Touquet hastened to execute the marquis" orders; it was already late, and there remained only a short time to Villebelle in which to make his preparations for a voyage which he presumed would be of long duration.
The more he reflected, the more he approved of his plan. He imagined that Blanche would find, in travelling in strange countries, distractions which would make her soon forget the persons whom she had left in France, and he flattered himself that he would soon see the consummation of all his wishes.
Eleven o"clock struck. The night was fine; everything was in readiness for their start, some fresh and lively horses were harnessed to a travelling carriage. The marquis was still in his apartment, occupied in finishing some letters to his stewards and some intimate friends in Paris. Near him was the barber, to whom he gave his last instructions; charging him in case he should see Urbain again, to advise that young man to forget a woman whom he could never possess; and to enjoy himself with the large fortune which Villebelle had placed at his disposal.
The barber listened quietly to the marquis; his eyes were fixed on the gold and the bills of exchange spread on the desk by the side of a pair of travelling pistols. A few moments later Villebelle was about to tell Marie to go and call Blanche, when the door of the room opened softly.
The marquis, surprised that anyone should dare to come into his room so late, raised his eyes and recognized Julia, wrapped in her black mantle.
"This woman again!" exclaimed Villebelle, while Touquet turned and remained struck with astonishment on perceiving the Italian.
"Calm yourself, seigneur," said Julia, closing the door of the room, "this visit will be the last that I shall make you."
"How did you come here? What do you want? Speak, hasten to answer me unless you expect me to punish you for your strange conduct."
"I fear nothing, seigneur, it is very little matter what becomes of me after this. I find you here with your confidant, which is just what I wish. Deign to listen attentively to me. That which I am about to tell you will, I am sure, change all your resolutions, and your departure will not take place."
Julia"s singular tone, and her unexpected appearance at so late an hour, inspired Villebelle with curiosity and a secret terror. He signed to the young Italian to speak. The latter seated herself between the marquis and the barber, who waited impatiently for her explanation, and after looking attentively at them for some time with a peculiar expression, she at length began her story.
"It is first necessary, monsieur le marquis, that you should know that I am the daughter of a man named Cesar Perditor, who pa.s.sed for a sorcerer in the eyes of ignorant people, and whose reputation became such that he was obliged to quit Paris to protect himself from death, or, at least, from a perpetual prison in the dungeons of the Bastile."
"Cesar! I often heard speak of that famous sorcerer," said the marquis.
"Did he not hold his conferences in a quarry near Gentilly?"
"Yes, seigneur; and there it was that an old man came to consult him, an old man whose daughter you had abducted, and whom you had wounded with your sword--the unfortunate Delmar."
"Estrelle"s father?"
"Exactly, monseigneur. Old Delmar told his troubles to my father, and begged him to give him the means to revenge himself upon you; but despite all his skill Cesar would have had difficulty in satisfying the old man if, while receiving the confidences of a great part of the n.o.blemen and of the women of fashion, he had not learned where your little house was situated, and to what neighborhood you had taken the young Estrelle. He told it to the old man, and the latter rescued his daughter from your hands."
"What? It was her father who took her from the shelter where I had placed her?" said the marquis with surprise, and appearing at every moment more interested in Julia"s tale. "And what became of her?"
"One moment, seigneur, you will learn all if you will allow me to continue. Old Delmar had regained his daughter, but you had dishonored her, and the adventure had caused too much stir to allow them to remain in the city that you lived in. He possessed some fortune; he sold everything, realized his property, recompensed my father for the service he had rendered him, and carried Estrelle to the depths of Lorraine, and there she gave birth to her child."
"Good G.o.d! she was a mother! can it be possible that Estrelle made me a father? Ah, Julia, in mercy finish."
Julia seemed to enjoy for some moments the marquis" uneasiness, then she resumed her story.
