Old Tabaret had just thrust one of the letters into the depths of his capacious pocket, when the advocate returned.
He was one of those men of strongly formed character, who never lose their self-control. He was very cunning and had long accustomed himself to dissimulation, that indispensable armour of the ambitious.
As he entered the room nothing in his manner betrayed what had taken place between Madame Gerdy and himself. He was absolutely as calm as, when seated in his arm-chair, he listened to the interminable stories of his clients.
"Well," asked old Tabaret, "how is she now?"
"Worse," answered Noel. "She is now delirious, and no longer knows what she says. She has just a.s.sailed me with the most atrocious abuse, upbraiding me as the vilest of mankind! I really believe she is going out of her mind."
"One might do so with less cause," murmured M. Tabaret; "and I think you ought to send for the doctor."
"I have just done so."
The advocate had resumed his seat before his bureau, and was rearranging the scattered letters according to their dates. He seemed to have forgotten that he had asked his old friend"s advice; nor did he appear in any way desirous of renewing the interrupted conversation. This was not at all what old Tabaret wanted.
"The more I ponder over your history, my dear Noel," he observed, "the more I am bewildered. I really do not know what resolution I should adopt, were I in your situation."
"Yes, my old friend," replied the advocate sadly, "it is a situation that might well perplex even more profound experiences than yours."
The old amateur detective repressed with difficulty the sly smile, which for an instant hovered about his lips.
"I confess it humbly," he said, taking pleasure in a.s.suming an air of intense simplicity, "but you, what have you done? Your first impulse must have been to ask Madame Gerdy for an explanation."
Noel made a startled movement, which pa.s.sed unnoticed by old Tabaret, preoccupied as he was in trying to give the turn he desired to the conversation.
"It was by that," answered Noel, "that I began."
"And what did she say?"
"What could she say! Was she not overwhelmed by the discovery?"
"What! did she not attempt to exculpate herself?" inquired the detective greatly surprised.
"Yes! she attempted the impossible. She pretended she could explain the correspondence. She told me . . . But can I remember what she said?
Lies, absurd, infamous lies."
The advocate had finished gathering up his letters, without noticing the abstraction. He tied them together carefully, and replaced them in the secret drawer of his bureau.
"Yes," continued he, rising and walking backwards and forward across his study, as if the constant movement could calm his anger, "yes, she pretended she could show me I was wrong. It was easy, was it not, with the proofs I held against her? The fact is she adores her son, and her heart is breaking at the idea that he may be obliged to rest.i.tute what he has stolen from me. And I, idiot, fool, coward, almost wished not to mention the matter to her. I said to myself, I will forgive, for after all she has loved me! Loved? no. She would see me suffer the most horrible tortures, without shedding a tear, to prevent a single hair falling from her son"s head."
"She has probably warned the count," observed old Tabaret, still pursuing his idea.
"She may have tried, but cannot have succeeded, for the count has been absent from Paris for more than a month and is not expected to return until the end of the week."
"How do you know that?"
"I wished to see the count my father, to speak with him."
"You?"
"Yes, I. Do you think that I shall not reclaim my own? Do you imagine that I shall not raise my voice. On what account should I keep silent, who have I to consider? I have rights, and I will make them good. What do you find surprising in that?"
"Nothing, certainly, my friend. So then you called at M. de Commarin"s house?"
"Oh! I did not decide on doing so all at once," continued Noel. "At first my discovery almost drove me mad. Then I required time to reflect.
A thousand opposing sentiments agitated me. At one moment, my fury blinded me; the next, my courage deserted me. I would, and I would not.
I was undecided, uncertain, wild. The scandal that must arise from the publicity of such an affair terrified me. I desired, I still desire to recover my name, that much is certain. But on the eve of recovering it, I wish to preserve it from stain. I was seeking a means of arranging everything, without noise, without scandal."
"At length, however, you made up your mind?"
"Yes, after a struggle of fifteen days, fifteen days of torture, of anguish! Ah! what I suffered in that time! I neglected my business, being totally unfit for work. During the day, I tried by incessant action to fatigue my body, that at night I might find forgetfulness in sleep. Vain hope! since I found these letters, I have not slept an hour."
From time to time, old Tabaret slyly consulted his watch. "M. Daburon will be in bed," thought he.
"At last one morning," continued Noel, "after a night of rage, I determined to end all uncertainty. I was in that desperate state of mind, in which the gambler, after successive losses, stakes upon a card his last remaining coin. I plucked up courage, sent for a cab, and was driven to the de Commarin mansion."
