +picture. His face contracted with angry impatience, he bit his nails to +the quick, as he contemplated with agony the slow progress of the hands +of his watch. + +"What! that woman saved your life?" resumed Father d'Aigrigny. + +"Yes, this woman," replied Gabriel, in a still lower and more trembling +voice; "this woman--or rather a woman so much resembling her, that if +this picture had not been here for a century and a half, I should have +felt sure it was the same--nor can I explain to myself that so striking a +resemblance could be the effect of chance. Well," added he, after a +moment's silence, as he heaved a profound sigh, "the mysteries of Nature, +and the will of God, are impenetrable." + +Gabriel fell back into his chair, in the midst of a general silence, +which was broken by Father d'Aigrigny saying, "It is a case of +extraordinary resemblance; that is all, my dear son. Only, the natural +gratitude which you feel towards your benefactress, makes you take a deep +interest in this singular coincidence." + +Rodin, bursting with impatience, here said to the notary, by whose side +he stood, "It seems to me, sir, that all this little romance has nothing +to do with the testament." + +"You are right," answered the notary, resuming his seat; "but the fact is +so extraordinary, and as you say, romantic, that one cannot help sharing +in this gentleman's astonishment." + +He pointed to Gabriel, who, with his elbow resting on the arms of the +chair, leaned his forehead upon his hand, apparently quite absorbed in +thought. The notary continued the reading of the will, as follows: + +"'Such are the persecutions to which my family has been exposed on the +part of the Society of Jesus. + +"`The Society possesses at this hour the whole of my confiscated +property. I am about to die. May its hatred perish with me, and spare +my kindred, whose fate at this solemn moment is my last and only thought. + +"`This morning I sent for a man of long tried probity Isaac Samuel. He +owes his life to me, and every day I congratulate myself on having been +able to preserve to the world so honest and excellent a creature. + +"`Before the confiscation of my property, Isaac Samuel had long managed +it with as much intelligence as uprightness. I have entrusted him with +the fifty thousand crowns, returned to me by a faithful friend. Isaac +Samuel, and his descendants after him, to whom he will leave this debt of +gratitude, will invest the above sum, and allow it to accumulate, until +the expiration of the hundred and fiftieth year from this time. + +"`The amount thus accumulated may become enormous, and constitute a royal +fortune, if no unfavorable event should occur. May my descendants attend +to my wishes, as to the division and employment of this immense sum! + +"`In a century and a half, there happen so many changes, so many +varieties of fortunes, such a rise and fall in the condition of the +successive generations of a family, that probably, a hundred and fifty +years hence, my descendants will belong to various classes of society, +and thus represent the divers social elements of their time. + +"`There may, perhaps, be among them men of great intelligence great +courage, or great virtue--learned men, or names illustrious in arts and +arms. There may, perhaps, also be obscure workmen, or humble citizens-- +perhaps, also, alas! great criminals. + +"`However, this may be, my most earnest desire is that my descendants +should combine together, and, reconstituting one family, by a close and +sincere union, put into practice the divine words of Christ, "Love ye one +another." + +"`This union would have a salutary tendency; for it seems to me that upon +union, upon the association of men together, must depend the future +happiness of mankind. + +"`The Company, which so long persecuted my family, is one of the most +striking examples of the power of association, even when applied to evil. + +"`There is something so fruitful and divine in this principle, that it +sometimes forces to good the worst and most dangerous combinations. + +"`Thus, the missions have thrown a scanty but pure and generous light on +the darkness of this Company of Jesus--founded with the detestable and +impious aim of destroying, by a homicidal education, all will, thought, +liberty, and intelligence, in the people, so as to deliver them, +trembling, superstitious, brutal, and helpless, to the despotism of +kings, governed in their turn by confessors belonging to the Society.'" + +At this passage of the will, there was another strange look exchanged +between Gabriel and Father d'Aigrigny. The notary continued: + +"`If a perverse association, based upon the degradation of humanity, upon +fear and despotism, and followed by the maledictions of the people, has +survived for centuries, and often governed the world by craft and terror- +-how would it be with an association, which, taking fraternity and +evangelic love for its means, had for its end to deliver man and woman +from all degrading slavery, to invite to the enjoyment of terrestrial +happiness those who have hitherto known nothing of life but its sorrows +and miseries, and to glorify and enrich the labor that feeds the state?-- +to enlighten those whom ignorance has depraved?--to favor the free +expansion of all the passions, which God, in His infinite wisdom, and +inexhaustible goodness, gave to man as so many powerful levers?--to +sanctify all the gifts of Heaven: love, maternity, strength, +intelligence, beauty, genius?--to make men truly religious, and deeply +grateful to their Creator, by making them understand the splendors of +Nature, and bestowing on them their rightful share in the treasures which +have been poured upon us? + +"'Oh! if it be Heaven's will that, in a century and a half, the +descendants of my family, faithful to the last wishes of a heart that +loved humanity, meet in this sacred union!--if it be Heaven's will that +amongst them be found charitable and passionate souls, full of +commiseration for those who suffer, and lofty minds, ardent for liberty! +warm and eloquent natures! resolute characters! women, who unite beauty +and wit with goodness--oh! then, how fruitful, how powerful will be the +harmonious union of all these ideas, and influences, and forces--of all +these attractions grouped round that princely fortune, which, +concentrated by association, and wisely managed, would render practicable +the most admirable Utopias! + +"`What a wondrous centre of fertile and generous thoughts! What precious +and life-giving rays would stream incessantly from this focus of charity, +emancipation, and love! What great things might be attempted what +magnificent examples given to the world! What a divine mission! What an +irresistible tendency towards good might be impressed on the whole human +race by a family thus situated, and in possession of such means! + +"`And, then, such a beneficent association would be able to combat the +fatal conspiracy of which I am the victim, and which, in a century and a +half, may have lost none of its formidable power. + +"`So, to this work of darkness, restraint, and despotism, which weighs +heavily on the Christian world, my family would oppose their work of +light, expansion, and liberty! + +"`The genii of good and evil would stand face to face. The struggle +would commence, and God would protect the right. + +"`And that these immense pecuniary resources, which will give so much +power to my family, may not be exhausted by the course of years, my +heirs, following my last will, are to place out, upon the same +conditions, double the sum that I have invested--so that, a century and a +half later, a new source of power and action will be at the disposal of +their descendants. What a perpetuity of good! + +"`In the ebony cabinet of the Hall of Mourning will be found some +practical suggestions on the subject of this association. + +"`Such is my last will--or rather, such are my last hopes. + +"`When I require absolutely that the members of my family should appear +in person in the Rue Saint-Francois, on the day of the opening of this +testament, it is so that, united in that solemn moment, they may see and +know each other. My words may then, perhaps, have some effect upon them; +and, instead of living divided, they will combine together. It will be +for their own interest, and my wishes will thus be accomplished. + +"`When I sent, a few days ago, to those of my family whom exile has +dispersed over Europe, a medal on which is engravers the date of the +convocation of my heirs, a century and a half from this time, I was +forced to keep secret my true motive, and only to tell them, that my +descendants would find it greatly to their interest to attend this +meeting. + +"`I have acted thus, because I know the craft and perseverance of the +society of which I have been the victim. If they could guess that my +descendants would hereafter have to divide immense sums between them, my +family would run the risk of much fraud and malice, through the fatal +recommendations handed down from age to age in the Society of Jesus. + +"`May these precautions be successful! May the wish, expressed upon +these medals, be faithfully transmitted from generation to generation! + +"`If I fix a day and hour, in which my inheritance shall irrevocably fall +to those of my descendants who shall appear in the Rue Saint-Francois on +the 13th February, in 1832, it is that all delays must have a term, and +that my heirs will have been sufficiently informed years before of the +great importance of this meeting. + +"`After the reading of my testament, the person who shall then be the +trustee of the accumulated funds, shall make known their amount, so that, +with the last stroke of noon, they may be divided between my heirs then +and there present. + +"`The different apartments of the house shall then be opened to them. +They will see in them divers objects, well worthy of interest, pity, and +respect--particularly in the Hall of Mourning. + +"`My desire is, that the house may not be sold, but that it may remain +furnished as it is, and serve as a place of meeting for my descendants, +if, as I hope, they attend to my last wishes. + +"`If, on the contrary, they are divided amongst themselves--if, instead +of uniting for one of the most generous enterprises that ever signalized +an age, they yield to the influence of selfish passions--if they prefer a +sterile individuality to a fruitful association--if, in this immense +fortune, they see only an opportunity for frivolous dissipation, or +sordid interest--may they be accursed by all those whom they might have +loved, succored, and disfettered!--and then let this house be utterly +demolished and destroyed, and the papers, of which Isaac Samuel possesses +the inventory, as well as the two portraits in the Red Room, be burnt by +the guardian of the property. + +"`I have spoken. My duty is accomplished. In all this, I have followed +the counsels of the man whom I revere and love as the image of God upon +earth. + +"`The faithful friend, who preserved for me the fifty thousand crowns, +the wreck of my fortune, knows the use I mean to make of them. I could +not refuse his friendship this mark of confidence. But I have concealed +from him the name of Isaac Samuel--for to have mentioned it might have +exposed this latter and his descendants to great dangers. + +"`In a short time, this friend, who knows not that my resolution to die +is so near its accomplishment, will come hither with my notary. Into +their hands, after the usual formalities, I shall deliver my sealed +testament. + +"`Such is my last will. I leave its execution to the superintending care +of Providence. God will protect the cause of love, peace, union, and +liberty. + +"`This mystic testament,[20] having been freely made by me, and written +entirely with my own hand, I intend and will its scrupulous execution +both in spirit and the letter. + +"`This 13th day of February, 1682, at one o'clock in the +afternoon. "'MARIUS DE RENNEPONT.'" + +As the notary had proceeded with the reading of the testament, Gabriel +was successively agitated by divers painful impressions. At first, as we +have before said, he was struck with the singular fatality which restored +this immense fortune, derived from a victim of the Society of Jesus, to +the hands of that very association, by the renewal of his deed of gift. +Then, as his charitable and lofty soul began fully to comprehend the +admirable tendency of the association so earnestly recommended by Marius +de Rennepont, he reflected with bitter remorse, that, in consequence of +his act of renunciation, and of the absence of any other heir, this great +idea would never be realized, and a fortune, far more considerable than +had even been expected, would fall to the share of an ill-omened society, +in whose hands it would become a terrible means of action. At the same +time, it must be said that the soul of Gabriel was too pure and noble to +feel the slightest personal regret, on hearing the great probable value +of the property he had renounced. He rejoiced rather in withdrawing his +mind, by a touching contrast, from the thought of the wealth he had +abandoned, to the humble parsonage, where he hoped to pass the remainder +of his life, in the practice of most evangelical virtue. + +These ideas passed confusedly through his brain. The sight of that +woman's portrait, the dark revelations contained in the testament, the +grandeur of the views exhibited in this last will of M. de Rennepont, all +these extraordinary incidents had thrown Gabriel into a sort of stupor, +in which he was still plunged, when Samuel offered the key of the +register to the notary, saying: "You will find, sir, in this register, +the exact statement of the sums in my possession, derived from the +investment and accumulation of the one hundred and fifty thousand francs, +entrusted to my grandfather by M. Marius de Rennepont." + +"Your grandfather!" cried Father d'Aigrigny, with the utmost surprise; +"it is then your family that has always had the management of this +property." + +"Yes, sir; and, in a few minutes, my wife will bring hither the casket +which contains the vouchers." + +"And to what sum does this property amount?" asked Rodin, with an air of +the most complete indifference. + +"As M. Notary may convince himself by this statement," replied Samuel, +with perfect frankness, and as if he were only talking of the original +one hundred and fifty thousand francs, "I have in my possession various +current securities to the amount of two hundred and twelve millions, one +hundred and seventy--" + +"You say, sir'" cried Father d'Aigrigny, without giving Samuel time to +finish, for the odd money did not at all interest his reverence. + +"Yes, the sum!" added Rodin, in an agitated voice, and, for the first +time, perhaps, in his life losing his presence of mind; "the sum--the +sum--the sum!" + +"I say, sir," resumed the old man, "that I hold securities for two +hundred and twelve millions, one hundred and seventy-five thousand +francs, payable to self or bearer--as you may soon convince yourself, M. +Notary, for here is my wife with the casket." + +Indeed, at this moment, Bathsheba entered, holding in her arms the cedar- +wood chest, which contained the securities in question; she placed it +upon the table, and withdrew, after exchanging an affectionate glance +with Samuel. When the latter declared the enormous amount of the sum in +hand, his words were received with silent stupor. All the actors in this +scene, except himself, believed that they were the sport of some +delusion. Father d'Aigrigny and Rodin had counted upon forty millions. +This sum, in itself enormous, was more than quintupled. Gabriel, when he +heard the notary read those passages in the testament, which spoke of a +princely fortune, being quite ignorant of the prodigious effects of +eligible investments, had valued the property at some three or four +millions. He was, therefore, struck dumb with amazement at the +exorbitant amount named. Notwithstanding his admirable disinterestedness +and scrupulous honor, he felt dazzled and giddy at the thought, that all +these immense riches might have belonged to him--alone. The notary, +almost as much amazed as Gabriel, examined the statement, and could +hardly believe his eyes. The Jew also remained mute, and seemed +painfully absorbed in thought, that no other heir made his appearance. + +In the depth of this profound silence, the clock in the next room began +slowly to strike twelve. Samuel started, and heaved a deep sigh. A few +seconds more, and the fatal term would be at an end. Rodin, Father +d'Aigrigny, Gabriel, and the notary, were all under the influence of such +complete surprise, that not one of them even remarked how strange it was +to hear the sound of this clock. + +"Noon!" cried Rodin, as, by an involuntary movement, he hastily placed +his two hands upon the casket, as if to take possession of it. + +"At last!" cried Father d'Aigrigny, with an expression of joy, triumph +transport, which it is impossible to describe. Then he added, as he +threw himself into Gabriel's arms, whom he embraced warmly: "Oh, my dear +son! how the poor will bless you! You will be a second Vincent de Paul. +You will be canonized, I promise you." + +"Let us first thank Providence," said Rodin, in a grave and solemn tone, +as he fell upon his knees, "let us thank Providence, that He has +permitted so much wealth to be employed for His glory!"' + +Father d'Aigrigny, having again embraced Gabriel, took him by the hand, +and said: "Rodin is right. Let us kneel, my dear son, and render thanks +to Providence!" + +So saying, Father d'Aigrigny knelt down, dragging Gabriel with him, and +the latter, confused and giddy with so many precipitate events, yielded +mechanically to the impulse. It was the last stroke of twelve when they +all rose together. + +Then said the notary, in a slightly agitated voice, for there was +something extraordinary and solemn in this scene + +"No other heir of M. Marius de Rennepont having presented himself, before +noon on this day, I execute the will of the testator, by declaring, in +the name of law and justice, that M. Francois Marie Gabriel de Rennepont, +here present, is the sole heir and possessor of all the estate, real and +personal, bequeathed under the said will; all which estate the said +Gabriel de Rennepont, priest, has freely and voluntarily made over by +deed of gift to Frederic Emanuel de Bordeville, Marquis d'Aigrigny, +priest, who has accepted the same, and is, therefore, the only legal +holder of such property, in the room of the said Gabriel de Rennepont, by +virtue of the said deed, drawn up and engrossed by me this morning, and +signed in my presence by the said Gabriel de Rennepont and Frederic +d'Aigrigny." + +At this moment, the sound of loud voices was heard from the garden. +Bathsheba entered hastily, and said to her husband with an agitated air: +"Samuel--a soldier--who insists--" + +She had not time to finish. Dagobert appeared at the door of the Red +Room. The soldier was fearfully pale. He seemed almost fainting; his +left arm was in a sling, and he leaned upon Agricola. At sight of +Dagobert, the pale and flabby eyelids of Rodin were suddenly distended, +as if all the blood in his body had flowed towards the head. Then the +socius threw himself upon the casket, with the haste of ferocious rage +and avidity, as if he were resolved to cover it with his body, and defend +it at the peril of his life. + +[20] This term is sanctioned by legal usage. + + + + + +CHAPTER XXV. + +THE DEED OF GIFT. + +Father d'Aigrigny did not recognize Dagobert, and had never seen +Agricola. He could not therefore, at first explain the kind of angry +alarm exhibited by Rodin. But the reverend father understood it all, +when he heard Gabriel utter a cry of joy, and saw him rush into the arms +of the smith, exclaiming: "My brother! my second father--oh! it is heaven +that sends you to me." + +Having pressed Gabriel's hand, Dagobert advanced towards Father +d'Aigrigny, with a rapid but unsteady step. As he remarked the soldier's +threatening countenance, the reverend father, strong in his acquired +rights, and feeling that, since noon, he was at home here; drew back a +little, and said imperiously to the veteran: "Who are you, sir!--What do +you want here?" + +Instead of answering, the soldier continued to advance, then, stopping +just facing Father d'Aigrigny, he looked at him for a second with such an +astounding mixture of curiosity, disdain, aversion, and audacity, that +the ex-colonel of hussars quailed before the pale face and glowing eye of +the veteran. The notary and Samuel, struck with surprise, remained mute +spectators of this scene, while Agricola and Gabriel followed with +anxiety Dagobert's least movements. As for Rodin, he pretended to be +leaning on the casket, in order still to cover it with his body. + +Surmounting at length the embarrassment caused by the steadfast look of +the soldier, Father d'Aigrigny raised his head, and repeated. "I ask +you, sir, who you are, and what you want?" + +"Do you not recognize me?" said Dagobert, hardly able to restrain +himself. + +"No, sir--" + +"In truth," returned the soldier, with profound contempt, "You cast down +your eyes for shame when, at Leipsic, you fought for the Russians against +the French, and when General Simon, covered with wounds, answered you, +renegade that you were, when you asked him for his sword, `I do not +surrender to a traitor!'--and dragged himself along to one of the Russian +grenadiers, to whom he yielded up his weapon. Well! there was then a +wounded soldier by the side of General Simon--I am he." + +"In brief, sir, what do you want?" said Father d'Aigrigny, hardly, able +to control himself. + +"I have come to unmask you--you, that are as false and hateful a priest, +as Gabriel is admirable and beloved by all." + +"Sir!" cried the marquis, becoming livid with rage and emotion. + +"I tell you, that you are infamous," resumed the soldier, with still +greater force. "To rob Marshal Simon's daughters, and Gabriel, and +Mdlle. de Cardoville of their inheritance, you have had recourse to the +most shameful means." + +"What do you say?" cried Gabriel. "The daughters of Marshal Simon?" + +"Are your relations, my dear boy, as is also that worthy Mdlle. de +Cardoville, the benefactress of Agricola. Now, this priest," he added, +pointing to Father d'Aigrigny, "has had them shut up--the one as mad, in +a lunatic asylum--the others in a convent. As for you, my dear boy, I +did not hope to find you here, believing that they would have prevented +you, like the others, from coming hither this morning. But, thank God, +you are here, and I arrive in time. I should have been sooner, but for +my wound. I have lost so much blood, that I have done nothing but faint +all the morning." + +"Truly!" cried Gabriel, with uneasiness. "I had not remarked your arm in +a sling. What is the wound?" + +At a sign from Agricola, Dagobert answered: "Nothing; the consequence of +a fall. But here I am, to unveil many infamies." + +It is impossible to paint the curiosity, anguish, surprise, or fear, of +the different actors in this scene, as they listened to Dagobert's +threatening words. But the most overcome was Gabriel. His angelic +countenance was distorted, his knees trembled under him. Struck by the +communication of Dagobert which revealed the existence of other heirs, he +was unable to speak for some time; at length, he cried out, in a tone of +despair: "And it is I--oh, God! I--who am the cause of the spoliation of +this family!" + +"You, brother?" exclaimed Agricola. + +"Did they not wish to rob you also?" added Dagobert. + +"The will," cried Gabriel, with increasing agony, "gave the property to +those of the heirs that should appear before noon." + +"Well?" said Dagobert, alarmed at the emotion of the young priest. + +"Twelve o'clock has struck," resumed the latter. "Of all the family, I +alone was present. Do you understand it now? The term is expired. The +heirs have been thrust aside by me!" + +"By you!" said Dagobert, stammering with joy. "By you, my brave boy! +then all is well." + +"But--" + +"All is well," resumed Dagobert, radiant with delight. "You will share +with the others--I know you." + +"But all this property I have irrevocably, made over to another," cried +Gabriel, in despair. + +"Made over the property!" cried Dagobert, quite petrified. "To whom, +then?--to whom?" + +"To this gentleman," said Gabriel, pointing to Father d'Aigrigny. + +"To him!" exclaimed Dagobert, overwhelmed by the news; "to him--the +renegade--who has always been the evil genius of this family!" + +"But, brother," cried Agricola, "did you then know your claim to this +inheritance?" + +"No," answered the young priest, with deep dejection; "no--I only learned +it this morning, from Father d'Aigrigny. He told me, that he had only +recently been informed of my rights, by family papers long ago found upon +me, and sent by our mother to her confessor." + +A sudden light seemed to dawn upon the mind of the smith, as he +exclaimed: "I understand it all now. They discovered in these papers, +that you would one day have a chance of becoming rich. Therefore, they +interested themselves about you--therefore, they took you into their +college, where we could never see you--therefore, they deceived you in +your vocation by shameful falsehoods, to force you to become a priest, +and to lead you to make this deed of gift. Oh, sir!" resumed Agricola, +turning towards Father d'Aigrigny, with indignation, "my father is right- +-such machinations are indeed infamous!" + +During this scene, the reverend father and his socius, at first alarmed +and shaken in their audacity, had by degrees recovered all their +coolness. Rodin, still leaning upon the casket, had said a few words in +a low voice to Father d'Aigrigny. So that when Agricola, carried away by +his indignation, reproached the latter with his infamous machinations, he +bowed his head humbly, and answered: " We are bound to forgive injuries, +and offer them to the Lord as a mark of our humility." + +Dagobert, confounded at all he had just heard, felt his reason begin to +wander. After so much anxiety, his strength failed beneath this new and +terrible blow. Agricola's just and sensible words, in connection with +certain passages of the testament, at once enlightened Gabriel as to the +views of Father d'Aigrigny, in taking charge of his education, and +leading him to join the Society of Jesus. For the first time in his +life, Gabriel was able to take in at a glance all the secret springs of +the dark intrigue, of which he had been the victim. Then, indignation +and despair surmounting his natural timidity, the missionary, with +flashing eye, and cheeks inflamed with noble wrath, exclaimed, as he +addressed Father d'Aigrigny: "So, father, when you placed me in one of +your colleges, it was not from any feeling of kindness or commiseration, +but only in the hope of bringing me one day to renounce in favor of your +Order my share in this inheritance; and it did not even suffice you to +sacrifice me to your cupidity, but I must also be rendered the +involuntary instrument of a shameful spoliation! If only I were +concerned--if you only coveted my claim to all this wealth, I should not +complain. I am the minister of a religion which honors and sanctifies +poverty; I have consented to the donation in your favor, and I have not, +I could never have any claim upon it. But property is concerned which +belong to poor orphans, brought from a distant exile by my adopted +father, and I will not see them wronged. But the benefactress of my +adopted brother is concerned, and I will not see her wronged. But the +last will of a dying man is concerned, who, in his ardent love of +humanity, bequeathed to his descendants an evangelic mission--an +admirable mission of progress, love, union, liberty--and I will not see +this mission blighted in its bud. No, no; I tell you, that this his +mission shall be accomplished, though I have to cancel the donation I +have made." + +On these words, Father d'Aigrigny and Rodin looked at each other with a +slight shrug of the shoulders. At a sign from the socius, the reverend +father began to speak with immovable calmness, in a slow and sanctified +voice, keeping eyes constantly cast down: "There are many incidents +connected with this inheritance of M. de Rennepont, which appear very +complicated--many phantoms, which seem un usually menacing--and yet, +nothing could be really more simple and natural. Let us proceed in +regular order. Let us put aside all these calumnious imputations; we +will return to them afterwards. M. Gabriel de Rennepont--and I +humbly beg him to contradict me, if I depart in the least instance from +the exact truth--M. Gabriel de Rennepont, in acknowledgment of the care +formerly bestowed on him by the society to which I have the honor to +belong, made over to me, as its representative, freely and voluntarily, +all the property that might come to him one day, the value of which was +unknown to him, as well as to myself." + +Father d'Aigrigny here looked at Gabriel, as if appealing to him for the +truth of this statement. + +"It is true," said the young priest: "I made this donation freely." + +"This morning, in consequence of a private conversation, which I will not +repeat--and in this, I am certain beforehand, of the Abbe Gabriel--" + +"True," replied Gabriel, generously; "the subject of this conversation is +of little importance." + +"It was then, in consequence of this conversation that the Abbe Gabriel +manifested the desire to confirm this donation--not in my favor, for I +have little to do with earthly wealth--but in favor of the sacred and +charitable works of which our Company is the trustee. I appeal to the +honor of M. Gabriel to declare if he have not engaged himself towards us, +not only by a solemn oath, but by a perfectly legal act, executed in +presence of M. Dumesnil, here present?" + +"It is all true," answered Gabriel. + +"The deed was prepared by me," added the notary. + +"But Gabriel could only give you what belonged to him," cried Dagobert. +"The dear boy never supposed that you were making use of him to rob other +people." + +"Do me the favor, sir, to allow me to explain myself," replied Father +d'Aigrigny, courteously; "you can afterwards make answer." + +Dagobert repressed with difficulty his painful impatience. The reverend +father continued: "The Abbe Gabriel has therefore, by the double +engagement of an oath and a legal act, confirmed his donation. Much +more," resumed Father d'Aigrigny: "when to his great astonishment and to +ours, the enormous amount of the inheritance became known, the Abbe +Gabriel, faithful to his own admirable generosity, far from repenting of +his gifts, consecrated them once more by a pious movement of gratitude to +Providence--for M. Notary will doubtless remember, that, after embracing +the Abbe Gabriel with transport, and telling him that he was a second +Vincent de Paul in charity, I took him by the hand, and we both knelt +down together to thank heaven for having inspired him with the thought +too offer these immense riches to the Greater Glory of the Lord." + +"That is true, also," said Gabriel, honestly; "so long as myself was +concerned, though I might be astounded for a moment by the revelation of +so enormous a fortune, I did not think for an instant of cancelling the +donation I had freely made." + +"Under these circumstances," resumed Father d'Aigrigny, "the hour fixed +for the settlement of the inheritance having struck, and Abbe Gabriel +being the only heir that presented himself, he became necessarily the +only legitimate possessor of this immense wealth--enormous, no doubt--and +charity makes me rejoice that it is enormous, for, thanks to it, many +miseries will be relieved and many tears wiped away. But, all on a +sudden, here comes this gentleman," said Father d'Aigrigny, pointing to +Dagobert; "and, under some delusion, which I forgive from the bottom of +my soul, and which I am sure he will himself regret, accuses me, with +insults and threats, with having carried off (I know not where) some +persons (I know not whom), in order to prevent their being here at the +proper time--" + +"Yes, I accuse you of this infamy!" cried the soldier exasperated by the +calmness and audacity of the reverend father: "yes--and I will--" + +"Once again, sir, I conjure you to be so good as to let me finish; you +can reply afterwards," said Father d'Aigrigny, humbly, in the softest and +most honeyed accents. + +"Yes, I will reply, and confound you!" cried Dagobert. + +"Let him finish, father. You can speak presently," said Agricola. + +The soldier was silent as Father d'Aigrigny continued with new assurance: +"Doubtless, if there should really be any other heirs, besides the Abbe +Gabriel, it is unfortunate for them that they have not appeared in proper +time. And if, instead of defending the cause of the poor and needy, I +had only to look to my own interest, I should be far from availing myself +of this advantage, due only to chance; but, as a trustee for the great +family of the poor, I am obliged to maintain my absolute right to this +inheritance; and I do not doubt that M. Notary will acknowledge the +validity of my claim, and deliver to me these securities, which are now +my legitimate property." + +"My only mission," replied the notary, in an agitated voice, "is +faithfully to execute the will of the testator. The Abbe Gabriel de +Rennepont alone presented himself, within the term fixed by the +testament. The deed of gift is in due form; I cannot refuse, therefore, +to deliver to the person named in the deed the amount of the heritage--" + +On these words Samuel hid his face in his hands, and heaved a deep sigh; +he was obliged to acknowledge the rigorous justice of the notary's +observations. + +"But, sir," cried Dagobert, addressing the man of law, "this cannot be. +You will not allow two poor orphans to be despoiled. It is in the name +of their father and mother that I speak to you. I give you my honor--the +honor of a soldier!