"I did not know what had become of Trofin."
"Perhaps not, but my people do. When he swore to keep the matter secret, he was unmarried, but a few years later, having entered the bonds of matrimony, he told all to his young wife. This woman turned out badly; she had several lovers, and through one of them the matter came to my employer"s ears."
"And it was on the word of a lackey, and the gossip of a dissolute woman, that they have dared to accuse me."
No word of direct accusation had pa.s.sed, and yet the Count sought to defend himself.
Mascarin saw all this, and smiled inwardly, as he replied, "We have other evidence than that of Ludovic."
"But," said the Count, who was sure of the fidelity of his friend, "you do not, I suppose, pretend that the Baron de Clinchain has deceived me?"
The state of mental anxiety and perturbation into which this man of the world had been thrown must have been very intense for him not to have perceived that every word he uttered put a fresh weapon in his adversary"s hands.
"He has not denounced you by word of mouth," replied the agent. "He has done far more; he has written his testimony."
"It is a lie," exclaimed the Count.
Mascarin was not disturbed by this insult.
"The Baron has written," repeated he, "though he never thought that any eye save his own would read what he had penned. As you are aware, the Baron de Clinchain is a most methodical man, and punctilious to a degree."
"I allow that; continue."
"Consequently you will not be surprised to learn that from his earliest years he has kept a diary, and each day he puts down in the most minute manner everything that has occurred, even to the different conditions of his bodily health."
The Count knew of his friend"s foible, and remembered that when they were young many a practical joke had been played upon his friend on this account, and now he began to perceive the dangerous ground upon which he stood.
"On hearing the facts of the case from Ludovic"s wife"s lover,"
continued Mascarin, "my employers decided that if the tale was a true one, some mention of it would be found in the Baron"s diary; and thanks to the ingenuity and skill of certain parties, they have had in their possession for twenty-four hours the volume for the year 1842."
"Scoundrels!" muttered the Count.
"They find not only one, but three distinct statements relating to the affair in question."
The Count started again to his feet with so menacing a look, that the worthy Mascarin pushed back his chair in antic.i.p.ation of an immediate a.s.sault.
"Proofs!" gasped the Count. "Give me proofs."
"Everything has been provided for, and the three leaves by which you are so deeply compromised have been cut from the book."
"Where are these pages?"
Mascarin at once put on an air of injured innocence.
"I have not seen them, but the leaves have been photographed, and a print has been entrusted to me, in order to enable you to recognize the writing."
As he spoke he produced three specimens of the photographic art, wonderfully clear and full of fidelity. The Count examined them with the utmost attention, and then in a voice which trembled with emotion, he said, "True enough, it is his handwriting."
Not a line upon Mascarin"s face indicated the delight with which he received this admission.
"Before continuing the subject," he observed placidly, "I consider it necessary for you to understand the position taken up by the Baron de Clinchain. Do you wish, my lord, to read these extracts, or shall I do so for you?"
"Read," answered the Count, adding in a lower voice, "I cannot see to do so."
Mascarin drew his chair nearer to the lights on the table. "I perceive,"
said he, "that the first entry was made on the evening after the--well, the accident. This is it: "October 26, 1842. Early this morning went out shooting with Octave de Mussidan. We were accompanied by Ludovic, a groom, and by a young man named Montlouis, whom Octave intends one day to make his steward. It was a splendid day, and by twelve o"clock I had killed a leash of hares. Octave was in excellent spirits, and by one o"clock we were in a thick cover not far from Bevron. I and Ludovic were a few yards in front of the others, when angry voices behind attracted our attention. Octave and Montlouis were arguing violently, and all at once the Count struck his future steward a violent blow. In another moment Montlouis came up to me. "What is the matter?" cried I. Instead of replying to my question, the unhappy young man turned back to his master, uttering a series of threats. Octave had evidently been reproaching him for some low intrigue he had been engaged in, and was reflecting upon the character of the woman. "At any rate," cried Montlouis, "she is quite as virtuous as Madame de Mussidan was before her marriage.""
