XX.
Thus a few minutes longer, and all was really over. Count Ville-Handry's daughter was dying! Count Ville-Handry's daughter was dead!
But at that very hour the tenant of the fourth story, Papa Ravinet,the second-hand dealer, was going to his dinner. If he had gone down asusually, by the front staircase, no noise would have reached him. ButProvidence was awake. That evening he went down the back stairs,and heard the death-rattle of the poor dying girl. In our beautifulegotistical days, many a man, in the place of this old man, would nothave gone out of his way. He, on the contrary, hurried down to informthe concierge. Many a man, again, would have been quieted by theapparent calmness of the Chevassat couple, and would have been satisfiedwith their assurance that Henrietta was not at home. He, however,insisted, and, in spite of the evident reluctance of the concierge andhis wife, compelled them to go up, and brought out, by his words first,and then by his example, one tenant after another.
It was he likewise, who, while the concierge and the other people weredeliberating, directed what was to be done for the dying girl, and whohastened to fetch from his magazine a mattress, sheets, blankets,wood to make a fire, in fact, every thing that was needed in that barechamber.
A few moments later Henrietta opened her eyes. Her first sensation was avery strange one.
In the first place she was utterly amazed at feeling that she was in awarm bed,--she who had, for so many days, endured all the tortures ofbitter cold. Then, looking around, she was dazzled by the candlesthat were burning on her table, and the beautiful, bright fire in herfireplace. And then she looked with perfect stupor at all the women whomshe did not know, and who were bending over her, watching her movements.
Had her father at last come to her assistance?
No, for he would have been there; and she looked in vain for him amongall these strange people.
Then, understanding from some words which were spoken close by her, thatit was to chance alone she owed her rescue from death, she was filledwith indescribable grief.
"To have suffered all that can be suffered in dying," she said toherself, "and then not to die after all!"
She almost had a feeling of hatred against all these people who werebusying themselves around her. Now that they had brought her back tolife, would they enable her to live?
Nevertheless, she distinguished very clearly what was going on in herroom. She recognized the wealthy ladies from the first story, who hadstayed to nurse her, and between them Mrs. Chevassat, who assumed anair of great activity, while she explained to them how Henrietta haddeceived her affectionate heart in order to carry out her fatal purpose.
"You see, I did not dream of any thing," she protested in a whiningtone. "A poor little pussy-cat, who was always merry, and this morningyet sang like a bird. I thought she might be a little embarrassed, butnever suspected such misery. You see, ladies, she was as proud as aqueen, and as haughty as the weather. She would rather have died thanask for assistance; for she knew she had only a word to say to me. DidI not already, in October, when I saw she would not be able to pay herrent, become responsible for her?"
And thereupon the infamous hypocrite bent over the poor girl, kissed heron her forehead, and said with a tender tone of voice,--
"Did you not love me, dear little pussy-cat; did not you? I know youloved poor old Mrs. Chevassat."
Unable to articulate a word, even if she had understood what was said,poor Henrietta shivered, shrank with horror and disgust from the contactwith those lying lips. And the emotion which this feeling caused her didmore for her than all the attentions that were paid her. Still, it wasonly after the doctor, who had been sent for, had come and bled her,that she was restored to the full use of her faculties. Then shethanked, in a very feeble voice, the people around her, assuring themthat she felt much better now, and might safely be left alone.
The two wealthy ladies, whom curiosity had carried off at the momentwhen they were sitting down to dinner, did not wait for more, and, veryhappy to be released, slipped away at once. But the concierge's wiferemained by Henrietta's bedside till she was alone with her victim; andthen every thing changed in her face, tone of voice, look, and manner.
"Well," she commenced, "now you are happy, miss! You have advertised myhouse, and it will all be in the papers. Everybody will pity you,and think your lover a cold-blooded villain, who lets you die ofstarvation."
The poor young girl deprecated the charge with such a sweet, gentleexpression of face, that a savage would have been touched; but Mrs.Chevassat was civilized.
"And still you know very well," she went on in a bitter tone, "that dearM. Maxime has done all he could to save you. Only day before yesterday,he offered you his whole fortune"--
"Madam," stammered Henrietta, "have you no mercy?"
Mercy--Mrs. Chevassat! What a joke!