--that they took advantage of the weakness of my wife +to carry the daughters of Marshal Simon to a convent, and thus prevent me +bringing them here this morning. It is so true, that I have already laid +my charge before a magistrate." + +"And what answer did you receive?" said the notary. + +"That my deposition was not sufficient for the law to remove these young +girls from the convent in which they were, and that inquiries would be +made--" + +"Yes, sir," added Agricola, "and it was the same with regard to Mdlle. +de Cardoville, detained as mad in a lunatic asylum, though in the full +enjoyment of her reason. Like Marshal Simon's daughters, she too has a +claim to this inheritance. I took the same steps for her, as my father +took for Marshal Simon's daughters." + +"Well?" asked the notary. + +"Unfortunately, sir," answered Agricola, "they told me; as they did my +father, that my deposition would not suffice, and that they must make +inquiries." + +At this moment, Bathsheba, having heard the street-bell ring, left the +Red Room at a sign from Samuel. The notary resumed, addressing Agricola +and his father: "Far be it from me, gentlemen, to call in question your +good faith; but I cannot, to my great regret, attach such importance to +your accusations, which are not supported by proof, as to suspend the +regular legal course. According to your own confession, gentlemen, the +authorities, to whom you addressed yourselves, did not see fit to +interfere on your depositions, and told you they would inquire further. +Now, really, gentlemen, I appeal to you: how can I, in so serious a +matter, take upon myself a responsibility, which the magistrates +themselves have refused to take?" + +"Yes, you should do so, in the name of justice and honor?" cried +Dagobert. + +"It may be so, sir, in your opinion; but in my view of the case, I remain +faithful to justice and honor, by executing with exactness the last will +of the dead. For the rest you have no occasion to despair. If the +persons, whose interests you represent, consider themselves injured, they +may hereafter have recourse to an action at law, against the person +receiving as donee of the Abbe Gabriel--but in the meanwhile, it is my +duty to put him in immediate possession of the securities. I should be +gravely injured, were I to act in any, other manner." + +The notary's observations seemed so reasonable, that Samuel, Dagobert and +Agricola were quite confounded. After a moment's thought, Gabriel +appeared to take a desperate resolution, and said to the notary, in a +firm voice + +"Since, under these circumstances, the law is powerless to obtain the +right, I must adopt, sir, an extreme course. Before doing so, I will ask +M. l'Abbe d'Aigrigny, for the last time, if he will content himself with +that portion of the property which falls justly to me, on condition that +the rest shall be placed in safe hands, till the heirs, whose names have +been brought forward, shall prove their claim." + +"To this proposition I must answer as I have done already," replied +Father d'Aigrigny; "it is not I who am concerned, but an immense work of +charity. I am, therefore, obliged to refuse the part-offer of the Abbe +Gabriel, and to remind him of his engagements of every kind." + +"Then you refuse this arrangement?" asked Gabriel, in an agitated voice. + +"Charity commands me to do so." + +"You refuse it--absolutely?" + +"I think of all the good and pious institutions that these treasures will +enable us to establish for the Greater Glory of the Lord, and I have +neither the courage nor the desire to make the least concession." + +"Then, sir," resumed the good priest, in a still more agitated manner, +"since you force me to do it, I revoke my donation. I only intended to +dispose of my own property, and not of that which did not belong to me." + +"Take care M. l'Abbe," said rather d'Aigrigny; "I would observe that I +hold in my hand a written, formal promise." + +"I know it, sir;, you have a written paper, in which I take an oath never +to revoke this donation, upon any pretext whatever, and on pain of +incurring the aversion and contempt of all honest men. Well, sir! be it +so," said Gabriel, with deep bitterness; " I will expose myself to all +the consequences of perjury; you may proclaim it everywhere. I may be +hated and despised by all--but God will judge me!" The young priest +dried a tear, which trickled from his eye. + +"Oh! do not be afraid, my dear boy!" cried Dagobert, with reviving hope. +"All honest men will be on your side!" + +"Well done, brother!" said Agricola. + +"M. Notary," said Rodin, in his little sharp voice, "please to explain to +Abbe Gabriel, that he may perjure himself as much as he thinks fit, but +that the Civil Code is much less easy to violate than a mere promise, +which is only--sacred!" + +"Speak, sir," said Gabriel. + +"Please to inform Abbe Gabriel," resumed Rodin, "that a deed of gift, +like that made in favor of Father d'Aigrigny, can only be cancelled for +one of three reasons--is it not so?" + +"Yes, sir, for three reasons," said the notary. + +"The first is in case of the birth of a child," said Rodin, "and I should +blush to mention such a contingency to the Abbe Gabriel. The second is +the ingratitude of the donee--and the Abbe Gabriel may be certain of our +deep and lasting gratitude. The last case is the non-fulfilment of the +wishes of the donor, with regard to the employment of his gifts. + +Now, although the Abbe Gabriel may have suddenly conceived a very bad +opinion of us, he will at least give us some time to show that his gifts +have been disposed of according to his wishes, and applied to the Greater +Glory of the Lord." + +"Now, M. Notary," added Father d'Aigrigny, "it is for you to decide and +say, if Abbe Gabriel can revoke the donation he has made." + +Just as the notary was going to answer, Bathsheba reentered the room, +followed by two more personages, who appeared in the Red Room at a little +distance from each other. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg Etext of The Wandering Jew, V5, by Eugene Sue + diff --git a/old/es05v10.zip b/old/es05v10.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..a714175 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/es05v10.zip diff --git a/old/es05v11.txt b/old/es05v11.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..0efabb7 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/es05v11.txt @@ -0,0 +1,4696 @@ +The Project Gutenberg Etext of The Wandering Jew v5, by Eugene Sue +#5 in our series by Eugene Sue + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world, be sure to check +the laws for your country before redistributing these files!!!!! + +Please take a look at the important information in this header. +We encourage you to keep this file on your own disk, keeping an +electronic path open for the next readers. + +Please do not remove this. + +This should be the first thing seen when anyone opens the book. +Do not change or edit it without written permission. 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The Deed of Gift + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +THE EVE OF A GREAT DAY. + +About two hours before the event last related took place at St. Mary's +Convent, Rodin and Abbe d'Aigrigny met in the room where we have already +seen them, in the Rue du Milieu-des-Ursins. Since the Revolution of +July, Father d'Aigrigny had thought proper to remove for the moment to +this temporary habitation all the secret archives and correspondence of +his Order--a prudent measure, since he had every reason to fear that the +reverend fathers would be expelled by the state from that magnificent +establishment, with which the restoration had so liberally endowed their +society.[11] + +Rodin, dressed in his usual sordid style, mean and dirty as ever, was +writing modestly at his desk, faithful to his humble part of secretary, +which concealed, as we have already seen a far more important office-- +that of Socius--a function which, according to the constitutions of the +Order, consists in never quitting his superior, watching his least +actions, spying into his very thoughts, and reporting all to Rome. + +In spite of his usual impassibility, Rodin appeared visibly uneasy and +absent in mind; he answered even more briefly than usual to the commands +and questions of Father d'Aigrigny, who had but just entered the room. + +"Has anything new occurred during my absence?" asked he. "Are the +reports still favorable?" + +"Very favorable." + +"Read them to me." + +"Before giving this account to your reverence," said Rodin, "I must +inform you that Morok has been two days in Paris." + +"Morok?" said Abbe d'Aigrigny, with surprise. "I thought, on leaving +Germany and Switzerland, he had received from Friburg the order to +proceed southward. At Nismes, or Avignon, he would at this moment be +useful as an agent; for the Protestants begin to move, and we fear a +reaction against the Catholics." + +"I do not know," said Rodin, "if Morok may not have had private reasons +for changing his route. His ostensible reasons are, that he comes here +to give performances." + +"How so?" + +"A dramatic agent, passing through Lyons, engaged him and his menagerie +for the Port Saint-Martin Theatre at a very high price. He says that he +did not like to refuse such an offer." + +"Well," said Father d'Aigrigny, shrugging his shoulders, "but by +distributing his little books, and selling prints and chaplets, as well +as by the influence he would certainly exercise over the pious and +ignorant people of the South or of Brittany, he might render services, +such as he can never perform in Paris." + +"He is now below, with a kind of giant, who travels about with him. In +his capacity of your reverence's old servant, Morok hoped to have the +honor of kissing your hand this evening." + +"Impossible--impossible--you know how much I am occupied. Have you sent +to the Rue Saint-Francois?" + +"Yes, I have. The old Jew guardian has had notice from the notary. To- +morrow, at six in the morning, the masons will unwall the door, and, for +the first time since one hundred and fifty years, the house will be +opened." + +Father d'Aigrigny remained in thought for a moment, and then said to +Rodin: "On the eve of such a decisive day, we must neglect nothing, and +call every circumstance to memory. Read me the copy of the note, +inserted in the archives of the society, a century and a half ago, on the +subject of Rennepont." + +The secretary took the note from the case, and read as follows: + +"'This 19th day of February, 1682, the Reverend Father-Provincial +Alexander Bourdon sent the following advice, with these words in the +margin: Of extreme importance for the future. + +"'We have just discovered, by the confession of a dying person to one of +our fathers, a very close secret. + +"'Marius de Rennepont, one of the most active and redoubtable partisans +of the Reformed Religion, and one of the most determined enemies of our +Holy Society, had apparently re-entered the pale of our Mother Church, +but with the sole design of saving his worldly goods, threatened with +confiscation because of his irreligious and damnable errors. Evidence +having been furnished by different persons of our company to prove that +the conversion of Rennepont was not sincere, and in reality covered a +sacrilegious lure, the possessions of the said gentleman, now considered +a relapsed heretic, were confiscated by our gracious sovereign, his +Majesty King Louis XIV, and the said Rennepont was condemned to the +galleys for life.[12] He escaped his doom by a voluntary death; in +consequence of which abominable crime, his body was dragged upon a +hurdle, and flung to the dogs on the highway. + +"'From these preliminaries, we come to the great secret, which is of such +importance to the future interests of our Society. + +"'His Majesty Louis XIV., in his paternal and Catholic goodness towards +the Church in general, and our Order in particular, had granted to us the +profit of this confiscation, in acknowledgment of our services in +discovering the infamous and sacrilegious relapse of the said Rennepont. + +"'But we have just learned, for certain, that a house situated in Paris, +No. 3, Rue Saint-Francois, and a sum of fifty thousand gold crowns, have +escaped this confiscation, and have consequently been stolen from our +Society. + +"'The house was conveyed, before the confiscation, by means of a feigned +purchase, to a friend of Rennepont's a good Catholic, unfortunately, as +against him we cannot take any severe measures. Thanks to the culpable, +but secure connivance of his friend, the house has been walled up, and is +only to be opened in a century and a half, according to the last will of +Rennepont. As for the fifty thousand gold crowns, they have been placed +in hands which, unfortunately, are hitherto unknown to us, in order to be +invested and put out to use for one hundred and fifty years, at the +expiration of which time they are to be divided between the then existing +descendants of the said Rennepont; and it is calculated that this sum, +increased by so many accumulations, will by then have become enormous, +and will amount to at least forty or fifty millions of livres tournois. +From motives which are not known, but which are duly stated in a +testamentary document, the said Rennepont has concealed from his family, +whom the edicts against the Protestants have driven out of France, the +investment of these fifty thousand crowns; and has only desired his +relations to preserve in their line from generation to generation, the +charge to the last survivors, to meet in Paris, Rue Saint-Francois, a +hundred and fifty years hence, on February the 13th, 1832. And that this +charge might not be forgotten, he employed a person, whose description is +known, but not his real occupation, to cause to be manufactured sundry +bronze medals, on which the request and date are engraved, and to deliver +one to each member of the family--a measure the more necessary, as, from +some other motive equally unknown, but probably explained in the +testament, the heirs are to present themselves on the day in question, +before noon, in person, and not by any attorney, or representative, or to +forfeit all claim to the inheritance. The stranger who undertook to +distribute the medals to the different members of the family of Rennepont +is a man of thirty to thirty-six years of age, of tall stature, and with +a proud and sad expression of countenance. He has black eyebrows, very +thick, and singularly joined together. He is known as JOSEPH, and is +much suspected of being an active and dangerous emissary of the wretched +republicans and heretics of the Seven United Provinces. It results from +these premises, that this sum, surreptitiously confided by a relapsed +heretic to unknown hands, has escaped the confiscation decreed in our +favor by our well-beloved king. A serious fraud and injury has therefore +been committed, and we are bound to take every means to recover this our +right, if not immediately, at least in some future time. Our Society +being (for the greater glory of God and our Holy Father) imperishable, it +will be easy, thanks to the connections we keep up with all parts of the +world, by means of missions and other establishments, to follow the line +of this family of Rennepont from generation to generation, without ever +losing sight of it--so that a hundred and fifty years hence, at the +moment of the division of this immense accumulation of property, our +Company may claim the inheritance of which it has been so treacherously +deprived, and recover it by any means in its power, fas aut nefas, even +by craft or violence--our Company not being bound to act tenderly with +the future detainers of our goods, of which we have been maliciously +deprived by an infamous and sacrilegious heretic--and because it is right +to defend, preserve, and recover one's own property by every means which +the Lord may place within one's reach. Until, therefore, the complete +restitution of this wealth, the family of Rennepont must be considered as +reprobate and damnable, as the cursed seed of a Cain, and always to be +watched with the utmost caution. And it is to be recommended, that, +every year from this present date, a sort of inquisition should he held +as to the situation of the successive members of this family.'" + +Rodin paused, and said to Father d'Aigrigny: "Here follows the account, +year by year, of the history of this family, from the year 1682, to our +own day. It will be useless to read this to your reverence." + +"Quite useless," said Abbe d'Aigrigny. "The note contains all the +important facts." Then, after a moment's silence, he exclaimed, with an +expression of triumphant pride: "How great is the power of the +Association, when founded upon tradition and perpetuity! Thanks to this +note, inserted in our archives a century and a half ago, this family has +been watched from generation to generation--our Order has always had its +eyes upon them, following them to all points of the globe, to which exile +had distributed them--and at last, to-morrow, we shall obtain possession +of this property, at first inconsiderable, but which a hundred and fifty +years have raised to a royal fortune. Yes, we shall succeed, for we have +foreseen every eventuality. One thing only troubles me." + +"What is that?" asked Rodin. + +"The information that we have in vain tried to obtain from the guardian +of the house in the Rue Saint-Francois. Has the attempt been once more +made, as I directed?" + +"It has been made." + +"Well?" + +"This time, as always before, the old Jew has remained impenetrable. +Besides he is almost in his second childhood, and his wife not much +better." + +"When I think," resumed Father d'Aigrigny, "that for a century and a +half, this house in the Rue Saint-Francois has remained walled up, and +that the care of it has been transmitted from generation to generation in +this family of the Samuels--I cannot suppose that they have all been +ignorant as to who were and are the successive holders of these funds, +now become immense by accumulation." + +"You have seen," said Rodin, "by the notes upon this affair, that the +Order has always carefully followed it up ever since 1682. At different +periods attempts have been made to obtain information upon subjects not +fully explained in the note of Father Bourdon. But this race of Jew +guardians has ever remained dumb, and we must therefore conclude that +they know nothing about it." + +"That has always struck me as impossible; for the ancestor of these +Samuels was present at the closing of the house, a hundred and fifty +years ago. He was according to the file, a servant or confidential clerk +of De Rennepont. It is impossible that he should not have known many +things, the tradition of which must have been preserved in the family." + +"If I were allowed to hazard a brief observation," began Rodin, humbly. + +"Speak." + +"A few years ago we obtained certain information through the +confessional, that the funds were in existence, and that they had risen +to an enormous amount." + +"Doubtless; and it was that which called the attention of the Reverend +Father-General so strongly to this affair." + +"We know, then, what probably the descendants of the family do not--the +immense value of this inheritance?" + +"Yes," answered Father d'Aigrigny, "the person who certified this fact in +confession is worthy of all belief. Only lately, the same declaration +was renewed; but all the efforts of the confessor could not obtain the +name of the trustee, or anything beyond the assertion, that the money +could not be in more honest hands." + +"It seems to me, then," resumed Rodin, "that we are certain of what is +most important." + +"And who knows if the holder of this enormous sum will appear to-morrow, +in spite of the honesty ascribed to him? The nearer the moment the more +my anxiety increases. Ah!" continued Father d'Aigrigny, after a moment's +silence, "the interests concerned are so immense that the consequences of +success are quite incalculable. However, all that it was possible to do, +has been at least tried." + +To these words, which Father d'Aigrigny addressed to Rodin, as if asking +for his assent, the socius returned no answer. + +The abbe looked at him with surprise, and said: "Are you not of my +opinion--could more have been attempted? Have we not gone to the extreme +limit of the possible?" + +Rodin bowed respectfully, but remained mute. + +"If you think we have omitted some precaution," cried Father d'Aigrigny, +with a sort of uneasy impatience, "speak out! We have still time. Once +more, do you think it is possible to do more than I have done? All the +other descendants being removed, when Gabriel appears to-morrow in the +Rue Saint-Francois, will he not be the only representative of this +family, and consequently the rightful possessor of this immense fortune? +Now, according to his act of renunciation, and the provisions of our +statutes, it is not to him, but to the Order, that these possessions must +fall. Could I have acted better, or in any other manner? Speak +frankly!" + +"I cannot permit myself to offer an opinion on this subject," replied +Rodin, humbly, and again bowing; "the success of the measures taken must +answer your reverence." + +Father d'Aigrigny shrugged his shoulders, and reproached himself for +having asked advice of this writing-machine, that served him for a +secretary, and to whom he only ascribed three qualities--memory, +discretion, and exactness. + +[11] This was an idle fear, for we read in the Constitutionnel, Feb. 1st +1832, as follows: "When in 1822, M. de Corbiere abruptly abolished that +splendid Normal School, which, during its few years' existence, had +called forth or developed such a variety of talent, it was decided, as +some compensation, that a house in the Rue des Postes should be +purchased, where the congregation of the Holy Ghost should be located and +endowed. The Minister of Marine supplied the funds for this purpose, and +its management was placed at the disposal of the Society, which then +reigned over France. From that period it has held quiet possession of +the place, which at once became a sort of house of entertainment, where +Jesuitism sheltered, and provided for, the numerous novitiates that +flocked from all parts of the country, to receive instructions from +Father Ronsin. Matters were in this state when the Revolution of July +broke out, which threatened to deprive the Society of this establishment. +But it will hardly be believed; this was not done. It is true that they +suppressed their practice, but they left them in possession of the house +in the Rue des Postes; and to this very day, the 31st of January, 1832, +the members of the Sacred Heart are housed at the expense of government, +during the whole of which time the Normal School has been without a +shelter--and on its reorganization, thrust into a dirty hole, in a narrow +corner of the College of Louis the Great." + +The above appeared in the Constitutionnel, respecting the house in the +Rue des Posses. We are certainly ignorant as to the nature of the +transactions, since that period, that have taken place between the +reverend fathers and the government; but we read further, in a recently +published article that appeared in a journal, in reference to the Society +of Jesus, that the house in the Rue des Postes, still forms a part of +their landed property. We will here give some portions of the article in +question. + +"The following is a list of the property belonging to this branch of +Jesuits: + Fr. +House in the Rue de Postes, worth about . . . . 500,000 +One in the Rue de Sevres, estimated at . . . . 300,000 +Farm, two leagues from Paris . . . . . . . 150,000 +House and church at Bourges . . . . . . . 100,000 +Notre Dame de Liesse, donation in 1843 . . . . 60,000 +Saint Acheul, House for Novitiates . . . . . 400,000 +Nantes, a house . . . . . . . . . . . 100,000 +Quimper, ditto . . . . . . . . . . . 40,000 +Laval, house and church . . . . . . . . 150,000 +Rennes, a house . . . . . . . . . . 20,000 +Vannes, ditto . . . . . . . . . . . 20,000 +Metz, ditto . . . . . . . . . . . . 40,000 +Strasbourg . . . . . . . . . . . . 60,000 +Rouen, ditto . . . . . . . . . . . 15,000 + +By this it appears that these various items amount to little less than +two millions. Teaching, moreover, is another important source of revenue +to the Jesuits. The college at Broyclette alone brings in 200,000 +francs. The two provinces in France (for the general of the Jesuits at +Rome has divided France into two provinces, Lyons and Paris) possess, +besides a large sum in ready money, Austrian bonds of more than 260,000 +francs. Their Propagation of Faith furnishes annually some 50,000 +francs; and the harvest which the priests collect by their sermons +amounts to 150,000 francs. The alms given for charity may be estimated +at the same figure, producing together a revenue of 540,000 francs. Now, +to this revenue may be added the produce of the sale of the Society's +works, and the profit obtained by hawking pictures. Each plate costs, +design and engraving included, about 600 francs, off which are struck +about 10,000 copies, at 40 francs per thousand, and there is a further +expense of 250 francs to their publisher; and they obtain a net profit of +210 francs on every thousand. This, indeed, is working to advantage. +And it can easily be imagined with what rapidity all these are sold. The +fathers themselves are the travellers for the Society, and it would be +difficult to find more zealous or persevering ones. They are always well +received, and do not know what it is to meet with a refusal. They always +take care that the publisher should he one of their own body. The first +person whom they selected for this occupation was one of their members, +possessing some money; but they were obliged, notwithstanding, to make +certain advances to enable him to defray the expenses of its first +establishment. But, when they became fully convinced of the success of +their undertaking, they suddenly called in these advances, which the +publisher was not in a condition to pay. They were perfectly aware of +this, and superseded him by a wealthy successor, with whom they could +make a better bargain; and thus, without remorse, they ruined the man, by +thrusting him from an appointment of which they had morally guaranteed +the continuance." + +[12] Louis XIV., the great King, punished with the Baileys those +Protestants who, once converted, often by force, afterwards returned to +their first belief. As for those Protestants who remained in France, +notwithstanding the rigor of the edicts against them, they were deprived +of burial, dragged upon a hurdle, and given to the dogs.--E. S. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +THE THUG. + +After a moment's silence, Father d'Aigrigny resumed "Read me to-day's +report on the situation of each of the persons designated." + +"Here is that of this evening; it has just come." + +"Let us hear." + +Rodin read as follows: "Jacques Rennepont, alias Sleepinbuff, was seen in +the interior of the debtors' prison at eight o'clock this evening." + +"He will not disturb us to-morrow. One; go on." + +"The lady superior of St. Mary's Convent, warned by the Princess de +Saint-Dizier, has thought fit to confine still more strictly the +Demoiselles Rose and Blanche Simon. This evening, at nine o'clock, they +have been carefully locked in their cells, and armed men will make their +round in the convent garden during the night." + +"Thanks to these precautions, there is nothing to fear from that side," +said Father d'Aigrigny. "Go on." + +"Dr. Baleinier, also warned by the Princess de Saint-Dizier, continues to +have Mdlle. de Cardoville very closely watched. At a quarter to nine the +door of the building in which she is lodged was locked and bolted." + +"That is still another cause the less for uneasiness." + +"As for M. Hardy," resumed Rodin "I have received this morning, from +Toulouse, a letter from his intimate friend, M. de Bressac, who has been +of such service to us in keeping the manufacturer away for some days +longer. This letter contains a note, addressed by M. Hardy to a +confidential person, which M. de Bressac has thought fit to intercept, +and send to us as another proof of the success of the steps he has taken, +and for which he hopes we shall give him credit--as to serve us, he adds, +he betrays his friend in the most shameful manner, and acts a part in an +odious comedy. M. de Bressac trusts that, in return for these good +offices, we will deliver up to him those papers, which place him in our +absolute dependence, as they might ruin for ever a woman he loves with an +adulterous passion. He says that we ought to have pity on the horrible +alternative in which he is placed--either to dishonor and ruin the woman +he adores, or infamously to betray the confidence of his bosom friend." + +"These adulterous lamentations are not deserving of pity," answered +Father d'Aigrigny, with contempt. "We will see about that; M. de Bressac +may still be useful to us. But let us hear this letter of M. Hardy, that +impious and republican manufacturer, worthy descendant of an accursed +race, whom it is of the first importance to keep away." + +"Here is M. Hardy's letter," resumed Rodin. "To-morrow, we will send it +to the person to whom it is addressed." Rodin read as follows: + +"TOULOUSE, February the 10th. + +"At length I find a moment to write to you, and to explain the cause of +the sudden departure which, without alarming, must at least have +astonished you. I write also to ask you a service; the facts may be +stated in a few words. I have often spoken to you of Felix de Bressac, +one of my boyhood mates, though not nearly so old as myself. We have +always loved each other tenderly, and have shown too many proofs of +mutual affection not to count upon one another. He is a brother to me. +You know all I mean by that expression. Well--a few days ago, he wrote +to me from Toulouse, where he was to spend some time: 'If you love me, +come; I have the greatest need of you. At once! Your consolations may +perhaps give me the courage to live. If you arrive too late--why, +forgive me--and think sometimes of him who will be yours to the last.' +Judge of my grief and fear on receipt of the above. I seat instantly for +post-horses. My old foreman, whom I esteem and revere (the father of +General Simon), hearing that I was going to the south, begged me to take +him with me, and to leave him for some days in the department of the +Creuse, to examine some ironworks recently founded there. I consented +willingly to this proposition, as I should thus at least have some one to +whom I could pour out the grief and anxiety which had been caused by this +letter from Bressac. I arrive at Toulouse; they tell me that he left the +evening before, taking arms with him, a prey to the most violent despair. +It was impossible at first to tell whither he had gone; after two days, +some indications, collected with great trouble, put me upon his track. +At last, after a thousand adventures, I found him in a miserable village. +Never--no, never, have I seen despair like this. No violence, but a +dreadful dejection, a savage silence. At first, he almost repulsed me; +then, this horrible agony having reached its height, he softened by +degrees, and, in about a quarter of an hour, threw himself into my arms, +bathed in tears. Beside him were his loaded pistols: one day later, and +all would have been over. I cannot tell you the reason of his despair; I +am not at liberty to do so; but it did not greatly astonish me. Now +there is a complete cure to effect. We must calm, and soothe, and heal +this poor soul, which has been cruelly wounded. The hand of friendship +is alone equal to this delicate task, and I have good hope of success. I +have therefore persuaded him to travel for some time; movement and change +of scene will be favorable to him. I shall take him first to Nice; we +set out tomorrow. If he wishes to prolong this excursion. I shall do so +too, for my affairs do not imperiously demand my presence in Paris before +the end of March. As for the service I have to ask of you, it is +conditional. These are the facts. According to some family papers that +belonged to my