Her face a.s.sumed a more proud and disdainful expression, and the light in her dark eyes grew brighter and brighter.
"You are wrong," said she, "M. de Croisenois was not my lover."
"You need no longer take the pains to lie; I ask nothing now."
Marie"s utter calmness jarred inexpressibly upon Norbert"s exasperated frame of mind. He would have given much to change this mood of hers, which he could not at all understand. But in vain did he say the most cutting things, and coupled them with bitter taunts, for she had reached a pitch of exaltation far above his sarcasms and abuse.
"I am not lying," answered she frigidly. "What should I gain by it? What more have I to gain in this world? You desire to learn the truth; here it is then: It was with my knowledge and permission that George was here to-night. He came because I had asked him to do so, and I left the gate in the garden wall open, so as to facilitate his entrance. He had not been more than five minutes in the room, when you arrived, and he had never been there before. It would have been easy for me to have left you; but as I bear your name, I could not dishonor it. As you entered, he was entreating me to fly with him; both his life and his honor were in my hands. Ah, why did I pause for an instant? Had I consented, he would still have been alive, and in some far distant country he and I might have learned that this world has something more to offer than unhappiness and misery. Yes, as you will have it, you shall have all. I loved him ere I knew that you even existed. I have only my own folly to blame, only my own unhappy weakness to deplore. Why did I not steadily refuse to become your wife? You say that you have slain George. Not so, for in my heart his memory will ever remain bright and ineffaceable."
"Beware!" said Norbert furiously, "beware if----"
"Ah, would you kill me too? Do not fear resistance; my life is a blank without him. He is dead; let death come to me; it would be a welcome visitant. The only kindness that you could now bestow upon me would be my death-blow. Strike then, and end it all! In death we should be united, George and I; and as my limbs grew stiff and my breath pa.s.sed away, my whitening lips would murmur words of thanks."
Norbert listened to her, overwhelmed by the intensity of her pa.s.sion, and marvelling that he had any power to feel after the terrible event which had fallen upon his devoted head.
Could this be Marie, the soft and gentle woman, who spoke with such pa.s.sionate vehemence and boldly braved his anger? How could he have so misunderstood her? He forgot all his anger in his admiration. She seemed to him to have undergone a complete change. There was an unearthly style of beauty around her--her eyes blazed and shone with the lurid light of a far-distant planet, while her wealth of raven hair fell in disordered ma.s.ses on her shoulders. It was pa.s.sion, real pa.s.sion, that he beheld to-night, not that mere empty delusion which he had so long followed blindly. Marie was really capable of a deep-rooted feeling of adoration for the man she loved, while with Diana de Mussidan, the woman with her fair hair and the steel-blue eyes, love was but the l.u.s.t of conquest, or the desire to jeer at a suitor"s earnestness. Ah, what a revelation had been made to him now! And what would he not have given to have wiped out the past! He advanced towards her with outstretched arms.
"Marie!" said he, "Marie!"
"I forbid you to call me Marie!" shrieked she wildly.
He made no reply, but still advanced towards her, when, with a terrible cry, she recoiled from him.
"Blood!" she screamed, "ah, heavens! he has blood upon his hands!"
Norbert glanced downwards; upon the wristband of his shirt there was a tell-tale crimson stain.
The d.u.c.h.ess raised her hand, and pointed towards the door.
"Leave me," said she, with an extraordinary a.s.sumption of energy, "leave me; the secret of your crime is safe; I will not betray you or hand you over to justice. But remember that a murdered man stands between us, and that I loathe and execrate you."
Rage and jealousy tortured Norbert"s soul. Though George de Croisenois was no more, he was still his successful rival in Marie"s love.
"You forget," said he in a voice hoa.r.s.e with pa.s.sion, "that you are mine, and that, as your husband, I can make your existence one long scene of agony and misery. Keep this fact in your memory. To-morrow, at six o"clock, I shall be here."
The clock was striking two as he left the house and hastened to the spot where he had left his horse.
The soldier was still pacing backwards and forwards, leading the Duke"s horse.
"My faith!" said the man, as soon as he perceived Norbert, "you pay precious long visits. I had only leave to go to the theatre, and I shall get into trouble over this."
"Pshaw! I promised you twenty francs. Here are two louis."
The soldier pocketed the money with an air of delighted surprise, and Norbert sprang into the saddle.
An hour later he gave the appointed signal upon the window pane, behind which the trusty Jean was waiting.
"Take care that no one sees you as you take the horse to the stable,"
said the Duke hastily, "and then come to me, for I want your a.s.sistance and advice."
CHAPTER XVIII.
THE HEIR OF CHAMPDOCE.
As long as she was in Norbert"s presence, anger and indignation gave the d.u.c.h.ess de Champdoce strength; but as soon as she was left alone her energy gave way, and with an outburst of tears she sank, half fainting, upon a couch. Her despair was augmented from the fact that she felt that had it not been for her, George de Croisenois would never have met with his death.
"Had I not made that fatal appointment," she sobbed, "he would be alive and well now; my love has slain him as surely as if my hand had held the steel that has pierced his heart!"
She at first thought of seeking refuge with her father, but abandoned the idea almost immediately, for she felt that he would refuse to enter into her grievance, or would say, "You are a d.u.c.h.ess; you have an enormous fortune. You must be happy; and if you are not, it must be your own fault."
In terrible anguish the night pa.s.sed away; and when her maids entered the room, they found her lying on the floor, dressed as she had been the night before. No one knew what to do, and messengers were dispatched in all directions to summon medical advice.
Norbert"s return was eagerly welcomed by the terrified domestics, and a general feeling of relief pervaded the establishment.
The Duke had grown very uneasy as to what might have happened during his absence. He questioned the servants as diplomatically as he could; and while he was thus engaged, the doctors who had been summoned arrived.
After seeing their patient, they did not for a moment conceal their opinion that the case was a very serious one, and that it was possible that she might not survive this mysterious seizure. They impressed upon Norbert the necessity of the d.u.c.h.ess being kept perfectly quiet and never left alone, and then departed, promising to call again in the afternoon.
Their injunctions were unnecessary, for Norbert had established himself by his wife"s bedside, resolved not to quit her until her health was re-established or death had intervened to release her from suffering.
Fever had claimed her for its own, and in her delusion she uttered many incoherent ravings, the key to which Norbert alone held, and which filled his soul with dread and terror.
This was the second time that Norbert had been compelled to watch over a sick-bed, guarding within his heart a terrible secret. At Champdoce he had sat by his father"s side, who could have revealed the terrible attempt against his life; and now it was his wife that he was keeping a watch on, lest her lips should utter the horrible secret of the death of George de Croisenois.
Compelled to remain by his wife"s side, the thoughts of his past life forced themselves upon him, and he shuddered to think that, at the age of twenty-five he had only to look back upon scenes of misery and crime, which cast a cloud of gloom and horror over the rest of his days. What a terrible future to come after so hideous a past!
He had another source of anxiety, and frequently rang the bell to inquire for Jean.
"Send him to me as soon as he comes," was his order.
At last Jean made his appearance, and his master led him into a deeply-recessed window.
"Well?" asked he.
"All is settled, my lord; be easy."
"And Caroline?"
"Has left. I gave her twenty thousand francs, and saw her into the train myself. She is going to the States, where she hopes to find a cousin who will marry her; at least, that is her intention."
Norbert heaved a deep sigh of relief, for the thought of Caroline Schimmel had laid like a heavy burden upon his heart.
"And how about the other matter?" asked he.
The old man shook his head.
"What has been done?"