"Listen, listen, dear child," said Paul, "it is the Lord who permits that all shall be thus revealed."
"Yes, yes," murmured Achard, who was becoming weaker every moment. "Yes, you doubted the goodness of the Lord, you had forgotten that he had forgiven the adulterous woman--"
"Yes, but when she met with Christ, men were about to cast stones at her--men, who for twenty generations have been accustomed to revere our name, to honor our family--did they but learn, that which, thank heaven!
has heretofore been hidden from them--would hear it uttered with shame and with contempt. I have so much suffered, that G.o.d will pardon me--but man! men are so implacable, that they will not pardon--moreover, am I alone exposed to their insults--on either side, the cross I bear, have I not a child?--and is not the other that we speak of, the first-born? In the eyes of the law, is he not the son of the Marquis d"Auray? do you forget that he is the first-born, the head of the family? Do you not know, that in order to possess himself of the t.i.tle, the estates, the fortune of the family of Auray, he has only to invoke the law? and then what would remain to Emanuel? The cross of the order of Malta--and to Marguerite?--a convent."
"Oh! yes, yes," whispered Marguerite, and stretching out her arms, toward the marchioness, "yes, a convent, in which I would pray for you, my mother."
"Silence! silence!" whispered Paul.
"Oh! you know him not," said Achard, whose voice was scarcely audible.
"No! but I know human nature," replied the marchioness, "he may recover a name, he! who has no name--a fortune, he! who has no fortune. And do you believe he would renounce that fortune and that name."
"Should you ask it of him, he would."
"And by what right could I demand it?" said the marchioness; "by what right could I ask him to spare me, to spare Emanuel, to spare Marguerite? He would say, "I do not know you, madam--I have never seen you--you are my mother, and that is all I know.""
"In his name," stammered Achard, whose tongue death was beginning to benumb, "in his name, madam, I engage, I swear--oh! my G.o.d! my G.o.d!"
The marchioness arose, observing attentively by the old man"s features, the approach of death.
"You engage, you swear!" she said, "is he here to ratify this engagement--you engage! you swear! and on your word, you would, that I should stake the years I have yet to live, against the moments which yet remain between you and death! I have entreated, I have implored, and again, I entreat and implore you to give up those papers to me."
"Those papers now are his."
"I must have them! I repeat, I must have them," continued the marchioness, gaining strength, as the dying man became more feeble.
"My G.o.d! my G.o.d! have mercy upon me!" murmured Achard.
"No one can now come," rejoined the marchioness "you told me that you wore the key of that closet always about you----"
"Would you wrest it from the hands of a dying man?"
"No," replied the marchioness, "I will wait."
"Let me die in peace," exclaimed Achard tearing the crucifix from the head of his bed, and raising it between, himself and the marchioness, he cried: "leave me! leave me; in the name of Jesus Christ!"
The marchioness fell upon her knees, bowing her head to the ground. The old man, for a moment, remained in the same awful att.i.tude; then, by degrees, his strength forsook him, and he fell back on his bed, crossed his arms, and pressed the image of the Saviour to his breast.
The marchioness seized the lower part of the two curtains, and without raising her head, she crossed them in such a manner as to conceal the last struggles of the dying man.
"Horror! horror!" murmured Marguerite.
"Let us kneel, and pray," said Paul.
A moment of solemn and dreadful silence then ensued, which was only interrupted by the last gasps of the dying man; these gasps became fainter by degrees, and then ceased altogether. All was over; the old man was dead.
The marchioness slowly raised her head, listened with intense anxiety for some minutes, and then, without opening the curtains, pa.s.sed her hand between them, and after some effort, withdrew her hand again--she had obtained the key. She then silently arose, and with her face still turned toward the bed, walked to the closet. But at the moment she was about to unlock it, Paul, who was observing all her movements, rushed into the room, and seizing her by the arm, said--?
"Give me that key, my mother! for the marquis is dead, and those papers now belong to me."
"Justice of heaven!" exclaimed the marchioness, starting back with terror, and falling into a chair, "justice of heaven! it is my son!"
"Merciful heaven!" murmured Marguerite, throwing herself upon her knees in the outer room: "merciful heaven! he is my brother!"
Paul opened the closet, and took the casket which contained the papers.
CHAPTER XVI.--RECRIMINATION.