"It was at this time that my father was obliged to escape from Paris in order to avoid arrest, and the report spread that he had perished in a dungeon of the Bastile; but he had ama.s.sed sufficient for his subsistence, and leaving his dangerous occupation, he had no thought but to live in peace. I was then in Italy, my birthplace. My father came to seek me, and brought me to France, the climate of which pleased him.
Unable to return to Paris, where he would have been recognized, my father settled in the neighborhood of Nancy; there he again saw old Delmar and his sad daughter, secretly bringing up a child of whom she could only call herself the mother with blushes. Later he became acquainted with a poor farmer who had been reduced to poverty by the misconduct of his son, a wretch who, after committing a crime in the country where he was born, had fled, carrying away from his parents all that they possessed, and leaving them in the direst poverty."
"The history of this man can have no connection with Estrelle"s child,"
said the marquis, impatiently; "in pity, Julia, finish what you have to say to me."
"Pardon me, monsieur le marquis, that is more important than you think, and it is very interesting to your worthy confidant, who has already recognized his father in the old farmer of whom I have spoken."
The barber, who had given great attention to Julia"s last words, immediately exclaimed,--
"Oh, was that my father? I was guilty towards him I confess; love of gold made me commit many faults, but I always had the intention of repairing the wrong I had done, and there is still time for it."
"No, it is too late," said Julia, casting at the barber a terrible look.
"Is he dead?"
Julia remained silent. The marquis rose abruptly, exclaiming,--
"Well, then, cruel woman, have you amused yourself sufficiently with my torture? When are you going to make an end of this?"
"You are both very impatient," said the young Italian, smiling bitterly; "but there is little more to tell you. Old Touquet asked my father whether he had, in his travels, heard his son spoken of. My father could tell him nothing satisfactory. Soon after we went to dwell in a village near Amiens; it was there that I lived up to the age of fifteen years.
Then my father died; and I came to Paris, where I went into a shop as a simple workwoman. My father had left me no property except a ma.n.u.script containing the most curious adventures of his life, and the secret history of the persons who had consulted him. This is how I learned, monsieur le marquis, of the abduction of poor Estrelle, and it was in examining these notes of my father that I saw in what manner the barber Touquet had acted toward his parents."
"Is that all that you know?" said the marquis. "Have you learned nothing more in regard to Estrelle and her child?"
"A short time ago I did not know anything further, seigneur, but chance has put me in possession of all that you would know, thanks to a visit which I paid to the barber, for it was at his house that I found the clew to the mystery."
"At my house?" said Touquet, looking at Julia in surprise.
"Yes, at your house, in the closet hidden at the back of the alcove in Marguerite"s chamber."
Pale and trembling, the barber muttered,--
"You have been in that closet--but there was nothing there; no, I am very certain of it."
"You are mistaken, for in disturbing, by chance, a chest which stood on the floor, I found this portfolio, which probably had been hidden by the person whom you lodged there, who, not knowing how to dispose of these important papers, had deemed it wise to put them in this secret place during the time that he stayed at your house."
The barber looked with terror on the portfolio which Julia had drawn from beneath her cloak, while the marquis exclaimed,--
"Do these papers come from Blanche"s father?"
"They come, in fact, from the person who brought that young girl to the barber"s house. Seigneur, read first that one."
Julia gave a paper to Villebelle, who uttered a cry of surprise as he read,--
"Certificate of the birth of Blanche, daughter of Estrelle Delmar."
"O my G.o.d!" said the marquis, breathing with difficulty, "can it be?"
"Wait, seigneur, do you know Estrelle"s writing?"
"Yes, that is it, I recognize it."
"Read this note."
The marquis took the letter and eagerly read it,--
I feel that I am about to die, but, at least, my father has forgiven me. He had forbidden me to make Blanche"s existence known to her father, and, as long as he lived, I respected his orders; but he is no more, and I am about to follow him to the tomb.
Villebelle, Blanche is your daughter, the fruit of our love.
Good-by. Love her more than you have loved her mother. I forgive you.
ESTRELLE DELMAR.