The old amateur detective here allowed a sigh of satisfaction to escape him.
"It is one of the most magnificent houses, in the Faubourg St. Germain, my friend, a princely dwelling, worthy a great n.o.ble twenty times millionaire; almost a palace in fact. One enters at first a vast courtyard, to the right and left of which are the stables, containing twenty most valuable horses, and the coach-houses. At the end rises the grand facade of the main building, majestic and severe, with its immense windows, and its double flight of marble steps. Behind the house is a magnificent garden, I should say a park, shaded by the oldest trees which perhaps exist in all Paris."
This enthusiastic description was not at all what M. Tabaret wanted. But what could he do, how could he press Noel for the result of his visit!
An indiscreet word might awaken the advocate"s suspicions, and reveal to him that he was speaking not to a friend, but to a detective.
"Were you then shown over the house and grounds?" asked the old fellow.
"No, but I have examined them alone. Since I discovered that I was the only heir of the Rheteau de Commarin, I have found out the antecedents of my new family.
"Standing before the dwelling of my ancestors," continued Noel, "you cannot comprehend the excess of my emotion. Here, said I, is the house in which I was born. This is the house in which I should have been reared; and, above all, this is the spot where I should reign to-day, whereon I stand an outcast and a stranger, devoured by the sad and bitter memories, of which banished men have died. I compared my brother"s brilliant destinies with my sad and labourious career; and my indignation well nigh overmastered reason. The mad impulse stirred me to force the doors, to rush into the grand salon, and drive out the intruder,--the son of Madame Gerdy,--who had taken the place of the son of the Countess de Commarin! Out, usurper, out of this. I am master here. The propriety of legal means at once recurred to my distracted mind, however, and restrained me. Once more I stood before the habitation of my fathers. How I love its old sculptures, its grand old trees, its shaded walls, worn by the feet of my poor mother! I love all, even to the proud escutcheon, frowning above the princ.i.p.al doorway, flinging its defiance to the theories of this age of levellers."
This last phrase conflicted so directly with the code of opinions habitual to Noel, that old Tabaret was obliged to turn aside, to conceal his amus.e.m.e.nt.
"Poor humanity!" thought he; "he is already the grand seigneur."
"On presenting myself," continued the advocate, "I demanded to see the Count de Commarin. A Swiss porter, in grand livery, answered, the count was travelling, but that the viscount was at home. This ran counter to my designs; but I was embarked; so I insisted on speaking to the son in default of the father. The Swiss porter stared at me with astonishment.
He had evidently seen me alight from a hired carriage, and so deliberated for some moments as to whether I was not too insignificant a person to have the honour of being admitted to visit the viscount."
"But tell me, have you seen him?" asked old Tabaret, unable to restrain his impatience.
"Of course, immediately," replied the advocate in a tone of bitter raillery. "Could the examination, think you, result otherwise than in my favour? No. My white cravat and black costume produced their natural effect. The Swiss porter entrusted me to the guidance of a cha.s.seur with a plumed hat, who, led me across the yard to a superb vestibule, where five or six footmen were lolling and gaping on their seats. One of these gentlemen asked me to follow him. He led me up a s.p.a.cious staircase, wide enough for a carriage to ascend, preceded me along an extensive picture gallery, guided me across vast apartments, the furniture of which was fading under its coverings, and finally delivered me into the hands of M. Albert"s valet. That is the name by which Madame Gerdy"s son is known, that is to say, my name."
"I understand, I understand."
"I had pa.s.sed an inspection; now I had to undergo an examination. The valet desired to be informed who I was, whence I came, what was my profession, what I wanted and all the rest. I answered simply, that, quite unknown to the viscount, I desired five minutes" conversation with him on a matter of importance. He left me, requesting me to sit down and wait. I had waited more than a quarter of an hour, when he reappeared.
His master graciously deigned to receive me."
It was easy to perceive that the advocate"s reception rankled in his breast, and that he considered it an insult. He could not forgive Albert his lackeys and his valet. He forgot the words of the ill.u.s.trious duke, who said, "I pay my lackeys to be insolent, to save myself the trouble and ridicule of being so." Old Tabaret was surprised at his young friend"s display of bitterness, in speaking of these trivial details.
"What narrow-mindedness," thought he, "for a man of such intelligence!
Can it be true that the arrogance of lackeys is the secret of the people"s hatred of an amiable and polite aristocracy?"