mother, it seems I have a certain interest to present +myself at No. 3, Rue Saint-Francois, in Paris, on the 13th of February. +I had inquired about it, and could learn nothing, except that this house +of very antique appearance, has been shut up for the last hundred and +fifty years, through a whim of one of my maternal ancestors, and that it +is to be opened on the 13th of this month, in presence of the co-heirs +who, if I have any, are quite unknown to me. Not being able to attend +myself, I have written to my foreman, the father of General Simon, in +whom I have the greatest confidence, and whom I had left behind in the +department of the Creuse, to set out for Paris, and to be present at the +opening of this house, not as an agent (which would be useless), but as a +spectator, and inform me at Nice what has been the result of this +romantic notion of my ancestor's. As it is possible that my foreman may +arrive too late to accomplish this mission, I should be much obliged if +you would inquire at my house at Plessy, if he has yet come, and, in case +of his still being absent, if you would take his place at the opening of +the house in the Rue Saint-Francois. I believe that I have made a very +small sacrifice for my friend Bressac, in not being in Paris on that day. +But had the sacrifice been immense, I should have made it with pleasure, +for my care and friendship are at present most necessary to the man whom +I look upon as a brother. I count upon your compliance with my request, +and, begging you to be kind enough to write me, 'to be called for,' at +Nice, the result of your visit of inquiry, I remain, etc., etc. + +"FRANCIS HARDY." + + +"Though his presence cannot be of any great importance, it would be +preferable that Marshal Simon's father should not attend at the opening +of this house to-morrow," said Father d'Aigrigny. "But no matter. M. +Hardy himself is out of the way. There only remains the young Indian." + +"As for him," continued the abbe, with a thoughtful air, "we acted wisely +in letting M. Norval set out with the presents of Mdlle. de Cardoville. +The doctor who accompanies M. Norval, and who was chosen by M. Baleinier, +will inspire no suspicion?" + +"None," answered Rod in. "His letter of yesterday is completely +satisfactory." + +"There is nothing, then, to fear from the Indian prince," said +D'Aigrigny. "All goes well." + +"As for Gabriel," resumed Rodin, "he has again written this morning, to +obtain from your reverence the interview that he has vainly solicited for +the last three days. He is affected by the rigor exercised towards him, +in forbidding him to leave the house for these five days past." + +"To-morrow, when we take him to the Rue Saint-Francois, I will hear what +he has to say. It will be time enough. Thus, at this hour," said Father +d'Aigrigny, with an air of triumphant satisfaction, "all the descendants +of this family, whose presence might ruin our projects, are so placed +that it is absolutely impossible for them to be at the Rue Saint-Francois +to-morrow before noon, while Gabriel will he sure to be there. At last +our end is gained." + +Two cautious knocks at the door interrupted Father d'Aigrigny. "Come +in," said he. + +An old servant in black presented himself, and said: "There is a man +downstairs who wishes to speak instantly to M. Rodin on very urgent +business." + +"His name?" asked Father d'Aigrigny. + +"He would not tell his name; but he says that he comes from M. Van Dael, +a merchant in Java." + +Father d'Aigrigny and Rodin exchanged a glance of surprise, almost of +alarm. + +"See what this man is," said D'Aigrigny to Rodin, unable to conceal his +uneasiness, "and then come and give me an account of it." Then, +addressing the servant, he added: "Show him in"--and exchanging another +expressive sign with Rodin, Father d'Aigrigny disappeared by a side-door. + +A minute after, Faringhea, the ex-chief of the Stranglers, appeared +before Rodin, who instantly remembered having seen him at Cardoville +Castle. + +The socius started, but he did not wish to appear to recollect his +visitor. Still bending over his desk, he seemed not to seen Faringhea, +but wrote hastily some words on a sheet of paper that lay before him. + +"Sir," said the servant, astonished at the silence of Rodin, "here is the +person." + +Rodin folded the note that he had so precipitately written, and said to +the servant: "Let this be taken to its address. Wait for an answer." + +The servant bowed, and went out. Then Rodin, without rising, fixed his +little reptile-eyes on Faringhea, and said to him courteously: "To whom, +sir, have I the honor of speaking?" + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +THE TWO BROTHERS OF THE GOOD WORK. + +Faringhea, as we have before stated, though born in India, had travelled +a good deal, and frequented the European factories in different parts of +Asia. Speaking well both English and French, and full of intelligence +and sagacity, he was perfectly civilized. + +Instead of answering Rodin's question, he turned upon him a fixed and +searching look. The socius, provoked by this silence, and forseeing +vaguely that Faringhea's arrival had some connection--direct or indirect- +-with Djalma, repeated, though still with the greatest coolness: "To +whom, sir, have I the honor of speaking?" + +"Do you not recognize me," said Faringhea, advancing two steps nearer to +Rodin's chair. + +"I do not think I have ever had the honor of seeing you," answered the +other, coldly. + +"But I recognize you," said Faringhea; "I saw you at Cardoville Castle +the day that a ship and a steamer were wrecked together." + +"At Cardoville Castle? It is very possible, sir. I was there when a +shipwreck took place." + +"And that day I called you by your name, and you asked me what I wanted. +I replied: 'Nothing now, brother--hereafter, much.' The time has +arrived. I have come to ask for much." + +"My dear sir," said Rodin, still impassible, "before we continue this +conversation, which appears hitherto tolerably obscure, I must repeat my +wish to be informed to whom I have the advantage of speaking. You have +introduced yourself here under pretext of a commission from Mynheer +Joshua Van Dael, a respectable merchant of Batavia, and--" + +"You know the writing of M. Van Dael?" said Faringhea, interrupting +Rodin. + +"I know it perfectly." + +"Look!" The half-caste drew from his pocket (he was shabbily dressed in +European clothes) a long dispatch, which he had taken from one Mahal the +Smuggler, after strangling him on the beach near Batavia. These papers +he placed before Rodin's eyes, but without quitting his hold of them. + +"It is, indeed, M. Van Dael's writing," said Rodin, and he stretched out +his hard towards the letter, which Faringhea quickly and prudently +returned to his pocket. + +"Allow me to observe, my dear sir, that you have a singular manner of +executing a commission," said Rodin. "This letter, being to my address, +and having been entrusted to you by M. Van Dael, you ought--" + +"This letter was not entrusted to me by M. Van Dael," said Faringhea, +interrupting Rodin. + +"How, then, is it in your possession?" + +"A Javanese smuggler betrayed me. Van Dael had secured a passage to +Alexandria for this man, and had given him this letter to carry with him +for the European mail. I strangled the smuggler, took the letter, made +the passage--and here I am." + +The Thug had pronounced these words with an air of savage boasting; his +wild, intrepid glance did not quail before the piercing look of Rodin, +who, at this strange confession, had hastily raised his head to observe +the speaker. + +Faringhea thought to astonish or intimidate Rodin by these ferocious +words; but, to his great surprise, the socius, impassible as a corpse, +said to him, quite simply: "Oh! they strangle people in Java?" + +"Yes, there and elsewhere," answered Faringhea, with a bitter smile. + +"I would prefer to disbelieve you; but I am surprised at your sincerity +M.--, what is your name?" + +"Faringhea." + +"Well, then, M. Faringhea, what do you wish to come to? You have +obtained by an abominable crime, a letter addressed to me, and now you +hesitate to deliver it." + +"Because I have read it, and it may be useful to me." + +"Oh! you have read it?" said Rodin, disconcerted for a moment. Then he +resumed: "It is true, that judging by your mode of possessing yourself of +other people's correspondence, we cannot expect any great amount of +honesty on your part. And pray what have you found so useful to you in +this letter?" + +"I have found, brother, that you are, like myself, a son of the Good +Work." + +"Of what good work do you speak" asked Rodin not a little surprised. + +Faringhea replied with an expression of bitter irony. "Joshua says to +you in his letter--'Obedience and courage, secrecy and patience, craft +and audacity, union between us, who have the world for our country, the +brethren for our family, Rome for our queen.'" + +"It is possible that M. Van Dael has written thus to me Pray, sir, what +do you conclude from it?" + +"We, too, have the world for our country, brother, our accomplices for +our family, and for our queen Bowanee." + +"I do not know that saint," said Rodin, humbly. + +"It is our Rome," answered the Strangler. "Van Dael speaks to you of +those of your Order, who, scattered over all the earth, labor for the +glory of Rome, your queen. Those of our band labor also in divers +countries, for the glory of Bowanee." + +"And who are these sons of Bowanee, M. Faringhea?" + +"Men of resolution, audacious, patient, crafty, obstinate, who, to make +the Good Work succeed, would sacrifice country and parents, and sister +and brother, and who regard as enemies all not of their band!" + +"There seems to be much that is good in the persevering and exclusively +religious spirit of such an order," said Rodin, with a modest and +sanctified air; "only, one must know your ends and objects." + +"The same as your own, brother--we make corpses."[13] + +"Corpses!" cried Rodin. + +"In this letter," resumed Faringhea, "Van Dael tells you that the +greatest glory of your Order is to make 'a corpse of man.' Our work also +is to make corpses of men. Man's death is sweet to Bowanee." + +"But sir," cried Rodin, "M. Van Dael speaks of the soul, of the will, of +the mind, which are to be brought down by discipline." + +"It is true--you kill the soul, and we the body. Give me your hand, +brother, for you also are hunters of men." + +"But once more, sir,--understand, that we only meddle with the will, the +mind," said Rodin. + +"And what are bodies deprived of soul, will, thought, but mere corpses? +Come--come, brother; the dead we make by the cord are not more icy and +inanimate than those you make by your discipline. Take my hand, brother; +Rome and Bowanee are sisters." + +Notwithstanding his apparent calmness, Rodin could not behold, without +some secret alarm, a wretch like Faringhea in possession of a long letter +from Van Dael, wherein mention must necessarily have been made of Djalma. +Rodin believed, indeed, that he had rendered it impossible for the young +Indian to be at Paris on the morrow, but not knowing what connection +might have been formed, since the shipwreck, between the prince and the +half-caste, he looked upon Faringhea as a man who might probably be very +dangerous. But the more uneasy the socius felt in himself, the more he +affected to appear calm and disdainful. He replied, therefore: "This +comparison between Rome and Bowanee is no doubt very amusing; but what, +sir, do you deduce from it?" + +"I wish to show you, brother, what I am, and of what I am capable, to +convince you that it is better to have me for a friend than an enemy." + +"In other terms, sir," said Rodin, with contemptuous irony, "you belong +to a murderous sect in India, and, you wish, by a transparent allegory, +to lead me to reflect on the fate of the man from whom you have stolen +the letter addressed to me. In my turn, I will take the freedom just to +observe to you, in all humility, M. Faringhea, that here it is not +permitted to strangle anybody, and that if you were to think fit to make +any corpses for the love of Bowanee, your goddess, we should make you a +head shorter, for the love of another divinity commonly called justice." + +"And what would they do to me, if I tried to poison any one?" + +"I will again humbly observe to you, M. Faringhea, that I have no time to +give you a course of criminal jurisprudence; but, believe me, you had +better resist the temptation to strangle or poison any one. One word +more: will you deliver up to me the letters of M. Van Dael, or not?" + +"The letters relative to Prince Djalma?" said the half-caste, looking +fixedly at Rodin, who, notwithstanding a sharp and sudden twinge, +remained impenetrable, and answered with the utmost simplicity: "Not +knowing what the letters which you, sir, are pleased to keep from me, may +contain, it is impossible for me to answer your question. I beg, and if +necessary, I demand, that you will hand me those letters--or that you +will retire." + +"In a few minutes, brother, you will entreat me to remain." + +"I doubt it." + +"A few words will operate--this miracle. If just now I spoke to you +about poisoning, brother, it was because you sent a doctor to Cardoville +Castle, to poison (at least for a time) Prince Djalma." + +In spite of himself, Rodin started almost imperceptibly, as he replied: +"I do not understand you." + +"It is true, that I am a poor foreigner, and doubtless speak with an +accent; I will try and explain myself better. I know, by Van Dael's +letters, the interest you have that Prince Djalma should not be here to- +morrow, and all that you have done with this view. Do you understand me +now?" + +"I have no answer for you." + +Two cautious taps at the door here interrupted the conversation. "Come +in," said Rodin. + +"The letter has been taken to its address, sir," said the old servant, +bowing, "and here is the answer." + +Rodin took the paper, and, before he opened it, said courteously to +Faringhea: "With your permission, sir?" + +"Make no ceremonies," said the half-caste. + +"You are very kind," replied Rodin, as, having read the letter he +received, he wrote hastily some words at the bottom, saying: "Send this +back to the same address." + +The servant bowed respectfully, and withdrew. + +"Now can I continue"' asked the half-caste, of Rodin. + +"Certainly." + +"I will continue, then," resumed Faringhea: + +"The day before yesterday, just as the prince, all wounded as he was, was +about, by my advice, to take his departure for Paris, a fine carriage +arrived, with superb presents for Djalma, from an unknown friend. In +this carriage were two men--one sent by the unknown friend--the other a +doctor, sent by you to attend upon Djalma, and accompany him to Paris. +It was a charitable act, brother--was it not so?" + +"Go on with your story, sir." + +"Djalma set out yesterday. By declaring that the prince's wound would +grow seriously worse, if he did not lie down in the carriage during all +the journey, the doctor got rid of the envoy of the unknown friend, who +went away by himself. The doctor wished to get rid of me too; but Djalma +so strongly insisted upon it, that I accompanied the prince and doctor. +Yesterday evening, we had come about half the distance. The doctor +proposed we should pass the night at an inn. 'We have plenty of time,' +said he, 'to reach Paris by to-morrow evening'--the prince having told +him, that he must absolutely be in Paris by the evening of the 12th. The +doctor had been very pressing to set out alone with the prince. I knew +by Van Dael's letter, that it was of great importance to you for Djalma +not to be here on the 13th; I had my suspicions, and I asked the doctor +if he knew you; he answered with an embarrassed air, and then my +suspicion became certainty. When we reached the inn, whilst the doctor +was occupied with Djalma, I went up to the room of the former, and +examined a box full of phials that he had brought with him. One of them +contained opium--and then I guessed--" + +"What did you guess, sir?" + +"You shall know. The doctor said to Djalma, before he left him: 'Your +wound is doing well, but the fatigue of the journey might bring on +inflammation; it will be good for you, in the course of to-morrow, to +take a soothing potion, that I will make ready this evening, to have with +us in the carriage.' The doctor's plan was a simple one," added +Faringhea; "to-day the prince was to take the potion at four or five +o'clock in the afternoon--and fall into a deep sleep--the doctor to grow +uneasy, and stop the carriage--to declare that it would be dangerous to +continue the journey--to pass the night at an inn, and keep close watch +over the prince, whose stupor was only, to cease when it suited your +purposes. That was your design--it was cleverly planned--I chose to make +use of it myself, and I have succeeded." + +"All that you are talking about, my dear sir," said Rodin, biting his +nails, "is pure Hebrew to me." + +"No doubt, because of my accent. But tell me, have you heard speak of +array--mow?" + +"No." + +"Your loss! It is an admirable production of the Island of Java, so +fertile in poisons." + +"What is that to me?" said Rodin, in a sharp voice, but hardly able to +dissemble his growing anxiety. + +"It concerns you nearly. We sons of Bowanee have a horror of shedding +blood," resumed Faringhea; "to pass the cord round the neck of our +victims, we wait till they are asleep. When their sleep is not deep +enough, we know how to make it deeper. We are skillful at our work; the +serpent is not more cunning, or the lion more valiant, Djalma himself +bears our mark. The array-mow is an impalpable powder, and, by letting +the sleeper inhale a few grains of it, or by mixing it with the tobacco +to be smoked by a waking man, we can throw our victim into a stupor, from +which nothing will rouse him. If we fear to administer too strong a dose +at once, we let the sleeper inhale a little at different times, and we +can thus prolong the trance at pleasure, and without any danger, as long +as a man does not require meat and drink--say, thirty or forty hours. +You see, that opium is mere trash compared to this divine narcotic. I +had brought some of this with me from Java--as a mere curiosity, you +know--without forgetting the counter poison." + +"Oh! there is a counter-poison, then?" said Rodin, mechanically. + +"Just as there are people quite contrary to what we are, brother of the +good work. The Javanese call the juice of this root tooboe; it +dissipates the stupor caused by the array-mow, as the sun disperses the +clouds. Now, yesterday evening, being certain of the projects of your +emissary against Djalma, I waited till the doctor was in bed and asleep. +I crept into his room, and made him inhale such a dose of array-mow--that +he is probably sleeping still." + +"Miscreant!" cried Rodin, more and more alarmed by this narrative, for +Faringhea had dealt a terrible blow at the machinations of the socius and +his friends. "You risk poisoning the doctor." + +"Yes, brother; just as he ran the risk of poisoning Djalma. This morning +we set out, leaving your doctor at the inn, plunged in a deep sleep. I +was alone in the carriage with Djalma. He smoked like a true Indian; +some grains of array-mow, mixed with the tobacco in his long pipe, first +made him drowsy; a second dose, that he inhaled, sent him to sleep; and +so I left him at the inn where we stopped. Now, brother, it depends upon +me, to leave Djalma in his trance, which will last till to-morrow evening +or to rouse him from it on the instant. Exactly as you comply with my +demands or not, Djalma will or will not be in the Rue Saint-Francois to- +morrow." + +So saying, Faringhea drew from his pocket the medal belonging to Djalma, +and observed, as he showed it to Rodin: "You see that I tell you the +truth. During Djalma's sleep, took from him this medal, the only +indication he has of the place where he ought to be to-morrow. I finish, +then as I began: Brother, I have come to ask you for a great deal." + +For some minutes, Rodin had been biting his nails to the quick, as was +his custom when seized with a fit of dumb and concentrated rage. Just +then, the bell of the porter's lodge rang three times in a particular +manner. Rodin did not appear to notice it, and yet a sudden light +sparkled in his small reptile eyes; while Faringhea, with his arms +folded, looked at him with an expression of triumph and disdainful +superiority. The socius bent down his head, remained silent for some +seconds, took mechanically a pen from his desk, and began to gnaw the +feather, as if in deep reflection upon what Faringhea had just said. +Then, throwing down the pen upon the desk, he turned suddenly towards the +half-caste, and addressed him with an air of profound contempt "Now, +really, M. Faringhea--do you think to make game of us with your cock-and- +bull stories?" + +Amazed, in spite of his audacity, the half-caste recoiled a step. + +"What, sir!" resumed Rodin. "You come here into a respectable house, to +boast that you have stolen letters, strangled this man, drugged that +other?--Why, sir, it is downright madness. I wished to hear you to the +end, to see to what extent you would carry your audacity--for none but a +monstrous rascal would venture to plume himself on such infamous crimes. +But I prefer believing, that they exist only in your imagination." + +As he barked out these words, with a degree of animation not usual in +him, Rodin rose from his seat, and approached the chimney, while +Faringhea, who had not yet recovered from his surprise, looked at him in +silence. In a few seconds, however, the half-caste returned, with a +gloomy and savage mien: "Take care, brother; do not force me to prove to +you that I have told the truth." + +"Come, come, sir; you must be fresh from the Antipodes, to believe us +Frenchmen such easy dupes. You have, you say, the prudence of a serpent, +and the courage of a lion. I do not know if you are a courageous lion, +but you are certainly not a prudent serpent. What! you have about you a +letter from M. Van Dael, by which I might be compromised--supposing all +this not to be a fable--you have left Prince Djalma in a stupor, which +would serve my projects, and from which you alone can rouse him--you are +able, you say, to strike a terrible blow at my interests--and yet you do +not consider (bold lion! crafty serpent as you are!) that I only want to +gain twenty-four hours upon you. Now, you come from the end of India to +Paris, an unknown stranger--you believe me to be as great a scoundrel as +yourself,--since you call me brother--and do not once consider, that you +are here in my power--that this street and house are solitary, and that I +could have three or four persons to bind you in a second, savage +Strangler though you are!--and that just by pulling this bell-rope," said +Rodin, as he took it in his hand. "Do not be alarmed," added he, with a +diabolical smile, as he saw Faringhea make an abrupt movement of surprise +and fright; "would I give you notice, if I meant to act in this manner?-- +But just answer me. Once bound and put in confinement for twenty-four +hours, how could you injure me? Would it not be easy for me to possess +myself of Van Dael's letter, and Djalma's medal? and the latter, plunged +in a stupor till to-morrow evening, need not trouble me at all. You see, +therefore, that your threats are vain because they rest upon falsehood-- +because it is not true, that Prince Djalma is here and in your power. +Begone, sir--leave the house; and when next you wish to make dupes, show +more judgment in the selection." + +Faringhea seemed struck with astonishment. All that he had just heard +seemed very probable. Rodin might seize upon him, the letter, and the +medal, and, by keeping him prisoner, prevent Djalma from being awakened. +And yet Rodin ordered him to leave the house, at the moment when +Faringhea had imagined himself so formidable. As he thought for the +motives of this inexplicable conduct, it struck him that Rodin, +notwithstanding the proofs he had brought him, did not yet believe that +Djalma was in his power. On that theory, the contempt of Van Dael's +correspondent admitted of a natural explanation. But Rodin was playing a +bold and skillful game; and, while he appeared to mutter to himself, as +in anger, he was observing, with intense anxiety, the Strangler's +countenance. + +The latter, almost certain that he had divined the secret motive of +Rodin, replied: "I am going--but one word more. You think I deceive +you?" + +"I am certain of it. You have told me nothing but a tissue of fables, +and I have lost much time in listening to them. Spare me the rest; it is +late--and I should like to be alone." + +"One minute more: you are a man, I see, from whom nothing should be hid," +said Faringhea, "from Djalma, I could now only expect alms and disdain-- +for, with a character like this, to say to him, 'Pay me, because I might +have betrayed you and did not,' would be to provoke his anger and +contempt. I could have killed him twenty times over, but his day is not +yet come," said the Thug, with a gloomy air; "and to wait for that and +other fatal days, I must have gold, much gold. You alone can pay me for +the betrayal of Djalma, for you alone profit by it. You refuse to hear +me, because you think I am deceiving you. But I took the direction of +the inn where we stopped--and here it is. Send some one to ascertain the +truth of what I tell you, and then you will believe me. But the price of +my services will be high; for I told you that I wanted much." + +So saying, Faringhea offered a printed card to Rodin: the socius, who, +out of the corner of his eye, followed all the half-caste's movements, +appeared to be absorbed in thought, and taking no heed of anything. + +"Here is the address,' repeated Faringhea, as he held out the card to +Rodin; "assure yourself that I do not lie." + +"Eh? what is it?" said the other, casting a rapid but stolen glance at +the address, which he read greedily, without touching the card. + +"Take this address," repeated the half-caste, "and you may then assure +yourself--" + +"Really, sir," cried Rodin, pushing back the card with his hand, "your +impudence confounds me. I repeat that I wish to have nothing in common +with you. For the last time, I tell you to leave the house. I know +nothing about your Prince Djalma. You say you can injure me--do so--make +no ceremonies--but, in heaven's name, leave me to myself." + +So saying, Rodin rang the bell violently. Faringhea made a movement as +if to stand upon the defensive; but only the old servant, with his quiet +and placid mien, appeared at the door. + +"Lapierre, light the gentleman out," said Rodin, pointing to Faringhea. + +Terrified at Rodin's calmness, the half-caste hesitated to leave the +room. + +"Why do you wait, sir?" said Rodin, remarking his hesitation. "I wish to +be alone." + +"So, sir," said Faringhea, as he withdrew, slowly, "you refuse my offers? +Take care! to-morrow it will be too late." + +"I have the honor to be your most humble servant, sir," said Rodin, +bowing courteously. The Strangler went out, and the door closed upon +him. + +Immediately, Father d'Aigrigny entered from the next room. His +countenance was pale and agitated. + +"What have you done?" exclaimed he addressing Rodin. + +"I have heard all. I am unfortunately too sure that this wretch spoke +the truth. The Indian is in his power, and he goes to rejoin him." + +"I think not," said Rodin, humbly, as bowing, he reassumed his dull and +submissive countenance. + +"What will prevent this man from rejoining the prince?" + +"Allow me. As soon as the rascal was shown in, I knew him; and so, +before speaking a word to him, I wrote a few lines to Morok, who was +waiting below with Goliath till your reverence should be at leisure. +Afterwards, in the course of the conversation, when they brought me +Morok's answer, I added some fresh instructions, seeing the turn that +affairs were taking." + +"And what was the use of all this, since you have let the man leave the +house?" + +"Your reverence will perhaps deign to observe that he did not leave it; +till he had given me the direction of the hotel where the Indian now is, +thanks to my innocent stratagem of appearing to despise him. But, if it +had failed, Faringhea would still have fallen into the hands of Goliath +and Morok, who are waiting for him in the street, a few steps from the +door. Only we should have been rather embarrassed, as we should not have +known where to find Prince Djalma." + +"More violence!" said Father d'Aigrigny, with repugnance. + +"It is to be regretted, very much regretted," replied Rodin; "but it was +necessary to follow out the system already adopted." + +"Is that meant for a reproach?" said Father d'Aigrigny, who began to +think that Rodin was something more than a mere writing-machine. + +"I could not permit myself to blame your reverence," said Rodin, cringing +almost to the ground. "But all that will be required is to confine this +man for twenty-four hours." + +"And afterwards--his complaints?" + +"Such a scoundrel as he is will not dare to complain. Besides, he left +this house in freedom. Morok and Goliath will bandage his eyes when they +seize him. The house has another entrance in the Rue Vieille-des-Ursins. +At this hour, and in such a storm, no one will be passing through this +deserted quarter of the town. The knave will be confused by the change +of place; they will put him into a cellar, of the new building, and to- +morrow night, about the same hour, they will restore him to liberty with +the like precautions. As for the East Indian, we now know where to find +him; we must send to him a confidential person, and, if he recovers from +his trance, there would be, in my humble opinion," said Rodin, modestly, +"a very simple and quiet manner of keeping him away from the Rue Saint- +Francois all day to-morrow." + +The same servant with the mild countenance, who had introduced and shown +out Faringhea, here entered the room, after knocking discreetly at the +door. He held in his hand a sort of game-bag, which he gave to Rodin, +saying: "Here is what M. Morok has just brought; he came in by the Rue +Vieille." + +The servant withdrew, and Rodin, opening the bag, said to Father +d'Aigrigny, as he showed him the contents: "The medal, and Van Dael's +letter. Morok has been quick at his work." + +"One more danger avoided," said the marquis; "it is a pity to be forced +to such measures." + +"We must only blame the rascal who has obliged us to have recourse to +them. I will send instantly to the hotel where the Indian lodges." + +"And, at seven in the morning, you will conduct Gabriel to the Rue Saint- +Francois. It is there that I must have with him the interview which he +has so earnestly demanded these three days." + +"I informed him of it this evening, and he awaits your orders." + +"At last, then," said Father d'Aigrigny, "after so many struggles, and +fears, and crosses, only a few hours separate us from the moment which we +have so long desired." + +We now conduct the reader to the house in the Rue Saint-Francois. + +[13] The doctrine of passive and absolute obedience, the principal tool +in the hands of the Jesuits, as summed up in these terrible words of the +dying Loyola--that every member of the order should be in the hands of +his superiors as a dead body--'perinde ad cadaver'. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +THE HOUSE IN THE RUE SAINT-FRANCOIS. + +On entering the Rue Saint-Gervais, by the Rue Dore (in the Marais), you +would have found yourself, at the epoch of this narrative, directly +opposite to an enormously high wall, the stones of which were black and +worm-eaten with age. This wall, which extended nearly the whole length +of that solitary street, served to support a terrace shaded by trees of +some hundred years old, which thus grew about forty feet above the +causeway. Through their thick branches appeared the stone front, peaked +roof and tall brick chimneys of an antique house, the entrance of which +was situated in the Rue Saint-Francois, not far from the Rue Saint- +Gervais corner. Nothing could be more gloomy than the exterior of this +abode. On the entrance-side also was a very high wall, pierced with two +or three loop-holes, strongly grated. A carriage gateway in massive oak, +barred with iron, and studded with large nail-heads, whose primitive +color disappeared beneath a thick layer of mud, dust, and rust, fitted +close into the arch of a deep recess, forming the swell of a bay window +above. In one of these massive gates was a smaller door, which served +for ingress and egress to Samuel the Jew, the guardian of this dreary +abode. On passing the threshold, you came to a passage, formed in the +building which faced in the street. In this building was the lodging of +Samuel, with its windows opening upon the rather spacious inner court- +yard, through the railing of which you perceived the garden. In the +middle of this garden stood a two-storied stone house, so strangely +built, that you had to mount a flight of steps, or rather a double-flight +of at least twenty steps, to reach the door, which had been walled up a +hundred and fifty years before. The window-blinds of this habitation had +been replaced by large thick plates of lead, hermetically soldered and +kept in by frames of iron clamped in the stone. Moreover, completely to +intercept air and light, and thus to guard against decay within and +without, the roof had been covered with thick sheets of lead, as well as +the vents of the tall chimneys, which had previously been bricked up. +The same precautions had been taken with respect to a small square +belvedere, situated on the top of the house; this glass cage was covered +with a sort of dome, soldered to the roof. Only, in consequence of some +singular fancy, in every one of the leaden plates, which concealed the +four sides of the belvedere, corresponding to the cardinal points, seven +little round holes had been bored in the form of a cross, and were easily +distinguishable from the outside. Everywhere else the plates of lead +were completely unpierced. Thanks to these precautions, and to the +substantial structure of the building, nothing but a few outward repairs +had been necessary; and the apartments, entirely removed from the +influence of the external air, no doubt remained, during a century and a +half, exactly in the same state as at the time of their being shut up. +The aspect of walls in crevices, of broken, worm-eaten shutters, of a +roof half fallen in, and windows covered with wall-flowers, would perhaps +have been less sad than the appearance of this stone house, plated with +iron and lead, and preserved like a mausoleum. The garden, completely +deserted, and only regularly visited once a week by Samuel, presented to +the view, particularly in summer, an incredible confusion of parasites +and brambles. The trees, left to themselves, had shot forth and mingled +their branches in all directions; some straggling vines, reproduced from +offshoots, had crept along the ground to the foot of the trees, and, +climbing up their trunks, had twined themselves about them, and encircled +their highest branches with their inextricable net. You could only pass +through this virgin forest by following the path made by the guardian, to +go from the grating to the house, the approaches to which were a little +sloped to let the water run off, and carefully paved to the width of +about ten feet. Another narrow path which extended all around the +enclosure, was every night perambulated by two or three Pyrenees dogs--a +faithful race, which had been perpetuated in the house during a century +and a half. Such was the habitation destined for the meeting of the +descendants of the family of Rennepont. The night which separated the +12th from the 13th day of February was near its close. A calm had +succeeded the storm, and the rain had ceased; the sky was clear and full +of stars; the moon, on its decline, shone with a mild lustre, and threw a +melancholy light over that deserted, silent house, whose threshold for so +many years no human footstep had crossed. + +A bright gleam of light, issuing from one of the windows of the +guardian's dwelling, announced that Samuel was awake. Figure to yourself +a tolerably large room, lined from top to bottom with old walnut +wainscoting browned to an almost black, with age. Two half-extinguished +brands are smoking amid the cinders on the hearth. On the stone +mantelpiece, painted to resemble gray granite, stands an old iron +candlestick, furnished with a meagre candle, capped by an extinguisher. +Near it one sees a pair of double-barrelled pistols, and a sharp cutlass, +with a hilt of carved bronze, belonging to the seventeenth century. +Moreover, a heavy rifle rests against one of the chimney jambs. Four +stools, an old oak press, and a square table with twisted legs, formed +the sole furniture of this apartment. Against the wall were +systematically suspended a number of keys of different sizes, the shape +of which bore evidence to their antiquity, whilst to their rings were +affixed divers labels. The back of the old press, which moved by a +secret spring, had been pushed aside, and discovered, built in the wall, +a large and deep iron chest, the lid of which, being open, displayed the +wondrous mechanism of one of those Florentine locks of the sixteenth +century, which, better than any modern invention, set all picklocks at +defiance; and, moreover, according to the notions of that age, are +supplied with a thick lining of asbestos cloth, suspended by gold wire at +a distance from the sides of the chest, for the purpose of rendering +incombustible the articles contained in it. A large cedar-wood box had +been taken from the chest, and placed upon a stool; it contained numerous +papers, carefully arranged and docketed. By the light of a brass lamp, +the old keeper Samuel, was writing in a small register, whilst Bathsheba, +his wife, was dictating to him from an account. Samuel was about eighty- +two years old, and, notwithstanding his advanced age, a mass of gray +curling hair covered his head. He was short, thin, nervous, and the +involuntary petulance of his movements proved that years had not weakened +his energy and activity; though, out of doors, where, however, he made +his appearance very seldom, he affected a sort of second childhood, as +had been remarked by Rodin to Father d'Aigrigny. An old dressing-gown, +of maroon-colored camlet, with large sleeves, completely enveloped the +old man, and reached to his feet. + +Samuel's features were cast in the pure, Eastern mould of his race. His +complexion was of a dead yellow, his nose aquiline, his chin shaded by a +little tuft of white beard, while projecting cheek-bones threw a harsh +shadow upon the hollow and wrinkled cheeks. His countenance was full of +intelligence, fine sharpness, and sagacity. On his broad, high forehead +one might read frankness, honesty, and firmness; his eyes, black and +brilliant as an Arab's, were at once mild and piercing. + +His wife, Bathsheba, some fifteen years younger than himself, was of tall +stature, and dressed entirely in black. A low cap, of starched lawn, +which reminded one of the grave head-dresses of Dutch matrons, encircled +a pale and austere countenance, formerly of a rare and haughty beauty, +and impressed with the Scriptural character. Some lines in the forehead, +caused by the almost continual knitting of her gray brows, showed that +this woman had often suffered from the pressure of intense grief. + +At this very moment her countenance betrayed inexpressible sorrow. Her +look was fixed, her head resting on her bosom. She had let her right +hand, which held a small account-book, fall upon her lap, while the other +hand grasped convulsively a long tress of jet-black hair, which she bore +about her neck. It was fastened by a golden clasp, about an inch square, +in which, under a plate of crystal, that shut in one side of it like a +relic-case, could be seen a piece of linen, folded square, and almost +entirely covered with dark red spots that resembled blood a long time +dried. + +After a short silence, during which Samuel was occupied with his +register, he read aloud what he had just been writing: "Per contra, 5,000 +Austrian Metallics of 1,000 florins, under date of October 19th, 1826." + +After which enumeration, Samuel raised his head, and said to his wife: +"Well, is it right, Bathsheba? Have you compared it with the account- +book?" + +Bathsheba did not answer. Samuel looked at her, and, seeing that she was +absorbed in grief, said to her, with an expression of tender anxiety: +"What is the matter? Good heaven! what is the matter with you?" + +"The 19th of October, 1826," said she, slowly, with her eyes still fixed, +and pressing yet more closely the lock of black hair which she wore about +her neck; "It was a fatal day--for, Samuel, it was the date of the last +letter which we received from--" + +Bathsheba was unable to proceed. She uttered a long sigh, and concealed +her face in her hands. + +"Oh! I understand you," observed the old man, in a tremulous voice; "a +father may be taken up by the thought of other cares; but the heart of a +mother is ever wakeful." Throwing his pen down upon the table, Samuel +leaned his forehead upon his hands in sorrow. + +Bathsheba resumed, as if she found a melancholy pleasure in these cruel +remembrances: "Yes; that was the last day on which our son, Abel, wrote +to us from Germany, to announce to us that he had invested the funds +according to your desire and was going thence into Poland, to effect +another operation." + +"And in Poland he met the death of a martyr," added Samuel. "With no +motive and no proof, they accused him falsely of coming to organize +smuggling, and the Russian governor, treating him as they treat our +brothers in that land of cruel tyranny, condemned him to the dreadful +punishment of the knout, without even hearing him in his defence. Why +should they hear a Jew? What is a Jew? A creature below a serf, whom +they reproach for all the vices that a degrading slavery has engendered. +A Jew beaten to death? Who would trouble themselves about it?" + +"And poor Abel, so good, so faithful, died beneath their stripes, partly +from shame, partly from the wounds, said Bathsheba, shuddering. "One of +our Polish brethren obtained with great difficulty permission to bury +him. He cut off this lode of beautiful black hair--which, with this +scrap of linen, bathed in the blood of our dear son, is all that now +remains to us of him." Bathsheba covered the hair and clasp with +convulsive kisses. + +"Alas!" said Samuel, drying his tears, which had burst forth at these sad +recollections, "the Lord did not at last remove our child, until the task +which our family has accomplished faithfully for a century and a half was +nearly at an end. Of what use will our race be henceforth upon earth?" +added Samuel, most bitterly. "Our duty is performed. This casket +contains a royal fortune--and yonder house, walled up for a hundred and +fifty years, will be opened to-morrow to the descendants of my ancestor's +benefactor." So saying, Samuel turned his face sorrowfully towards the +house, which he could see through the window. The dawn was just about to +appear. The moon had set; belvedere, roof, and chimneys formed a black +mass upon the dark blue of the starry firmament. + +Suddenly, Samuel grew pale, and, rising abruptly, said to his wife in a +tremulous tone, whilst he still pointed to the house: "Bathsheba! the +seven points of light--just as it was thirty years ago. Look! look:" + +Indeed, the seven round holes, bored in the form of a cross in the leaden +plates which covered the window of the belvedere, sparkled like so many +luminous points, as if some one in the house ascended with a light to the +roof. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +DEBIT AND CREDIT. + +For some seconds, Samuel and Bathsheba remained motionless, with their +eyes fixed in fear and uneasiness on the seven luminous points, which +shone through the darkness of the night from the summit of the belvedere; +while, on the horizon, behind the house, a pale, rosy hue announced the +dawn of day. + +Samuel was the first to break silence, and he said to his wife, as he +drew his hand across his brow: "The grief caused by the remembrance of +our poor child has prevented us from reflecting that, after all, there +should be nothing to alarm us in what we see." + +"How so, Samuel?" + +"My father always told me that he, and my grandfather before him, had +seen such lights at long intervals." + +"Yes, Samuel--but without being able, any more than ourselves, to explain +the cause." + +"Like my father and grandfather, we can only suppose that some secret +passage gives admittance to persons who, like us, have some mysterious +duty to fulfil in this dwelling. Besides, my father warned me not to be +uneasy at these appearances, foretold by him, and now visible for the +second time in thirty years." + +"No matter for that, Samuel, it does strike one as if it was something +supernatural." + +"The days of miracles are over." said the Jew, shaking his head +sorrowfully: "many of the old houses in this quarter have subterraneous +communications with distant places--some extending even to the Seine and +the Catacombs. Doubtless, this house is so situated, and the persons who +make these rare visits enter by some such means." + +"But that the belvedere should be thus lighted up?" + +"According to the plan of the building, you know that the belvedere forms +a kind of skylight to the apartment called the Great Hall of Mourning, +situated on the upper story. As it is completely dark, in consequence of +the closing of all the windows, they must use a light to visit this Hall +of Mourning--a room which is said to contain some very strange and gloomy +things," added the Jew, with a shudder. + +Bathsheba, as well as her husband, gazed attentively on the seven +luminous points, which diminished in brightness as the daylight gradually +increased. + +"As you say, Samuel, the mystery may be thus explained," resumed the +Hebrew's wife. "Besides, the day is so important a one for the family of +Rennepont, that this apparition: ought not to astonish us under the +circumstances." + +"Only to think," remarked Samuel, "that these lights have appeared at +several different times throughout a century and a half! There must, +therefore, be another family that, like ours, has devoted itself, from +generation to generation, to accomplish a pious duty." + +"But what is this duty? It will perhaps be explained today." + +"Come, come, Bathsheba," suddenly exclaimed Samuel, as if roused from his +reverie, and reproaching himself with idleness; this is the day, and, +before eight o'clock, our cash account must be in order, and these titles +to immense property arranged, so that they may be delivered to the +rightful owners"--and he pointed to the cedar-wood box. + +"You are right, Samuel; this day does not belong to us. It is a solemn +day--one that would have been sweet, oh! very sweet to you and me--if now +any days could be sweet to us," said Bathsheba bitterly, for she was +thinking of her son. + +"Bathsheba," said Samuel, mournfully, as he laid his hand on his wife's; +"we shall at least have the stern satisfaction of having done our duty. +And has not the Lord been very favorable to us, though He has thus +severely tried us by the death of our son? Is it not thanks to His +providence that three generations of my family have been able to +commence, continue, and finish this great work?" + +"Yes, Samuel," said the Jewess, affectionately, "and for you at least +this satisfaction will be combined with calm and quietness, for on the +stroke of noon you will be delivered from a very terrible +responsibility." + +So saying, Bathsheba pointed to the box. + +"It is true," replied the old man; "I had rather these immense riches +were in the hands of those to whom they belong, than in mine; but, to- +day, I shall cease to be their trustee. Once more then, I will check the +account for the last time, and compare the register with the cash-book +that you hold in your hand." + +Bathsheba bowed her head affirmatively, and Samuel, taking up his pen, +occupied himself once more with his calculations. His wife, in spite of +herself, again yielded to the sad thoughts which that fatal date had +awakened, by reminding her of the death of her son. + +Let us now trace rapidly the history, in appearance so romantic and +marvellous, in reality so simple, of the fifty thousand crowns, which, +thanks to the law of accumulation, and to a prudent, intelligent and +faithful investment, had naturally, and necessarily, been transformed, in +the space of a century and a half, into a sum far more important than the +forty millions estimated by Father d'Aigrigny--who, partially informed on +this subject, and reckoning the disastrous accidents, losses, and +bankruptcies which might have occurred during so long a period, believed +that forty millions might well b e considered enormous. + +The history of this fortune being closely connected with that of the +Samuel family, by whom it had been managed for three generations, we +shall give it again in a few words. + +About the period 1670, some years before his death, Marius de Rennepont, +then travelling in Portugal, had been enabled, by means of powerful +interest, to save the life of an unfortunate Jew, condemned to be burnt +alive by the Inquisition, because of his religion. This Jew was Isaac +Samuel, grandfather of the present guardian of the house in the Rue +Saint-Francois. + +Generous men often attach themselves to those they have served, as much, +at least, as the obliged parties are attached to their benefactors. +Having ascertained that Isaac, who at that time carried on a petty +broker's business at Lisbon, was industrious, honest, active, laborious, +and intelligent, M. de Rennepont, who then possessed large property in +France, proposed to the Jew to accompany him, and undertake the +management of his affairs. The same hatred and suspicion with which the +Israelites have always been followed, was then at its height. Isaac was +therefore doubly grateful for this mark of confidence on the part of M. +de Rennepont. He accepted the offer, and promised from that day to +devote his existence to the service of him who had first saved his life, +and then trusted implicitly to his good faith and uprightness, although +he was a Jew, and belonged to a race generally suspected and despised. +M. de Rennepont, a man of great soul, endowed with a good spirit, was not +deceived in his choice. Until he was deprived of his fortune, it +prospered wonderfully in the hands of Isaac Samuel, who, gifted with an +admirable aptitude for business, applied himself exclusively to advance +the interests of his benefactor. + +Then came the persecution and ruin of M. de Rennepont, whose property was +confiscated and given up to the reverend fathers of the Company of Jesus +only a few days before his death. Concealed in the retreat he had +chosen, therein to put a violent end to his life, he sent secretly for +Isaac Samuel, and delivered to him fifty thousand crowns in gold, the +last remains of his fortune. This faithful servant was to invest the +money to the best advantage, and, if he should have a son, transmit to +him the same obligation; or, should he have no child, he was to seek out +some relation worthy of continuing this trust, to which would moreover be +annexed a fair reward. It was thus to be transmitted and perpetuated +from relative to relative, until the expiration of a century and a half. +M. de Rennepont also begged Isaac to take charge, during his life, of the +house in the Rue Saint-Francois, where he would be lodged gratis, and to +leave this function likewise to his descendants, if it were possible. + +If even Isaac Samuel had not had children, the powerful bond of union +which exists between certain Jewish families, would have rendered +practicable the last will of De Rennepont. The relations of Isaac would +have become partner; in his gratitude to his benefactor, and they, and +their succeeding generations, would have religiously accomplished the +task imposed upon one of their race. But, several years after the death +of De Rennepont, Isaac had a son. + +This son, Levy Samuel, born in 1689, not having had any children by his +first wife, married again at nearly sixty years of age, and, in 1750, he +also had a son--David Samuel, the guardian of the house in the Rue Saint- +Francois, who, in 1832 (the date of this narrative), was eighty-two years +old, and seemed likely to live as long as his father, who had died at the +age of ninety-three. Finally, Abel Samuel, the son whom Bathsheba so +bitterly regretted, born in 1790, had perished under the Russian knout, +at the age of thirty-six. + +Having established this humble genealogy, we easily understand how this +successive longevity of three members of the Samuel family, all of whom +had been guardians of the walled house, by uniting, as it were, the +nineteenth with the seventeenth century, simplified and facilitated the +execution of M. de Rennepont's will; the latter having declared his +desire to the grandfather of the Samuels, that the capital should only be +augmented by interest at five per cent.--so that the fortune might come +to his descendants free from all taint of usurious speculation. + +The fellow men of the Samuel family, the first inventors of the bill of +exchange, which served them in the Middle Ages to transport mysteriously +considerable amounts from one end of the world to the other, to conceal +their fortune, and to shield it from the rapacity of their enemies--the +Jews, we say, having almost the monopoly of the trade in money and +exchanges, until the end of the eighteenth century, aided the secret +transactions and financial operations of this family, which, up to about +1820, placed their different securities, which had become progressively +immense, in the hands of the principal Israelitish bankers and merchants +of Europe. This sure and secret manner of acting had enabled the present +guardian of the house in the Rue Saint-Francois, to effect enormous +investments, unknown to all; and it was more especially during the period +of his management, that the capital sum had acquired, by the mere fact of +compound interest, an almost incalculable development. Compared with +him, his father and grandfather had only small amounts to manage. Though +it had only been necessary to find successively sure and immediate +investments, so that the money might not remain as it were one day +without bearing interest, it had acquired financial capacity to attain +this result, when so many millions were in question. The last of the +Samuels, brought up in the school of his father, had exhibited this +capacity in a very high degree, as will be seen immediately by the +results. Nothing could be more touching, noble, and respectable, than +the conduct of the members of this Jewish family, who, partners in the +engagement of gratitude taken by their ancestor, devote themselves for +long years, with as much disinterestedness as intelligence and honesty, +to the slow acquisition of a kingly fortune, of which they expect no part +themselves, but which, thanks to them, would come pure, as immense, to +the hands of the descendants of their benefactor! Nor could anything be +more honorable to him who made, and him who received this deposit, than +the simple promise by word of mouth, unaccompanied by any security save +mutual confidence and reciprocal esteem, when the result was only to be +produced at the end of a century and a half! + +After once more reading his inventory with attention, Samuel said to his +wife: "I am certain of the correctness of my additions. Now please to +compare with the account-book in your hand the summary of the investments +that I have just entered in the register. I will assure myself, at the +same time, that the bonds and vouchers are properly arranged in this +casket, that, on the opening of the will, they may be delivered in order +to the notary." + +"Begin, my dear, and I will check you," said Bathsheba. + +Samuel read as follows, examining as he went on, the contents of his +casket: + +Statement of the account of the heirs of M. DE RENNEPONT, delivered by +DAVID SAMUELS. + +DEBIT. + +2,000,000 francs per annum, + in the French 5 P. C., + bought from 1825 to 1832, + at an average price of 99f. + 50c. . . . . . . . . . . . 39,800,000 +900,000 francs, ditto, in + the French 3 P. C., + bought during the + same years, at an average + of 74f 25c . . . . . . . . 22,275,000 +5;000 shares in the Bank + of France, bought at 1,900 9,500,000 +3,000 shares in the Four + Canals, in a certificate + from the Company, + bought at 1,115f . . . . . 3,345,000 +125,000 ducats of + Neapolitans, at an average + of 82. 2,050,000 ducats, + at 4f. 400 . . . . . . . 9,020,000 +5,000 Austrian Metallics, + of 1,000 florins, at 93 + --say 4,650,000 florins, + at 2f. 50c . . . . . . . . 11,625,000 +75,000 pounds sterling + per annum, English + Consolidated 3 P. C., + at 88 3/4--say 2,218,750, + at 25f . . . . . . . . . 55,468,750 +1,200,000 florins, Dutch +2 1/2 P. C., at 60-28, +860,000 florins, at 2f. +100. . . . . . . . . . . 60,606,000 +Cash in banknotes, gold +and silver . . . . . . . . 535,250 + _____________ + Francs 212,175,000 + +Paris, 12th February, 1832. + +CREDIT. + +150,000 francs + received from M. + de Rennepont, + in 1682, by Isaac + Samuel my grandfather; + and invested by him, + my father, and myself, + in different securities, + at Five per Cent. + Interest, with a + settlement of account + and Investment of + interest every six + months, producing, + as by annexed vouchers, 225,950,000 + +Less losses sustained + by failures, expenses of + commission and + brokerage, and + salary of three + generations of + trustees, as per + statement annexed 13,775,000 + ____________ + 212,175,000 + +Francs 212,175,000 + +"It is quite right," said Samuel, after examining the papers, contained +in the cedar-wood box. "There remains in hand, at the absolute disposal +of the heirs of the Rennepont family, the Sum Of TWO HUNDRED AND TWELVE +MILLIONS, ONE HUNDRED AND SEVENTY-FIVE THOUSAND FRANCS." And the old man +looked at his wife with an expression of legitimate pride. "It is hardly +credible!" cried Bathsheba, struck with surprise. "I knew that you had +immense property in your hands; but I could never have believed, that one +hundred and fifty thousand francs, left a century and a half ago, should +be the only source of this immense fortune." + +"It is even so, Bathsheba," answered the old man, proudly. 'Doubtless, +my grandfather, my father, and myself, have all been exact and faithful +in the management of these funds; doubtless, we have required some +sagacity in the choice of investments, in times of revolution and +commercial panics; but all this was easy to us, thanks to our relations +with our brethren in all countries--and never have I, or any of mine, +made an usurious investment, or even taken the full advantage of the +legal rate of interest. Such were the positive demands of M. de +Rennepont, given to my grandfather; nor is there in the world a fortune +that has been obtained by purer means. Had it not been for this +disinterestedness, we might have much augmented this two hundred and +twelve millions, only by taking advantage of a few favorable +circumstances." + +"Dear me! is it possible?" + +"Nothing is more simple, Bathsheba. Every one knows, that in fourteen +years a capital will be doubled, by the mere accumulation of interest and +compound interest at five per cent. Now reflect, that in a century and a +half there are ten times fourteen years, and that these one hundred and +fifty thousands francs have thus been doubled and redoubled, over and +over again. All that astonishes you will then appear plain enough. In +1682, M. de Rennepont entrusted my grandfather with a hundred and fifty +thousand francs; this sum, invested as I have told you, would have +produced in 1696, fourteen years after, three hundred thousand francs. +These last, doubled in 1710, would produce six hundred thousand. On the +death of my grandfather in 1719, the amount was already near a million; +in 1724, it would be twelve hundred thousand francs; in 1738, two +millions four hundred thousand; in 1752, about two years after my birth, +four millions eight hundred thousand; in 1766, nine millions six hundred +thousand; in 1780, nineteen millions two hundred thousand; in 1794, +twelve years after the death of my father, thirty-eight millions four +hundred thousand; in 1808, seventy-six millions eight hundred thousand; +in 1822, one hundred and fifty-three millions six hundred thousand; and, +at this time, taking the compound interest for ten years, it should be at +least two hundred and twenty-five millions. But losses and inevitable +charges, of which the account has been strictly kept, have reduced the +sum to two hundred and twelve millions one hundred and seventy-five +thousand francs, the securities for which are in this box." + +"I now understand you, my dear," answered Bathsheba, thoughtfully; "but +how wonderful is this power of accumulation! and what admirable provision +may be made for the future, with the smallest present resources!" + +"Such, no doubt, was the idea of M. de Rennepont; for my father has often +told me, and he derived it from his father, that M. de Rennepont was one +of the soundest intellects of his time," said Samuel, as he closed the +cedar-box. + +"God grant his descendants may be worthy of this kingly fortune, and make +a noble use of it!" said Bathsheba, rising. + +It was now broad day, and the clock had just struck seven. + +"The masons will soon be here," said Samuel, as he replaced the cedar-box +in the iron safe, concealed behind the antique press. "Like you, +Bathsheba, I am curious and anxious to know, what descendants of M. de +Rennepont will now present themselves." + +Two or three loud knocks on the outer gate resounded through the house. +The barking of the watch-dogs responded to this summons. + +Samuel said to his wife: "It is no doubt the masons, whom the notary has +sent with his clerk. Tie all the keys and their labels together; I will +come back and fetch them." + +So saying, Samuel went down to the door with much nimbleness, considering +his age, prudently opened a small wicket, and saw three workmen, in the +garb of masons, accompanied by a young man dressed in black. + +"What may you want, gentlemen?" said the Jew, before opening the door, as +he wished first to make sure of the identity of the personages. + +"I am sent by M. Dumesnil, the notary," answered the clerk, "to be +present at the unwalling of a door. Here is a letter from my master, +addressed to M. Samuel, guardian of the house." + +"I am he, sir," said the Jew; "please to put the letter through the +slide, and I will take it." + +The clerk did as Samuel desired, but shrugged his shoulders at what he +considered the ridiculous precautions of a suspicious old man. The +housekeeper opened the box, took the letter, went to the end of the +vaulted passage in order to read it, and carefully compared the signature +with that of another letter which he drew from the pocket of his long +coat; then, after all these precautions, he chained up his dogs, and +returned to open the gate to the clerk and masons. + +"What the devil, my good man!" said the clerk, as he entered; "there +would not be more formalities in opening the gates of a fortress!" + +The Jew bowed, but without answering. + +"Are you deaf, my good fellow?" cried the clerk, close to his ears. + +"No, sir," said Samuel, with a quiet smile, as he advanced several steps +beyond the passage. Then pointing to the old house, he added: "That, +sir, is the door which you will have to open; you will also have to +remove the lead and iron from the second window to the right." + +"Why not open all the windows?" asked the clerk. + +"Because, sir, as guardian of this house, I have received particular +orders on the subject." + +"Who gave you these orders?" + +"My father, sir, who received them from his father, who transmitted them +from the master of this house. When I cease to have the care of it, the +new proprietor will do as he pleases." + +"Oh! very well," said the clerk, not a little surprised. Then, +addressing himself to the masons, he added: "This is your business, my +fine fellows; you are to unwall the door, and remove the iron frame-work +of the second window to the right." + +Whilst the masons set to work, under the inspection of the notary's +clerk, a coach stopped before the outer gate, and Rodin, accompanied by +Gabriel, entered the house in the Rue Saint-Francois. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +THE HEIR + +Samuel opened the door to Gabriel and Rodin. + +The latter said to the Jew, "You, sir, are the keeper of this house?" + +"Yes, sir," replied Samuel. + +"This is Abbe Gabriel de Rennepont," said Rodin, as he introduced his +companion, "one of the descendants of the family of the Renneponts." + +"Happy to hear it, sir," said the Jew, almost involuntarily, struck with +the angelic countenance of Gabriel--for nobleness and serenity of soul +were visible in the glance of the young priest, and were written upon his +pure, white brow, already crowned with the halo of martyrdom. Samuel +looked at Gabriel with curiosity and benevolent interest; but feeling +that this silent contemplation must cause some embarrassment to his +guest, he said to him, "M. Abbe, the notary will not be here before ten +o'clock." + +Gabriel looked at him in turn, with an air of surprise, and answered, +"What notary, sir?" + +"Father d'Aigrigny will explain all this to you," said Rodin, hastily. +Then addressing Samuel, he added, "We are a little before the time. Will +you allow us to wait for the arrival of the notary?" + +"Certainly," said Samuel, "if you please to walk into my house." + +"I thank you, sir," answered Rodin, "and accept your offer." + +"Follow me, then, gentlemen," said the old man. + +A few moments after, the young priest and the socius, preceded by Samuel, +entered one of the rooms occupied by the latter, on the ground-floor of +the building, looking out upon the court-yard. + +"The Abbe d'Aigrigny, who has been the guardian of M. Gabriel, will soon +be coming to ask for us," added Rodin; "will you have the kindness, sir +to show him into this room?" + +"I will not fail to do so, sir," said Samuel, as he went out. + +The socius and Gabriel were left alone. To the adorable gentleness which +usually gave to the fine features of the missionary so touching a charm, +there had succeeded in this moment a remarkable expression of sadness, +resolution, and severity. Rodin not having seen Gabriel for some days, +was greatly struck by the change he remarked in him. He had watched him +silently all the way from the Rue des Postes to the Rue Saint-Francois. +The young priest wore, as usual, a long black cassock, which made still +more visible the transparent paleness of his countenance. When the Jew +had left the room, Gabriel said to Rodin, in a firm voice, "Will you at +length inform me, sir, why, for some days past, I have been prevented +from speaking to his reverence Father d'Aigrigny? Why has he chosen this +house to grant me an interview?" + +"It is impossible for me to answer these questions," replied Rodin, +coldly. "His reverence will soon arrive, and will listen to you. All I +can tell you is, that the reverend father lays as much stress upon this +meeting as you do. If he has chosen this house for the interview, it is +because you have an interest to be here. You know it well--though you +affected astonishment on hearing the guardian speak of a notary." + +So saying, Rodin fixed a scrutinizing, anxious look upon Gabriel, whose +countenance expressed only surprise. + +"I do not understand you," said he, in reply to Rodin. "What have I to +do with this house?" + +"It is impossible that you should not know it," answered Rodin, still +looking at him with attention. + +"I have told you, sir, that I do not know it," replied the other, almost +offended by the pertinacity of the socius. + +"What, then, did your adopted mother come to tell you yesterday? Why did +you presume to receive her without permission from Father d'Aigrigny, as +I have heard this morning? Did she not speak with you of certain family +papers, found upon you when she took you in?" + +"No, sir," said Gabriel; "those papers were delivered at the time to my +adopted mother's confessor, and they afterwards passed into Father +d'Aigrigny's hands. This is the first I hear for a long time of these +papers." + +"So you affirm that Frances Baudoin did not come to speak to you on this +subject?" resumed Rodin, obstinately, laying great emphasis on his words. + +"This is the second time, sir, that you seem to doubt my affirmation," +said the young priest, mildly, while he repressed a movement of +impatience, "I assure you that I speak the truth." + +"He knows nothing," thought Rodin; for he was too well convinced of +Gabriel's sincerity to retain the least doubt after so positive a +declaration. "I believe you," went on he. "The idea only occurred to me +in reflecting what could be the reason of sufficient weight to induce you +to transgress Father d'Aigrigny's orders with regard to the absolute +retirement he had commanded, which was to exclude all communication with +those without. Much more, contrary to all the rules of our house, you +ventured to shut the door of your room, whereas it ought to remain half- +open, that the mutual inspection enjoined us might be the more easily +practiced. I could only explain these sins against discipline, by the +necessity of some very important conversation with your adopted mother." + +"It was to a priest, and not to her adopted son, that Madame Baudoin +wished to speak," replied Gabriel, in a tone of deep seriousness. "I +closed my door because I was to hear a confession." + +"And what had Frances Baudoin of such importance to confess?" + +"You will know that by-and-bye, when I speak to his reverence--if it be +his pleasure that you should hear me." + +These words were so firmly spoken, that a long silence ensued. Let us +remind the reader that Gabriel had hitherto been kept by his superiors in +the most complete ignorance of the importance of the family interests +which required his presence in the Rue Saint-Francois. The day before, +Frances Baudoin, absorbed in her own grief, had forgotten to tell him +that the two orphans also should be present at this meeting, and had she +even thought of it, Dagobert would have prevented her mentioning this +circumstance to the young priest. + +Gabriel was therefore quite ignorant of the family ties which united him +with the daughters of Marshal Simon, with Mdlle. de Cardoville, with M. +Hardy, Prince Djalma, and Sleepinbuff. In a word, if it had then been +revealed to him that he was the heir of Marius de Rennepont, he would +have believed himself the only descendant of the family. During the +moment's silence which succeeded his conversation with Rodin, Gabriel +observed through the windows the mason's at their work of unwalling the +door. Having finished this first operation, they set about removing the +bars of iron by which a plate of lead was fixed over the same entrance. + +At this juncture, Father d'Aigrigny, conducted by Samuel, entered the +room. Before Gabriel could turn around, Rodin had time to whisper to the +reverend father, "He knows nothing--and we have no longer anything to +fear from the Indian." + +Notwithstanding his affected calmness, Father d'Aigrigny's countenance +was pale and contracted, like that of a player who is about to stake all +on a last, decisive game. Hitherto, all had favored the designs of the +Society; but he could not think without alarm of the four hours which +still remained before they should reach the fatal moment. Gabriel having +turned towards him, Father d'Aigrigny offered him his hand with a smile, +and said to him in an affectionate and cordial tone, "My dear son, it has +pained me a good deal to have been obliged to refuse you till now the +interview that you so much desired. It has been no less distressing to +me to impose on you a confinement of some days. Though I cannot give any +explanation of what I may think fit to order, I will just observe to you +that I have acted only for your interest." + +"I am bound to believe your reverence," answered Gabriel, bowing his +head. + +In spite of himself, the young priest felt a vague sense of fear, for +until his departure for his American mission, Father d'Aigrigny, at whose +feet he had pronounced the formidable vows which bound him irrevocably to +the Society of Jesus, had exercised over him that frightful species of +influence which, acting only by despotism, suppression, and intimidation, +breaks down all the living forces of the soul, and leaves it inert, +trembling, and terrified. Impressions of early youth are indelible, and +this was the first time, since his return from America, that Gabriel +found himself in presence of Father d'Aigrigny; and although he did not +shrink from the resolution he had taken, he regretted not to have been +able, as he had hoped, to gather new strength and courage from an +interview with Agricola and Dagobert. Father d'Aigrigny knew mankind too +well not to have remarked the emotion of the young priest, and to have +endeavored to explain its cause. This emotion appeared to him a +favorable omen; he redoubled, therefore, his seductive arts, his air of +tenderness and amenity, reserving to himself, if necessary, the choice of +assuming another mask. He sat down, while Gabriel and Rodin remained +standing in a respectful position, and said to the former: "You desire, +my dear son, to have an important interview with me?" + +"Yes, father," said Gabriel, involuntarily casting down his eyes before +the large, glittering gray pupil of his superior. + +"And I also have matters of great importance to communicate to you. +Listen to me first; you can speak afterwards." + +"I listen, father." + +"It is about twelve years ago, my dear son," said Father d'Aigrigny, +affectionately, "that the confessor of your adopted mother, addressing +himself to me through M. Rodin, called my attention to yourself, by +reporting the astonishing progress you had made at the school of the +Brothers. I soon found, indeed, that your excellent conduct, your +gentle, modest character, and your precocious intelligence, were worthy +of the most tender interest. From that moment I kept my eyes upon you, +and at the end of some time, seeing that you did not fall off, it +appeared to me that there was something more in you than the stuff that +makes a workman. We agreed with your adopted mother, and through my +intervention, you were admitted gratuitously to one of the schools of our +Company. Thus one burden the less weighed upon the excellent woman who +had taken charge of you, and you received from our paternal care all the +benefits of a religious education. Is not this true, my dear son?" + +"It is true, father," answered Gabriel, casting down his eyes. + +"As you grew up, excellent and rare virtues displayed themselves in your +character. Your obedience and mildness were above all exemplary. You +made rapid progress in your studies. I knew not then to what career you +wished to devote yourself, but I felt certain that, in every station of +life, you would remain a faithful son of the Church. I was not deceived +in my hopes, or rather, my dear son, you surpassed them all. Learning, +by a friendly communication, that your adopted mother ardently desired to +see you take orders, you acceded generously and religiously to the wish +of the excellent woman to whom you owed so much. But as the Lord is +always just in His recompenses, He willed that the most touching work of +gratitude you could show to your adopted mother, should at the same time +be divinely profitable by making you one of the militant members of our +holy Church." + +At these words, Gabriel could not repress a significant start, as he +remembered Frances' sad confidences. But he restrained himself, whilst +Rodin stood leaning with his elbow on the corner of the chimney-piece, +continuing to examine him with singular and obstinate attention. + +Father d'Aigrigny resumed: "I do not conceal from you, my dear son, that +your resolution filled me with joy. I saw in you one of the future +lights of the Church, and I was anxious to see it shine in the midst of +our Company. You submitted courageously to our painful and difficult +tests; you were judged worthy of belonging to us, and, after taking in my +presence the irrevocable and sacred oath, which binds you for ever to our +Company for the greater glory of God, you answered the appeal of our Holy +Father[14] to willing souls, and offered yourself as a missionary, to +preach to savages the one Catholic faith. Though it was painful to us to +part with our dear son, we could not refuse to accede to such pious +wishes. You set out a humble missionary you return a glorious martyr-- +and we are justly proud to reckon you amongst our number. This rapid +sketch of the past was necessary, my dear son to arrive at what follows, +for we wish now, if it be possible, to draw still closer the bonds that +unite us. Listen to me, my dear son; what I am about to say is +confidential and of the highest importance, not only for you, but the +whole Company." + +"Then, father," cried Gabriel hastily, interrupting the Abbe d'Aigrigny, +"I cannot--I ought not to hear you." + +The young priest became deadly pale; one saw, by the alteration of his +features, that a violent struggle was taking place within him, but +recovering his first resolution, he raised his head, and casting an +assured look on Father d'Aigrigny and Rodin, who glanced at each other in +mute surprise, he resumed: "I repeat to you, father, that if it concerns +confidential matters of the Company, I must not hear you." + +"Really, my dear son, you occasion me the greatest astonishment. What is +the matter?--Your countenance changes, your emotion is visible. Speak +without fear; why can you not hear me?" + +"I cannot tell you, father, until I also have, in my turn, rapidly +sketched the past--such as I have learned to judge it of late. You will +then understand, father, that I am no longer entitled to your confidence, +for an abyss will doubtlessly soon separate us." + +At these words, it is impossible to paint the look rapidly exchanged +between Rodin and Father d'Aigrigny. The socius began to bite his nails, +fixing his reptile eye angrily upon Gabriel; Father d'Aigrigny grew +livid, and his brow was bathed in cold sweat. He asked himself with +terror, if, at the moment of reaching the goal, the obstacle was going to +come from Gabriel, in favor of whom all other obstacles had been removed. +This thought filled him with despair. Yet the reverend father contained +himself admirably, remained calm, and answered with affectionate unction: +"It is impossible to believe, my dear son, that you and I can ever be +separated by an abyss--unless by the abyss of grief, which would be +caused by any serious danger to your salvation. But speak; I listen to +you." + +"It is true, that, twelve years ago, father," proceeded Gabriel, in a +firm voice, growing more animated as he proceeded, "I entered, through +your intervention, a college of the Company of Jesus. I entered it +loving, truthful, confiding. How did they encourage those precious +instincts of childhood? I will tell you. The day of my entrance, the +Superior said to me, as he pointed out two children a little older than +myself: 'These are the companions that you will prefer. You will always +walk three together. The rules of the house forbid all intercourse +between two persons only. They also require, that you should listen +attentively to what your companions say, so that you may report it to me; +for these dear children may have, without knowing it, bad thoughts or +evil projects. Now, if you love your comrades, you must inform me of +these evil tendencies, that my paternal remonstrances may save them from +punishment; it is better to prevent evil than to punish it.'" + +"Such are, indeed, my dear son," said Father d'Aigrigny, "the rules of +our house, and the language we hold to all our pupils on their entrance." + +"I know it, father," answered Gabriel, bitterly; "three days after, a +poor, submissive, and credulous child, I was already a spy upon my +comrades, hearing and remembering their conversation, and reporting it to +the superior, who congratulated me on my zeal. What they thus made me do +was shameful, and yet, God knows! I thought I was accomplishing a +charitable duty. I was happy in obeying the commands of a superior whom +I respected, and to whose words I listened, in my childish faith, as I +should have listened to those of Heaven. One day, that I had broken some +rule of the house, the superior said to me: 'My child, you have deserved +a severe punishment; but you will be pardoned, if you succeed in +surprising one of your comrades in the same fault that you have +committed.' And for that, notwithstanding my faith and blind obedience, +this encouragement to turn informer, from the motive of personal +interest, might appear odious to me, the superior added. 'I speak to +you, my child, for the sake of your comrade's salvation. Were he to +escape punishment, his evil habits would become habitual. But by +detecting him in a fault, and exposing him to salutary correction, you +will have the double advantage of aiding in his salvation, and escaping +yourself a merited punishment, which will have been remitted because of +your zeal for your neighbor--" + +"Doubtless," answered Father d'Aigrigny, more and more terrified by +Gabriel's language; "and in truth, my dear son, all this is conformable +to the rule followed in our colleges, and to the habits of the members of +our Company, 'who may denounce each other without prejudice to mutual +love and charity, and only for their greater spiritual advancement, +particularly when questioned by their superior, or commanded for the +greater glory of God,' as our Constitution has it." + +"I know it," cried Gabriel; "I know it. 'Tis in the name of all that is +most sacred amongst men, that we are encouraged to do evil." + +"My dear son," said Father d'Aigrigny, trying to conceal his secret and +growing terror beneath an appearance of wounded dignity, "from you to me +these words are at least strange." + +At this, Rodin quitted the mantelpiece, on which he had been leaning, +begin to walk up and down the room, with a meditative air, and without +ceasing to bite his nails. + +"It is cruel to be obliged to remind you, my dear son, that your are +indebted to us for the education you have received," added Father +d'Aigrigny. + +"Such were its fruits, father," replied Gabriel. "Until then I had been +a spy on the other children, from a sort of disinterestedness; but the +orders of the superior made me advance another step on that shameful +road. I had become an informer, to escape a merited punishment. And +yet, such was my faith, my humility, my confidence, that I performed with +innocence and candor this doubly odious part. Once, indeed, tormented by +vague scruples, the last remains of generous aspirations that they were +stifling within me, I asked myself if the charitable and religious end +could justify the means, and I communicated my doubts to the superior. +He replied, that I had not to judge, but to obey, and that to him alone +belonged the responsibility of my acts." + +"Go on, my dear son," said Father d'Aigrigny, gelding, in spite of +himself, to the deepest dejection. "Alas! I was right in opposing your +travel to America." + +"And yet it was the will of Providence, in that new, productive, and free +country, that, enlightened by a singular chance, on past and present, my +eyes were at length opened. Yes!" cried Gabriel, "it was in America +that, released from the gloomy abode where I had spent so many years of +my youth, and finding myself for the first time face to face with the +divine majesty of Nature, in the heart of immense solitudes through which +I journeyed--it was there that, overcome by so much magnificence and +grandeur, I made a vow--" Here Gabriel interrupted himself, to continue: +"Presently, father, I will explain to you that vow; but believe me," +added the missionary, with an accent of deep sorrow, "it was a fatal day +to me when I first learned to fear and condemn all that I had hitherto +most revered and blessed. Oh! I assure you father," added Gabriel, with +moist eyes, "it was not for myself alone, that I then wept." + +"I know the goodness of your heart, my dear son," replied Father +d'Aigrigny, catching a glimpse of hope, on seeing Gabriel's emotion; "I +fear that you have been led astray. But trust yourself to us, as to your +spiritual fathers, and I doubt not we shall confirm your faith, so +unfortunately shaken, and disperse the darkness which at present obscures +your sight. Alas, my dear son, in your vain illusions, you have mistaken +some false glimmer for the pure light of day. But go on." + +Whilst Father d'Aigrigny was thus speaking, Rodin stopped, took a pocket- +book from his coat, and wrote down several notes. Gabriel was becoming +more and more pale and agitated. It required no small courage in him, to +speak as he was speaking, for, since his journey to America, he had +learned to estimate the formidable power of the Company. But this +revelation of the past, looked at from the vantage-ground of a more +enlightened present, was for the young priest the excuse, or rather the +cause of the determination he had just signified to his superior, and he +wished to explain all faithfully, notwithstanding the danger he knowingly +encountered. He continued therefore, in an agitated voice: + +"You know, father, that the last days of my childhood, that happy age of +frankness and innocent joy, were spent in an atmosphere of terror, +suspicion, and restraint. Alas! how could I resign myself to the least +impulse of confiding trust, when I was recommended to shun the looks of +him who spoke with me, in order to hide the impression that his words +might cause--to conceal whatever I felt, and to observe and listen to +everything? Thus I reached the age of fifteen; by degrees, the rare +visits that I was allowed to pay, but always in presence of one of our +fathers, to my adopted mother and brother, were quite suppressed, so as +to shut my heart against all soft and tender emotions. Sad and fearful +in that large, old noiseless, gloomy house, I felt that I became more and +more isolated from the affections and the freedom of the world. My time +was divided between mutilated studies, without connection and without +object, and long hours of minute devotional exercises. I ask you, +father, did they ever seek to warm our young souls by words of tenderness +or evangelic love? Alas, no! For the words of the divine Saviour--Love +ye one another, they had substituted the command: Suspect ye one another. +Did they ever, father, speak to us of our country or of liberty?--No! ah, +no! for those words make the heart beat high; and with them, the heart +must not beat at all. To our long hours of study and devotion, there +only succeeded a few walks, three by three--never two and two--because by +threes, the spy-system is more practicable, and because intimacies are +more easily formed by two alone; and thus might have arisen some of those +generous friendships, which also make the heart beat more than it +should.[15] And so, by the habitual repression of every feeling, there +came a time when I could not feel at all. For six months, I had not seen +my adopted mother and brother; they came to visit me at the college; a +few years before, I should have received them with transports and tears; +this time my eyes were dry, my heart was cold. My mother and brother +quitted me weeping. The sight of this grief struck me and I became +conscious of the icy insensibility which had been creeping upon me since +I inhabited this tomb. Frightened at myself, I wished to leave it, while +I had still strength to do so. Then, father, I spoke to you of the +choice of a profession; for sometimes, in waking moments, I seemed to +catch from afar the sound of an active and useful life, laborious and +free, surrounded by family affections. Oh! then I felt the want of +movement and liberty, of noble and warm emotions--of that life of the +soul, which fled before me. I told it you, father on my knees, bathing +your hands with my tears. The life of a workman or a soldier--anything +would have suited me. It was then you informed me, that my adopted +mother, to whom I owed my life--for she had taken me in, dying of want, +and, poor herself, had shared with me the scanty bread of her child-- +admirable sacrifice for a mother!--that she," continued Gabriel, +hesitating and casting down his eyes, for noble natures blush for the +guilt of others, and are ashamed of the infamies of which they are +themselves victims, "that she, that my adopted mother, had but one wish, +one desire--" + +"That of seeing you takes orders, my dear son," replied Father +d'Aigrigny; "for this pious and perfect creature hoped, that, in securing +your salvation, she would provide for her own: but she did not venture to +inform you of this thought, for fear you might ascribe it to an +interested motive." + +"Enough, father!" said Gabriel, interrupting the Abbe d'Aigrigny, with a +movement of involuntary indignation; "it is painful for me to hear you +assert an error. Frances Baudoin never had such a thought." + +"My dear son, you are too hasty in your judgments," replied Father +d'Aigrigny, mildly. "I tell you, that such was the one, sole thought of +your adopted mother." + +"Yesterday, father, she told me all. She and I were equally deceived." + +"Then, my dear son," said Father d'Aigrigny, sternly, "you take the word +of your adopted mother before mine?" + +"Spare me an answer painful for both of us, father," said Gabriel, +casting down his eyes. + +"Will you now tell me," resumed Father d'Aigrigny, with anxiety, "what +you mean to--" + +The reverend father was unable to finish. Samuel entered the room, and +said: "A rather old man wishes to speak to M. Rodin." + +"That is my name, sir," answered the socius, in surprise; "I am much +obliged to you." But, before following the Jew, he gave to Father +d'Aigrigny a few words written with a pencil upon one of the leaves of +his packet-book. + +Rodin went out in very uneasy mood, to learn who could have come to seek +him in the Rue Saint-Francois. Father d'Aigrigny and Gabriel were left +alone together. + +[14] It is only in respect to Missions that the Jesuits acknowledge the +papal supremacy. + +[15] This rule is so strict in Jesuit Colleges, that if one of three +pupils leaves the other two, they separate out of earshot till the first +comes back. + + + + +CHAPTER XX. + +THE RUPTURE. + +Plunged into a state of mortal anxiety, Father d'Aigrigny had taken +mechanically the note written by Rodin, and held it in his hand without +thinking of opening it. The reverend father asked himself in alarm, what +conclusion Gabriel would draw from these recriminations upon the past; +and he durst not make any answer to his reproaches, for fear of +irritating the young priest, upon whose head such immense interests now +reposed. Gabriel could possess nothing for himself, according to the +constitutions of the Society of Jesus. Moreover, the reverend father had +obtained from him, in favor of the Order, an express renunciation of all +property that might ever come to him. But the commencement of his +conversation seemed to announce so serious a change in Gabriel's views +with regard to the Company, that he might choose to break through the +ties which attached him to it; and in that case, he would not be legally +bound to fulfil any of his engagements.[16] The donation would thus be +cancelled de facto, just at the moment of being so marvellously realized +by the possession of the immense fortune of the Rennepont family, and +d'Aigrigny's hopes would thus be completely and for ever frustrated. Of +all these perplexities which the reverend father had experienced for some +time past, with regard to this inheritance, none had been more unexpected +and terrible than this. Fearing to interrupt or question Gabriel, Father +d'Aigrigny waited, in mute terror, the end of this interview, which +already bore so threatening an aspect. + +The missionary resumed: "It is my duty, father, to continue this sketch +of my past life, until the moment of my departure for America. You will +understand, presently, why I have imposed on myself this obligation." + +Father d'Aigrigny nodded for him to proceed. + +"Once informed of the pretended wishes of my adopted mother, I resigned +myself to them, though at some cost of feeling. I left the gloomy abode, +in which I had passed my childhood and part of my youth, to enter one of +the seminaries of the Company. My resolution was not caused by an +irresistible religious vocation, but by a wish to discharge the sacred +debt I owed my adopted mother. Yet the true spirit of the religion of +Christ is so vivifying, that I felt myself animated and warmed by the +idea of carrying out the adorable precepts of our Blessed Saviour. To my +imagination, a seminary, instead of resembling the college where I had +lived in painful restraint, appeared like a holy place, where all that +was pure and warm in the fraternity of the Gospel would be applied to +common life--where, for example, the lessons most frequently taught would +be the ardent love of humanity, and the ineffable sweets of commiseration +and tolerance--where the everlasting words of Christ would be interpreted +in their broadest sense--and where, in fine, by the habitual exercise and +expansion of the most generous sentiments, men were prepared for the +magnificent apostolic mission of making the rich and happy sympathize +with the sufferings of their brethren, by unveiling the frightful +miseries of humanity--a sublime and sacred morality, which none are able +to withstand, when it is preached with eyes full of tears, and hearts +overflowing with tenderness and charity!" + +As he delivered these last words with profound emotion, Gabriel's eyes +became moist, and his countenance shone with angelic beauty. + +"Such is, indeed, my dear son, the spirit of Christianity; but one must +also study and explain the letter," answered Father d'Aigrigny, coldly. +"It is to this study that the seminaries of our Company are specially +destined. Now the interpretation of the letter is a work of analysis, +discipline, and submission--and not one of heart and sentiment." + +"I perceive that only too well, father. On entering this new house, I +found, alas! all my hopes defeated. Dilating for a moment, my heart soon +sunk within me. Instead of this centre of life, affection, youth, of +which I had dreamed. I found, in the silent and ice-cold seminary, the +same suppression of every generous emotion, the same inexorable +discipline, the same system of mutual prying, the same suspicion, the +same invincible obstacles to all ties of friendship. The ardor which had +warmed my soul for an instant soon died out; little by little, I fell +back into the habits of a stagnant, passive, mechanical life, governed by +a pitiless power with mechanical precision, just like the inanimate works +of a watch." + +"But order, submission and regularity are the first foundations of our +Company, my dear son." + +"Alas, father! it was death, not life, that I found thus organized. In +the midst of this destruction of every generous principle, I devoted +myself to scholastic and theological studies--gloomy studies--a wily, +menacing, and hostile science which, always awake to ideas of peril, +contest, and war, is opposed to all those of peace, progress, and +liberty." + +"Theology, my dear son," said Father d'Aigrigny, sternly, "is at once a +buckler and a sword; a buckler, to protect and cover the Catholic faith-- +a sword, to attack and combat heresy." + +"And yet, father, Christ and His apostles knew not this subtle science: +their simple and touching words regenerated mankind, and set freedom over +slavery. Does not the divine code of the Gospel suffice to teach men to +love one another? But, alas! far from speaking to us this language, our +attention was too often occupied with wars of religion, and the rivers of +blood that had flowed in honor of the Lord, and for the destruction of +heresy. These terrible lessons made our life still more melancholy. As +we grew near to manhood, our relations at the seminary assumed a growing +character of bitterness, jealousy and suspicion. The habit of tale- +bearing against each other, applied to more serious subjects, engendered +silent hate and profound resentments. I was neither better nor worse +than the others. All of us, bowed down for years beneath the iron yoke +of passive obedience, unaccustomed to reflection or free-will, humble and +trembling before our superiors, had the same pale, dull, colorless +disposition. At last I took orders; once a priest, you invited me, +father, to enter the Company of Jesus, or rather I found myself +insensibly brought to this determination. How, I do not know. For a +long time before, my will was not my own. I went through all my proofs; +the most terrible was decisive; for some months, I lived in the silence +of my cell, practicing with resignation the strange and mechanical +exercises that you ordered me. With the exception of your reverence, +nobody approached me during that long space of time; no human voice but +yours sounded in my ear. Sometimes, in the night, I felt vague terrors; +my mind, weakened by fasting, austerity, and solitude, was impressed with +frightful visions. At other times, on the contrary, I felt a sort of +quiescence, in the idea that, having once pronounced my vows, I should be +delivered for ever from the burden of thought and will. Then I abandoned +myself to an insurmountable torpor, like those unfortunate wretches, who, +surprised by a snow-storm, yield to a suicidal repose. Thus I awaited +the fatal moment. At last, according to the rule of discipline, choking +with the death rattle,[17] I hastened the moment of accomplishing the +final act of my expiring will--the vow to renounce it for ever." + +"Remember, my dear son," replied Father d'Aigrigny, pale and tortured by +increasing anguish, "remember, that, on the eve of the day fixed for the +completion of your vows; I offered, according to the rule of our Company, +to absolve you from joining us--leaving you completely free, for we +accept none but voluntary vocations." + +"It is true, father," answered Gabriel, with sorrowful bitterness; "when, +worn out and broken by three months of solitude and trial, I was +completely exhausted, and unable to move a step, you opened the door of +my cell, and said to me: 'If you like, rise and walk; you are free; Alas! +I had no more strength. The only desire of my soul, inert and paralyzed +for so long a period, was the repose of the grave; and pronouncing those +irrevocable vows, I fell, like a corpse, into your hands." + +"And, till now, my dear son, you have never failed in this corpse--like +obedience,--to use the expression of our glorious founder--because, the +more absolute this obedience, the more meritorious it must be." + +After a moment's silence, Gabriel resumed: "You had always concealed from +me, father, the true ends of the Society into which I entered. I was +asked to abandon my free-will to my superiors, in the name of the Greater +Glory of God. My vows once pronounced, I was to be in your hands a +docile and obedient instrument; but I was to be employed, you told me, in +a holy, great and beauteous work. I believed you, father--how should I +not have believed you? but a fatal event changed my destiny--a painful +malady caused by--" + +"My son," cried Father d'Aigrigny, interrupting Gabriel, "it is useless +to recall these circumstances." + +"Pardon me, father, I must recall them. I have the right to be heard. I +cannot pass over in silence any of the facts, which have led me to take +the immutable resolution that I am about to announce to you." + +"Speak on, my son," said Father d'Aigrigny, frowning; for he was much +alarmed at the words of the young priest, whose cheeks, until now pale, +were covered with a deep blush. + +"Six months before my departure for America," resumed Gabriel, casting +down his eyes, "you informed me, that I was destined to confess +penitents; and to prepare then for that sacred ministry, you gave me a +book." + +Gabriel again hesitated. His blushes increased. Father d'Aigrigny could +scarcely restrain a start of impatience and anger. + +"You gave me a book," resumed the young priest, with a great effort to +control himself, "a book containing questions to be addressed by a +confessor to youths, and young girls, and married women, when they +present themselves at the tribunal of penance. My God!" added Gabriel, +shuddering at the remembrance. "I shall never forget that awful moment. +It was night. I had retired to my chamber, taking with me this book, +composed, you told me, by one of our fathers, and completed by a holy +bishop.