After a moment"s silence, Rodin cast his looks all around, with well feigned uneasiness, and replied in a whisper: "Once more, madame, do not question me on so fearful a subject. The walls of this house may have ears."
Adrienne and Dagobert looked at each other with growing surprise. Mother Bunch, by an instinct of incredible force, continued to regard Rodin with invincible suspicion. Sometimes she stole a glance at him, as if trying to penetrate the mask of this man, who filled her with fear. At one moment, the Jesuit encountered her anxious gaze, obstinately fixed upon him; immediately he nodded to her with the greatest amenity. The young girl, alarmed at finding herself observed, turned away with a shudder.
"No, no, my dear young lady," resumed Rodin, with a sigh, as he saw Mdlle. de Cardoville astonished at his silence; "do not question me on the subject of the Abbe d"Aigrigny"s power!"
"But, to persist, sir," said Adrienne; "why this hesitation to answer?
What do you fear?"
"Ah, my dear young lady," said Rodin, shuddering, "those people are so powerful! their animosity is so terrible!"
"Be satisfied, sir; I owe you too much, for my support ever to fail you."
"Ah, my dear young lady," cried Rodin, as if hurt by the supposition; "think better of me, I entreat you. Is it for myself that I fear?--No, no; I am too obscure, too inoffensive; but it is for you, for Marshal Simon, for the other members of your family, that all is to be feared.
Oh, my dear young lady! let me beg you to ask no questions. There are secrets which are fatal to those who possess them."
"But, sir, is it not better to know the perils with which one is threatened?"
"When you know the manoeuvres of your enemy, you may at least defend yourself," said Dagobert. "I prefer an attack in broad daylight to an ambuscade."
"And I a.s.sure you," resumed Adrienne, "the few words you have spoken cause me a vague uneasiness."
"Well, if I must, my dear young lady," replied the Jesuit, appearing to make a great effort, "since you do not understand my hints, I will be more explicit; but remember," added he, in a deeply serious tone, "that you have persevered in forcing me to tell you what you had perhaps better not have known."
"Speak, Sir, I pray you speak," said Adrienne.
Drawing about him Adrienne, Dagobert, and Mother Bunch, Rodin said to them in a low voce, and with a mysterious air: "Have you never heard of a powerful a.s.sociation, which extends its net over all the earth, and counts its disciples, agents, and fanatics in every cla.s.s of society which has had, and often has still, the ear of kings and n.o.bles--which, in a word, can raise its creatures to the highest positions, and with a word can reduce them again to the nothingness from which it alone could uplift them?"
"Good heaven, sir!" said Adrienne, "what formidable a.s.sociation? Until now I never heard of it."
"I believe you; and yet your ignorance on this subject greatly astonishes me, my dear young lady."
"And why should it astonish you?"
"Because you lived some time with your aunt, and must have often seen the Abbe d"Aigrigny."
"I lived at the princess"s, but not with her; for a thousand reasons she had inspired me with warrantable aversion."
"In truth, my dear young lady, my remark was ill-judged. It was there, above all, and particularly in your presence, that they would keep silence with regard to this a.s.sociation--and yet to it alone did the Princess de Saint-Dizier owe her formidable influence in the world, during the last reign. Well, then; know this--it is the aid of that a.s.sociation which renders the Abbe d"Aigrigny so dangerous a man.
"By it he was enabled to follow and to reach divers members of your family, some in Siberia, some in India, others on the heights of the American mountains; but, as I have told you, it was only the day before yesterday, and by chance, that, examining the papers of Abbe d"Aigrigny, I found the trace of his connection with this Company, of which he is the most active and able chief."
"But the name, sir, the name of this Company?" said Adrienne.
"Well! it is--" but Rodin stopped short.
"It is," repeated Adrienne, who was now as much interested as Dagobert and the sempstress; "it is--"
Rodin looked round him, beckoned all the actors in this scene to draw nearer, and said in a whisper, laying great stress upon the words: "It is--the Society of Jesus!" and he again shuddered.
"The Jesuits!" cried Mdlle. de Cardoville, unable to restrain a burst of laughter, which was the more buoyant, as, from the mysterious precautions of Rodin, she had expected some very different revelation.
"The Jesuits!" she resumed, still laughing. "They have no existence, except in books; they are frightful historical personages, certainly; but why should you put forward Madame de Saint-Dizier and M. d"Aigrigny in that character? Such as they are, they have done quite enough to justify my aversion and disdain."
After listening in silence to Mdlle. de Cardoville Rodin continued, with a grave and agitated air: "Your blindness frightens me, my dear, young lady; the past should have given you some anxiety for the future, since, more than any one, you have already suffered from the fatal influence of this Company, whose existence you regard as a dream!"
"I, sir?" said Adrienne, with a smile, although a little surprised.
"You."
"Under what circ.u.mstances?"
"You ask me this question! my dear young lady! you ask me this question!--and yet you have been confined here as a mad person! Is it not enough to tell you that the master of this house is one of the most devoted lay members of the Company, and therefore the blind instrument of the Abbe d"Aigrigny?"
