XXIX.
It was exactly two years since Daniel and Henrietta had been partedby the foulest treachery,--two years since that fatal evening when thestupidly ironical voice of Count Ville-Handry had suddenly made itselfheard near them under the old trees of the garden of the palace.
What had not happened since then? What unheard-of, most improbableevents; what trials, what tribulations, what sufferings! They hadendured all that the human heart can endure. There was not a day, so tosay, in these two years, that had not brought them its share of griefand sorrow. How often both of them had despaired of the future! How manytimes they had sighed for death!
And yet, after all these storms, here they were reunited once more, inunspeakable happiness, forgetting every thing,--their enemies and thewhole world, the anxieties of the past, and the uncertainty of thefuture.
They remained thus for a long time, holding each other closely, overcomewith happiness, unable, as yet, to believe in the reality for which theyhad sighed so long, unable to utter a word, laughing and weeping in onebreath.
Now and then they would move apart a little, throwing back the head inorder the better to look at each other; then swiftly they would foldeach other again closely in their arms, as if they were afraid theymight be separated anew.
"How they love each other!" whispered Mrs. Bertolle in her brother'sear,--"the poor young people!"
And big tears rolled down her cheeks, while the old dealer, not lesstouched, but showing his emotion differently, closed his hands fiercely,and said,--
"All right, all right! They will have to pay for everything."
Daniel, in the meantime, was recovering himself gradually; and reasononce more got the better of his feelings. He led Henrietta to an arm-chair at the corner of the fireplace, and sitting down in front of her,after having taken her hands in his own, he asked her to give him afaithful account of the two terrible years that had just come to an end.
She had to tell him everything,--her humiliations in her father's house,the insults she had endured, the wicked slanders by which her honor hadbeen tainted, the incomprehensible blindness of the count, the surlyprovocations of her step-mother, the horrible attentions of Sir Thorn;in fine, the whole abominable plot which had been formed, as she foundout too late, for the purpose of driving her to seek safety in flight,and to give herself up to Maxime de Brevan.
Trembling with rage, livid, his eyes bloodshot, Daniel suddenly let goHenrietta's hands, and exclaimed in a half-smothered voice,--
"Ah, Henrietta! your father deserved--Wretched old man! to abandon hischild to the mercy of such miserable wretches!"
And, when the poor girl looked at him imploringly, he replied,--
"Be it so! I will say nothing more of the count. He is your father, andthat is enough."
Then he added coldly,--
"But that M. Thomas Elgin, I swear by God he shall die by my hand; andas to Sarah Brandon"--
He was interrupted by the old dealer, who tapped him lightly on theshoulder, and said with an indescribable smile,--
"You shall not do that honor to the Hon. M. Elgin, M. Champcey. Peoplelike him do not die by the sword of honest men."
In the meantime Henrietta had resumed her history, and spoke of hersurprise and amazement when she reached that bare room in Water Street,with its scanty second-hand furniture.
"And yet, Henrietta," here broke in Daniel, "I had handed that man allmy money to be placed at your disposal in case of any accident."
"What!" exclaimed the old dealer, "you had"--
He did not finish, but looked at the young officer with an utterlyamazed air, as if he were an improbable phenomenon, never seen before.
Daniel shook his head sadly.
"Yes," he said, "I know it was an insane thing. But it was less insanethan to intrust my betrothed to his care. I believed in the friendshipof that man."
"And besides," remarked Mrs. Bertolle, "how could you suppose suchatrocious treachery? There are crimes which honest hearts never evenconceive."
Henrietta continued, describing her sensations when she found herselffor the first time in her life harassed by want, destitution, hunger.But, when she came to the disgusting ill-treatment she received at thehands of the concierge's wife, Daniel cried out,--
"Stop!"
And, fearfully excited, he asked her,--
"Did I hear right? Did you say the concierge of that house in WaterStreet, and his wife, were called Chevassat?"
"Yes, why?"
"Because Maxime de Brevan's real name is Justin Chevassat."
Papa Ravinet started up as if he had been shot.
"What," he said, "you know that?"