[18] Full of respect, faith, and confidence, I opened those pages. +At first, I did not understand them--afterwards I understood--and then I +was seized with shame and horror--struck with stupor--and had hardly +strength to close, with trembling hand, this abominable volume. I ran to +you, father, to accuse myself of having involuntarily cast my eyes on +those nameless pages, which, by mistake, you had placed in my hands." + +"Remember, also, my dear son," said Father d'Aigrigny, gravely, "that I +calmed your scruples, and told you that a priest, who is bound to hear +everything under the seal of confession, must be able to know and +appreciate everything; and that our Company imposes the task of reading +this Compendium, as a classical work, upon young deacons seminarists, and +priests, who are destined to be confessors." + +"I believed you, father. In me the habit of inert obedience was so +powerful, and I was so unaccustomed to independent reflection, that, +notwithstanding my horror (with which I now reproached myself as with a +crime), I took the volume back into my chamber, and read. Oh, father! +what a dreadful revelation of criminal fancies, guilty of guiltiest in +their refinement!" + +"You speak of this book in blamable terms," skid Father d'Aigrigny, +severely; "you were the victim of a too lively imagination. It is to it +that you must attribute this fatal impression, and not to an excellent +work, irreproachable for its special purpose, and duly authorized by the +Church. You are not able to judge of such a production." + +"I will speak of it no more, father," said Gabriel: and he thus resumed: +"A long illness followed that terrible night. Many times, they feared +for my reason. When I recovered, the past appeared to me like a painful +dream. You told me, then, father, that I was not yet ripe for certain +functions; and it was then that I earnestly entreated you to be allowed +to go on the American missions. After having long refused my prayer, you +at length consented. From my childhood, I had always lived in the +college or seminary, to a state of continual restraint and subjection. +By constantly holding down my head and eyes, I had lost the habit of +contemplating the heavens and the splendors of nature. But, oh! what +deep, religious happiness I felt, when I found myself suddenly +transported to the centre of the imposing grandeur of the seas-half-way +between the ocean and the sky!--I seemed to come forth from a place of +thick darkness; for the first time, for many years, I felt my heart beat +freely in my bosom; for the first time, I felt myself master of my own +thoughts, and ventured to examine my past life, as from the summit of a +mountain, one looks down into a gloomy vale. Then strange doubts rose +within me. I asked myself by what right, and for what end, any beings +had so long repressed, almost annihilated, the exercise of my will, of my +liberty, of my reason, since God had endowed me with these gifts. But I +said to myself, that perhaps, one day, the great, beauteous, and holy +work, in which I was to have my share, would be revealed to me, and would +recompense my obedience and resignation." + +At this moment, Rodin re-entered the room. Father d'Aigrigny questioned +him with a significant look. The socius approached, and said to him in a +low voice, so, that Gabriel could not hear: "Nothing serious. It was +only to inform me, that Marshal Simon's father is arrived at M. Hardy's +factory." + +Then, glancing at Gabriel, Rodin appeared to interrogate Father +d'Aigrigny, who hung his head with a desponding air. Yet he resumed, +again addressing Gabriel, whilst Rodin took his old place, with his elbow +on the chimney-piece: "Go on, my dear son. I am anxious to learn what +resolution you have adopted." + +"I will tell you in a moment, father. I arrived at Charleston. The +superior of our establishment in that place, to whom I imparted my doubts +as to the object of our Society, took upon himself to clear them up, and +unveiled it all to me with alarming frankness. He told me the tendency- +not perhaps of all the members of the Company, for a great number must +have shared my ignorance--but the objects which our leaders have +pertinaciously kept in view, ever since the foundation of the Order. I +was terrified. I read the casuists. Oh, father! that was a new and +dreadful revelation, when, at every page, I read the excuse and +justification of robbery, slander, adultery, perjury, murder, regicide. +When I considered that I, the priest of a God of charity, justice, +pardon, and love, was to belong henceforth to a Company, whose chiefs +professed and glorified in such doctrines, I made a solemn oath to break +for ever the ties which bound me to it!"[19] + +On these words of Gabriel, Father d'Aigrigny and Rodin exchanged a look +of terror. All was lost; their prey had escaped them. Deeply moved by +the remembrances he recalled, Gabriel did not perceive the action of the +reverend father and the socius, and thus continued: "In spite of my +resolution, father, to quit the Company, the discovery I had made was +very painful to me. Oh! believe me, for the honest and loving soul, +nothing is more frightful than to have to renounce what it has long +respected!--I suffered so much, that, when I thought of the dangers of my +mission, I hoped, with a secret joy, that God would perhaps take me to +Himself under these circumstances: but, on the contrary, He watched over +me with providential solicitude." + +As he said this, Gabriel felt a thrill, for he remembered a Mysterious +Woman who had saved his life in America. After a moment's silence, he +resumed: "My mission terminated, I returned hither to beg, father, that +you would release me from my vows. Many times but in vain, I solicited +an interview. Yesterday, it pleased Providence that I should have a long +conversation with my adopted mother; from her I learned the trick by +which my vocation had been forced upon me--and the sacrilegious abuse of +the confessional, by which she had been induced to entrust to other +persons the orphans that a dying mother had confided to the care of an +honest soldier. You understand, father, that, if even I had before +hesitated to break these bonds, what I have heard yesterday must have +rendered my decision irrevocable. But at this solemn moment, father, I +am bound to tell you, that I do not accuse the whole Society; many +simple, credulous, and confiding men, like myself, must no doubt form +part of it. Docile instruments, they see not in their blindness the work +to which they are destined. I pity them, and pray God to enlighten them, +as he has enlightened me." + +"So, my son," said Father d'Aigrigny, rising with livid and despairing +look, "you come to ask of me to break the ties which attach you to the +Society?" + +"Yes, father; you received my vows--it is for you to release me from +them." + +"So, my son, you understand that engagements once freely taken by you, +are now to be considered as null and void?" + +"Yes, father." + +"So, my son, there is to be henceforth nothing in common between you and +our Company?" + +"No, father--since I request you to absolve me of my vows." + +"But, you know, my son, that the Society may release you--but that you +cannot release yourself." + +"The step I take proves to you, father, the importance I attach to an +oath, since I come to you to release me from it. Nevertheless, were you +to refuse me, I should not think myself bound in the eyes of God or man." + +"It is perfectly clear," said Father d'Aigrigny to Rodin, his voice +expiring upon his lips, so deep was his despair. + +Suddenly, whilst Gabriel, with downcast eyes, waited for the answer of +Father d'Aigrigny, who remained mute and motionless, Rodin appeared +struck with a new idea, on perceiving that the reverend father still held +in his hand the note written in pencil. The socius hastily approached +Father d'Aigrigny, and said to him in a whisper, with a look of doubt and +alarm: "Have you not read my note?" + +"I did not think of it," answered the reverend father, mechanically. + +Rodin appeared to make a great effort to repress a movement of violent +rage. Then he said to Father d'Aigrigny, in a calm voice: "Read it now." + +Hardly had the reverend father cast his eyes upon this note, than a +sudden ray of hope illumined his hitherto despairing countenance. +Pressing the hand of the socius with an expression of deep gratitude, he +said to him in a low voice: "You are right. Gabriel is ours." + +[16] The statutes formally state that the Company can expel all drones +and wasps, but that no man can break his ties, if the Order wishes to +retain him. + +[17] This is their own command. The constitution expressly bids the +novice wait for this decisive climax of the ordeal before taking the vows +of God. + +[18] It is impossible, even in Latin, to give our readers an idea of this +infamous work. + +[19] This is true. See the extracts from the Compendium for the use of +Schools, published under the title of "Discoveries by a Bibliophilist." +Strasburg, 1843. For regicide, see Sanchez and others. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + +THE CHANGE. + +Before again addressing Gabriel, Father d'Aigrigny carefully reflected; +and his countenance, lately so disturbed, became gradually once more +serene. He appeared to meditate and calculate the effects of the +eloquence he was about to employ, upon an excellent and safe theme, which +the socius struck with the danger of the situation, had suggested in a +few lines rapidly written with a pencil, and which, in his despair, the +reverend father had at first neglected. Rodin resumed his post of +observation near the mantelpiece, on which he leaned his elbow, after +casting at Father d'Aigrigny a glance of disdainful and angry +superiority, accompanied by a significant shrug of the shoulders. + +After this involuntary manifestation, which was luckily not perceived by +Father d'Aigrigny, the cadaverous face of the socius resumed its icy +calmness, and his flabby eyelids, raised a moment with anger and +impatience, fell, and half-veiled his little, dull eyes. It must be +confessed that Father d'Aigrigny, notwithstanding the ease and elegance +of his speech, notwithstanding the seduction of his exquisite manners, +his agreeable features, and the exterior of an accomplished and refined +man of the world, was often subdued and governed by the unpitying +firmness, the diabolical craft and depth of Rodin, the old, repulsive, +dirty, miserably dressed man, who seldom abandoned his humble part of +secretary and mute auditor. The influence of education is so powerful, +that Gabriel, notwithstanding the formal rupture he had just provoked, +felt himself still intimidated in presence of Father d'Aigrigny, and +waited with painful anxiety for the answer of the reverend father to his +express demand to be released from his old vows. His reverence having, +doubtless, regularly laid his plan of attack, at length broke silence, +heaved a deep sigh, gave to his countenance, lately so severe and +irritated, a touching expression of kindness, and said to Gabriel, in an +affectionate voice: "Forgive me, my dear son, for having kept silence so +long; but your abrupt determination has so stunned me, and has raised +within me so many painful thoughts, that I have had to reflect for some +moments, to try and penetrate the cause of this rupture, and I think I +have succeeded. You have well considered, my dear son, the serious +nature of the step you are taking?" + +"Yes, father." + +"And you have absolutely decided to abandon the Society, even against my +will?" + +"It would be painful to me, father--but I must resign myself to it." + +"It should be very painful to you, indeed, my dear son; for you took the +irrevocable vow freely, and this vow, according to our statutes, binds +you not to quit the Society, unless with the consent of your superiors." + +"I did not then know, father, the nature of the engagement I took. More +enlightened now, I ask to withdraw myself; my only desire is to obtain a +curacy in some village far from Paris. I feel an irresistible vocation +for such humble and useful functions. In the country, there is so much +misery, and such ignorance of all that could contribute to ameliorate the +condition of the agricultural laborer, that his existence is as unhappy +as that of a negro slave; for what liberty has he? and what instruction? +Oh! it seems to me, that, with God's help, I might, as a village curate, +render some services to humanity. It would therefore be painful to me, +father, to see you refuse--" + +"Be satisfied, my son," answered Father d'Aigrigny; "I will no longer +seek to combat your desire to separate yourself from us." + +"Then, father, you release me from my vows?" + +"I have not the power to do so, my dear son; but I will write immediately +to Rome, to ask the necessary authority from our general." + +"I thank you, father." + +"Soon, my dear son, you will be delivered from these bonds, which you +deem so heavy; and the men you abandon will not the less continue to pray +for you, that God may preserve you from still greater wanderings. You +think yourself released with regard to us, my dear son; but we do not +think ourselves released with regard to you. It is not thus that we can +get rid of the habit of paternal attachment. What would you have? We +look upon ourselves as bound to our children, by the very benefits with +which we have loaded them. You were poor, and an orphan; we stretched +out our arms to you, as much from the interest which you deserved, my +dear son, as to spare your excellent adopted mother too great a burden." + +"Father," said Gabriel, with suppressed emotion, "I am not ungrateful." + +"I wish to believe so, my dear son. For long years, we gave to you, as +to our beloved child, food for the body and the soul. It pleases you now +to renounce and abandon us. Not only do we consent to it--but now that I +have penetrated the true motives of your rupture with us, it is my duty +to release you from your vow." + +"Of what motives do you speak, Father?" + +"Alas! my dear son, I understand your fears. Dangers menace us--you know +it well." + +"Dangers, father?" cried Gabriel. + +"It is impossible, my dear son, that you should not be aware that, since +the fall of our legitimate sovereigns, our natural protectors, +revolutionary impiety becomes daily more and more threatening. We are +oppressed with persecutions. I can, therefore, comprehend and +appreciate, my dear son, the motive which under such circumstances, +induces you to separate from us." + +"Father!" cried Gabriel, with as much indignation as grief, "you do not +think that of me--you cannot think it." + +Without noticing the protestations of Gabriel, Father d'Aigrigny +continued his imaginary picture of the dangers of the Company, which, far +from being really in peril, was already beginning secretly to recover its +influence. + +"Oh! if our Company were now as powerful as it was some years ago," +resumed the reverend father; "if it were still surrounded by the respect +and homage which are due to it from all true believers--in spite of the +abominable calumnies with which we are assailed--then, my dear son, we +should perhaps have hesitated to release you from your vows, and have +rather endeavored to open your eyes to the light, and save you from the +fatal delusion to which you are a prey. But now that we are weak, +oppressed, threatened on every side, it is our duty, it is an act of +charity, not to force you to share in perils from which you have the +prudence to wish to withdraw yourself." + +So, saying, Father d'Aigrigny cast a rapid glance at his socius, who +answered with a nod of approbation, accompanied by a movement of +impatience that seemed to say: "Go on! go on!" + +Gabriel was quite overcome. There was not in the whole world a heart +more generous, loyal, and brave than his. We may judge of what he must +have suffered, on hearing the resolution he had come to thus +misinterpreted. + +"Father," he resumed, in an agitated voice, whilst his eyes filled with +tears, "your words are cruel and unjust. You know that I am not a +coward." + +"No," said Rodin, in his sharp, cutting voice, addressing Father +d'Aigrigny, and pointing to Gabriel with a disdainful look; "your dear +son is only prudent." + +These words from Rodin made Gabriel start; a slight blush colored his +pale cheeks; his large and blue eyes sparkled with a generous anger; +then, faithful to the precepts of Christian humility and resignation, he +conquered this irritable impulse, hung down his head, and, too much +agitated to reply, remained silent, and brushed away an unseen tear. +This tear did not escape the notice of the socius. He saw in it no +doubt, a favorable symptom, for he exchanged a glance of satisfaction +with Father d'Aigrigny. The latter was about to touch on a question of +great interest, so, notwithstanding his self-command, his voice trembled +slightly; but encouraged, or rather pushed on by a look from Rodin, who +had become extremely attentive, he said to Gabriel: "Another motive +obliges us not to hesitate in releasing you from your vow, my dear son. +It is a question of pure delicacy. You probably learned yesterday from +your adopted mother, that you will perhaps be called upon to take +possession of an inheritance, of which the value is unknown." + +Gabriel raised his head hastily and said to Father d'Aigrigny: "As I have +already stated to M. Rodin, my adopted mother only talked of her scruples +of conscience, and I was completely ignorant of the existence of the +inheritance of which you speak." + +The expression of indifference with which the young priest pronounced +these last words, was remarked by Rodin. + +"Be it so," replied Father d'Aigrigny. "You were not aware of it--I +believe you--though all appearances would tend to prove the contrary--to +prove, indeed, that the knowledge of this inheritance was not unconnected +with your resolution to separate from us." + +"I do not understand you, Father." + +"It is very simple. Your rupture with us would then have two motives. +First, we are in danger, and you think it prudent to leave us--" + +"Father!" + +"Allow me to finish, my dear son, and come to the second motive. If I am +deceived, you can tell me so. These are the facts. Formerly, on the +hypothesis that your family, of which you knew nothing, might one day +leave you some property, you made, in return for the care bestowed on you +by the Company, a free gift of all you might hereafter possess, not to +us--but to the poor, of whom we are the born shepherds." + +"Well, father?" asked Gabriel, not seeing to what this preamble tended. + +"Well, my dear son--now that you are sure of enjoying a competence, you +wish, no doubt, by separating from us, to annul this donation made under +other circumstances." + +"To speak plainly, you violate your oath, because we are persecuted, and +because you wish to take back your gifts," added Rodin, in a sharp voice, +as if to describe in the clearest and plainest manner the situation of +Gabriel with regard to the Society. + +At this infamous accusation, Gabriel could only raise his hands and eyes +to heaven, and exclaim, with an expression of despair, "Oh, heaven!" + +Once more exchanging a look of intelligence with Rodin, Father d'Aigrigny +said to him, in a severe tone, as if reproaching him for his too savage +frankness: "I think you go too far. Our dear son could only have acted +in the base and cowardly manner you suggest, had he known his position as +an heir; but, since he affirms the contrary, we are bound to believe him- +-in spite of appearances." + +"Father," said Gabriel, pale, agitated trembling, and with half- +suppressed grief and indignation, "I thank you, at least, for having +suspended your judgment. No, I am not a coward; for heaven is my +witness, that I knew of no danger to which the Society was exposed. Nor +am I base and avaricious; for heaven is also my witness, that only at +this moment I learn from you, father, that I may be destined to inherit +property, and--" + +"One word, my dear son. It is quite lately that I became informed of +this circumstance, by the greatest chance in the world," said Father +d'Aigrigny, interrupting Gabriel; "and that was thanks to some family +papers which your adopted mother had given to her confessor, and which +were entrusted to us when you entered our college. A little before your +return from America, in arranging the archives of the Company, your file +of papers fell into the hands of our father-attorney. It was examined, +and we thus learned that one of your paternal ancestors, to whom the +house in which we now are belonged, left a will which is to be opened to- +day at noon. Yesterday, we believed you one of us; our statutes command +that we should possess nothing of our own; you had corroborated those +statutes, by a donation in favor of the patrimony of the poor--which we +administer. It was no longer you, therefore, but the Company, which, in +my person, presented itself as the inheritor in your place, furnished +with your titles, which I have here ready in order. But now, my clear +son, that you separate from us, you must present yourself in your own +name. We came here as the representatives of the poor, to whom in former +days you piously abandoned whatever goods might fall to your share. Now, +on the contrary, the hope of a fortune changes your sentiments. You are +free to resume your gifts." + +Gabriel had listened to Father d'Aigrigny with painful impatience. At +length he exclaimed. "Do you mean to say, father, that you think me +capable of canceling a donation freely made, in favor of the Company, to +which I am indebted for my education? You believe me infamous enough to +break my word, in the hope of possessing a modest patrimony?" + +"This patrimony, my dear, son, may be small; but it may also be +considerable." + +"Well, father! if it were a king's fortune," cried Gabriel, with proud +and noble indifference, "I should not speak otherwise--and I have, I +think, the right to be believed listen to my fixed resolution. The +Company to which I belong runs, you say, great dangers. I will inquire +into these dangers. Should they prove threatening--strong in the +determination which morally separates me from you--I will not leave you +till I see the end of your perils. As for the inheritance, of which you +believe me so desirous, I resign it to you formally, father, as I once +freely promised. My only wish is, that this property may be employed for +the relief of the poor. I do not know what may be the amount of this +fortune, but large or small, it belongs to the Company, because I have +thereto pledged my word. I have told you, father, that my chief desire +is to obtain a humble curacy in some poor village--poor, above all-- +because there my services will be most useful. Thus, father, when a man, +who never spoke falsehood in his life, affirms to you, that he only sighs +for so humble an existence, you ought, I think, to believe him incapable +of snatching back, from motives of avarice, gifts already made." + +Father d'Aigrigny had now as much trouble to restrain his joy, as he +before had to conceal his terror. He appeared, however, tolerably calm, +and said to Gabriel: "I did not expect less from you, my dear son." + +Then he made a sign to Rodin, to invite him to interpose. The latter +perfectly understood his superior. He left the chimney, drew near to +Gabriel, and leaned against the table, upon which stood paper and +inkstand. Then, beginning mechanically to beat the tattoo with the tips +of his coarse fingers, in all their array of flat and dirty nails, he +said to Father d'Aigrigny: "All this is very fine! but your dear son +gives you no security for the fulfilment of his promise except an oath-- +and that, we know, is of little value." + +"Sir!" cried Gabriel + +"Allow me," said Rodin, coldly. "The law does not acknowledge our +existence and therefore can take no cognizance of donations made in favor +of the Company. You might resume to-morrow what you are pleased to give +us to-day." + +"But my oath, sir!" cried Gabriel. + +Rodin looked at him fixedly, as he answered: "Your oath? Did you not +swear eternal obedience to the Company, and never to separate from us?-- +and of what weight now are these oaths?" + +For a moment Gabriel was embarrassed; but, feeling how false was this +logic, he rose, calm and dignified, went to seat himself at the desk, +took up a pen, and wrote as follows: + +"Before God, who sees and hears me, and in the presence of you, Father +d'Aigrigny and M. Rodin, I renew and confirm, freely and voluntarily, the +absolute donation made by me to the Society of Jesus, in the person of +the said Father d'Aigrigny, of all the property which may hereafter +belong to me, whatever may be its value. I swear, on pain of infamy, to +perform tis irrevocable promise, whose accomplishment I regard, in my +soul and conscience, as the discharge of a debt, and the fulfilment of a +pious duty. + +"This donation having for its object the acknowledgment of past services, +and the relief of the poor, no future occurrences can at all modify it. +For the very reason that I know I could one day legally cancel the +present free and deliberate act, I declare, that if ever I were to +attempt such a thing, under any possible circumstances, I should deserve +the contempt and horror of all honest people. + +"In witness whereof I have written this paper, on the 13th of February, +1832, in Paris, immediately before the opening of the testament of one of +my paternal ancestors. + +"GABRIEL DE RENNEPONT." + + +As he rose, the young priest delivered this document to Rodin, without +uttering a word. The socius read it attentively, and, still impassible, +answered, as he looked at Gabriel: "Well, it is a written oath--that is +all." + +Gabriel dwelt stupefied at the audacity of Rodin, who ventured to tell +him, that this document, in which he renewed his donation in so noble, +generous, and spontaneous a manner, was not all sufficient. The socius +was the first again to break the silence, and he said to Father +d'Aigrigny, with his usual cool impudence. "One of two things must be. +Either your dear son means to render his donation absolutely valuable +and irrevocable,--or--" + +"Sir," exclaimed Gabriel, interrupting him, and hardly able to restrain +himself, "spare yourself and me such a shameful supposition." + +"Well, then," resumed Rodin, impassible as ever, "as you are perfectly +decided to make this donation a serious reality, what objection can you +have to secure it legally?" + +"None, sir," said Gabriel, bitterly, "since my written and sworn promise +will not suffice you." + +"My dear son," said Father d'Aigrigny, affectionately, "if this were a +donation for my own advantage, believe me I should require no better +security than your word. But here I am, as it were, the agent of the +Society, or rather the trustee of the poor, who will profit by your +generosity. For the sake of humanity, therefore, we cannot secure this +gift by too many legal precautions, so that the unfortunate objects of +our care may have certainty instead of vague hopes to depend upon. God +may call you to him at any moment, and who shall say that your heirs will +be so ready to keep the oath you have taken?" + +"You are right, father," said Gabriel, sadly; "I had not thought of the +case of death, which is yet so probable." + +Hereupon, Samuel opened the door of the room, and said: "Gentlemen, the +notary has just arrived. Shall I show him in? At ten o'clock precisely, +the door of the house will be opened." + +"We are the more glad to see the notary," said Rodin, "as we just happen +to have some business with him. Pray ask him to walk in." + +"I will bring him to you instantly," replied Samuel, as he went out." + +"Here is a notary," said Rodin to Gabriel. "If you have still the same +intentions, you can legalize your donation in presence of this public +officer, and thus save yourself from a great burden for the future." + +"Sir," said Gabriel, "happen what may, I am as irrevocably engaged by +this written promise, which I beg you to keep, father"--and he handed the +paper to Father d'Aigrigny "as by the legal document, which I am about to +sign," he added, turning to Rodin. + +"Silence, my dear son," said Father d'Aigrigny; "here is the notary," +just as the latter entered the room. + +During the interview of the administrative officer with Rodin, Gabriel, +and Father d'Aigrigny, we shall conduct the reader to the interior of the +walled-up house. