"Are you willing to undertake a commission?"
"If it is to go to the Hotel de Santoval again, never! I have had enough of that!"
"No, it is not that, but to carry this note to him who sent you to my mistress."
"Oh! that is a different matter."
"Here, this is for you; will you do the errand?"
Bahuchet at once placed in his belt the purse she handed him; then he glanced at the note and said:
"But I see no address."
"What is the use? you know perfectly well for whom it is!"
"I beg pardon! I know perfectly well that it is for the young lord who employed me; but I do not know that young lord; I know neither his name nor his residence; I have never seen him, except in the cheap wine shop where he always waited for me."
"And you do not know that he is Comte Leodgard de Marvejols?"
"The young Comte de Marvejols!--Peste!"
"You lie, Monsieur Bahuchet; for you told us about Comte Leodgard long ago, and you knew him perfectly well then!"
"It is difficult to deceive you, my pretty brunette!" said Bahuchet, scratching his ear; "I said that I didn"t know the lover, because he ordered me not to know him; but, between ourselves, I think we may speak more frankly. It is a bargain; I will take the letter to the count."
"Do you know where he lives?"
"I know quite well that it is not with his wife. Say to your beautiful mistress that her commission will be executed to-day.--She must have pitied me when she learned how horribly I was maltreated in her house the last time that I had the honor to call there?"
"We did not know about it until a long time after, and then only through the indiscretion of one of the servants, upon whom absolute secrecy had been enjoined."
"So that Monsieur le Marquis de Santoval got wind of something? Is the man a tiger, a rhinoceros?"
"I know no more of him than you do, and I have no time to talk.--Adieu, Monsieur Bahuchet; and do not forget to carry the letter to Comte Leodgard!"
"It is as if he had it, piquant brunette!--By the way, are you still inclined to a.s.sume the defence of the famous Giovanni?"
"Giovanni! Giovanni!" murmured Miretta, whose face had become deathly pale; and she uttered a profound sigh.
"But I beg your pardon, my dear; I do not know why I speak to you of the ill.u.s.trious brigand, for they say that he has not shown himself in Paris for more than six months--or, at all events, that he has not attacked anybody--which makes it fair to presume that he has left our city! I"
faith, for my part, I am not sorry, and I wish him a pleasant journey; let him go elsewhere to get himself hanged!"
Miretta walked sadly away, murmuring:
"Gone away! oh, yes! he has gone away! He has left France without me! He has abandoned me--and still I cannot believe it!"
XLIV
PLACE ROYALE
It was not easy to obtain access to the Comte de Marvejols when one called at the house in Rue de Bretonvilliers. But Bahuchet persisted, although the concierge told him that the count did not choose to receive visitors.
"Please to say to him that it is Bahuchet, the solicitor"s clerk, the young man of the little wine shop; and I will wager that your master will receive me instantly."
The concierge ushered him into a room in the right wing, and went to the wing at the rear, where Leodgard then was.
After waiting a long while, the concierge returned and said to the young clerk:
"Monsieur le comte will come; wait."
"Why, in heaven"s name, don"t you take me to him? It seems to me that that would be much simpler than to make him put himself out to come here."
"Monsieur le comte never receives anybody in the wing that he occupies."
"Wolf"s head! what mystery! what ceremony!" said Bahuchet to himself, when he was alone. "If this Seigneur Leodgard were proscribed, condemned to death, if the police had orders to pounce upon him, he could not conceal himself more completely from observation!"
The count"s appearance put an end abruptly to the little clerk"s conjectures.
"What brings you here? what do you want of me?" demanded Leodgard, roughly.
"I have come, monsieur le comte, because I was told to come. I have come from the marchioness."
"The marchioness! have you seen her?"
"No, monsieur le comte; but she sent her maid to me--a very pretty brunette, on my word!"
"Well--go on!"
"Who handed me a note and bade me bring it to you."
"A letter from Valentine! Give it to me!"
Leodgard s.n.a.t.c.hed the letter from Bahuchet"s hands, and eagerly ran through it.
"This letter requires no reply," he said to the little man, after reading it. "You may retire."
Bahuchet made a faint grimace.
"Do you mean, monsieur le comte, that I am to go away like this, as I came?"
Leodgard realized what he had forgotten, and hastily placed a gold piece in the messenger"s hand; whereupon Bahuchet withdrew with a radiant face, making innumerable protestations of devotion.
When Leodgard was alone, he again read the note, which contained these words only:
"Beginning to-morrow, try to be on Place Royale between twelve and two o"clock. A girl who is wholly in my confidence will come--I cannot now say on what day--and speak to you in my behalf.--Trust to her, and do whatever she tells you."