"I learned it three months ago. I also know that my friend, theproud nobleman, Maxime de Brevan, who has been received in the mostaristocratic _salons_ of Paris, has been a galley-slave, condemned forforgery."
Henrietta had risen, filled with terror.
"Then," she stammered, "this wretched man was"--
"Chevassat's son; yes, madam," replied Mrs. Bertolle.
"Oh!" exclaimed the poor girl, "oh!"
And she fell heavily back into her chair, overcome by this discovery.The old dealer alone preserved his calm appearance.
"How did you learn that?" he asked Daniel.
"Through the man whom my friend Maxime had hired to murder me."
Positively this threatened to be too much for Henrietta's mind.
"Ah! I thought the mean coward would try to get you out of the way,Daniel. I wrote to you to be careful."
"And I received your letter, my darling, but too late. After havingmissed me twice, the assassin fired at me; and I was in my bed, a ballin my chest, dying."
"What has become of the murderer?" asked Papa Ravinet.
"He was arrested."
"Then he confessed?"
"Yes, thanks to the astonishing cleverness of the magistrate who carriedon the investigation."
"What has become of him?"
"He has left Saigon by this time. They have sent him home to be triedhere."
"And Brevan?"
"I am surprised he has not yet been arrested. The papers in the casewere sent to Paris by a vessel which left a fortnight before I left. Tobe sure, 'The Saint Louis' may have gotten ahead of her. At all events,I have in my keeping a letter to the court."
Papa Ravinet seemed to be almost delirious with joy. He gesticulatedlike a madman; he laughed nervously, and almost frightfully, till hissides shook; and at last he said,--
"I shall see Brevan on the scaffold! Yes, I shall!"
But from that moment there was an end of that logical order which theold gentleman had so far kept up. As it always happens with people whoare under the influence of some passion, eager to learn what they do notknow, and little disposed to tell what they do know, confusion prevailedsoon. Questions crossed each other, and followed, without order orconnection. Answers came at haphazard. Each wanted to be heard; andall were speaking at once. Thus the explanations, which, by a littlemanagement, might have been given in twenty minutes, took them more thantwo hours.
At last, after the lapse of this time, and by dint of great efforts, itbecame possible to ascertain the sum total of the information given byPapa Ravinet, Daniel, and Henrietta. The truth began to show itselfin the midst of this chaos; and the plot of Sarah Brandon and heraccomplices appeared in all its hideous outlines. A plan of strikingsimplicity, the success of which seemed to have hung upon a hair. If theold dealer, instead of going down by the backstairs, had taken the frontstaircase, he would never have heard Henrietta's agony, and the poorchild would have been lost.
If Crochard's ball had been a few lines nearer the heart, Daniel wouldhave been killed.
And still the old dealer was not quite satisfied. He hung his lip, andwinked with his yellow eyes, as if he wished it to be understood thathe was by no means fully convinced, and that there were certain pointswhich required fuller explanation.
"Look here, M. Champcey," he began at last, "t
he more I think of it, themore _I_ am convinced that Sarah Brandon had nothing to do with theseattempts at assassination, which so nearly made an end of you. She istoo strong in her perversity to stoop to such coarse means, which alwaysleave traces behind, and finally lead to a court of justice. She alwaysacts alone, when her mind is made up; and her accomplices aid her onlyunconsciously, so that they can never betray her."
Daniel had been thoughtful.
"What you tell me," he answered, "I was told before by M. de Brevan."
The old gentleman did not seem to hear him, so intensely did he applyall the faculties of his mind to the problem before him.
"Still," he continued, "there is no doubt about the manner in whichCrochard, surnamed Bagnolet, was employed. Could Brevan have done sowithout Sarah's knowledge, and perhaps even contrary to her wishes?"
"That is quite possible; but then why should he have done so?"
"To secure to himself the fortune which M. Champcey had so imprudentlyintrusted to him," said Henrietta.
But Papa Ravinet shook his head, looking very wise, and said,--
"That is one explanation. I do not say no to it; but it is not the trueone yet. Murder is so dangerous an expedient, that even the boldestcriminals only resort to it in the last extremity, and generally verymuch against their inclination. Could not Brevan have possessed himselfof M. Champcey's property without a murder? Of course, he could.