""As Octave heard these words, he raised the loaded gun he held in his hand and fired. Montlouis fell to the ground, bathed in blood. We all ran up to him, but he was quite dead, for the charge of shot had penetrated his heart. I was almost beside myself, but Octave"s despair was terrible to witness. Tearing his hair, he knelt beside the dead man.
Ludovic, however, maintained his calmness. "We must say that it was an accident," observed he quickly. "Thinking that Montlouis was not near, my master fired into cover."
""This was agreed to, and we carefully arranged what we should say. It was I who went before the magistrate and made a deposition, which was unhesitatingly received. But, oh, what a fearful day! My pulse is at eighty, and I feel I shall not sleep all night. Octave is half mad, and Heaven knows what will become of him.""
The Count, from the depths of his armchair, listened without apparent emotion to this terrible revelation. He was quite crushed, and was searching for some means to exorcise the green spectre of the past, which had so suddenly confronted him. Mascarin never took his eyes off him. All at once the Count roused himself from his prostration, as a man awakes from a hideous dream. "This is sheer folly," cried he.
"It is folly," answered Mascarin, "that would carry much weight with it."
"And suppose I were to show you," returned the Count, "that all these entries are the offspring of a diseased mind?"
Mascarin shook his head with an air of affected grief. "There is no use, my lord, in indulging in vain hopes. We," he continued, wishing to a.s.sociate himself with the Count, "we might of course admit that the Baron de Clinchain had made this entry in his diary in a moment of temporary insanity, were it not for the painful fact that there were others. Le me read them."
"Go on; I am all attention."
"We find the following, three days later: "Oct. 29th, 1842. I am most uneasy about my health. I feel shooting pains in all my joints. The derangement of my system arises entirely from this business of Octave"s.
I had to run the gauntlet of a second court, and the judge"s eyes seemed to look me through and through. I also saw with much alarm that my second statement differs somewhat from the first one, so I have now learned it by heart. Ludovic is a sharp fellow, and quite self-possessed. I would like to have him in my household. I keep myself shut up in my house for fear of meeting friends who want to hear all the details of the accident. I believe I may say that I have repeated the story more than a couple of dozen times." Now, my lord," added Mascarin, "what do you say to this?"
"Continue the reading of the extracts."
"The third allusion, though it is short, is still very important: "November 3rd, 1842. Thank Heaven! all is over. I have just returned from the court. Octave has been acquitted. Ludovic had behaved wonderfully. He explained the reason of the misadventure in a way that was really surprising in an uneducated man, and there was not an atom of suspicion among judge, jury, or spectators. I have changed my mind; I would not have a fellow like Ludovic in my service; he is much too sharp. When I had been duly sworn, I gave my evidence. Though I was much agitated, I went through it all right; but when I got home I felt very ill, and discovered that my pulse was down to fifty. Ah, me! what terrible misfortunes are wrought by a momentary burst of anger. I now write this sentence in my diary: _"Never give way to first impulses."_"
These words," continued Mascarin, "were inscribed on every one of the pages following,--at least so those who examined the entries informed me."
Mascarin persisted in representing himself as the agent of others, but still the Count made no allusion to the persons in the background.
After a few moments the Count rose and limped up and down, as though he hoped by this means to collect his ideas, or perhaps in order to prevent his visitor from scanning his face too closely.
"Have you done?" asked he, all at once.
"Yes, my lord."
"Have you thought what an impartial judge would say?"
"I think I have."
"He would say," broke in the Count, "that no sane man would have written such things down, for there are certain secrets which we do not whisper even to ourselves, and it is hardly likely that any man would make such compromising entries in a diary which might be lost or stolen, and which would certainly be read by his heir. Do you think that a man of high position would record his perjury, which is a crime that would send him to penal servitude?"
Mascarin gazed upon the Count with an air of pity.
"You are not going the right way, my lord, to get out of your trouble.
No lawyer would adopt your theory. If the remaining volumes of M. de Clinchain"s diaries were produced in court, I imagine that other equally startling entries would be found in them."