"The Duke ill--impossible!"
"This girl has just given me the information. Tell us all about it, Francoise."
"I heard to-day at the Chateau that the doctors had quite given him over."
"But what is the matter with him?"
"I did not hear."
M. de Puymandour stood perfectly aghast.
"It is always the way in this world," Daumon philosophically said. "In the midst of life we are in death!"
"Good morning, Counsellor," said De Puymandour; "I must try and find out something more about this."
Breathless, and with his mind filled with anxiety, he hurried on.
All the servants and laborers on the Champdoce estate were gathered together in a group, talking eagerly to each other, and as soon as M. de Puymandour appeared, one of the servants, disengaging himself from his fellows, came towards him. This was the Duke"s old, trustworthy servant.
"Well?" exclaimed M. de Puymandour.
"Oh, sir," cried the old man, "this is too horrible; my poor master will certainly die."
"But I do not know what is the matter with him; no one has told me anything, in fact."
"It was terribly sudden," answered the man. "It was about this time the day before yesterday that the Duke was alone with M. Norbert in the dining-room. All at once we heard a great outcry. We ran in and saw my poor master lying senseless on the ground, his face purple and distorted."
"He must have had a fit of apoplexy."
"Not exactly; the doctor called it a rush of blood to the brain; at least, I think that is what he said, and he added that the reason he did not die on the spot was because in falling he had cut open his head against the oaken sideboard, and the wound bled profusely. We carried him up to his bed; he showed no signs of life, and now----"
"Well, how is he now?"
"No one dare give an opinion; my poor master is quite unconscious, and should he recover--and I do not think for a moment that he will--the doctor says his mind will have entirely gone."
"Horrible! Too horrible! And a man of such intellectual power, too. I shall not ask you to let me look at him, for I could do no good, and the sight would upset me. But can I not see M. Norbert?"
"Pray, do not attempt to do so, sir."
"I was his father"s intimate friend, and if the condolences of such a one could a.s.suage the affliction under which--"
"Impossible!" answered the man in a quick, eager manner. "M. Norbert was with his father at the time of his seizure, and has given strict orders that he is not to be disturbed on any account; but I must go to him at once, for we are expecting the physicians who are coming from Poitiers."
"Very well, then I will go now, but to-night I will send up one of my people for news."
With these words, M. de Puymandour walked slowly away, absorbed in thought. The manner and expression of the servant had struck him as extremely strange. He noted the fact that Norbert was alone with his father at the time of the seizure, and, recalling to mind the opposition he had met with from his daughter, he began to imagine that the Duke had found his son rebellious, and that the apoplectic fit had been brought on by a sudden access of pa.s.sion. Interest and ambition working together brought him singularly near the truth.
"If the Duke dies, or becomes a maniac," thought he to himself, "the end as regards us will be the same for Norbert will break off the match to a certainty."
He felt that such a proceeding would cause him to be more jeered at and ridiculed than ever, and that the only path of escape left open to him was to marry his daughter to the Marquis de Croisenois, which was a most desirable alliance, in spite of all he had said against it. A voice close to his ear aroused him from his reflections: it was that of Daumon, who had come up unperceived.
"Was the girl"s information correct, Count?" asked he. "How are the Duke and M. Norbert, for of course you have seen them both?"
"M. Norbert is too much agitated by the sad event to see any one."
"Of course that was to be looked for," returned the wily Counsellor; "for the seizure was terribly sudden."
M. de Puymandour was too much occupied with his own thoughts to spare much pity for Norbert. He would have given a great deal to have known what the young man was doing, and especially what he was thinking of at the present moment.
The poor lad was standing by the bedside of his dying father, watching eagerly for some indication, however slight, of returning life or reason. The hours of horror and self-reproach had entirely changed his feelings and ideas; for it was only at the instant when he saw his father raise the poisoned wine to his lips that he saw his crime in all its hideous enormity. His soul rose up in rebellion against his crime, and the words, "Parricide! murderer!" seemed to ring in his ears like a trumpet call. When his father fell to the ground, his instinct made him shout for aid; but an instant afterwards terror took possession of him, and, rushing from the house, he sought the open country, as though striving to escape from himself.
