Edouard did not reply, but took his pistols, put on his cloak, and went downstairs. The two young men bade the concierge open the gate for them, and Alfred put a gold piece in his hand, to bribe him to sit up for their return, which could hardly take place until late at night. They left the chateau, and by the pale light of the moon, which showed itself at intervals from behind the clouds, they took the road leading into the mountains.
Edouard walked in silence, and at a rapid pace. Alfred dared not interrupt his reflections, but contented himself with glancing from time to time at the cliffs and mountains which surrounded them. That night excursion reminded him of their journey to La Roche-Noire; he thought of their hilarity at that time, and sighed as he reflected how soon the happiness which the future promised had disappeared.
After walking more than a league and a half without stopping, and when they were only a short distance from the little valley, Alfred said to his friend:
"Let us rest a moment and take breath; perhaps the man whom you seek will not be at the White House so early."
"Very well," said Edouard, "let us rest here."
And he sat down beside Alfred on a boulder. As he continued to sit in silence, Alfred took his hand, and said to him:
"My dear Edouard, you must admit that we are great fools, to take so much trouble for a girl,--a very pretty girl, I admit; but there are so many others whom we do not even know!"
"Alfred, it is possible that this is folly, rank madness; I realize fully that I should do better to forget Isaure, to despise her; but, my dear friend, every day we persevere in things, although we know that we are doing wrong. As I have told you, you do not feel love as I do, and it is very lucky for you! You loved Isaure pa.s.sionately; but as soon as you made up your mind to sacrifice that love to me, you were able to put her adored image from your thoughts, and you will agree that in a few days it presented itself much less often. I loved Isaure without manifesting it so plainly; but it is a sentiment which will end only with my life. May I not have long to suffer thus!--Come, the time is pa.s.sing, and I am in haste to arrive."
Edouard rose, they walked on, and in ten minutes went down into the valley. There Edouard was obliged to stop; he was trembling from head to foot, he could hardly breathe, and he was almost forced to lean upon Alfred"s arm to keep himself from falling.
"Wait, wait," he said; "the sight of this place makes me ill. Forgive me, dear Alfred, for all the trouble that I am giving you."
Alfred made no other response than pressing his friend"s hand, and they soon resumed their walk; but they did not notice that the man with the knotted stick, who had stopped a short distance away, was now d.o.g.g.i.ng their footsteps, taking pains to keep constantly in the shadow.
"Let us go first to her house; we will find out if she is still at home," said Edouard.
They walked silently, trying to make as little noise as possible, and soon reached the cottage; they saw a light in the room on the first floor, the window was open, and from a distance they saw Isaure in that room.
"She is there!" said Edouard in a low voice.
"Yes," replied Alfred, "and she is alone."
"She is doing nothing, she seems lost in thought; see how lovely she is still, Alfred!"
"Why, my dear friend, women are not less pretty for being unfaithful.
Sometimes they seem even prettier."
"She rises, she walks to Vaillant and pats him; look,--one would say that she was weeping. Ah! my friend, if I did not hold myself back, I should rush in and throw myself at her feet."
"Wait, she is coming to the window; let us hide behind these trees."
Isaure came to the window, and looked at the White House.
"It is there, it is always there that her eyes turn," said Edouard sorrowfully. "Madman that I am! I believed that she was thinking of me."
Ten minutes pa.s.sed, during which Isaure stood at the window, and the young men, stationed behind some trees, did not lose sight of her or of the White House. At the end of that time, a light appeared in a window of that mysterious house.
"That is the signal that she was waiting for, no doubt," said Edouard.
And, in fact, the girl instantly left the window, disappeared from her room and soon stole softly out of the cottage. Edouard gripped his friend"s arm fiercely; he could not speak, but he followed every movement that Isaure made. She, after locking her door, darted swiftly into the field, and crossing it at a rapid pace, soon reached the entrance to the White House, and glided furtively through the door, which closed behind her.