Thou canst save me, Thou ought"st! thou must!
I tell thee at his feet I"ll fall a corse, ere mount his bridal bed!
Go choose betwixt my rescue and my grave.
Knowles.--The hunchbach
Notwithstanding the dreadful nature of the events which had occurred during that fatal night, Paul had not forgotten the mortal defiance which had been exchanged between himself and Lectoure. As that young gentleman would probably not know where to find him, he thought it only decorous to save Lectoure the trouble of seeking for him, and about seven in the morning, Lieutenant Walter presented himself at the castle, being charged on behalf of Paul to arrange the terms of the combat. He found Emanuel in Lectoure"s apartment. The latter, on perceiving the officer, withdrew, and went down into the park, that the two young men might more freely discuss the matter. Walter had received from his commander directions to accede to every thing that might be proposed.
The preliminary terms were, therefore, very speedily arranged; and it was agreed between them, that the meeting should take place in the afternoon, at four o"clock. The place of rendezvous the sea-side, near the fisherman"s hut, which was about half-way between Port Louis and Auray castle. As to the weapons, they were to bring their pistols and their swords; it would be decided on the spot which they were to use, it being clearly understood that Lectoure, having been the party insulted, should have the right to make his choice.
As to the marchioness, although in the first instance petrified by the unexpected appearance of Paul, she soon recovered all her natural firmness, and drawing her veil over her face, she withdrew from the chamber, and walked across the outer room which had remained in darkness. She did not, therefore, perceive Marguerite, who was kneeling in one corner of it, mute from astonishment and terror. She after that crossed the park, entered the castle, and repaired to the room in which the scene of the contract had taken place. There, by the dying light of the wax tapers, with both her elbows resting on the table, her head supported on her hands, her eyes riveted to the paper to which Lectoure had already affixed his name, and the marquis had signed the half of his, she pa.s.sed the remainder of the night reflecting upon a new determination. Thus she awaited the coming day without even thinking of taking the least repose, so powerfully did her soul of adamant support the body in which it was enclosed. This resolution was to get Emanuel and Marguerite away from the castle as speedily as possible, for it was from her children, most especially, that she desired to conceal that which was about to take place between Paul and herself.
Marguerite, who had been thus most unexpectedly present at the death-bed of the marquis and of Achard, through which she had so providentially discovered her mother"s secret, rushed into Paul"s arms immediately after her mother"s departure from the cottage, exclaiming:
"Oh! now you are really my brother."
Her tears choked further utterance, and it was some minutes before Paul could tranquillize her agitated spirit, torn by so many and such conflicting emotions. Paul then fearing that the marchioness might enquire for her daughter, on her arrival at the castle, urged Marguerite to hasten thither; and seeing she was still trembling at the recollection of the many horrors she had witnessed, led her out of the cottage, of which he locked the door, and accompanied her to within a few paces of the castle. During this walk, Marguerite had in a certain degree, recovered her composure. Paul stood gazing at her till he saw that she had safely entered the court yard, and then returned to watch and pray beside the body of his father"s faithful servant.
At seven o"clock, the marchioness hearing the noise occasioned by Lieutenant Walter"s arrival at the castle, reached a bell which was standing on the table and rang it. A servant presented himself at the door in the grand livery he had worn the previous evening--it was easy to perceive that he also had not been in bed.
"Inform Mademoiselle d"Auray, that her mother is waiting for her in the drawing room," said the marchioness.
The servant obeyed, and the marchioness resumed, gloomy and motionless, her previous att.i.tude. In a few minutes afterward, she heard a slight noise behind her, and turned round. It was Marguerite. The young girl, with more respect, perhaps, than she had ever before evinced, held out her hand toward her mother, that she might give her her hand to kiss.
But the marchioness remained motionless, as if she had not understood the intention of her daughter. Marguerite let fall her hand, and silently awaited her mother"s pleasure. She also wore the same dress as the night before. Sleep had hovered over the whole world, but had forgotten the inhabitants of Auray castle.
"Come nearer," said the marchioness.
Marguerite advanced one step.
"Why is it that you are thus pale and trembling," continued the marchioness.
"Madam," murmured Marguerite.
"Speak," said the marchioness.
"The death of my father--so sudden--so unexpected," stammered Marguerite; "indeed I have suffered so much this night."