"Then we must look for another motive. You may say, it was fear whichdrove him to it. No; for at the time when he engaged Crochard, he couldnot foresee the atrocious outrages of which he would have become guiltyduring the succeeding year. Believe my experience; I discern in thewhole affair a hurry and an awkwardness which betray a passion, aviolent hatred, or, perhaps"--
He stopped suddenly, and seemed to reflect and deliberate, while he wasmechanically stroking his chin. Then all of a sudden, looking strangelyat Daniel, he asked him,--
"Could the Countess Sarah be in love with you, M. Champcey?"
Daniel's face turned crimson. He had not forgotten that fatal evening,when, in the house in Circus Street, he had held Sarah Brandon in hisarms; and the intoxicating delirium of that moment had left in his hearta bitter and undying pang of remorse. He had never dared confess toHenrietta that Sarah had actually come to his rooms alone. And evento-night, while giving very fully all the details of his passage out,and his residence in Saigon, he had not said a word of the letters whichhad been addressed to him by the countess.
"Sarah Brandon in love with me?" he stammered. "What an idea!"
But he could not tell a falsehood; and Henrietta would not have been awoman, if she had not noticed his embarrassment.
"Why not?" she asked.
And, looking fixedly at Daniel, she went on,--
"That wretched woman impudently boasted to my face that she loved you;more than that, she swore that you, also, had loved her, and were stillin love with her. She laughed at me contemptuously, telling me that shehad it in her power to make you do anything she chose, and offering toshow me your letters"--
She paused a moment, turned her head aside, and said with a visibleeffort,--
"Finally, M. Thomas Elgin assured me that Sarah Brandon had been yourmistress, and that the marriage with my father took place only inconsequence of a quarrel between you."
Daniel had listened to her, trembling with indignation. He now criedout,--
"And you could believe these false calumnies! Oh, no, no! tell me thatthere is no need for me to justify myself to"--
Then turning to Papa Ravinet, he said,--
"Suppose, we admit, for a moment, that she might have been in love, asyou say, what would that prove?"
The cunning old dealer remained apparently unmoved for a time; but hissmall eyes were sparkling with malicious delight and satisfaction.
"Ah! you would not talk so, if you knew Sarah Brandon's antecedents aswell as I do. Ask my sister about her and Maxime de Brevan, and she willtell you why I look upon that apparently trifling circumstance as sovery important."
Mrs. Bertolle made a sign that she assented; and he, sure, henceforth,that his sagacity had not been at fault, continued,--
"Pardon me, M. Champcey, if I insist, and especially if I do so in MissHenrietta's presence; but our interest, I might almost say our safety,requires it. Maxime de Brevan is caught, to be sure; but he is only avulgar criminal; and we have, as yet, neither Thomas Elgin, nor Mrs.Brian, who are far more formidable, nor, above all, Sarah Brandon, whois a thousand times more wicked, and more guilty, than all the rest. Youwill tell me that we have ninety-nine chances out of a hundred onour side; maybe! Only a single, slight mistake may lead us altogetherastray; and then there is an end to all our hopes, and these rascalstriumph after all!"
He was but too right. Daniel felt it; and hence he said, withouthesitating any longer, but looking stealthily at Henrietta's face,--
"Since that is so, I will not conceal from you that the Countess Sarahhas written me a dozen letters of at least extraordinary nature."
"You have kept them, I hope?"
"Yes; they are all in one of my trunks."
Papa Ravinet was evidently much embarrassed; but at last he said,--
"Ah! if I might dare? But no; it would be asking too much, perhaps, tobeg you to let me see them?"
He did not know how ready Daniel was to grant the request. Ready as hewas, to tell Henrietta everything, he could not but wish that she shouldread these letters, as she would see from them, that, if the countesshad written to him, he had never returned an answer.
"You can never ask too much, M. Ravinet," he replied. "Lefloch, myservant, must have come up by this time with the trunks; and, if yougive me time to go down to my room, you shall have the letters at once."