The young men followed her, watched her enter the house, and stopped a few steps away.
"There is no more doubt," said Edouard in a gloomy voice; "she is there with my rival! Ah! I am going----"
"What are you going to do?" said Alfred, holding Edouard back; "knock at that door? make an uproar? They will not admit you, and besides you will not find out anything more. Would it not be better to wait until she comes out? Perhaps the man who is in there will accompany her; suppose we could see them, hear them, un.o.bserved! There will still be time enough to challenge your rival; as he is here, he cannot escape you."
"Yes, yes, you are right," said Edouard; "let us wait, I will try to be strong enough."
"See, let us take our places under this clump of trees. We shall be just opposite the door, and no one can see us. Come."
Alfred led Edouard under the trees, which were some forty yards from the White House. There they crouched in the darkest spot, and waited in silence until the door opposite them was opened. A quarter of an hour pa.s.sed in this painful suspense; Edouard was frantic with impatience and jealousy; but the desire to acquire proofs of Isaure"s treachery gave him strength to resist the violent impulses of his heart. Suddenly they heard a slight noise; it did not come from the White House, however, but from behind the young men.
"I heard something," said Edouard.
"Yes, I thought that I did, too."
"Can it be that we are not alone here?"
They looked carefully all about them, but could see no one. At that moment, the moon, coming out from behind the clouds, enabled them to distinguish objects very plainly, and Edouard shuddered as he heard the door open.
"Here they are!" he said.
Isaure came out first; she was followed by a man of tall stature, wrapped in an ample coat, and with a round hat pulled low over his eyes.
They stood in the shadow cast by the house, and in a moment the girl said in a sad tone:
"Adieu, my friend; adieu, I will go home. You will not scold me any more, will you? He will not come again; I have told him that I could not receive him any more."
The man who was with Isaure answered too low for them to hear, as he escorted her toward her house. Edouard followed them, keeping out of sight in the shadow, while Alfred remained under the trees, in front of the house, to cut off the stranger"s retreat.
Soon Isaure and her companion stopped; he took the young girl in his arms and kissed her affectionately. At that sight, Edouard, in a frenzy, started to rush toward them; but Isaure was already tripping lightly toward the cottage, while the other person strode rapidly toward the White House, along the edge of the clump of trees which concealed Alfred from his sight. At that moment, the moon, shining full in the face of the person walking toward him, enabled Alfred to examine him at his ease; and instead of stopping him and preventing him from returning to the White House, Alfred remained absolutely motionless on the spot where he stood. Meanwhile, Edouard hastened after the man with whom he was burning to fight; but he only saw him reenter the house, the door of which closed upon him.
"What!" he said to Alfred, "he pa.s.sed in front of you and you did not stop him? You did not prevent him from escaping from my wrath? I can no longer doubt Isaure"s perfidy, that man took her in his arms! Ah! he must pay for his good fortune with his life! Yes, if he refuse to open the door, though I have to scale the walls or break the windows, he shall not escape me!"
And Edouard was already rushing toward the house, pistol in hand, when Alfred, rousing himself from the stupor which had taken possession of him, hurried after him, grasped his arm and held him back, crying:
"Edouard, do not think of fighting that man, I implore you! it cannot be!"
"What! not think of revenging myself? Did you come with me for the purpose of talking to me like this? Let me go!"
"No, I entreat you! in the name of our friendship, put down those weapons, which horrify me!"
"What is the meaning of the interest which that man arouses in you? Ah!
for my part, I feel that I detest him, that I abhor him! and in his blood----"
"Wretched man, what are you saying?--It is my father!"
"Your father!" cried Edouard, upon whom those words produced the effect of a thunderbolt; while the vagabond, a short distance away, repeated in a hollow voice, "his father"; then strode rapidly away, and disappeared under the trees.
After a silence of several moments, Edouard, who seemed not to recover his wits until then, handed the pistols to Alfred, saying:
"Here, take them, take these weapons away from me! You are right, I cannot fight with him!"