The old woman paid no attention, and the man began again: "Tell him, I say, tell him."
The doctor looked at Mother Sale, who turned a deep scarlet. "I am sure I am very sorry if I said anything to hurt the feelings of such a good young lady," she muttered.
"What young lady? Of whom do you speak?" asked the doctor, turning hastily around.
"Well, sir, I will tell you the truth. The mad doctor gave me twenty francs to tell Mamselle Cecile the story of her father and mother."
M. Rivals seized the old peasant woman and shook her violently.
"And you dared to do that?" he cried, in a furious rage.
"It was for twenty francs. I could never have opened my lips but for the twenty francs, sir. In the first place, I knew nothing about it until he told me, so that I could repeat it."
"The wretch! But who could have told him?"
A groan from the sick-bed recalled the physician to his duty. All the long night he watched there, and when all was over he returned in haste to Etiolles and went directly in search of Cecile. Her room was empty, and the bed had not been slept in. His heart stood still. He ran to the office, still he found no one. But the door of Madeleine"s old room stood open, and there among the relics of the dear dead, prostrate on the _Prie-Dieu_, was Cecile asleep, in an att.i.tude that told of a night of prayer and tears. She opened her eyes as her grandfather touched her.
"And the wretches told you the secret that we have taken so much pains to hide from you! And strangers and enemies told you, my poor little darling, the sad tale we concealed."
She hid her face on his shoulder. "I am so ashamed," she whispered.
"And this is the reason that you did not wish to marry? Tell me why?"
"Because I did not wish to acknowledge my mother"s dishonor, and my conscience compelled me to have no secrets from my husband. There was but one thing to do, and I did it."
"But you love him?"
"With my whole heart; and I believe he loves me so well that he would marry me in spite of my shameful history; but I would never consent to such a sacrifice. A man does not marry a girl who has no father--who has no name, or, if she had one, it would be that of a robber and forger."
"But you are mistaken, my child; Jack was proud and happy to marry you with a thorough knowledge of your history. I told it all to him, and if you had had more confidence in me, you would have avoided this trial to us all."
"And he was willing to marry me!"
"Child! he loves you. Besides, your destinies are similar. He has no father, and his mother has never been married. The only difference between you is that your mother was a saint, and his is a sinner."
Then the doctor, who had told Jack Cecile"s history, now related to her the long martyrdom of the youth she loved. He told her of his exile from his mother"s arms--of all that he had endured. "I understand it all now,"
he cried; "it is she who has told Hirsch of your mother"s marriage."
While the doctor was talking, Cecile was overwhelmed with despair to think that she had caused Jack, already so unhappy, so much needless sorrow. "O, how he has suffered!" she sobbed. "Have you heard anything from him?"
"No; but he can come and tell you himself all that you wish to know,"
answered her grandfather, with a smile.
"But he may not wish to come."
"Well, then, we will go to him. It is Sunday; let us find him and bring him home with us."
An hour or two later, M. Rivals and his granddaughter were on their way to Paris. Just after they left, a man stopped before the house. He looked at the little door. "This is the place," he said, and he rang. The servant opened the door, but seeing before her one of those dangerous ped-lers that wander through the country, she attempted to close it again.
"What do you want?"
"The gentleman of the house."
"He is not at home."
"And the young lady?"
"She is not at home, either."
"When will they be back?"
"I have no idea!" And she closed the door.
"Good heavens!" said Belisaire, in a choked voice; "and must he be permitted to die without any help?"
CHAPTER XXIII.--A MELANCHOLY SPECTACLE.
That evening there was a great literary entertainment at the editors of the Review; a fete had been arranged to celebrate Charlotte"s return, at which it was proposed that D"Argenton should read his new poem.
But was there not something rather ridiculous in deploring the absence of a person who was then present? And how could he describe the sufferings of a deserted lover, he who was supposed at the moment to be at the summit of bliss, by reason of the return of the beloved object?
Never had the apartments been so luxuriously arranged; flowers were there in profusion. The toilet of Charlotte was in exquisite taste, white with cl.u.s.ters of violets, and all the surroundings breathed an atmosphere of riches. Yet nothing could have been more deceptive.
The Review was in a dying condition; the numbers appearing at longer intervals, and growing small by degrees and beautifully less. D"Argenton had swallowed up in it the half of his fortune, and now wished to sell it. It was this unfortunate situation, added to an attack skilfully managed, that had induced the foolish Charlotte to return to him. He had only to a.s.sume before her the air of a great man crushed by unmerited misfortune, for her to reply that she would serve him always.
D"Argenton was foolish and conceited, but he understood the nature of this woman in a most wonderful degree. She thought him handsomer and more fascinating than he was twelve years before, when she saw him for the first time, under the chandeliers of the Moronval salon. Many of the same persons were there also: Laba.s.sandre in bottle-green velvet, with the high boots of Faust; and Dr. Hirsch with his coat-sleeves spotted by various chemicals; and Moronval in a black coat very white in the seams, and a white cravat very black in the folds; several "children of the sun,"--the everlasting j.a.panese prince, and the Egyptian from the banks of the Nile. What a strange set of people they were! They might have been a band of pilgrims on the march toward some unknown Mecca, whose golden lamps retreat before them. During the twelve years that we have known them, many have fallen from the ranks, but others have risen to take their places; nothing discourages them, neither cold nor heat, nor even hunger. They hurry on, but they never arrive. Among them D"Argenton, better clothed and better fed, resembled a rich Hadji with his harem, his pipes, and his riches; on this evening he was especially radiant, for he had triumphed.
During the reading of the poem Charlotte sat in an att.i.tude of feigned indifference, blushing occasionally at veiled allusions to herself.
Near her was Madame Moronval, who, small as she was, seemed quite tall because of the extraordinary height of her forehead and the length of her chin. The poem went on and on, the fire crackled on the hearth, and the wind rattled against the gla.s.s doors of the balcony, as it did on a certain night of which Charlotte apparently had but little remembrance.
Suddenly, during a most pathetic pa.s.sage, the door opened suddenly; the servant appeared, and with a terrified air summoned her mistress.
"Madame, madame!" she cried.
Charlotte went to her. "What is it?" she asked.
"A man insists on seeing you. I told him that it was impossible; but he said he would wait for you, and he seated himself on the stairs."
"I will see him," said Charlotte, much moved; for she guessed at the purport of the message.
But D"Argenton objected, and turning toward Laba.s.sandre, he said, "Will you have the goodness to see who this intruder is?" and the poet turned back to the table to resume his reading. But the door opened again wide enough to admit the head and arm of Laba.s.sandre, who beckoned earnestly.
"What is it?" said D"Argenton, impatiently, when he reached the ante-room.
"Jack is very ill," said the tenor.
"I don"t believe it," answered the poet.