He was on the point of leaving the room, when the old dealer held himback, and said,--
"Sir, you forget the man who has been following you all the way fromMarseilles. Wait till my sister has made sure that there is nobodywatching you."
Mrs. Bertolle at once went out; but she noticed nothing suspicious, andfound all the passages silent and deserted. The spy had probably gone tomake his report to his employers. Daniel went down promptly; and, whenhe came back, he held in his hand a bundle of faded and crumpled papers,which he handed to Papa Ravinet, with the words,--
"Here they are!"
Strange as it may seem, when the old gentleman touched these letters,impregnated with the peculiar perfume affected by Sarah Brandon, hetrembled and turned pale. Immediately, however, perhaps in order toconceal his embarrassment, or to be the better able to reflect, he tooka candlestick from the mantlepiece, and sat down aside, at one of thesmall tables. Mrs. Bertolle, Daniel, and Henrietta were silent; andnothing broke the stillness but the rustling of the paper, and the oldgentleman's voice as he muttered,--
"This is fabulous,--Sarah writing such things! She did not even disguiseher handwriting,--she who never committed an imprudence in her life; sheruins herself. And she signs her name!"
But he had seen enough. He folded up the letters, and, rising again,said to Champcey,--
"No doubt now! Sarah loves you madly, insanely. Ah! how she does love!Well, well, all heartless women love thus when a sudden passion conquersthem, setting their brains and their senses on fire, and"--
Daniel noticed in Henrietta's face a sign of concern; and, quitedistressed, he beckoned to the old gentleman to say nothing more. But hesaw nothing, full as he was of his notion, and went on,--
"Now I understand. Sarah Brandon has not been able to keep her secret;and Brevan, seeing her love, and furious with jealousy, did not considerthat to hire an assassin was to ruin himself."
The indignation he felt had restored the blood to his face; and, as hestruck the packet of letters with the palm of his hand, he exclaimed,--
"Yes, all is clear now; and by this correspondence, Sarah Brandon, youare ours!"
What could be the plan of Papa Ravinet? Did he expect to use theseletters as weapons ag
ainst her? or did he propose to send them to CountVille-Handry in order to open his eyes? Daniel trembled at the idea; forhis loyalty rebelled against such a vengeance; he felt as if he wouldhave become a traitor.
"You see, to use a woman's correspondence, however odious andcontemptible she may be, would always be very repugnant to me."
"I had no idea of asking such a thing of you," replied the old dealer."No; it is something very different I want you to do."
And, when Daniel still seemed to be embarrassed, he added,--
"You ought not to give way to such exaggerated delicacy, M. Champcey.All weapons are fair when we are called upon to defend our lives and ourhonor against rascals; and that is where we are. If we do not hasten tostrike Sarah Brandon, she will anticipate us; and then"--
He had been leaning against the mantlepiece, close to Mrs. Bertolle, whosat there silent and immovable; and now he raised his head, and, lookingattentively at Henrietta and Daniel by turns, he added,--
"Perhaps you are both not exactly conscious of the position in which youstand. Having been reunited to-night, after such terrible trials, andhaving, both of you, escaped, almost by a miracle, from death, you feel,no doubt, as if all trouble was at an end, and the future was yours. Imust undeceive you. You are precisely where you were the day before M.Champcey left France. You cannot any more now than at that time marrywithout Count Ville-Handry's consent. Will he give it? You know verywell that the Countess Sarah will not let him. Will you defy prejudices,and proudly avow your love? Ah, have a care! If you sin against socialconventionalities, you risk your whole happiness of life. Will you hideyourself, on the other hand? However careful you may be, the world willfind you out; and fools and hypocrites will overwhelm you with slander.And Miss Henrietta has been too much calumniated already."
To soar in the azure air, and suddenly to fall back into the mud onearth; to indulge in the sweetest of dreams, and all at once to berecalled to stern reality,--this is what Daniel and Henrietta endured atthat moment. The calm, collected voice of the old dealer sounded cruelto them. Still he was but a sincere friend, who did his painful duty inawakening them from such deceptive illusions.