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + +THE RED ROOM. + +As Samuel had said, the door of the walled-up house had just been +disencumbered of the bricks, lead, and iron, which had kept it from view, +and its panels of carved oak appeared as fresh and sound, as on the day +when they had first been withdrawn from the influence of the air and +time. The laborers, having completed their work, stood waiting upon the +steps, as impatient and curious as the notary's clerk, who had +superintended the operation, when they saw Samuel slowly advancing across +the garden, with a great bunch of keys in his hand. + +"Now, my friends," said the old man, when he had reached the steps, "your +work is finished. The master of this gentleman will pay you, and I have +only to show you out by the street door." + +"Come, come, my good fellow," cried the clerk, "you don't think. We are +just at the most interesting and curious moment; I and these honest +masons are burning to see the interior of this mysterious house, and you +would be cruel enough to send us away? Impossible!" + +"I regret the necessity, sir, but so it must he. I must be the first to +enter this dwelling, absolutely alone, before introducing the heirs, in +order to read the testament." + +"And who gave you such ridiculous and barbarous orders?" cried the clerk, +singularly disappointed. + +"My father, sir." + +"A most respectable authority, no doubt; but come, my worthy guardian, my +excellent guardian," resumed the clerk, "be a good fellow, and let us +just take a peep in at the door." + +"Yes, yes, sir, only a peep!" cried the heroes of the trowel, with a +supplicating air. + +"It is disagreeable to have to refuse you, gentlemen," answered Samuel; +"but I cannot open this door, until I am alone." + +The masons, seeing the inflexibility of the old man, unwillingly +descended the steps; but the clerk had resolved to dispute the ground +inch by inch, and exclaimed: "I shall wait for my master. I do not leave +the house without him. He may want me--and whether I remain on these +steps or elsewhere, can be of little consequence to you my worthy +keeper." + +The clerk was interrupted in his appeal by his master himself, who called +out from the further side of the courtyard, with an air of business: "M. +Piston! quick, M. Piston--come directly!" + +"What the devil does he want with me?" cried the clerk, in a passion. +"He calls me just at the moment when I might have seen something." + +"M. Piston," resumed the voice, approaching, "do you not hear?" + +While Samuel let out the masons, the clerk saw, through a clump of trees, +his master running towards him bareheaded, and with an air of singular +haste and importance. The clerk was therefore obliged to leave the +steps, to answer the notary's summons, towards whom he went with a very +bad grace. + +"Sir, sir," said M. Dumesnil, "I have been calling you this hour with all +my might." + +"I did not hear you sir," said M. Piston. + +"You must be deaf, then. Have you any change about you?" + +"Yes sir," answered the clerk, with some surprise. + +"Well, then, you must go instantly to the nearest stamp-office, and fetch +me three or four large sheets of stamped paper, to draw up a deed. Run! +it is wanted directly." + +"Yes, sir," said the clerk, casting a rueful and regretful glance at the +door of the walled-up house. + +"But make haste, will you, M. Piston," said the notary. + +"I do not know, sir, where to get any stamped paper." + +"Here is the guardian," replied M. Dumesnil. "He will no doubt be able +to tell you." + +At this instant, Samuel was returning, after showing the masons out by +the street-door. + +"Sir," said the notary to him, "will you please to tell me where we can +get stamped paper?" + +"Close by, sir," answered Samuel; "in the tobacconist's, No. 17, Rue +Vieille-du-Temple." + +"You hear, M. Piston?" said the notary to his clerk. "You can get the +stamps at the tobacconist's, No. 17, Rue Vieille-du-Temple. Be quick! +for this deed must be executed immediately before the opening of the +will. Time presses." + +"Very well, sir; I will make haste," answered the clerk, discontentedly, +as he followed his master, who hurried back into the room where he had +left Rodin, Gabriel, and Father d'Aigrigny. + +During this time, Samuel, ascending the steps, had reached the door, now +disencumbered of the stone, iron, and lead with which it had been blocked +up. It was with deep emotion that the old man having selected from his +bunch of keys the one he wanted, inserted it in the keyhole, and made the +door turn upon its hinges. Immediately he felt on his face a current of +damp, cold air, like that which exhales from a cellar suddenly opened. +Having carefully re-closed and double-locked the door, the Jew advanced +along the hall, lighted by a glass trefoil over the arch of the door. +The panes had lost their transparency by the effect of time, and now had +the appearance of ground-glass. This hall, paved with alternate squares +of black and white marble, was vast, sonorous, and contained a broad +staircase leading to the first story. The walls of smooth stone offered +not the least appearance of decay or dampness; the stair-rail of wrought +iron presented no traces of rust; it was inserted, just above the bottom +step, into a column of gray granite, which sustained a statue of black +marble, representing a negro bearing a flambeau. This statue had a +strange countenance, the pupils of the eyes being made of white marble. + +The Jew's heavy tread echoed beneath the lofty dome of the hall. The +grandson of Isaac Samuel experienced a melancholy feeling, as he +reflected that the footsteps of his ancestor had probably been the last +which had resounded through this dwelling, of which he had closed the +doors a hundred and fifty years before; for the faithful friend, in favor +of whom M. de Rennepont had made a feigned transfer of the property, had +afterwards parted with the same, to place it in the name of Samuel's +grandfather, who had transmitted it to his descendants, as if it had been +his own inheritance. + +To these thoughts, in which Samuel was wholly absorbed, was joined the +remembrance of the light seen that morning through the seven openings in +the leaden cover of the belvedere; and, in spite of the firmness of his +character, the old man could not repress a shudder, as, taking a second +key from his bunch, and reading upon the label, The Key of the Red Room, +he opened a pair of large folding doors, leading to the inner apartments. +The window which, of all those in the house, had alone been opened, +lighted this large room, hung with damask, the deep purple of which had +undergone no alteration. A thick Turkey carpet covered the floor, and +large arm-chairs of gilded wood, in the severe Louis XIV. style, were +symmetrically arranged along the wall. A second door, leading to the +next room, was just opposite the entrance. The wainscoting and the +cornice were white, relieved with fillets and mouldings of burnished +gold. On each side of this door was a large piece of buhl-furniture, +inlaid with brass and porcelain, supporting ornamental sets of sea- +crackle vases. The window vas hung with heavy deep-fringed damask +curtains, surmounted by scalloped drapery, with silk tassels, directly +opposite the chimney-piece of dark-gray marble, adorned with carved +brass-work. Rich chandeliers, and a clock in the same style as the +furniture, were reflected in a large Venice glass, with basiled edges. +A round table, covered with a cloth of crimson velvet, was placed in the +centre of this saloon. + +As he approached this table, Samuel perceived a piece of white vellum, on +which were inscribed these words: "My testament is to be opened in this +saloon. The other apartments are to remain closed, until after the +reading of my last will--M. De R." + +"Yes," said the Jew, as he perused with emotion these lines traced so +long ago; "this is the same recommendation as that which I received from +my father; for it would seem that the other apartments of this house are +filled with objects, on which M. de Rennepont set a high value, not for +their intrinsic worth, but because of their origin. The Hall of Mourning +must be a strange and mysterious chamber. Well," added Samuel, as he +drew from his pocket a register bound in black shagreen, with a brass +lock, from which he drew the key, after placing it upon the table, "here +is the statement of the property in hand, which I have been ordered to +bring hither, before the arrival of the heirs." + +The deepest silence reigned in the room, at the moment when Samuel placed +the register on the table. Suddenly a simple and yet most startling +occurrence roused him from his reverie. In the next apartment was heard +the clear, silvery tone of a clock, striking slowly ten. And the hour +was ten! Samuel had too much sense to believe in perpetual motion, or in +the possibility of constructing a clock to go far one hundred and fifty +years. He asked himself, therefore, with surprise and alarm, how this +clock could still be going, and how it could mark so exactly the hour of +the day. Urged with restless curiosity, the old man was about to enter +the room; but recollecting the recommendation of his father, which had +now been confirmed by the few lines he had just read from De Rennepont's +pen, he stopped at the door, and listened with extreme attention. + +He heard nothing--absolutely nothing, but the last dying vibration of the +clock. After having long reflected upon this strange fact, Samuel, +comparing it with the no less extraordinary circumstance of the light +perceived that morning through the apertures in the belvedere, concluded +that there must be some connection between these two incidents. If the +old man could not penetrate the true cause of these extraordinary +appearances, he at least explained them to himself, by remembering the +subterraneous communications, which, according to tradition, were said to +exist between the cellars of this house and distant places; and he +conjectured that unknown and mysterious personages thus gained access to +it two or three times in a century. Absorbed in these thoughts Samuel +approached the fireplace, which, as we have said, was directly opposite +the window. Just then, a bright ray of sunlight, piercing the clouds, +shone full upon two large portraits, hung upon either side of the +fireplace, and not before remarked by the Jew. They were painted life- +size, and represented one a woman, the other a man. By the sober yet +powerful coloring of these paintings, by the large and vigorous style, it +was easy to recognize a master's hand. It would have been difficult to +find models more fitted to inspire a great painter. The woman appeared +to be from five-and-twenty to thirty years of age. Magnificent brown +hair, with golden tints, crooned a forehead, white, noble, and lofty. +Her head-dress, far from recalling the fashion, which Madame de Sevigne +brought in during the age of Louis XIV., reminded one rather of some of +the portraits of Paul Veronese, in which the hair encircles the face in +broad, undulating bands, surmounted by a thick plait, like a crown, at +the back of the head. The eyebrows, finely pencilled, were arched over +large eyes of bright, sapphire blue. Their gaze at once proud and +mournful, had something fatal about it. The nose, finely formed, +terminated in slight dilated nostrils: a half smile, almost of pain, +contracted the mouth; the face was a long oval, and the complexion, +extremely pale, was hardly shaded on the cheek by a light rose-color. +The position of the head and neck announced a rare mixture of grace and +dignity. A sort of tunic or robe, of glossy black material, came as high +as the commencement of her shoulders, and just marking her lithe and tall +figure, reached down to her feet, which were almost entirely concealed by +the folds of this garment. + +The attitude was full of nobleness and simplicity. The head looked white +and luminous, standing out from a dark gray sky, marbled at the horizon +by purple clouds, upon which were visible the bluish summits of distant +hills, in deep shadow. The arrangement of the picture, as well as the +warm tints of the foreground, contrasting strongly with these distant +objects, showed that the woman was placed upon an eminence, from which +she could view the whole horizon. The countenance was deeply pensive and +desponding. There was an expression of supplicating and resigned grief, +particularly in her look, half raised to heaven, which one would have +thought impossible to picture. On the left side of the fireplace was the +other portrait, painted with like vigor. It represented a man, between +thirty and thirty-five years of age, of tall stature. A large brown +cloak, which hung round him in graceful folds, did not quite conceal a +black doublet, buttoned up to the neck, over which fell a square white +collar. The handsome and expressive head was marked with stern powerful +lines, which did not exclude an admirable air of suffering, resignation, +and ineffable goodness. The hair, as well as the beard and eyebrows, was +black; and the latter, by some singular caprice of nature, instead of +being separated and forming two distinct arches, extended from one temple +to the other, in a single bow, and seemed to mark the forehead of this +man with a black line. + +The background of this picture also represented a stormy sky; but, beyond +some rocks in the distance, the sea was visible, and appeared to mingle +with the dark clouds. The sun, just now shining upon these two +remarkable figures (which it appeared impossible to forget, after once +seeing them), augmented their brilliancy. + +Starting from his reverie, and casting his eyes by chance upon these +portraits, Samuel was greatly struck with them. They appeared almost +alive. "What noble and handsome faces!" he exclaimed, as he approached +to examine them more closely. "Whose are these portraits? They are not +those of any of the Rennepont family, for my father told me that they are +all in the Hall of Mourning. Alas!" added the old man, "one might think, +from the great sorrow expressed in their countenances, that they ought to +have a place in that mourning-chamber." + +After a moment's silence, Samuel resumed: "Let me prepare everything for +this solemn assembly, for it has struck ten." So saying, he placed the +gilded arm-chairs round the table, and then continued, with a pensive +air: "The hour approaches, and of the descendants of my grandfather's +benefactor, we have seen only this young priest, with the angelic +countenance. Can he be the sole representative of the Rennepont family? +He is a priest, and this family will finish with him! Well! the moment +is come when I must open this door, that the will may be read. Bathsheba +is bringing hither the notary. They knock at the door; it is time!" And +Samuel, after casting a last glance towards the place where the clock had +struck ten, hastened to the outer door, behind which voices were now +audible. + +He turned the key twice in the lock, and threw the portals open. To his +great regret, he saw only Gabriel on the steps, between Rodin and Father +d'Aigrigny. The notary, and Bathsheba, who had served them as a guide, +waited a little behind the principal group. + +Samuel could not repress a sigh, as he stood bowing on the threshold, and +said to them: "All is ready, gentlemen. You may walk in." + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + +THE TESTAMENT. + +When Gabriel, Rodin, and Father d'Aigrigny entered the Red Room, they +were differently affected. Gabriel, pale and sad, felt a kind of painful +impatience. He was anxious to quit this house, though he had already +relieved himself of a great weight, by executing before the notary, +secured by every legal formality, a deed making over all his rights of +inheritance to Father d'Aigrigny. Until now it had not occurred to the +young priest, that in bestowing the care upon him, which he was about to +reward so generously, and in forcing his vocation by a sacrilegious +falsehood, the only object of Father d'Aigrigny might have been to secure +the success of a dark intrigue. In acting as he did, Gabriel was not +yielding, in his view of the question, to a sentiment of exaggerated +delicacy. He had made this donation freely, many years before. He would +have looked upon it as infamy now to withdraw it. It was hard enough to +be suspected of cowardice: for nothing in the world would he have +incurred the least reproach of cupidity. + +The missionary must have been endowed with a very rare and excellent +nature, or this flower of scrupulous probity would have withered beneath +the deleterious and demoralizing influence of his education; but happily, +as cold sometimes preserves from corruption, the icy atmosphere in which +he had passed a portion of his childhood and youth had benumbed, but not +vitiated, his generous qualities, which had indeed soon revived in the +warm air of liberty. Father d'Aigrigny, much paler and more agitated +than Gabriel, strove to excuse and explain his anxiety by attributing it +to the sorrow he experienced at the rupture of his dear son with the +Order. Rodin, calm, and perfectly master of himself, saw with secret +rage the strong emotion of Father d'Aigrigny, which might have inspired a +man less confiding than Gabriel with strange suspicions. Yet, +notwithstanding his apparent indifference, the socius was perhaps still +more ardently impatient than his superior for the success of this +important affair. Samuel appeared quite desponding, no other heir but +Gabriel having presented himself. No doubt the old man felt a lively +sympathy for the young priest; but then he was a priest, and with him +would finish the line of Rennepont; and this immense fortune, accumulated +with so much labor, would either be again distributed, or employed +otherwise than the testator had desired. The different actors in this +scene were standing around the table. As they were about to seat +themselves, at the invitation of the notary, Samuel pointed to the +register bound in black shagreen, and said: "I was ordered, sir, to +deposit here this register. It is locked. I will deliver up the key, +immediately after the reading of the will." + +"This course is, in fact, directed by the note which accompanies the +will," said M. Dumesnil, "as it was deposited, in the year 1682, in the +hands of Master Thomas Le Semelier, king's counsel, and notary of the +Chatelet of Paris, then living at No. 13, Place Royale." + +So saying, M. Dumesnil drew from a portfolio of red morocco a large +parchment envelope, grown yellow with time; to this envelope was annexed, +by a silken thread, a note also upon vellum. + +"Gentlemen," said the notary, "if you please to sit down, I will read the +subjoined note, to regulate the formalities at the opening of the will." + +The notary, Rodin, Father d'Aigrigny, and Gabriel, took seats. The young +priest, having his back turned to the fireplace, could not see the two +portraits. In spite of the notary's invitation, Samuel remained standing +behind the chair of that functionary, who read as follows: + +"'On the 13th February, 1832, my will shall be carried to No. 3, in the +Rue Saint-Francois. + +"'At ten o'clock precisely, the door of the Red Room shall be opened to +my heirs, who will no doubt have arrived long before at Paris, in +anticipation of this day, and will have had time to establish their line +of descent. + +"'As soon as they are assembled, the will shall be read, and, at the last +stroke of noon, the inheritance shall be finally settled in favor of +those of my kindred, who according to my recommendation (preserved, I +hope, by tradition in my family, during a century and a half); shall +present themselves in person, and not by agents, before twelve o'clock, +on the 13th of February, in the Rue Saint-Francois.'" + +Having read these words in a sonorous voice, the notary stopped an +instant, and resumed, in a solemn tone: "M. Gabriel Francois Marie de +Rennepont, priest, having established, by legal documents, his descent on +the father's side, and his relationship to the testator, and being at +this hour the only one of the descendants of the Rennepont family here +present, I open the testament in his presence, as it has been ordered." + +So saying, the notary drew from its envelope the will, which had been +previously opened by the President of the Tribunal, with the formalities +required by law. Father d'Aigrigny leaned forward, and resting his elbow +on the table, seemed to pant for breath. Gabriel prepared himself to +listen with more curiosity than interest. Rodin was seated at some +distance from the table, with his old hat between his knees, in the +bottom of which, half hidden by the folds of a shabby blue cotton +handkerchief, he had placed his watch. The attention of the socius was +divided between the least noise from without, and the slow evolution of +the hands of the watch, which he followed with his little, wrathful eye, +as if hastening their progress, so great was his impatience for the hour +of noon. + +The notary, unfolding the sheet of parchment, read what follows, in the +midst of profound attention: + +Hameau de Villetaneuse, + +"'February 13th, 1682. + +"'I am about to escape, by death, from the disgrace of the galleys, to +which the implacable enemies of my family have caused me to be condemned +as a relapsed heretic. + +"'Moreover, life is too bitter for me since the death of my son, the +victim of a mysterious crime. + +"'At nineteen years of age--poor henry!--and his murderers unknown--no, +not unknown--if I may trust my presentiments. + +"'To preserve my fortune for my son, I had feigned to abjure the +Protestant faith. As long as that beloved boy lived, I scrupulously kept +up Catholic appearances. The imposture revolted me, but the interest of +my son was concerned. + +"'When they killed him, this deceit became insupportable to me. I was +watched, accused, and condemned as relapsed. My property has been +confiscated, and I am sentenced to the galleys. + +"'Tis a terrible time we live in! Misery and servitude! sanguinary +despotism and religious intolerance! Oh, it is sweet to abandon life! +sweet to rest and see no more such evils and such sorrows! + +"'In a few hours, I shall enjoy that rest. I shall die. Let me think of +those who will survive--or rather, of those who will live perhaps in +better times. + +"'Out of all my fortune, there remains to me a sum of fifty thousand +crowns, deposited in a friend's hands. + +"'I have no longer a son; but I have numerous relations, exiled in +various parts of Europe. This sum of fifty thousand crowns, divided +between them, would profit each of them very little. I have disposed of +it differently. + +"'In this I have followed the wise counsels of a man, whom I venerate as +the image of God on earth, for his intelligence, wisdom, and goodness are +almost divine. + +"'Twice in the course of my life have I seen this man, under very fatal +circumstances--twice have I owed him safety, once of the soul, once of +the body. + +"'Alas! he might perhaps have saved my poor child, but he came too late-- +too late. + +"'Before he left me, he wished to divert me from the intention of dying-- +for he knew all. But his voice was powerless. My grief, my regret, my +discouragement, were too much for him. + +"'It is strange! when he was convinced of my resolution to finish my days +by violence, some words of terrible bitterness escaped him, making me +believe that he envied me--my fate--my death! + +"'Is he perhaps condemned to live? + +"'Yes; he has, no doubt, condemned himself to be useful to humanity, and +yet life is heavy on him, for I heard him repeat one day, with an +expression of despair and weariness that I have never forgotten: "Life! +life! who will deliver me from it?" + +"'Is life then so very burdensome to him? + +"'He is gone. His last words have made me look for my departure with +serenity. Thanks to him, my death shall not be without fruit. + +"'Thanks to him, these lines, written at this moment by a man who, in a +few hours, will have ceased to live, may perhaps be the parents of great +things a century and a half hence--yes! great and noble things, if my +last will is piously followed by my descendants, for it is to them that I +here address myself. + +"'That they may understand and appreciate this last will--which I commend +to the care of the unborn, who dwell in the future whither I am +hastening--they must know the persecutors of my family and avenge their +ancestor, but by a noble vengeance. + +"'My grandfather was a Catholic. Induced by perfidious counsels rather +than religious zeal, he attached himself, though a layman, to a Society +whose power has always been terrible and mysterious--the Society of +Jesus--'" + +At these words of the testament, Father d'Aigrigny, Rodin, and Gabriel +looked involuntarily at each other: The notary, who had not perceived +this action, continued to read: + +"'After some years, during which he had never ceased to profess the most +absolute devotion to this Society, he was suddenly enlightened by fearful +revelations as to the secret ends it pursued, and the means it employed. + +"'This was in 1510, a month before the assassination of Henry IV. + +"'My grandfather, terrified at the secret of which he had become the +unwilling depositary, and which was to be fully explained by the death of +the best of kings, not only broke with the Society, but, as if +Catholicism itself had been answerable for the crimes of its members, he +abandoned the Romish religion, in which he had hitherto lived, and became +a Protestant. + +"'Undeniable proofs, attesting the connivance of two members of the +Company with Ravaillac, a connivance also proved in the case of Jean +Chatel, the regicide, were in my grandfather's possession. + +"'This was the first cause of the violent hatred of the Society for our +family. Thank Heaven, these papers have been placed in safety, and if my +last will is executed, will be found marked A. M.C. D. G., in the ebony +casket in the Hall of Mourning, in the house in the Rue Saint-Francois. + +"'My father was also exposed to these secret persecutions. His ruin, and +perhaps his death, would have been the consequence, had it not been for +the intervention of an angelic woman, towards whom he felt an almost +religious veneration. + +"'The portrait of this woman, whom I saw a few years ago, as well as that +of the man whom I hold in the greatest reverence, were painted by me from +memory, and have been placed in the Red Room in the Rue Saint-Francois-- +to be gratefully valued, I hope, by the descendants of my family.'" + +For some moments Gabriel had become more and more attentive to the +reading of this testament. He thought within himself by how strange a +coincidence one of his ancestors had, two centuries before, broken with +the Society of Jesus, as he himself had just done; and that from this +rupture, two centuries old, dated also that species of hatred with which +the Society of Jesus had always pursued his family. Nor did the young +priest find it less strange that this inheritance, transmitted to him +after a lapse of a hundred and fifty years, from one of his kindred (the +victim of the Society of Jesus), should return by a voluntary act to the +coffers of this same society. When the notary read the passage relative +to the two portraits, Gabriel, who, like Father d'Aigrigny, sat with his +back towards the pictures, turned round to look at them. Hardly had the +missionary cast his eyes on the portrait of the woman, than he uttered a +loud cry of surprise, and almost terror. The notary paused in his +reading, and looked uneasily at the young priest. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + +THE LAST STROKE OF NOON. + +At the cry uttered by Gabriel, the notary had stopped reading the +testament, and Father d'Aigrigny hastily drew near the young priest. The +latter rose trembling from his seat and gazed with increasing stupor at +the female portrait. + +Then he said in a low voice, as if speaking to himself. "Good Heaven! +is it possible that nature can produce such resemblances? Those eyes--so +proud and yet so sad--that forehead--that pale complexion--yes, all her +features, are the same--all of them!" + +"My dear son, what is the matter?" said Father d'Aigrigny, as astonished +as Samuel and the notary. + +"Eight months ago," replied the missionary, in a voice of deep emotion, +without once taking his eyes from the picture, "I was in the power of the +Indians, in the heart of the Rocky Mountains. They had crucified, and +were beginning to scalp me; I was on the point of death, when Divine +Providence sent me unexpected aid--sent me this woman for a deliverer." + +"That woman!" cried Samuel, Father d'Aigrigny, and the notary, all +together. + +Rodin alone appeared completely indifferent to this episode of the +picture. His face contracted with angry impatience, he bit his nails to +the quick, as he contemplated with agony the slow progress of the hands +of his watch. + +"What! that woman saved your life?" resumed Father d'Aigrigny. + +"Yes, this woman," replied Gabriel, in a still lower and more trembling +voice; "this woman--or rather a woman so much resembling her, that if +this picture had not been here for a century and a half, I should have +felt sure it was the same--nor can I explain to myself that so striking a +resemblance could be the effect of chance. Well," added he, after a +moment's silence, as he heaved a profound sigh, "the mysteries of Nature, +and the will of God, are impenetrable." + +Gabriel fell back into his chair, in the midst of a general silence, +which was broken by Father d'Aigrigny saying, "It is a case of +extraordinary resemblance; that is all, my dear son. Only, the natural +gratitude which you feel towards your benefactress, makes you take a deep +interest in this singular coincidence." + +Rodin, bursting with impatience, here said to the notary, by whose side +he stood, "It seems to me, sir, that all this little romance has nothing +to do with the testament." + +"You are right," answered the notary, resuming his seat; "but the fact is +so extraordinary, and as you say, romantic, that one cannot help sharing +in this gentleman's astonishment." + +He pointed to Gabriel, who, with his elbow resting on the arms of the +chair, leaned his forehead upon his hand, apparently quite absorbed in +thought. The notary continued the reading of the will, as follows: + +"'Such are the persecutions to which my family has been exposed on the +part of the Society of Jesus. + +"'The Society possesses at this hour the whole of my confiscated +property. I am about to die. May its hatred perish with me, and spare +my kindred, whose fate at this solemn moment is my last and only thought. + +"'This morning I sent for a man of long tried probity Isaac Samuel. He +owes his life to me, and every day I congratulate myself on having been +able to preserve to the world so honest and excellent a creature. + +"'Before the confiscation of my property, Isaac Samuel had long managed +it with as much intelligence as uprightness. I have entrusted him with +the fifty thousand crowns, returned to me by a faithful friend. Isaac +Samuel, and his descendants after him, to whom he will leave this debt of +gratitude, will invest the above sum, and allow it to accumulate, until +the expiration of the hundred and fiftieth year from this time. + +"'The amount thus accumulated may become enormous, and constitute a royal +fortune, if no unfavorable event should occur. May my descendants attend +to my wishes, as to the division and employment of this immense sum! + +"'In a century and a half, there happen so many changes, so many +varieties of fortunes, such a rise and fall in the condition of the +successive generations of a family, that probably, a hundred and fifty +years hence, my descendants will belong to various classes of society, +and thus represent the divers social elements of their time. + +"'There may, perhaps, be among them men of great intelligence great +courage, or great virtue--learned men, or names illustrious in arts and +arms. There may, perhaps, also be obscure workmen, or humble citizens-- +perhaps, also, alas! great criminals. + +"'However, this may be, my most earnest desire is that my descendants +should combine together, and, reconstituting one family, by a close and +sincere union, put into practice the divine words of Christ, "Love ye one +another." + +"'This union would have a salutary tendency; for it seems to me that upon +union, upon the association of men together, must depend the future +happiness of mankind. + +"'The Company, which so long persecuted my family, is one of the most +striking examples of the power of association, even when applied to evil. + +"'There is something so fruitful and divine in this principle, that it +sometimes forces to good the worst and most dangerous combinations. + +"'Thus, the missions have thrown a scanty but pure and generous light on +the darkness of this Company of Jesus--founded with the detestable and +impious aim of destroying, by a homicidal education, all will, thought, +liberty, and intelligence, in the people, so as to deliver them, +trembling, superstitious, brutal, and helpless, to the despotism of +kings, governed in their turn by confessors belonging to the Society.'" + +At this passage of the will, there was another strange look exchanged +between Gabriel and Father d'Aigrigny. The notary continued: + +"'If a perverse association, based upon the degradation of humanity, upon +fear and despotism, and followed by the maledictions of the people, has +survived for centuries, and often governed the world by craft and terror- +-how would it be with an association, which, taking fraternity and +evangelic love for its means, had for its end to deliver man and woman +from all degrading slavery, to invite to the enjoyment of terrestrial +happiness those who have hitherto known nothing of life but its sorrows +and miseries, and to glorify and enrich the labor that feeds the state?-- +to enlighten those whom ignorance has depraved?--to favor the free +expansion of all the passions, which God, in His infinite wisdom, and +inexhaustible goodness, gave to man as so many powerful levers?--to +sanctify all the gifts of Heaven: love, maternity, strength, +intelligence, beauty, genius?--to make men truly religious, and deeply +grateful to their Creator, by making them understand the splendors of +Nature, and bestowing on them their rightful share in the treasures which +have been poured upon us? + +"'Oh! if it be Heaven's will that, in a century and a half, the +descendants of my family, faithful to the last wishes of a heart that +loved humanity, meet in this sacred union!