"So," said Adrienne, this time without smiling, "Dr. Baleinier"
"Obeyed the Abbe d"Aigrigny, the most formidable chief of that formidable society. He employs his genius for evil; but I must confess he is a man of genius. Therefore, it is upon him that you and yours must fix all your doubts and suspicions; it is against him that you must be upon your guard. For, believe me, I know him, and he does not look upon the game as lost. You must be prepared for new attacks, doubtless of another kind, but only the more dangerous on that account--"
"Luckily, you give us notice," said Dagobert, "and you will be on our side."
"I can do very little, my good friends; but that little is at the service of honest people," said Rodin.
"Now," said Adrienne, with a thoughtful air, completely persuaded by Rodin"s air of conviction, "I can explain the inconceivable influence that my aunt exercised in the world. I ascribed it chiefly to her relations with persons in power; I thought that she, like the Abbe d"Aigrigny, was concerned in dark intrigues, for which religion served as a veil--but I was far from believing what you tell me."
"How many things you have got to learn!" resumed Rodin. "If you knew, my dear young lady, with what art these people surround you, without your being aware of it, by agents devoted to themselves! Every one of your steps is known to them, when they have any interest in such knowledge.
Thus, little by little, they act upon you--slowly, cautiously, darkly. They circ.u.mvent you by every possible means, from flattery to terror--seduce or frighten, in order at last to rule you, without your being conscious of their authority. Such is their object, and I must confess they pursue it with detestable ability."
Rodin had spoken with so much sincerity, that Adrienne trembled; then, reproaching herself with these fears, she resumed: "And yet, no--I can never believe in so infernal a power; the might of priestly ambition belongs to another age. Heaven be praised, it has disappeared forever!"
"Yes, certainly, it is out of sight; for they now know how to disperse and disappear, when circ.u.mstances require it. But then are they the most dangerous; for suspicion is laid asleep, and they keep watch in the dark. Oh! my dear young lady, if you knew their frightful ability! In my hatred of all that is oppressive, cowardly, and hypocritical, I had studied the history of that terrible society, before I knew that the Abbe d"Aigrigny belonged to it. Oh! it is dreadful. If you knew what means they employ! When I tell you that, thanks to their diabolical devices, the most pure and devoted appearances often conceal the most horrible snares." Rodin"s eye rested, as if by chance, on the hunchback; but, seeing that Adrienne did not take the hint, the Jesuit continued: "In a word--are you not exposed to their pursuits?--have they any interest in gaining you over?--oh! from that moment, suspect all that surround you, suspect the most n.o.ble attachments, the most tender affections, for these monsters sometimes succeed in corrupting your best friends, and making a terrible use of them, in proportion to the blindness of your confidence."
"Oh! it is impossible," cried Adrienne, in horror. "You must exaggerate.
No! h.e.l.l itself never dreamed of more frightful treachery!"
"Alas, my dear young lady! one of your relations, M. Hardy--the most loyal and generous-hearted man that could be--has been the victim of some such infamous treachery. Do you know what we learned from the reading of your ancestor"s will? Why, that he died the victim of the malevolence of these people; and now, at the lapse of a hundred and fifty years, his descendants are still exposed to the hate of that indestructible society."
"Oh, sir! it terrifies me," said Adrienne, feeling her heart sink within her. "But are there no weapons against such attacks?"
"Prudence, my dear young lady--the most watchful caution--the most incessant study and suspicion of all that approach you."
"But such a life would be frightful! It is a torture to be the victim of continual suspicions, doubts, and fears."
"Without doubt! They know it well, the wretches! That const.i.tutes their strength. They often triumph by the very excess of the precautions taken against them. Thus, my dear young lady, and you, brave and worthy soldier, in the name of all that is dear to you, be on your guard, and do not lightly impart your confidence. Be on your guard, for you have nearly fallen the victims of those people. They will always be your implacable enemies. And you, also, poor, interesting girl!" added the Jesuit, speaking to Mother Bunch, "follow my advice--fear these people.
Sleep, as the proverb says, with one eye open."
"I, sir!" said the work-girl. "What have I done? what have I to fear?"
"What have you done? Dear me! Do not you tenderly love this young lady, your protectress? have you not attempted to a.s.sist her? Are you not the adopted sister of the son of this intrepid soldier, the brave Agricola!
Alas, poor, girl! are not these sufficient claims to their hatred, in spite of your obscurity? Nay, my dear young lady! do not think that I exaggerate. Reflect! only reflect! Think what I have just said to the faithful companion-in-arms of Marshal Simon, with regard to his imprisonment at Leipsic. Think what happened to yourself, when, against all law and reason, you were brought hither. Then you will see, that there is nothing exaggerated in the picture I have drawn of the secret power of this Company. Be always on your guard, and, in doubtful cases, do not fear to apply to me. In three days, I have learned enough by my own experience, with regard to their manner of acting, to be able to point out to you many a snare, device, and danger, and to protect you from them."
"In any such case, sir," replied Mdlle. de Cardoville, "my interests, as well as grat.i.tude, would point to you as my best counsellor."