"Now," he went on, "mind that I take everything at the best; and evensuppose the case, that Count Ville-Handry leaves his daughter freeto choose: would that be enough? Evidently not; for the moment SarahBrandon hears that Miss Henrietta has not committed suicide, butis, instead, at the Hotel du Louvre, within easy reach of M. DanielChampcey, she will prevail on her husband to shut his daughter up in aconvent. For another year, Miss Henrietta is yet under paternal control;that is, in this case, at the mercy of a revengeful step-mother, wholooks upon her as a successful rival."
At this idea, that Henrietta might be once more taken from him, Danielfelt his blood chill off in his veins; and he exclaimed,--
"Ah, and I never dreamed of any of these things! I was mad! Joy hadblinded my eyes completely."
But the old gentleman beckoned to him to say nothing, and with an almostimperious gesture went on,--
"Oh, wait! I have not yet shown you the most urgent danger: CountVille-Handry, who, when you knew him, had, I know not how many millions,is completely ruined. Of all he once owned, of his lands, forests,castles, deeds, and bonds, there is nothing left. His last cent, hislast rod of land, has been taken from him. You left him living like aprince in his forefathers' palace: you will find him vegetating inthe fourth story of a lodging-house. You know, that, being poor, he isdeemed guilty. The day is drawing near when Sarah Brandon will get ridof him, as she has gotten rid of Kergrist, of Malgat the poorcashier, and others. The means are at hand. Already the name ofCount Ville-Handry is seriously compromised. The company which he hasestablished is breaking to pieces; and the papers hold him up to publiccontempt. If he cannot pay to-day, he will be to-morrow accused offraudulent bankruptcy. Now, I ask you, is the count a man who willsurvive such a disgrace?"
For some time Henrietta had been unable to suppress her sobs; under thisterrible threat she broke out in loud weeping.
"Ah, sir!" she said, "you have misled me. You assured me that myfather's life was in no danger."
"And I promise you still, it is not in danger. Would I be here, if I didnot think that Sarah was not quite ready yet?"
Daniel, also, had suffered terribly during this discussion; and he nowsaid passionately,--
"Would it not be a crime for us to think, to wait, and to calculate,when such great dangers are impending? Come, sir, let us go"--
"Where?"
"Ah, how do I know? Into court, to the count, to a lawyer who can adviseus. There must be something that can be done."
The old dealer did not stir.
"Poor, honest young man!" he said with an accent of bitter irony. "Andwhat could we tell the lawyer? That Sarah Brandon has made an old man,the Count Ville-Handry, fall madly in love with her? That is no crime.That she has made him marry her? That was her right. That the counthas launched forth in speculations? She opposed it. That he understoodnothing of business? She could not help that. That he has been duped,cheated, and finally ruined in two short years? Apparently she is asmuch ruined as he is. That, in order to delay the catastrophe, he hasresorted to illegal means? She is sorry for it. That he will not survivethe taint on his ancient name? What can she do? Sarah, who was able toclear herself the day after Malgat's disappearance, will not be at aloss now to establish her innocence."
"But the count, sir, the count! Can we not go to him?"
"Count Ville-Handry would say to you--But you shall hear to-morrow whathe will tell you."
Daniel began to feel utterly dismayed.
"What can be done, then?" he asked.
"We must wait till we have sufficient evidence in hand to crush at oneblow Sarah Brandon, Thorn, and Mrs. Brian."
"Well; but how shall we get such evidence?"
The old gentleman cast a look of intelligence at his sister, smiled, andsaid with a strange accent in his voice,--
"I have collected some. As to the rest"--
"Well?"
"Well, my dear M. Champcey, I am no longer troubled about getting more,since I have found out that the Countess Sarah is in love with you."
Now Daniel began to understand the part Papa Ravinet expected him toplay. Still he did not object; he bowed his head under the clear eye ofHenrietta, and said in a low voice,--
"I will do what you wish me to do, sir."
The old gentleman uttered a low cry of delight, as if he had beenrelieved of an overwhelming anxiety.
"Then," he said, "we will begin the campaign tomorrow morning. But wemust know exactly who the enemies are whom we have to meet. Listen,therefore!"