"You would take nothing," she continued, "from M. Maxime. Why, I askyou? To play the virtuous woman, was it? It was hardly worth while, ifyou meant, immediately afterwards, to accept that old miser, who willmake life hard enough for you. Ah, you have fallen into nice hands!"
Gathering up all the strength that had come back to her, Henriettaraised herself on the pillows, and asked,--
"What do you mean?"
"Oh, nothing! I see. After all, you would have it so. Besides, he hadbeen looking after you a long time already."
As soon as Henrietta opened her eyes, Papa Ravinet had discreetlywithdrawn, in order to leave the ladies, who were about her, time toundress her. Thus she had not seen the man who had saved her, and didnot understand the allusions of the old woman.
"Explain, madam, explain!"
"Ah, upon my word! that is not difficult. The man who has pulled youout, who has brought you all these things to make your bed, and kindlea fire; why, that is the second-hand dealer of the fourth story! And hewill not stop there, I am sure. Patience, and you will know well enoughwhat I mean."
It must be borne in mind, that the woman, for fear Henrietta might sellto Papa Ravinet what she had to sell, or for some other reason, hadalways painted the old man to her in colors by no means flattering.
"What ought I to be afraid of?" asked Henrietta.
The woman hesitated. At last she answered,--
"If I were to tell you, you would repeat it to him when he comes back."
"No, I promise you."
"Swear it on your mother's sacred memory."
"I swear."
Thus reassured, the old woman came close up to her bed; and, in ananimated but low voice, she said,--
"Well, I mean this: if you accept now what Papa Ravinet will offer you,in six months you will be worse than any of Mrs. Hilaire's girls. Ah!don't tell me 'I do not mean to touch him.' The old rascal has ruinedmore than one who was just as good as you are. That's his business; and,upon my word! he understands it. Now, forewarned, forearmed. I am goingdown to make you a soup. I'll be back at night. And above all, you hear,not a word!"
By one word Mrs. Chevassat had plunged Henrietta once more into an abyssof profound despair.
"Great God!" she said to herself, "why must the generous assistance ofthis old man be a new snare for me?"
With her elbow resting on her pillow, her forehead supported by herhand, her eyes streaming with tears, she endeavored to gather her ideas,which seemed to be scattered to the four winds, like the leaves oftrees after a storm; when a modest, dry cough aroused her from hermeditations.
She trembled, and raised her head.
In the framework of the open door stood a man of mature age and ofmedium height, looking at her.
It was Papa Ravinet, who, after a long conversation with the concierge,and after some words with his amiable wife, had come up to inquire afterhis patient. She guessed at it, rather than she knew; for, although shelived in the same house with him, she was not in the same part of thebuilding, and she scarcely recollected having caught a glimpse of himnow and then in crossing the yard.
"That," she thought, "is the man who plots my ru
in, the wretch whom I amto avoid."
Now, it is true that this man, with his mournful face, his huge,brushlike eyebrows, and his small, yellow eyes, startling by theirincessant activity, had for the observer something enigmatical abouthim, and therefore did not inspire much confidence.
Nevertheless, Henrietta thanked him none the less heartily, althoughgreatly embarrassed, for his readiness to help her, his kind care, andhis generosity in providing every thing she wanted.
"Oh! you owe me no thanks," he said. "I have only done my duty, and thatvery imperfectly."
And at once, in a rather grim manner, he began to tell her that what hehad done was nothing in comparison with what he meant to do. He had buttoo well guessed what had led Henrietta to attempt suicide; he had onlyto look around her room. But he swore she should have nothing more tofear from want as long as he was there.
But, the more earnest and pressing the good man became in hisprotestations, the more Henrietta drew back within her usual reserve;her mind being filled with the prejudices instilled by Mrs. Chevassat.Fortunately he was a clever man, the old dealer; and by means of notsaying what might shock her, and by saying much that could not fail totouch her, he gradually regained his position. He almost conquered herwhen he returned to her the letters she had written before making herdreadful preparations, and when she saw that they looked unhurt,and sealed as before. Thus, when he left her, after half an hour'sdiplomatic intercourse, he had obtained from the poor young girl thepromise that she would not renew the attempt at her life, and that shewould explain to him by what fatal combination of circumstances she hadbeen reduced to such extreme suffering.
"You would not hesitate," he said, "if you knew how easy it often is, bya little experience, to arrange the most difficult matters."