Jean, the old servant, who had noticed Norbert"s strange look, was seized with a terrible fear. Trusted as he was by both the Duke and his son, he had many means of knowing all that was going on in the household, and was no stranger to the differences that had arisen recently between father and son. He knew how violent the tempers of both were, and he also knew that some woman was urging on Norbert to a course of open rebellion. He had seen the cruel blow dealt by the Duke, and had wondered greatly when he saw Norbert return to the Chateau. Why had he done so? He had been in the courtyard when Norbert threw the gla.s.s from the window. Putting all these circ.u.mstances together, as soon as the inanimate body of the Duke had been laid upon a bed, Jean went into the dining-room, feeling sure that he should make some discovery which would confirm his suspicions. The bottle from which the Duke had filled his gla.s.s stood half emptied upon the table. With the greatest care, he poured a few drops of its contents into the hollow of his hand, and tasted it with the utmost caution. The wine still retained its customary taste and scent. Not trusting, however, to this, Jean, after making sure that he was not observed, carried the bottle to his own room, and concealed it. After taking this precaution, he ordered one of the other servants to remain by the side of the Duke until the arrival of the doctor, and then went in search of Norbert.
For two hours his efforts were fruitless. Giving up his search in despair, he turned once more to regain the Chateau, and, taking the path through the wood, suddenly perceived a human form stretched on the turf beneath a tree. He moved cautiously towards the figure, and at once recognized Norbert. The faithful servant bent over his young master, and shook him by the arm to arouse him from his state of stupor. At the first touch, Norbert started to his feet with a shriek of terror. With mingled fear and pity, Jean noticed the look that shone in the young man"s eyes, more like that of some hunted animal than a human being.
"Do not be alarmed, M. Norbert; it is only I," said he.
"And what do you want?"
"I came to look for you, and to entreat you to come back with me to Champdoce."
"Back to Champdoce?" repeated Norbert hoa.r.s.ely; "no, never!"
"You must, Master Norbert; for your absence now would cause a terrible scandal. Your place at this critical time is by the bedside of your father."
"Never! never!" repeated the poor boy; but he yielded pa.s.sively when Jean pa.s.sed his arm through his, and led him away towards the Chateau.
Supported thus by the old man"s arm, he crossed the courtyard, and ascended the staircase; but at his father"s door he withdrew his hand, and struggled to get away.
"I will not; no, no, I cannot," gasped he.
"You must and you shall," returned the old man firmly. "Whatever your feelings may be, no stain shall rest on the family honor."
These words roused Norbert; he stepped across the room, and dropped on his knees by the bed, placing his forehead upon his father"s icy hand.
He burst into a pa.s.sion of tears and sobs, and the simple peasants, who surrounded the couch of the insensible n.o.bleman, breathed a sigh; for, from his pallid face and burning eyes, they believed he must be mad.
They were not far out in this surmise; but the tears relieved his over-wrought brain, and with this relief came the sense of intense suffering. When the physician arrived, he was able to appear before him merely as a deeply anxious son.
"There is no hope for the Duke, I regret to say," said the medical man, who felt that it was useless to keep Norbert in suspense. "There is a feeble chance of saving his life; but even should we succeed in doing so, his intellect will be irretrievably gone. This is a sad truth, but I feel it my duty to inform you of it. I will come again to-morrow."
As the doctor left the room, Norbert threw himself into a chair, and clasped his hands round his head, which throbbed until it seemed as if it would burst. For more than half an hour he sat motionless, and then started to his feet with a stifled cry; for he remembered the bottle into which he had poured the poison, and which had been left on the table. Had any one drunk from it? What had become of it? The agony of his mind gave him the necessary strength to descend to the dining-room; but the bottle was not on the table, nor was it in its customary place in the cupboard. The unhappy boy was looking for it everywhere, when the door silently opened, and Jean appeared on the threshold. The expression upon his young master"s face so startled the faithful old man that he nearly dropped the lighted candle that he carried in his hand.
"Why are you here, Master Norbert?" asked he in a voice that trembled with emotion.
"I was looking for----I wanted to find----," faltered Norbert.
Jean"s suspicions at once became certainties; he walked up to his young master, and whispered in his ear,--
"You are looking for the Duke"s bottle of wine, are you not? It is quite safe; for I have taken it to my room. To-morrow the contents shall be emptied away, and there will be no proof existing."