--if it be Heaven's will that +amongst them be found charitable and passionate souls, full of +commiseration for those who suffer, and lofty minds, ardent for liberty! +warm and eloquent natures! resolute characters! women, who unite beauty +and wit with goodness--oh! then, how fruitful, how powerful will be the +harmonious union of all these ideas, and influences, and forces--of all +these attractions grouped round that princely fortune, which, +concentrated by association, and wisely managed, would render practicable +the most admirable Utopias! + +"'What a wondrous centre of fertile and generous thoughts! What precious +and life-giving rays would stream incessantly from this focus of charity, +emancipation, and love! What great things might be attempted what +magnificent examples given to the world! What a divine mission! What an +irresistible tendency towards good might be impressed on the whole human +race by a family thus situated, and in possession of such means! + +"'And, then, such a beneficent association would be able to combat the +fatal conspiracy of which I am the victim, and which, in a century and a +half, may have lost none of its formidable power. + +"'So, to this work of darkness, restraint, and despotism, which weighs +heavily on the Christian world, my family would oppose their work of +light, expansion, and liberty! + +"'The genii of good and evil would stand face to face. The struggle +would commence, and God would protect the right. + +"'And that these immense pecuniary resources, which will give so much +power to my family, may not be exhausted by the course of years, my +heirs, following my last will, are to place out, upon the same +conditions, double the sum that I have invested--so that, a century and a +half later, a new source of power and action will be at the disposal of +their descendants. What a perpetuity of good! + +"'In the ebony cabinet of the Hall of Mourning will be found some +practical suggestions on the subject of this association. + +"'Such is my last will--or rather, such are my last hopes. + +"'When I require absolutely that the members of my family should appear +in person in the Rue Saint-Francois, on the day of the opening of this +testament, it is so that, united in that solemn moment, they may see and +know each other. My words may then, perhaps, have some effect upon them; +and, instead of living divided, they will combine together. It will be +for their own interest, and my wishes will thus be accomplished. + +"'When I sent, a few days ago, to those of my family whom exile has +dispersed over Europe, a medal on which is engravers the date of the +convocation of my heirs, a century and a half from this time, I was +forced to keep secret my true motive, and only to tell them, that my +descendants would find it greatly to their interest to attend this +meeting. + +"'I have acted thus, because I know the craft and perseverance of the +society of which I have been the victim. If they could guess that my +descendants would hereafter have to divide immense sums between them, my +family would run the risk of much fraud and malice, through the fatal +recommendations handed down from age to age in the Society of Jesus. + +"'May these precautions be successful! May the wish, expressed upon +these medals, be faithfully transmitted from generation to generation! + +"'If I fix a day and hour, in which my inheritance shall irrevocably fall +to those of my descendants who shall appear in the Rue Saint-Francois on +the 13th February, in 1832, it is that all delays must have a term, and +that my heirs will have been sufficiently informed years before of the +great importance of this meeting. + +"'After the reading of my testament, the person who shall then be the +trustee of the accumulated funds, shall make known their amount, so that, +with the last stroke of noon, they may be divided between my heirs then +and there present. + +"'The different apartments of the house shall then be opened to them. +They will see in them divers objects, well worthy of interest, pity, and +respect--particularly in the Hall of Mourning. + +"'My desire is, that the house may not be sold, but that it may remain +furnished as it is, and serve as a place of meeting for my descendants, +if, as I hope, they attend to my last wishes. + +"'If, on the contrary, they are divided amongst themselves--if, instead +of uniting for one of the most generous enterprises that ever signalized +an age, they yield to the influence of selfish passions--if they prefer a +sterile individuality to a fruitful association--if, in this immense +fortune, they see only an opportunity for frivolous dissipation, or +sordid interest--may they be accursed by all those whom they might have +loved, succored, and disfettered!--and then let this house be utterly +demolished and destroyed, and the papers, of which Isaac Samuel possesses +the inventory, as well as the two portraits in the Red Room, be burnt by +the guardian of the property. + +"'I have spoken. My duty is accomplished. In all this, I have followed +the counsels of the man whom I revere and love as the image of God upon +earth. + +"'The faithful friend, who preserved for me the fifty thousand crowns, +the wreck of my fortune, knows the use I mean to make of them. I could +not refuse his friendship this mark of confidence. But I have concealed +from him the name of Isaac Samuel--for to have mentioned it might have +exposed this latter and his descendants to great dangers. + +"'In a short time, this friend, who knows not that my resolution to die +is so near its accomplishment, will come hither with my notary. Into +their hands, after the usual formalities, I shall deliver my sealed +testament. + +"'Such is my last will. I leave its execution to the superintending care +of Providence. God will protect the cause of love, peace, union, and +liberty. + +"'This mystic testament,[20] having been freely made by me, and written +entirely with my own hand, I intend and will its scrupulous execution +both in spirit and the letter. + +"'This 13th day of February, 1682, at one o'clock in the +afternoon. + "'MARIUS DE RENNEPONT.'" + + +As the notary had proceeded with the reading of the testament, Gabriel +was successively agitated by divers painful impressions. At first, as we +have before said, he was struck with the singular fatality which restored +this immense fortune, derived from a victim of the Society of Jesus, to +the hands of that very association, by the renewal of his deed of gift. +Then, as his charitable and lofty soul began fully to comprehend the +admirable tendency of the association so earnestly recommended by Marius +de Rennepont, he reflected with bitter remorse, that, in consequence of +his act of renunciation, and of the absence of any other heir, this great +idea would never be realized, and a fortune, far more considerable than +had even been expected, would fall to the share of an ill-omened society, +in whose hands it would become a terrible means of action. At the same +time, it must be said that the soul of Gabriel was too pure and noble to +feel the slightest personal regret, on hearing the great probable value +of the property he had renounced. He rejoiced rather in withdrawing his +mind, by a touching contrast, from the thought of the wealth he had +abandoned, to the humble parsonage, where he hoped to pass the remainder +of his life, in the practice of most evangelical virtue. + +These ideas passed confusedly through his brain. The sight of that +woman's portrait, the dark revelations contained in the testament, the +grandeur of the views exhibited in this last will of M. de Rennepont, all +these extraordinary incidents had thrown Gabriel into a sort of stupor, +in which he was still plunged, when Samuel offered the key of the +register to the notary, saying: "You will find, sir, in this register, +the exact statement of the sums in my possession, derived from the +investment and accumulation of the one hundred and fifty thousand francs, +entrusted to my grandfather by M. Marius de Rennepont." + +"Your grandfather!" cried Father d'Aigrigny, with the utmost surprise; +"it is then your family that has always had the management of this +property." + +"Yes, sir; and, in a few minutes, my wife will bring hither the casket +which contains the vouchers." + +"And to what sum does this property amount?" asked Rodin, with an air of +the most complete indifference. + +"As M. Notary may convince himself by this statement," replied Samuel, +with perfect frankness, and as if he were only talking of the original +one hundred and fifty thousand francs, "I have in my possession various +current securities to the amount of two hundred and twelve millions, one +hundred and seventy--" + +"You say, sir'" cried Father d'Aigrigny, without giving Samuel time to +finish, for the odd money did not at all interest his reverence. + +"Yes, the sum!" added Rodin, in an agitated voice, and, for the first +time, perhaps, in his life losing his presence of mind; "the sum--the +sum--the sum!" + +"I say, sir," resumed the old man, "that I hold securities for two +hundred and twelve millions, one hundred and seventy-five thousand +francs, payable to self or bearer--as you may soon convince yourself, M. +Notary, for here is my wife with the casket." + +Indeed, at this moment, Bathsheba entered, holding in her arms the cedar- +wood chest, which contained the securities in question; she placed it +upon the table, and withdrew, after exchanging an affectionate glance +with Samuel. When the latter declared the enormous amount of the sum in +hand, his words were received with silent stupor. All the actors in this +scene, except himself, believed that they were the sport of some +delusion. Father d'Aigrigny and Rodin had counted upon forty millions. +This sum, in itself enormous, was more than quintupled. Gabriel, when he +heard the notary read those passages in the testament, which spoke of a +princely fortune, being quite ignorant of the prodigious effects of +eligible investments, had valued the property at some three or four +millions. He was, therefore, struck dumb with amazement at the +exorbitant amount named. Notwithstanding his admirable disinterestedness +and scrupulous honor, he felt dazzled and giddy at the thought, that all +these immense riches might have belonged to him--alone. The notary, +almost as much amazed as Gabriel, examined the statement, and could +hardly believe his eyes. The Jew also remained mute, and seemed +painfully absorbed in thought, that no other heir made his appearance. + +In the depth of this profound silence, the clock in the next room began +slowly to strike twelve. Samuel started, and heaved a deep sigh. A few +seconds more, and the fatal term would be at an end. Rodin, Father +d'Aigrigny, Gabriel, and the notary, were all under the influence of such +complete surprise, that not one of them even remarked how strange it was +to hear the sound of this clock. + +"Noon!" cried Rodin, as, by an involuntary movement, he hastily placed +his two hands upon the casket, as if to take possession of it. + +"At last!" cried Father d'Aigrigny, with an expression of joy, triumph +transport, which it is impossible to describe. Then he added, as he +threw himself into Gabriel's arms, whom he embraced warmly: "Oh, my dear +son! how the poor will bless you! You will be a second Vincent de Paul. +You will be canonized, I promise you." + +"Let us first thank Providence," said Rodin, in a grave and solemn tone, +as he fell upon his knees, "let us thank Providence, that He has +permitted so much wealth to be employed for His glory!"' + +Father d'Aigrigny, having again embraced Gabriel, took him by the hand, +and said: "Rodin is right. Let us kneel, my dear son, and render thanks +to Providence!" + +So saying, Father d'Aigrigny knelt down, dragging Gabriel with him, and +the latter, confused and giddy with so many precipitate events, yielded +mechanically to the impulse. It was the last stroke of twelve when they +all rose together. + +Then said the notary, in a slightly agitated voice, for there was +something extraordinary and solemn in this scene + +"No other heir of M. Marius de Rennepont having presented himself, before +noon on this day, I execute the will of the testator, by declaring, in +the name of law and justice, that M. Francois Marie Gabriel de Rennepont, +here present, is the sole heir and possessor of all the estate, real and +personal, bequeathed under the said will; all which estate the said +Gabriel de Rennepont, priest, has freely and voluntarily made over by +deed of gift to Frederic Emanuel de Bordeville, Marquis d'Aigrigny, +priest, who has accepted the same, and is, therefore, the only legal +holder of such property, in the room of the said Gabriel de Rennepont, by +virtue of the said deed, drawn up and engrossed by me this morning, and +signed in my presence by the said Gabriel de Rennepont and Frederic +d'Aigrigny." + +At this moment, the sound of loud voices was heard from the garden. +Bathsheba entered hastily, and said to her husband with an agitated air: +"Samuel--a soldier--who insists--" + +She had not time to finish. Dagobert appeared at the door of the Red +Room. The soldier was fearfully pale. He seemed almost fainting; his +left arm was in a sling, and he leaned upon Agricola. At sight of +Dagobert, the pale and flabby eyelids of Rodin were suddenly distended, +as if all the blood in his body had flowed towards the head. Then the +socius threw himself upon the casket, with the haste of ferocious rage +and avidity, as if he were resolved to cover it with his body, and defend +it at the peril of his life. + +[20] This term is sanctioned by legal usage. + + + + + +CHAPTER XXV. + +THE DEED OF GIFT. + +Father d'Aigrigny did not recognize Dagobert, and had never seen +Agricola. He could not therefore, at first explain the kind of angry +alarm exhibited by Rodin. But the reverend father understood it all, +when he heard Gabriel utter a cry of joy, and saw him rush into the arms +of the smith, exclaiming: "My brother! my second father--oh! it is heaven +that sends you to me." + +Having pressed Gabriel's hand, Dagobert advanced towards Father +d'Aigrigny, with a rapid but unsteady step. As he remarked the soldier's +threatening countenance, the reverend father, strong in his acquired +rights, and feeling that, since noon, he was at home here; drew back a +little, and said imperiously to the veteran: "Who are you, sir!--What do +you want here?" + +Instead of answering, the soldier continued to advance, then, stopping +just facing Father d'Aigrigny, he looked at him for a second with such an +astounding mixture of curiosity, disdain, aversion, and audacity, that +the ex-colonel of hussars quailed before the pale face and glowing eye of +the veteran. The notary and Samuel, struck with surprise, remained mute +spectators of this scene, while Agricola and Gabriel followed with +anxiety Dagobert's least movements. As for Rodin, he pretended to be +leaning on the casket, in order still to cover it with his body. + +Surmounting at length the embarrassment caused by the steadfast look of +the soldier, Father d'Aigrigny raised his head, and repeated. "I ask +you, sir, who you are, and what you want?" + +"Do you not recognize me?" said Dagobert, hardly able to restrain +himself. + +"No, sir--" + +"In truth," returned the soldier, with profound contempt, "You cast down +your eyes for shame when, at Leipsic, you fought for the Russians against +the French, and when General Simon, covered with wounds, answered you, +renegade that you were, when you asked him for his sword, 'I do not +surrender to a traitor!'--and dragged himself along to one of the Russian +grenadiers, to whom he yielded up his weapon. Well! there was then a +wounded soldier by the side of General Simon--I am he." + +"In brief, sir, what do you want?" said Father d'Aigrigny, hardly, able +to control himself. + +"I have come to unmask you--you, that are as false and hateful a priest, +as Gabriel is admirable and beloved by all." + +"Sir!" cried the marquis, becoming livid with rage and emotion. + +"I tell you, that you are infamous," resumed the soldier, with still +greater force. "To rob Marshal Simon's daughters, and Gabriel, and +Mdlle. de Cardoville of their inheritance, you have had recourse to the +most shameful means." + +"What do you say?" cried Gabriel. "The daughters of Marshal Simon?" + +"Are your relations, my dear boy, as is also that worthy Mdlle. de +Cardoville, the benefactress of Agricola. Now, this priest," he added, +pointing to Father d'Aigrigny, "has had them shut up--the one as mad, in +a lunatic asylum--the others in a convent. As for you, my dear boy, I +did not hope to find you here, believing that they would have prevented +you, like the others, from coming hither this morning. But, thank God, +you are here, and I arrive in time. I should have been sooner, but for +my wound. I have lost so much blood, that I have done nothing but faint +all the morning." + +"Truly!" cried Gabriel, with uneasiness. "I had not remarked your arm in +a sling. What is the wound?" + +At a sign from Agricola, Dagobert answered: "Nothing; the consequence of +a fall. But here I am, to unveil many infamies." + +It is impossible to paint the curiosity, anguish, surprise, or fear, of +the different actors in this scene, as they listened to Dagobert's +threatening words. But the most overcome was Gabriel. His angelic +countenance was distorted, his knees trembled under him. Struck by the +communication of Dagobert which revealed the existence of other heirs, he +was unable to speak for some time; at length, he cried out, in a tone of +despair: "And it is I--oh, God! I--who am the cause of the spoliation of +this family!" + +"You, brother?" exclaimed Agricola. + +"Did they not wish to rob you also?" added Dagobert. + +"The will," cried Gabriel, with increasing agony, "gave the property to +those of the heirs that should appear before noon." + +"Well?" said Dagobert, alarmed at the emotion of the young priest. + +"Twelve o'clock has struck," resumed the latter. "Of all the family, I +alone was present. Do you understand it now? The term is expired. The +heirs have been thrust aside by me!" + +"By you!" said Dagobert, stammering with joy. "By you, my brave boy! +then all is well." + +"But--" + +"All is well," resumed Dagobert, radiant with delight. "You will share +with the others--I know you." + +"But all this property I have irrevocably, made over to another," cried +Gabriel, in despair. + +"Made over the property!" cried Dagobert, quite petrified. "To whom, +then?--to whom?" + +"To this gentleman," said Gabriel, pointing to Father d'Aigrigny. + +"To him!" exclaimed Dagobert, overwhelmed by the news; "to him--the +renegade--who has always been the evil genius of this family!" + +"But, brother," cried Agricola, "did you then know your claim to this +inheritance?" + +"No," answered the young priest, with deep dejection; "no--I only learned +it this morning, from Father d'Aigrigny. He told me, that he had only +recently been informed of my rights, by family papers long ago found upon +me, and sent by our mother to her confessor." + +A sudden light seemed to dawn upon the mind of the smith, as he +exclaimed: "I understand it all now. They discovered in these papers, +that you would one day have a chance of becoming rich. Therefore, they +interested themselves about you--therefore, they took you into their +college, where we could never see you--therefore, they deceived you in +your vocation by shameful falsehoods, to force you to become a priest, +and to lead you to make this deed of gift. Oh, sir!" resumed Agricola, +turning towards Father d'Aigrigny, with indignation, "my father is right- +-such machinations are indeed infamous!" + +During this scene, the reverend father and his socius, at first alarmed +and shaken in their audacity, had by degrees recovered all their +coolness. Rodin, still leaning upon the casket, had said a few words in +a low voice to Father d'Aigrigny. So that when Agricola, carried away by +his indignation, reproached the latter with his infamous machinations, he +bowed his head humbly, and answered: "We are bound to forgive injuries, +and offer them to the Lord as a mark of our humility." + +Dagobert, confounded at all he had just heard, felt his reason begin to +wander. After so much anxiety, his strength failed beneath this new and +terrible blow. Agricola's just and sensible words, in connection with +certain passages of the testament, at once enlightened Gabriel as to the +views of Father d'Aigrigny, in taking charge of his education, and +leading him to join the Society of Jesus. For the first time in his +life, Gabriel was able to take in at a glance all the secret springs of +the dark intrigue, of which he had been the victim. Then, indignation +and despair surmounting his natural timidity, the missionary, with +flashing eye, and cheeks inflamed with noble wrath, exclaimed, as he +addressed Father d'Aigrigny: "So, father, when you placed me in one of +your colleges, it was not from any feeling of kindness or commiseration, +but only in the hope of bringing me one day to renounce in favor of your +Order my share in this inheritance; and it did not even suffice you to +sacrifice me to your cupidity, but I must also be rendered the +involuntary instrument of a shameful spoliation! If only I were +concerned--if you only coveted my claim to all this wealth, I should not +complain. I am the minister of a religion which honors and sanctifies +poverty; I have consented to the donation in your favor, and I have not, +I could never have any claim upon it. But property is concerned which +belong to poor orphans, brought from a distant exile by my adopted +father, and I will not see them wronged. But the benefactress of my +adopted brother is concerned, and I will not see her wronged. But the +last will of a dying man is concerned, who, in his ardent love of +humanity, bequeathed to his descendants an evangelic mission--an +admirable mission of progress, love, union, liberty--and I will not see +this mission blighted in its bud. No, no; I tell you, that this his +mission shall be accomplished, though I have to cancel the donation I +have made." + +On these words, Father d'Aigrigny and Rodin looked at each other with a +slight shrug of the shoulders. At a sign from the socius, the reverend +father began to speak with immovable calmness, in a slow and sanctified +voice, keeping eyes constantly cast down: "There are many incidents +connected with this inheritance of M. de Rennepont, which appear very +complicated--many phantoms, which seem un usually menacing--and yet, +nothing could be really more simple and natural. Let us proceed in +regular order. Let us put aside all these calumnious imputations; we +will return to them afterwards. M. Gabriel de Rennepont--and I +humbly beg him to contradict me, if I depart in the least instance from +the exact truth--M. Gabriel de Rennepont, in acknowledgment of the care +formerly bestowed on him by the society to which I have the honor to +belong, made over to me, as its representative, freely and voluntarily, +all the property that might come to him one day, the value of which was +unknown to him, as well as to myself." + +Father d'Aigrigny here looked at Gabriel, as if appealing to him for the +truth of this statement. + +"It is true," said the young priest: "I made this donation freely." + +"This morning, in consequence of a private conversation, which I will not +repeat--and in this, I am certain beforehand, of the Abbe Gabriel--" + +"True," replied Gabriel, generously; "the subject of this conversation is +of little importance." + +"It was then, in consequence of this conversation that the Abbe Gabriel +manifested the desire to confirm this donation--not in my favor, for I +have little to do with earthly wealth--but in favor of the sacred and +charitable works of which our Company is the trustee. I appeal to the +honor of M. Gabriel to declare if he have not engaged himself towards us, +not only by a solemn oath, but by a perfectly legal act, executed in +presence of M. Dumesnil, here present?" + +"It is all true," answered Gabriel. + +"The deed was prepared by me," added the notary. + +"But Gabriel could only give you what belonged to him," cried Dagobert. +"The dear boy never supposed that you were making use of him to rob other +people." + +"Do me the favor, sir, to allow me to explain myself," replied Father +d'Aigrigny, courteously; "you can afterwards make answer." + +Dagobert repressed with difficulty his painful impatience. The reverend +father continued: "The Abbe Gabriel has therefore, by the double +engagement of an oath and a legal act, confirmed his donation. Much +more," resumed Father d'Aigrigny: "when to his great astonishment and to +ours, the enormous amount of the inheritance became known, the Abbe +Gabriel, faithful to his own admirable generosity, far from repenting of +his gifts, consecrated them once more by a pious movement of gratitude to +Providence--for M. Notary will doubtless remember, that, after embracing +the Abbe Gabriel with transport, and telling him that he was a second +Vincent de Paul in charity, I took him by the hand, and we both knelt +down together to thank heaven for having inspired him with the thought +too offer these immense riches to the Greater Glory of the Lord." + +"That is true, also," said Gabriel, honestly; "so long as myself was +concerned, though I might be astounded for a moment by the revelation of +so enormous a fortune, I did not think for an instant of cancelling the +donation I had freely made." + +"Under these circumstances," resumed Father d'Aigrigny, "the hour fixed +for the settlement of the inheritance having struck, and Abbe Gabriel +being the only heir that presented himself, he became necessarily the +only legitimate possessor of this immense wealth--enormous, no doubt--and +charity makes me rejoice that it is enormous, for, thanks to it, many +miseries will be relieved and many tears wiped away. But, all on a +sudden, here comes this gentleman," said Father d'Aigrigny, pointing to +Dagobert; "and, under some delusion, which I forgive from the bottom of +my soul, and which I am sure he will himself regret, accuses me, with +insults and threats, with having carried off (I know not where) some +persons (I know not whom), in order to prevent their being here at the +proper time--" + +"Yes, I accuse you of this infamy!" cried the soldier exasperated by the +calmness and audacity of the reverend father: "yes--and I will--" + +"Once again, sir, I conjure you to be so good as to let me finish; you +can reply afterwards," said Father d'Aigrigny, humbly, in the softest and +most honeyed accents. + +"Yes, I will reply, and confound you!" cried Dagobert. + +"Let him finish, father. You can speak presently," said Agricola. + +The soldier was silent as Father d'Aigrigny continued with new assurance: +"Doubtless, if there should really be any other heirs, besides the Abbe +Gabriel, it is unfortunate for them that they have not appeared in proper +time. And if, instead of defending the cause of the poor and needy, I +had only to look to my own interest, I should be far from availing myself +of this advantage, due only to chance; but, as a trustee for the great +family of the poor, I am obliged to maintain my absolute right to this +inheritance; and I do not doubt that M. Notary will acknowledge the +validity of my claim, and deliver to me these securities, which are now +my legitimate property." + +"My only mission," replied the notary, in an agitated voice, "is +faithfully to execute the will of the testator. The Abbe Gabriel de +Rennepont alone presented himself, within the term fixed by the +testament. The deed of gift is in due form; I cannot refuse, therefore, +to deliver to the person named in the deed the amount of the heritage--" + +On these words Samuel hid his face in his hands, and heaved a deep sigh; +he was obliged to acknowledge the rigorous justice of the notary's +observations. + +"But, sir," cried Dagobert, addressing the man of law, "this cannot be. +You will not allow two poor orphans to be despoiled. It is in the name +of their father and mother that I speak to you. I give you my honor--the +honor of a soldier!--that they took advantage of the weakness of my wife +to carry the daughters of Marshal Simon to a convent, and thus prevent me +bringing them here this morning. It is so true, that I have already laid +my charge before a magistrate." + +"And what answer did you receive?" said the notary. + +"That my deposition was not sufficient for the law to remove these young +girls from the convent in which they were, and that inquiries would be +made--" + +"Yes, sir," added Agricola, "and it was the same with regard to Mdlle. +de Cardoville, detained as mad in a lunatic asylum, though in the full +enjoyment of her reason. Like Marshal Simon's daughters, she too has a +claim to this inheritance. I took the same steps for her, as my father +took for Marshal Simon's daughters." + +"Well?" asked the notary. + +"Unfortunately, sir," answered Agricola, "they told me; as they did my +father, that my deposition would not suffice, and that they must make +inquiries." + +At this moment, Bathsheba, having heard the street-bell ring, left the +Red Room at a sign from Samuel. The notary resumed, addressing Agricola +and his father: "Far be it from me, gentlemen, to call in question your +good faith; but I cannot, to my great regret, attach such importance to +your accusations, which are not supported by proof, as to suspend the +regular legal course. According to your own confession, gentlemen, the +authorities, to whom you addressed yourselves, did not see fit to +interfere on your depositions, and told you they would inquire further. +Now, really, gentlemen, I appeal to you: how can I, in so serious a +matter, take upon myself a responsibility, which the magistrates +themselves have refused to take?" + +"Yes, you should do so, in the name of justice and honor?" cried +Dagobert. + +"It may be so, sir, in your opinion; but in my view of the case, I remain +faithful to justice and honor, by executing with exactness the last will +of the dead. For the rest you have no occasion to despair. If the +persons, whose interests you represent, consider themselves injured, they +may hereafter have recourse to an action at law, against the person +receiving as donee of the Abbe Gabriel--but in the meanwhile, it is my +duty to put him in immediate possession of the securities. I should be +gravely injured, were I to act in any, other manner." + +The notary's observations seemed so reasonable, that Samuel, Dagobert and +Agricola were quite confounded. After a moment's thought, Gabriel +appeared to take a desperate resolution, and said to the notary, in a +firm voice + +"Since, under these circumstances, the law is powerless to obtain the +right, I must adopt, sir, an extreme course. Before doing so, I will ask +M. l'Abbe d'Aigrigny, for the last time, if he will content himself with +that portion of the property which falls justly to me, on condition that +the rest shall be placed in safe hands, till the heirs, whose names have +been brought forward, shall prove their claim." + +"To this proposition I must answer as I have done already," replied +Father d'Aigrigny; "it is not I who am concerned, but an immense work of +charity. I am, therefore, obliged to refuse the part-offer of the Abbe +Gabriel, and to remind him of his engagements of every kind." + +"Then you refuse this arrangement?" asked Gabriel, in an agitated voice. + +"Charity commands me to do so." + +"You refuse it--absolutely?" + +"I think of all the good and pious institutions that these treasures will +enable us to establish for the Greater Glory of the Lord, and I have +neither the courage nor the desire to make the least concession." + +"Then, sir," resumed the good priest, in a still more agitated manner, +"since you force me to do it, I revoke my donation. I only intended to +dispose of my own property, and not of that which did not belong to me." + +"Take care M. l'Abbe," said rather d'Aigrigny; "I would observe that I +hold in my hand a written, formal promise." + +"I know it, sir; you have a written paper, in which I take an oath never +to revoke this donation, upon any pretext whatever, and on pain of +incurring the aversion and contempt of all honest men. Well, sir! be it +so," said Gabriel, with deep bitterness; "I will expose myself to all +the consequences of perjury; you may proclaim it everywhere. I may be +hated and despised by all--but God will judge me!" The young priest +dried a tear, which trickled from his eye. + +"Oh! do not be afraid, my dear boy!" cried Dagobert, with reviving hope. +"All honest men will be on your side!" + +"Well done, brother!" said Agricola. + +"M. Notary," said Rodin, in his little sharp voice, "please to explain to +Abbe Gabriel, that he may perjure himself as much as he thinks fit, but +that the Civil Code is much less easy to violate than a mere promise, +which is only--sacred!" + +"Speak, sir," said Gabriel. + +"Please to inform Abbe Gabriel," resumed Rodin, "that a deed of gift, +like that made in favor of Father d'Aigrigny, can only be cancelled for +one of three reasons--is it not so?" + +"Yes, sir, for three reasons," said the notary. + +"The first is in case of the birth of a child," said Rodin, "and I should +blush to mention such a contingency to the Abbe Gabriel. The second is +the ingratitude of the donee--and the Abbe Gabriel may be certain of our +deep and lasting gratitude. The last case is the non-fulfilment of the +wishes of the donor, with regard to the employment of his gifts. + +"Now, although the Abbe Gabriel may have suddenly conceived a very bad +opinion of us, he will at least give us some time to show that his gifts +have been disposed of according to his wishes, and applied to the Greater +Glory of the Lord." + +"Now, M. Notary," added Father d'Aigrigny, "it is for you to decide and +say, if Abbe Gabriel can revoke the donation he has made." + +Just as the notary was going to answer, Bathsheba reentered the room, +followed by two more personages, who appeared in the Red Room at a little +distance from each other. + + + + +End of this Project Gutenberg Etext of The Wandering Jew, v5 +by Eugene Sue + diff --git a/old/es05v11.zip b/old/es05v11.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..e2e3913 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/es05v11.zip |