Henrietta did not hesitate. A thought which had occurred to her as soonas she found herself alone had brought her to this conclusion: "If PapaRavinet were really what Mrs. Chevassat says, that bad woman would nothave warned me against him. If she tries to keep me from accepting theold man's assistance, she no doubt finds it to her advantage that Ishould do so."
When she tried, after that, to examine as coolly as she could theprobable consequences of her decision, she found enormous chances inher favor. If Papa Ravinet was sincere, she might be enabled to wait forDaniel; if he was not sincere, what did she risk? She who had not feareddeath itself need not fear any thing else. Lucretia's dagger will alwaysprotect a brave woman's liberty.
But still, in spite of the pressing need she had for rest, her promisekept her awake for the greater part of the night; for she passed in hermind once more over the whole lamentable story of her sufferings, andasked herself what she might confess to, and what she ought to withholdfrom the old dealer. Had he not already discovered, by the address ofone of her letters, that she was the daughter of Count Ville-Handry? Andjust that she would have liked to keep him from knowing. On the otherhand, was it not foolish to ask the advice of a man to whom we will notconfess the whole truth?
"I must tell him all," she said, "or nothing." And, after a moment'sreflection, she added,--"I will tell him all, and keep nothing back."She was in this disposition, when in the morning, about nine o'clock,Papa Ravinet reappeared in her room. He looked very pale, the old man;and the expression of his face, and the tone of his voice, betrayed anemotion which he could scarcely control, together with deep anxiety.
"Well?" he asked forgetting in his preoccupation to inquire even how thepoor girl had passed the night.
She shook her head sadly, and replied, pointing to a chair,--
"I have made up my mind, sir; sit down, please, and listen to me." Theold dealer had been fully convinced that Henrietta would come to that;but he had not hoped for it so soon. He could not help exclaiming, "Atlast!" and intense, almost delirious joy shone in his eyes. Even thisjoy seemed to be so unnatural, that the young girl was made quiteuncomfortable by it. Fixing her eyes upon the old man with all the powerof observation of which she was capable, she said,--
"I am fully aware that what I am about to do is almost unparalleled inrashness. I put myself, to a certain extent, absolutely in your power,sir,--the power of an utter stranger, of whom I am told I have everything to fear."
"O miss!" he declared, "believe me"--
But she interrupted him, saying with great solemnity,--
"I think, if you were to deceive me, you would be the meanest and leastof men. I rely upon your honor."
And then in a firm voice she began the account of her life, from thatfatal evening on which her father had said to her,--
"I have resolved, my daughter, to give you a second mother."
The old dealer had taken a seat facing Henrietta, and listened,fixing his eyes upon her face as if to enter into her thoughts, and toanticipate her meaning. His face was all aglow with excitement, like theface of a gambler who is watching the little white ball that is to makehim a rich man or a beggar. It looked almost as if he had foreseen theterrible communication she was making, and was experiencing a bittersatisfaction at finding his presentiments confirmed,--
As Henrietta was proceeding, he would murmur now and then,--
"That is so! Yes, of course that had to come next."
And all these people whose abominable intrigues Henrietta was explainingto him were apparently better known to him than to her, as if he hadfrequently been in contact with them, or even lived in their intimacy.He gave his judgment on each one with amazing assurance, as the occasionpresented itself, saying,--
"Ah! There I recognize Sarah and Mrs. Brian."
Or,--
"Sir Thorn never does otherwise."
Or, again,--
"Yes, that is all over Maxime de Brevan."
And, according to the different phases of the account, he would laughbitterly and almost convulsively, or he would break out in imprecations.
"What a trick!" he murmured with an accent of deep horror, "what aninfernal snare!"
At another point he turned deadly pale, and almost trembled on hischair, as if he were feeling ill, and were about to fall. Henrietta wastelling him at that moment, from Daniel's recital, the circumstancesunder which M. de Kergrist had died, and Malgat had disappeared,--thatpoor cashier who had left such an immense deficit behind; who had beencondemned to penal servitude; and whose body the police believed to havefound in a wood near Paris. But, as soon as the young girl had finished,he rose all of a sudden, and cried out in a formidable voice,--
"I have them now, the wretches! this time I have them!"
And, breaking down under his excessive excitement, he sank into hischair, covering his face with his hands. Henrietta was dumfounded; shelooked aghast at the old man, in whom she now placed all her hopes.Already, the night before, she had had some suspicions that he was notwhat he seemed to be; now she was quite sure. But who was he? She hadnothing to go by to solve that riddle.
