"Could you really fight with me?"
Alfred was moved, but he strove to control himself as he replied:
"When one has insulted a person, should one not be ready to give him satisfaction?"
"But can I take offense at a word inspired by anger, and which your heart disavows? Should one never forgive his friend for anything? What would be the use of friendship if it does not make us more indulgent to those whom we love?"
"Friendship! I no longer believe in yours!"
"Alfred, I have but one thing more to say to you; I propose that Isaure shall be my wife."
"Your wife?" cried Alfred in amazement, "your wife,--that young peasant!"
"Yes, I am fully determined upon it. Will you forgive me now for the preference which she accords to me?"
"If you really propose to make her your wife," said Alfred, after a moment"s silence, "you deserve to win her; for, I admit, I never had that intention. But it is very hard for me to believe it. However, I shall find a way to ascertain the truth."
Alfred walked back to the chateau and Edouard did the same; but they said nothing more to each other.
XXI
SERVANTS" GOSSIP.--ALFRED AND THE VAGABOND
The next day, at daybreak, a certain excitement was apparent among the servants of the chateau; they were a.s.sembled in the courtyard, talking earnestly among themselves. Among those who declaimed the most loudly was the concierge, who seemed to be haranguing the others.
"I tell you that it can"t be anything," cried Cunette, gesticulating in a most dramatic way. "For more than fifteen years I"ve been concierge in this chateau, and nothing strange ever happened here."
"I don"t know whether it is strange or not," said the groom, "but I tell you that I saw a light. You know we came back late with monsieur; and then I had to groom the horse, put away the carriage, and then eat my supper; so that it was very late when I went to bed. As the weather was fine and I didn"t feel much like sleeping, I went to the window and happened to look at the tower opposite, which you call the North Tower."
"Where no one lives," said Cunette, "because monseigneur thought that it was in too bad condition, and that it wasn"t worth while to have it done over new, as there"s plenty of room in the chateau."
"Well, whether anyone lives there or not, I tell you that last night about eleven o"clock--or rather, it was pretty near midnight--I saw a light in one of the little windows up at the top."
"Mon Dieu!" said Jeannette; "midnight! That"s the time for ghosts, ain"t it, Mamzelle Cheval?"
"Nonsense!" said the cook; "do you suppose I believe in ghosts? All those stories are made up to frighten folks. It"s more likely to be thieves who want to steal my chickens,--that is, if it was anything at all."
"What!" said Francois, approaching the other servants, "are there ghosts in this chateau, too?"
"Oh, no! Monsieur Francois; there"s no question of ghosts," replied the groom, "it"s just a light that I saw last night in the tower where no one sleeps."
"It was a reflection of the moon, that he took for a light," said Cunette; "I am the concierge, and I"ll answer for it that no suspicious person came into the chateau."
"Pardi!" said Jeannette, "if it was a ghost, do they come in through the doors?"
"Observe," continued the concierge, "that Benoit says that the light was up high at that window; that"s in the a.r.s.enal; what would any thieves go to the a.r.s.enal for, where there"s nothing but old rusty swords?"
"But suppose it wasn"t a thief?"
Vincent, who had not yet spoken, drew near at that moment with a mysterious air, and said:
"My children, all this reminds me of something I"d forgotten, which might have some connection with what Benoit saw."
All the servants crowded around Vincent and looked at him with interest.
"About five or six days ago," continued the gardener, "I don"t know just when it was, but it was night, and I was going to bed; I remembered that I needed my big pickaxe the next morning to work in this part of the garden. You know that I keep most of my tools in a little shed at the end of the broad path on the left."
"Yes, yes."
"Well then, I says to myself: "I guess I"ll go and get my pickaxe." So I went out, and went into the garden; I was about in the middle of the broad path when I heard steps in front of me."
"Mon Dieu! how that frightens me!" said Jeannette, pressing against one of the scullions.
"I thought it was one of the gentlemen from the chateau," continued Vincent, "and I stopped politely to let him pa.s.s, and took off my hat; but no, he stopped too, and instead of coming toward me, he turned back.
That appeared to me suspicious, so I called out: "Who"s that?" but he didn"t answer; he walked faster than ever and I tried to follow him, but I ran into a tree, and then good-night! I didn"t hear anything more."
"Ah! what a strange thing!"
"Pshaw! perhaps it was our master as was taking a ramble."
"Oh, no indeed! he never goes alone into the garden at night."
"You ought to have asked the gentlemen the next morning."
"Faith, I slept on it, and I forgot all about it."
"We must ask Monsieur Ferulus what it was," said the other servants.
"He"s a man who knows everything, a scholar; he"ll tell us whether we ought to be afraid."
As it happened, Monsieur Ferulus was just crossing the courtyard, holding in his hand some verses which he had already written for Robineau"s future bride, and which he intended to present to Robineau at breakfast. He approached to ascertain the cause of the gathering which he noticed in the courtyard. Thereupon he was told of what Benoit and Vincent had just related. Monsieur Ferulus listened with much attention, shaking his head now and then; every time that the librarian moved his eyebrows, Jeannette and the groom exclaimed:
"See, that frightens him, too!"
After reflecting long, Monsieur Ferulus asked Benoit:
"Are you perfectly sure that it was a light that you saw in the tower?"
"Oh! yes, monsieur! In the first place, it moved around; if it had been the moon, I should have saw----"
"I should have seen----"
"I should--what?"
"I should have seen; you must pay attention to the pluperfect subjunctive."