This only she thought she saw clearly, that Sarah Brandon, Mrs. Brian,and M. Thomas Elgin, as well as M. de Brevan, had at some time or othercome in personal contact with Papa Ravinet, and that he hated themmortally.
"Unless he should try to deceive me," she thought, not having quiteshaken off all doubts yet.
He had in the meantime mastered his emotion, and was regaining all hiscomposure.
"Let no one, henceforth, deny Providence!" he exclaimed. "Ah! fools andidiots alone can do so. M. de Brevan had every reason to think that thishouse would keep the secret of his crime as safe as the grave, and sobrought you here. And here it happens I must chance to live,--of allmen, I,--and he remain unaware of it! By a kind of miracle we arebrought together under the same roof,--you, the daughter of CountVille-Handry, and I, one after the other, without knowing each other;and, at the very moment when this Brevan is about to triumph, Providencebrings us together, and this meeting ruins him!"
His voice betrayed his fierce joy at approaching vengeance; his sallowcheeks flushed up; and his eyes shone brilliantly.
"For M. de Brevan was triumphin
g last night. The woman Chevassat,his confederate, had watched you, and noticing your preparations forcommitting suicide, had said to him, 'Rejoice! at last we shall get ridof her.'"
Henrietta shuddered, and stammered out,--
"Is it possible?"
Then the old man, looking at her half surprised, said,--
"What! after all you have seen of M. de Brevan, you have never suspectedhim of meditating your death?"
"Why, yes! I sometimes thought so."
"Well, this time you were right, madam. Ah! you do not know your enemiesyet. But I know them, I; for I have had a chance of measuring the depthof their wickedness. And there your safety would lie, if you wouldfollow my advice."
"I will, sir."
Papa Ravinet was evidently a little embarrassed. He said, however,--
"You see, madam, I shall have to ask you to trust me blindly."
"I will trust you blindly."
"It is of the utmost importance that you should escape out of reach ofM. de Brevan; he must lose every trace of you. You will, consequently,have to leave this house."
"I will leave it."
"And in the way I say."
"I will obey you in every point."
The last shadow of trouble which had still overclouded the old dealer'sbrow vanished as if by magic.
"Then all will go well," he said, rubbing his hands as if he were takingoff the skin; "and I guarantee the rest. Let us make haste to understandeach other; for I have been here a long time, and the woman Chevassatmust be on needles. Still, it is important she should not suspect thatwe are acting in concert."
As if afraid that an indiscreet ear might be listening at the door, hedrew his chair quite close to Henrietta's bed, and whispered in a voicebut just audible to her,--
"As soon as I have turned my back that woman will come up, burning withcuriosity to know what has happened between us. You must pretend to bevery angry with me. Give her to understand that you think me a wickedold man, who wants you to pay the price of infamy for the services Iwish to render to you."
Henrietta had turned crimson. Now she stammered out,--
"But, sir"--
"Perhaps you dislike telling a falsehood?"
"You see--I cannot, I fear. It would not be easy to lie so as to deceiveMrs. Chevassat."
"Ah, madam, you must! it cannot be helped. If you admit the absolutenecessity, you may succeed in misleading her. Remember that we mustfight the enemy with his own weapons."
"Well, then, I will try, sir."
"So be it. The rest, you will see, is a small matter. As soon as nightfalls, you will dress, and watch for the moment when the concierge, asusually, goes about the house lighting the gas. As soon as you see himon the great staircase; you will make haste and run down. I shall takemeasures to have the woman Chevassat either kept engaged, or out ofthe house; and you will thus find it easy to slip out without beingperceived. Once in the street, you will turn to the right. At the cornerof the street, in front of the great Auction-Mart, you will see a cabstanding, with a plaid handkerchief like this hanging out of the window.Get into it boldly; I'll be inside. I do not know if I have made it allclear to you?"
"Oh, perfectly, sir!"
"Then we understand each other. Do you feel strong enough?"
"Yes, sir. You may rely on me."
Every thing passed off just as the old dealer had foreseen; andHenrietta played her part so well, that at night, when her disappearancewas discovered, Mrs. Chevassat was neither much surprised nor troubled.
"She was tired of life, the girl!" she said to her husband. "I saw itwhen I was up there. We'll see her again at the Morgue. As the charcoaldid not do the work, she has tried the water."